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The Vedas are the context of all the Vedic arts and sciences, including Yoga and Tantra. Similarly, as the infinite wellspring of Absolute Truth, the Esoteric Teaching is the source, the root meta-knowledge and context of the Vedas. Therefore it is impossible to understand the Vedas completely and properly unless and until one has realized the Absolute Truth of the Esoteric Teaching. Similarly, it is impossible to perfect Vedic spiritual paths like Yoga and Tantra until one understands that these are simply external techniques to provoke our spiritual desires and help us realize the Esoteric Teaching.

The Esoteric Teaching is the meta-knowledge, or the ontological and epistemological context providing the ultimate meaning and purpose behind all philosophies, religions and spiritual paths. One who has realized the Absolute Truth of the Esoteric Teaching can derive all other knowledge from it. The Absolute Truth is one, but the approaches to it are many and various, including the wisdom of the Vedas and all other religions and spiritual paths. Nevertheless, to actually realize the complete Esoteric Teaching requires initiation into an authentic esoteric school by a Master Teacher—one who has realized the Esoteric Teaching. Therefore, to determine which of the many spiritual techniques is appropriate for a given individual and situation requires great wisdom and complete realization of the Esoteric Teaching.

As a perfect expression of the Esoteric Teaching, the Vedic wisdom is Absolute Truth: valid for all beings, in all conditions, places and times. In other words, it is universally relevant and useful throughout all eternity. This is both an advantage and a difficulty. The universality of Vedic knowledge helps prove that it expresses Absolute Truth; on the other hand, it also makes ascertaining which instructions of the Vedas apply to our specific time, place and situation very challenging.

For example, according to the Vedic wisdom, there are four historical ages or yugas: Satya-yuga or the age of enlightenment, Dvarapa-yuga or the age of great kings, Treta-yuga or the age of ritualistic religion, and Kali-yuga or the dark age of ignorance and quarrel. These four yugas repeat cyclically for the entire duration of the material universe. In each successive yuga, the religiosity and spiritual realization of people in general decreases by one fourth, until it is restored at the beginning of the next cycle. Therefore, the process of self-realization appropriate for each yuga is different. It is useless to attempt a process suitable to another historical period, since without the proper conditions one cannot complete it successfully, and may in fact attain contradictory results.

Determining which Vedic instructions are appropriate for a particular time and person is an extremely delicate matter, but one which is absolutely necessary to derive the ultimate benefit from Vedic study. Given the vast complexity and extensiveness of the Vedic literature, this task is only for an expert in high-level knowledge of the Vedas. An empirical approach cannot possibly succeed, since by definition, one is dealing in the realm of transcendence beyond the purview of limited human intelligence.

Only a fully self-realized soul familiar with the confidential purpose and methods of the Vedic system of spiritual culture can have the slightest hope of making such a subtle judgment correctly. It is precisely here that the unauthorized misinterpreters of the Vedas make their most serious errors. Therefore to gain a realistic overview of the Vedic wisdom and assess the best route through its intricate paths, one must consult a spiritual Master Teacher who is properly situated in one of the four authorized Vedic disciplic lineages, and who has realized the Absolute Truth of the Esoteric Teaching. This is the only way to ascertain the true meaning and intent of the Vedic literature without becoming bewildered by its abstruse complexities. To successfully reach this point, the aspirant must ascend through the three Circles of the Esoteric Teaching.

Next: Comparative Ontology