<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">

<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; ">
<title>Varieties of Religious Experience</title>

</head>

<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue style='tab-interval:.5in'>

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
	<tr>
		<td>

<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center; margin-top:0;line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0"><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
<span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:7.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><font size="4">Varieties of
Religious Experience</font></span></b></p>
		<div class=Section1>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:10.55pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:10.55pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt'>THERE have been religions, approaches to the
Divine, which did not believe in the divinity of man, the Chaldean line, the
Semitic, for example. According to these, the Creator and the created are
separate in nature and being; to call anything created as God himself is<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp; </span>blasphemy. The ancient Egyptian, the Hebrew
or the Muslim place God high in <st1:place><span style='mso-bidi-font-size:
 11.0pt'>Paradise</span></st1:place>,
and, in their view, man can be only his servant or slave, his worker or
warrior. Man is too small and too earthly to be ever identified with God: he
can only be a worshipper. Man can love God, at the most, as his Beloved. But
this devotion is for something afar, like the desire of the moth for the star.
And to equate the two is to confuse realities. Man as worshipper and devotee
can attain certain divine qualities, but limited and modified and always
humanized to a large extent. And God can never become man. He sends down his
representative, his vicar, prophet or apostle who acts for him and in and
through whom He acts, but He himself does not come down and put on the form or
flesh. The universe is God’s handiwork and testifies to his miracle and glory;
but the universe is not God. Between the watch and the watchmaker there is
always a hiatus and an incommensurability.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:10.55pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt'>But can we say, ‘I am born of God, and yet I
am not God’? So the Indian boldly declares, all this is the supreme Divine,
there is nothing else than the Divine – sarvam khalvidam brahma – I am He, Thou
are That, or again, that which is in me and the conscious being which is there
in the Sun are one and the same thing. God has created man and the world, He is
in man and in the world, He has become and is man and the world. Not only so.
Not only does God become the clod of earth by reducing his potential – to zero,
so to say; but He<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;'>Page – 190<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-line-height-alt:
10.55pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'>

<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>descends often enough in his own being and
consciousness here below, assuming a human form for a special work and a
special purpose. This is the Indian<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;
</span>conception of Avatarhood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:
11.75pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>The Christian conception seems to occupy an
intermediary position, being a sort of connecting link between the two. Christ
is not only the Son of God, he is also the God-Man­ – he declares very clearly
and categorically that he and the Father in heaven are one and that everyone
should be as perfect as God himself. Still a difference is maintained. First of
all, with regard to the birth. The God-Man was not born in sin like ordinary
mortals, an immaculate virgin gave him birth. And with regard to the union or
identity of Father and Son, the fusion is not absolute. Man is asked to be as
pure and perfect as God, but only in kind and not in being and subs­tance. The
purified and perfect souls sit by the side of God in heaven, they do not lose
themselves in God. The Vaishnava conception in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span
  style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'> was in the same line. The liberated soul, according
to it, dwells with God in the same world, possesses God's qualities – the union
is that of Salokya and Sadharmaya – but it does not become one and indivisible
with God (Sayujya).<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:10.55pt;mso-line-height-alt:
11.75pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>The Sufi doctrine also occupies an
intermediate position, like the Christian, between the Chaldean and the
Vedantic. The absolute identity of the human lover and the Divine Beloved, a
complete fusion of the two at a particular stage or moment of consciousness is
one of the cardinal experiences in the Sufi discipline. But that is an
innermost state, not normal or habitual in life and activity, where the
difference, the separation between the adorer and the adored is maintained
exactly for the delight of play. But the dualism in the Indian discipline is
more than compensated by the doctrine of In­carnation which obliterates
fundamentally all difference between the human and the Divine. According to it,
God does not become man only once, as in the Christian view, but that it is one
of his constant functions. Indeed, the Indian tradition is that He is always
the leader of terrestrial evolu­tion; at each crisis, at each moment of need
for guidance, He comes down in flesh and blood, in the form of an earthly
creature to show the way, how to live and move and act.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>The special gift of the Chaldean line of
discipline lay in<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page – 191<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-line-height-alt:
11.75pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'>

<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>another direction. It cultivated not so much
the higher lines of spiritual realisation but was occupied with what may be
called the mid regions, the occult world. This material universe is not moved
by the physical, vital or mental forces that are apparent and demonstrable, but
by other secret and subtle forces; in fact, these are the motive forces, the
real agents that work out and initiate movements in Nature, while the apparent
ones are only the external forms and even masks. This occultism was also </span><span
lang=EN-GB style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>practised</span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'> very largely in ancient Egypt from where the
Greeks took up a few threads. The Mysteries – Orphic and Eleusinian –
cultivated the tradition within a restricted circle and in a very esoteric
manner. The tradition continued into the Christian Church also and an inner
group formed in its heart that </span><span lang=EN-GB style='mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>practised</span><span style='mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt'> and kept alive something of this ancient science. The external tenets
and dogmas of the Church did not admit or tolerate this which was considered as
black magic, the Devil's Science. The evident reason was that if one pursued
this line of occultism and tasted of the power it gave, one might very likely
deviate from the straight and narrow path leading to the Spirit and spiritual
salvation. In India too the <i>siddhis </i>or occult powers were always shunned
by the truly spiritual, although sought by the many who take to the spiritual
life – often with disas­trous results. In Christianity, side by side with the
major saints, there was always a group or a line of </span><span lang=EN-GB
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>practicants</span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'> that followed the occult system, although
outwardly observing the official creed. It is curious to note that often where
the original </span><span style='mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt'>text of the Bible
speaks of </span><i><span style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>gods, </span></i><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt'>in the plural, referring to the </span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>deities or occult powers, the official
version translates it as God, to give the necessary theistic value and
atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:
11.75pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>But if occultism is to be feared because of
its wrong use and potential danger, spirituality too should then be placed on
the same footing. All good things in the world have their deformation and
danger, but that is no reason why one should avoid them altogether. What is
required is right attitude and discrimination, training and discipline. Viewed
in the true light, occultism is dynamic spirituality; in other words, it seeks
to express and execute, bring down to the material life the powers and
principles of the Spirit through the agency of the subtler forces of mind and
life and the subtle physical.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page – 192<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-line-height-alt:
11.75pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'>

<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='mso-bidi-font-size:
11.0pt'>Occultism is naturally shunned by those who worship, who </span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>seek to experience the transcendent Spirit,
God <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>in<b> </b></span>Heaven, but it is
an indispensable instrument for those who endeavour to manifest the Divine <span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>in<b> </b></span>a concrete form.</span><span style='mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page – 193<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:12.0pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'>

<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>

</div>

  <p class=MsoNormal align="right" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0">
	<a href="-000_Content"><img src="_Gif%20file/shome.gif" width="53" height="23" border="0"></a></p>

  <div align=right> 
	<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> </div>

</div>

		</td>
	</tr>
</table>

</body>

</html>
