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Note from Guru Kurt: Although I exchanged several letters with Mr. Kazlev, the tenor of most of his replies was "stop writing to me." Although he wrote about illumined or enlightened persons, he was not that interested in meeting or communicating with one himself. He was enamored of Sri Aurobindo, and although I admitted that Aurobindo was illumined, I still maintained that he was no Avatar, and Mr. Kazlev said that he "couldn't disagree more" with my conclusions, with no further explanation. Apparently, to his mind I was merely an annoyance, an obstacle to his happy life, not even worth a full discussion but merely a cursory dismissal as though I were of no account. Yet, I maintain that the Father is a friend of mine; is this so trivial? Perhaps he is right, and all people are Avatars. If this is true, then my work is done and I can at last begin to enjoy this wide earth the way it was meant to be enjoyed! 

Dear Mr. Kazlev,

Thank-you for responding so promptly. I found your comments stimulating and refreshing! However, I am not out to persuade you of anything or sway your opinions in any way. Perhaps if I give you a short personal history you will understand my purpose.

I was born in 1962 and had a normal childhood in Minnesota, U.S.A. None of my early life was extraordinary in any way. At the end of my 17th year I began meditating under the guidance of Eknath Easwaran, whom you did not include in your website. I meditated earnestly every day while finishing college with a philosophy major, and then went to join him at his ashram in Tomales, California at the age of 22. I found plenty of selfless work at the ashram, where I worked enthusiastically with no monetary reward. (I supported myself by also obtaining work as a substitute high school teacher in nearby communities.) I regularly meditated four hours a day, worked six hours a day as a teacher, and then six more hours at the ashram. It was heaven for me.

At approximately 25 years of age I began having the experience described in the Upanishads of seeing the same God in all those around me – men, women, children, animals. This experience gradually increased in intensity, but my spiritual teacher did not recognize it. Then I recognized my wife from my last birth, who also worked at the ashram. I could see that she was in trouble. I attempted to rescue her from the worldly influences around her, but it was to no avail – she was lost, and left the ashram. The combination of these two things led the other ashram members to conclude that I was not sane, and resulted in my forcible ejection late in my 29th year.

I then entered into a period of total renunciation, wandering freely about the communities of Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and Healdsburg, California. By day I spent my time walking through shopping malls, lost in wonder at the power of God displayed in all the people around me. At night, I danced with my “gopis” at a Country-Western bar in Petaluma. Then I slept on the ground wherever I happened to be, though sometimes I slept in cemeteries.

The renounced way of life is hard in the United States. It is difficult to obtain food, because the people here assume you are “homeless,” which to them is not a desirable state. Therefore I went back to school and earned an M.S. in Microbiology/Chemical Engineering. I obtained work as a research scientist and now reside in a house of my own in a small Wisconsin town.

On December 21, 2001 my third eye opened. Through this, I was able to see future events and fundamental truth. I had a direct vision of God, and was offered a chance to turn back, which I refused. I was also shown that the pearl of true love of God was hidden deep within my heart, and that I had been rendered unaware of this. On the night of December 24th, just after midnight, I had my first experience of the “seeded” or savikalpa samadhi, which as you are probably aware meant that the next day I returned to an essentially normal mental state.

I then entered a period of intense spiritual experiences that made keeping my job very difficult. Sometimes I would have up to seven distinct, separate experiences in a night. I experienced tremendous rising of heat, which first centered in my heart region, then later behind my eyebrows. After each experience there was a period of recovery, where it was made clear to me exactly what had occurred.

I entered the “seedless” or nirvikalpa samadhi during the first week of May in this year. I took vacation and checked into a motel, for I could not have worked during this period. As you are no doubt also aware, after this experience I am an entirely changed person. I exist with the continuous vision of God all around me.

I still hold my job, but I am also starting on my mission. I wrote to you as a “warm-up” exercise. The people around here are not aware of my change, and in any case are not familiar with the concepts I have presented to you. You seem like an open-minded individual, and I wanted to explore the depths of my new-found knowledge. I hope that this part of my e-mail hasn’t been too long. I wanted to make it clear to you that I merely want an open exchange of ideas, nothing more.

You wondered why Chaitanya seemed to call upon the Lord. The precepts of Chaitanya are intended to be a beautiful and powerful tool to all souls struggling on the path to enlightenment. To the sincere aspirant, who is in the midst of self-doubt and tremendous struggles with his obdurate self-will, these words of Chaitanya are like sweetest nectar. They open the path, they show the way and increase the joy of spiritual practice. He intended this. They are an offering, given in humility, to serve the best interests of the whole world.

