Creation of the Material Dimension

All energies emanate from the Supreme Person and everything animate and inanimate is owned and controlled by Him. Three energies compose all that exists within the material and spiritual dimensions. Material scientists refer to two of these energies: matter (the material dimension or the inferior energy of the Lord) and anti-matter (the spiritual dimension or the superior energy of the Lord). The third energy is the eternal living being, referred to as marginal energy, because the living being can exist within the material dimension encased in a material body or in the spiritual dimension in his original eternal form composed completely of spiritual energy.

The building blocks of all gross material objects within the material dimension consist of singular or combinations of five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether or space. Mind, intelligence, and false ego are subtle material elements or energies that also cover the embodied living being. All animate material objects within the material dimension are animated by the eternal living being within.

Other examples of subtle material energies: the illusory energy, desire, attachment, lust, the four material defects (imperfect senses, propensity to cheat, propensity to be illusioned, making mistakes), etc., further cover the living being within the material dimension.

Maha Vishnu and the billions of massive universes coming from His body.

The material dimension of innumerable planets within innumerable universes regularly undergoes creation and then dissolution. At dissolution, the entire energy composing the material dimension is withdrawn within the Supreme Person, to be released when creation again takes place. The entire material dimension is an insignificant emanation of the Lord’s inferior energy and is controlled and destroyed by His energy called kala or time.

The purpose for creation of the material dimension is to allow freedom of choice to the eternal living being to live apart from God outside of His kingdom if he so desires. Each living being within the spiritual dimension experiences full happiness in his relationship with the Supreme Person and in his relationships with all other fellow living beings there. How is it possible that living beings in the perfection of existence could possibly desire something else?

Freedom to love and serve God is not forced upon the living being, nor is that freedom to choose an imperfection. Actual loving service and devotion for the Supreme Lord must be completely free from any doubt or tinge of indecision. If one feels the slightest desire to not serve, then immediately that desire is fulfilled by birth and incarceration in the prison of the material dimension. Now, I can falsely “do what I want.”

It is like a child playing nicely in a group of other kids who then wants to do something else and will disrupt the whole group to try to get his way. So, he leaves to go do his thing, and he realizes it is not so fun without everyone else. The material dimension is set up so that the living being realizes that he has left his actual happiness and then wants to return.

In this material dimension, the envious living being can attempt to be the controller, the owner, the enjoyer, competing with all other beings who want to take God’s position of being the Supreme Enjoyer, the Supreme Controller, the Supreme Protector, the Supreme Lover, the Supreme Master, etc.

The wayward and rebellious living beings have unlimited desires to try to fulfill and must struggle so hard just to maintain the material body, family, friends, occupation, security, and well-being. At the same time, weighed down by karmic reaction, suffering caused by other living beings, natural disturbances, mental dilemmas, and so many other problems, one’s body ages as one faces death on the horizon. Once again, eternal time exacts its toll.

I am an eternal living being who has freely made the sad decision to leave behind all that is good, all that is eternal, all that is fulfilling, and all that is perfect. My rehabilitation takes place in the dimension created for that purpose, the perfectly created illusory, temporary, dark dungeon of material existence with no escape possible until I turn to my Supreme Friend and ask for release.

Within the material dimension, I am covered by ignorance that blocks any recollection of my eternal existence, ignorance that makes me believe I can find happiness here, ignorance that masks the suffering of temporary life in a temporary body, ignorance that I am the cause of all my suffering, ignorance that cheats me from understanding why the material dimension exists, and ignorance that hides all other truth from me. I have amnesia caused by ignorance and I do not even know who I am or why I am here.

I am perpetually trapped within this place of repeated birth and death and may believe I have a “good” life, but death is always lurking, waiting to take it all away. Anxiety shadows me throughout my travels, from the upper planetary systems to the lower, as I rotate on the wheel of birth and death, always interrupting my quest for pleasure and peace.

As I grow weary of repeated failures life after life, if I am fortunate, I come in contact with transcendental sound and knowledge which is the lifeline to pull me from the ocean of material suffering. My intelligence becomes purified, and I realize that I am an eternal person imprisoned in a temporary decaying dimension of time, of birth, disease, old age, and death.

