MATTER AND SPIRIT official source: Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 4 cross-references: also published in Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 5 this version: is the printed Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 5, 1st edition, version (spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition. Words in square brackets [ ] are corrections that did not appear in the printed version. I will dwell today chiefly on the Ka'thopanis'ad of the Yajurveda. It is a fact that there is an Atman (soul), and also that Brahma exists. Only the people who have never tried to understand anything beyond the sensually perceivable world may say, "If God exists, why can't we see Him?" A material minded person may ask, "Can you show me God?" Such a question from a common person may make a learned person laugh but this does not answer the question. So it is necessary to make people understand that the answer to the question must be in the code and language consonant with the nature of the matter. So says the Yama to Naciketa. Es'a sarves'u bhu'tes'u gu'd'ha'tma'na praka'shate Drshyate tvagryaya' budhya' su'ks'maya' su'ks'madarshibhih. The Supreme Self lies hidden deep within every object. It is impossible for the crude organs to see or understand this deeply caverned Entity. Take ether for instance. Aka'shatattva or ether lies hidden in the molecules and atoms of every object. Do you see it with your crude eyes or can you feel its existence through any of your organs? Now an illiterate man may ask a scientist, "You say there is ether. If there is then show me". It is useless to laugh at the ignorant man. He has to be guided and directed to the appropriate state of understanding its existence. Only then will he accept the existence of ether fully because his intellect and intelligence has risen above the common intellect of the ordinary non-scientific person. Brahmatattva or the spiritual principle is an extremely subtle principle. So to understand or know Him certainly calls for a very subtle and sagacious intellect, as sharp as the point of a needle. The scripture call it Agrya'buddhi or pointed intellect. The Yama (the mythological God of Death; philosophically, the Controller) has said that this truth can only be experienced through agrya'buddhi. No other bearing can comprehend it. That is why the deeply caverned Supreme Being is not equally reflected on all minds, inspite of the fact that He is present in all entities and is indeed the essence of every entity. It is only when the mental mirror becomes pure with the help of agrya'buddhi that the Supreme Entity is properly revealed. This spiritual principle is beyond the comprehension of the crude organs like the eyes, etc. The power of the optic nerves or of any organ to apprehend tanma'tras or inferences is very limited. Take for instance a molecule or an atom of the physical world, which people can easily comprehend with a little mental effort, but which their eyes are unable to see through the media of form tanma'tras. In order to se or feel them they will have to take the help of a special kind of instrument, and to learn how to use if they will require a special laboratory training. In order to realize the all encompassing subtle principle of Brahma also, you will have to focus your mind introspectively in accordance with a special method. You will have to do regular experiments yourself. One cannot attain Brahma through arguments and reasoning, based on the opinions of different authors, or by opening study circles, or through speeches and lectures. For this you will have to develop your agrya'buddhi (pointed intellect) with complete devotion and zeal. It is through this agrya'buddhi that you will realize Him with your entire being. In such an event He will no more remain an imaginable object in the imaginary world; He will come down to you as the perceptible, obvious Entity of the earth. The crude intellect is sufficient for the comprehension of crude objects, but not to enter the domain of subtlety; for that it has to be refined into a subtler one. To understand the subtlest Entity it has to be made extremely subtle and sharp like the point of a needle; all desires and propensities have to be centralised on a point - this is what is known as the agrya'buddhi. When the intellect progresses from crudity to subtlety, the mind too becomes subtler and subtler, until finally it attains complete suspension. This very state of suspension is called identity with the characteristic Self. The entity that then remains as the witness of that state of mental suspension, the A'tman, is the characteristic Self of the unit. The Witnessing Force behind the state of mental suspension is the A'tman. People in general consider molecules and atoms alone to be the subtlest entities, while scientists at different times have declared different objects to be the subtlest entities according to their respective intellects and investigations. And those very so-called subtlest entities are later declared as crude by the scientist of the subsequent period. You are certainly aware that there was a time when the molecule was considered the subtlest particle. Afterwards scientific investigations showed that the atom was still smaller than the molecule. Now the atom too has lost its position as the subtlest entity. The thread of such investigations taken in the past will be followed in the future also. Scientists will continue to raise their heads proudly in their respective times by refuting and falsifying the so-called knowledge of the past, and the common people will continue to respect them as the "greatest scientists" of their age. But the findings of their researches will not last eternally - they will not even merit appreciable recognition as truth for two or three centuries. The so-called knowledge or proofs of all these scientists will be utterly destroyed by the scientists of the future. This is quite natural in the case of physical science, for the path of physical science is analytical; its rise and fall are subject to the play of construction and destruction. Here lies the fundamental or moral difference between physical and spiritual philosophies, although physical science, in its pervasive sense is a part of philosophy. Only spiritual philosophy is unitive or synthetic. So when one physicist disproves the researches of another, he or she does not violate the nature of physical science; rather it is quite natural for him or her to do so. It is because of this that numerous benevolent achievements have been accomplished in this world. In philosophy whenever there is an effort to enhance the predominance of polemics or sophistry, there too the analytical aspect of physical science is present. The difference between physical science and logicians' philosophy is that the former has a considerable benevolent aspect but the latter is dark on both sides. Logicians' philosophy at times weaves a web of logic around matter and at other times it endeavours to find the relation between thought and matter; and then again at other times it plays blindman's bluff in the blind alley of thoughts. Nonetheless the place of logicians' philosophy should indeed be below that of physical science instead of being between spiritual and material philosophies for it does not appease the hunger of the body, mind and soul of living beings. Rather it creates confusion in the mind and clouds it with the smoke of logic. Tantra has said in reference to these philosophies - "Lokavyamohakaraka" i.e., they sow the seed of disease in the minds of the people. Spiritual philosophy is synthetic and those who have chosen this path are proceeding with their sadhana of attaining oneness. Hence, experienced scientists on this path cannot even think of destroying the hard earned emerald glow of the experience of other scientists; rather they further heighten the brilliance of spiritual philosophy by blending their own glow with that of others. This is the fundamental difference between spiritual and material philosophies. The fundamental essence of matter may be called by any name - molecule or atom but the basic cause of matter is nothing but energy, matter is nothing but bottled-up energy. It is the condensed state of the particles of energy that we call matter. It is by no means correct to consider matter as an original substance. To adequately understand matter one must be acquainted with the energy entity. The greater the understanding of energy and accordingly of matter also, the greater is one's right to use matter as an object of enjoyment. Such people who possess this understanding are indeed called scientists. But those who after thoroughly understanding the energy entity (shakti), direct their spiritual life into the depth and pervasiveness of shakti are known as the worshippers of energy as Maha'kaola, as Sha'ktas. Those who think that the world has evolved out of atoms of energy are very much mistaken. Some say, "The world is made of atoms, and thus there is no place for ghosts in it". Such a dogmatic declaration is hardly sufficient to disprove the existence of ghosts or spirits of the soul. Ghosts do not exist, it is true, yet to nullify their existence through logic and reasoning an adequate knowledge of psychology is essential; it is not possible to dismiss them so easily with such a brief