Let’s talk about Religion sensibly…
The following article represents the opinion of one person and is not necessarily the policy or generally accepted view of the majority practising Sahaja Yoga.
Politics and religion are two things we avoid discussing in social settings. Differences in political opinion can start an argument instantly and the subject of religion is something for each of us to decide for ourselves. The truth behind religion is, on the face of it, an impossible thing to determine because there doesn’t appear to be any physical proof that it is real. Maybe it is time to look at the common ground between the main religions to see if there are any universal truths that they are all trying to tell us…
By the way, I am neither a theologian nor a scientist, but I like to think that my viewpoint on this issue is a common-sense one, somewhere in between those two “extremes”. Please forgive any small errors in the data if you find any, and think about the overall picture – that’s the important thing. I will try to present this data in as unbiased a way as possible, and I have been practising Sahaja Yoga for many years, so I have seen how it really works and answers these questions and therefore may have a bias based on my experience with it.
We typically believe that scientific method is always better than traditional thinking. However, this ignores the power of “intuition.” Intuition is the ability to understand something without physical proof, just by feeling it. We all know examples of intuition, like when someone saves a life or finds something based on a feeling. For a person with a scientific background, it is impossible to support the idea of using spontaneous feelings to judge the truth of religion. However, the majority of religious people in the world actually do just that. We should consider the possibility that intuition may provide us with information that the thinking brain cannot normally access.
From a scientific perspective, it would be incorrect to reject intuitive spiritual beliefs based solely on scientific reasoning. We only have knowledge of a small part of existence, and none of us can claim to know enough to make definitive judgments about the truth, whatever it may be. However, if you are a scientist, there is some encouraging news for you. Recent developments have made it possible to examine the assertions of religions in a purely logical manner. This is where “Vishwa Nirmala Dharma” (translated as “Universal Pure Religion”) comes into play. I will explain more about that later…
Finding common ground between religions. What do people believe in?
To get some idea of what’s on offer from the religions, it’s worth trying to summarise what they have to offer. Let’s have a go. The following table is an attempt to show what people believed in, around the world, in 2020. The data comes from Wikipedia:
So, what does this tell us?
Firstly, eighty-six percent, an overwhelming majority of people in the world, follow a religion of one sort or another. Surprised? I was.
Secondly, pretty much all religions, and therefore people, believe the following:
- That life after Death is real
- That there is a hierarchy of divine forms which generally include angels, devils and others
- That their religion was inspired by a person or people with divine qualities.
- That to live properly as human-beings, we have to conform to laws of good conduct.
- That there is one God who may be expressed in human form or may be formless and who may or may not take birth on Earth in different guises, depending on the message that is to be conveyed to humanity at the time.
In all religions, “Love” is:
- What God is.
- The basis upon which the universe is formed.
- Seen as the highest virtue in humanity.
The “Soul”:
- Is the essence of our being.
- Is immortal.
- Evolves positively or negatively depending on our actions when living on Earth.
- Departs from the earthly body and maintains its ethereal form after death.
“Enlightenment” – Not to be confused with “The Enlightenment”, which was a historical period of social and political expansion, is understood to be an inner change which leads to a higher awareness while a person is alive. This is said to last for eternity after death or throughout subsequent incarnations of that soul on earth. It can be seen as a “light-bulb moment” that gives a new clarity to the awareness forever, and leads the soul, in the end, to be free of earthly attachments, living in a state of constant bliss and awareness. References to Enlightenment appear in the majority of religions.
Those religions which emphasise it, particularly Buddhism, are clear that to achieve enlightenment on Earth needs a lot of work and introspection over a long period. It is therefore probable that other religions such as Christianity simply did not concentrate on developing this practice for reasons of practicality, and its inherent difficulty. However, there are plenty of stories about Christian monks and saints who achieved a state of divine bliss through their meditations, which mirrors Buddhist and other’s experience of enlightenment and self-realisation.
“Resurrection” generally refers to people “rising from the dead” before the final judgement, when their suitability to enter heaven, or not, is determined. It is not an awakening as such, but an event leading to judgement based on people’s actions before their death. The fact of being allowed to enter heaven is effectively a kind of enlightenment because the “heavenly realm” is understood to be a place of the highest awareness. You might say that religions who believe in resurrection only, sort of believe in enlightenment “through the back door”. Was Christ actually demonstrating enlightenment to an uneducated audience through the act of his resurrection?
There are hints in the Christian Bible of its roots in the Kabbalah of early Judaism, and many believe that Lord Jesus Christ probably came from, or had access to, the Essene community which had beliefs like this at its core. Biblical references are somewhat ambiguous, but most likely support the concept of enlightenment. As an example, the incident on the day of Pentecost where the Holy Spirit entered the room and appeared above the apostles “as tongues of flame” exactly reflects descriptions of the subtle process of enlightenment given in Hindu scriptures.
