Posted on: 22 Jun 2023
1. In the case of a human being, the qualities are part and parcel of his awareness, which is himself. How do we relate this to God?
[Shri anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami, kindly please give Your answers to the following questions. At Your Divine Lotus Feet-anil.
God is the substratum and creation is His quality like flower and colour of flower. If we take the case of a human being, the qualities are part and parcel of his awareness which is he himself. In case of God; how to co-relate this. Kindly elaborate.]
Swami replied:- How can I correlate a soul with God? I can correlate different religions. But, I can’t correlate good and bad, which are quite opposite to each other. Due to this ignorant opposition of the soul, an overall reformation of the soul is very essential.
2. What is meant by friendship devotion to God. How is it different from other forms of devotion?
Swami replied:- Friendship devotion is very deep due to which some lenience arises in the mind of devotee, which is not at all misunderstood by God because it is based on true and deep love only. It is different from other forms due to the absence of such lenience in other forms. This type of devotion is the last but one step in the path of devotion.
3. Does the money wasted in booking or cancelling tickets come under unnecessary waste of money?
[When we book tickets in fights or trains; due to uncertainty of confirmation, many times we have to book several tickets at a time, but later on lot of money is wasted in cancellation. Does this fall under unnecessary wastage of money?]
Swami replied:- Certainly, it is unnecessary wastage of money. As far as possible you must minimize it by making earlier plans.
4. Does Allah, in the medium of formless energy, also contain relative awareness?
[Quran (Islam): Allah is Parabrahman and Allah also is unimaginable God mediated in formless energy. Energy is inert. In case of First energetic form of God, who is God Datta, relative awareness existed in the energetic form of Datta before Parabrahman entered and merged in It. In case of Allah (in the medium of formless energy or light) did the formless energy contain relative awareness also? Kindly clarify.]
Swami replied:- The formless energy need not have its own relative awareness because there is no existence of formless energetic items having individual soul or relative awareness. Energetic beings having individual souls covered by energetic bodies are abundant in the upper energetic worlds. Unimaginable God having unimaginable awareness can easily act as the individual soul of the formless energetic medium if necessary.
5. What is the reason for Muhammad saying in the following way?
[Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Leave me with what I have left for you. When I narrate a saying to you, take it from me. Verily, those before you were only ruined because they excessively interrogated and disputed their prophets.” (Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2679). What is the reason that Prophet Muhammad say in the above way?]
Swami replied:- A messenger has controlled character and as per that, Mohammad is behaving. A messenger cannot cross the limits prescribed by His master.
6. Why does the Quran say that Allah holds the sky so that it cannot fall on the earth (Surah 65:22)? What is the meaning of the above statement?
Swami replied:- The meaning of the above statement is that the clouds are hanging above the earth till proper time comes for the rains. The word sky cannot be taken as the vacuum space because there is no meaning in saying that the sky or space may fall on the earth. All the arrangements in the world are as per the wishes of the omniscient and omnipotent God.
7. Can we say that the Shia sect is better than the Sunni sect since they follow a living Imam?
[There are two main sects in Islam, Sunni and Shia. Sunni Muslims believe that the Prophet did not explicitly declare a successor. Shia Muslims believe that the Prophet publicly designated his cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him), as the first in a line of hereditary Imams from the Prophet's family to lead the community after him. Can we say that Shia is a better sect since they follow a living Imam?]
Swami replied:- Following human incarnation of God is far far better than following human interpretations of the scriptures. This does not mean to follow some human being. Instead of following a human being, who is not the human incarnation, it is better to study the scriptures with their commentaries and you can examine the suggestions of any human being applying your own intelligence and logical analysis.
8. What is the inner meaning of “He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed”?
[Bible (Christianity): In the Bible, Jesus narrated “The Parable of the Wicked Tenants” in which tenants consciously kill servants who were sent by the land owner to collect the share of harvest of vineyard from the tenants. Finally, they even killed the son of the land owner. As a conclusion Jesus said the following in Matthew 21:42-44 , “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed”. What is the inner meaning of the underlined verses?]
Swami replied:- A person falling on the stone is the person, who is criticizing God and the believers of God. Such a person will be broken into pieces. When stone is falling on a severe critic like a wild atheist, it means God is attacking such a sinner in which case the sinner will be crushed into a powdered mass. Hence, never jump on God with ignorance and ego because if He jumps on you, your address becomes unknown.
9. Why did Jesus say to leave the home or town in which one does not welcome or listen to your words?
[While sending His disciples for the propagation of the divine knowledge, Jesus said the following. Matthew 10:14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Why did Jesus say this?]
Swami replied:- The inner meaning of this is that it is easy and fruitful also if you preach the theist. Preaching an atheist is not convenient at all because the atheist is not only ignorant but is also wild due to ego. It is always better to avoid atheists from spiritual preaching.
10. Please elaborate the verse of John 4:18-19.
[There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4: 18-19. Swami, please elaborate on this.]
Swami replied:- God is selfless love because God does not love us for any selfish benefit. When there is no selfishness in love, such love always helps us and will not harm us in any way. If you see the love of any worldly bond, it loves you due to its selfishness because it wants to get happiness from you. It is running after you not for your happiness, but, is loving you for its own selfish happiness. Such selfish love is not true love and is only false love, which is always dangerous to you at any time.
11. 1 John 4:8. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. What is the meaning of this statement?
Swami replied:- God is love and this means that God is the embodiment of love, which means finally that love is a quality that is possessed by a living being and God is the possessor of love. The Veda says that God is love (Raso vai saḥ). The quality of love itself is not God because God is the possessor of love.
12. 1 Peter 4:8. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Will love cover the sins?
Swami replied:- A person having excess of love cannot do sins, which harm others. Love is opposite to this quality.
13. Matthew 5: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Why did Jesus say that those who mourn are blessed?
Swami replied:- Difficulties and miseries lead the soul to become a strong devotee of God and then God will be pleased to protect the devotee by giving comfort.
14. In the Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1-14), Why did Jesus commend a dishonest manager?
Swami replied:- Dishonesty of the manager is like a mud pond. The way of the manager giving more importance to human relationships than to money is like diamond that is fallen in a mud pond. If you wash away the mud, the diamond shines as an independent item that can be used in a jewel like needed situation. This means that the correct concept might be used in a wrong context. Because of the context, the concept is not spoiled like the diamond in the mud pond. If you separate the true concept from the false context, such washed pure concept can be used in the true context also. The concept of the manager is appreciated even though the context is not correct. This is a special way of collection of true concepts even from bad contexts.
15. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight?
[16 Jesus told His disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ 3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ 5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ 7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ 8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? 13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts.
What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight?]
Swami replied:- The Veda says that the world and God are like south and north poles (Dūramete viparīte viṣūcī). The reason for this inherent opposition is that world is always selfish and God is always selfless. God need not be selfish since there is no need for Him.