statement. It is energy alone that is active in this material world? Is there no room for Shiva or Consciousness? Those who regard atoms of energy as the initial manifestations of Prakrti (nature) and want to deny the existence of consciousness beyond them, should know that these so-called atoms of enrgy are indeed dancing on the bosom of Consciousness Himself. Have the manifestations of cognition (Pra'jina) or consciousness (the knowership of sense of existence) that we see today in this tiny world of ours among the different unit entities and organisms and particularly in human beings emerged suddenly out of nothing? Idea or thought cannot emerge from its absence. Something cannot manifest from nothing. About two billion years ago when the world had just come into existence, there was no trace of vegetation or organisms except for so called atoms of energy. The potential of the manifestations of consciousness that we find today in human beings, the undeveloped expressions of consciousness that we notice in the various other organisms and in trees and plants, were all certainly present in those so-called atoms of energy. The potentiality of consciousness, that dormant Shiva, slowly and steadily awoke with the help of the centripetal force of Prakrti (The Cosmic Operative Principle). We cannot consider Shiva or Cosmic Consciousness as being the resultant attribute of energy (Shakti); for although this great Shiva is difficult to discern in matter, where He is lying dormant, when He awakens with all His prowess, all His spatial, temporal and personal bondages of energy (Shakti) are broken and absorbed in that Consciousness. Therefore to call Consciousness the attribute of energy is nothing but gross self-deception. This eternal game of pervasive Consciousness and energy (Shiva and Shakti or Purus'a and Prakrti)in which Purus'a is unable to shake off the influence of Prakrti and express Himself such a state may be called the "primary atom of energy" (Prathamika Shakti kan'a') The primary atoms of energy and matter are absolutely identical. Let the scientist of the different ages call this primary matter or primary energy by any name they please - molecule, atom, electron or etheron, the spritual Sadhaka is not at all affected. With the awakening of Consciousness that begins in the primary atom of energy, with the help of the inspiration and centripetal action of Brahma, newer and newer trees, plants and organisms evolve, then human intellect evolves, finally the realization of Brahma is attained through the austerity of Sadhakas. There may be some incongruity regarding the word Shakti. Actually where the two words Shiva and Shakti are used, Shakti stands for the binding force of Prakrti. The atoms of energy or Shaktikan'a's that are generally regarded as the fundamental essence of the created world are not really Shakti in the above sense; they are compound of Shiva (Consciousness) and Pra'krta-Shakti (the binding force). The universe is fundamentally the co-operative creation of these atoms of energy. To think that Prakrti is the only cause of the creation of the world would be illogical, for each of the limitless atoms of energy of this universe is created due to the influence of the binding force upon Cosmic Consciousness. So to say that the universe is created out of limitless atoms of energy is tantamount to saying that the universe is the compound image of Mahashiva and Mahashakti, i.e., Cosmic Consciousness and Cosmic Energy. This Shiva-cum-Shakti creation is indeed the psychic manifestation of Brahma. His Liila'rupa or inscrutable form. Sia-Ra'mamaya Sab jaga Karau Pran'a'm jor'iljani yugapa'n'i The fierce war that is waged among the molecules and atoms for the predominance of the binding force over Consciousness, gradually wanes in the multi-atomic bodies of superior trees, plants and organisms. As a result, Consciousness becomes increasingly effulgent; the greatness of Shivatva alone becomes more and more conspicuous. In order to elevate the combined bearing of Consciousness and the Binding Principle (which has taken concrete form due to the predominance of the Binding Force) to the spiritual state, the bondage of the Binding Force will have to be withdrawn. Who will perform this act of withdrawal? It is with the help of a thorn that a thorn can be extracted. Consciousness has to be established after removing the mental bondage through mental endeavour, or Sa'dhana'. Consciousness will provide the inspiration for this and having become sentient (Sattvagun'ii) due to the inspiration of consciousness, the mind experiences truth and yearns to merge its remaining portion in Cosmic Consciousness. The spiritual name of this keen-witted mental state is agrya'buddhi. According to the degree of development of agrya'buddhi we call one person dull-witted or short-sighted and another, keen-witted or sharp-sighted. Those who are incapable of stopping the extroversive tendency of their organs are dull-witted, being constantly preoccupied with external activities. As their objective is physical, their whole mind cannot absorb itself in the supreme bliss of consciousness (Caetanya Sama'dhi). As a result they constantly bemoan the threefold causes of pleasure and pain, material, psychic and spiritual. So wise people must direct their minds towards the Cosmic Entity. They must withdraw their minds from objects that ensconce themselves in their own characteristic self after introverting all their vrttis or desires. To be ensconced in one's characteristic self is the supreme attainment of a unit being. Para'incikha'ni vyatrn'at svayambhustasma't para'un pashyati na'ntara'tman Kashciddhiirah pratyaga'tma'namaeks'a da'vrttacaks'uramrtatvamicchan The characteristic of the organs is to run after the external world and drag the unit entities along with them. They subsist on objects and so it is natural for them to run after them. All beings want to preserve their existence to attain happiness. People do not want to die, for they know happiness cannot be achieved after death. This is the main cause behind the dread of death. Thus you will find that those who do not find pleasure or happiness at all in life, and do not see even the remote possibility of any happiness, become weary of their lives and commit suicide, thinking their lives to be a burden. It is because they no longer regard life as a means of attaining happiness that they destroy it. People commit suicide for the same reason that people in normal conditions seek to destroy those factors that are detrimental and hostile to their happiness. The organs run after crude objects, for they are the source of their subsistence. The organs receive only the 'idea' of the crude objects, for they receive everything with the help of the nervous system. The receptive power of the nervous system is limited to a narrow range between two particular wave lengths: the nerves cannot apprehend anything very large or very small. That is why, however hard they try, they cannot understand the A'tman (Soul), for the A'tman is an entity beyond their scope. They can receive ordinary light but they cannot receive extremely brilliant radiance. They can receive ordinary sound, but on hearing a very loud noise they become absolutely deaf. Similarly anything extremely deep or extremely shallow is beyond their power of comprehension. With the help of the nervous system the organs are unable to comprehend the A'tman whose depth and radiance are both immeasurable. That is why pleasure-seeking persons who are totally sub-servient to their organs cannot comprehend the A'tman, and try to console themselves by denying its existence; they vainly pretend to be wise before others by concealing the weakness of their own propensities. So those sa'dhus, those good and honest people who wish to realize the A'tman, who wish to ensconce themselves in deathlessness, have to introvert their organs and merge them in the subtler entity. Instead of allowing the organs to be extroversive they have to be made introversive. Seeing the method of operation of the organs, the rs'i (sage) said, "It seems that the creator is not particularly pleased with the organs, for actually He desires their destruction". Merging the organs completely in the mind does not however, mean their annihilation, nor does it mean the destruction of the vrttis or propensities. The underlying significance of this is to bring about a purposive change in their application - a change in outlook. Para'cah ka'ma'nanuyanti ba'la'ste mrtyorya'nti vitatasya pa'sham Atha dhiira' amrtatvam' viditva' dhruvamadhruves'viha na pra'rthayante What will be the result if the movement is towards the crude? Material minded people may say that the movement towards crude is the characteristic movement of the mind. But such a statement runs counter to the principle of movement. An object whose movement appears to be natural, also has reverse movement which is equally natural. Actually speaking, motion is the result of internal impulse or external attraction, or both simultaneously. An object in the air comes hurtling down to earth and people think that this is its natural movement. But is this true? Actually, it is because of the earth's gravitational pull that its movement is earthward. If it goes beyond the earth's gravitational pull, then falling to the earth will not be its natural