The SELF-ATMA is the Real Teacher of All People

Do you need to find a living, breathing, flesh & blood teacher in order to become enlightened? In ancient times, Seers orally transmitted the primordial metaphysical principles that underlie the temporal illusory hologram through the generations. Even during most of this Kali Yuga the sacred Sanskrit texts were available only to the Brahmin priests who were educated to read and recite them.

It has only been in very recent times that many of these texts have been translated – some by a few westerners who actually had an open mind towards their content. The fact that they are currently available to anyone is likely symptomatic that we are approaching the end of the Kali.

Of course who wouldn’t want to be near an enlightened master?

But the plethora of greedy, deceitful, self-interested charlatans passing themselves off as avatars and enlightened gurus is only surpassed by the numerous confused souls who are now channeling aliens in the belief that these entities hold the secrets of the universe. The extraterrestrials are often far from enlightened and all appear to have their own agendas – which frequently include various forms of subtle mind control.

While let me assure you that this was not my own personal experience, I certainly learned a great deal from my contact. The most important lesson I gained is that my multidimensional selves are not the God-within me. They may be projections of my SELF-ATMA, or of the larger Isness, but does not make them or their agendas superior to my own spiritual path. Trust the God-within you. There are 1000s of entities ‘out-there’ in the Myriad Worlds literally advertising to get your attention and energy.

In a similar manner, many gurus and teachers either have very material interests or they may be ones who have achieved a fragment of insight and have decided to make a profitable career of those experiences.

I would suggest that finding a pure and enlightened teacher in the Twilight of the Kali Yuga is akin to the old ‘needle in the haystack’ metaphor. One of the symptoms of the Kali is that people will prefer to choose false ideas. This is the Age of Confusion after all.

In the Uddhava Gita [Dialogue 2, Verse 19 & 20], Krishna tells his friend and disciple Uddhava that there are many who by their own efforts have realized the truth and that the SELF/ATMA – meaning the God-within - is the real teacher of all people.

We are all constantly learning and anyone or anything can be a teacher to you. Even the false guru can teach you a lot – perhaps especially a false guru. But ouch! We learn from Nature, from the song of a bird, the sound of the wind, the movement of water. We can learn from the rich man’s greed or the poor man’s dignity. Often as we progress along the path we learn to look for these ‘lessons’ in our everyday ordinary life – because we realize that God is within everything and emerges for us as we seek the truth beneath the illusion of multiplicity.

So my view – which many would disagree with – is that, in this Twilight of the Kali Yuga, trust the God-within you to teach you whatever you need to learn and bring you Home. If you find yourself in a cult of mind control and co-dependency, then learn whatever it is you need to learn - say thank you and quickly move on.

If you find yourself in the presence of a truly realized soul, then bask in their frequency – but know that it is still by your own efforts that you will achieve your goal. No one can touch you with a magic wand and make you enlightened except the God-within you, who knows you better than anyone and knows exactly what you need at the moment you need it.

God dwells within the Heart of each and every one of us. We don’t have to ask permission of anyone to access the love and knowledge waiting for us there – we only have to want it more than we want the external illusory hologram, and turn inward to discover the love we have always sought.

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The end of the Kali Yuga is a particularly favorable period to pursue true knowledge. Some will attain wisdom in a short time, for the merits acquired in one year during the Treta Yuga can be obtained in one day in the age of Kali.  

[Shiva Purana, A. Danielou]

45.  … during the Kali… Men attain perfection within a short time.

46-47. What is gained by the practice of dharma for a year in the Treta Yuga is attained by the practice of it for a month in the Dvapara Yuga. In Kali an intelligent devotee attains the same in a day by practicing Dharma strenuously.

[Linga Purana, Section1, Chapter 40]

The Uddhava Gita, The Final Teaching of Krishna

Translated by Swami Ambikananda Saraswati

2002, Ulysses Press

While the Gods Play: Shaiva Oracles & Predictions on the Cycles of History & the Destiny of Mankind

Alain Danielou

Inner Traditions, 1987