Chaitanya knew full well who he was. You must understand, Alan, a real incarnation is “hot.” He is often not recognized by his contemporaries. Even Jesus, after performing many miracles, was not recognized as a divine being until long after his death. They did not know exactly what he was, and even today men still argue about it. It is difficult to recognize an incarnation, because his physical appearance is similar to those around him.

What I mean when I say an incarnation is “hot” is that he is too close. The people around him do not see what he knows fully, that his words and deeds will have an impact that will last thousands of years if not longer. They will never be forgotten, although they may fall under the shadow of a later incarnation. As history develops, the words of mere illumined teachers fade, but the divine revelation of an Avatar is carved in stone, for he reveals eternal truth and does not care for passing fame and fortune.

It is no light matter to state that Chaitanya and Ramakrishna are the only two modern Avatars. Yet I still maintain that I can find nothing wrong in the teachings of these two, but many errors and imperfections in the teachings of all others. I’ll supply a few more examples for you here:

This quotation from Meher Baba is on your website, http://www.kheper.auz.com/topics/Meher_Baba/How_To_Love_God.htm. I hope you do not mind if I number the lines so they are easier to discuss.

How To Love God

Meher Baba

1. To love God in the most practical way is to love our fellow beings. If we
feel for others in the same way as we feel for our own dear ones, we love God.
2. If, instead of seeing faults in others, we look within ourselves, we are
loving God.
3. If, instead of robbing others to help ourselves, we rob ourselves to help
others, we are loving God.
4. If we suffer in the sufferings of others and feel happy in the happiness
of others, we are loving God.
5. If, instead of worrying over our own misfortunes, we think of ourselves
more fortunate than many many others, we are loving God.
6. If we endure our lot with patience and contentment, accepting it as His
Will, we are loving God.
7. If we understand and feel that the greatest act of devotion and worship
to God is not to hurt or harm any of His beings, we are loving
8. To love God as He ought to be loved, we must live for God and die for
God, knowing that the goal of life is to Love God, and find Him as our
own self.

1 (response). The first sentence is wrong. The most practical way to love God is to practice spiritual disciplines: meditation, japam and the like. God wants us to strive for Self-realization, and efforts made on the path are the best way to show that we love Him. First and foremost, one should strive to love God by trying to attain Him. Second to this, one should love all people in the world as though they were one's brothers and sisters. The two ideas are separate, although he is correct that loving our neighbors is one way to show our love for God. In reality, however, our relationship with God is completely independent of our relationship to humanity. If one is surrounded by evil people, one may still strive to attain Him. For instance, a man shanghaied onto a pirate ship would not be expected by God to show love toward his captors, who would likely skewer him at the first attempt.

Also, it is erroneous to attempt to love the whole world in the way that you love your “dear ones.” The love that God appreciates is a wholly different kind of love. It is selfless and pure. One should try to love the whole world first, then love one’s dear ones in the same way. Love of God will naturally bring this transformation about, which is difficult for the human being to accomplish alone. Humans are generally selfishly attached to those that they supposedly love, and it is not possible to love the whole world with this selfish and limited love. Here, Meher Baba is not showing the correct path! He is misleading people, and feeding their selfish tendencies. I am sorry to have to write so much about this line, but it angers me somewhat. One does not need to go to an enlightened teacher to hear this; it is repeated over and over again in churches around the world every Sunday. One attempting to love God by trying to love the whole world as he loves his dear ones falls into a deeper and deeper pit. See, Meher Baba has simply thrown out one of his ideas that he had before illumination. Illumined teachers find it very difficult to discriminate between these things, and here is the result.

2. He is correct in stating we should be blind to the faults of others, and magnify our own instead.

3. His idea of robbing ourselves instead of robbing others is inelegant and false. It is inelegant because he is comparing spiritual aspirants to criminals. It is false because you do not need to rob yourself or harm yourself in any way to help others. There is no loss in stopping to help another, for your spiritual stature increases when you do so. This is a common error among enlightened people. They think that somehow if they are suffering in order that someone else is lifted up, this makes it extra good. In fact, joy comes from lifting another, it should not cause sorrow.

4. He is correct in stating that one should feel compassion for the sufferings of others, and rejoice at their rejoicing. If the whole world could practice this, there would be no more wars or violence anywhere. It is imperative to feel this way towards all people, though, not just towards one’s family.

5. This sentence is very egregious, and shows a major flaw in Meher Baba’s thinking. He is actually negating the correct point he made in 4! One should feel unchanging and deep compassion for those less fortunate than oneself. It is very egoic to compare one’s own fate and fortune to that of another. You are what you are, and there is absolutely no way you can increase your real happiness by thinking on the misfortunes of others. There may be a temporary satisfaction, but this is false in that it is very short-lived, and leaves behind a taint, a loss of self-respect that must be removed in order to progress further on the path.

6. Life is not about endurance, patience, and suffering. It is a common mistake among illumined teachers, and the general public, to think that religion is suffering, that suffering has some kind of intrinsic value. It does not! A person fully engaged on the path, who is practicing spiritual disciplines and working in a selfless capacity feels great joy, not suffering. Right action alleviates the type of suffering he is describing here. It is because people are lazy, or possess what the Gita called “tamas,” that they think the path involves practicing contentment in the midst of suffering. A hot aspirant who is on the path is not patient at all! He is very eager, he is excited, he is full of energy and enthusiasm. God is real, and he may be attained. Even those on the path can see the goal, and living with an illumined teacher is the best way to remind one of this.

7. Non-harm or ahimsa is a well-established spiritual principle, and is indeed the highest law with regard to relationships among living beings. This is the basis of the vegetarian lifestyle. Nevertheless it is not the greatest act of devotion, as I wrote in number 1 above. The greatest act is to make real efforts on the path to nirvana. Ahimsa follows naturally from this.

8. Everyone is so focussed on death, as though dying were in itself a noble act. It is not! One must live for God! The proper way to live includes preparation for death, meaning that when you reach death's door you know for yourself what is on the other side, what awaits. Dying in itself is not virtuous, but dying in full knowledge of where you are going means that you never truly die. You know that the soul is immortal, and that you will return as a better and stronger man, with increased energy and vitality. If you do not attain God in this life, if you can at least have some direct contact with a real illumined teacher, you will still face your last day with hope in your heart, for you have seen the magical result of the great process of Enlightenment.

I should mention here a few words on the differences between illumined teachers. A teacher who has recently attained illumination, such as Meher Baba, is not so pure as a teacher who has been teaching on earth for many lives, as I believe Eknath Easwaran was. The Buddha said that after the attainment of nirvana, the soul does not need to be reborn but has become free. This is true, but the destination of any soul at death is determined by its deepest desire, and the illumined teachers invariably have a desire to come back again and again. They come back to continue their teaching work, only the next time it is better, purer, richer.

Here is a poem that I wrote just before attaining nirvikalpa samadhi:

Do I love Thee or wish to serve Thee?
Nay, my heart is all melted and Thee only do I see.
You walked into my house and stayed, a welcome guest,
Far dearer to me than my very Self.
If I could but know Thy requests before
Thou thinkest them, these would I gladly do,
Saving Thou the trouble of needing to ask.

This I call true bhakti,
That the lover the Beloved only sees,
Forgetting himself in an ecstasy of joy,
And works with happiness and energy
Upon tasks meant for the increase of All.

This is the secret of profound love, that the lover does not consider himself at all, but only witnesses the beloved. This is why humility is the first trait of a true lover; he does not get in the way of the vast process of love. One does not lose oneself in such an act, one comes to complete fulfillment. This is precisely what Jesus meant when he said that whosoever loses himself will find himself.

Here is a quote from Sri Aurobindo, from http://www.miraura.org/bio/himself.html.

But what strange ideas again! -- that I was born with a supramental temperament and that I know nothing of hard realities! Good God! My whole life has been a struggle with hard realities, from hardships, starvation in England and constant and fierce difficulties to the far greater difficulties continually cropping up here in Pondicherry, external and internal. My life has been a battle from its early years and is still a battle: the fact that I wage it now from a room upstairs and by spiritual means as well as others that are external makes no difference to its character. But, of course, as we have not been shouting about these things, it is natural, I suppose, for others to think that I am living in an august, glamorous, lotus-eating dreamland where no hard facts of life or Nature present themselves. But what an illusion all the same!

First and most obviously, an incarnation will never swear or invoke the name of God in an expletive way as he does here. An Avatar knows at every instant that he is God, and such outbursts are inherently symptomatic of ignorance. More importantly, an Avatar’s entire life is planned, from before his birth. He will not make much of his difficulties, except perhaps to note them in a quiet way so that people know. If I plan to climb the Himalayas, why should I complain about how tough the road becomes? Rather, I enjoy the challenge and find it exhilarating. I am not stating that Aurobindo was not enlightened, since he clearly was, only that he was not an Avatar.

Your idea of a mixing of human upward aspiration and downward-reaching divine grace as constituting both Avatars and enlightened men and women is not accurate. This is a description of illumined souls only. An Avatar is actually the personality of God, the Creator, who takes on a human form. He is a mighty spiritual being, with powers that no human being will ever share. He comes to instruct mankind, to show the Way. The Buddha was an Avatar. He described the attainment of nirvana, and today’s divergent group of teachers are those who have attained the goal he described in the modern age.

