Once I wrote a book titled GOD to which myGurudeva Swami Rama of the Himalayas contributed a foreword and gavehis blessing. A few months later, however, he published a book titledEnlightenment without God, his commentary on the Mandukya Upanishadthe topic of which is the word OM.
Among the major schools of Indian philosophy thereare at least four that do not accept a creator God; the two Vedicschools, namely the early Sankhya and Mimamsa (the philosophy ofrituals and actions) are believed by the modern scholars not toaccept an omnipotent being. The Jaina and the Buddhist traditions,likewise, refuse to espouse a creator God. Yet who could challengethe spiritual achievements of their adherents?
These are puzzles that need unravelling, asfollows:
(1) Quite often those who debate in favour ofGod's existence, actually seek to support their notion of God, andnot God as S/he/It is. In the path of the yogis the suggestion is todrop all notions and go into an interior silence. There, somewherewithin oneself is to be found an answer to the question: Does Godexist? In writing the book on enlightenment without God, this is whatmy own spiritual master proposed and interpreted the Upanishad asshowing the pathways of consciousness which one must traverse inorder to find that answer. Since God is stated to be a-nir-vachaniya,not analysable, ineffable, One about whom no statement can be made,there is no point in debating the question. The yogis, the Sufis andall other mystics say: Do not believe what someone else says; findout for yourself. Let the personal experience answer the question.The ways of the systems taught by these masters are methodical andone gradually finds the answer through them withinoneself.
(2) This writer teaches meditation in alldifferent societies, cultures and countries, to believers of allreligions, atheists and agnostics. Often he has found that theatheists turn out to be better meditators because they have nopreconceived notions. The writer makes it a point to suggest that nobelief systems that are not personally tested through internalexperience, be brought into play in the practice of meditation; onemust not begin with a pre-judice (hyphen here intended).
(3) When the basic meditation practices aretaught, for example some of the more the hundred or so mentalexercises undertaken during shavasana (corpse position), one losesawareness of the body, but becomes much more aware of one'sconsciousness, first steps in self-realisation. After a few weeks ormonths, depending on the individual, the practitioners ask: I am notaware of the body and the senses but I am aware of a heightenedconsciousness; what is it? I tell them: Do not name it soul or Godbecause these have become emotionally loaded words; name it Factor X.God by any other name will do just as well. The proof of thispudding, rather Honey as it is called in the Upanishads (idam madhu),is in the eating.
(4) These states of consciousness are not onlysubjective experiences but are corroborated by the study of brainwaves. It is now well known that at a certain point in the case of ameditation master a flat rate wave is produced, as though one werebrain dead, yet the meditator can recount all the happenings takingplace around him/her. Many guides of humanity have chosen to leavethis "factor" nameless. "the Tao that can be named is not Tao", saysTao Teh-Ching. The Buddhist Shunya, the Void that voids all voids,comes in this category. So does the "na-iti, na-iti" of theUpanishads, and the Via Negativa of Meister Eckhardt.
As you, dear seeker, would actually begin toglimpse this No-God even from the distance, you will find that God isnot at all quite the way our individually tailored notions have usbelieve. What is It really like? In answer to that question the Yogiand the Sufi falls silent, unable to name any names. So will you whenyou reach there.
Copyright 2002 Swami Veda Bharati
Repreinted from Hindustan Times, November 30,2002