Light of the Spirit Blog

The Authentic Christian View on Reincarnation

January 12, 2020 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

Q: You seem to accept that the Hindu/Buddhist concept of reincarnation is compatible with Christianity. How is this, and how is it that the Chritian churches are apparently ignorant of this dramatic data?

A: Reincarnation is not an exclusively Hindu-Buddhist teaching, but has from the beginning been an integral part of Orthodox Judaism. Because this fact would imply that Christ and the Apostles would have held the belief in rebirth as Orthodox Jews, it has become a policy to toss around the red herring of “Hindu-Buddhist” whenever the ignorant have wished to combat the truth of reincarnation. (We met one bishop who thought Edgar Cayce had originated the concept of rebirth and so called all who believed in it “Cayce-ites.” It seems that ignorance compounds itself.)

If you are interested in a historical study of reincarnation in both Judaism and Christianity, I recommend May A Christian Believe In Reincarnation? The British Methodist minister Leslie Weatherhead has also written an article on the subject, but I do not know if it is still in print. I am sure that you could track it down through Interlibrary Loan. There is another book entitled Reincarnation For Christians that you might find significant as well. The three Weatherhead-Cranston anthologies on reincarnation also contain material from Christian writers. Another book is Reincarnation In Christianity by Dr. Geddes MacGregor, who I believe is a Presbyterian.

There is a great difference between what some Christians know and what they say they knows. Some knowledge is simply swept under the convenient carpet of cowardly silence and some is outright denied.

A sad denial

One leading archpriest within a major “canonical” Byzantine Orthodox jurisdiction within this country not only believes in reincarnation, but has engaged for years in research into methods of past-life recall. Our monastery has done research for him on the subject of reincarnation in early Christianity, and that research has been embodied in May A Christian Believe In Reincarnation? I am sorry to tell you that this very priest also publicly denounces reincarnation as incompatible with Orthodox Christianity! This is because of the vicious fear and ignorance which was sanctified and canonized by the Emperor Justinian through his falsification of the decrees of the so-called Fifth Ecumenical Council. (Both Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars have written on the subject of the falsification of the decree, among them being the eminent Catholic-and later Old Catholic-theologian Von Dollinger. A brief discussion is also included in the Nicene Fathers series.)

I well remember discussions with a very learned Greek Orthodox theologian on the subject of reincarnation. Although he knew the truth of the matter, he continually took refuge in the assertion that “at this late date” it would be impossible to speak the truth since it was commonly held that an “infallible” Council had declared the beliefs in pre-existence of the soul and rebirth to be false. (The fact is, reincarnation was not at all mentioned in the interpolated decrees, though pre-existence was.)

Another ploy besides attributing the concept of reincarnation to Hinduism and Buddhism is to attribute it to “the heretic” Origen. This is also quite convenient, as it draws attention from the fact that other Church Fathers also openly taught it.

My favorite comment on the subject of reincarnation is that given by the holy Roman Catholic Capuchin stigmatist-saint, Padre Pio. When one of his spiritual daughters was “told on” for believing in reincarnation, he told her accusers very firmly: “It does not matter what you believe about reincarnation. The only thing that matters is this: Are you seeking for God now?”

Note: May a Christian Believe in Reincarnation? is also available as a paperback and as an ebook at Amazon.com (the ebook is FREE).

Further Reading:

The Supreme Sciences: Eternal Dharma (Philosophy) and Eternal Yoga

January 6, 2020 by Light of the Spirit Monastery

A selection from Perspectives on Yoga: Living the Yoga Life, a new book to be published this February.

When you get into an auto, turn on the ignition, press the accelerator, and guide the forward-moving vehicle by means of the steering-wheel, you are acting on a number of premises. The same is true of yoga.

Yoga is not just a mechanical practice; it presupposes the vast body of metaphysical principles known as Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Dharma, that is the basis of all true religion. Intelligent practice of yoga is not possible without knowing and adhering to those principles.

The system of practical methodology we call yoga was originated and perfected in India by great sages, every one of which was an adherent of the Eternal Dharma, which in turn was incalculably enriched by the subsequent teaching of the master yogis who were enlightened through the yoga system. Both yoga and the philosophy on which it is based–or rather, which stimulated the discovery and development of yoga–are truth in the purest form, exactly like mathematics. Therefore it is not amiss to speak of Sanatana Dharma and Sanatana Yoga–Eternal Dharma (Philosophy) and Eternal Yoga.

