Bible Discourse 8 John’s Temptation in the wilderness

Discourse 8

John’s Temptation in the wilderness

Jesus was both human and divine…Jesus the man met with temptations, he wept, he suffered like any other human being; but he exerted his will supremely to overcome evil and the delusion of his material nature.

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and Forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

But he answered and said, “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteteh him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down for it is written, ‘He shall hive His angels charge concerning thee’: and ‘in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.’ ’’

Jesus said unto him, “It is written again, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ ‘’

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus saith unto him, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’ ‘’  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

                                --Matthew  4:1—11

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and Forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

 But he answered and said, “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

                                    --Matthew  4:1—4

One may be in a state of super consciousness by virtue of his sadhana or by deep meditation, but he is subjected to temptations of  Cosmic delusion or maya. This is due to past life experiences of  maya one has to get rid of past and post natal sensory experiences.

While Jesus was engaged in the divine bliss contact, he was

‘tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts.’(Mark 1:13)

Jesus was in the Cosmic delusion of metaphysical Satan and was subjected to temptations of maya like any other normal human being. The apostle relate that for 40 days and nights in the wilderness solitude Jesus was “tempted of the devil.”  Jesus fought off and conquered the evil force with God as his sole witness.  He prayed, fasted to strengthen his mind and determination.  He went into ecstasy and reaffirmed the identity of his soul as an awakened son of God. This reminds the sadhaks that God-hood has to be acquired by being pious and is not a cake walk.  Here Jesus was already a liberated soul but has shown the path to others by virtue of his life as an experimenting field.  

In the state of Christ Consciousness, one could feel his consciousness in each and every electron and atom.  One who had attained this state identifies with God.

Krishna and Jesus came on earth to give succor to the misery laden souls and show the spiritual path and solace. Jesus like any other human being suffered, wept, but with determined will could become triumphant over maya or delusion.

 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being 40 days tempted of the devil…And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”                           Luke 4:1—2, 8

Each and every human being shall be succumbed to temptation. It is not his subjective mind but also the objective Satan. One should be victorious over temptation. This the psalm of life.

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels: but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Wherefore in all things it behoves him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.                                         (Hebrews  2:16 – 18)

For we have not high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.                                   (Hebrews  4:15)

Each and every Godly man who has taken birth on earth has been subjected to severe tests so as to overcome human frailties, this is imperative to attain the final state of mergence in Cosmic Consciousness.

Ordinary man may face subjective ideas subtly luring him through prenatal and postnatal bad habits. In highly advanced souls the Satan may take objective form. He may even use vibratory voices in his desperate last attempt to dissuade the Godward-fleeing master.  Satan tempted Jesus to give up his unconditioned divine state. 

Gautama Buddha was confronted by Mara. Mara appeared in the form of dancing-girls. He was being compelled to give up his divine bliss in preference to sensual pleasures. When he vehemently denied then he got the enlightenment.

Satan took an objective shape, talked to Jesus. Satan promised him temporal happiness. Jesus should forsake God but Jesus vehemently denied.

The children of God are immortal free from dependence on materiality.  The cells of flowers, plants, animals, and human beings were intended by God to live recharged by Cosmic Energy. They are not intended to feed one another.  Only maya  or Cosmic delusive force led by body consciousness led to believe without physical sustenance the existence would extinguish.

Satan worked through the mind of Jesus, expressing a tempting proposition: “Why don’t you use your divine power to change stones into bread?”  Jesus had such power to change the rate of electronic vibration. Jesus took simple foods. He took them as a God-man. He did not do it as a body’s habit of physical hunger. Jesus did not come in the ambit of Satan and misused his divine powers. ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’   Jesus quoted the scriptural truth experienced in his fast and intense meditation:  “I have found the divine way of living by God the  Father through the Holy Ghost as the fountainhead of all life, and will not again acknowledge dependence on physical bread”. Man is sustained by Ohm or word or Amen. Ohm descends into the body through medulla oblongata or the ‘mouth of God’. The eternal link between divine and inert human body is this word only. Radio frequency waves cannot be seen by naked eyes. Likewise this omnipresent word cannot be seen. This word received through the mouth of God (medulla oblongata) is distributed through out all the cells of the body. Solar energy is the source of sustenance directly or indirectly.

When we take food,  life energy in the body begins to work on digesting and metabolizing it. Scientists opined that the body cells operate with the Solar energy radiation released through the chemical  reaction of oxidation. The very construction of protoplasm is made possible by this solar radiation.  Cosmic  energy is the main source of life in man’s body battery.   In reality the inner’ life energy is self sufficient to solely  support the body. But by and by man has become ‘food addict’ and osmic Consciousness.  An actor on the screen is nothing but radiation.

Yoga is to be understood as a science of physical, mental or astral, and causal faculty. It is a conglomerate of ahamkara or ego principle i.e., I-ness, the consciousness or feeling and awareness (Chitta), the sense mind (manas) consisting of five senses of knowledge (smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing) and five senses of action (locomotion, manual skill, speech, elimination, and procreation), and discrimination (buddhi).