The idea of “Reincarnation” in Hinduism and Buddhism concerns the evolution of the human soul from a primitive vegetable state to the current day, where it is expressed in human form. This is done in a continuous cycle of life-after-life through being born again and again on earth. The whole universe is said to be formed around a framework of comparisons between opposite qualities. These can be expressed in a pattern of subtle centres known as chakras. Most have heard about chakras relating to the subtle centres in the body, but in fact they appear in the structure of everything in the material universe. There are seven basic chakras, and in the human body they exist in subtle form, positioned roughly at the positions of the physical plexuses (nerve junctions) in the nervous system.
These chakras are each connected with, and contain, all the qualities that human beings can have. If we do anything that contradicts these pure principles in the chakras, then the chakra will be damaged a little. For instance, if we are aggressive towards somebody else, among other things, it will affect our Heart chakra and the Vishuddi chakra in the neck. The Heart chakra because it is an unloving act and the heart is concerned with love, and the Vishuddi chakra because of the misuse of the voice and the guilt it instils in the other person – both qualities of that chakra. The nett effect of all the actions we take in life is recorded in the chakras. This is behind the principle of “Karma” in Hinduism and other Eastern religions. Our Karma is said to determine the situation we are born in and to affect the choices we make through life.
When we die, the soul, together with the chakras and the information they contain, passes on to a new body after a period of rest. This way, everything we do throughout the entire history of our life on earth, passing through countless lifetimes, completely defines who we are and determines the DNA we are born with and the situation we meet when we are born in this life. It seems that, generally speaking, we don’t go from being a person to being a dog or cat or whatever. We go on to be another personality who is similar in look and social status to the preceding one, so we pretty much carry on where we left off. The cycle of each life we have from birth to death is necessary for us to be able to see and examine every aspect of our personality, and improve on it if we make that choice, so in our next life we move on a little and go through the same process – every changing and moving onwards towards the goal of release from the cycle of birth and death through finally achieving enlightenment.
Most Christians believed in reincarnation until the Second Council of Constantinople outlawed it in 553 CE at the insistence of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. This was in opposition to the then Pope Vigilius, who stayed in Rome, as did many of the western bishops. Although the idea of Reincarnation is rejected by Christianity and Islam, if you believe that the soul exists, then it is a spiritually rational way to picture the way that its growth could occur.
What do religions believe about Enlightenment?
Let’s have a look at what the religions believe about enlightenment itself. We can leave out those that reject it, and concentrate on those who try to work with it, to see if we can gain an insight in to what it is:
| Religion | Beliefs about individual enlightenment |
| Hinduism | To attain true liberation, one must experience self-realisation. This is the attainment of a detached state of awareness where one sees everything in creation as a witness. In this state, one experiences the true self, which is free from illusion and delusion. |
| Buddhism | Buddhists generally believe that reality is an undivided whole, and awakening is the realisation of this whole. Note: Buddhist and Hindu beliefs are similar in many ways. |
| Sikhism | Sikhism encourages the practice of attaining a higher state of mind by analysing one’s own being from within – eventually leading to self-realisation. Through this, one eventually attains oneness with God. |
| Jainism | To attain liberation, one must first attain self-realisation (moksha). This means peeling away the unreal layers of one’s personality to reveal the true self and hence understand the true nature of reality. |
There is an interesting term that keeps appearing here, which is “Self-Realisation”. The mundane dictionary definition of this is generally something like, “fulfilment by oneself of the possibilities of one’s character or personality” (Merriam-Webster). When the term is used in the context of enlightenment, the Hindu definition of it is quite complete: “Self-realisation is the attainment of a detached state of awareness where one sees everything in creation as a witness. In this state, one experiences the true self, which is free from illusion and delusion”. Therefore, that internal light-bulb needs to be turned on, in order to experience a true state of self-realisation. In common use, the words enlightenment and self-realisation have become interchangeable, but in fact enlightenment, ie. “bringing light”, is a prerequisite to reaching a full state of self-realisation.
Now we can begin to see the difference between the situation in times past and what happens now. In the past, it was necessary to put in the hard-graft of purifying the body and soul through right living, prayer and meditation for a very long time until one was at the point where the only remaining thing to be experienced was enlightenment. If a person had done all that, then all of a sudden, they could undergo the actual experience of enlightenment. This would instantly plunge them into a state of divine bliss where all knowledge was apparent and the state of self-realisation could be experienced in full. One of the best descriptions of this is from Buddhism when the Buddha attained his enlightenment while sitting under a Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya in India, when he had this experience while meditating.
Hindu scriptures describe this process in some detail. It is known that the only way that enlightenment can happen is for a kind of dormant, mothering energy situated at the base of the spine to be awakened. This is known as the Kundalini energy, which exists in a subtle form, being part and parcel of the feminine aspect of existence. It’s not an energy like electricity or heat, but instead something outside the current scope of scientific measurement, which has its own intelligence. When the Kundalini rises up the central subtle channel in the subtle body, the channel known as the “Sushumna Nadi”, it reaches the subtle centre at the top of the head, known as the “Sahasrara Chakra”. Enlightenment happens when this occurs, and the first thing a person notices is that the mental chatter in the brain subsides, and the subject usually enters a very peaceful, thoughtless state known as “thoughtless awareness”.
