THE SECRET OF DEATH
Author HH Shri Bhola Nathji
Translated into English by Priya Nath Mehta
Copyright Priya Nath Mehta
Published Book
----------------------------------------------------
WHAT IS DEATH
In pursuit of the Phantoms of Desire
I spent my life – Alas !
Not a single breath was spent
In the quest of Truth – Alas !
The mirror of my existence
Was shattered to pieces
On the Rock of Death – Alas!
Alas ! Alas ! Alas !
These words carry the sadness of the picture of life. Here there is a regret, a sorrow – the plaintive cry of man, who finds himself lost in uncertainty. The time of life passed away. Everything that was secured by man was temporary and his life appeared an aimless wandering into insignificance. Reality or Truth – if there was one – the real goal of human life eluded man and was lost from sight in the maze of the temporary world that surrounded him. And, then, suddenly, there was no time – the mirror of life fell and shattered to pieces on the Rock of Death.
If one can understand the real nature of anything one can save oneself from any harm that may come from it, and in addition derive real benefit from it. When one understands the real nature of fire one saves oneself from its destructive power, and learns to use it purposefully.
We have come into this world. It is now for us to discriminate between that which is useful and that which is harmful or useless. It is now for us to understand the real meaning of human life. And, if indeed, we can succeed in this, then we shall have found for ourselves the proper direction in the walks of life which shall then lead us to our real goal. And it was to reach that goal that we were born upon this earth.
Everywhere around us in the Universe two forces are constantly at work – the Creative Force and the Destructive Force. The day brings forth the sun, and the night takes the sun away; a new sky is born with the twinkling stars and the moon. And yet another day brings back the sun and washes away the sparkling night. Spring comes and brings the flowers with itself, but the cruel hands of Autumn snatch away their fragrance and beauty, and destroy them.
Birth gives a beginning to life, and Death puts an end to it. It is a Universal law. And there is a relationship between the Forces of Creation and the Forces of Destruction, for one cannot exist without the other. It is impossible for there to be Destruction unless there is Creation first. And these two forces, so opposed to one another, must exist side by side and continue their work of opposition. The forces, that bring forth the brilliance of the drops of dew on the petals of a rose, give place soon enough to the forces that scatter the petals of the rose into dust and change the brilliance of the dew-drops into the gloom of tears.
The line of separation between night and day is ever so indistinct. One appears to merge into the other. And yet how remote are the two from one another ! It is surprising, indeed, that of these two powers which appear so inextricably linked with one another, we love the first and despise the other.
And then, again, day and night follow each other so rapidly that there is no time delay in this change. The last rays of the setting sun mingle with the first moments of the approaching darkness. The joy of daylight takes on the mourning veil of dark night when the sun sinks into the West. What a wonderful
WHAT IS DEATH
I am like a Candle that melts away the existence of my life
And thou – the dawn, which lights up the heart;
I burn till thou come –
And dissolve into nothingness
When thou art here!
I am near thee and yet so far!
I lack now the strength of uniting with thee –
Nor do I have the courage to bear this separation
The world, as we see it today, had its beginning in something at some time. Whether that something was matter or energy, or an explosive combination of both in the shape of an enormous ball, is open to question. But it was there, and it had to be there, for surely the Universe could not have come from absolute nothingness.
The tree, with its various manifestations – the leaves, the flowers and the thorns – sprang forth from a seed. And though the differences between its various manifestations be large, there is the underlying unity of its origin.
The consciousness in man must have had some similar essence for its beginning. And even though we see this consciousness manifested in various shapes and forms and various planes, it must have had some beginning in some seed of its own.
The religions of the world proclaim that the creation of the Universe was an act of God – an accomplishment of His Will. In the beginning, it was He, and He alone. Who brought forth the Universe as a manifestation of His Existence. There was Some Power in the beginning, in which the Will to Create arose, and the “Brahmand” – the Universe – appeared. This is a Sanskrit word. It implies that the existence around us is some spheroid shape, like that of an egg, in which the power of some Supreme Being is manifested. “Ishavasyamidamsarvam” – all that which can be seen, all that which can be felt by the senses, all that which can be grasped by the mind, all that is in the Universe, the never-ending streams of matter, the millions of stars, moons, planets – everything is a manifestation of that Supreme Power. It is there that the Supreme “Brahm” resides.
This view maintains that the Universe is either a Creation – out of a single thought – of some Supreme Being, or else it is a manifestation of the existence of that Being, encompassing in its various shapes and forms the underlying Reality, which remains hidden like the seed. The flowers, the branches, the leaves, the bark of the tree, are all the manifestation of one seed in a like manner.
The Old Testament says: “In the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.” Before the creation of the Universe there was some voice, some thought, some wish, some desire, some order that pronounced the law of creation: “Let there be light.” The consequence of this was “..and there was light.”
No matter which view we try to accept, the scientific one with the ball of matter and energy and continuous creation, or the view of religion, we must come to the conclusion that in the beginning there was no Universe. And if there was no Universe, there were no shapes and forms, no sense of taste, smell, sight or sound. There was neither a void nor space, there was neither Death nor time. For if there is nothing to manifest space, absolute space by itself is not conceivable. And without a flow of events and accidents, absolute time is likewise meaningless, and could not have existed in the beginning. The concept, or idea of space and time, came about with the origin of Individual Consciousness, for it is impossible otherwise. There can be neither space nor time, unless they be related to observers with a sense of perception. And when there was no Universe, no world, none of these properties existed.
In the beginning, there was neither light nor darkness; there was neither the big nor the small; there was neither bondage nor independence; there was neither happiness nor sorrow; there was neither life nor Death. For all these things can be relative to only conscious beings who can perceive them, and who live in them.
But then, if we accept the view that in the beginning there was really nothing, then how can we accept the existence of everything out of nothing? From where, indeed, did all the things before us materialize? How can there be an effect without a cause? How can there be a result without an action? A clay vessel cannot be shaped without clay, and a bubble cannot be formed without water. There is one admitted fact before us, which religionists and atheists alike must accept – there is this Universe before us, which appears quite real, and we exist in it. We live in it, in our whirlwind of thoughts, emotions, designs, purposes, circulations, programmes, and desires. And our individual position is like that of a conscious centre which has around it an unbounded circle with an infinite circumference. Around us is this vastness, only a very small part of which we are beginning to understand. The rest is still a mystery.
We know that we exist. But what are we? Man does not know. What is the “self” of man? Is it real or unreal? Is it limited or unlimited? Is it, by itself, in a state of joy or sorrow? Or is it moved only by outside events, to be possessed by joy when agreeable things come its way, and to be drowned in sorrow when disagreeable things come its way? Indeed, it appears to have no real nature of its own, but is rather moved by the events around it – this self of man.
It moves on with the stream of time, which is carrying it away towards an end. And the journey brings with it smiles and tears, and then, one day, ends abruptly. Like a tear-drop one day, and like a dew-drop the next, such indeed is the existence of this self in the journey of life.
And what is that end, towards which man must go ultimately, passing through tears and laughter, till the last breath is driven out of him? That end is Death.
And just like man has no conception of what he was, and where he came from, and for what purpose, similarly, when he leaves the world, he knows not where he is going after Death; he knows not in what state he will exist afterwards; he has no knowledge of the dark paths he must tread where he shall be all alone, where no one shall be his companion, except fear. His entrance is like his exit – from ignorance, and into ignorance. While he is alive, there is some light to illuminate his paths but, once dead, he is in complete darkness. If, indeed, life is partial ignorance, then Death is complete ignorance. It is a part of the nature of man to live and die in this mystery.
How wonderful it would be if man could, during the few spans of existence he is provided with, understand the meaning of life. And also the meaning of Death, - or rather the Secret of Death. How is he to live in this world? How must he depart from it?
Man must make it his purpose to convert life into life, and Death, too, into life.
That person, who can convert Death into life, is truly immortal. He, that can change happiness to happiness, and sorrow, too, into happiness, can be said to have truly attained Eternal Bliss. Man must make haste and understand the Secret of Death, and hence the secret of life after Death, so that he can go through both the phases, accepting them as two forms of some one element.
The same time has two phases – the night and the day; and the same seed has two forms; one, its tiny sphericity, and the other, its manifold existence; the same life brings sleep and wakefulness as to phases of consciousness, as also life and Death.
