The Esoteric Teaching is a global spiritual movement aiming at the ontological reorientation of humankind through the simple process of chanting the Holy Names of God. According to the ancient Vedic literature, the source material of the Esoteric Teaching, human life is meant for ending the miseries of material existence.
Contemporary society is trying to solve the problems of life by material progress. However, it is obvious to everyone that in spite of extensive material scientific progress and economic development, human society is not in a peaceful, happy condition. The reason is that a human being is essentially a spirit soul.
The spirit soul is the background of development of the material body. However the material scientist may deny the spiritual existence in the background of the living force, as soon as we accept the spirit soul within the body as the actual self, we are on the road to actual progress in solving all the difficulties of material existence.
The body is changing from one form to another, but the spirit soul exists eternally. We can practically experience this fact in our own life. From the beginning of our material body in the womb of our mother, the body is transforming from one shape to another. This process is generally known as development or growth, but actually it is change of the body.
We can understand this phenomenon with a simple metaphor: On this earth planet we see the changes of day and night, and of the seasons. The more primitive mentality may think the sun is getting weaker, and at night they sometimes presume that the sun is asleep or dead. With more advanced knowledge, we understand that sun does not change, but the seasonal and diurnal changes are caused by changes of the position of the earth planet.
Similarly, in our lifetime we experience bodily changes from embryo to child to youth to maturity to old age, and finally death. The less intelligent mentality presumes that at death the spirit soul’s existence is forever finished, just like primitive tribes who believe that the sun dies at sunset. Actually, the setting sun is simultaneously rising in another part of the world.
Similarly, the soul is not dying, but accepting another type of body. When the body gets old like the old garments and is no longer usable, then the soul accepts another body just like we accept a new suit of clothes. The modern civilization is practically unaware of this truth. They do not understand or care about the constitutional position of the soul.
There are different departments of knowledge in different universities, and many technological institutions to study and understand the subtle laws of material nature, such as medical research laboratories to study the physiological condition of the material body—but there is no scientific institution to study the constitutional position of the soul.
This is the greatest disadvantage of material civilization: They are enamored by the glaring external manifestation of the cosmic body or the individual body, but they do not try to understand the basic ontological principles of their own experience. The body looks very beautiful working with full energy and exhibiting great traits of talent and wonderful brain work. But as soon as the soul is away from the body, all this bodily activity becomes useless, null and void. Even the great scientists who have discovered many wonderful scientific contributions could not trace out the source of the conscious living entity, which is the cause of such wonderful discoveries. The Esoteric Teaching basically is trying to teach this science of the soul—not in any dogmatic way, but in complete scientific and philosophical understanding.
With the powerful ontological knowledge of the Esoteric Teaching, anyone can research the background and cause of this body in the soul’s presence as perceivable by consciousness. Similarly, the presence of Supersoul and superconsciousness in the universal body of cosmic manifestation is perceived by the presence of the Supreme Lord, or the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is systematically explored in the Vedanta-sutra, generally known as Vedanta philosophy of Vyasadeva. Vedanta is elaborately explained in a commentary by the same author, known as the Esoteric Teaching. The Bhagavad-gita is the preliminary study of the Esoteric Teaching to understand the constitutional positions and relationship of the soul and Supreme Lord, or the Absolute Truth.
The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding, namely as Brahman, or the impersonal universal soul; Paramatma, or the localized universal soul; and finally as Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The individual soul is also understood in three aspects, namely first as the consciousness pervading the body, then as the spirit soul within the heart, and ultimately exhibited as an eternal spiritual personality. Similarly, the Absolute Truth is first realized as impersonal Brahman, then as localized Supersoul, Paramatma, and at the end as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa means all-inclusive, or, in other words, Kṛṣṇa is simultaneously Brahman, Paramatma, and the Personality of Godhead. Just as every one of us is simultaneously consciousness, soul, and person, this individual person and the Supreme Person are qualitatively one but quantitatively different. Just like the drop of sea water and the vast mass of sea water—both are qualitatively one. The chemical composition of the drop of sea water and that of the mass of sea water are one and the same, but the quantity of salt and other minerals in the whole sea is many, many times greater than the quantity of salt and other minerals contained in the drop of sea water.
