by Sri P.C. Lahiri
“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.
“At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.
“In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds; I can feel the breath of the God of death drawing closer…
“Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth. Should be something that is more important— perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days?
“Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.
“God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. The wealth I have won in life I cannot bring with me. What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love. That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, give you the strength and light to go on. Love can travel a thousand miles.
“Life has no limit. Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands.
“What is the most expensive bed in the world? The sick bed…
“You can hire someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you.
“Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost― Life.
“When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading— Book of Healthy Life. Whichever stage in life we are right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down.
“Treasure love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.”
It is said that a few moments after saying these “last words”, written down by someone else near his bed, Steve Jobs, aged 56, passed away.
I got to know about all this while sitting in a general gathering consisting of people of almost all age groups. During that discussion, I saw the existence of a lot of controversy on whether the above words were really spoken by him or not. We, the common people, generally have this tendency of taking a side whenever the first speaker tries to give a color of his choice to the topic of discussion. That leads to a lot of arguments for and against the point of view presented by the first speaker. In the process we lose the bigger picture which may indicate its depth and uncontroversial nature. So, without getting into any of that, this article is about the true meaning of the “last words”, based on my understanding of what Master (Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur) has revealed.
Let us read the “last words” as an insightful essay. What do we derive out of it?
Unparalleled
achievement of recognition and wealth do not provide real joy in life. They
become meaningless in the face of impending death. Relentless pursuit of wealth
turns a person into a twisted being. So, after accumulating sufficient wealth
to last a lifetime, pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth. (What
are those matters? That has been dealt with in the second part of the essay.)
Senses are provided to feel the love in everyone’s heart. (This is a key statement. We normally use our senses for the accumulation of wealth, name, fame etc.). If you have love then you are truly rich with the strength and light to travel thousands of miles on the limitless vehicle of life. With heart full of love, one can reach any height that one wants, go anywhere desired. (This is an Indication of the limitlessness of human capability, if only one has true love as his companion). At whatever age one may be reading this essay, please remember— strive only for the treasure of love to lead a truly Healthy Life.
Let us look at Love, as revealed by the Master. Out of many definitions of Love given by the Master from different angles, the one which is short and relevant for the topic is— ‘Love is a divine principle which embraces all as one in reality but relative attributes of life in appearance.’{Ref: Daiva and Purushakara (Destiny and Self-Effort), page 107, paragraph 2, first two lines}. The definition has two parts. The first part is— Love in essence is an all-embracing Divine Principle. The second part is— in appearance, love is relative attributes of life.
Love of the second part is further described by the Master as having two sub parts— ordinary love and spiritual love. Ordinary love (first sub part) has again two sub-secondary parts— bhalolaga (love in physical and sense planes) and bhalobasa (love in mental and intellectual planes).
Love of the second part as revealed by the Master— ‘In ordinary sense love means morbid attachment, liking, preference and absurd greed for physical/sensual enjoyment. In physical and sense planes, love is mere bhalolaga (first sub-secondary part)— meaning comfort, pleasing and liking of unstable and transitory nature, which results in displeasure and dislike without any reason. In mental and intellectual planes it is bhalobasa (second sub-secondary part) — meaning conditional love and liking, and sentimental and emotional feeling also with preference and favor. In spiritual sense (second sub part) — love is affection, affectionate regard, fondness, tenderness, compassion, kind and sympathetic feeling, lovingness etc. In both ordinary and spiritual senses it (love) is tainted and limited by desire for which it has a reactionary effect in mind and the senses. Hence, it is not all-perfect and divine.
‘In divine sense (first part) Love is Pure Prema which is fullness, oneness, unity and identity, hence universal and beyond. ….It is free from all kinds of demerits such as liking and disliking, preference, hatred etc. ….Hence, Love is all-embracing and all-accepting, without any exception.’ {Ref: Daiva and Purushakara (Destiny and Self-Effort), from page 107 third paragraph to page 108 end of first paragraph}.
The first part being all-encompassing and all-embracing, out of exuberance of Supreme Bliss, reveals Itself alone as the ‘relative attributes of life’, i.e. the second part. At the stage of the first part, there is no other level or part at all, as It is all-pervading and One without a second. Love of the first part only reveals in Perfect Souls and all other souls, traveling through the various levels of the second part in various lives, strive for such revelation.