movement. Similarly, an organ's movement towards an external object may be natural to some, for there exists in them both the psychic inspiration for enjoyment as well as the attraction of the object. But if the psychic inspiration does not indulge in yearning for the object, or if it views it with detachment, then the motion will be reversed, inspite of the object's attraction. Of course in the initial efforts people have to struggle a little against the crude attraction of objects, at least until they are transformed by the force of their ideal. But eventually this reversal of movement becomes natural. Crude sensuous desires cannot identify themselves with internal subtlety as easily and quickly as they can with crude external objects; then too, the sams'ka'ras also to some extent stand in the way. Nevertheless, inspite of all these impediments, sa'dhana'. one's concentrated effort, finally wins the day, for practice and perseverence conquer all obstacles. For example, a man with a strong addiction to wine must first force his mind against it in order to leave the habit. That is to say, he has to propel his psychic urge in a different direction, and free his sensuous desires from the attraction of his mental wine. But if, inspite of his strenuous efforts, he comes in contact with the real wine, then in most cases the attraction of the wine will overcome him, due to the importence of his internal inspiration. That is why in the initial state forceful efforts have to be made to change the previous outlook towards external objects; but thereafter things gradually become natural and normal. Those who steal can also say that stealing is their natural occupation. Their minds are naturally attracted towards theft and that is why they steal. The statement of the materialists that the movement of the organs is always towards external objects is the same type. Some may say that introverting the tendencies of the organs may cast them their lives and so it should not be done. This, too, is meaningless, for in reality during the enjoyment of objects the organs attain inertness and yet we do not call it the death of the organs. Similarly, if the movement of the organs tends towards Absolute Consciousness, they will indeed attain Consciousness. We cannot call this their death. Rather it will cause their entitative purity to gradually reveal itself. Thus to call organs' outward movement natural and their inward movement unnatural is absolutely meaningless. However, for the proper preservation of the crude mundane existence it is absolutely necessary to maintain equipoise between the external and the internal. Only running after the crude destroys that equipoise; but neither should one neglect one's duties in the material world by becoming totally absorbed in the sadhana of Consciousness, denying the so-called crude. It is only by recognizing the bearing of Consciousness Himself in each object and accepting it as a special type of consious-entity that one can properly equate matter and spirit as well as the external and internal. Humans are mind-predominant beings; this is their greatest characteristic that distinguishes them from other mammals. If they are allowed to read, sleep and eat around the clock, or given the opportunity to read books, deliver speeches and indulge in song, dance and frolics according to their whims, they feel physically satiated but mentally unsatisfied. Their minds will wither prematurely like a worm-eaten bud. No one would like to be a jewel-bedecked, well-fed belle of a harem, but would rather prefer to be a poor bride with some amount of freedom. People want an open sky above their heads and a vast and bounteous earth below their feet, and between the two mind free to roam joy and mirth. They are ready to admit their faults and take suggestions for rectification. They wish to move forward hand in hand with all, tolerating everything except tormenting repression in the name of an "ideal". Those who believe that merely by appeasing their physical hunger and providing the necessities for the preservation of their existence, that they have acquired all that belongs to the human mind, are very much mistaken. It is the predominance of mind in humans that distinguishes them from the animals. Then why are their sense propensities extrovertive inspite of their possessing the faculty of discrimination? It is due to the sam'ska'ras of their animal lives and the acquired experiences of their previous animal minds. Whether the past experiences were happy or sorrowful, the mind does not fear its previous objects as much as the probable severity of things to come. Human beings have no experience of divinity, as in the past they were under the spell of animality. And so their sense propensities are from the very outset inclined towards familiar and well-known animality, and they run after external objects. But having realized the futility of animality through sa'dhana', the mind gradually moves towards Consciousness. When the consciousness of their animal identity leaves the mind, by the grace of Brahma, they then realize in the core of their hearts the futility of the goal of their past lives and become eager to reveal this to others. Seeing the system of sannya'sins (monks and nuns), many people think that if the tendency of sa'dhan'a or spiritual practice is towards the Supreme Being, it may perhaps result in the neglect of mundane duties. Some even think that sa'dhan'a is impossible unless one goes to the forest, forsaking hearth and home. All these ideas are incorrect. The success of the sa'dhana' of human beings, who are a blending of animality and divinity, lies in the reduction of their animality and the unfolding of their divinity. Humans are discriminating beings; sa'dhana' accentuates this power of discrimination and judgment, and enhances their Consciousness. By transcending the differences in the world of matter through sa'dhana', they merge in Cosmic Consciousness (Shivatva). In other words, sa'dhana' means the establishment of Consciousness through a struggle against inertness - the conversion of the gratification of individual desires into consummate love. Those who do the sa'dhana' of desire, who knowinlgy direct their propensities (vrttis) towards external objects become crude. Because they fail to utilize the rein of their mind to keep the organs under control, their minds gradually become crudified. Their condition is then degraded to the level not merely of animals, but of matter - of wood, stone, etc. Then with the last remnant of their subtle human mind gradually becoming crude, they can no longer claim to be the glorious humans. Thus the rs'i (sage) said that such people are truly torpid. Actually, such snobbish, pedantic, materialist sa'dhakas are far inferior to animals like asses, etc. They repeatedly face rebirth and continually bind themselves to the chain of slavery; they can never attain the ultimate liberation. As a result of their crude thoughts, they take the form of animals or straw, trees, etc. Through the centripetal action of introversive prakrti, they regain human bodies, but they again become involved in crude activities and attain sub-human bodies. Thus they fall repeatedly into the eddies of life and death; repeatedly they are caught in the dreadful pit of death. They remain only half-alive, fearing death every moment of their existence. This becomes their destiny. Truly speaking, such beasts in human form are lower than animals. Prakrti, by the law of Nature which keeps animals alive through instinctive impulses, gradually unfolds greater and greater expressions of consciousness within their propensities by means of clashes and counter clashes, and thereby transforms them into higher beings with more developed minds. Due to the lack of manifestation of consciousness and intellectual development animals cannot act independently either to progress or regress. So it is through the centripetal action of introvertive Prakrti (Para'-Prakrti) that they develop gradually without any possibility of regression. But those beasts in human form neglect their inherent higher endowments and are thus lower than beasts, for those who abuse what they possess are even lower than those who do not even possess it. Therefore human beings must clearly understand their true responsibilities and act accordingly. They must proceed towards perfection by making proper use of their mental endowments and resources. They cannot sit back smugly after realising through rationality where deathlessness can be attained. In order to be established in it they will have to follow the path of integration and suffering instead of the path of analysis, and absorb themselves in the sa'dhana', of the internal instead of the external. It is not sufficient to merely read or to write about deathlessness; it has to be understood in the heart, by the heart. As long as the call of the great doesn't reach the innermost recess of the heart, sa'dhan'a remains as dead as the worship of the crude. In order to convey the call of the Great to one's heart, one's every physical and mental expression has to be directed slowly and gradually with all one's sweetness and devotion, to one's inner being. According to the extent of this introversion people will realize more and more deeply the vastness of their goal as compared to transitory nature of physical