by P.C. Lahiri
A well known media personality was seriously ill, battling terminal cancer in its last stage. Many people, including some eminent personalities had come to the hospital to be with the distressed family. I was observing and listening to the proceedings from a slight distance. People arriving would offer words of consolation words to the family members and hug them, a few even shedding tears in the process of doing so. Within a few minutes however, they would begin scanning the gathering for known faces of interest, making their way slowly through the crowd to reach them. The whole scene consisted of many small huddles of a few people each, and a comparatively larger group assembled around the distressed family. People around the family inquired how this could have all happened so suddenly. After all wasn’t it just the other day that the patient was joyfully participating in a social gathering! Oh my God, strange are His ways; why him? He’s such a helpful and lively guy; please have faith in God and He will take care; so on and so forth. In the smaller huddles, discussions would start off with remarks about the patient, but in no time, switch to a topic of common interest― be it politics, business, office, economics, criticism of the general state of affairs prevailing in the country, family issues, ornaments/sarees/fashion and what not. A few visitors would move from huddle to huddle, finally settling in that gathering where they could establish their knowledge and authority to boost their ego or gain some benefit. This picture could be endlessly painted, however the idea here is not to degrade or criticize somebody, but to appreciate and accept the real state of our mind and its consequent behavior. I myself have been a part and parcel of such huddles on numerous occasions, i.e. until my eye-opening association with the Master (Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur).
In the
normal course, most of us do not get the opportunity to read or listen to a
scientific analysis of the world drama starting with the gross outer nature which is there for our use - not haphazard use,
but ‘right use’. Very rarely do we get the
privilege of either listening or reading about the ‘science of right use’. We
have been so fortunate in not only being able to listen and read, but also to having received a live demonstration of ‘right use’ through an exemplary life (the
Master’s) in this mundane world. This is extremely rare. So let us ‘accept’ it wholeheartedly with
clear understanding; then make conscious and serious efforts to ‘adjust’ our
lifestyle accordingly; and finally ‘accommodate’
it totally in our day-to-day lives. Once
the accommodation is complete and perfect in life without any reservation
whatsoever, the ‘Absolute’ shall reveal from within of its own accord. This
formula of ‘Fourfold A’ (accept-adjust-accommodate-Absolute) has been narrated
by the Master as It was revealed to Him.
Behind the gross outer nature is the subtle inner nature consisting of our
mind, intellect, ego and mind-stuff (antahkarana)
which is the immediate source of the behavior alluded to in the first
paragraph. The inner nature is the
immediate experiencer and user of the outer nature. Common people relate to the happenings in
the outer nature, totally guided by their inner nature. As is the training and refinement of the
mind-intellect-ego, so is the behavior of the common person. Now most of the visitors had gone to the
hospital conditioned by the customary practice of sympathizing with the family and,
if possible, with the patient. Very few
were true friends, who through the use of right words and deeds, were there to help family members rediscover their lost confidence and inner strength. Therefore, as soon as the formality of the visit was over, most
visitors drifted to groups of interest from where the expectation was to
achieve something worthwhile due to the presence of some powerful people
including politicians and businessmen. We
tend to criticize or degrade others for such behavior without realizing that we ourselves are doing the same and sailing in the same boat. Staying in glass
houses, we throw stones at other houses. This is the general scenario in all
spheres of life, almost without exception. We lack proper training of our
subtle inner nature.
That being
the case, the important thing here is to understand that we shall not be able to
refine our mind to rightly educate ourselves by following the best of training
or education provided at the level of gross outer or subtle inner nature
anywhere in the world. By remaining in the
orbit of inner and outer play, one cannot get rid of their demerits as they are
the product of the ever changing reflected consciousness (cidabhas). We have to receive the guidance of a teacher who is
established in the subtler central
nature, our Godly nature or nature of Pure Consciousness. This perfectly
equanimous and supreme nature is already within us; however since we are
unaware of it, a Master who has direct experience of the same and is unified
and identified with it, is needed to reveal it to us through His words and
deeds. The training is basically centered on turning the mind inward rather
than its existing strong outward inclination. As the training proceeds, the
trainee realizes that his/her stability, balance, inner peace and bliss are on
the rise without any change in outer circumstances. The day-to-day worldly life
is going on in a much better fashion without leaving tension and anxiety as its
invariable by-product. Without discarding or even neglecting any rightful duty
and responsibility of life, one is able to find more time and be at ease with
the surroundings.