From these principles comes out five life energies, the five-fold function of prana responsible for empowering the performance of the crystallizing, assimilating, eliminating, metabolizing, and circulatory activities of the body.

Will power draws Cosmic Energy into the body. Yoga says chanting ‘lam’  in Mooladhara Chakra shall increase the will power. By chanting Mooladhara chakra more, shall draw more and more Cosmic Energy into the body. That is why Jesus said: ‘Not my will, but thine be done.’

By will power or ichchha shakti  man can recharge his battery cells. They are nothing but electrical globules. One should not let his will to live be paralyzed. Then the disease and death becomes victorious.

Paramahansa Yogananda says, he saw one Therese Neumann in Bavaria in 1935. She had lived without food for 12 years, but she looked as fresh as a flower.  She used to be in Holy Communion every morning. 

Yoga is an ancient science of Indian wisdom. The sadhaks have and used to master the energies that sustain the body. They could sustain Cosmic Energy even without oxygen and sunshine.

Sadhu Haridas was buried for forty days without any damage. He was pronounced dead but the suspended life returned in his body. The suspended animation is necessary for demonstrating advanced Psycho physiological laws. This unknowingness is not necessarily spiritually beneficial. This type of unconscious inside and unconscious outside is like mental chloroform. This should be given up.  Even animals are subjected to suspended animation. This should be avoided as it is metaphysically useless. Meditation connects one’s limited energy and consciousness with God the Father.  When the cells are electrified with super-current, they cease their mutations of growth and decay. All bodily functions are stilled in Deep Samadhi meditation.  Breath is of light and God-thoughts. It can be  manipulated and proved umpteen times by Mahavatar Babaji.

Man can recharge his body with consciousness by periodical sleep or subconscious state.  In sleep man can temporarily become unaware of body and breath. Sleep will rejuvenate the body. Every night man is a yogi in sleep.

Yogi maintains proper diet and periodic fasting.  This will condition the body.  It makes the Yogi to interiorize and quieten the mind.  Kriya yoga meditation transforms the body consciousness into astral and causal and then to God the Father. Jesus, Elijah, Kabir etc were the past masters of Kriya yoga or similar technique. They could materialize or dematerialize their bodies at will.  Jesus could recognise his past birth as Elisha. He could resurrect his crucified body.  Jesus could recognise his Guru John of his past birth as Elijah.

There appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire...and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.  (II kings 2:11)   

There were Jain munis in India. They can fast for several days.  A feat achieved after 2500 years, according to Jain gurus. Jain Sadhu has undertaken the penance of 'Gunaratna SamvatsarTap', which is to undertake 407 fasts in 480 days. But he extended it to 494 days & will complete 423 fasts in place of 407 fasts.  Recently one Jain monk completed 423 days of fasting some time in 2019 June. My Parama Guru advocated the importance of vegetarian diet.

Jesus did not accept Satan’s suggestion to turn stones into bread.  He has conquered his mortality by the divine memory of his self-sustaining unconditional spiritual existence. With his option he chose to live with or without food. Jesus did not want to utilise his miraculous powers to create food. This is what other saints also used to do.

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteteh him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down for it is written, ‘He shall hive His angels charge concerning thee’: and ‘in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.’ ’’

Jesus said unto him, “It is written again, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ ‘’

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus saith unto him, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’ ‘’  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

                                --Matthew  4:5—11

 The esoteric meaning is as follows:

The body and spirit of Jesus were tempted and taunted both subjectively and objectively by Satan. Satan subjectively creeps into the very thought process. The imagination of his would be captive. This is the strategy of Satan. Jesus was severely meditating and was in the holy city of his Universal Consciousness. He was on the pinnacle of temple i.e., third  eye, the place between eye brows. Jesus never wanted to fall prey to satanic delusion of lower region of the spine—the lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses. These are the plane of the senses with their bodily attachments. Satan tempted Jesus: ‘I will give you kingdoms of power and wealth.  Jesus refused the temptations of sensory and material gratifications with his self-mastery and spiritual joy. Jesus snubbed the devil’s temptation, and scorned its audacity to tempt the God in him.

Jesus said to himself: ‘O ye senses of smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing, you were made to serve the Spirit devotedly and dissuade from sensory attractions tooth and nail.’

Man is at the cross roads and standing in between Satan and God. It is for the man to decide himself as to what side he wanted to be attracted with his free will.  Satan is on the left side with his kingdom of misery cloaked in ostentation, God is on the right side with His kingdom of happiness bathed in eternal Light.  God is very anxious to get us back to His kingdom that is free of suffering. Satan constantly deludes us through slavery sense pleasures.

In highest Samadhi state ‘the devil’ of delusive dualities exits from man’s consciousness.

That is why Jesus said, “Get thee behind me, Satan”. (Luke 4:8)

Jesus spoke from his realization: “I have chosen imperishable Bliss; what care I for anything temporal?”

Every master who has attained the realization of the state of nirvikalpa Samadhi feels the obsession of ignorance within him is completely annihilated.