God's Love Gave to the World His Only Begotten Son - Part 5

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God's Love Gave to the World His Only Begotten Son - Part 5

(Dialogue With Nicodemus, Part III (Conclusion))

 

" And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved

darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that

doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should

be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be

made manifest, that they are wrought in God " (John 3:19-21)

 

(p.280) The all-pervading light of God, imbued with the universal Christ

Intelligence, silently emanates divine love and wisdom to guide all beings back

to the Infinite Consciousness. The soul, being a microcosm of Spirit, is an ever

present light in man to lead him through discriminative intelligence and the

intuitive voice of conscience; but all too often the rationalization of

desireful habits and whims refuses to follow. Tempted by the Satan of cosmic

delusion, man chooses actions that obliterate the light of discriminative inner

guidance.

 

To " love darkness

rather than light " :

the soul-obscuring

power of bad habits

 

The origin of sin and its resultant physical, mental, and spiritual suffering

therefore lies in the fact that the soul's divine intelligence and

discrimination are suppressed by man's misuse of his God-given free choice.

(p.281) Though nonunderstanding people ascribe to God their own vengeful

propensities, the " condemnation " of which Jesus spoke is not punishment meted

out by a tyrannical Creator, but the results man brings on himself by his own

actions, according to the law of cause and effect (karma) and the law of habit.

Succumbing to desires that keep their consciousness concentrated on and confined

in the material world--the " darkness " or gross portion of cosmic creation in

which the illumining Divine Presence is heavily obscured by the shadows of

'maya'-delusion--benighted souls, humanly identified with mortal egos,

repeatedly indulge their erroneous ways of living, which then become firmly

entrenched in the brain as bad habits of mortal behavior.

 

When Jesus said that men love darkness rather than light, he was referring to

the fact that material habits keep millions away from God. He did not mean that

all men love darkness--only those who make no effort to resist the temptations

of Satan, taking instead the easy way of rolling down the hill of bad habits and

thus becoming inured to the darkness of worldly consciousness. Because they shut

out the voice of Christ Consciousness whispering in their personal conscience,

they shun the infinitely more tempting experience of joy to be had through the

good habits urged by the guiding wisdom-light in their souls.

 

Material temptation promises happiness from gratification of a desire, but

giving in to temptation will bring misery, the annihilation of happiness. People

who succumb to the allurement of evil often do not realize this until the habit

of yielding is established. Those who form bad habits before being exposed to

the superior joy of good habits prefer--instead of the slightest effort at

self-improvement--to endure the consequences of wrong indulgence because of the

prospect of even a little temporary satisfaction. Eventually they become so

adapted to surrendering automatically to the instigations of bad habits, despite

the inevitable repercussions, that the very thought of forsaking such traitorous

pleasure is rejected outright. They balk at the mere suggestion that a little

self-control of lust and greed might be beneficial--erroneously believing that

they would be unhappy, even tormented, if denied their indulgences.

 

Restless worldly people, habituated to continuous activity, feel suffocated at

the thought of the deliberate stillness of meditation. (p.282) They disregard

the soul-comfort offered in God-communion, convinced that they are far more at

ease in catering to their second-nature tendencies--no matter how potentially

destructive--of worry, nervousness, useless talk, and material desires, rather

than endeavoring to experience an as-yet-unfamiliar joy of God-contact. The

first priority of most persons, after awakening each morning, is a hasty

breakfast followed by a headlong rush into their routine of busyness. To precede

the day's activities by allocating time to cultivating God-centered inner peace

and happiness through the spiritual habit of meditation is altogether foreign to

them. Accustomed to the darkness of worldly ignorance, they abhor the Christ

light eternally present in their souls. Their perverse habit of worldly

attachment can be overcome only by a stronger attachment to divine peace and

bliss resulting from nurturing the opposite good habit of daily meditation.

 

Thus Jesus' emphasis that by the light of soul awakening, the mortal habit of

preferring the delusive darkness of materiality can be dispelled from man's

consciousness. With repeated acts of will power to meditate regularly and

deeply, one attains the supremely satisfying Bliss-contact of God and can recall

that joy to his consciousness anytime, anywhere.

 

In contrasting men of darkness and men of light, Jesus cited the universal

psychological error committed by the habit-enslaved: They avoid all thoughts of

the greater fulfillments of mind and body awaiting them in the practice of good

habits, because they fear that in giving up their imagined pleasures of the

flesh they will suffer the pangs of deprivation. Just as the owl loves the

nighttime and hides away during the day, so persons governed by dark habits shun

the light of self-improvement.

 

Persons who by meditation have formed the habit of peacefulness gravitate

naturally toward the company of high-minded and saintly souls, just as

materially restless individuals prefer worldly associates. People of bad habits

seek bad company and avoid those who are virtuous; but this is foolish, because

if they mix openheartedly with those who have good habits they will find an

automatic mechanism at work that causes their evil compulsion to leave them. The

right company provides the essential impetus for improving oneself. To imitate

the good is to engage in good actions; good actions form good habits; and good

habits will dislodge bad habits.

 

But somehow evil people feel rebuked in the company of the good, though the

really good never scold persons for their past bad behavior if they are

seriously trying to reform themselves. (p.283) One should never heap scornful

judgment on the sinner, for he is all too familiar with the self-tortures

resulting from his sin. He ought not to be further punished by condemnation or

hatred; but if he does not heed a loving, helping hand, he should be given a

chance to learn his own lessons in the school of hard knocks. In time he will be

ready and willing to benefit from constructive advice.

 

As long as a person is intoxicated with evil thoughts and ways, his dark

mentality will hate the light of truth. The one good thing about bad habits,

however, is that they seldom keep their promises. They are eventually found out

to be inveterate liars. That is why souls cannot forever be deceived or

enslaved. Though people of bad habits initially recoil from the thought of

better living, after they have had enough of evil ways and reach the point of

satiety, and have suffered enough from the consequences, they turn for relief

toward the wisdom-light of God, despite any entrenched bad habits that must yet

be vanquished. If they continually practice ways of living in harmony with

Truth, then in that light they come to realize the joy and inner peace brought

by self-control and good habits.

 

The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within

You) Volume 1, Discourse 15, pg. 280-283

Paramahansa Yogananda

Printed in the United States of America 1434-J881

ISBN-13:978-0-87612-557-1

ISBN-10:0-87612-557-7