The transcendental process of Sadhana Bhakti becomes my parole from this dark collection of material universes and my complete freedom comes with the perfection of Bhakti Yoga.

See more:

https://sif.yoga/yoga-wisdom

https://www.youtube.com/c/ScienceofIdentityFoundation

About Author:

Sahadeva Das is an initiated disciple of Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa who comes in a long line of bona fide yoga spiritual masters. Sahadeva Das considers it his great fortune in life to have heard and learned from a self-realized soul and is humbly attempting to pass on what he has received. 

Immunity from Birth & Death

Spiritual emancipation begins with self-realization: Who am I? Why do I exist? What is my purpose? Why am I controlled by forces outside of me? Why do I suffer? Why is my happiness fleeting and temporary? Why do I have to struggle for existence? Why do I face death?

Why do I ignore all these questions or fail to find honest answers?

Death always finds every living being regardless of their social position, level of intelligence, power, wealth, determination, or species. Every event, emotion, relationship, fear, activity…experienced between birth and death is seen and known.

What is seen at death and after? Are there answers that are absolute and unchangeable across time, regardless of changing civilizations, religions, and philosophies?

The sun rises and sets, unchanging and constant.

Absolute knowledge is unchanging and constant, now, a million years in the past, a million years in the future, in every universe and planet, in all circumstances and for every unique living being.

Natural and Spiritual laws can be ignored, defied, and broken, but never defeated as the resulting reactions are invincible and always carried out.

Wars, hurricanes, earthquakes, famine, disease, and all calamities and sufferings are examples of resultant reactions from breaking these infallible laws which govern the material dimension.

The opposite is also true: prosperity, peace, beneficial and regulated climate, abundance, happiness, are examples of resultant reactions of knowing and following the natural and spiritual laws that govern the universe.

Beyond the good and bad results, the pain and pleasure, the birth and death, the order and chaos, the heavenly and hellish conditions, the unrelenting control of cruel time, exists a place completely devoid of all these material conditions of duality and suffering.

The only requirement to enable anyone to come to the platform of perfect understanding is a sincere desire to humbly receive this transcendental knowledge descending from that eternal place where the only law is perfect love.

The human form of life is suitable for inquiring into and understanding the science of Bhakti Yoga which breaks the bonds of material reaction and results in the perfection of existence.

Trapped on the insurmountable wheel of birth and death, no solutions are possible to be found within the speculative minds of all the intellectuals, philosophers, and “religionists”, who for all time have struggled and failed to understand Spiritual Truth as it is.

One who has seen the truth enlightens those sincere living beings who are genuine seekers of truth, releasing them from the temporary illusions of an unending cycle of birth ending in death, and mistakenly called “life”.

Anywhere and everywhere on this planet earth, among individuals, families, cities, states, countries, and societies, regardless of the species, controllers or dominators exert their power. Similarly, universal controllers manage all the forces acting on the planetary systems within the confined universe or prison of birth and death.

Every eternal living being in the material universe is imprisoned in a material cell (the body, mind, and intelligence) and is allowed to move about the prison (the material world), ironically feeling “free”, not realizing that the death sentence has been pronounced and is simply waiting to be carried out. In the penitentiary this same situation places the person on “death row”.

Nobody in their right mind desires to spend their life in prison, yet every living being is trying to enjoy their endless imprisonment in the material world by incessantly attempting to find happiness where no real happiness can be found. Surviving incarceration life after life does not equal true existence.

The solution revealed by those who are enlightened takes root in the heart of the living being when received by aural reception. This pure transmission of transcendental knowledge emanates from one who has themself received it from the pure source.

The conditions of our true and actual existence are eternality, full knowledge, and ever- increasing spiritual happiness resulting from the most intense, satisfying perfection of our loving relationship of service to the most perfectly attractive Supreme Being.

To begin and culminate this journey of uncovering one’s original identity, position, and function, the path of Bhakti Yoga stands supreme. When faithfully and sincerely followed, Bhakti Yoga transports one from enduring the suffering of material life to the world of unending and ever expanding spiritually perfect relationships.