The difference nowadays is that enlightenment can come first, before full self-realisation. The probable reason for this change is the collective evolution of human awareness. In the past, the action of the ego (“I”-ness) and superego (attention on “the other”) were dominant in the human brain and human beings couldn’t conceive of anything outside their own personal experience. The effect of all the things humanity has experienced has made our brains much more socially connected and aware than before, so they are now at a state where they are ready for a jump in awareness at a collective level, which is what enlightenment is. In the past, a few people had evolved to this state, but now we all have, and are ready for it. Those who practise Sahaja Yoga, which uses this Kundalini energy, can state this as a fact because they see this happen with every person who tries it.
The interesting thing is that, on achieving enlightenment, there is a fundamental change in the central nervous system, which enables one to feel the presence of the Kundalini energy on the fingertips and other parts of the body as a sensation similar to a cool breeze. Also, one becomes aware of the state of the subtle centres in the body as feelings of heat and tingling on the fingertips. This information can be used to work on the problems in the body and put them right with little effort. It can take a period between seconds, to tens of years, to experience a state of full self realisation after that, depending on one’s initial state of development, but the clarity given by the new physical awareness on the fingertips makes the whole process a lot easier and quicker than it used to be in the past.
Why should we get enlightenment?
We have an idea about what enlightenment is, and how to achieve it. What hasn’t been discussed is why we should get it. From the beginning of time, all life has been evolving. We, as humans, have developed from primitive slime in the sea, billions of years ago, to thinking, feeling beings now. We are supposedly at the pinnacle of the evolutionary ladder. To get to this state, we didn’t have to do anything – it all came about by itself. We can now question the purpose of existence and hope to get answers soon. As most of the religions have discovered, the full answer to our questioning is still just outside our reach – until we get enlightenment and then full self-realisation. This is the pinnacle of human existence on Earth, which can only be fully understood by experiencing it. In this state, it is said that the creating force of the universe (ie. what is known as God) can look upon itself through the eyes of humanity and experience the joy of its own creation in full. This implies that perhaps all of us are simply parts or subcomponents of God waiting to be activated in full.
The highest state is said to be pure love, and it is vibrations in the infinite realm of love that create differences which enable the physical universe to exist. If we could become aware of the love that is behind our physical world, and enjoy being immersed in it, then we would see that the state we are in now is just a temporary one before we all develop the ability to experience it. In the future, we are likely to look back on this time now as being primitive – a time when people were unable to understand each other’s motivations properly, where love and goodness were suppressed because ego reigned supreme. When everybody has their enlightenment and self-realisation, all this will be gone, and we will be able to live in complete harmony with each other forever.
So, where is this taking us?
The traditional religions are all looking for a similar target but don’t seem to agree on how to get to it, while some think they have got there, although they probably haven’t. If you were in your car and your GPS failed to get you to your chosen destination, you would most likely throw it out of the window and pull out a map instead. It’s the same with the goal of the religions, where none have been able to show how to get to it reliably yet in a clear, unambiguous way. They can’t agree on this because they don’t have or acknowledge the key to enlightenment on a mass scale, and many religious leaders are unable to see what the actual issue is. If they found it within themselves to work together to try to reach this goal then they could achieve great things, but we have got used to this state of non-achievement and now make excuses for it rather than demanding something better. Human ego stops this from happening because everybody thinks that the way they see things is the best and only way.
If the world’s religions could work together to understand and promote enlightenment as the goal of existence, then they would create a true “Universal Pure Religion”. This is very unlikely to happen with the existing religions though because this new Universal religion can only be formed by those who have enlightenment and wish with all their hearts to pass it on to the rest of the world, only for the benefit of others and without any limitations. This Universal Pure Religion is “Vishwa Nirmala Dharma”, or as it is better known, “Sahaja Yoga”. It was started by “Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi” in 1970 and is the only reliable route to attaining enlightenment and then self realisation for everybody. Enlightenment happens instantly, and sensations activated in the central nervous system as a result of it, show us the true state of our subtle system and enable a truly balanced state to be attained in body and mind.
Are the teachings of the world’s religions wrong then?
No. Not really. It’s just that they all focus on a part of the whole truth – the part that their self-realised founder chose to tell them at one particular time in history because that was what people needed then. The whole truth contains all the knowledge of all the religions and an infinity besides. The whole truth includes the knowledge of how to achieve enlightenment in this lifetime, and then how to use it to clear ourselves mentally and physically so that we can fulfil our full potential as human beings.
It was said earlier that “Recent developments have made it possible to examine the assertions of religions in a purely logical manner.” If you would like to experience your Inner Awakening and test it out for yourself, then follow the link here for an on-line presentation and meditation session where you can get your enlightenment in a few minutes and start to feel the effects of this on the central nervous system and experience the peace of real meditation. You will be able to feel the effect of different religious practises as feelings of heat or coolness on the hands, which will give you an insight in to their truth – or otherwise.
BhairavaV