"The Path to God" by Bô Yin Râ: Part 5 of 7
"Yes and No"
Richard C. Cook, Editor, Three Sages: For the past year, Three Sages has included in its publishing agenda articles about German spiritual master Bô Yin Râ (Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken 1876-1943), along with excerpts from his works. We have had a strong and positive reception among English-speaking readers from the US, Europe, and elsewhere in the world, so have been encouraged to continue. Most recently we published the complete text of two of Bô Yin Râ’s major books; namely, “The Book on the Beyond,” and “The Book on Happiness.” We are now moving ahead with publishing another complete text of one of Bô Yin Râ’s books, this one entitled “The Path to God.” Readers familiar with spiritual literature may rightfully ask whether anything new can be said on this topic. Please follow along with us over the next few weeks. You may find yourself very pleasantly surprised; perhaps even grateful! Three Sages is the only US website currently publishing Bô Yin Râ’s works, though we welcome others to join us. We are bringing you his books courtesy of the new US publishing house, Books to Light. We now proceed starting with editorial information from Books to Light. Another excellent translation of “The Path to God” may also be found through the website of Kober Press.
Bô Yin Râ
The Path to God (Der Weg zu Gott)
Hortus Conclusus Book Six
October, 2024
' Der Weg zu Gott ' was first published in German language in 1924 by Rhein-Verlag, Basel, (Switzerland)
© Books to Light (the United States) The Standard-translation© into English, 2nd Edition (1st Edition was published by Posthumus Projects in 2015). The emphases used in original German are included in this new hardcopy edition (emphases edited by Books to Light to match the original writings).
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024946722
The Standard-translation© of the Hortus Conclusus (The Enclosed Garden) encompassing the spiritual teachings in thirty-two books by Bô Yin Râ. Bô Yin Râ is the spiritual name of Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken. Published by Books to Light. Editors: Posthumus Projects (the Netherlands), Books to Light (the United States), Detlef Janssen (Germany). All rights, copyrights included, reserved by Books to Light. Posthumus Projects and Books to Light are responsible for this Standard-translation©. Primary place of publication: U.S.
Advice to readers from Bô Yin Râ:
Dearest Reader, please note, that I can not write anything that is not experienced most emphatically as spoken language. This explains everything which at first sight might appear as a deliberate eccentricity in my sentence structure and punctuation. (From: 'Letters to One and Many', middle of chapter About my Manner of Writing)
(...) no translation, no matter how excellent, can ever replace knowledge in the original language. One day we may learn German as we once learnt Latin and Greek because we wanted to understand the ancient authors in their own language. This is not a "prophecy", but an unalterable view of spiritually assured insight, which, however, refers only to my work and exclusively to its language – for its own sake ! –(From: Bô Yin Râ, 'Kodizill to My Spiritual Teachings', middle of first chapter)
Contents of The Path to God
Delusion and Belief . . . 5
Sure Knowledge . . . 39
The Dream of Souls . . . 67
Truth and Reality . . . 95
Yes and No . . . 123
The Great Struggle . . . 161
Completion . . . 175
Part 5 of 7: Yes and No
YES AND NO
You cannot expect to find your way to God unless you give inviolable and secure limits in your life on Earth to your ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ ! –
Your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ must not take every time their direction from often changing goals of your wishes ! –
Even less must the earthly force of your instincts in you decide where you say ‘Yes’ and where ‘No’ ! –
The determination of your destiny depends on your decisiveness; you alone will have to bear your destiny ! –
Once you have decided to free yourself from appearances in order to bring about awakened being, everything that would still seduce you into appearing different from what you are will have to always come up against your ‘No’.
Once you have decided to walk the path to God, nothing will be permitted to gain support from your ‘Yes’ that could hinder you in finding the supreme heights of your soul within you. – –
Your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ can fortify your will, so that it stands like a rock amongst all the tumultuous events of the outside world ! –
Until now you have perhaps been used to not taking your ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ too seriously? –
According to the longing of your wishes your ‘No’ very quickly became a ‘Yes’, and your ‘Yes’ a ‘No’ . . .
How could that have been avoided, since you were seeking everywhere, and could not find the one path all your searching tried to find !
But now you are being shown the path, and your erratic search is at an end.
Now indeed few things can be of such importance to you as your ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ! – –
You will have to determine yourself, that from this day forth your ‘Yes’ will be an unerring ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’ an incorruptible ‘No’ !
Before you determine this ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, you will have to make a carefully considered choice what your ‘Yes’ should contain and where your ‘No’ should apply . . .
But thereafter your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ should not be moved anymore by any might of the Earth.
Even if you were to err in your self- determination, your erring will be insignificant, if it was determined by your will to achieve your highest height. –
Only vagueness is evil in nature; only indecision leads to ruin !
Behold ! In future there will be plenty of reasons for you to wish that you could often interchange the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ you have determined for yourself; on occasions you would also gladly flee into vagueness ! –
Therefore weigh up wisely before you decide, for each day asks its question of your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, each day’s question will be decided by your constant ‘Yes’ – by your constant ‘No’. – –
In the way you have determined for yourself to give yourself certainty, there where it should have validity for all times, likewise you will have to determine your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, faithful to yourself, on a daily basis in all matters relating to life on Earth. – –
You must not expect to find within yourself your ascent to your supreme height if you do not know where your ‘Yes’ and where your ‘No’ should be. –
You must not expect to reach your supreme height as long as your ‘Yes’ is pledged to whatever suits the animal on Earth, whereas only your ‘No’ could free you from the abyss . . .