These eternal relationships unfold like the petals of the Lotus flower, blooming with unlimited varieties of intensely pleasurable activities in the mood of servant, friend, parent, or lover with the Supreme Attractive Person.

In stark contrast, the embodied living being tastes disappointment, frustration, anxiety, and anger while trapped in illusory temporary relationships of this world. Each of these relationships, built over a lifetime, generates uncountable attachments which cause immense suffering as the living being is cruelly forced from the useless body at the time of death.

This false position of identifying oneself with a temporary body made of matter reduces the pure and eternal living being to a state of ignorance referred to as “false ego”.

As the sun rises, crosses the sky, and then sets; similarly, the living being enters the body and is born, crosses the expanse of life, and then leaves the body at death.

What then is the body? The body can be understood to be a machine made of matter, energized by the eternal living being and utilized to interact with other embodied living beings in a counterfeit attempt to imitate the activities of the spiritual dimension.

All such attempts end in complete failure because matter and material activities are temporary by nature. The living being is eternal by nature and meant to exist in the eternal spiritual world complete with all varieties of spiritual forms, relationships, and activities.

When inhabiting a material form the living being endeavors to enjoy life. Having forgotten completely his spiritual form and identity, the living being mistakes the machine made of matter (the body) as the most important person in his life (me!)

Very few persons approach the Truth with an honest desire and determination to openly receive the greatest gift of love that can be given: to be raised to the transcendental platform of eternality, complete knowledge, and perfect unending ever-expanding love and happiness in our uniquely perfect relationship with the Perfect Supreme Person. This is the true goal of life, achieved through the process of Bhakti Yoga.

Learn More:

https://wisdom.yoga/

https://www.youtube.com/@Acharyadas108

About Author:

Sahadeva das is an initiated disciple of Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa who comes in a long line of bona fide yoga spiritual masters. Sahadeva das considers it his great fortune in life to have heard and learned from a self-realized soul and is humbly attempting to pass on what he has received. 

Ascending & Descending Path to Perfection

Many have struggled to ascend Mt. Everest, some have succeeded, and some have failed. They all have a strong drive to conquer Mt. Everest and some live and some die in the attempt. Training, climbing techniques, physical conditioning, desire and determination, proper equipment, are all factors of a successful ascent of the mountain peak. What are the unknown factors beyond anyone’s control which ultimately decide the climber’s fate?

Throughout the ages, man has endeavored to reach the summit of spiritual perfection in one of two methods: by the ascending or the descending process for attaining spiritual truth.

The ascending process relies on a self-centered approach that I can, and I will conquer the mountain of supreme knowledge and truth by my personal prowess. This effort mimics the climber of Mt. Everest.

The descending process is one of surrender and dependence on receiving all that I need by the mercy of God.

Ultimately, both are subject to the will of the Supreme Person. The expert climber may be defeated by bad weather, equipment failures, avalanches, sickness, etc., all of which are beyond his control and proof that there is a higher power than himself.

The highest spiritual perfection one can achieve through the ascending process is to approach the impersonal brahman. Actual entrance into the brahmajyoti requires the permission of the Supreme Lord. The success achieved by the ascending process is the lowest level of spiritual realization and is shunned by the spiritualists who desire to attain complete and perfect realization of the Supreme Person.

For eons, spiritual seekers have spent lifetimes failing to climb their way into the spiritual dimension by their own efforts. Not understanding that the Supreme Absolute is a person, they try to force themselves into his presence. God is the Supreme Person who alone decides to allow the living being to approach Him or to keep him away.

Giving up all arrogance, pride, and faith in one’s own abilities, the sincere seeker of truth, can, in full humility, approach the Supreme Lord for His help. Receiving his transcendental mercy in the form of transcendental sound, scripture, saintly persons, and the lord in the heart, one can achieve perfection by receiving God’s help descending from the spiritual dimension.

The descending process, therefore, depends on me giving up all my efforts to figure things out and to simply receive perfect guidance, knowledge, and assistance from the Supreme Friend who desires my return to the spiritual world.

