Combining Theism and Monism into Monistic Theism—s it a question of becoming God or a question of being God or a question of both? We are That! There is no becoming! Our soul body matures through experience, fulfillment of all dharmas. The essence of the soul, Parashakti and Parasiva, is always identical with God. Maybe we'll have a good meditation and become aware of it today.

Master Course, Living with Siva, Lesson 260

Unedited Transcript:

Good morning everyone.

A few thoughts this morning which relate to the theme we talked about recently is Theism and Monism and combining them into Monistic Theism.

The related point is the soul's relationship to God. Is it a question of becoming God or a question of being God or a question of both? Right?

Being God relates to the Monism. Becoming God relates to the Theism. So it's just another way of looking at those two ideas. In our terminology "being God" refers to the essence of the soul. The essence of the soul is always identical with God. It's just that we're not aware of the essence of our soul, therefore, we're not aware of our identity with God. But, nothing has to happen for that to be truth. We don't have to think: Oh this has to happen, that has to happen; I have to be ten years older, you know, something has to happen. That's just putting it off. That maybe today's the day you find the essence of your soul. Say: "Oh, I was always that. What do you know?"

So in our terminology we call the essence of the soul Parashakti and Parasiva meaning, Parashakti meaning: God's omnipresence, omnipresent presence. And Parasiva meaning God's transcendence.

Gurudeva has a nice statement on that which I ran into which made me think about it; I ran into it a couple of months ago and I saved it. I said: "Save for a Sun 1 talk."

He says: "From an absolute perspective, our soul is already in non-dual union with God, but to be realized to be known. We are That. We do not become That."

The example I use is the rudraksha mala. The bead is our normal, we are one bead. The other beads represent other people. So as a bead we're separate from the other beads in the mala. But, there's a string and it goes through all the beads. There's only one string. If we're aware of the bead, that's our separate consciousness. If we're aware of the bead and the string, we're still separate from everyone but we have a sense that the string (which is God's omnipresence) is within us. Then if we go deeply enough that only become aware of the string, then that's this idea. From an absolute perspective our soul is already in non-dual union with God, but to be realized. We are that, we do not become it. So the string is always there but we've identified with the bead. So we need to look within enough to see the string and then we need to focus on the string enough so the, only string is there and the bead goes away. That's the idea of: We are That! There's no becoming.

But the other point is that the soul is the soul body, is the essence of the soul which is identical with God. And then there's the soul body which is a body of light, anandamaya kosha. Sheath of bliss. And as we know it's maturing.

Gurudeva likes the oak tree, cause it takes so long to grow. Starts out as the tiny acorn and it grows into a magnificent tree. Our soul body is undergoing that process of maturing. How does it mature? Through experience. Therefore experience is very important. Most people, if they sit in a cave their whole life, won't make much spiritual progress. Takes a very advanced soul to be able to sit in a cave and make progress. We make progress through interacting with other people, through experience. We have to face challenges, pull ourselves together and be successful at that. That matures the soul. We get upset, we calm down. That matures the soul. We had a tragedy in our life, we pull ourselves back together, that matures the soul. We mature through experience. Experience is necessary.

As Gurudeva says in his definition of Moksha: We have to have fulfilled all dharmas. Meaning we have to have lots of experiences of all different kinds to mature the soul. Fulfill all dharma, resolve all karma and realize God fully. So the experience part is necessary to mature the soul and that's the becoming. The soul body is in the process of change or maturing or becoming, whereas, the essence of the soul is always identical with God except we're not aware of it. And who knows, maybe we'll become aware of it today. We don't want to put it off. That this has to happen, then that has to happen. Or, we never know. Have a good meditation and there it is.

One other thought to share. This is a really great explanation of the point I make on a regular basis. That whatever happens to you, you've attracted. You know like a big magnet. There's a big magnet inside of you comprised of all of your past experiences in all of your life. And what comes to you is attracted by that magnet. But we tend to, if it's unpleasant, we tend to blame the person who gets attracted, right? It's their fault. It's not my fault for attracting them, it's their fault for doing it. But you've attracted them to you; you've attracted the experience to you. And if you can see you're the cause of everything that happens to you it's a great freedom cause then you don't go around blaming people. If you want to blame someone you have to blame yourself. Say, what crazy thing did I do in a past life to attract that to me now. It's the only person you can blame.

"Thus the wheel of karma continues, on and on and on, creating and recreating. The wheel of karma is simply the mechanism of the mind's action--your mind, everyone's mind. Through the study of the wheel of karma, which is a meditative study, you realize that you have created everything that is happening or has already happened to you. Everything that is coming your way in the future you will have created. Everything you will acquire, everything you will acquire your own wants will have brought into being. You are right now a sum total of millions of thoughts, feelings, desires and actions--all of them yours. Circumstance is not responsible for your condition, for you have made your circumstances consciously and unconsciously. There are no outside forces imposing themselves upon you. Whatever you attract to yourself of the world, though it seems to be external, is but a manifestation of your own inner nature. You are the author of all of your creations; and yet in the inner recesses of your being you are already the finished product at the same time... "

So that's the "being that already." Up to then it's "the becoming." All of a sudden Gurudeva throws in "You are that already." You're the finished product already.

"...To understand this fully, you need yoga. For the few who can overcome their experiences and their desires in deep meditation. Now, you may meet in your own subconscious, as soon as you sit down to practice, all of the worldly desires latent within you, including several of which you perhaps have no conscious idea. If your meditation is successful, you will be able to throw out the unnecessary experiences or desires that are consuming your mind. When you do this and you travel past the world of desire, you will begin to break free of the wheel of karma which binds you to the specific reaction which must follow every action. To break free of this wheel of karma, you must have a strong, one-pointed mind. Your only key to help you attain this one-pointedness, this steadfastness, is your devotion to God, your devotion to the realization of the Truth. Few people remain steadfast enough under all circumstances and tests that life offers to realize the many causes and effects that are linked together in their lives. It is easy to study the law of karma and to appreciate it philosophically, but to realize it, to apply it to everything that happens to you, to understand the workings of it as the day goes by, requires an ability to which you must awaken. Attachment, desire, craving, fear of loss--these are the self-created ropes that hold man in bondage to his lower states of mind. It is because man chooses to live in the ignorance of unfulfilled craving and unsatisfied desire that he suffers. How many of you have suffered over something that was anticipated and may never have taken place? You will remember then waking up out of the dream of your suffering and finding that things were all right after all, and that through your experience something within you remained the same."

Nicely explained.

Have a wonderful day.