entities. They will not then seek in vain the eternal entity (Dharva) in the transitory physical world. Then the transitory entities (Adhruva) will keep on gradually merging in one vast eternal entity (Dhruvatva) and in this process a deep and sincere yearning for the supreme eternal being will awaken in them. This phenomenal world is transient (adhruva) and unstable. Every wordly manifestation passes through ceaseless change, for all are the centripetal, playful expressions of the inscrutable Cosmic Mind. Nothing is eternally stable. A boy of today will be a youth of tomorrow, and the same youth will be an old man some time later. None of the boy's forms and features are Dhruva or permanent. Every object of this world is undergoing change at every moment for the change is the characteristic of the universe. Is the earth we see today the same as it was when it separated itself from the sun? The contemporary world has achieved its present form by passing through different forms in different eras such as the Archaeozoic, Protozoic, Tertiary, Cretarion, Pliocene, etc. Each of these forms came into being, remained for a while, and then disappeared. The very name of the world, jagat, indicates its transitory nature (Gam + kvip = jagat: "that which is moving"). Whatever changes is unstable (adhruva). All adhruvas are extrovertive or out-going entities. To run after them is to gradually become crude. I told you on Jaestha Purnima that these continous transformations of unstable entities are always pulsative. The phase of contraction is called dha'rya, (that which is held or retained), and the phase of manifestation is ka'rya. [Take, for instance, an unstable or transient thing, such as your son.] He is constantly progressing through changes, and so you are. Neither of your two entities will remain forever. If you regard him as the only support in your life, it will certainly not be wise, for your son may leave the world any day, and you will moan his loss with bitter tears; or you yourself may leave the world, making him an orphan. This applies in the same way to wealth, power, etc. You have no right to enjoy any of them permanently, because all objects are moving along at different speeds according to respective animate and inanimate characteristics and their varying degrees of crudity and subtlety. The speed of one is never identical with that of another. A tamarind tree does not grow at even one-thousandth the speed of a gourd plant. While progressing in the rhythm of movement, the proximity of one entity to another determines their mutual acquaintance or relationship for the time being, and thus someone refers to an object as "my this" or "my that". The entities appear to enjoy each other as long as they are in each other's proximity. Therefore, due to their differences in speed, one goes ahead and the other lags behind, and as a result one cannot find the other. Out of an unseen realm they came in contact with each other and into an unseen realm they again lose each other. Prior to your birth your affectionate mother belonged to an unseen world as far as you were concerned. Today you have come in contact with her, you have known her as your mother. What a sweet and affectionate relationship of reverence and devotion has developed between you two. Then again some day you may be deprived of this opportunity of moving together - either you will die or she will. In that event one will become a being of the unseen world. The cotton shirt you are wearing was merely a potentiality, dormant in the earth. To you it was in an unseen state. Then it appeared as a fluid flowing through the root of a cotton plant. It took the form of a flower, then a fruit and finally it blossomed, although at that point you would not have recognized it as the previous state of your shirt. Out of that cotton came thread and cloth, and finally it was transformed into a shirt in a tailor's shop. Only then did it come within the orbit of your vision and now you say - 'It' is my shirt. Now you are together with it but someday you will go far away from it. Your proximity to it will increase after a few days. The shirt will be torn and you will throw it into a dustbin. It will gradually rot and become earth again. So you see, something which you think to be yours emerges from an unseen world and to that unseen world it returns. The intermediate stage of proximity is the interlude when it becomes visible. Now, during this short period, will it be wise to regard anything as mine or to regard myself as belonging to something else? The unstable (adhruva) world is only meant for observing and for understanding, not for lasting enjoyment. That is why wise people do not waste their time on unstable things; they worship only the eternal - the dhruva. How do these adhruvas or transient entities evolve? The physical world evolved as the result of the influence of the Binding Principle (Prakrti) over Consciousness and the varying degrees of its influence account for the diversities in the physical world. So efforts must be made to enjoy the Eternal Purus'a Himself who abides behind this variegated and unstable world, and not His qualified form. In order to understand this eternal entity of Purus'a one must be established in Him, unaffected by the Binding Principle. The Purus'a - who is the Witnessing Consciousness - is your soul (a'tman). So the wise do not absorb themselves in the glitter and glamour of the fleeting entities of this transitory world. They focus all the zeal of their hearts upon the Eternal Principle that is the original cause behind these moving entities. Ensconced behind every change is the One Who witnesses every transitory entity deep within that Supreme Entity, who is the only entity. The truly wise should contemplate and worship. Svapna'ntam' ja'garita'ntaincobhao Yena'nupashyati Maha'ntam' Vibhuma'tmanam' matva' dhiiro na shocati The one who is ensconced as the witness of all three states - wakefulness, dream and sleep - is the Supreme Purus'a, the Purus'ottama. Those who have known Him have known everything; and who have attained Him have attained everything. He is the Supreme Seer of all the roles of the drama that are enacted in the internal mental world in the two distinct conditions of the mind - wakefulness and dream. Without the witnesship of the conscious Entity the existence of objects is not substantiated. Then again, when the mind is in its unconscious or causal state, i.e., when the sense of objects does not explicitly exist, even there He remains in His witnessing state. He witnesses all the roles enacted on the psychic stage and by witnessing every attitude and pose of the mind, its simplicity and duplicity, the Supreme Seer confirms the existence of that psychic stage. And even when no scenes are enacted on that stage during sleep, He is still witnessing and confirms the existence of the performance-less stage. He is the witnessing Entity of all conditions - performance or no performance. Iiks'yes shrn'omi Jighra'mi Sva'daya'mi Sprsha'myaham Iti bha'sate Sarvam' nrtyasha'ta'stha diipavat. He is like the chandelier in a ballroom. The chandelier remains the witness of all the performances of the dancers on the stage. Not only does it maintain its witness-ship but due to its light the spectators are able to see and understand the stage and the choreography of the dance. And when the dancers do not perform, the chandelier continues to witness that stage, and thus existence remains intact. Although the vast, all-pervading radiant Entity, the A'tman, manifests all mental or physical loss and gain, yet He remains aloof from and unaffected by them. So those intelligent people who have realized Him and attained Him, also remain immune from all kinds of favourable and unfavourable waves of tanma'tras (sensible and supersensible inferences); they remain above pleasure and pain. Transitory objects (adhruva) come and go, but those intelligent people are unaffected, like Rajarsi Janaka, the sage-king of Mithila, who said, "Mithila'ya'm pradagdha'ya'm na me nashyati kiincana", "I lose nothing even if the whole kingdom of Mithila is ruined by fire." Ya Imam' madhvadam' Veda a'tma'nam' Jiivamantikat Iisha'nambhu'tabhavyasya na tato vijugupsate Organisms live through pleasure and pain. Where no organism exists, there neither pleasure nor pain exists. The witnessing entity of both the existence of the microcosm, its actions and their consequences (karma and karmaphala) is that vast Consciousness. The waves of the Cosmic Mind with the pervasive witness-ship of the vast Cosmic Consciousness, have been prescribing consequential forms of pleasure and pain, blows and counter blows to the microcosmic mind. If there was no witness-ship of the Supreme Spirit then Time, Nature, Destiny, Will, [Accident], the world, or any of the activities of Prakrti that we can think of could not have existed at all, and so the cycle of action and reaction could not have evolved. It is on account of the witnesship of the collective consciousness that the collective mind, as the action-performing agent, allots to the microcosm pleasure or pain as the reaction to past actions (bhogapavarga). Requittals of actions of any variety are perceived by the mind alone, not by the body, for the subtle waves of action and reaction cannot be received by the body, but only by the mind, and because