These Gods seem to like to have men grovel in the dust before them, and loudly proclaim their slavery—following the desires and examples of the kings and chiefs of the time. They can be flattered and bribed into giving favors, and if the sacrifices and offerings are not sufficient, they visit some terrible affliction upon the people, in order to make them pay their tithes or to furnish a sufficient number of objects for sacrifice. These Gods delight in the smell of burning flesh, and the aroma of the burnt ox or sheep is a delight to them. They also favor incense and perfumes. Once in a while they demand that blood—human blood, often—be sprinkled upon their altars. They give revelations through their high priests, and woe unto him who doubts them. Many of the priests are sincere and honest, but many more are not, and use the superstitious people as a milch cow, to support them in comfort. Heavens and hells have been invented—the first to bribe the people to follow the laws of the church of priests, and the second to frighten them if the bribe failed. Temples are erected, and certain places are supposed to be “holier” than others, and especially favored by God. Non—attendance at the temple is a serious offense, and God is particular to punish the stay-at-homes. Devils have been invented, as a means of frightening people, and to account for "evil,” although, in some of the creeds, the devils are not much worse than is the conception of Deity.
Nearly all people have made images of their Gods, and the less learned of the people, could see but little difference between the image and the personal God somewhere afar off. The image was right before them, and partook of reality, while the Deity itself was a poorly understood being.
We are not mentioning these things in the spirit of unkindly criticism, or of ridicule. Not a particle of such feelings animate us in this writing. We merely mention the facts in order to show the student the rough places traveled over by Man in his search for God. No matter how crude the conception of Deity—no matter how cruel and barbarous the form of worship—no matter how buried in superstition are these forms of religion—each is a step in the progress of man to Union with God, and must be recognized as such. Man has discarded sheath after sheath of religious ignorance, each sheath revealing a better form than itself. And this process is still going on, and will go on. We are growing out of old forms into better ones. This is a part of the evolutionary process.
The materialist points out these same facts, and argues that all religions are false because the history of the past shows the falsity of the old conceptions of age after age. Rut he does not see that his own conceptions of matter and Nature are likewise steps in the evolutionary process, and that his present position is merely a step on the ladder, just as were the forms and conceptions at which he sneers. He like the savage and his successors, is seeking God, but he does not realize it.
The student of religions will notice that Man’s conception of God is growing greater, broader, grander and kinder each year. Even in our own times is this so. The last twenty years has wrought a mighty change in this respect. We no longer hear of God burning infants a span long in eternal flames. We hear very little of hell, in these days. We hear more and more of the Loving God, and less and less of the God of Hate and Anger. The people are being taught to love God instead of to fear Him. The change is going on rapidly. And better things are ahead of us. But we must not forget that each form of religious teaching—each creed—each church—no matter how crude may seem their teachings and forms—fills a needed place in the religious evolution of the race. Each suits the requirements of those following them, and each should be respected, accordingly. When the pews outgrow certain forms and conceptions, the pulpits drop the objectionable teachings and modify and alter matters so as to fall into line. The preachers, as a rule, see quite a way ahead of their flocks, but know that the time is not yet ripe for the change. The change comes gradually. The teachings of the churches today—even the most orthodox—would seem like heresy and even blasphemy to our forefathers. Outgrown creeds fall aside, and new ones take their place, and yet the church organizations remain under the same old names. It is like the story of the boy who had a knife which had been repeatedly repaired. It had had four new handles and six new blades, and yet it was still the same old knife. Many of us, when we outgrow certain old conceptions, display an impatience and even contempt for those remaining in the fold from which we have strayed. This is all wrong. Those who remain are just where they belong—it is the best place for them for the time being. When they outgrow their creed, they will drop it from them like a worn-out garment. Intolerance on our part would be just as absurd as the intolerance shown by these people. The true student of Bhakti Yoga will feel the keenest sympathy and the greatest tolerance for all who are seeking God, no matter by what road they are journeying, or what may be the methods of their search. The undeveloped men try to prove their love of God, by starting in to hate all men who differ from them in their conception of Deity. They seem to feel that such non—belief, or difference of belief, is a direct affront to God, and that they as loyal servants of God must resent same. They seem to think that God needs their help against His “enemies.” This is a most childlike attitude, and is entirely unworthy of those who are reaching the age of spiritual maturity. The developed man,, on the contrary, recognizes the relationship of all lovers of God—regardless of their conceptions—and sees them as fellow travelers on the same road. The way to love God is to Love Him instead of hating some fellow man.
The worship of a personal God, whether such worship be of a God of the savage, or the personal God of the educated man, is all a form of Gauri Bhakti .It is only when man drops off the “personal” idea of God that he passes into the stage of Para Bhakti, and has an understanding of God in His higher sense. that God is devoid of personality—He goes beyond personality, not contrary to it. The Absolute may be loved as one loves a father or mother—as one loves a child—as one loves a friend—as one loves a lover. includes in His being all the attributes calling for such forms of love, and responds to each demand. In fact no demand for a return of love is necessary between Man and God. Just as man steps out into the sunshine and opens himself to its rays, so does the man who loves God step out in the rays of the Divine Love and receive its benefit. The very act of loving God opens up one to the Divine Love. If one feels the need of the protecting love of the Father, all he need do is to open himself to such love. If one needs the tender and sympathetic love of a mother, such love comes to him if he but opens himself to its inflow. If one would love God as one does a child, such love is open to him in the same way, and many who have felt the need of such a bestowal of love, but who have feared the apparent sacrilege of thinking of God as one does of a loved child, may find that such a giving of love will ease many a heartache and pain, and will bring to them the comforting response that comes from the answering pressure of the loved child. The Western religions take no account of this last form of love, but the religious Oriental knows it, and it is no uncommon thing to hear a Hindu woman (using the poetical language of her race) speaking of herself as a “Mother of God.”‘ Startling as this may seem to the Western mind, it is but a recognition on the part of these women of the fact that God supplies every need of the human heart in its desire for Love. And one may love God as a friend and brother and companion. And one may fee1 toward God the 3urning love of a lover. All these forms of love of God are known to the Bhakti Yogi, Our Western conceptions of God have allowed us only to feel for Him the love of a child for a Father—while every human heart, at times, feels the need of a Mother—love from God. God is not a male being—nor is he a female. Both of these forms are but partial manifestations of Him, and he includes all forms within Himself—and many unknown to us today.
The Bhakti Yogi knows that by this constant love of God he will grow nearer to Him, and will in the end come to a consciousness and “knowing” of the true relationship between them. The lover of God who has not advanced beyond the Gaunt Bhakti stage, knows nothing of the wealth of love and nearness experienced by the ene in the Para Bhakti stage. The one may be compared to the little child who is fond of its playmate, and thinks he knows what love is—the other is like the same child, grown to maturity, who feels the sweep of deep, pure and noble love for his true mate, The one touches God at but one point, at the best, while the other finds that God responds to every human need, and may be touched at a thousand points—He is always there, just as is the sun, and all that one needs is to step out into the sunshine. Nothing is asked by the sun, but the stepping out, and nothing is asked by God but the same thing—the need of Him.
The Western student must not suppose that this Bhakti Yoga love of God is akin