As soon as we consider greater-than-material dimensions, many possibilities open up. Perhaps the most familiar is some kind of contact with other dimensions, such as people who "channel" spirits from "the other side". But we need not settle for a mere "phone line" to a greater dimension. Far better is Spiritual Realization: the actual movement (or awakening) into one of these other dimensions, either while still humanly alive (through mystical experience), or after the death of the physical body. The familiar myth of "heaven" has its origin in such genuine spiritual possibilities.
Such dimensions (or planes of existence) are "greater" insofar as they correspond to a greater, more auspicious destiny. Beings residing in such dimensions typically have far longer lives, with far less
suffering, and more direct awareness of the Divine. However, unlike what our conventional religions tend to suggest, far more is required to enter such heavens than simply showing up at church or mosque once a week, and being a relatively decent person during one's time here on earth. Instead, one literally has to become fully aware of, and "live" in, such a heaven while still humanly alive, for much of one's life, to "re-center" oneself in that dimension, so that, when the physical body dies, one can not only find that "heaven world", but one can also stably remain in it. If one does not do this preparatory work during one's lifetime, all that happens after death is one has some temporary, chaotic exposure to the greater-than-material dimensions, and then one gravitates right back here to reincarnate again — because our "center of gravity" is still here, not there.
Throughout human history, help has been available for connecting us with greater-than-material dimensions on an ongoing basis during our lifetime. But, to a great extent, we have lost our awareness of such help, and now that help is almost a complete secret. We are all familiar with religions, spiritual paths, scriptures, rituals, techniques, and spiritual teachers. But all these are, at best, of secondary help. The primary help — and the great secret in the spiritual traditions of humankind — has been the Spiritual Transmission Masters. These rare, holy human beings appear every now and then throughout human history. All the great religions have such a Transmission Master as their source, but most people (even followers of that religion) are not aware of their great function as Transmitters. Such beings have Realized another dimension of Reality in the way we have described. But — more than that — they then are able to transmit the awareness of that dimension to other human beings. Thus, they themselves serve as a portal to another reality. The lifelong practice of devotees of such a Spiritual Transmission Master is to "tune in" on the Master's Spiritual Transmission. With time and diligent practice — based on the spiritual principle, "you become what you meditate on" — devotees duplicate the Realization of their Master, and ultimately
(if their practice during life was sufficient) end up in that higher plane after death.
The Spiritual Transmission Master is the esoteric secret at the heart of all the world's religions. It is a secret that hides in plain sight amidst all the many other details we associate with a religion.
We can find it in Buddhism. On one occasion, when the Buddha held up a flower, out of all the disciples in the room, Kashyap smiled, signifying that he alone had received the Buddha's wordless Transmission. Buddha acknowledged Kashyap's reception of his Transmission: "I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters, but is a special Transmission outside the scriptures. This I entrust to Kashyap."
We can find it in Christianity. What is most significant in the story of Jesus is not his teachings or his miracles, or even the religion that was founded in his name. What is most significant is when Jesus said to two fishermen (Peter and Andrew), "Come, follow me!" and they, responding to his Spiritual Transmission, dropped everything and followed him.
We can find it in Hinduism. When the "gopi" cowherd women heard Krishna playing his flute (which symbolized his Spiritual Transmission), they (in an enchanted state) dropped their ordinary lives and followed him.
And so this is the sign of a genuine Spiritual Transmission Master, illustrated most obviously in the stories of Jesus and Krishna: the Spiritual Revelation transmitted in the company of the Master is so profound, so overwhelmingly attractive and blissful, that one readily leaves behind one's conventional life, recognizing a Greater Alternative is being made available. The blissful state of the Master is always the immediate reason for following him and for being in his company. But the longterm consequence (of lifelong devotion to the Master's Spiritual Transmission) is salvation: permanent movement into another dimension of reality. You don't enter the Christian heaven on the basis of mere belief in Jesus. You do so by finding Jesus's Transmission, and communing with it, and through such lifelong "mystical communion" with Jesus in his heaven, you too acquire first the taste for heaven, and then the keys to it.
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Let me close this introduction with one final secret: the secret of how the Divine fits in the spiritual picture I've been painting.
I began by talking about reality using much the same objective language as scientists might ("reality is multi-dimensional", etc.) But reality is not merely objective. All the dimensions of reality we have been talking about — from the familiar material dimensions to the greater-than-material dimensions — don't just exist by themselves as objective "things". All these dimensions (and everything in them) are arising in a single, universal Consciousness. This Consciousness can be viewed both as a Field and as a Person or Being. Everything that exists is a modification of that universal Field of Consciousness, arising out of It somewhat like dreams or thoughts arise in an individual's consciousness.
Perhaps the most extraordinary implication is that each apparent individual in the universe is also a modification of that Field of Consciousness. There are countless numbers of apparent beings in the universe, some leading brief, difficult lives in lower planes of existence, some enjoying far more auspicious lives in higher, spiritual realms of existence. But all the while, there is truly only One Being, the Divine Person, the Consciousness in Whom the entire universe is arising. Any apparently limited individual can ultimately Awaken from the dream of limitation as the Divine Person. Thus, our greatest potential destiny is not
movement from this material dimension to a higher spiritual dimension ("going to heaven", so to speak). Our greatest possible destiny is Divine Enlightenment — to Awaken altogether from all the dream realms, high and low, as the Divine — the One Consciousness in Whom the universe is arising, and Who, even now, is being and living all of "us", and Who is our True Self.
Just as there is spiritual help for moving from this material dimension to a more auspicious, spiritual dimension, there is also Divine help for our ultimate destiny of Awakening altogether from the dream of conditional existence, as the Very Divine, Whose State is Perfect, Eternal Happiness. But that Divine help is exceedingly rare. Once in a very long time, circumstances combine in such a way as to allow the Divine Person to incarnate as an apparent human being "in the dream". That extraordinary human being — or Avatar — is a Spiritual Transmitter of a very special kind: He or She Transmits the Awakened State of the Divine Person. Truly, such a human being is the Divine, in Person, here. The devotees of such an Avatar have the possibility, through meditating on their
Master's Divine Transmission, to Awaken altogether, as the Very Divine Person.
The story I will tell is about how just such an exceedingly rare Divine Incarnation — Adi Da Samraj — came into my life (even from the very beginning) and utterly transformed it.
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