Bhakti yoga is the perfect linking process to the Supreme Lord and the perfection of the descending process to achieve the goal of life. There are no material requirements to achieve the pinnacle of perfection. I only need to sincerely approach God and ask for His help, and He will respond.

Whatever understanding I have of God is sufficient for me to approach Him through sincere communication of any type, silently within my mind, out loud, by writing, etc. He is present everywhere and in my heart. He always knows my thoughts, desires, secrets, and is the witness of all my activities.

He is my best friend and eternal well-wisher Who arranges my life, and places opportunities before me, to progress on the path of self-realization and God-realization according to my sincerity and determination.

If my efforts for self-realization and God-realization fall under the category of the ascending process, then I am simply in the illusion that I am powerful enough to approach God and come into His presence. This attitude is simply material arrogance and blocks my entrance into the spiritual dimension.

The living being who cultivates spiritual humility by the purifying process of Bhakti Yoga, will realize that he is completely powerless to approach the Absolute Truth on his own. In this consciousness one can then receive spiritual knowledge, understanding, and remembrance to develop attraction and then love for God. God alone decides, if and when, to fully reveal Himself to the sincere and humble seeker.

This is the descending spiritual process which is a process of surrender to the Supreme Person and the reception of His mercy, grace, and love.

By this descending process only, I return to my original position as the loving eternal associate of the Supreme Person.

See more:

https://sif.yoga/yoga-wisdom

https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/authors/science-of-identity-foundation

About Author:

Freedom from Birth & Death

The birth of a child is a celebration, a welcoming of a newcomer into a family. But with every birth must come death. We all know this to be true, although we prefer not to think about it. However, we may not be aware that every death is followed by a birth. The Bhagavad-Gita describes this truth:

For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:27

Who is the one, referred to here, whose birth and death is certain? The answer is the living being, or spirit soul. The soul itself does not actually die, so the birth and death being described are only the birth and death of the body.

For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:20 

Even though I experience the birth and death of the body I am in, I never die, and I am never born. I am the living being within the body. My body is born, but I existed before that birth. In fact, there has never been a time when I did not exist. I came into the body at conception, and I will leave it at death. I am eternal and always a person, whether or not I am in a material body.

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:22

This cycle of repeated birth, death and reincarnation, is recognized in many traditions and is understood as being a painful experience, not something to celebrate.

The soul changes bodies as a person changes garments.

Can I become free from the cycle of birth and death? According to Vedic literature, this is not only possible but is the goal of human life. Indeed, it is only while I am in a human body that I can inquire into these subjects and can learn how to end the cycle of birth and death.

What happens when I am freed from having to accept and give up material bodies? Some people think that if I don’t have a material body, then I must be some kind of formless spirit. Their idea is that there is no form, variety, or activity in the spiritual world. But, according to the Vedas, this is not the case.

The spiritual world is not void, and I have an eternal spiritual form, even though I am currently unaware of it. I am meant to live in the spiritual world experiencing spiritual activities, spiritual happiness, spiritual emotions, and spiritual relationships.

There is a practice called Bhakti Yoga which is the most effective and efficient means of ending the cycle of birth and death. The Vedas are full of histories of people who became self-realized and free from birth and death by following the path of Bhakti Yoga.

That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered. Being so situated, even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:72

About the Author:

Learn More: –

https://sif.yoga/

Are You Prepared for Death? 

Picture this. You have not been feeling well for the past month, and you decide to go for a check-up. Your doctor tells you that you have a fast-moving fatal blood cancer, and you only have a month to live. How would you feel? Would you be in shock or denial, or angry? At any time, any one of us could get bad news from a doctor, telling us that we have only a short time to live. 

Most likely your mind would be racing as you’re overcome with fear and grief, for yourself, for your family, and for everything you stand to lose. “Why me?” you might ask. “This cannot be happening.” Panic and lamentation would set in as you lose all composure and realize, “I am not prepared for death.” 

Do any of us know what happens after death or how to prepare for the inevitable end that awaits us? 