These questions will be death with exhaustively in the pages that are to follow; however, for the present, let us come back to what the religions have to say about the world and its Creator. It is clearly written that, before this Universe came into being, there was some Supreme Reality which produced the “effect” of this Universe. And that Supreme Reality was not nothing. It was Something, which was capable of creating the Universe.
“The word was with God and the word was God”.
It was either His Free Will that created these various shapes and forms, space and time, or else it is He, Himself, appearing in the guise of the Universe.
It is written in the Mohammedan relig9ion that, in the beginning, before the birth of the Universe “Agazay Alam” there was Some Reality which said: “Kun!” i.e. “Exist” and forthwith the Universe came into existence: “Fayyakun”.
It is written in the Hindu religion that the Universe came into existence when some Supreme Reality called forth: “I am One, let there be many” and with this wish, the One Seed sprang forth as many manifestations. The One took on the shape of many: “Akohumbahusyam”.
It is written in the Sikh religion:
“Nirguna aap sarguna bhi ohi
Kaladhar jin sagli mohi.”
Which means, that all that is fine and solid, visible and invisible, is – HE HIMSELF.
Science sees in the creation an interplay of matter and energy and forces – gravitational, electromagnetic and nuclear. The same forces that are r4esponsible for the sunrise are also responsible for the sunset. These forces, interplaying amongst matter and energy, appear in the Universe in various shapes and forms.
In the beginning, according to science, there was only matter and energy. Either this was compressed into the shape of a huge ball which exploded, and produced the expanding Universe as it exists today, or else, the process of creation, the changing of energy into matter, and vice-versa, is a continuous process going on all the time.
Indeed, the stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, in regions of space too far to even observe are all the re4sult of this creation. The littler atoms produced forces amongst themselves and produced bigger particles, and these joined together to form clouds of gases, which roamed freely in space, until they condensed, like little droplets in a huge cloud, into stars, and galaxies of stars. Millions of millions of these light giving objects came into existence. And around these luminous objects planets moved in orbits, clutched tightly by the forces of gravitation.
Science visualizes a destruction. The expanding Universe expands until a certain limit, and then it contracts, falls back upon itself – back again into that huge ball of matter and energy – a destruction. And then creation begins all over again. Another explosion, another expansion. The stars of the sky grow from the gases around them, age, and explode or die out like burnt out coals. New stars are formed from the material of the older stars. There is death and decay in the Universe. There is creation and destruction.
And yet, scientists must begin with the assumption that in the beginning there was SOMETHING – matter or energy. It was there. As to who put it there, or where it came from – science has no answers. But, according to science, that Something produced the Everything that we see around us today. The Forces of Nature merely control the creation and destruction.
The same creative faculty that brings forth the flower and the thorn, the same agency that gave the stars their sparkle, gave the vast emptiness of space its darkness.
We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion that there was an Absolute – Material or Spiritual – Existence, which produced in itself a certain thought or movement or explosion; one of the fragments of this was our earth, like a tiny bubble in a vast ocean.
The forces of Nature are free to mingle amongst themselves and either create or destroy – the two phases being part of some one single scheme. Similarly Life and Death are the two phases of some one Eternal Scheme.
Life is the burning candle, and Death, the extinguished flame. No one knows if this burning candle fades out only to become one with the rays of the sun, after which there is neither a burning nor an extinguishing of its flame, so that it becomes a continuous light in which all shadows vanish.
And now let us turn to the question: Why is there Death in this world? And why is it so terrifying? And how can we save ourselves from it? Or how can we make it agreeable? It is the purpose of this book to place these answers before us.
Even if Death is inevitable, it can still be made agreeable, for, indeed, if one I die then one can choose to die a beautiful Death. Why must one leave the world in tears?
The existence of the bubble does reveal
The secret of its life –
It is, all at once, a tear, a pearl
And a drop of dew.
Life and Death are related to one another. And just like it becomes one’s goal to make life beautiful, similarly, it should be one’s goal to make Death, too, as beautiful as life.
Man does not enjoy his existence. For as long as he is alive, he is afraid of Death, and when Death comes, he wishes to live. In both these stages of existence he loses a sense of fulfillment, and, therefore, makes neither life nor Death beautiful.
The cause of sorrow is opposition. And opposition arises when what is before oneself is not full of beauty. We desire to live in this world because we see in it the beauty of the world as well as the beauty of certain objects and persons that attract and hold us. Death assumes a fearful aspect because in it we see the absence of these objects and persons which we wish to possess or hold on to. But if we can see in Death a means to reaching our nearest and dearest Loved One, then indeed Death will no longer be Death – instead it shall appear as a conveyance which speeds us to our goal. Its outer face may indeed appear fearsome but when its inner significance becomes full of beauty, the outer shape merges into this beauty and produces feeling of joy.
The clouds may be dark; the rolling of thunder frightening and awesome; the flashes of lightning may be numerous in the sky, but when they sprinkle the earth with cool, shiny drops of rain, then even the darkness of the clouds and their rumblings and lightning flashes assume a certain beauty.
The thorns may be sharp, abut when, after them, the flowers spring forth and give their fragrance, even they – the thorns – appear to possess a beauty of their own.
What is Death? The absence of life.
And what is life? The existence in which there is greater sorrow than happiness, more fear than peace.
All around us there are trials and tribulations. There is opposition to our wills. Our desires are left unfulfilled all the time; our designs are scattered to the winds; there is betrayal everywhere.
More often than not, we are deceived by appearances. And what is more – life itself is a deception. Childhood changes into youth, and youth changes into old age – and finally, life changes into Death. During life itself, health gives way to illness, and the joys of the world barely come before they give rise to sorrow. In everything one sees the colour of decay. No matter which branch this bird of our heart alights upon, that very same branch breaks and falls off. No matter what means are employed to safeguard and sustain the security of life – all things, all means, perish, all beauty turns into ugliness; everything trembles before the towering face of destruction and this mansion of joy crumbles.
The hunter has his eye on every branch –
Of this tree of life;
So that not one of these,
Shall become my home.
A little thought will convey the meaning of this verse across to us. Experience teaches us that there is a greater number of tears and sighs of sorrow in this world than the number of laughs of joy; there is a greater number of thorns than the number of flowers; there is a greater number of storms in the ocean than the number of pearls in its depths.
Extend your hand to pluck a beautiful flower from its stalk, and you are left holding a withering, dying object, which soon falls and perishes in the dust. That heart, which you had given to the beauty of the flower, then slips off its petals and receives a grievous hurt as it hits the ground. A temporary attraction becomes the cause of a long-lasting pain. And the voice of wisdom cries out:
If it is thy wish that thy heart be never broken;
Then let it never be ensnared in anything.
It is
Give not thy heart to this unstable world;
Remember thou only this.
A Painting of this world and life.
A train comes and stops at the station, and we get on. We meet some people in the compartment which we occupy. These become our dear relations. And when the train stops at another station some more people board the train, and these become the relatives that come after us. The train travels and then stops at another station. Those that were in the compartment before us, get off. And then as the train continues its journey and reaches another station, we finally get off, leaving behind in the compartment, those who came after us. This is the painting of life on the earth.
When we come into this world, we find before us our parents and other relations; and then come our children and grandchildren. With the lapse of time, our parents and elders leave us and depart from this world, and then after another lapse of time, we leave our children behind and depart from the world.
The little time that we have with us for the duration of our existence on this planet is lost in the daily pursuits of life, in the rat-race of materialistic existence. And then, when the end comes, we suddenly realize that which was of little significance during our lives, and missed that which was truly important.
The smiles of the rose are without fragrance,
And the songs of the nightingale end in silence –
Alas! Leaving this world, we carry with us
The tastelessness of this remembrance!
The joys of this world go, no sooner than they come, and leave behind sorrow. And when there appears to be no way out of this well of sorrow, which is the world, we are forced to pray And then there is no answer to our prayers either. What, then, did we accomplish in this world? Even the desire for joy brought forth sorrow. And joy itself, whenever it came, was surrounded by the fears of going away. And after it went away, a third and deeper sorrow was left in its wake.
The desire for happiness persisted in the heart, and happiness was never found. There was a perennial thirst which went unsatiated. When we came into this world we had tears in our eyes; and when we left this world the same tears accompanied us.
A handful of regrets, of blemishes,
That went with us – was all;
Why came we here – and for what ?