True Facts of Life

Sanatana Dharma is the presentation of the principles of existence itself–of the ultimate Facts of Life and nothing more, cultural or religious. Euclid was Greek, but Euclidian Geometry has no tint of Greek culture, philosophy, or religion. In the same way Sanatana Dharma should never be equated with what is known as modern “Hinduism,” the religion that is rooted in Sanatana Dharma but has developed into an elaborate system of beliefs and practices that are in many cases purely cultural and subjective–so much so that it can be said to conceal Sanatana Dharma more than reveal it. People can spend an entire lifetime as “Hindus” and never know Sanatana Dharma except in the most obscure and ineffectual manner.

What, then is Sanatana Dharma? Shankara put it this way:

“I shall tell you in half a sloka what has been written in millions of books: Brahman is real. The world is illusory. The jiva is nothing other than Brahman.”

Obviously these root facts imply a world of principles which a human being needs to know in order to realize the potential that is a living seed within every sentient being. Yoga–philosophy and practice–is that world. Sanatana Dharma and Sanatana Yoga are really the same thing. That which goes outside them is an obscuration not a clarification, a hindrance rather than a help.

Verifiable principles

Yoga and Dharma are realities, not speculations or conclusions. They are discoveries of universal, unalterable, principles that are verifiable by each individual. Through the ages each yogi has found for himself that they are true.

They are not revelations given by an arbitrary deity or a representative of such a deity. They require no faith or bowing of the head to any authority. They are verifiable facts, requiring nothing more than correct practice coupled with intelligent perception. No matter how many yogis there may be, Yoga and Dharma are always purely individual–in fact nothing can spoil Yoga and Dharma more than “groupism” or “movements.” The yogi is always an individual, always a whole, never a part. And so is a Sanatana Dharmi yogi

Dharma and Yoga are the supreme sciences, independent of all else. It is essential that our philosophy and practice be purely an expression of eternal verities. Authentic Dharma and Yoga have nothing to do with “East” or “West” and should have no connotation of them. Again, they are like Euclidian Geometry. The seers that discovered them were from what we call “the East,” but they are universal and neither Eastern nor Western.

The Ten Commandments of Yoga

January 1, 2020 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

Yama and Niyama are often called the Ten Commandments of Yoga, but they have nothing to do with the ideas of sin and virtue or good and evil as dictated by some cosmic potentate. Rather they are determined by a thoroughly practical, pragmatic basis: that which strengthens and facilitates our yoga practice should be observed and that which weakens or hinders it should be avoided. It is not a matter of being good or bad, but of being wise or foolish. Each one of these Five Don’ts (Yama) and Five Do’s (Niyama) is a supporting, liberating foundation of Yoga.

Yama means self-restraint in the sense of self-mastery, or abstention, and consists of five elements. Niyama means observances, of which there are also five. Here is the complete list of these ten Pillars as given in Yoga Sutras 2:30,32:

Ahimsa: non-violence, non-injury, harmlessness
Satya: truthfulness, honesty
Asteya: non-stealing, honesty, non-misappropriativeness
Brahmacharya: sexual continence in thought, word and deed as well as control of all the senses
Aparigraha: non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-selfishness, non-acquisitiveness
Shaucha: purity, cleanliness
Santosha: contentment, peacefulness
Tapas: austerity, practical (i.e., result-producing) spiritual discipline
Swadhyaya: introspective self-study, spiritual study
Ishwarapranidhana: offering of one’s life to God

All of these deal with the innate powers of the human being–or rather with the abstinence and observance that will develop and release those powers to be used toward our spiritual perfection, to our self-realization and liberation. Shankara says quite forcefully that “following yama and niyama is the basic qualification to practice yoga. The qualification is not simply that one wants to practice yoga. So yama and niyama are methods of yoga” in themselves and are not mere adjuncts or aids that can be optional.

But at the same time, the practice of yoga helps the aspiring yogi to follow the necessary ways of yama and niyama, so he should not be discouraged from taking up yoga right now. He should determinedly embark on yama, niyama, and yoga simultaneously. Success will be his.

What are the Ten Commandments of Yoga?

Yama and Niyama, as follows:
Ahimsa: non-injury;
Satya: truthfulness;
Asteya: non-stealing;
Brahmacharya: continence;
Aparigraha: non-greed;
Shaucha: purity and cleanliness;
Santosha: contentment;
Tapas: practical austerity;
Swadhyaya: self-study;
Ishwara Pranidhana: dedication of the life to God.

Humans: Are We Carnivores or Vegetarians by Nature?

