sri yukteswar - the holy science [1894]

In the introduction, Sri Yukteswar writes:The purpose of this book is to show as clearly as possible that there is an essential unity in all religions; that there is no difference in the truths inculcated by the various faiths; that there is but one method by which the world, both external and internal, has evolved; and that there is but one Goal admitted by all scriptures.Some passages from The Holy Science:“The position of the world in the Dwapara Sandhi era at present (A. D. 1894) is not correctly shown in the Hindu Almanacs. The astronomers and astrologers who calculate the almanacs have been guided by wrong annotations of certain Sanskrit scholars (such as Kullu Bhatta) of the dark age of Kali Yuga, and now maintain that the length of Kali Yuga is 432,000 years, of which 4994 have (in A D. 1894) passed away, leaving 427,006 years still remaining. A dark prospect! And fortunately one not true.”“The Eternal Father God Swami Parambrahma is the only Real Substance, Sat, and is all in all in the universe.”“Man possesses eternal faith and believes intuitively in the existence of a substance, of which the objects of sense – sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell, the component parts of this visible world – are but properties….The Eternal Father God, the only substance in the universe is, therefore, not comprehensible by man of this material world, unless he becomes divine by lifting his self above this creation of Darkness Maya.”“When all the developments of Ignorance are withdrawn, the Heart being perfectly clear and purified no longer merely reflects the Spiritual Light but receives or manifests the same, and thus being consecrated and anointed becomes the Sannyasi or Christ the Savior.”“Through this Saviour, the Son of man becomes again baptized or absorbed in the stream of Spiritual Light and coming above the creation of Darkness Maya, enters into the spiritual world and becomes unified with Abhas Chaitanya or Purush, the Son of God, as was the case with Jesus of Nazareth. This is the state when man is saved for ever and ever from the bondage of Darkness Maya.”“Man naturally feels great necessity for Sat Existence, Chit Consciousness, and Ananda Bliss. These three are the real necessities of the human heart and have nothing to do with anything outside his self. They are essential properties of his own nature, as explained in the previous chapter.”“It has been shown in the forgoing [sic] passages how love may be cultivated, how by its culture it attains development, and when developed how, through this means only, man may find his spiritual preceptor, through whose favor he again becomes baptized in the holy stream, and sacrifice his self before the altar of God, becoming unified with the Eternal Father forever and ever.”