The Esoteric Teaching is a very high spiritual path. The path of the Esoteric Teaching begins from the point where most others end: realizing that we are spiritual beings, similar in quality to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only atomic in size and power. And it goes on from there to exalted places that other spiritual teachings and paths just can’t imagine.
This is because of the highly ontological content of the Esoteric Teaching. It actually changes our consciousness, and we can experience this change practically in daily life. It is so powerful because it is based on the intimate relationship between ontology and consciousness.
So from the viewpoint of the Esoteric Teaching, people who are very important from the materialistic point of view are not very special at all. And even people who are considered spiritually advanced in most religious cultures are just like neophytes in the Esoteric Teaching. It is just like when we go up in an airplane, the buildings and hills that seem imposing from ground level don’t seem at all significant from 40,000 feet.
I bet a lot of you are reading or listening to this and going, “What the heck is he talking about? How can he say those things? Is he arrogant, sincerely deluded, or is he really onto something?”
I remember when I first came into contact with the Esoteric Teaching, back in the 1960s in San Francisco. I was amazed; the president of the temple wasn’t much older than I was at the time. Yet, he had extensive knowledge of Vedic spiritual thought. More than that, he had an authority that came from deep conviction based on personal experience.
I thought, “How can anyone speak like this? How can anyone know these things? This philosophy is so high, it’s inconceivable! Either it’s fatuous bunk, or it’s the Supreme Absolute Truth.” And when I saw the devotees, I thought, “Wow, they’re so pure, so high. I can’t do this; I will never be able to do this.”
But just see, now almost 40 years later, I am doing and saying all the things that I found completely inconceivable and too high even to imagine, what to speak of do. This is the power of the Esoteric Teaching. It is so high and so potent, it can change your consciousness to a degree that you cannot imagine.
This Esoteric Teaching is based on the power of God. God is supremely powerful; He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He can do whatever He likes. If He wants, He can make a lame man dance, and a dumb man speak poetry. He can take the lowest among human beings, and empower him to spread the most exalted philosophical and ontological teachings.
He can bestow the greatest benedictions casually, because even the greatest benediction to which we can aspire is just effortless for Him. So if God likes, He can take anyone and elevate him or her to the highest position. That is God’s prerogative, God’s grace. And that is the operative power behind the Esoteric Teaching.
This is not really so surprising. Everything is coming by God’s grace: the sunrise and sunset, fresh air and rain, good eatables and other necessities are all supplied by God’s grace. All beings flourish by His sweet will. He supplies the necessities of life to all. So why should it be surprising when He also benedicts His servants directly?
Perhaps the reason lies in our deep conditioning to see God in an impersonal way. Our language, culture and even our religion keeps us from seeing God as a person, as an individual with feelings and an independent will like our own. Actually it is only our deep, causeless envy of His supreme power that keeps us from surrendering to Him and getting the benefit.
But the Esoteric Teaching shows us that God is not only a person, He is a perfect person. We can count on God to follow His statements in the scripture, and keep all of His promises. For example, He says:
tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.”
tesam evanukampartham
aham ajnana-jam tamah
nasayamy atma-bhava-stho
jnana-dipena bhasvata“Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling within their hearts, destroy the darkness born of ignorance with the shining lamp of knowledge.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.10-11]
So we do not advance in the Esoteric Teaching by our own power, but by the power of God Himself, out of His personal feelings of compassion for us. Kṛṣṇa speaks the Esoteric Teaching because He cannot simply watch us suffer in the material world; He has to do something about it.
Yet, He cannot overstep the bounds of individuality and free will that He Himself has established. So He arranges the laws of nature in such a way that we will be compelled to inquire into our real nature and the nature of God. And He rewards this inquiry with transcendental knowledge according to our sincerity:
ye yatha mam prapadyante
tams tathaiva bhajamy aham“As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly.” [Bhagavad-gita 4.11]
So we should not think that Kṛṣṇa, God, is arbitrary or capricious. No, He is absolutely fair. But we have forgotten what we have done in past lives, and so when our karma comes due, we whine, “Why is God punishing me?”
If you surrender, He will excuse you. That is His code. So before you complain, consider: How much have you surrendered? What percentage of your energy have you dedicated to God? How much of your time is spent in holy service? Kṛṣṇa loves each and every one of us unconditionally, but how much do we love Him? And what are we doing to help others advance on the spiritual path?
Kṛṣṇa’s nature is such that He reciprocates according to our desire. But how much do we desire Him, and how much do we desire other things for our own purposes? If we desire so many things for ourselves, spend the majority of our time and energy serving our own interests, and very little in service to Him, then we should not be surprised that He does not seem to reciprocate very much.
Your future is in your hands. No one can surrender for you. You are going to have to approach the golden throne of God on your own knees. And if you do, you will be surprised how generous, how merciful He is. He counts even a little service as a great deal, and for one who sincerely wants to surrender, He easily overlooks even serious offenses.
No one can love us like Kṛṣṇa can, because no one else is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul within everyone’s heart. No one else has the transcendental potency to fill our hearts with pure, unconditional spiritual affection from within: only Kṛṣṇa. No one else knows our true heart’s desire, the unique key to our happiness. The very name ‘Kṛṣṇa’ means the reservoir of transcendental pleasure.
So our advice is to try this simple method. Anyone can do it, except for the proud, the hard-hearted, the envious and conceited: surrender to God. The more you surrender, the more He will reciprocate. He promises this in Bhagavad-gita and in the Esoteric Teaching, and His promise is as good as gold.
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