Were questions left unanswered,
As we did something else
And went away.
Was it life or was it a storm?
O heart, thou didst well,
That, leaving this life,
Thou didst accompany Death
And then went thy way.
Life was like a bubble trembling;
A knot tied in water by the air,
A little game, a little play –
And that was all.
When the ugly face of sorrow raised its head, and no escape was found, and when the principles of “eat, drink and be merry” failed to provide relief, then Death came into the picture and appeared to say:
“O Man, you had forgotten my existence, for verily you hated the very thought of me. But I am not entirely without significance. It is true that I present a face that is altogether fierce and frightening. But to understand me is to know my secret, which reveals only a face of joy; which awakens everyone from a sleep of confusion; which dispels the fears of this world; which wipes away these tears of sorrow, that had been flowing down to this day, and which effaces all memories of the unfaithfulness and ingratitude of this world, giving you a final release from it all. The sinking of the sun of your life is not an end, but rather is beginning, which brings you to that resting place where the turmoils of the world cease to exist. The flower of your existence has not withered away, it has been taken to a place more secure, where the beaks of birds cannot harm it, nor the gardener place it under an obligation.”
Death says:
“I am not fearsome. It is this world which is frightful, where you were living once, and where you wept tears of sorrow, where you spent your life in a hundred sorrows in the quest of one single joy; where you suffered yourself to be pricked by a thousand thorns to get at a single flower; where you were drowned by a thousand tempests for the sake of one little pearl, which escaped you, or else was swept away from your hand by the waves of the storm. I am not without significance. I am full of meaning. The very same Creator who made life, also made me. He that created this flame of life also created me to extinguish it, to set it free of the pain of burning contained in its fire. Its light was false, a deception. Behind this display of brilliance was a fierce burning, which tormented the flame of life.”
When it is realized that the flitter of joy in life is a falsehood and that the objects of the world have no intrinsic worth, then the thought of Death ceases to be so frightening. In other words, Death is not a release from this world, but rather a release from the sorrows of this world. Death, then, becomes a release from sorrow., and such a Death comes like the coming of sleep, putting to sleep, by force, those who have become tired and weary of the toils of the day. Such a sleep cannot be called fearsome, for, indeed, it is the means to attain rest.
The same things in life can be looked upon in a variety of different ways. The same slope can be called an “ascent” when viewed from the bottom, and a “descent” when viewed from the top. The same fire can give warmth and comfort, and can cause pain by burning. The same ocean which can drown us, also serves to carry ships across its surface.
Life and Death can be looked upon similarly. No matter what else it may or may not bring, one thing is certain – Death brings a release from sorrow, or rather it puts an end to sorrow. It brings forth the hope of fresh dreams which are not beset upon by the restlessness that pervades the world of the living. What else is Death? The last moment of life.
The end is a forerunner of the new life that is to come. Death is that final destination which is like home to a weary traveler on the train of life. If, indeed, man can visualize in Death the beginning of a new and beautiful existence, in a new and beautiful world, if he can think of Death as that place from which he came into the world, if he can think of Death as a Rest coming after a long and tiresome journey, or that sleep which drowns the dreadful dreams of this world – then, indeed, he can be set free of the fear of Death.
Death is that intoxication which frees man from his “I”; Death is that sense o oblivion where man forgets his self – his “My” and his “Mine” ; he forgets where he came from and where he has to go. And amidst the joy of this intoxication, Death says to him who is dying:
“Be not afraid at thy breaking out of this shell of thine body:
Thou wert like an emperor who cast aside
The burden of this, thy body –
For it is against the nature of emperors
To endure burdensome things.
Thou hast drunk the wine of thy body
And cast aside the empty cup in intoxication –
The cup has dashed to pieces on a rock
And thou art no more revealed.”
Then what is Death? What does it signify to one filled with wisdom? Death is the breaking of this shell of outer existence, the shattering of this empty cup of wine in a state of intoxication; death is the flight of the bird of the spirit to regions laden with fragrance, away from the furnace of this world. Final and complete peace does not imply total extinction. Death is not complete annihilation. Rather, peace and rest are other names for Death. Death is that last point on the circumference of the circle of life, which meets with the first point from where the circle began.
Without Death, life is incomplet6e. If a man goes on walking and continues thus, forever, then it implies that he is always far from his destination. Rest is the final phase of activity. Death is the final phase of life, or another phase of life. Sleep is another phase of wakefulness; sitting down is another phase of standing up. There is peace in this rest, in this inactivity. This is the going away of the actor from the stage, to a place behind the curtain, after finishing his part in the drama. Those who watch the stage only, think of the actor as having ceased to exist, because their sight cannot pierce the curtain behind. But, in truth, he has disappeared from the stage only to rest.
The audience has three things before it :
(1) The actor (2) The stage (3) The curtain.
The audience perceives what is going on the stage. But what is behind the curtain is not known. Is there someone behind it or just a vacancy? He, who went behind the curtain, - is he there, or has he disappeared? If he exists, then in what form does he exist? In what dress, in what costume does he live on behind the curtain? What is he doing? Nobody knows. There is no answer. The actor finished his part on the stage, divested himself of his stage personality, and then disappeared from sight, behind the curtain.
This is the face of life on earth. Those who live, perform their daily duties, and then one day pass away to unknown regions behind a curtain of mystery. After they are gone, they are nowhere to be found, and one knows nothing of what they are doing. A curtain of mystery, of ignorance, hangs over their disappearance, and that is all. And what comes after that is an unanswered question. Nobody knows of a certainty.
What is Death? That which shatters the dreams of life. A powerful shock that brings down the raised head of pride. It extinguishes the brilliant flame of conscious existence. A deep intoxication, an unconsciousness that robs the ego of its own self. A painful sting, a dreadful, agonizing, fearful experience. A dark path never trodden upon by human reason. A narrow road where one must walk alone, and where two can never walk together. A new experience which makes one determined never to come back again to the soil of this small planet. A dreamless dream. A unique state – inexpressible and unapproachable by human reason alone. A terror much more terrorizing than all the terrors of this world put together. A great riddle. An enigma, which has remained unsolved up to this time, and shall remain unsolved for all time to come.
Death is that instrument which can shatter to bits the well-planned designs of man. It is that darkness which contains neither the sun nor the moon and the stars. One must walk on this path all alone. The friends, acquaintances and loved ones on this earth cannot act as consoling companions. Death is that pain which is more terrible than any other. Death is that question to which intelligence alone can find no answer. It exists and at the same time it does not exist.
It exists because all are afraid of it. Every sphere of life has its light surrounded by the darkness of Death. Thousands have come into this world and thousands have gone. Over the ages the total number of people who have died far outweighs the number that are alive today. From the time the earth was created, there has been Death in it. Whenever it has been inhabited by the living, there has been Death, which has taken them away. The entire picture of the past is one of Death. Not only the living, but the dead objects of the world, too, have passed away with the streams of time. The future became the present, and the present turned into the past. Life exists neither in the past noir in the future. Similarly, this world before our eyes exists neither in the past nor in the future. And that span of time which we call the “present” is of a very short duration. As a matter of fact the present is of so short a duration that it is even less than a fraction of a second. And it is in that tiny fraction of time that we exist. We cannot collect time and possess it for our own. The past has slipped out of our hands and the future has not yet come. And, then, look again at this tiny fraction of the present before you – what does it have before and after it? The past, as revealed by history, is vast, and contains within itself numerous, countless people, who were, and are now no more. And of those that are before us there are many who are about to leave. Great is the name of Death. Whoever has seen Death, has seen it in others only, or has heard about I from those who have seen it in others. No one has ever seen Death in himself. In what form did Death come upon others? What kind of a spectre did it present? What was its real face like? No one, who is alive, can tell you this.
The night is dark, the waves threatening
And the whirlpools surround us,
What know they of our misery, -
Those who stand on the shore?
What the dying endure, or what the dead have endured, only they know. The living cannot describe their state.
Seeing them in fear and anxiety, we feel that same fear and anxiety ourselves, but know nothing about the true state in which they exist at the time of Death. That Death, which came to others, was seen by us but not felt by us and we knew nothing about it; and for as long as the “I” exists in us we do not feel Death. Hence Death exists and it exists not, at the same time.