For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:20

Nowhere else will you find such a clear explanation of death as in the yoga scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. While death is a reality, we will all face, we are not taught what it actually is and how to prepare for it. However, with proper knowledge and preparation, we can avoid the pain, suffering, and fear that usually accompanies the moment of death. 

As the embodied soul continually passes in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.  
Bhagavad-Gita 2:13

When the body is no longer able to function, due to an accident, disease, old age, or some other factor, the embodied soul must leave. Those who see a dead body and grieve the death of the person they loved are misidentifying the dead body as the person who has left. But the person they loved is an eternal being and can never die. They continue to exist after they leave the body. 

The person leaving the body also suffers greatly due to the illusion that they are dying. But it is only their body that is dying. If we identify our body as ourselves, and we do not know that we are an eternal living being, death is a very fearful experience. 

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:22 

In order to leave the body without grief and fear, we must become self-realized. And what is self-realization? It is understanding that we are an eternal living being, a spark of God, a child of God, away from our spiritual home, and temporarily within a material body. The body is not our true identity. 

It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:25 

We are destined for rebirth in another material body unless we learn how to break free from the cycle of repeated birth and death. Liberation from this cycle is possible when we realize we are eternally connected to the Supreme Soul, in a loving relationship with Him. 

If you were told that in one week you will have to leave everything behind and move to a foreign country, with no chance of return, would you prepare? 

Moment by moment, the lifespan of your body is being reduced. Your body is going to die. Are you prepared to leave and to face what comes next? According to the yoga teachings, this life is meant for self-realization and for ending the cycle of birth and death. The practice of bhakti yoga offers a direct and practical path to self-realization – a path that is available to everyone. 

Sources:

Science of Identity Foundation – YouTube

Science of Identity Foundation – Sound Cloud

Science of Identity Foundation – Spirituality & Health

About Author:

Where Did I Come From?

Where have I come from? If I trace my time in this world back through the years, it might seem that I came from a cramped womb, via the process of birth. I was squeezed out into blinding light and cold, into an abrupt change in environment. But was this really the beginning of my existence in this world?

Vedic literature tells me that I am an eternal living being and that I have repeatedly undergone the experience of birth.

As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:13

This may be the only body I recall having but previously I was in another body. When that body died, I left it and passed into this new body which grew in my mother’s womb.

Above, a man is changing garments, and below the soul is changing bodies.
[Image Courtesy: Asitis.com]

I can remember the different stages of my body as it grew, my small child’s body, my boyhood body, my teenager body, and so on. And now I am in an old man’s body! I, the soul, have passed through these different bodies. My body has changed, but I still feel that I am the same person I have always been.

This is because I am the eternal person within the body, not the ever changing and temporary body itself. I have been here all along, watching the changing of the body. Death is just another change of body.

For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:20 

I am an eternal spiritual being, and I do not need a material body. In fact, I do not belong in the material world at all. I came from an eternal spiritual world, the real home of the eternal living beings, where there is no birth and death.

Please watch this 10+ min video discourse from Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa about the evidence of the unchanging self to know more.

I have been here in the material universe so long that it is impossible to trace out the exact history of my entry. But I don’t have to stay here. I may have amnesia and no longer know my eternal home. I may have forgotten who I really am. But these memories are not lost, they are just buried, covered by the illusion that I am this material body.

Above, a devotee is engaged in various devotional activities for the Deities (authorized incarnations of the Lord, who comes in this form to accept our service). Below, a sankhya-yogi engages in the analytical study of matter and spirit. After some time, he realizes the Lord (the forms of Radha and Krsna include all other forms of the Lord) within his heart, and then he engages in devotional service.
[Image Courtesy: Asitis.com]

I am an eternal spiritual being, and I will never be happy within the temporary material world of birth and death. My amnesia can be cured by the process of Bhakti Yoga. This is the easiest and most powerful of all yoga practices. By Bhakti Yoga alone, I can return to my original position in the spiritual world.

That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered. Being so situated, even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:72 

Thank you for reading!

Source: –

https://www.youtube.com/thescienceofidentity

https://sif.yoga/

https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/authors/science-of-identity-foundation

About Author: