August 13, 2024
What is psychology? Psychology is truth concerning the psyche. Usually, they say that psyche is the mind, though perhaps it means a lot more than that. Surely mind itself means a lot more than what we have come to regard as mind. Superficially it is the thinking instrument, but what is that power, what is that energy that makes the mind aware? What is the content of awareness? What is the meaning of awareness? What is the meaning of consciousness? This is what we should try to discover. This discovery is made by insight - that which sees into oneself, into this awareness, into this consciousness, into this mind. The Keno Upanishad hints that that supreme principle within which enables all these to happen is God - the mind of mind, the life of life.
The religious quest is directed towards the realization of God. How do you know what God is? If you already know what God looks like, you know God. Then what are you looking for? If you do not know God at all, how will you recognize Him if you see Him? Both ways you are caught. To avoid this impasse they introduced the Guru - Jesus Christ, your Guru, or Buddha, and He points out, 'This is God, bow down'.
Now comes a difficulty. Will you accept that or not? You might think: 'What is He trying to do to me, is He cheating me or indulging in some kind of mesmerism, hypnotism, black magic?' This is because you have no faith either in God or the Guru. If you have no faith in the Guru you will suspect whatever He says, even when He points to God - which means you are not sincere, mature or eager in the first place.
Therefore in both yoga and Vedanta they insist upon maturity. In ancient times the enlightened ones remained incognito, unperceived, unrecognized. They 'veiled' themselves so that only the mature disciple went to them in a state of readiness. Then it was very easy for Them to indicate the truth and the disciple was enlightened.
That is perhaps what was meant by the Holy Ghost. In German the word 'geist' means mind, so the Holy Ghost is a purified, mature, sincere, virtuous mind; a mind that is ready and eager, which naturally seeks the truth. In that natural search for the truth you may need some help, which comes to you as your Guru, as God almighty, as the Son in Christianity. So the Holy Ghost takes the help of the Son (or the Guru) and finds God (the Father).