There are two states in which Death is not revealed; (1) When it is not present (2) When it comes, and he, on whom it comes, ceases to exist. It is a strange thing, indeed, that the fear or Death exists before it comes but after it has come and gone, the fear of Death, as well as Death, itself, cease to exist. There is then neither Death nor the fear of Death.
One must not be afraid of Death on two occasions: (1) When it must come (2) When it is not going to come.
If it has not to come, then why must one worry over it? And if it has come, then it cannot be avoided, and fear is of no help. Instead, some easy way must be sought for the new phase that Death brings. In truth, Death cannot destroy the real self of man – his soul. His real “I” is indestructible. For if this real self – this “I” is annihilated, then Death cannot be felt by man. One cannot see one’s own annihilation.
When no one has ever seen the destruction of his own soul, then how can it be said that the soul is destructible?
No one has ever seen his own destruction up to this day. Up to the time one has not perceived destruction or Death, it (Death) is not before him. And if one can actually see one’s own destruction or annihilation, then one cannot be said to be destroyed. If one had perished how could one have perceived one’s own annihilation? If one is perceiving one’s own destruction, then it can only mean that he is imperishable.
To speak of the destruction of the soul is a strange kind of reasoning, for the soul is not composed of a material substance which is perishable. The soul contains within itself a desire to attain immortality and that desire binds it directly to the immortality which it seeks.
The desire: “I shall not die, I shall exist forever”, is a clear proof of the immortality of the soul. Another proof of the permanence of the human soul rests in the fact that it perceives the world around it in the wakeful state, and then, later, when the body is asleep, the soul lives on in dreams; and even in that state of sound sleep where there are no dreams or images of any sort, the soul exists – for upon awakening, the first thoughts that enter the mind are those of having slept soundly. The soul appears to say that it was there all the time, and that it existed while the body slept; after awakening, it is conscious of the sound sleep.
And beyond these states there exists a state where a man is awake and self-conscious but does not appear to have a feeling for the material world around him. In the first state, where the soul exists within the body and calls the body its “I” and where it associates itself with the outer world through the medium of the body, it feels the forces of matter acting upon the body, and hence upon itself. It sees within itself the growth and decay of the body, the illnesses and the maladies and the associated recovery; it sees within itself the good and the bad. It is like a mirror which perceives the reflection inside it as belonging to itself.
When a man comes into this world, he comes as a child. There is some conscious factor within him which produces hunger, thirst, and other feelings of the body. But the feeling of “I am” does not exist within him. The child is within a body but is not conscious of it. He knows nothing of the vast Universe which exists around him. In this state of absolute ignorance, the world revolves around him. After the lapse of some time, he begins to recognize around him his mother and father, his brothers and sisters and other relations, and he tries to identify each of them with the proper relationship and the proper words which he can utter at that time. Seeing this vast conglomeration of objects and people around him, he begins to love some of them while he hates others. That “I” of the child, which was entirely without any reflection of any sort, is then filled with a multitude of faces. But this myriad of reflections of the world is distinct from his real “I”; it does not exist there. It is like a reflection in a mirror.
The qualities of the body are reflected in the mirror of the soul, and the body and soul appear to be one. This is because the soul and the body become so closely related that they appear to merge into one, though in reality they are distinct from one another. Fire can exist within an iron rod as heat, but the iron rod cannot be called fire. For as long as fire is within the rod as heat, it can be felt as warmth, but when it has departed, there is only the cold iron.
The beginning and the end of many phases of existence appear similar. Before a man begins walking, he stands and after he has finished walking, he halts and stands again. A circle ends where it begins. A man is silent before he speaks, and becomes silent again after speaking. Similarly, man’s coming into this world and his taking leave from it are identical. When he is a child, the world is around him but he knows nothing about it:
I work and I work not,
I add, substract, multiply and divide,
Like the lines between figures,
I talk and I am silent –
Like the printed words of a book.
A torrent of tears flows down my cheeks,
And yet my lips are dry;
Ah – what a strange fascination this,
Drenched with water, I am thirsty.
I am happy and I am sad,
But I know not of my condition;
I weep, and I laugh –
Like a child in a dream.
O philosopher of this world,
Why askest thou me the secret
Of my nearness to Him?
He is in me, and I in Him
Like the fragrance in a rose,
O burn all these pictures in the fire
And light the candle of His Union;
When these pictures are removed,
Thou shalt see the artist clearly.
When all thoughts, which have their relationship with the material things of this world, cease to exist, then the soul sees within itself its own reality, free of matter. The myriad of reflections disappears from the mirror and it is left all alone with its inner purity. The curtain posed by these reflections had prevented the mirror from observing its own smooth and pure inner surface. And when this curtain is removed, the full proof of the immortality of the soul appears before man. This state is like the state of the child when he is first born and there is no reflection of the world within him.
The child exists in the world outside him, through there is none within him. When man sinks within himself and attains a state of super-conscious ness, then the soul finds itself face to face with its own reality. Within it, there is neither cause nor effect, neither space nor time. In that state, the soul looks upon itself.
The immortality of the soul cannot be understood by means of reason alone. For as long as the soul is inside the body, it exists within, and after it has left this shell, the senses cannot grasp it, and hence the nature of the soul, independent of the body, cannot be understood by the body alone.
However, Self-Realization is one path to understanding the soul. What is Self-Realization?
Self-Realization is that state where “non-self” is absent. And, then again, what is “non-self”? That thing which we can perceive outside of ourselves, that, which is separate from us.
The entire world is outside of us, separate from our real selves, and exists in various shapes and forms, and, by virtue of this separation, we can look upon it – and it is there that we see the picture of destruction, for it is there that destruction exists, not within us. We are the observers who view the death and decay of the world around us. Death and destruction exist in the outside world, not in the observer who perceives them. The state of wakefulness brings forth the outer world, and the state of sleep takes it away. Then there is a world of dreams. And then comes sound sleep in which even dreams cease to exist. The world of the wakeful state does not exist in the dream world, and the world of the dreams does not exist in the world of the wakeful state. And both these worlds cease to exist in the state of sound sleep. But that, which passes through each of these states, exists all the time, and it is separate from all these states. This subjective element is separate from the objective world. It is this subjective element which knows of the existence or non-existence of various worlds, of the creation and destruction of various worlds. And if the subjective element is to be destroyed, there is nothing which can perceive its destruction.
The self, or soul of man, is immortal because it is this which perceives the mortal world around it and understands the changes that take place in it, while it remains changeless itself. It is only a state of relative rest that can make one conscious of a state of relative motion. If two objects move at the same speed and in the dame direction, then they will appear at rest relative to one anothe4r. It is rest which makes one conscious of motion. Childhood changes to youth, and youth changes to old age, and old age gives place to Death. In the physical world around us everything is in a state of constant change. But there is something inside this body some “I” which seems to say: “I am a child”, “I am young”, “I am old”, “I was not, one day, and I shall not be in the future”, “I am awake”, “I am asleep”, “I am in deep sleep”, “I am sunk in a state of meditation”, “I was ignorant yesterday and am enlightened today”, etc, etc.
In all these statements there are two things: (1) The “I” (2) And some condition attached to this “I”. In all these things there is change everywhere and all the time, except in the “I” which acknowledges and perceives these changes, and remains unchanged itself. It is the same “I” which was a child yesterday and a grown up today; it is the same “I” which was ignorant yesterday and wise today; which was ill yesterday and well today. It I the same “I” which knows of all these things and is yet separate from all of them.
There is a flower in your hand, and you can perceive this flower. This clearly means that the flower is separate from you and that “you” are not the flower. You are looking upon your body, and this implies that “you” are not your body. You look upon the actions born of intelligence, hence “you” are not intelligence either. You think of something and then you say that thought is yours. “You” are not that thought. It is your mind. “You” are not the mind, for you perceive its existence and its thoughts. Therefore, “you” are that which perceives all these things, and are separate from them. “You” are separate from the body, the mind, and the heart, and all other things of the world around you, and hence you are outside the circle of the material creations of Nature.
There are two things that exist. One is matter, and the other is that which perceives or observes this matter. And these easily give place to three attributes: - the knower, the Knowledge, and the Known. The Knower is he who perceives, and the knowledge defines his sense of perception, and the Known is that which is perceived.
That which is perceived consists of sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell – perceptions of the five senses. And these five things exist in matter. And when the mind thinks, it can form ideas about all of them in some form or the other. And reason revolves around in the vicious circle of the world; enmeshed in its gains and losses.
