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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: F.A.Q. 10
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TRADITIONAL TEACHING QUESTION: Is there a need for traditional systems of Spiritual Teaching? ANSWER: Yes, absolutely. This very question proves the indispensable role of traditional Spiritual Teaching in removing ignorance and confusion. The essence of all Spirituality is Self-Awareness, that is, the Awareness of oneself as a Spiritual Being who lives in Unity and Harmony with Spiritual Reality. To live a Spiritual life means to live in constant Unity and Harmony with that Higher Reality. In the experience of all Self-Realised Masters, who are always Self-Aware, Life is an indivisible Unity. Everything has its existence within One Cosmic Order which is upheld by Universal Laws or Principles. From the perspective of Yoga which is the Spirituality of Universal Unity (or to be more precise, the Living Expression of Universal Unity and Order), there are three basic types of Law that govern life on Earth:
From a superficial point of view, success in earthly life appears to depend on the manipulation and exploitation of materials, of people, of Nature. Yet even then we have to abide by certain rules or laws. If we invent our own laws we will sooner or later come into conflict with other individuals and with the authorities. Even in a "lawless" society, there is in practice some kind of agreement and co-operation between conflicting law systems. If we lived outside society, among Nature and wild animals, or even entirely on our own, we would still have to take into consideration physical and biological laws. Likewise, at the Spiritual level, there are Spiritual laws, that is, governing principles of Spiritual Reality, that need to be strictly observed if we wish to enter and explore the Higher Planes of existence. As there is only One Spiritual Reality, success in Spiritual life necessarily depends on the individual's adaptation to, and assimilation of, that Reality and its inherent laws or governing principles. Creating one's own Yoga practice, one's own belief system, one's own system of Spiritual values, one's own reality even, may be highly popular with certain people but ultimately leads to a life in a make-believe world that is at odds both with the worlds of others and with the One True Reality. Constructing one's own system of Yoga Teaching and Practice that is so fashionable among self-appointed "Yoga Teachers" and "Seekers" today, amounts to a refusal - or inability - to adapt to Reality and its Spiritual Laws. In other words, it is a symptom of Spiritual unfitness. Instead of finding a real answer to this deep-seated issue, those who are unfit for the Spiritual Path attempt to cover it up by inventing their own "Spiritual Reality". This is a very dangerous game. What genuine Spiritual Seekers must understand is that Yoga is not a man-made system. Yogic postures, for example, were not invented by individual Yogis, nor even developed by a long process of trial and error. They were established on the basis of spontaneous expressions or activities of a Higher Intelligence whose purpose is to bring the individual life-system back in unity and harmony with the Universal Being. To give a parallel from the animal kingdom, you will have observed that animals and birds bend and stretch to release tension, which is done instinctively and in exactly the same way as all other members of the same species do and have done for millions of years. The fact is that Yoga is an Expression of the Infinite and Eternal Universal Intelligence. Through the practice of Yoga in the Original Tradition, we put ourselves under the radiant influence, guidance and protection of the Higher Forces in the Universe and consciously, willingly and joyously participate in the life-transforming process of Spiritual Elevation that is Yoga. For a person of mediocre intelligence, who is moreover untutored and inexperienced in Spiritual matters, to imagine that he has the Spiritual intelligence, knowledge and experience to improve the Original Yoga Tradition or to create his own "Yoga" is simply the result of precisely that kind of ego-based reasoning that constitutes the greatest obstacle on the Spiritual Path. Those who succumb to this mentality do not only create division - the opposite of Yoga or Unity - within the World Spiritual Community but are wasting their and other people's time, intelligence and energy, thereby greatly interfering with their own and others' natural process of Spiritual Evolution. Whether in this lifetime or some future existence, everybody will eventually come to realise that the Spiritual Laws of the Universe cannot be transgressed with impunity and that it is in one's own best interest to accept the Teachings of Yoga as they are. This being so, we strongly recommend that all ego-inspired and erroneous ideas be recognised as such and abandoned forthwith. This voluntary activity of self-clarification and illumination constitutes in fact the first requirement in creating the inner attitude necessary for a Spiritual Seeker to successfully travel on the Right Path. Otherwise, by doubting the Infinite Wisdom of the Universal Intelligence and naively attempting to correct or improve it, we are excluding ourselves from the very Spiritual Process we are claiming to promote. A true Spiritual Master will accept that he cannot reinvent Truth and will have no desire to do so. A Yoga Master who is a Master of Unity will always adhere to the Yogic Principle of Unity. He will constantly do his best to harmonise and unify all the different traditions rather than look for points of difference and grounds for discord, let alone start his own Spirituality for purposes of self-promotion. Spirituality is about co-operation, not competition. Unite and Serve, instead of Divide and Rule, is the basis of all True Spiritual Teaching. A True Master may adopt a new language or even new methods of instruction but he will always adhere to the Original and Unique Source Teaching which is Eternally One.
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