of this capability the mind has the capacity of comprehension and cognition, which the body has not. Of course, the body does undergo some change due to the crudity or subtlety of mind. For example, the nerves of a person with a criminal bent of mind become strong and his or her hair becomes thick and stiff. As a result, neither the body nor the mind is greatly affected by the shocks and blows, the criminal will surely endure. The person inclined towards consciousness, however, becomes physically and mentally soft. As such a person's skin and body are relatively thin and soft, the receptivity of the body and mind increases and the comprehension and sensitivity of the mind are considerably enhanced. These phenomena fall within the scope of physiology and psychology. But is the mind's experience or perception of pleasure and pain the same in all circumstances? No. As consciousness develops, its perceptions also change. When the mind is unmanifest in the state of superlative inertness, the sense of pleasure and pain is also non-existent, and when the unmanifest mind is in the state of superlative consciousness, the sense of pleasure or pain is also non-existent. But the entity which, in conjunction with the mind, undergoes pleasure and pain, cannot experience cognition if it has no manifestation of consciousness. So this conscious A'tman alone is substantiating the existence of every organism, imbibing the sense of pleasure and pain. Truly speaking, whatever may be the past or future, everything is inspired by the A'tman everything is taking place within its psychic sphere and will continue to do so for all time to come. From the standpoint of subtle philosophical judgement, this very A'tman is the world's Iisha'na (Shiva) or Controller. One who is installed in this Iisha'na loses not only the sense of body but also the sense of mind, and so the microcosm and its deeds and feelings or doership, its distinctions and differations, secret and non-secret, are lost. Here it is necessary to explain something about body and mind. Like the Ca'rva'kists many people think that the mind is an attribute of the body itself; it is born with the body and it dies with the body. Such people also think that the mind and the soul are the same. Caturbhyo khalu bh'utebhyo caetanyamupaja'yate Kin'va'dibhyah sametebhyoh dravyebhyo madashaktivat. That is to say, as the result of the combination of four elements, the fifth element, Consciousness, comes into being; just like wine prepared by the combination of ingredients like leaven, grapes, etc. (Ca'rva ka did not recognize A'kashabhu'ta or ether, for it is not visible to the eye, he did not know that A'kashabhu'ta could be realized in some other way). Ca'rva'ka's observation is absolutely wrong. He should have known that the potential of that created entity was already inherent in those ingredients which combined to form it. The potential of a banyan tree is imbedded within the banyan seed, and that potential is expressed with the help of water, earth, air and light. The chemical combination of inedible sodium and chlorine produces Sodium Chloride or salt, a necessary edible for human beings; but there is no cogent reason to call it an extra element for the potential of sodium chloride was inherent in that very poisonous sodium and chlorine, and found expression under favorable conditions. Similarly, what we call Consciousness is not something strange that appears from nowhere and is distinct from everything else. It exists in unmanifested form in every atom of every object. What is manifest is the material force or Prakriti. Under favourable conditions that unmanifest, quiescent Purus'a gradually awakens due to the momentum of the centripetal force of the Macrocosmic Mind by means of various clashes and frictions. The corpse-like Shiva (Consciousness) lying under the feet of Shakti (Material Force or Energy) is gradually transformed into the wakeful Shiva; and this awakening of Shiva makes the Material Force more rhythmic. Wherever and to whatever extent its rhythmic bearing takes an orderly shape, giving up its irregularity, there and to that extent the psychic entity has found expression. We must recognize this psychic entity, segregating it from so-called matter. This psychic entity too is made of Consciousness like matter, but the material force has less influence upon it than upon matter for it constantly shines in the reflected radiance of Consciousness. The feelings of pleasure and pain are experienced in the psychic body. The sense-wave that is congenial to the entitative wave is what we call happiness, and that which is antithetic to it is sorrow. This sense or reflection is a pshchic action which finds expression with the help of the brain. Actually the mind is an entirely independent entity which is made of subtler stuff than even ether. The brain is a crude object, which is essentially the resultant of the combination of a few fundamental elements like hydrogen, carbon, etc. Of these fundamental elements some are solid, some are liquid, some luminous, some aerial and some etherial. Truly speaking, if we call the mind the mechanic, then we will have to call the brain the machine. The mechanic does different jobs with the different parts of the machine. Similarly the mind, too, expresses itself in different parts of the brain through different kinds of sensory functions or thought-waves. It is wrong to think that memory is an attribute of the brain. Memory remains in the mind (citta) as a potential reaction (sam'ska'ra), and is expressed only when the imaginative power works through the medium of the cerebral nerve-cells. No matter how great the power or potential of the mind may be, it cannot do anything at all without the help of the brain, for the sam'ska'ras (reactive momenta) which determine the separate existence of microcosms, cannot find expression without the help of the brain. That is why, although the bodiless a'tman witnesses the accumulated sam'ska'ras; it is unable to perform any kind of crude or subtle act in the absence of the brain. For the a'tman to come as a spirit and accept the after-death offerings like funeral cakes (pin'd'a) or sesame seeds with water (tilodaka) is absolutely illogical and contrary to reason. The primary feeling is received or comprehended in the unit-mind through the medium of the nerve-cells and so recently experienced vibrational impressions of feelings necessarily remain in particular nerve-cells. There are different kinds of nerve-cells in the brain to receive different vibrations, and each of these nerve-cells has a particular kind of sensibility and activity. The internal reason why the unit beings have no particular difficulty in remodeling the newly acquired or newly created ideas in the mental stratum, is that the vibrations of the nerve-cells remain in an almost undisturbed state for some time. Of course there is an external cause as well. the causes of these newly created or newly acquired ideas remain almost undistorted for a long time, and thus help them to re-appear on the canvas of the memory. With the passage of time the impressions of the feeling in the nerve-cells also become dimmed and the relative positions of those activating causes of events also undergo change even in the external world. When that happens, the act of reawakening those events on the canvas of memory becomes the function of the mind instead of the brain. Of course, the brain is an idea-bearing instrument. If you see a white cow now, you can easily say after five minutes that the cow was white, because the sensation of the cow that has etched its image in your nerve-cells still remains quite clear, and so neither the mind nor the brain will have any particular difficulty in activating the memory by reproducing the thought-waves from it. But after the lapse of a few days, if you are asked about the cow you will not be able to answer so easily because the impressions of the feelings in your nerve-cells will then be dimmed. Then the mind will have to extricate with much difficulty the idea of the cow from its accumulated sam'skara's - an act which is entirely dependent on its mental power. For the performance of various mental functions like memorizing, thinking, perceiving, the application of crude vrttis, and the recollection of distant events, a worldly instrument is necessary and that instrument is the brain, whose various parts help the mind in various ways. It is not proper to say that every human feeling is lastingly recorded or outlined in one or the other parts of the brain. If this were true, the brain would have to be very large and new cells would have to be continually created in order to cope with the progressive demands of feelings and sensibilities every moment. So it has to be admitted that the lasting abode of feelings is the mind, not the brain. Even in the absence of impressions in the nerve-cells, the mind can revibrate its accumulated sam'ska'ras in the nerve-cells at will as many times as it likes, by means of its own force, and can also create similar impressions in them. As long as these mentally created impressions remain undistorted, memorization will be easy. When asked what you have eaten today, you may reply at once; but when asked what you ate the day before yesterday, you will take quite some time to answer. But after you reply once, if