Many are false religions but few are their underlying doctrines and building blocks, like the castle of the ancient witchcraft Harot which had many domes and towers but all made from the same form of bricks. One such doctrine found in many false religions is what we reveal now. It appears in many different forms in different religions, and one may not notice at first that these are all the same. In short, the doctrine says: "there is an invisible wall separating man from God, so tall that no man can jump over it and so thick that no man can infiltrate into". The understanding thereof is that, the barrier between man and God cannot be removed by any ordinary effort and tool of man. Then the religion offers certain magical rites and formulas as a way, and in most cases the only way, to remove this barrier.
In current Christianity the original sin, done by Adam in heaven, is considered as that barrier, and belief in the cross or following certain church rites and doctrines is that magical formula which removes the barrier and restores the connection. Some recent Indian sects in the west proclaimed "karma" as that barrier, and the magic to remove it is to accept the rule of a "master" who will then take the karma of the aspirant upon his shoulders and burn them, as if in a fire of grace.
Many other religions have this doctrine, in one form or another, at the top of their horns and it is indeed the source of falsehood for these false religions. For in pure religion there is no barrier between man and God other than man's own choices, wherewith he chooses to do Evil and thus falls short from the grace and light of God. Human being, by the virtue of being human, is already in contact with God. This is the very definition of human: a being that is connected to God and can comprehend Divine attributes. It is as a result of this connection that man can think, can create art, can feel, can laugh, can cry. Animals do not do these, but human can, and this is the evidence of its inherent Divine connection. No special ritual and extra actions needed to restore this connection.
But as human is a being which has connection to God, it also has connection to Evil. Both Divine and Evil have their pull into the human soul and drag it to their side, like a puppet with two masters. Therefore, just as man can understand Divine attributes and manifest them, he can also understand Evil attributes and manifest them: selfish anger, deceit, treachery, destruction, harming others and more vices. If there is a separation from God it is due to the man's choice to follow Evil, and if there is a union with Divine it is due to man's choice to follow God. The human choice is what dictates the separation or union with Divine, and neither God nor Evil can impose any state or color upon man. Once man chooses God and strives in the path of Goodness and righteousness, God will be near to him and no barrier will be there and no magic and extraneous acts are needed. All these rites of reconciliation, baptism, purification, repentance, and others have no effect on the level of the soul.
But fake and corrupted religions often talk about other forms of barrier, other than human choice. And describe the barrier so colossal and so impossible to overcome, and warn that we are all on the brink of extinction and spiritual death, unless we resort to their cult and take part of the actions and rites that they prescribe. They spread doubt and dread among men, many are deceived and come to their deceptive religion, and so the religion rules by the rule of fear.
The doctrine behind the modern meditation and yoga that reached the west in recent decades is of the same type. In this case, the "mind" is considered as that barrier and the troll wall. The flickering nature of the mind, its tendency to jump from one thought to another and its nested sequence of thoughts, are considered as what prevents man from reaching and comprehending God. The state of "Samadhi", that is the highest state of being, is equated with the state of mind in its complete standstill. The simile of lake and wave has been given to illustrate this mechanic, wherewith the waves on the lake are our thoughts and the bottom of the lake is the plane of God and Truth, the goal of meditation is to make this lake clear so that the bottom is seen and fathomed.
But such speculations are just speculations, you may ask how realistic they are. Will I indeed get any state of illumination by just calming my mind? Is what separates me from the bliss is this dress of thoughts? You wish! If the path was that easy we would not have cannons of scriptures and rolls of instructions, we would not have all the sages of old warning us on the left and right.
What does calming the mind really do? It is indeed a very useful thing to calm the mind. Once the stream of random and unrelated thoughts slows down, one can focus better, can understand better, can do better, one may become aware of some deep thoughts and intuitions, and will feel a freshness and happiness. None of these are spirituality by themselves, but are positive changes that can help man in any effort he is taking. For this reason, calming the mind is prescribed by some sages of old. It is indeed conductive and helpful for spiritual efforts as well, but so is to clean our room, so is to wash our body, so is to exercise and many other self caring acts we do. All of these are helpful for spirituality but are not spirituality itself, they are means not the end, and therapies not trophies.