And there calls forth the voice of wisdom;
Art thou still lost in the thoughts
Of gaining and losing the world?
The material world is changeable and all the gains and losses in it are subject to change. But the Knower of the known world is that “I”. The existence of the “I” is beyond the material plane. It is a spiritual existence. That, which is not material, must be defined as spiritual. We are, therefore, led to the conclusion that on the one hand there is matter and on the other hand there is the spirit. That, which is of matter, is not of the spirit, and that which is of the spirit is not of matter. The Knower is not the Known, and the Known is not the Knower. Therefore, the question, whether the soul is mortal or immortal, becomes solved of itself. For the soul falls within the sphere of the existence of that which is unchangeable, and which perceives all that is changeable but remains unchanged itself. And that which is unchangeable must be immortal.
What is destruction? The change which brings extinction. The disappearance of the bubble in the waves; and the disappearance of the waves in the ocean. In other words, change is another name for destruction. And change exists in that which is known, not in the knower. It exists in the objective world, and not in the subjective element.
“I” shall not cease to be
With the disappearance of the body;
The intoxication of the wine
Is different from the cup.
If the body dies, it does not mean that the soul, too, has died. If you are observing the reflection of your face in a mirror, then, upon overturning the mirror, the reflection will disappear; but that will not imply that your face, too, has disappeared. The intoxication is in the wine, and the wine is in the cup. If the cup were to break, that would not mean that the intoxication in the wine, too, would be gone.
The sun shines down upon the water in an open vessel, and causes bubbles to rise on the surface of the water; it heats up the water and produces convection in its parts, it causes evaporation. An observer, who is not aware of the heating effects of the rays of the sun, will see the reflection of light in the vessel and observe the motion o little bubbles, and assume that this stirring of the water, this reflection and shine, belong to the water, and are created by the water itself. He will ignore the external agency responsible for the phenomenon. Others will assume that it is the shine of the water which is responsible for its agitation. For it is the shine on its surface and the heat associated with this shine which appear to produce the constant motion of the little molecules of water.. And the bubbles in it rise and fall, thus shaking and distorting the shine on its surface.
But the one origin of this entire phenomenon is the sun, which sits outside as a silent spectator, watching the reflection of its rays on the surface and the rise and fall of bubbles. The reflection shakes and is distorted, but the sun is immoveable relative to these agitations, and is not in a state of agitation itself, nor is it dimmed with the dimming of the shine on the surface of the water. It remains in whatever state it is. It is like something Immortal, something Eternal which is unchanging.
But man, as a child, sees his own reflection in a mirror for the first time, and then fears he has disappeared, when the mirror breaks. His face is with him, but the proof of its existence is not with him. Until the time he can convince himself, after repeated observations of his own reflection, that he is outside of the mirror, and that his face is exactly like the one shown in the mirror, he will always be filled with the thought that any overturning of the mirror causes him to disappear. He looks around himself to seek his own face, but cannot find it there, nor indeed anywhere; he looks behind the mirror and cannot find himself even there; and he cannot see his own face himself.
It is strange, indeed. That, not finding himself outside of the mirror in the world around him, and not finding himself in the overturned mirror, he cries out: “I have ceased to exist”, “I am annihilated”, “I am dead”, “If I am, then where am I?”
Existing, he cannot find a proof of his own existence. But then, is it not strange that the very denial of his existence is a very great proof of it? If, indeed, he had ceased to exist, then who was that “I” which proclaimed as much?
Thou art Absolute Existence itself,
How can I deny thee?
My very denial is a proof
Of Thy existence/
It is the reflection of the sun, - which stands aloof and apart in all its glory, Immortal and Great, - which is revealed in water. The eddies and currents, the bubbles and the shine and the heat and the warmth, all belong to the sun. These appearances in water are, in fact, quite separate from the real substance of the sun itself. True, the sun does produce the activity in the water, but is otherwise distant and different from the water. There is no direct relationship between the two. It is the radiation from the sun which gives life to the water below, and produces a multitude of phenomenon in it. But with the coming of evening, with the rotation of the earth, the reflection of the sun in the water is gone, along with its radiation. The sun has not moved away. It is the earth which has rotated and which has removed the reflection of the sun from the water.
Death is that which comes to the body. And life is that consciousness which exists in the body, and which is the reflection of the soul. This reflection of the soul in matter is like the reflection of the sun in water. It gives heat to matter, and brings it to life. It produces a myriad of activities within matter – the bodily functions, energies, intelligence and life, the vital forces necessary for existence. It brings forth the thought of “I”. And when, for some reason or the other, the outer machinery of the body ceases to function, the false self, the false “I” of the body ceases to exist. But that does not imply the extinction of the soul itself. For, the soul, which is the real Knower, is separate from the perishable matter, always. It is not affected by destructive or constructive forces. The “I” of the reflection ceases to exist when the mirror breaks, but the REAL “I” of the observer, who is outside of the mirror, remains. Even though he cannot be seen in the broken mirror, he exists, the real “I” exists, and no sooner is a second mirror brought forward when his reflection reveals him once again. If there were no observer, no viewer, no face, then how could there be a reflection in the mirror? And how could he reappear as a second reflection in a second mirror?
If a man were to stop speaking, it would not imply that he had ceased to exist. His voice, undoubtedly, would have ceased. But he would be there, whether he were speaking or silent. The sound of his voice or the absence of it, does not imply his existence or non-existence respectively. The same person may be speaking or producing no sound. His existence would remain a separate individual entity, different form his voice. Regardless of whether he spoke or remained silent, his existence would stand out as separate and indisputable. Yes, the voice may give place to silence, but its very existence in the first place proves the existence of the speaker. Thus the speaker can exist even in silence, though he cannot be heard or even seen. The state of sound and that of silence are two faces of some one existence.
Similarly, life and Death are the two faces of some one existence.
What is life?
Life is the relationship of the soul, the connection, the attachment of the soul to the body, heart, mind and senses. The presence of the soul allows each and every sense of perception of the body to function in its proper role. The eyes see, the ears listen, the tongue tastes, and the sense of touch feels the coarseness and roughness, the coldness and the warmth of the things around the body. The mind thinks, and reason ponders. And the life-sustaining vital forces, invisible like the air, make this machinery function.
Human beings think of the functioning of this machinery as “life”. The “I” of this body, which proclaims “I exist”, is actually a reflection of the ‘REAL I’. No sooner does one fall asleep, when this “I” of the body ceases to exist. But one does not die in this state, even though one is not aware of one’s own body. Being inside the very body with which it associated itself in the wakeful state, the “I” of the body is unaware of it in sleep. For no sleeping person is aware of his own existence.
And with the going away of this “I” of the body, the thoughts of “mine” and “who am I?” disappear. But the body still lives on, and, after a while, when it awakens, the “I” of the body reappears and asserts its existence: “I exist. This is my world.”
This clearly shows us that the reality of the “I” does not exist at the time of birth, andat the time of Death. Not does it exist in that state of meditation where it merges itself into the REAL “I” of the soul. The thoughts of living and dying are associated only with this false “I” of the body.
As a matter of fact, e4ven this false “I” does not experience Death, or rather, Death does not exist in the false “I”, which appears in the wakeful state and disappears in sleep.
For as long as the thought “I exist” is before man, he is alive; and when he says “I am dying”, he is still alive. “I am dead” is an impossible statement and an impossible thought for the body. The false “I” of the body can never say “I am dead”. Therefore, there is no Death even for the false “I”. And if there is no Death for the false “I”, then how can one think of Death for the REAL ‘I’ of which the false “I” is just a reflection? The REAL ‘I’ which gave place to the false “I” cannot experience Death. The fact that the REAL ‘I’ of the soul is invisible, does not mean that it does not exist.
It was with thee that I saw everything – O Sight !
Thou wert ever hidden, though in my very eyes !
