THE HOLIEST
FOUR THE HOLIEST BOOK, HOLIEST
Tablet Two
Surah The Family of 'Imran
What the Koran means by the devil, verses 14 and 15:
"The desire for pleasure from the objects of the senses which comes from women [lower nature] and offspring and stored-up reserves of gold and silver, marked horses (by their names), and cattle and properties, appeals to the worldly men. These are the comfort for this material world. It is with Allah which is an excellent abode."
"Say (O Muhammad): Shall I inform you of something better than these which are so dear to you (O worldly people)! For those who keep from evil and are aware of their duties to Allah, there are gardens with rivers flowing beneath, and pure companions and the blessings of Allah. Allah is watchful of His Bondmen." (The Family of 'Imran, 14-15)
<1>What these verses describe is that, "The desire for pleasure from the objects of the senses which comes from women and offspring, and stored-up gold and silver," and horses, cattle, and similar things, are all the attractions of the external world. In verse 15 it is said, "Those who keep from evil," which means, those who keep from being attracted to these things which are evil (attractions to the external world) can understand the reality of the spiritual world.
<2>So again evil is nothing but excess attraction to the external world. Evil is not a being. It is a quality of the human which can be overcome. So evil is the same as Maya, the attraction to the material world.
Reincarnation, verse 27:
"...You bring the living from the dead, and bring the dead from the living." (The Family of 'Imran, 27)
<3>God can bring the living from the dead and He can bring the dead from the living. So God (Allah) in the Koran is an able God. He can do whatever He wishes to do. If He is an able God and can bring the dead from the living and the living from the dead, then He is also able to reincarnate. If we say He cannot reincarnate, then we are saying that He is not an able God as Prophet Muhammad taught.
Meditation, silence, and remembrance of God, verse 41:
"Zakariah said: My Lord, lay upon me a token. He (the Angel) replied: The token for you is that you should not speak with people for three days but by signs, and remember the Lord much, and praise Him by night and early morning." (The Family of 'Imran, 41)
<4>This verse presents that silence, the remembrance of God, and meditating on Him and His creation is a part of becoming closer to Him. That is why meditation, silence, and being an observer is recommended by all great spiritual teachers to keep oneself away from the crowd. <5>Also this encourages thinking about the creation, what is happening in this world, why we are here, what we are doing here, what we are, what is God, etc.
Reincarnation, verse 49:
"...and I raise the dead, by Allah's permission..." (The Family of 'Imran, 49)
<6>It is Allah (God) who will decide to raise or cause to die. It is God who can reincarnate or not reincarnate. It is Allah (God) who can send the same person again and again to this earth, or not. It is God who can also send some people sometime or other people other times. Or it is God who does not send at all. <7>So again, if we say, "Allah cannot reincarnate" then we are saying what He can do or what He cannot do. He can do whatever He wants to do.
Non-believers, verse 54:
"And they (the disbelievers) devised their plans, and Allah devised His! Allah is the best planner," (The Family of 'Imran, 54)
<8>Unbelievers think that they can cheat on God, especially by changing the Scriptures. But they do not know that God is very aware of their hearts and will carry out His own Plan for the universe. They change the Scriptures or try to follow their own false egos in order to serve their own purposes. However, then God sends another great Prophet (in this case Prophet Muhammad) to bring truth back to the light again. <9>So the sun does not stay under the clouds forever. Truth should be accepted by all. That is The Plan.
<10>God brings His religion again and again into this world. The people try to destroy it, but another Prophet or spiritual teacher comes and reveals truth from the Akashic Records again, until eventually all understand and see the hand of God in history and creation. Then people should stop fighting the truth and accept it!
Elected Ones, verse 55:
"Remember when Allah told Esa that: I will cause you to die and then your Soul shall be ascended unto me, and will clean you from calumnies of disbelievers, and will exalt you above disbelievers to the Day of Judgment; then unto Me you all will return, and I shall judge between you on what you used to differ." (The Family of 'Imran, 55)
<11>Why are Christ and his followers preferred over the unbelievers? It is because he and his followers were always preferred to unbelievers. They are the Elected Ones. The people who followed Christ were Elected Ones, as the people who followed Prophet Muhammad were Elected Ones.
<12>These people have been reincarnated again and again, and have set the world in the right direction. <13>Later on, the world becomes corrupt again. So they have to come back. <14>However, each time they come back some new people will be saved and will reach higher consciousness. This process will continue until all understand The Plan of God and establish the Kingdom Of Heaven On Earth. That is why Christ called them "the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13). Without these people we would not even be here where we are now. That is why they are above disbelievers.
Worshipping one God, verse 79:
"A righteous human being whom Allah had given the Scripture and wisdom and the prophethood will not say to people: Worship me instead of Allah. But according to their duty, they say: Be faithful devotees of God, by constant preaching and attentive studying of the Scriptures." (The Family of 'Imran, 79)
<15>It says, "Those whom Allah sends as His Messengers or Prophets do not tell people, 'Worship me.' They come and say, 'Worship the Lord.'" <16>For example, even if God incarnated Himself as a human and started preaching the truth, what good would it do for Him to say who He is? The only thing that would happen is that the people who followed Him would create big false egos and would start to look down at others. <17>That is why those who take Prophets as the Lord God or think they themselves are the only chosen ones do more harm than good for God-realization.
<18>Also this verse is helpful to observe some points that Prophet Muhammad was revealing:
<19>"Whom Allah had given the Scripture and wisdom and the prophethood": So God can give prophethood to anyone He wishes to, in any time of history before and after Prophet Muhammad. It is up to Him. Even thinking that any Prophet is the last is a sin, because we are saying what God should do or should not do. The Lord God has a Great Plan to fulfill, and He will not stop until it is fulfilled.
<20>"Be faithful devotees of God by constant preaching and attentive studying of the Scripture": Here it is emphasized to read the Scriptures and share satsang. <21>That is one of the reasons why religions have lost their validity, because people do not know about them. So they just believe whatever they have been told by other people or preachers.
<22>"Attentive studying of the Scripture": Study of the Scriptures is one of the duties of the human. Those who believe they can find all the truth only by meditating are completely wrong. Study is a great part of spiritual progress.