Behind
this subtler central nature lies our subtlemost
transcendental nature which is supremely perfect and beyond all duality or
many-ness. Both the central and the transcendental nature are perfect and very
similar to each other; however there are some extremely subtle differences realized
only by supremely perfect Souls with Self-Conscious Awareness (Swanubhuti). We came to know about them
only when revealed by the Master. Any discussions at our level on the
differences between the two shall be purely academic and perhaps ego-inflating.
Master being Supreme Wisdom incarnate, whose appearance in the mortal plane was
for a ‘missionless mission’ (a unique unprecedented coinage), revealed
everything from the state of Absolute Perfection for one and all, without any
discrimination whatsoever. The inherent nature and beauty of this revelation is
that it has nothing to do with pairs of opposites like true-false, right-wrong,
good-bad, past-present, this & that; in any form as is prevalent in the
universal manifestation including the world of celestial beings that are there
to help only the qualified/deserving and not the un-deserving/un-qualified. The
very cause of appearance of the world phenomenon is the spontaneous
appearance of Divine Will in the Supreme Divine Being (Saccidananda Satta) to become many from the state of Its perfect
Oneness, and to play with Itself in innumerable ways, only for the sake of
Supreme Bliss. As the Divine Will gradually descended from that subtlemost transcendental state of
supreme Oneness to subtler central state
to subtle inner state and finally to
the gross outer state to appear as
the universal outer nature, many-ness appeared. Play cannot happen unless there are at least
two, if not many. This many-ness is only
an appearance like a magician’s magical game which appears as real till the
secret is revealed, or like a dream which appears as real as long as it lasts,
or like a mirage or a rope appearing as a snake in insufficient light. Due to
insufficient light of knowledge, we the embodied beings, consider the world
phenomenon as real and get falsely identified with our bodies and outer nature.
So we gather knowledge from the outer
world through innumerable means, churn it in our reflected unreal inner nature
to draw conclusions which are termed as “my opinion/idea” and which serve as
the basis of our actions/behaviors. The whole game of innumerable appearances all
over the universe is immersed in the play of nature mainly at the gross level
and a little at the subtle level. The subtler and the subtlemost states which
are very much there within all of us is not even thought about, what to talk of
realizing our unity and identity with them.
This
explains to a reasonable extent the happenings at the hospital and for that
matter, the happenings taking place anywhere and everywhere. Instead of criticizing and strengthening our
lower nature, we can learn our lessons from the variable and contradictory
outer nature to gradually elevate ourselves to be more in tune with our higher
nature - which is wider and more refined.
If our mind-intellect-ego is more in sync with our higher nature, then
it will reflect in our behavior. For
example, in the aforementioned hospital scenario, a person with refined
understanding, by the right use of his time and education, would not only
empower and strengthen the family to go through the rough patch smoothly and
properly, but also draw the attention of visitors towards that area of peace
and bliss that is little known or unknown to them. He would be able to do that
easily without imposing himself, just like a universal friend who has no
self-interest and has nothing to prove to anyone. The training that he is
receiving or has received will spontaneously prompt him from within to move on
in every sphere of life with ease and with minimal sense of distinction. Out of the
hospital when he is into his normal routine, he will be the same. Reader
friends, isn’t this nature very attractive? Don’t we get inspired by his simplicity,
humility and easiness? It is not that he won’t be successful in the present day
world. On the contrary, he will not only be successful, but also be an example
for many others. It is a different
matter as to how he goes about his success. His ways would be different from
the common people, not because he wants it that way but simply because he has
become that way. Without any extra
conscious effort, he can be easy, simple and humble. This can happen with any
one of us as we have the Bible of perfection from our Master―
‘the Science of Oneness’. Let us resolve
to make serious efforts to accept, adjust and accommodate it in life to the
best of our ability. With an earnest desire from within, if we go forward to imbibe
the Science, help and support shall pour in from all around. How? Because the
whole world phenomenon is designed and executed that way by the Absolute Divine
Being (our True Nature) who is experiencing His own divine glory by becoming
many and playing with Himself, for Himself and in Himself alone. We have simply
forgotten this ‘sportful dramatic sameside game of Self-Consciousness (our very
True Nature)’. Earnest desire supported by devotion and dedication paves the
way for regaining the lost paradise within.
Submitted
at the lotus feet of the Master
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