Each religion has its own form of sadhana, but all these sadhanas lead to the same spiritual ground. And all the saints in the world stand on this spiritual ground which is beyond all religions. (Maharajji Sacha Baba)
Every true religion leads to God. No matter what God-ordained religion one follows, its beliefs will merge in one and the same common experience of God. Yoga (use of a scientific technique leading to union with God) is the unifying path that is followed by all religionists as they make the final approach to God.
A person is not born into a religion by chance. It is the soul which chooses the circumstances of rebirth, based upon the way we have lived in past lives. It is responsible for the application of the Law of Karma in our lives. It takes into account past elements such as our thoughts, words and deeds, and also what we ate and drank. It then takes the “seeds” of these past elements and uses them to create our different bodies, which house our consciousness on different planes.
That is why it is no accident that we are born into a particular religion, or perhaps in a family which taught us nothing about the spiritual world. The soul chooses the family of birth according to the law of karma, and which will favour the spiritual development of both the reincarnating one and the family. A very heavy drinker, for example, if towards the end of his former life truly wanted to, and tried to change after much suffering, could thus be reborn in a family with a religion which encourages living through the heart and discourages drinking and other excesses. This could seem too strict to him, but it would have been his own soul, i.e. he himself who would have made that choice, and so changing religions to escape from it would only hinder his progress.
It is therefore not for our lower mind (our lower self, our personality) to decide which spiritual path to choose, for it does not have enough wisdom to do so. This is best left to the higher consciousness which guides us when allowed to, when we listen to the promptings of the heart. We simply need to go to our heart, which is closely connected to God, and ask Him to guide us, and have the patience to learn how to follow its promptings. The inner Master can guide all sincere seekers at every step of the path, to the Light, and indicate the changes and adjustments needed in our lives. At the same time, we should try and understand the inner teachings of our religion or spiritual path, and follow the promptings of the heart in this respect. Then the higher consciousness will show us new aspects to be understood and realized on our spiritual journey, whether within our religion or outside it.
Let us bear in mind that God can be found only within. Although He is both within Man and beyond him, the only way to find Him and commune with Him is through the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, sincere prayer rises up to the higher consciousness in the divine realm. Sacha Baba tells us how important emotions are in helping this process: “Emotions, after evolving, become one with the Truth. In human history the highest emotions result in prayer. Prayer is manifested from the heart which is in the emotional sphere, and in this Heart, the embodiment of Narayana shines in order to conduct His divine Play.”
Before one can reach God, there has to be the “repentance” that turns the consciousness from delusive matter to the kingdom of God within. This withdrawal retires the life force and mind inward to rise through the spiritualizing centres of the spine to the supreme states of divine realization. The final union with God and the stages involved in this union are universal. That is yoga, the science of religion.
Spiritual truth and wisdom are found not in any words of a priest or preacher, but in the “wilderness” of inner silence. The Sanskrit scriptures say: “There are many sages with their scriptural and spiritual interpretations, apparently contradictory, but the real secret of religion is hidden in a cave.” True religion lies within oneself, in the cave of stillness, in the cave of calm intuitive wisdom, in the cave of the spiritual eye. That is where one can find answers to all the religious queries of the heart. “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost… shall teach you all things” (Bible – John 14:26). This vibratory power of God which objectifies and becomes creation is also known as the Shakti of God: the Spirit in its aspect as the Divine Mother or Mother of the World, which provides the garment in which to ascend the steps of the Temple to the Light.
