36. Willfulness brings countless afflictions and sorrows. Bind yourself in obedience to God and in the bonds of discipline. (If you wish to awaken your own consciousness, you cannot afford to be willful. The path of consciousness alone is the path of joy, the path of God.) 37. The gateway to the temple of Brahman is exceedingly narrow; entry is forbidden to the proud of head. (What a beautiful truth! Unless you cast aside arrogance and blend yourself utterly with the dust, there is no way to realize Brahman. To enter that abode of peace, you must become peaceful yourself; you must walk the path of knowledge with a bowed head.) 38. Cultivate affection without self-interest. (One cannot produce love in another's heart through calculated behavior and hollow gesture.) 39. Call upon God alone; He will reveal Himself. Accept no intermediary, yet seek the aid of saints and sages. (The Vedanta and Upanishads say that Brahman cannot be known, yet with the help of scripture one may form a conception of Brahman's true nature and begin the journey toward knowledge of Brahman. By learning from the teachings and lives of great souls and walking the path to God, progress becomes easier; but if you allow a third party into the silent, intimate communion between yourself and God, nothing will come of it. Prayer is not something to be performed or paraded about.) 40. He in whose feet billions of universes and moons and suns find shelter—even the lowly outcaste He holds in His arms; the Brahmic faith bears witness to this. (The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita speak of the impartiality of Brahman or God. Just as the sun illuminates all equally—the highest and the lowest, the near and the far, the great and the small—even so does Brahman manifest equally within and without all beings and things without distinction. Here the activity of sun and Brahman is attributed for the sake of understanding.) 41. The Brahmic faith is as fathomless as an ocean, as lofty as mountain peaks that pierce the clouds, as grave as the hour of midnight. (This is because attaining Brahmanhood, obtaining knowledge of Brahman, the union of the individual soul with the Supreme Self—this is to be established in Brahman's true nature. This is reaching the state of ultimate witness; beyond this there is nothing; here is the end. Therefore its depth, its height, its gravity are all unique and incomparable.) 42. In acquiring the knowledge of Brahman, one should not depend upon circumstance and time. (Anyone from any place and in any condition can attain this knowledge. There is no favorable or unfavorable environment for it, no calculation of opportune or inopportune moments. One must simply begin. All circumstances are fit; all times are right.) 43. The worship of God requires both knowledge of Brahman and love of Brahman, for without knowledge of Brahman the love of Brahman fades, and without love of Brahman the knowledge of Brahman fades. (If one does not know the path to knowing Brahman, the thirst to know the deeper and deepest paths to knowing Brahman does not awaken; conversely, without such thirst, the path to knowing Brahman is naturally forgotten in time.) 44. Knowledge and love are the father and mother of religion. (It is through the union of knowledge with love—ardent devotion or bhakti—that sincerity toward religion and righteous duty is born. Knowledge and devotion are therefore the root cause of religious understanding.) 45. Only by understanding God can one truly understand the essence of religion. (In walking the path of God, one walks the path of religion. The comprehension of religion's essence is the sole vehicle on the road to reaching God, to the abode of consciousness.) 46. The knowledge of Brahman becomes luminous through the study of the world's workings. (In acquiring lower knowledge through inquiry into the creation, sustenance, and development of the world, and how these three processes unfold—one gradually develops the capacity and inclination to swim in the infinite ocean of higher knowledge.) 47. The study of Brahmic knowledge is a duty, just as is the study of other sciences. (The supreme aim of life is the attainment of Brahman; therefore all the treasures of one who has not undertaken the learning of Brahmanhood are spent in vain.)
Certainly, those who attain the supreme pinnacle of both success and fulfillment journey in fact toward that very ‘Self’; thus, in another sense, they too are followers or seekers upon the path of Brahmanhood.)
48. The person who has realized the nature of God is not disturbed by anything. (The nature of God is precisely the nature of Brahman. When is a human being disturbed? When there is urgency to reach somewhere, when tasks pile up in one’s hands. After realizing the nature of Brahman, there is nothing left for a person to know—everything has been known; there is no more urgency to reach anywhere, the ultimate destination has been attained; no work remains to be done, the highest purpose of all action has been fulfilled. Then what remains to disturb him?)