you are asked again a little later, "What did you eat the day before yesterday?" - you will be able to answer very quickly. Both mind and brain can be diseased. If the brain suffers from any sort of abnormality as a result of a fall or injury, the mind, although healthy, cannot function properly. There are many victims of brain disease who are called lunatics in society. When one's vital force wanes after a few days' illness, the brain becomes sluggish, and even an extremely wise and learned person becomes incapable of thinking deeply about any subject. Then again the mind may be distorted. You are overjoyed when you receive an object, which is congenial to your samska'ras, but conversely some objects fill your heart with disdainful revulsion. A particular air of music, a particular touch, a particular colour, or the taste of something spicy or bitter, fills your heart with annoyance. But another person may not have such reactions, and perhaps you do not always have the same feelings either. The smell of gnappy may be intolerable to Indians, but to the Burmese it is delightful. It cannot be said that they tolerate it just because their nervous systems are used to that smell. They love gnappy as it is a source of enjoyment to them - they have that sam'ska'ra in their minds. To love or not to love actually depends upon the mind, not upon the brain. The instinctive reaction or revulsion that we see in a Hindu at the sight of beef, or in a Moslem at the sight of pork, is indeed psychological. A mad Hindu or a mad Mohammedan will easily eat that denounced meat, for, on account of their defective brains they will not be able to recall that instinctive reaction. There are a thousand and one instances of mental aberration or perversity in human and animal societies. The unit ego not only has no brain but, from a subtle philosophical standpoint, has no mind either. The 'I-feeling' that exists in the mind finds its substantiation only through a particular vibration emanating from the nerve-cells. In the absence of these nerve-cells the independent 'I-feeling' is personal or impersonal, is a psychic function either of the unit-mind with brain, or of the Cosmic mind without brain. The supramental, subtle Macrocosmic Entity (Bhu'ma') or A'tman, however, is not in any way dependent on the nerve-cells, but is only responsive to the thought-waves (Sam'vedana') of the mind. As the result of the impact of a thought-wave upon Him, He appears to be dyed with the color of that thought, yet characteristically He is immune to everything. Cognitive responsiveness is the characteristic of the Omniscient Psychic Ego, and it is through this cognitive responsivity that the existence of the mental perception is substantiated. In the unexpressed state of the mind (in the microcosm, in the functionless state of the brain, and in the Macrocosm in the absence of 'avikalpa' - see Subhas'ita Sam'graha, Volume II) the responsive action also does not take place for lack of thought-waves. When the cardiac function stops and the nerve fundtioning also ceases, we call it "the death of the body". Similarly, when the nerve-cells of the brain and along with them, the cognitive, activative and sensory thought-waves of the mind also stop functioning, we call it "the death of the mind". When the thought-waves stop and the telepathic action also stops, we call the jiiva'tman videhii a'tman or the bodiless soul, although that jiiva'tman (the subjective counterpart of the microcosm) has to remain as the witness as long as there is a mind or sam'ska'ras. To call any a'tman bodiless is philosophically untenable, until the mind or sam'ska'ras are totally destroyed and salvation is achieved. I have already said that the brain is necessary only for the microcosms, not for the Macrocosm (Bhu'ma'). Here the question may arise, how does the Macrocosm perform the functions of the mind? Why is a brain not necessary for Him? A brain is necessary to determine the sense of ego as well as to direct the propensities of the sensory and motor organs. But to meet the necessity of One whose sphere of ego-comprehension is immeasurable due to Its vastness, is beyond the capacity of any finite quinquelemental brain. Secondly, the five factors of which the brain is made, are created from the mind-stuff of this very Great-I and so for the Macrocosmic Mind, due to the absence of brain, none of the crude quinquelemental factors can work as the receptacle. If this is the case, then how does His mind flow? There Purus'a Himself is fully manifest as the mind, with the help of the Material Force (Prakrti). From beginninglessness to endlessness - from timelessness to timelessness - the subjectivity or mind-like form that the Material Force has been imposing upon Him, is what we call His imagination (kalpana), in which lies His potential to express His volition or purpose. The yogi in his determinate trance of absorption (savikalpa sama'dhi) drifts afloat his or her own mind-entity on these psychic waves of Purusa'. As this manifestation which we call His psychic manifestation is created in the original Purus'a due to the influence of primordial Prakrti (His Operative Principle) it is entitatively imperishable, even though it undergoes many diverse forms, and every form is individually perishable. There is yet another reason why He has no brain. It is only necessary to have a brain in order to accept external ideas and project internal ones. The question of projecting anything from within or taking in anything from without does not arise for the One outside whom nothing exists. All His psychic occupations find their expression through His own internal psychic vibrations. I have just told you that the responsive bearing of the A'tman does not function in the absence of mental thought-waves and that is why we term as 'dead' the mind devoid of thought-waves that once bore the identity of the unit being. Often, due to the improper functioning of the vital airs of the body, the nerve-fibres temporarily stop controlling the body. At that stage the nerve-fibres do not become completely inactive and as a result the mind remains intact in its causal state. In the presence of the causal or unconscious mind (ka'ran'a-mana) the telepathic bearing of the a'tman (soul) also remains active as before. A medical examination might declare such a man dead. As cremation of the dead is in vogue in Hindu society, there is no way of knowing if the person actually died or was still alive in the causal or unconscious mind - for even half-dead people are burnt as if dead. But in countries where burying the dead is in vogue, it has sometimes been found after opening the coffin that the person had come back to life again, but eventually, after struggling hard to stay alive, had courted actual death in sheer helplessness in the darkness of the grave. Thus where there is even the slightest expression of the mind, the telepathic a'tman has to be there, and on account of His existence, all kinds of physical and mental activities find their substantiation. The mind is greater than the body, and the a'tman is greater than the mind. Although the a'tman is not directly active, if His presence alone is the determining factor behind actions, then it will not be unreasonable at all to call the A'tman the controller (Iishana). The One, due to Whose presence every act of the body and mind is performed, is the A'tman. He is the sovereign Master of this body-like house. Without exerting Himself, He is present as the Master of all. It is due to His presence that His 'housewife', Prakrti (His Operative Principle) arranges for servants and takes work from them according to necessity. He does not have to do anything; but without Him the whole framework would break into pieces and that is why He is Iishana - the Controller. Whatever the activities, whatever the events, whatever the spatio-temporo-personal expressions, all are taking place within Him. He is the Iishana of all, past, present and future. Everything is at His fingertips. Truly speaking, every relative factor is evolved, retained and dissolved in His body due to the influence of Prakrti. From the standpoint of dispassionate judgement none of these can be accepted as truth in any particular condition. Whatever words I am uttering at present cease to be of the present immediately following their delivery, and pass into the womb of the past. And for the person at a distance who has not yet heard those words through the media of aerial or ethereal waves, they remain in the darkness of the future. To a person hearing my words at a distance of ten cubits they are 'present'; to the person twenty cubits away they are 'future'; and to me they are 'past'. Whatever is past, present and future for the unit entity, is for Brahma one indivisible wave. He is the Supreme authority of past, present and future - the Supreme Master of time. One who has the time factor in His grasp, is verily the Cosmic Controller, Iishana - your own soul - He is you. You are not an ordinary, poor, miserable creature. Stand erect, casting off all weakness and impurity. Stand erect, the way a prince brought up in the home of a candala (a low-caste person), when he discovers he is not a candala, holds his head high and expands his chest with dignity, throwing himself into the task of establishing his honour and prestige in the kingdom