In an hour of inner reflection ask yourself precisely what your ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’ have hitherto contained? –
But ask yourself further: – where you have remained indecisive thus far, thus allowing you on some occasions to choose ‘Yes’ and on others ‘No’, depending on your turbid desires ! ? –
Do not be astounded if you are forced to recognize that the greatest part of your house is built on shifting ground !
You should as from now investigate the ground upon which the foundations stand, so that you can secure it everywhere with new, solid supports !
Yet we can leave aside all analogies in talking of this matter:
For you it is a question of attaining a determination of will, through which shall henceforth be decided what your ‘Yes’ should contain, or those things which are to be removed from your life by your ‘No’.
It is not in any sense a question of ‘affirming the world’ or ‘denying the world’; rather, we speak of your narrowly confined earthly life and the form in which you should live it !
You should determine to live it in such a way that all those things which can lift you in yourself towards light and purification shall surely receive your ‘Yes’. Likewise, everything which could pull you down must always be countered with all certainty by your ‘No’. – –
Once you have become determined yourself, every decision which you may face will find ‘by itself’ determination in the same way. –
Your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ in daily life will only be a reflection of what within yourself received your ‘Yes’, and what had to bow to your ‘No’.
Therefore take heed: to secure your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ within yourself !
All other cares are of no good here ! –
Even if you are determined within yourself, so that nothing external can determine you any longer, you must nonetheless not become petrified.
Today a decision can merit your ‘Yes’ while it must be determined tomorrow with your ‘No’ . . .
Today your ‘No’ may save you from the abyss, whereas tomorrow your ‘Yes’ alone will guide you upwards . . .
Your own growth will very often require you to change your decision.
But once you are for always determined within yourself, you will always be unwavering in such change.
In all change you will always maintain inner consistency with your own ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. However your decision is made in each case, – you will always make it according to your constant certainty. –
Outwardly, you can decide differently today than yesterday, since external conditions have changed. Nevertheless, also the change to your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ may only be determined by yourself: – by your self- determination, which you gave yourself for all time when you set the immovable borders to your all-determining ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. – –
It is not acceptable to deceive yourself by saying ‘Yes’ today, but ‘No’ tomorrow, only because your own pleasure or the inclination of your desires would persuade you to change your mind !
Likewise no other person’s ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ must be able to turn around your own, once you have determined yourself in the way your high goal requires of you.
Those who in this earthly life only wish to experience their animal nature will give a different ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ compared with another who would like to use this earthly existence to attain the highest wisdom his thinking can open up to him.
Different again will be the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ of the fools who serve the idols of their own making. –
But you who would find and walk upon the path to God within yourself will have to decide yourself on a ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ worthy of this exalted goal !
The ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ given by others can be of no help to you here, even if those others are people you highly esteem; – unless they had found that what you are still seeking, and could tell you how your ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ should find determination within you, so that you, like them, could one day reach your goal. – –
There will be very few whose ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ can help you in this way !
Far more numerous, however, are those who will try to determine you according to their way, even though they still lack themselves every determination, whether in a good or reprehensible way. –
They are your greatest danger, since their being undetermined within themselves is concealed from you . . .
You will have to shun them even more than all those who mock your high goal because their lowly determination knows and recognizes only things that are lowly !
Where you confront the ‘Yes’ of others with your clearly certain ‘No’, you will have as little to fear as where their ‘Yes’ corresponds to your ‘Yes’, and their ‘No’ to your ‘No’, as much as this is possible.
But beware of those who always say what they think you want to hear !
Beware of those who direct their speech to a ‘No’ and on seeing that you have expected a ‘Yes’, will immediately end with ‘Yes’ !
Beware of all those who at any time can change their ‘Yes’ to ‘No’, or their ‘No’ to ‘Yes’ !
But beware also of the inclination to force your own ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ upon others !
The self-determination you have attained is yours alone, even if others may certainly become similar to you.
You can only determine yourself and not the world outside !
If you were nonetheless to attempt this, reaching beyond your own sphere, you will grasp at air, even though you would like to convince yourself that you also would have determined others.
Certainly you are able to tempt others to your own ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ if they are still undetermined in themselves, – yet if you were to imagine that they had now found determination within themselves through your actions, you would be subject to vain and foolish delusions . . .
Very different from such delusions, however, is the knowledge you have of the way in which, – whether you want to or not – you help determine others within themselves through your own determination ! –
You cannot completely isolate yourself in your existence, even if you were to go into the desert or build your hut in the deepest jungle !
Even if you never see another person after today, you will remain closely connected to other people !
Through invisible vibrations which are always true messengers of your thoughts, feelings and experiences, you remain closely united, even from the most remote distance, with all those who are kindred in nature; and you will receive in the same way from them a constant message . . .
Indeed, you might not yet be aware of this; – yet, whether you know about it or not: – the constant events here will not be altered ! –
This is how all those on the same paths will help each other !
When you determine yourself within yourself, you too will help others who want to determine themselves ! –
Thus your own ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ will also help others attain their ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ ! – – –
*
This ends Part 5 of 7
Part 1 of 7: Delusion and Belief