49. The person who beholds God directly in the heart—he alone is the knower of Brahman. (“Brahmavidbrahmaivaбhavati” (Mundaka Upanishad, 3/2/9)—that is, he who knows Brahman becomes Brahman itself. Consider: the radiance of fire and fire itself are the same substance; the head of Rahu is verily Rahu himself; the light of the sun is the very expression of the sun’s being.)
50. Drawing near to God is the sole purpose of the individual soul. (By attaining the knowledge of Brahman, one realizes Brahmanhood. Since Brahman is the supreme witness, to attain Brahman is to attain liberation. To approach God, the Absolute Self, is the only purpose of the individual soul.)
51. Religion is that which is freely accepted through knowledge, whether or not it appears in any scripture, whether or not taught by any Brahmanist, that which is practiced according to one’s will, and that through which God is pleased. (On the path of Brahma-knowledge, whatever is valid and conducive to happiness should be examined through knowledge and practiced according to one’s will—this is religion. Whether or not it appears in any scripture, whether or not any Brahmanist has taught it, all these arrangements exist in this world for the pleasure of God.)
52. When you see all living beings in the world with equanimity, when you harbor no disrespect toward anyone, then the breadth of love becomes boundless. (That is, through the practice of equanimous vision—the teaching of the Lord Sri Krishna emanating from his lips—let love spread in all directions.)
53. It is not enough merely to say God exists; just as you can easily feel the existence of your tongue through taste, so too must you easily feel His presence within and outside your heart. (Where and in whom people seek God and the Absolute Self determines where their God is. Since He is the Supreme Brahman, His existence is everywhere. This requires an intensity of longing; without it, the heart’s perception does not come properly.)
54. Whatever is true in the world belongs within Brahmic religion. (Through this, all truth in the world is embraced within Brahmic faith. That which contains no truth is not Brahmic in any way. Whatever is true—no matter whence it comes, in whatever form, at whatever time—will find a place in Brahmic religion, will be honored there. The Baha’i faith too holds precisely such a philosophy. They say a person who is good is thereby Baha’i. The Baha’i faith is not confined within any specific boundary—whoever possesses goodness is Baha’i. There is no need for religious conversion. The Baha’i teaching says a person’s goodness alone is his sole religion. Ah, what wonderful wisdom philosophy teaches!)
55. Pleasing God and performing His beloved work is His worship. (How is God pleased? When His cherished deeds are done. What are those deeds? All beliefs, actions, and conduct that serve the welfare of oneself and the world are beloved by God. The performance of good and necessary work—of duty itself—is the worship of God.)
56. The knowledge of God crushes all wicked inclinations and temptations. (Knowledge concerning Brahman fills a person with longing to realize Brahmanhood. Then a person withdraws his mind from all unnecessary pursuits.
# Philosophical Reflections on Knowledge and Brahman
Man can distance himself from thoughts of harming others, from dwelling on others’ affairs, from worldly temptations and false self-satisfaction, when such knowledge dawns.)
**57.** Just as fire is born from the friction of wood upon wood, so does knowledge produce and reveal truth the moment it meets with friction or the profound touch of contemplation. (Truth is never created; it is disclosed or discovered. To achieve Brahmic knowledge and employ that wisdom in the unceasing practice of the inner mind or meditation—this is what unveils truth. For this one must labor perpetually through the awakening of Brahmic knowledge and the faculty of contemplation.)
**58.** In all the dealings of worldly life, one must at every moment feel the presence of that one (radiant, immense) Being beyond them. (This is the very essence of the Upanishads. Whatever we do, wherever we dwell, however we act and exist, everything within us and beyond us is suffused with Brahman. This realization is the very substance of our birth, growth, decay, transformation, and the living of life itself. Thus we must never forget in any deed or existence, nor in nature itself, that vast, infinite Brahman and Being—even as we dwell in the ocean of air, yet forget the air itself.)
**59.** With the birth of the soul itself, the seeds of Brahmic knowledge and devotion to Brahman have been embedded within it. (Through the thread of self-knowledge and Brahmic knowledge comes the great declaration of Socrates: *Know Thyself*—and its subsequent unfolding has moved us since ancient times to seek the soul. The conception of the soul, or contemplation of it, the knowledge of Brahman and the yearning to attain such knowledge—none of this is possible without these.)