This argument shall cause all doubts about the existence of the soul to vanish. We see everything with our eyes, but cannot see those very same eyes directly. For surely the eye cannot leave its position to see itself from outside. Then how can the eye see itself? Then again, if the eye cannot see anything at all, even outside of itself, how can we prove its existence? In both these phases, therefore: firstly, when the eye cannot see itself directly, and secondly, when it cannot see anything in the external world, we cannot conclude that the eye does not exist. It is true that the eye cannot prove its own existence by seeing itself, for this it cannot do; and it is also true that the eye cannot prove its own existence when there is nothing but darkness around it, or when it is shut and cannot see anything. Does this mean that we cannot prove the existence of the eye? Yes, by all means yes, we can. The existence of the eye is proved in each and every object which it sees and gives a reality to. The reality of the external objects then becomes a proof of the reality of the eye. That very eye, which cannot prove its own existence, establishes the existence of every object around itself. But the fact that it cannot prove its own existence directly does not mean that it does not exist. For it is there, and it establishes the existence of all other objects around it. The other objects around it cannot see the eye, for it is not their function to see. Only the eye can see, and it cannot see itself!
Then how is the problem to be solved?
There is no necessity for a proof. The existence of the eye is establishing itself, all by itself. One cannot see the sun by lighting a candle. The light of the sun is sufficient to reveal the sun. And that light, which comes from the sun, does not do so only to establish the existence of the sun or to reveal the sun, rather, it is there quite naturally.
The existence of the eye, or rather, the existence of sight, is revealed in the objects which are around it. The proof of the existence of the eye is found in the flower, and in the thorn; it is found in the world and in the stars and the moon and the sun.
Similarly, the soul cannot prove itself, nor can any other thing prove its existence. How to know the Knower?
No one can perceive himself by separating himself from his own self, nor can any other thing, which is in the category of the “known”, perceive the perceiver. But the perceiver knows of all things; he knows of that which exists, and that which exists not. The perceiver knows of the beginning of life and also of its end, and he also knows of that which lies between existence and non-existence; he knows of the past and the present and the future; he knows of the flow of time, of the future becoming the present and the present turning into the past; he knows of the history that is gone and of the history that is yet to be made; he knows of the present, past, and the future, at one and the same time.
But who is he, the Perceiver? He knows not. And yet all these things are the indisputable proof of that REAL ‘I’.
That REAL ‘I’ which exists in life, also exists in Death, just like the person who exists in the wakeful state as well as in sleep.
Consider the case of a man operating a machine. If the machine were to break down and cease to work, it would not imply that the man operating the machine had died, even though the silence of the machine might suggest that. And if it were true that the machine was running by itself and breaking down by itself, then, indeed, who would perceive its running and breaking down? If there were no perceiver, then the existence of the machine would not stand all by itself. If, however, there is a perceiver, then he must be an imperishable one, - one who is aware of the running and breaking down of the machine, one who is running the machine and one ho exists even after the machine has stopped. The existence of the machine cannot be proved, independent of the perceiver, for, after all, it is the perceiver in whose awareness and perception the machine exists.
There are two kinds of Creative Laws which are believed by the world at large. The first deals with some Intelligent Creative Force in the beginning, which was responsible for the creation of the Universe; and the second deals with energy and matter in a state of explosion, producing the world and the Universe as we know it today.
The first Law is that which recognized Life to be Matter i.e., “Life is Matter”. The second Law says: “Matter is Life”. There is no great difference between the two, because the Universe has come into being and is before us. The only question is: how was it created? Was matter created from life, or was life created from matter?
If there is an effect, there must be a cause. And that cause, which appears most suitable, shall give the greatest satisfaction. To know this we must use intelligence. Philosophy is going in that direction. Ideas are being formulated in search of that cause.
A certain man asked me: “Why did God create this world?”
I replied: “He, Who created the world will only know why He created it, what can another tell you? It would have been far better had you put this question to God Himself.”
But, in order to reach God, one must first leave the world. In order to reach the lighted room, one must first step out of the dark room. Upon reaching God, after leaving this world, one shall hear this question from the mouth of God:
“Why have you come to me?”
The question will be posed before Him: “Why did you create the world?”
And He shall reply: “The world does not exist here. Why do you ask such a question? Here there is only ME.’
For as long as man is entangled in the EFFECT, he cannot know of the CAUSE, and when he knows of the CAUSE, the EFFECT disappears. What a great wonder is this!
For as long as man is searching for the cause of the world within the world itself, he is entangled in the world and the caused eludes him. And when he rises to a higher level, above himself, the search, as well as the question, disappear. Therefore, has it been said by some, about this strange question, which eludes a solution, that the question be eliminated altogether:
Speak of the musician and the wine
Seek not the secret of this world;
For no one has ever been able to find it,
And no one shall ever solve this problem.
God cannot be found in thy arguments, o Philosopher!
The knots in thy string can be unraveled only
When thou hast found the ends;
It is no easy game this – the search for God.
When thou canst not find even thyself
Within the four walls of thy body.
Sought it to reach the depths of the ocean,
That little drop of water;
But of a sudden did the waves drown it
And it was lost and gone
Who can it gain, who can it lose,
When it, itself, is no more?
Who can it tell, and to whom explain,
The mystery of its disappearance?
When the individual consciousness of man went out in search of God Consciousness, it was like darkness going out in search of light, or like the unlit candle going out in search of the fire. Darkness trod upon the dark paths, and the moment light appeared in front, it vanished. The unlit candle went along in the dark, keeping itself intact, but the moment it came before the fire it melted away into nothingness.
Love and the accompanying search, always go together. When Love went out in search of Beauty, it did so with the feeling of its “I”, which proclaimed that it would seek out Beauty and, after seeing it, return and speak of its unmatched splendour before all. But one of the greatest of wonders is: -
When Thou didst appear before me,
I was lost in Thee;
Such, indeed, was the strength
Of thy beauty!
When “I” am there, then “Thou: art not,
And when “Thou” art near, “I” disappear.
The lane of love is a very narrow one, it cannot contain two at the same time. When the lover beholds the beloved, he loses himself, and when he looks only at himself, he loses the beloved.
The fowl of the air know that they cannot fly beyond t `he reaches of the sky, but even then they try to reach higher and higher. Similarly, even though philosophy cannot reach the limits of the Absolute existence it seeks, still its attempts at understanding it are not altogether futile.
HOW THE UNIVERSE WAS CREATED
Did some Intelligent Force create dead matter, or did dead matter create an Intelligent Force? Was the Universe created in the single thought of some Beginningless Divine Being or was it an outcome of an explosion of matter and energy, which ultimately assumed the shape we wee today?
Of these two views, the first seems more plausible. This is so, because it appears that any Creative Force must be endowed with Creative Knowledge. And the presence of Knowledge implies Consciousness. Without creative knowledge, the Universe could have been irregular. There is a chair before you. The formation and structure of the chair make it clear that it has been designed for some purpose which existed in the mind of the creative force which produced it. And the purpose pf the chair is to allow people to sit upon it, and to give them rest. The chair and its formation are lifeless. The chair does not exist on the basis of its own knowledge about itself. It is totally unaware of its own existence. And this must be so, for the awareness of exist4ence can only dawn upon a thing when it is endowed with knowledge about itself. The difference between a living body and a dead body is that the living body is aware of itself, while the dead body is not aware of itself. And whilst the body is living, it knows about itself and uses its living instruments effectively.
This shows very clearly that life can guide matter, but matter cannot guide itself.
If, that, which existed before Creation, was lifeless, then how could the faculty for creating having arisen in it? And if there was a sudden explosion in the beginning, that explosion must have been at some particular time. Why was there no explosion before that time, and no explosion after it? What is the answer to this question? How did things come to have the shape they have today because of that explosion? Why did not things take a different shape? Why did not the chain of events proceed differently? The laws of the Universe follow a definite regularity; for every effect there is a cause in the world around us. For the eyes there is light; for the ears there is sound; for the tongue there is taste; for the nose there are things to smell; for the sense of touch there are things to touch – there is coarseness and softness, heat and cold; for hunger there is food, for thirst there is water; for the brain there are things to ponder upon; the sun rises and sets on time; for the toothless child there is the milk of the mother, (and with the coming of the child’s teeth, the mother’s milk dries up). There is the instinctive love of the mother which sustains the child. There is an instinct of self-preservation in all living things; there is a natural hatred for sorrow and a natural love for joy, there is a fear of Death and a desire for life – and that, too, for a life which does not end; a desire for a happiness which is everlasting; a quest for that knowledge which reveals all the mysteries of the Universe.
There is some PURPOSE in this scheme of things. This scheme indicates that all that has come into being is correctly placed and formed. And CONSCIOUSNESS has been provided to understand that which has been created, to visualize the portrait of the Universe. It is that very consciousness which admires the beauty of the flower and fears the ugliness of the thorn. If there were no consciousness, no life, then there would have been no awareness at all of all that existed and all that exists.