December 29, 2019 by Light of the Spirit Monastery

How humans are not physically created/evolved to eat meat

[We found this useful article and would like to share it with our readers. The author is unknown.]

Although some historians and anthropologists say that man is historically omnivorous, our anatomical equipment teeth, jaws, and digestive system favors a fleshless diet. The American Dietetic Association notes that “most of mankind for most of human history has lived on vegetarian or near-vegetarian diets.”

And much of the world still lives that way. Even on most industrialized countries, the love affair with meat is less than a hundred years old. It started with the refrigerator car and the twentieth-century consumer society. But even with the twentieth century, man’s body hasn’t adapted to eating meat. The prominent Swedish scientist Karl von Linne states, “Man’s structure, external and internal, compared with that of the other animals, shows that fruit and succulent vegetables constitute his natural food.”

Comparison between carnivores, herbivores and humans

When you look at the comparison between herbivores and humans, we compare much more closely to herbivores than meat eating animals. Humans are clearly not designed to digest and ingest meat.

Meat-eaters: have claws
Herbivores: no claws
Humans: no claws

Meat-eaters: have no skin pores and perspire through the tongue
Herbivores: perspire through skin pores
Humans: perspire through skin pores

Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing, with no flat molar teeth for grinding
Herbivores: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Humans: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding

Meat-eaters: have intestinal tract that is only 3 times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly
Herbivores: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Humans: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.

Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat
Herbivores: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Humans: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater

Meat-eaters: salivary glands in mouth not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.
Herbivores: well-developed salivary glands which are necessary to pre-digest grains and fruits
Humans: well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits

Meat-eaters: have acid saliva with no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Herbivores: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Humans: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains

Based on a chart by A.D. Andrews, Fit Food for Men, (Chicago: American Hygiene Society, 1970)

Clearly if humans were meant to eat meat we wouldn’t have so many crucial ingestive/digestive similarities with animals that are herbivores.

Why do people eat meat?

Many people ask me, “If we weren’t supposed to eat meat than why do we?”. It is because we are conditioned to eat meat. Also, the ADA (American Dietetic Association) tells us that “most of mankind for most of human history has lived on a vegetarian or Lacto-ovo vegetarian diet.

A popular statement that meat eaters say is; “In the wild, animals kill other animals for food. It’s nature.” First of all, we are not in the wild. Secondly, we can easily live without eating meat and killing, not to mention we’d be healthier. And finally, as I have already shown, we weren’t meant to eat meat. Meat and seafood putrefies within 4 hours after consumption and the remnants cling to the walls of the stomach and intestines for 3-4 days or longer than if a person is constipated. Furthermore, the reaction of saliva in humans is more alkaline, whereas in the case of flesh-eating or preying animals, it is clearly acidic. The alkaline saliva does not act properly on meat.

The final point I would like to make on how we as humans were not meant to eat meat is this. All omnivorous and carnivorous animals eat their meat raw. When a lion kills an herbivore for food, it tears right into the stomach area to eat the organs that are filled with blood (nutrients). While eating the stomach, liver, intestine, etc., the lion laps the blood in the process of eating the dead animals flesh. Even bears that are omnivores eat salmon raw. However, eating raw or bloody meat disgust us as humans. Therefore, we must cook it and season it to buffer the taste of flesh.

If a deer is burned in a forest fire, a carnivorous animal will NOT eat its flesh. Even circus lions have to be feed raw meat so that they will not starve to death. If humans were truly meant to eat meat, then we would eat all of our meat raw and bloody. The thought of eating such meat makes one’s stomach turn. This is my point on how we as humans are conditioned to believe that animal flesh is good for us and that we were meant to consume it for survival and health purposes. If we are true carnivores or omnivores, cooking our meat and seasoning it with salt, ketchup, or tabasco sauce would disguise and we as humans would refuse to eat our meat in this form.

Further Reading:

The Symbolism of Christmas and Its Universal Message | Podcast

December 22, 2019 by Light of the Spirit Monastery

For our Christmas offering we share again a podcast from three years ago about Christmas, and about Christ being born in us. This podcast is from an interview of Abbot George Burke by our friend Bianca Vlahos of radio station FIVEaa in Adelaide, Australia.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

Listen to The Symbolism of Christmas and Its Universal Message if you do not see the player above. The podcast is 23:07 minutes long.