**60.** Just as truth is grasped through knowledge, so does benevolence arise through devotion (love, affection, friendship, preference, fondness, attraction, attachment, or draw towards a person, subject, or thing). (Benevolence is that quality in which there is no malice—or more simply, it is this: doing good and rejecting evil. A good person always seeks the opportunity to help others and is thoughtful toward them. Some people willingly do good for their family and friends, but is this enough? None of us can always display benevolence perfectly. The Bible says, “There is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20) The Apostle Paul acknowledged this honestly: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18) Thus it is clear that if we wish to cultivate this quality, we must learn from Brahman and Brahmic knowledge, for Brahman is the source of all benevolence.)
**61.** One must hold all scriptures in reverence. (This is the finest method of acquiring knowledge. Each scripture is an ocean of gems. In an ocean, alongside gems lie dust and sand—and this is natural. He who has learned to gather gems easily ignores all the rest and collects only gems; but he who has not learned gathers only dust and sand—the fool’s eye sees only dust. Where is such an ocean that contains only gems?—the lack of this simple understanding blinds mankind. The Brahmo faith stood opposed to all blindness and dogma. This is why the Brahmo Society of that time was a gathering place of the great-souled and the learned.)
**62.** Without care, God cannot be seen. (Without care, one does not even find ordinary gems; how much less the inexhaustible treasury of all treasures—the attainment of God!)
**63.** He who declares himself to be Brahmic is never a true knower of Brahman. (The true sage never says that he is wise.
Knowledge never fully grasps itself in his hands, and so the more knowledge he acquires, the more his thirst grows. The wiser one becomes, the more parched. He who says his thirst is quenched has yet to find what thirst truly is. To know that the pitcher at hand is already full—this is the crux of the matter, and then thirst can never be sated.)
64. Religion is born from freedom. (Ah, what a powerful utterance! It takes great courage to speak such words. At a time when so many established religions busy themselves binding their followers in chains of belief, when they rush with murderous intent the moment they see thought stepping from the darkness of blind faith into reason’s light, here the Brahmo faith, illuminated by the liberal philosophy of the Upanishads, proclaims the triumph of freedom of thought. Surely, this is why a sage like Rabindranath Tagore remained all his life in the shelter of Brahmoism. Genius can never be shackled.)
65. Through knowledge alone must one perceive God’s existence; nothing else is needed for this. (The teachings of Vedanta and the Upanishads form the very foundation of Brahmo faith. Sigmund Freud’s one of the most cherished books was Rabindranath Tagore’s *Sadhana*; he kept it right at his reading table. Rabindranath’s life philosophy, immersed throughout in the cultivation of the Infinite, is abundantly reflected in these series of lectures. The very roots of Rabindranath’s quest for God and Consciousness lie in the union of Upanishadic wisdom with the soul of a sage—this becomes evident the moment one turns one’s gaze to Tagore’s creations.)
66. If faith is not nurtured and practiced, it grows feeble. (Faith is as much a thing to be cultivated as it is to be held. Merely believing is not enough; acting according to that belief is the real matter. The chief obstacle to progress is not the absence of faith, but the absence of earnest endeavor in accordance with faith. When one torments oneself with thoughts of an imagined heaven after death and thereby makes a hell of life before death—then it is hell before death and hell after as well!)
67. Religion does not attain completeness without knowledge and love, and there is no other way to liberation besides these two. (To walk the path of religion, one must understand well which path one treads, and one must possess the necessary devotion and affection required for the journey. The absence of their union breeds only blindness. He whose heart’s chamber holds no light—all roads to God, to Brahman, to the supreme Witness, to Consciousness itself are closed to him.)
68. That means by which God is perceived—that alone is called Brahmavidya, knowledge of Brahman. (Brahman is God, Consciousness is God. He is the supreme Witness, and beyond him there is nothing else. To know oneself is thus to know God. Once one reaches from nature to spirit, to Consciousness, there is nowhere else to go. Should one wish to go further still, one would have to step out from the very ‘I’—then nothing remains; a logical impossibility arises—how can the ‘I’ emerge from the ‘I’ itself?)
69. Knowledge opens the gates of heaven, and love grants the power to enter within. (Knowledge first, then devotion. Knowledge alone or devotion alone often leads the soul astray. Knowledge without devotion can make one arrogant, and devotion without knowledge often renders one foolish.)