Love of the second part and all its sub and secondary parts narrate the experience of love of such striving souls. Master has elaborated on love of the second part (as quoted here in before). Lowest grade of ordinary love is in the physical and sense planes (bhalolaga). Next grade of ordinary love is in the mental and intellectual planes (bhalobasa). The highest grade of love of the second part is spiritual love but this too has an element of desire embedded in it which makes it reactionary and limited. Gradations can only exist in reflection of love which is not pure Love or limitless Love (Love with capital ‘L’).
We must bear in mind that the above is the scientific analysis of the word ‘Love’ from the standpoint of Swanubhuti (Self-Conscious Awareness) of a Self-Realized Soul. It is not the theory, thesis or doctrine of a highly intellectual mind. Hence, it can only be accepted, not understood by mind-intellect-ego. Acceptance comes only from the ‘heart doctrine’ (an original coinage of the Master) and understanding comes from the ‘head doctrine’ (another original coinage of the Master).
Finally, the essay talks about which love…I leave it to the judgment of the readers.
Senses are provided to feel the love in everyone’s heart. (This is a key statement. We normally use our senses for the accumulation of wealth, name, fame etc.). If you have love then you are truly rich with the strength and light to travel thousands of miles on the limitless vehicle of life. With heart full of love, one can reach any height that one wants, go anywhere desired. (This is an Indication of the limitlessness of human capability, if only one has true love as his companion). At whatever age one may be reading this essay, please remember— strive only for the treasure of love to lead a truly Healthy Life.
Let us look at Love, as revealed by the Master. Out of many definitions of Love given by the Master from different angles, the one which is short and relevant for the topic is— ‘Love is a divine principle which embraces all as one in reality but relative attributes of life in appearance.’{Ref: Daiva and Purushakara (Destiny and Self-Effort), page 107, paragraph 2, first two lines}. The definition has two parts. The first part is— Love in essence is an all-embracing Divine Principle. The second part is— in appearance, love is relative attributes of life.
Love of the second part is further described by the Master as having two sub parts— ordinary love and spiritual love. Ordinary love (first sub part) has again two sub-secondary parts— bhalolaga (love in physical and sense planes) and bhalobasa (love in mental and intellectual planes).
Love of the second part as revealed by the Master— ‘In ordinary sense love means morbid attachment, liking, preference and absurd greed for physical/sensual enjoyment. In physical and sense planes, love is mere bhalolaga (first sub-secondary part)— meaning comfort, pleasing and liking of unstable and transitory nature, which results in displeasure and dislike without any reason. In mental and intellectual planes it is bhalobasa (second sub-secondary part) — meaning conditional love and liking, and sentimental and emotional feeling also with preference and favor. In spiritual sense (second sub part) — love is affection, affectionate regard, fondness, tenderness, compassion, kind and sympathetic feeling, lovingness etc. In both ordinary and spiritual senses it (love) is tainted and limited by desire for which it has a reactionary effect in mind and the senses. Hence, it is not all-perfect and divine.
‘In divine sense (first part) Love is Pure Prema which is fullness, oneness, unity and identity, hence universal and beyond. ….It is free from all kinds of demerits such as liking and disliking, preference, hatred etc. ….Hence, Love is all-embracing and all-accepting, without any exception.’ {Ref: Daiva and Purushakara (Destiny and Self-Effort), from page 107 third paragraph to page 108 end of first paragraph}.
The first part being all-encompassing and all-embracing, out of exuberance of Supreme Bliss, reveals Itself alone as the ‘relative attributes of life’, i.e. the second part. At the stage of the first part, there is no other level or part at all, as It is all-pervading and One without a second. Love of the first part only reveals in Perfect Souls and all other souls, traveling through the various levels of the second part in various lives, strive for such revelation.
Love of the second part and all its sub and secondary parts narrate the experience of love of such striving souls. Master has elaborated on love of the second part (as quoted here in before). Lowest grade of ordinary love is in the physical and sense planes (bhalolaga). Next grade of ordinary love is in the mental and intellectual planes (bhalobasa). The highest grade of love of the second part is spiritual love but this too has an element of desire embedded in it which makes it reactionary and limited. Gradations can only exist in reflection of love which is not pure Love or limitless Love (Love with capital ‘L’).
We must bear in mind that the above is the scientific analysis of the word ‘Love’ from the standpoint of Swanubhuti (Self-Conscious Awareness) of a Self-Realized Soul. It is not the theory, thesis or doctrine of a highly intellectual mind. Hence, it can only be accepted, not understood by mind-intellect-ego. Acceptance comes only from the ‘heart doctrine’ (an original coinage of the Master) and understanding comes from the ‘head doctrine’ (another original coinage of the Master).
Finally, the essay talks about which love…I leave it to the judgment of the readers.
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