The Holy Spirit is "the Lord Within"
"Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16)
Lord, all I am is known to Thee:
In vain my soul would try
To shun Thy presence, or to flee
The notice of Thine eye.
Thy all surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest,
My public walks, my private ways,
The secrets of my breast.
My thoughts lie open to Thee, Lord,
Before they're formed within;
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
Thou knowest the sense I mean.
O wondrous knowledge! deep and high:
Where can a creature hide?
Within Thy circling arms I lie,
Beset on every side.
So let Thy grace surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from every ill,
Secured by sovereign love.
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/a/laiaiktt.htm
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi states that it is only after our self realisation [the
baptism of the Holy Spirit] that the Spirit of God can shine in our awareness:
"The Spirit, which is the reflection of God Almighty, is the source of absolute
truth and joy. But this spirit does not shine in our awareness when it is in the
human state. Only after self realisation [the baptism of the Holy Spirit] does
our awareness get enlightened by the Spirit. The first thing we have to
understand and accept [is that] we are not this body, this mind, this intellect,
these emotions, these conditionings or this ego. Thus to find pure love, peace
and the joy of absolute truth, one has to become the Spirit." (Shri Mataji
Nirmala Devi—book, Meta Modern Era—29/09/95)
The Scriptures also tell us, that it is the Spirit of God, which is received by
us, that enables us to know the thoughts of God:
"The thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God. Now we have
received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God." (1
Corinthians 2:11b-12a)
The Scriptures tell us, that God has prepared many things for those who love
Him:
"Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered
the heart of man, all that, God has prepared for those who love Him." (1
Corinthians 2:9)
However, these things are only revealed through the Spirit:
"For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all
things, even the depths of God." (1 Corinthians 2:10)
"Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from
God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we
also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the
Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words." (1 Corinthians
2:10;12-13)
The Holy Spirit becomes our "Lord within" when the Light of the Spirit is
ignited within us. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi describes this happening:
"When your Sahasrara opens out and your kundalini touches the fontanelle bone, a
sort of igniting force is ready in your Sahasrara. As soon as the fontanelle
bone area opens up in the brahmarandra, the grace of the Spirit ignites that
igniting force and your nadis [NERVES] get enlightened; not all of them, but
quite a lot of them. Not all the length, but quite a lot of the peripheries.
That's how you get your enlightenment." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi—Sahasrara
Day Puja Address—Le Raincy, France—5 May 1982)
Shri Mataji describes what happens within the person, when this ignition and
subsequent en'light'enment of the Spirit occurs:
"So many things happen because of the ["seat" of] your seven [psychosomatic]
centres being in the Sahasrara. With the light, you consciously experience the
relative positions of these centres being integrated within you. [It is
experienced that] the rationality that was separated from the heart, is now one
with the heart and one with the attention." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi —
Sahasrara Day Puja Address—Le Raincy, France—5 May 1982)
"Whenever a man turns to the Lord the veil is taken away." (2 Corinthians 3:16)
Thus, the Holy Spirit becomes the "Lord within". Shri Mataji further describes
how this oneness, this integration, works out the pure desire of the Holy
Spirit:
"Wherever your [enlightened] attention goes, it acts in a collective way. All
the activities of your attention are blessed, as the attention itself, becomes
effective. Your attention is very important; your desires are even more
important, because it is such an integrated thing when your desires and your
attention become "one"." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi—Sahasrara Day Puja Address
— Le Raincy, France—5 May 1982)
How do the Spirit and the attention work together?
"Whatever is good for the Spirit you desire, so your attention goes towards
whatever [benevolence] will cause the spiritual power to emit." (Shri Mataji
Nirmala Devi—Sahasrara Day Puja Address—Le Raincy, France—5 May 1982)
Shri Mataji reveals how close this Spirit is to us, and that this Spirit is a
reflection of God:
"There exists the Kingdom of God, and it creates us, and the Lord of our
autonomous nervous system is our Spirit, which is the reflection of God." (Shri
Mataji Nirmala Devi—letter to Dr. Raul)
Another time, Shri Mataji said that if you ask a Doctor: "Who runs our heart?"
they would say it is the "autonomous nervous system". However, She says: "But
this autonomous nervous system has got the "Auto" behind it, and who is this
"Auto" who runs it? She says that the Doctors will not be able to answer the
question, but that they are honest not to answer therefore. However, She does
give the answer:
"But there is an answer to it. It is the soul which controls all such vital
things in our being!" (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi—book, Meta Modern Era —
29/09/95)
The scriptures ask:
"Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells
in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16)
In case we have not realised it, once our Spirit is raised to the throne of God
Almighty, in the Kingdom of God within, then our Holy Spirit within, is the
"Lord Within". Practically speaking, when we have our baptism of the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit within becomes our "Lord", and there can only be "one" Lord.
Shri Mataji said that "You have to become Lord of yourself". However, Shri
Mataji told us how so many people, just want to be "Lord" of others:
"But I have seen in Sahaja Yoga, many people, you make them a leader, finished!
Then, he sits on everybody's head! If you don't make them a leader, then they go
on writing letters to Me, one after another, that: "Mother, we want to be
leader, I want to be a leader." Like this they go on insisting. For what do you
want to be a leader? Just to dominate others? And this domination business is
not meant for Sahaja Yogis!!!" (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi—Easter Puja —
Istanbul, Turkey—19/04/98)
Rather, Shri Mataji gives the beautiful image of Christ to us, who rose above
the forces of domination. Christians will remember that He stood up to the
priestly class, who disbelieved Him, and He spoke up very clearly that they were
hypocrites, who clean the outside of the cup, but inside are dirty. Shri Mataji
tells the beautiful story of Christ:
"I'm here today to tell you about a beautiful image of Christ who rose above
that [domination]. In the same way, we must allow for the death of all
nonsensical ideas, negative thoughts, and everything like that, which has to be
overcome. You have to be the Lord of yourself and in [being] that, you should
feel so comforted, so happy!!! In giving to others you'll find it very much
easier, than in taking something from others." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi -
Easter Puja - Istanbul, Turkey - 19/04/98)
"But this greatness is not by domination or by showing off, but it comes from
within, so that when people see you, they will know it is something special that
you have! That is how Sahaja Yoga is going to spread. It's the Christ within
you, who has to arise to guide and teach you how to behave towards others, how
to gain their confidence, and give them the love and peace you have flowing
within you, so that they also may become happy and joyous people. This is the
Message of the Resurrection, the Message of the breaking of the Sahasrara!!!"
(Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - Easter Puja - Istanbul, Turkey - 19/04/98)
Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is [awakened within]
there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
[spiritual understanding and gender emphasis based upon Shri Mataji's teachings]