Consider for a moment this vast Universe around us. There are millions of stars and galaxies. What are they to themselves? They are not aware of their own existence. They are not aware of the existence of anything else either. If seen from their own frames of reference, they do not even exist, in terms of the consciousness of such an existence. And then, again, there are millions and millions of worlds in the Universe of which Science has no knowledge as yet. What are these to themselves? They have no consciousness of their own existence either. Why do they exist? Or do they exist at all? Who can tell?
All this goes to show that we are surrounded by an Infinite Universe which has no consciousness of its own existence. The existence – or non-existence – is established only in those regions where there is consciousness or life. The ultimate in existence appears to be Human Life, which appears in an incomplete form in the world, and seeks to reach completion.
When the eyes of man open to the vast Universe around him, they see a multitude of questions appearing before them:
1. What is that, which exists?
2. From Where did it come?
3. And what is the meaning of it all?
These questions exhibit ignorance, and seek knowledge. There is a mixture of ignorance and Knowledge. Consciousness appears as the final stage of matter; it proves the existence of matter, and seeks an understanding of its mysteries.
If this tiny spark of consciousness did not exist, in what, indeed, would the Universe exist? In what would the stars and the moons exist? In what would the rivers and the oceans exist?
What is this Universe? From where did it come? Who created it? How was it created? Who would ask all these questions if there were not this tiny spark of consciousness? There would be no questions, and no answers. There would be no existence and no non-existence. This tiny spark of consciousness – this is everything. It is priceless. It is immortal. It appears mortal only when attached to the frame of the body. Death is not the annihilation of life; it is the existence of life in a state of silence, in quiescence.
We note that a circle ends only where it begins. The last stage of a seed is identical to its first stage. In a like manner, if the final stage of evolution has brought forth consciousness, then its initial stage must have had consciousness. It was not a sudden explosion, but rather a well-planned design, which could have been produced only by consciousness.
The question will arise: “If God created the Universe, then who created God?”
Instead of answering this question, one can pose a separate question: “If God did not create this Universe, then who created it?”
And if the reply be: “The Universe created itself, it was, it is, and it shall be.”
Then what is the harm in stating:
“God was, He is, and He shall be”?
If the Universe can exist all by itself, then why cannot God exist all by Himself? If matter, which is devoid of all consciousness and intelligence, can produce a Universe where there is consciousness and intelligence, then why cannot a Divine Being, full of consciousness and intelligence, produce the same? If we can believe in matter accomplishing such a feat, why cannot we believe in God accomplishing the same feat?
If both these questions cannot be fully solved, and there are two separate answers which are equally difficult, then it would appear more sensible to accept the solution which points to an Intelligent Creative Force, as the Origin of the Universe.
What does one see in a dream? All that one has seen in the wakeful state. The thought of immortality, the desire to exist for ever, the desire to be free of all sorrows, exist in the soul; and these desires cannot exist unless the soul is connected to Some Reality where the fulfillment of these desires is a fact. Thirst cries for water. And there is water. If there were no water there would have been no thirst. If there were thirst without the existence of water, what would it prove? The very existence of thirst proves the fact that water must exist and it must be somewhere. For, truly, thirst can find satisfaction only in water.
All things in the world run towards the very essence of their existence. The drops of water race towards the ocean.
In a like manner, the individual soul of man which is entrapped within the body, seeks to merge itself into that Universal Soul which lies hidden behind the veil of the Universe. It wishes to see the Universal Form in its individual form. It is like the bubble which rests in water but sees itself as an entity separate from the water. Upon dissolving itself in the water, it becomes one with it.
The drop of water proves the existence of the ocean. The rays of the sun prove the existence of the sun. The individual soul proves the existence of the Universal Soul.
There are two kinds of things that exist in the world:
1. Those filled with life and consciousness.
2. Those which are lifeless.
And the two are connected with one another. If there were no consciousness, there would be no world; and if there were no world there would be no consciousness.
The Eternal Being is the Soul
And the Universe His Body;
This alone is truth
And the rest is all cant.
In which way is the concept of an Intelligent Force responsible for creation, of lesser value than the concept of matter, creating by itself?
The regularity in the Universe, the fine adjustments and designs clearly indicate that this cannot be the work of something which is devoid of all intelligence and consciousness.
If we were to believe that all this regularity and purposeful design of the Universe were inherent attributes of matter to begin with, then we would be forced to conclude that consciousness, too, was an inherent attribute of matter, and so was the ultimate goal of this consciousness, towards which it is heading.
If we accept the above statement, then, indeed, there appears to be no sharp dividing line between the two thoughts i.e. that of an Intelligent Force existing in the beginning, and that of matter containing an inherent attribute of consciousness and purposeful design. As a matter of fact, they merge into one. The different is in name only.
The aim of consciousness, its purpose, is to attain immortal life, eternal happiness, and to become all-powerful. And it is that, which it appears to be seeking. And if that be its end, then its beginning must be the same. The seed which emerges from the fruit must have been there to begin with.
It is impossible to get away from the idea of an Absolute Existence. If consciousness strives for an Absolute Existence, then that Absolute Existence must have been there top begin with.
There is something before us. And there is consciousness provided us to understand that which is before us. The fruits on a tree give the proof of the existence of the seed from which the tree sprang. Similarly, human life or consciousness, comes after the evolution of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms. It is the last phase in this chain. And contained in it is some purpose. It is striving for something. And that goal is immortal life, absolute bliss. But these are the attributes one gives to that All-Powerful Being. Hence the thirst in man gives ka direct proof of the Absolute Existence, which many deny using arguments alone.
What, indeed, can you say to the person who is thirsty but does not believe in the existence of water? The unbeliever and the believer may quarrel with one another, but they are both heading in the same direction and accepting the same thing, though each follows his own separate road. The goal is the same. Does not an atheist want freedom from sorrow? And does not the desire for an immortal, blissful life attract him? A believer runs after much the same things. For are these not the names for Heaven and Salvation?
Seeks one a particle of dust,
And seeks another a drop of water;
But my heart seeks that cup
Which is filled with God-realization;
The aim of thy life appears different from mine,
But that which attracts us from behind the veil
Is, in truth, one and the same!
The nightingale loves the rose, and the moth loves the flame. The rose is different from the flame. But that, which exists in a veiled form, is Beauty and Attraction – and that is the same in both cases. It is that, and only that.
Nature, or God, has written down on the pages of every man’s heart the reason for his existence in the world, and the purpose of life he must seek.
Death is that FULL STOP, before the coming of which, the paragraph of life must end. The hour of Death has not been revealed to man, so that he may make haste and finish his work in the present moment before him. He cannot depend upon the coming moment.
And, using knowledge, devotion, and selfless action, he must unify himself with the Universal Soul.
That Universal Soul, the Intelligent Being, lies in a concealed form behind the veil of the Universe. It is that same Universal soul which reveals itself partially from behind the veil of human life. It is difficult to convince the world of atheism that the Universal Soul resides in the Universe, but the time comes when the Concealed Existence appears in a Revealed Form and manifests itself everywhere and in everything. For no Part can exist without a Whole. And Imperfection always strives for Perfection. In a like manner, the individual consciousness of man, which lies embedded in the veil of matter, reveals the existence of the universal Consciousness behind the veil of the Universe. It is the nearness of that Universal Consciousness which produces the development of the Universe, and gives rise to evolution and growth. And in this evolution, it is not only matter which evolves and develops, but also the individual consciousness of man, which evolves towards the Universal Form and seeks within itself a relationship with the Universe. A word may exist individually within a paragraph, and also exist in limitation as one word with one singular meaning. When it is seen in relationship to the entire paragraph, its meaning is not simply that which it had individually, but rather a meaning which is given to it by the interpretation of the paragraph taken as a whole. When the word is taken together with the paragraph, it has the meaning the paragraph intended it to have. But seen separately, in an isolated form, the word has its own individual meaning. There are two faces for the same word.
In a like manner, the individual consciousness is like that self or like that “I”, which lies in the SELF or the “I” of the Universe, and forms a part of it.
Sometimes it looks upon itself in its individual capacity and thinks of itself as an independent “I”; and sometimes it identifies itself with the whole Universe and merges itself into the “I” of the Universe. It then thinks of the Universe as its own ”I”, or, in other words, it thinks of its own “I” as the Universal “I”.
