THE HOLIEST Readings (The Koran)

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Tablet Twelve

SACRIFICE

<1>Sacrifice (being humble) is a must for a spiritual aspirant. However, sacrifice can be of three kinds like any other action. It can be from ignorance, passion, or knowledge. <2>Sacrifice which is performed for establishing the Kingdom Of Heaven cannot be from ignorance. It is from knowledge.

<3>Esa the Christ is the best example and symbol for humanity to show that the Kingdom will not be established without sacrifice. He came to show the way to Jews and others how to sacrifice for the human ideal (higher self). <4>That is why he is an example for humanity.

 

Surah Repentance (At-Taubah)

Those who die in God's way (establishing the Kingdom Of Heaven) will be highly rewarded:

The believers surrender themselves and their possessions to God in exchange for paradise [Pure Consciousness]. So they fight for His cause and slay the enemy or are slain. This is the binding promise God has taken upon Himself, it is in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Qu'ran; and who fulfills His covenant better than God? Rejoice, therefore, in this bargain you made with Him. Indeed it is the ultimate victory. (111)
<5>Not only is it in the Torah, Gospel, and Qu'ran (Koran) but also it is in the Bhagavad-Gita (2:32).

 

Surah Ornaments of Gold (Az-Zukhruf)

Sending Christ to set an example for the Children of Israel to show them how to establish the Kingdom Of Heaven by sacrifice:


He [Esa] was only Our slave upon which we bestowed favor, and made him an example for the Children of Israel. (59)

<6>He came to show the Children of Israel how to establish the Will of the Lord, which is given by their sign (kohoe-s.gif (879 bytes)), which means the Kingdom Of Heaven On Earth. He showed them that it can be done only by sacrifice (cross-s.gif (869 bytes)) (not being self-centered).

   

SELF-REALIZATION

<7>Self-realization means to know who you are. It is understood by wise men that "knowing self is knowing God." We are in the image of God, which means likeness to Him. So if we know ourselves, we will be able to know Him.

<8>Also, knowing Him is the same as knowing self. That is why by reading the Scriptures, listening to the truth spoken by realized souls (Satsang), contemplating the universe, etc., the human can come closer to Him and also to his own self.

<9>Each man is enough to understand all the truth of the universe by himself if he is a real seeker. He has the most perfect body and faculties to guide him on the path.

 

Surah The Rising of the Dead (Al-Qiyamah)

Each person is enough for judging himself:


In truth man is a witness over his doings, (14)

 

SIN

<10>Sin is violation (or transgression) of the Universal Laws. <11>When a person does his actions according to the Universal Laws (Daharma) and his personal Daharma (nature), then there is no sin. <12>However, when a person violates his nature (the thing he was made to be) and universal set-ups, that is violence and he creates samskaras (reactions to the actions). These will stay as a burden on his Soul until either he understands the lessons given to him through these reactions or he bears the fruit of his deeds, to eventually understand the lesson. <13>There is also collective karma as an example for others.

 

Surah The Bee (Al-Nahl)

Sinning and not appreciating the Grace of the Lord will affect prosperity:

 

God put an example as a guidance for you, the case of a town which was secure and well content, and its appointed provision coming to it from all quarters plentifully; but it became ungrateful and disbelieved in God's favor, so He made it experience famine and fear in the consequence of what they used to do. (112)

 

Surah Spider (Al-'Ankabut)

The false leaders will create great burdens for themselves. Also in the Koran, karma (samskara) is equal with sin:

 

However, they [false leaders] certainly will bear their own load beside the load of others which will be added to theirs, and they surely will be questioned on the Day of Judgment concerning that which they fabricated. (13)  
<14>What is that "load?" That is the reaction of your bad actions (samskaras, sins). <15>Also you will be punished for misguiding others. So the false prophets will be severely punished.

 

SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE IS FOR SELF, NOT FOR PROPHETS OR GOD

<16>The spiritual struggle and teachings are necessary to be successful in the path.  They are all for the good of the aspirant. The struggle is to bring the consciousness out of the grip of the lower nature to higher consciousness. <17>But it is not an easy process. That is why those who have gone through this path should show the way to others who want to also follow a spiritual life.

<18>God's Revelations, Prophets, Gurus, etc., are all the lights for human guidance. Each is like a light shining out of a dark jungle. It is true that the spiritual aspirant is in the jungle and cannot see anything, but if he directs all his attention to that light, he will reach it and escape the darkness.

<19>So it is not a favor from the disciple to his spiritual teachers that he become a believer, but it is the Masters, Prophets, or God who bestow favor upon the aspirant. They are striving for themselves, and the spiritual teachers are the lights of their way.

 

Surah The Spider (Al-'Ankabut)

The real meaning of "jahad," an internal and external struggle to establish the truth (the Kingdom Of Heaven):

Whosoever strives in the Ways of God, strives only for the good of his Soul; God is certainly Independent from all creatures. (6)  

 

Surah The Private Apartments (Al-Hujurat)

Those who believe actually do good to themselves, not to the Prophets:


They make it as if they have done a favor to you that they have surrendered (to God).

Say: Consider not by accepting to be submissive to Him [Islam] you have done me a favor. No, in truth it is God who bestowed a favor upon you that He has led you to the Faith, if you are truthful. (17-18)


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