For more Christmas inspiration, read the following Christmas articles:

Open a Treasure Chest of Spiritual Podcasts

December 15, 2019 by Light of the Spirit Monastery

To those who are new to OCOY.org, or who have not explored our site, we introduce our Podcast Section, with over 30 timeless audio podcasts by Abbot George Burke on different aspects of practical spirituality: vegetarianism, meditation, reincarnation, the Yoga Life, Monastic Life, and the spiritual masters that Abbot George encountered in his many trips to India.

The podcasts are roughly grouped according to topics below. Most are about 15 to 25 minutes long. The radio interviews at the end are 30 minutes to 1 hour long.

Meditation and other aspects of spiritual life:

The Yoga Life:

Monastic Life:

Saints I have Known:

Swami Rama of Hardwar (Ram Kunj)
Four First-Class Sadhus
The Healer, the Raja, Neem Karoli Baba, and the Unnamed Master
Three Remarkable Indian Saints–Swami Sivananda-Hridayananda, The King’s Daughter in Bengal, and Swami Vidyananda (Bidyananda) Giri
Memories of Sri Maitri Devi
The Monk That Challenged Lenin: Yogeshwar Brahmachari
Raihana Tyabji, the Moslem Saint Who Worshiped Krishna
Didima (Swami Muktananda Giri), Mother of Anandamayi Ma

Stories of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh:

Radio Interviews of Abbot George by Bianca Vlahos and More:

The Three Principles in Understanding Life, Ourselves and Others, with Monica Goyal from OmTimes Radio

Reincarnation and Memory: Where Do Our Memories Go?

December 8, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

Q: When reincarnated do we retain our current memories and interests, or what it is that makes us feel “ourselves”?

All the memories of our past lives remain in the subconscious mind in the forms of impressions in the mind-substance (chitta) which is a field of magnetic energy. They sort of float around, vibrating individually as samskaras, but those of similar magnetism become attracted to one another and become bundles of samskaras called vasanas. Because of their combined force the vasanas are experienced as impulses, attractions and aversions in the mind.

Thus we enter each life with a definite personality that has the potential of unfoldment and expression in response to the experiences we undergo in that life. However, the responsiveness depends on the evolutionary level of the individual and the character of the experiences.

Evolution and the subconscious

The more evolved a person is, the greater is the level of sensitivity and response. In those of lower evolution the subconscious is truly “buried,” whereas in those of higher development the subconscious and conscious minds influence and interact with one another. [Read more…]

What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?

December 1, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

In this introduction to A New Look at the Beatitudes, I will be using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest since it presents the more philosophical side of Jesus words. To do this, it is extremely literal, sometimes so much so that the English is awkward, but it extracts the full meaning of the Greek wording. The esoteric understanding, of course, will be up to us.

“And having opened His mouth He went to teaching them, saying, Spiritually prosperous are the destitute and helpless in the realm of the spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
–Matthew 5:3

Spiritually prosperous

Wuest is translating as “spiritually prosperous” the Greek word makarios. The word can mean both blessed and happy, but both expressions are too weak. Makarios means supremely blessed or happy in the sense that it is the ultimate degree of blessedness or happiness. Yet, it also means to be fortunate–in the literal sense of possessing a fortune and “well off”–prosperous. The idea is that of spiritual abundance, of spiritual superabundance. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” (II Corinthians 9:8)

The fullness of spiritual capacity and manifestation is implied here. Modern Christianity is so materialistic that virtually every time they speak of being blessed they mean gaining money. This is especially true of the televangelists and their forerunners the “New Thought” churches. Therefore Wuest is certainly justified in putting the adjective “spiritually” in the translation. Otherwise the Sermon on the Mount will just be another “God’s Prosperity Plan For His People.” [Read more…]

Learn to Use Your Mind: Be Conscious

November 23, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

It is incredible but true that most human beings need to be told: Be Conscious.

Many years ago a brilliant physician told me in relation to maintaining health: “Always be aware.” It took me decades to figure out the meaning and value of those three words. Buddha was not such a slow learner, so he knew to say that the intelligent human being is “aware among the unaware.” The Venerable Thanissaro Bhikkhu renders it: “Heedful among the heedless.”

Intellectual vs. Instictual

A renowned French esotericist of the nineteenth century, Sar Hieronymous, observed that human beings are of two basic types: intellectual and instinctual. By “intellectual” he did not mean academic or scholarly, but centered in their intellects rather than in their senses, emotions, or physical bodies.

Most people live in an instinctual, reactive manner, rarely letting their intelligence take the lead, and often only use their intelligence to fake up justifications for their irrational (instinctual) behavior.

Terrible as the picture is, humanity rushes headlong into pain, destruction, and death. And this is habitual, utterly reflexive.