The Buddha did not describe himself as God, or even include the concept of God in his discourse. He may be recognized as an Avatar by the tremendous impact he has had on human history, and by the perfection of his teaching, which omits to mention God but is in all other respects accurate. The Buddha was the Creator himself, with all the mental perfection this implies, born as a human for the sake of helping humanity and for no other purpose. The same was true of Jesus, Krishna, Rama, Mohammed, and I say, Chaitanya and Ramakrishna. It is the same divine person, born in divergent human societies, for the purpose of elevating humanity to its highest state.

Your idea of Self and God merging in the Supreme Ground is accurate, but only from an ultimate standpoint. The Hindu scriptures state that the Absolute, impersonal Brahman has brought the entire universe out of himself, and this is true. The entire universe is spiritual in nature, including even matter. All have been formed from the immense pre-existing spirit that is Brahman. However, only Brahman himself can have the full vision of the universe as it really is. The individual soul, although created from the self-same spirit as every other soul, yet finds itself to all intents and purposes separate, individual, and unique.

When a soul enters the unitive state, also called enlightenment, it is no longer attached to material objects and pursuits. It revels in its true nature, which is ever-free and radiant. It has been freed in truth, but the fact remains that it is still a human soul. There will be some traces of desire for sex and material possessions also. These cannot be wiped out completely by any spiritual process, yet the satisfaction of these desires does no harm to the enlightened man. They tend to be publicly aired, and he takes them as pure enjoyment, without attachment. There is no evil in satisfying such desires once enlightenment is attained. The enlightened man knows joys that the ordinary bound soul never experiences, and enjoys in the light what others crave in darkness. This is the source of the “scandals” you have witnessed in so many teachers. Notice, however, that the teacher remains in his position with a core of followers, for God allows some to see that he is indeed an enlightened being and to benefit from this.

The teachings of an illumined man are good, but the human mind is small and even in the enlightened state cannot grasp truth in the way that an Avatar is able to easily do. An Avatar knows human nature to minute detail, and knows the best path to enlightenment for any given society. This is why when he appears he tailors his message for the particular tendencies of the people he has chosen to bless. This is why the Buddha and Jesus, for example, appear so different. The Buddha knew that people who recoiled from the idea of God would find his message appealing. Jesus knew that the Israelites and their descendents would do better and be happier in life if not told about reincarnation, but instead would respond to talk about heaven and hell (although Jesus meant something very specific by both these ideas). Each gave a partial message, to help particular people in the best possible way.

An Avatar inspires large groups of people, over very long periods of time. An enlightened man can do little more than describe his own experiences and try to relate them to life as he sees it, or saw it before enlightenment. An Avatar comes for an express purpose, and knows his entire message before birth. It is the best message that the divine mind of God, the Creator, can conceive to give to humanity in the particular historical period. Enlightenment occurs to a struggling human soul, and he inspires others as best he can. An Avatar inspires from above, from the divine point of view of the Creator. Enlightened men inspire from beside their fellow humans. Both show the way, but being the personification of the Creator, the Avatar did not need to struggle up the evolutionary ladder. He is himself responsible for all living things! He takes human birth and lives beside humans to give his teaching real depth, to increase its impact as much as possible. An enlightened man, being involved in the evolutionary process (though at its end) does not teach with the purity of an Avatar. He can never be fully devoid of self-interest, and this is the source of the imperfections I have shown you, which are almost undetectable in any case.

I know that you and I have some disagreements, in particular about the existence of an external God. As I said above, unfortunately this is my continuous experience. I seem to have made claims to being an enlightened being in this e-mail. I think it would be fun if you, and perhaps your friend, would send some questions you may have. If you choose not to do so, that is fine also.

My spiritual teacher, Eknath Easwaran, was quite good. He did not succumb to any sexual temptation that I know about. He was a very eloquent speaker. I’ll leave you with a quotation and see if you can tell me what is wrong with it. If you can’t, obviously I will want to inflict my own interpretation on you later. He is making a very fundamental error. I wonder if you can detect it.

I think this is the greatest tragedy that can happen to a human being, when a man or woman loses sight of the vision that all young people have by virtue of their innocence and gets caught in the feverish obsession with personal satisfaction that is the driving force behind our modern civilization. It’s not that they want to bring sorrow on others or to ignore their highest values; it’s just that consciousness fills up with the needs of “number one.” My spiritual teacher, my grandmother, was an unlettered villager, but she knew how to put the truths of life into simple words. She used to tell me, “Don’t make demands on life that life cannot fulfill.” It took me decades to understand just that one sentence. In my opinion, millions of people are unhappy, insecure, frustrated, even desperate, because they are making demands on life that are impossible for life to fulfill. Life cannot give happiness to a selfish person; it is impossible. Life cannot give security to a self-willed person; it is impossible. Top

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