of his heart. Tear away with an iron hand all the mental distortions and weaknesses of fear, hatred, jealousy, etc. from your mind and establish it upon your gem-studded throne. Manasaervedama'ptavyam' neha na'na'sti kiincana Mrtyoh sa mrtyuungacchati yatha naneva pashyati. The Yama said, "Naciketa', you are that Iisha'na. But merely saying that you are Iisha'na is of no avail. If anyone calls you a millionaire, merely hearing this does not actually make you the owner of a million rupees". So simply uttering the word "millionaire" is not enough. You must be in a position to receive recognition as a millionaire. Merely boasting with an inflated chest that 'I am Iisha'na' or I am Brahma' does not mean that one has attained the state of Brahma. You must have heard the story of the Vedantist jackal. Listening to the discourses of the panditas (erudite scholars), the jackal too started preaching in his own society that he was not a jackal but the living Brahma, to be adored and revered by all. The state of those who having read a few pages of a book, dream of salvation without doing any sa'dhana, is similar to that of the Vedantist jackal. Actually mere talk is of no avail; establishing oneself in consciousness is what is important. To think oneself an M.A. is useless. Only after striving hard and passing the 'M.A.' exam. does the sense of being an M.A. become established in the mind, and will the talk of being an M.A. be justified. The Yama said, 'Characteristically the unit entity is Iishana'. This truth remains only within the bounds of language - no intrinsic significance can be attached to it until the unit entity is fully established in this truth or fully realizes it. What must one do to become established in this truth? What is the way? The Yama said, "One who has earnest zeal and devotion should learn the method of spiritual practice from a capable acarya or preceptor, so that this supreme truth may be realized by a sa'dhaka (intuitional practioner) as the highest attainment". Now the question may be asked, "Can it not be attained through one's self-effort alone, without going to an acarya"? Suppose you are very thirsty. If there is a pond nearby, in that case you may quench your thirst with a handful of water from the pond or by digging a well with a shovel. You will certainly not adopt the second method, for before you have dug the well you may die of burning thirst; it may be impossible for you to find the equipment needed to dig the well. Even those who can secure the equipment, can do so only by taking help from others. Of course, one may procure iron-ore from the mine, smelt it into iron and then make a shovel, cut a branch of a tree and make a handle out of it and then dig a well - in such a case no help has been taken from others but it does involve a good amount of risk, for after digging the well you find the water salty or brackish, completely unfit for drinking. So, you will have to go to a capable a'carya and learn brahamavidya (intuitional science) and strictly follow what the experienced a'carya teaches you. If you wish, you may ask the a'carya why you must do this and that, but do not try to indulge in your own whims and caprices Properly follow the method of sadhana' and you will surely progress, victory will certainly be yours. After meditating according to the instructions of the a'ca'rya, the knower of Truth, you will feel that in this observable world there exists but One Entity. You will see one, indivisible Purus'a radiant before your eyes everywhere - only One Entity, not more than one. The narrow and fragmented vision will then be lost. Fools fight over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, but the geographer knows that both are but the regional names of the one Indian Ocean. Those in whose crude, subtle and causal states flow the graceful manifestations of the one and the same Purus'a day in and day out, see only Him in everything. They transcend the restlessness of the mortal world and become established in deathlessness. Purus'a alone is the Indivisible Cognitive Entity. Being under the influence of Prakrti, we sometimes see Him as a son, sometimes as wife or husband, sometimes as fame, sometimes as learning. Actually behind each of these expressions the fundamental entity is One. It is like necklaces, earrings and the bracelets of gold. You look upon each of them from different angles and create a particular history or tradition for each one. You also make use of each of them in various ways - wearing one on the hand, the other around the neck and so on. But when you go to a goldsmith's shop, the goldsmith views all of them as gold, not as separate items. He does not think of their names, whether earrings, bracelets or necklaces. He fixes the value of the gold only, weighing them on the scales minus their dross and alloys. Become a true goldsmith of this type. Learn to distinguish the actual substance beyond the superficial names. By properly practicing the method of sa'dhana' as explained by the a'carya, the capacity to distinguish the original substance will also be awakened in you. Follow the path of sa'dhana' and see for yourself, casting away all your fears, shame, doubt and hesitation. Those who look at things with an individual outlook, viewing only their diverse forms, to whom the names alone are all-important, run after things under the influence of their sensual propensities. They are nothing but slaves of their sensual proclivities. For the fulfilment of their ungratified desires, to exhaust their sam'ska'ras, they have to take birth after death again and again. The final death - the death which is the sweet flow of eternal good - that nectarean super-death, does not want to come to them. The death of true sa'dhakas is super-death and so they do not fear it for to them it means not death but endless life by unbolting every lock on the doors of their bondages; and so in death the sa'dhakas merge their unit lives in the Supreme Life and attain Supreme Bliss. The Supreme Life is indeed Brahma, which is the only sustainer of the characteristic existence of every entity. Agniryathaeko bhuvane pravis't'o ru'pam' ru'pam' pratiru'po jaga'ma Ekastatha' Sarvabhu'ta'ntara'tma' ru'pam' ru'pam' pratiru'po bahishca In this observable world one notices the wonderful performances of the forces of lightning, light, sound and heat. The peculiar plays of these forces certainly bewilder people, but the scientist who is aware of the truth, knows that energy is only one. The same material force or energy is manifested differently in different states. This material force is not only active as a force alone, it is also the crude state of matter. This so-called material force comes into being as the result of the influence of the triple-attributive Prakrti over Purus'a. Just as energy, taking innumerable forms in this universe, goes on functioning in them, similarly, one and the same A'tman remains ensconced in every form as the witness, and also as one of its components. The A'tman is not only present as a component and witness in the energy-created forms; He is also present as the all-witnessing Entity outside them as well. He abides not only in the creation but also outside it as the knower. He is even in the Objectless Cosmic Principle where knowledge, known and the knower have become one. Va'yuryathaeko bhuvanam' pravis't'o ru'pam' ru'pam' patiru'po vabhu'va Ekasta'tha' sarvabhu'ta'ntara m'a ru'pam' ru'pam' Pratiru'po bahishca. Take air for instance; its justification lies in its blowing. Truly speaking, whatever has the capacity of carrying or blowing anything is called air in the pervasive sense. The vibrational force whereby the microcosm or unit-mind receives or projects inferences (tanma'tras) is really nothing but air. Thus the intrinsic meaning of air is pra'n'a. The English words, "force" or "vital energy", may both be used in the sense of pra'n'a. It is with the help of pra'n'a or vital energy that you hear, taste, smell, walk or see. The same vital energy, ensconced in the body, goes on performing different functions. It is with the help of this vital-energy - which is the collective state of the ten-fold manifestations of differently active airs, - that the different kinds of forms of the microcosmic world are maintained. Similarly, one Supreme Being, externalized in different bearings, is keeping intact the structures of various forms as their sole witness. Su'ryo Yatha' sarvalokasya caks'urn'a lipyate ca'ks'us'aerba'hya dos'aeh Ekastatha' sarvabhu'ta'ntara'ma' na lipyate lokaduhkena ba'hyah He is like the sun. The sun is the eye of the entire world. How does the knowledge of external objects occur? It occurs when the light waves, emanating from those objects, hit your eye-balls. What is the source of light-waves that carry the form, tanma'tras, of these objects? The sun. The sun is the apparent cause of each of the latent forces of this solar system. So by whatever light you see objects, its chief cause is the sun, and so the sun is the greatest eye of the solar system. You could not have seen or visualized anything with your eyes, if there were no sun-begotten lightwaves (or any other transformed force-waves from the sun). Without the help of the all-seeing eye of the sun our worldly eyes cannot function at all. But suppose you are unable to see an object due to any eye-disease, will