Common sense

Once I visited a yoga center and had a satsang (informal spiritual gathering/discussion) with the members–all of them deeply sincere and quite intelligent. Yet, after about twenty minutes I realized that the answers to their questions did not need my special “qualifications” of having lived in India with Masters and having gained experience in meditation. Only good, practical sense was needed.

Often through the years I have marveled at the way very good people seek answers to questions that any thoughtful person could easily answer. They themselves should have been able to answer their questions, but they simply were not used to doing so. They did not even realize they could.

Use your mind

“Use your mind” (intelligence) is just about the first thing a worthy teacher will tell the student–and will usually have to keep on telling him for quite a while until the instinct habit is broken. And this is not easy since instinct is closely related to intuition, which is something desirable. Instinct is to intuition what meaningless babble is to intelligent speech. Both contain words, but only one makes coherent sense.

This is no small problem for the spiritual striver. “Feeling” can be either instinctive or intuitive, and he must learn to distinguish them. This is a major lesson in his development. Few things are more destructive than constant dependence on some external authority for making our decisions in life.

Unhappily, most religions and spiritual teachers foster this dependency and prevent real inner growth in their adherents. How will they survive without dependents? How will they be teachers without students? So, like a therapist who fears to lose his livelihood if his patients recover, they hold their members or students in thrall.

Fostering Independence

A truly aryan [see What is an “Aryan”?] teacher or philosophy is like my father. He held on to my bicycle and walked beside me as I learned to ride. He kept me from falling, but he did something better: he gave me the confidence to ride on my own. How vivid is my memory of hearing him say: “You have been riding without me helping for the last three minutes. I was just barely touching the bike.” I could do it! So I rode on alone, amazed and relieved.

The great Master, Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, used to tell his students after a short time (two or three months at the most): “Now I have told you everything you need to know. Go and gain experience on your own and make something of yourself.” Another great yogi, Swami Rama of Hardwar (Ram Kunj) only met his teacher once, at the age of nine. The sage gave him simple instructions in meditation, blessed him, and walked on. (The future saint-swami had been playing in the village street.) No more was needed.

How rare are such great teachers. Most are in the slave trade (emphasis on trade).

Further Reading:

7 Steps to Misuse Your Power of Thought

November 17, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

“Thinking about sense-objects will attach you to sense-objects; grow attached, and you become addicted; thwart your addiction, it turns to anger; be angry, and you confuse your mind; confuse your mind, you forget the lesson of experience; forget experience, you lose discrimination; lose discrimination, and you miss life’s only purpose.”
–Bhagavad Gita 2:62, 63

It is true that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. In these two verses Krishna has described the entire journey, beginning with thought and ending in total loss. Each step should be considered well.

Thinking

Thought is power–magnetic power, particularly. That is, thought can draw or repel whatever is thought about, depending upon the polarity of the individual mind. Many times we see that people bring to themselves the things they continually think about, but we also see that thinking about something can repel it from the person.

For example, the Franciscan Order is almost obsessed with the idea of poverty, yet it is one of the wealthiest institutions in the world. Thinking about poverty brought them wealth! This is not said in jest. I have seen people draw to themselves the things they detested, and seen others drive out of their lives the things they yearned for. As already pointed out, it is a matter of the polarity of the thought force, of magnetic energy.

As a rule, though, thought brings to us what we think about. Even if we begin by disliking or opposing the object of thought, in time we become attached to it, either by coming to like it (whether or not we admit the liking) or becoming unable to dispel it from our minds. We see this in the lives of many crusaders. They become what they oppose. In fact, they often oppose something to cover up their secret attraction to it.

It has long been known that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Krishna is aware of this, and is counseling Arjuna to simply ignore that which he does not wish to become involved with. That is why in meditation we ignore any distractions and just keep relaxed in the awareness of the process of meditation–and nothing else. If we do this, in time the distractions will dissolve, and in the meantime, being ignored, they will not be distractions, practically speaking.

So if we will not obsess on a subject, it will not touch or capture us. This is a major point of spiritual life.

Attachment

“Thinking about sense-objects will attach you to sense-objects.”

The word translated “attach” is sangas, which means attachment. However, sangas has both an internal and an external meaning–both of which apply in this instance.

Attachment means having an affinity for something, or having some feeling of desire to be aware of it or have it present. It has a definite emotional connotation. It also means to feel some kind of kinship with an object, or to feel a need for it–even a dependency. [Read more…]

The Authentic Christian View on Reincarnation