Bible Discourse 48 If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut the off. Jesus’ counsel on Renunciation of evil

Discourse 48

If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut the off.

Jesus’ counsel on Renunciation of evil

Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

“Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast  them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels to do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? If a man have hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine, which went astray.  Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou had gained thy brother.  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

“Verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, thee am I in thee midst of them.”

                                                                      Matthew 18:7--20

Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!           Matthew 18:6—7

Man rationalizes his wrong doing(s) by ‘so many others are doing wrong and leading riotous lives, so it is all right for me to do likewise’.  This is delusion. Jesus said: Physical, mental, and causal pr soul sufferings are caused because of ignorance or Maya or Satanic cosmic delusion.  Woe and threefold misery is because of Satanic delusion.

Trividham narakasyedam dwaaram naasana maatmanah

Kaamah krodhas tathaalobha stasmaad etatrayam tyajet    Gita 16—21

 O Arjun, Lust, anger, and greed are three hell gates. These cause destruction to man. So man should abandon these three.

   

Etairvimuktah kaunteys tamo dwaarai stribhirnarah

Aacharaatmanah sreyastato yaati paraam gatim               Gita 16—22

O, son of Kunti, the man is doing himself a great help by completely turning away from this threefold gate. Then he will attain the highest goal of salvation.

When the sadhak goes within, he hears the sound of OM. When the sadhak merges with that auspicious Sound OM, then he hears so many truths are heard in different languages.

These are the truths heard by the Great ancient Rishis. These saastraas are called SRUTIS. These Srutis appear in illuminating golden letters. I had experienced this many a number of times. These are called Aakaasavani letters or sounds.

Yogi in his intense sadhana or meditation can see the subtle nadis, Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna.

Yogi can experience in his Merudanda, spinal cord, the following:

The vibrations of Panchabhootas or five electricities i.e., earth, water, fire, air, and ether, responsible for the creation of the world, and can be felt by him in the chakras. He will experience them in effulgence of different variety. .

Prithvi tatwa vibrations in Moolaadhaarachakra,

Varuna tatwa vibrations in Swadhishtaanachakra,

Agni tatwa vibrations in Manipurachakra,

Vaayu tatwa vibrations in Anaahatachakra,

Aakaasa tatwa vibrations in Visuddhachakra, and in

Aagnachakra i.e., in the Kootastha as the subtle third eye, the Gnaana netra or wisdom eye. 

That  is the reason you must cut off the evil attention and currents of life energy from the karmendriyas (organs of action i.e., hands, feet, phallus, anus, and mouth), and gnanedriyas (sense organs i.e., eyes, nose, tongue, skin, and ear)

“Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast  them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.                     Matthew 18:8—9

Parallel reference:

“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.

“For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”        Mark 9:43—50  

Jesus exhorted his followers: Remove everything that causes ignorance. Cut off those impulses that impede you to get united with God the Father. Neutralize the real cause of physical evils and subversion of the soul.  That does not mean annihilate yourself if you commit any wrong. Reform yourself.  Cut off the mental impulse that activate motor nerves i.e., hands and feet. Pluck it from sensory nerves i.e., eye when you see evil desire or act evilly. Get yourself maimed of sensory pleasures that obstructs you to get into the kingdom of God.

Jesus advised: Sacrifice your physical body for divine purpose if you are on path of  a yogi or saint.   ‘Cut of your hand’, ‘cut of your foot’, and  ‘pluck your eye’ means to destroy material greed, restlessness, and ignorance. Regular yoga practice bestows victory over immoral impulses.    

Karmendriyaani samayamya ya aaste Manasaa smaran

Indriyaardhaan vimoodhaatmaa Mithyaachaarassa uchyate Gita 3—6

He who forcibly suppresses his senses and shall be thinking always about the objects of the senses, is a hypocrite.

If one says that I will achieve eternal beatitude with meditation or Sadhana and then relinquishes it in the middle for the sake of trivial sense pleasures, then he is a hypocrite only. To wear saffron robes and behaving like a Sage is the work of hypocrite only.  Evil thoughts gradually leads to evil works. 

So mind has to be controlled gradually with the regular practice of Kriya yoga. A suppressed spring strikes the face with renewed strength once it is released.  Similarly evil thoughts will impregnate the mind if the meditation or Sadhana is given up in the middle.  

The one who has reached a state of Paramahamsa with his meditation or Sadhana may or may not do meditation or Sadhana. The union with God or attaining Nirvikalpa Samadhi state is the state of Paramahansa. He is like pensioner getting beatitude pension for God. 

Yastwindriyaani manasaa Niyamyaarabhaterjuna

Karmendriyaih Karma yogamasaktassa visjishyate            Gita 3—7

O Arjun, he who controls his senses with the control of mind, and does Karma without expecting results in the least, that Yogi is Great.

Vishayaa Vinivartante Niraahaarasya dehinah

Rasavarjam Rasopyasya Param Drishtwaa Nivartate        Gita 2—59

When we do not accept these objects of senses physically by suppressing them with fasts etc., they are kept away for a while, but we are not losing their longing permanently. If the man who beholds the God, is freed for ever from their clutches.  

