One of the main challenges of the treader of the way – the treader on the spiritual path – is in dealing with
atheists – the deniers of your values and of the spiritual world. We don’t need to look far for this. We are
immersed in it. It permeates the halls of academia and is broadcast over the mass media – electronic and
print – constantly. But the atheists we meet outside are the least of the problem. It is the Atheist Within, of
which these are mere shadow reflections, that is the real challenge.

For most people he operates unconsciously. He will deny the spiritual work and its efficacy. He will show a
thousand proofs of why it can’t be so. These come to us as thoughts and feelings. Often they are imbued
with great psychic force.

Eventually as you continue on your path you will meet him (or her, for the Atheist Within has no specific
gender). He appears as a mighty intellect. Perhaps as a philosopher or scientist. Perhaps as a tycoon. He
has all the trappings of outer success. He speaks with total conviction and he has the backing of hordes of
studies and treatises. He can quote scripture too and can show you why it is totally ridiculous and against
all science. Our Atheist Within is a very learned fellow. In the beginning it is tempting to argue with him –
and he loves this. In your argumentation, your attention is on him and not on the Divine where it should be.
Over the weekend he paid me a visit. I was surprised, for I thought that I was a waste of his time. I felt he
would think me too far gone in my spirituality to be wasting his time on me.

He thundered in loud stentorian tones. “There is no God. There is no after life. Noone is coming to help
you. When you die, that’s it. Death is the Big Sleep. The Bible is a bunch of fairy tales. There is only one’s
reason and the empirical evidence of the senses. Nothing else. Nothing else.” He was so strong – the
force of his utterances dripped with anger and ridicule – that my mind was blank. It was like standing in the
middle of a hurricane. The thinking stops. There is only the experience. There was no arguing with him –
would you try to argue with a hurricane?. I just observed. Just listened. When he finished, it came to me
that this was only the natural mind set of someone with a brilliant intellect but who was cut off from the
Higher World. This is not something to fear or hate. It is lawful in its own way. In fact he deserves our
compassion. For such a one, as he ages, depression is the natural consequence.

The Atheist Within has his uses. He has things to teach us about people, about psychology, about mind
sets, about how the 3D world works. But he has nothing to teach us about spirituality. When the time is
right, he will even deepen the spirituality. For, we can see the error and rise above without anger or
resentment. Perhaps some day, we will even be able to convert him. But if he stays as he is that’s also
OK.

I’m told that all atheists get converted eventually. When they die, they are asleep in the astral plane. They
experience what they believe in. So, they are unconscious there. This can go on for a year, 5 years or a
thousand years. There is no set rule for this. But at a certain time, the Masters on the inner, will awaken
that soul. And, he will see that he has left his body but has not died. Then under the tutelage of his guides
and the many helpers on that plane – human and angelic – his education will begin.