The Esoteric Teaching maintains that the individuality and uniqueness of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul are eternal and changeless. From the Vedic Upanisads we can understand that both the Supreme Person, or God, and the individual person are eternal living entities. The difference is that the supreme living entity, or Supreme Personality of Godhead, emanates and maintains all the other innumerable living entities. The same principle is admitted in Christianity, because in the Bible it is taught that the individual entities should pray to the supreme Father for supplying means of maintenance and giving pardon for their sinful activities.
So it is understood from any source of scriptural injunction that the Supreme Lord, or Kṛṣṇa, is the maintainer of the individual living entities, and it is therefore the duty of the individual entity to feel obligated to render service to the Supreme Lord. This is the ontological background of the universal religious principle. Without acknowledgement of this principle and personal performance of the duties it inspires, there is chaos in human society, as it is happening in our daily experience at the present moment. Instead of serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everyone is trying to become the Supreme, either socially, politically or individually. Because of competition for this false lordship there is chaos all over the world, individually, nationally, socially or collectively.
The Esoteric Teaching is trying to establish recognition of the supremacy of the Absolute Personality of Godhead. Human society needs this understanding, because this spiritual consciousness makes human life successful. This Esoteric Teaching is not a new introduction of the mental speculators. Actually this movement was started by Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, at least five thousand years ago. The principles of the Esoteric Teaching were presented by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gita. From Bhagavad-gita we can also understand that the Esoteric Teaching was spoken by Him long, long before, when He imparted it to the sun-god Vivasvan. A little calculation shows that before the repetition of the Bhagavad-gita in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, it was once before explained at least forty million years ago.
So this movement is not at all new. It is coming down by disciplic succession, and in India from all great leaders of the Vedic society like Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnuswami, Nimbarka, and lately, about 500 years ago, Lord Caitanya. The principle is still being followed today. The Bhagavad-gita is very widely accepted in all parts of the world by great scholars, philosophers, and religionists. But in most cases the principle is not followed as it is. Therefore the Esoteric Teaching presents the principles of Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any unnecessary misinterpretation.
Bhagavad-gita presents five main principles: namely the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the living entity, the material and spiritual nature, time, and activities. Out of these five items, God, the living entities, nature and time are eternal. But activities are not eternal. The activities in the material nature are different from the activities in the spiritual nature. In the material nature, although the spiritual soul is eternal, the activities are temporary.
The Esoteric Teaching aims to restore the spirit soul’s original eternal spiritual activities. The eternal activities can be practiced even when we are materially encaged. It simply requires direction from the Master Teacher situated in the disciplic lineage of the Esoteric Teaching. With this guidance it is possible to act spiritually, under the prescribed rules and regulations of devotional service. The Esoteric Teaching presents these spiritual activities, and if one is trained in such spiritual activities, one is transferred to the spiritual world.
The spiritually trained person transfers to the spiritual world by a change of consciousness. Consciousness is eternal because it is the symptom of the living spirit soul. But at the present moment the consciousness is materially contaminated. Just like rainwater pouring down from a cloud is pure, but as soon as the water touches the earth it becomes contaminated. But by filtering the same water, its original clearness can be regained. Similarly, the Esoteric Teaching is the process of clearing the consciousness, and as soon as the consciousness clear and pure it is transferred to the spiritual world for eternal life of knowledge and bliss. We who are trapped in this material world are hungering for this spiritual consciousness, and being frustrated in every step on account of material contamination. This is the actual cause of all material suffering. Therefore this Esoteric Teaching should be taken very seriously by the leaders of the human society, for it is the antidote to all material distress.
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