Man should come out of the longing for sense objects not only physically but also mentally. If you suppress your desires then they will boomerang with renewed vigor like a suppressed spring.  If a man fasts for one or two days bracingly, then he will have more longing for food just by the utterance of the word ’food’. 

The ecstasy which you get in deep meditation is far better than maiming yourself. The orthodox notion of eternal hellfire is an utterly false precept.  It arises from the man’s unforgiving wrath against the evil actions of his brethren. Jesus goes on to say: Every devotee by meditation must saturate, ‘salt,’ himself with the fire of realization. “A true devotee is like a good salt.  He seasons his own life and the lives of others by his spirit of renunciation.  Jesus alludes to the temporarily diminished realization of some his disciples. He found the spiritual deterioration in them due to their competitive desire for preeminence in curing the possessed child.

“..they had disputed among themselves, who should be greatest.  Mark 9:34

The incident in which the disciples could not heal the child possessed of an evil spirit is recounted.  Matthew 17:14—2

Jesus advised his disciples to be meditatively strong to regain their self realization.

“Renunciation is difficult to achieve without God-uniting actions (yoga).  By the practice of Yoga, the muni (whose mind is absorbed in God) quickly attains the Infinite.

Sanyaasastu Mahaabaaho dukhamaaptu mayogatah

Yogayokto munirbrahma na chirenaadhi gachchati          Gita 5—6

Mahabaaho means the one who is healthy and hale. That man is only eligible to do sadhana. A sick and weak man cannot pursue his sadhana. That is the reason Bhagavan is addressing Arjuna as a mighty armed one.

He Arjun, without doing Karma, one cannot obtain Gnana (wisdom) yoga consisting of Karma with Tyaga (sacrifice). The Karma yogi is easily obtaining his goal of salvation.

“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels to do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus said: Do not despise these children. Cosmic Vibration, the Cosmic light, within me reveal this.  The astral bodies of children, or angelic bodies pass from the earth. They have no free will opportunity to acquire wisdom.  They do not have worldly consciousness. Hence they get an opportunity to behold the materialized form of any saint between their incarnations.  Angels mean astral bodies or luminous nineteen elements. The souls with their past karmic pattern remain encased in these nineteen elements.  

Cold can freeze invisible hydrogen-oxygen gas into an iceberg. God can assume any form – that of Krishna, Jesus, or any other master dear to his devotee. Young children without material consciousness, often speak of their heavenly experiences and having seen God’s angels.

Rasohamapsu kaunteya prabhaasmi sasisooryayoh

Pranavasarva vedeshu sabdah khe paurusham nrushu    Gita 7—8

He Arjun, I am the taste in the Water, effulgence in Sun and Moon, OM Sound in all the Vedas, and Courage in men.

“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? If a man have hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine, which went astray.  Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.  Matthew 18:11—14

Jesus said: God in me could save many souls who lost in the wilderness of material desires. God will not permit any soul to go out of His purview and lost in ignorance forever.  Even after death in the astral world, all ‘little ones’ i.e., souls with little wisdom as well as souls of little children, receive the guidance of God to work out their karma. The souls will be given fresh opportunity to burn their karma in meditation.

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou had gained thy brother.  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.                    Matthew 18:15—17

Jesus said: Take your brother aside and counsel him to behave good. Do not scold him in public lest he will have ire on you and you will lose the pof your erring brother. If he does not listen to you alone, take one or two more trusted and good friends to reform him. If he turns a deaf ear in his wickedness, then pray for hin in the precincts of holy place of worship. Also bring him before the elders of your religious congregation (church).  If he spurns this advice also, then let him remain unto you a disbeliever in trutyh, a heathen and an outcast (‘publican’) before the tribunal of his own conscience. 

“Verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

                                                                                   Matthew 18:18

Jesus said: I am saying you, After death, in the astral world also, you will be limited by bad tendencies you have incurred on the earth.  Death is an extended sleep. Whatever you were before sleep, you will be same after waking up. If you were a beggar before sleep, you will be same beggar after sleep.  Law of karma, cause and effect, shall always prevails you.  So, do good karma and reap the good fruits.

 

“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, thee am I in thee midst of them.”                                                                            Matthew 18:19—20

Jesus said: If one or two together sincerely pray for justified desire, your Heavenly Father shall fulfill your just desire. If justified will of one united with the justified will of another, the united justified will be much stronger.  Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am. Jesus has given emphasis on group meditation. Here ‘my name’ i.e., Cosmic Vibratory Sound i.e., OM.  And ‘there I am’ i.e., Cosmic Consciousness will be ‘in the midst of them.’

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet.”                                                        St. John Revelation 1:10

‘voice as of a trumpet  means great Cosmic Sound OM 

‘  Lord’s day’   means Christ Consciousness.  Heard during the deep meditation of devotee.

Sun and Sun rays are not two different things If Sun exists Sun rays do exist.