you then blame the sun for it? No. In that case your eyes are to be blamed; the sun is innocent. The flaw in your eyes does not jeaopardize the sun's all-seeingness. Similarly, inspite of Supreme Brahma being the Supreme Director of all minds and the superlatively brilliant reflector on all men's plates, if your mental plate is faulty and if due to this His expression is not beautifully manifest in your heart, then the fault lies with you, not with Brahma. Just as an ocular defect does not implicate the sun, similarly a mental defect does not implicate Brahma. If you perform a mean act, meanness will come in your mind. If you look at ignoble things, ignoble sentiments will be awakened in your mind. The sun, however, has nothing to do with these flaws; it will remain as pure as ever. It is the father of all eyes; to it all objects will remain the same. Similarly, no fault of any individual can touch the Parama Purusa' (the Supreme Being), the Soul of all entities, Who has been irradiating every individual entity. If at all anybody or anything is to blame, it is the reflecting unit-mind. Pleasure and pain are enjoyed and endured in that very unit-mind. So, inspite of Brahma being very intimately associated with the unit entities, He does not become involved in any way with their pleasure or pain, and yet He has been constantly showering His boundless kindness on microcosms without discrimination or reservation. He is the Lord of limitless mercy. If the unit entity can understand but a particle of His generosity, all ignominies of the unit mind will be immediately eradicated - and yet people do not try to understand it. To understand His generosity is indeed what is called sa'dhana'. If you do not do sa'dhana', the fault is yours. Do not try to incriminate that Ocean of Mercy, the Parama Brahma, on account of your own pleasure and pain. Eko vashii sarvabhu'ta'ntara'tma' ekam' ru'pam' bahudha' yah karoti Tama'tmastham' ye'nupashyanti dhiira'stes'a'm' sukham' sha'shvatam' netaras'am. He is the Lord of all. This creation, this universe, is completely under His control, is being controlled by His mere nod. Not a single lapse can be found anywhere. With the One Who is the authority or controller there are normally two more factors: one is the system of control and the other is the controlled object. The rhythmic gracefulness of His playful creation is this crude, subtle and causal universe. Through His sportive flow, He continues to create this heteromorphic world. But, inspite of His being the Creator of many, He himself however, is One, He is unique. The Infinite Entity is never more than one, or else His characteristic Self is jeopardized. He is infinite, and characteristically He abides in the A'tman (Soul). He is the Supreme Knower - the Supreme Witness of even those Jiivatmas (unit souls) that are ensconced as the knowers of the unit-minds. Truly speaking, inspite of His all-pervasive witness-ship, He is not completely spiritually fulfilled. The reason is that the unit minds are but the individual unit-forms and the cruder expressions of His own Great Mind, and the unit-A'tmans, or so-called individual souls, are reflections of Him on countless unit mental plates. That is why the 'He' of subjectivity (kartrbha'va), the unit-mind in objective status (karmabha'va), the observable world, and the unit-A'tmans are, spiritually speaking, nothing but His own manifestative distinctions. He certainly abides in you, watching your every act. He is very near you. Just as the shadow remains attached to the sun's ray, similarly He keeps Himself in closest contact with your entity. 'Cha'yata pao brahmavido vadanti', i.e., the knowers of Brahma say that He remains with the unit entities, just as the shadow remains with the sun's ray. One who is carefully introspective by dint of sa'dhana' (intuitional practice) certainly attains Him, and attaining that eternal sea of bliss, enjoys ever-lasting happiness. Eating a rossogolla, a delicious sweet, you become happy; but no matter how great a stock of rossogollas you have, some day it will be exhausted, won't it? To attain lasting happiness from rossogollas, you need an unlimited number of them, but this is not possible, for nothing in this evolved world is limitless. Only He is unlimited, so it is only by attaining Him that unlimited happiness can be attained. No matter how much you enjoy Him, He can never be exhausted. Those who crave for unit objects to attain happiness, can never attain unlimited happiness - never. Nityo'nitya'na'm cetanashcetana'na'meko bahu'na'm yo vidadha'ti ka'ma'n Tama'tmastham' ye'nupashyanti dhiira'stesa'm' sha'ntih sha'shvatii netares'a'm'. The things that we think to be eternal in the world are not actually so. 'Eternal' means only that which is established in its own characteristic bearing - which has no stigma of relativity in its spatio-temporo-personal bearing. The only eternal entity is Purusa'. In common language what we call conscious entities are not really so; they are only the crude minifestations of Consciousness. The unchangeable Witnessing Consciousness that lies behind the manifested, externalized states of consciousness or behind these apparently conscious entities is Purus'a Himself. Behind these 'transient' and 'inanimate' entities which are commonly accepted as 'eternal' and 'conscious', abides the one and only truly Eternal or Conscious Entity, who by virtue of His own will and Consciousness, has been evolving these various transient and inanimate objects, and constantly providing each of them with various necessities according to their longings and needs. For each living organism born in His Psychic Body at any time, He keeps suitable food and other things necessary for that organism's existence. In the ancient world shrubs and forests were created before the birds which feed on them. Since babies need milk, it is provided beforehand in the mother's breasts. Prior to the advent of any kind of organism, he creates the suitable atmosphere and environment for it well in advance. He does not do anything by whim. Every act, every thought-wave of His, is meaningful. Not even an ant's life is useless in His world. He carefully makes all the provisions necessary for the preservation of an ant, and those provisions precede the ant's advent. The Yama said, "Naciketa, try to know Him. Knowest thou what He is? He is thee. Those of calm intellect who see Him within themselves alone attain eternal bliss. To them alone belongs Abiding Peace." Tadetaditi manyante'nirdeshyamparamam'sukham Katham' nu tadvija niiya'm' kimu bha'ti vibha'ti va. How can we know this Brahma, the repository of endless happiness? Naciketa says, Is this Brahma a radiant Entity? Is He effulgent in every object? Does He express Himself in every microcosm?" Na tatra Su'ryo bha'ti na candrata'rakam nema' vidyuto bha'nti ku'to'yamagnih Tameva bha'niamanubha'ti sarvam' tasya bha'sa' sarvamidam' vibha'ti. He is very radiant. Do you know how radiant He is? His radiance is beyond the power of your sensual comprehension. You cannot conceive of His radiance. A glow-worm is a bright object, but you can hardly see it on a full-moon night, for the moon dims its radiance. The moon is very bright, but during the day you cannot see it properly, for the sun pales its brightness. The sun is the brightest object in the solar system, but His effulgence outshines even the sun's radiance. The sun, moon and stars lose their individual lustre in His. Even the dazzling brilliance of lightning, not to speak of fire, is absolutely dull before His effulgence. It is not an easy task to apprehend his extreme radiance. For this, vigorous sa'dhana' is indispensable. Imagine how wonderfully radiant He must be, before whom the moon, the stars, the lightning, the fire - all become pale. If you cannot see even the sun with your bare eyes, imagine what a tremendous amount of sa'dhana' is necessary to see Him. It is with His radiance that every object is radiant. None of the objects has any radiance of its own. The moon is bright with the sun's brightness, and the sun is bright with His. The sun is not jyotisvarupa (characteristically self-effulgent), it is He alone who is jyotisvarupa. In His radiance there is depth but no severity, there is sweetness but no harshness. Observe His calm brilliance in the firmament of your heart. Shunning all inferiority complexes, move on the path of sa'dhana'. The only purpose of your being a human being is to do sa'dhana'. The life of one who does not do it passes in vain like a tree struck by lightning. "Krs'n'a bhajiba'r tare sam'sa're a'inu. Miche ma'ya'-baddha haye vrks'a-sama haenu." To worship Krs'n'a to earth had I come Overcome by Ma'ya', like a tree I become. That is why I say, Do not waste your time. Make proper use of your energy while there is still time. Know and understand your characteristic self, lest you should bewail - Brtha' janma gouna'yaluin hena Prabhu na' bhajalu, khoyaluin soha gun'anidhi. Hama'r karama manda na' milala eka bunda, Premasindhi rasak avadhi. Let not your life go in vain. Make proper use of your intelligence and intellect. Transform yourself from human to divine, and offer that sa'dhana'-earned divinity as an oblation to the eternal bearing of the Supreme Purus'a. A's'a'd'hii Purun'ma' 1956, Muzaffarpur Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 4