We are not opposing or denying the benefits of mediations and pacifying the mind. But while we are pacifying our mind we have to bear in mind that Samadhi, or the state of illumination, is a state of soul not the mind. It is a consciousness and an awareness of the very substratum of existence, of the "First Cause", which is an aspect of God. This consciousness can emerge at any time of day, and at any situation even if the mind is thinking and flickering. But it's been discovered through experience by the sages of the old that a calm and slow mind is more conductive to it. So the followers of Tao and Theravada Buddhism and other sects sit in motionless meditation to make the mind motionless, and this is a pretext to this state of Samadhi.
But the Samadhi itself is a form of connection to God, a connection to an aspect of God which is the essence of existence. It is not a mental construct. Such connection is indeed the fruit of all the spiritual acts and practices, and not just meditation and mind pacification. Meditation is one of the eightfold practices (paths) described by the Buddha to attain enlightenment. Thus, to obtain enlightenment and Samadhi one has to follow all eight practices, and not just one as done in some misguided buddhist retreats today.
The eightfold practices of Buddha also include good words, good deeds, good behaviour, right income and other moral injunctions. Are we doing them? Are we doing good deeds? Is our behaviour fair? If not then not much should be expected from our meditation practices. Pure religion also follows the same teaching. Indeed, Samadhi and any other forms of connection to God are more determined by good deeds and general direction in life than mental exercises. If you actively develop virtues, if you actively participate in betterment of the world, if you solve problems from society, then the light and grace of God descend and dress your soul, peace and calmness will come even if you do little meditation and mindful practices. But if you do none of these, and just sit cross leg then nothing will come but the state of dullness and illusion.
If you don't feel any peace and any spiritual mood, if you feel far from God it is because you are not leading a holy life aiming at virtue and battle with Evil. That's because you don't wake up early in the morning and do good deeds, because you have no plan in life for fighting with Evil and injustice ... Years of indolence, watching TV and endless wandering, and you built up a positive load of negative energy and lost your Divine luster. You cannot fix this by sitting on the yoga mat. You need to stand and change your "life". The path to God is through this life, a holy and active life for the purposes of rooting injustice and other forms of Evil.
Just for one month lead an active life: wake up early in the morning, remember God and your mission in life, then go to work and return back. Actively develop virtue and set goals for fighting with oppressions. You will feel the change soon, the mind becomes calm, bright, and intuitions and knowledge will surge, you will achieve all stations and states that religions or meditation promise, all those that the myths narrated, all will come true in you. But not by following mental exercises or other religious rituals and dogmas, but by good thought, good word and good deed, by walking in the path of Truth, and this brings you pure cure.
Some argue these meditations and mental exercises are needed to make one capable of doing good thought, good word and good deed, and to be able to make any positive change as we required in the pure religion. They give the example of leaves and fruits, where meditation is the leaves and good actions are the fruit. If meditation is done for this purpose then we agree and approve it. Indeed in our pure religion we prescribe some degree of various exercises, and they include meditation and concentration practices to condition the mind and remove chatter.
But such mediation for such purpose does not need to be very intense, and does need to be three hours of sitting cross leg. A ten to fifteen minutes concentration on a candle or breath, and then focus on the First Cause and losing being in the source of being, and then repeating the names of God or prayer is enough. The intense and lengthy meditation done by some secs today indicates a purpose other than just virtue and facilitating good action. For them, the calmness of the mind is what defines spirituality, but for us it is just a practice and precondition.
A word of warning to those who do lengthy meditations, and for purposes other than developing virtue: Beware! As in everything else in this world, mediation also comes with negative effects. For everything in this world can easily turn to its opposite. Meditation if done excessively or wrongly can lead to obsession, mental dryness, loss of spontaneously and other mental ailments. You may become more sensitive instead of more resilient, more attached than detached, more anxious than relaxed. For many, meditation eventually brings about their ruin and end of spiritual life.
There is such a thing as Samadhi and the state of non-dual consciousness, but not as these religions describe, and not to be achieved by mental focus and pacification. It is achieved only by developing virtue and living a pure life. Mental peace and standstill can be helpful, but Samadhi itself is not an empty mind, but a fullness of spirit and a form of cosmic awareness. How to trigger this awareness is not something that can be described by word of mouth. It is verily shown to the aspirant by God as an internal process and an inner channel. It cannot be taught and transferred by another person. I cannot describe the way I do meditation and connect to the state of Samadhi. And if I write about it, it will only mislead. It is an inner process just like how you move your hand and you cannot explain how to do this. The way to obtain it is to follow Divine law and devote your life to Him, and then internally you will be inspired how to achieve it as part of your spiritual birthright.