The relationship of the individual soul with the Universal Soul makes it clear that the Universe needs the Universal Soul, just like the human body needs its on conscious unit – the human soul. The Concealed Form of the Universal Soul is revealed in the Universe itself. It is like the meaning of a word. The meaning lies concealed in the word. But when it is understood, it stands revealed. And for that, it is essential to understand the language in which the word is written.
How canst thou grasp with thine eyes
The meaning of this life?
The eyes that see the soul are different
From the eyes that see the world!
Matter4, in its progressive evolution, is going on producing new shapes. It is trying to make the imperfect into the perfect. And since this action is constantly proceeding, the limited self is striving to reach the Unlimited Self. A seed progresses through various stages. It evolves into a tree. The tree brings forth fruit. And the fruit contains the seed which gave birth to the tree. The Unlimited Self is like that seed. It gave place to the Universe and the evolution within it. And the evolution is progressing towards its origin, towards the Unlimited Self, the Seed.
In the last stages of the evolution of matter, the individual soul progresses to a consciousness which carries it to that Intelligent Being, and nothing else remains. At that stage, matter becomes like the THOUGHT in the mind of the THINKER, and the Thinker becomes identified with the Thought. It is like the poem being identified with the poet and the poet being identified with the poem. In that stage of consciousness the Universe becomes the body and the Divine Being its Soul.
Whether God came from matter or whether matter came from God, these become insignificant questions, because both exist together, simultaneously.
The creation of the Universe by the Intelligent Being can be looked upon its follows. The Intelligent Being was the THINKER and the Universe His THOUGHT, Will or Wish. And if we assume that matter revealed the Divine Being, then it is like the thought revealing the thinker, for, in truth, a thought cannot exist unless there be a thinker first. A thought reveals the presence of the thinker, and even though the thought may b in the fore-front, it could not have appeared without the existence of the thinker.
The final stage of evolution of matter is a Divine Consciousness, which contains within itself an Unlimited Power of Creativity; and this stage is that referred to by believers as GOD – the One Who created the Universe, and upon reaching Whom evolution stops. Now whether the attainment of this last stage of Divine Consciousness unleashes the power to create another Universe, is a question that can be answered only after attaining that stage.
But we need not go any further, for our basic question is solved. The last stage of matter brings forth the Divine Being, who is worshipped by many as the Creator. Some look upon the seed, and see the tree as its creation. Others look upon the tree and think of it as giving place to the seed. In both cases, the existence of the seed is a confirmed fact.
The Universe is before us, and conscious beings exist in it; and the ultimate aim of all conscious beings is that state where perfection resides, where there is Eternal Rest and Complete Satisfaction.
If only we can understand that all are walking on the same path, then all religious differences and conflicts shall cease to exist, and believers and unbelievers shall become one. When a child is thirsty for the first time in his life, he discovers that the remedy for his thirst was contained in the world around him even before his birth. Similarly, the thirst in every human soul for the attainment of constant happiness, reveals that such a goal must be present in the Universe. And the goal is that Divine Being, who is Eternal and Immortal. To reach Him, is, in fact, the ultimate aim of every human life. When limitation is not sufficient to provide one with happiness, then surely one must turn towards the Unlimited where such happiness is bound to exist. One need not be disappointed if the goal appears far off and vague, because for every desire, for every hunger and thirst, Nature has provided an answer. For every question there must be an answer. And if there be a question for which there is no answer, then the question cannot be a question.
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
There are many who believe that the soul lives with the body and then dies with it, just like the flame of a lamp, which lives in the evening and is extinguished at dawn. And keeping this thought in their minds, they prefer the principle of “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die.”
They believe that life is short and therefore as much happiness as is possible must be derived from it within the short span of its existence.
But where, indeed, is that happiness which can be derived from the things of the world? Can water be found in a mirage? The rivers of the dream cannot quench the thirst of parched fields.
O flower of happiness, how canst thou bloom,
When only thorns are grown in this garden?
The dew-drops are tears fallen on thee,
And thy garments are tattered.
Ask of the wise, what is this world,
And hear this in reply:
A dream, running like the wind,
Is the world – a story after all.
Who is he who would his life give
To possess this world?
A will-o-the wisp, a devil or a madman?
Question: Why is the world a dream?
Answer: Why is a dream a dream?
A dream is a dream because it ceases to exist upon awakening. And the world is a dream because it ceases to exist when sleep comes.
Awake! Beware of this dream!
Its contents are the vapours
Of an awakened one’s sleep!
The world can be called a dream in another way as well: a dream is that which appears before one, but does not exist in reality. That part of the world, which is past, is a dream, because it comes to the mind but does not actually exist in the present. The future is a dream because it has not come but exists only in the mind. And the present – what is that? It exists neither in the past, nor in the future. When we have dismissed the past, and the future, we must dismiss also the present. Two zeros cannot give place to unity. The past is a dream and the future is a dream, therefore, we must thing of the present, which is composed of the future and the past, as also being a dream. And if we are, at all, to lend some reality to the present, then we can only think of it as that passing phase where the future is converting itself into the past. Therefore, the present either does not exist at all, or else is a very momentary glimpse of the time passing by, which goes no sooner than it comes.
And if we understand this state of affairs, we are forced to conclude that the world is nothing but a dream. When the past is a dream and the future is a dream, it is impossible to think of two dreams composing a reality. This world is like the passing by of the wind, a racing sensation, a fleeting glimpse of pictures – and the last breath speaks of that which is gone – an illusion. Life is a brief tale which is entirely fictitious.
This world and its promises are a deception!
They are wrong! This night is wrong!
Tomorrow night is wrong!
Ask not of the illumination of my life;
I am wrong, my verse is wrong, my direction wrong,
And my dictation wrong!
This life is a story, a fictitious tale. It exists not in the wakeful state, it exists not in one’s dreams, it exists not in a dreamless dream, it exists neither in absorption nor in unconsciousness; it exists neither in childhood nor in old age. Then where does this life exist? Where are its roots? Where was it, and from where did it come? No one knows. But it is before us like an imaginary tale. And the story, too, is tragic, in which man comes in, weeping, and goes out, weeping. And for as long as he exists in the narration there are cries on his lips. For as long as his desires remain unfulfilled, he is haunted by unrest. Even after the fulfillment of his desires, he remains in unrest, for he is constantly filled with insecurity, with fears that the objects he has possessed will slip away. And when these things do go away, he weeps again.
A drop of dew rests on the petal of a flower and glistens like a diamond. The moment the realization dawns upon it that it must eventually fall into the dust below, or else be evaporated by the rays of the sun or be drunk by some bird, it loses its diamond-like luster and assumes the form of a tear-drop of sorrow.
The blooming beauty of the flower cannot be a thing of joy when the twig is being shaken roughly by the wind, and the fear of destruction is imminent. The dim reflection of beauty is transient and must perish no sooner than it comes.
Woe unto thee, Ignorance, thou false companion!
For the last moment of life did reveal,
That all that was, was a dream.
What is Death? The last moment of life.
And when that last moment approached close to man, he cast a glimpse backwards into the past and realized that all that he had seen and heard was a dream, a woeful tale.
In a world which is like this, can the principle of “eat, drink and be merry” be looked upon as meaningful? No. It becomes meaningless.
When life itself finds no meaningful shape, then how can happiness assume a meaningful shape in it? Before the coming of light, there was darkness; after the going away of light, there is darkness; the quenching out of the burning light is darkness.
In this world, sorrow reigns supreme, like the cold wind on a winter night filled with half-storms. And joy is like the transient flash of lightning.
“Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die.” These words are meant for those who wish to derive maximum pleasure from a life which they consider purely materialistic and temporary. For them, existence is like a machine, which runs and then stops. In what way are they – who believe in the principle of “eat, drink and be merry” – better off than those who cannot, and will not, follow this principle?
Who can recall the glitter of the flame after it has been extinguished?
The Crown and the Begging Bowl of thy dream
Are both one and the same;
Let not thy mind be lost
In the price of one or the other.
Thou hast become strong – but, what then?
Thou hast become weak – but, what then?
Thou hast become like this,
And thou hast become like that –
But, what then?
Thou canst not stay in this Garden
Try as thou may;
If thou dost become the Spring
And I, the Autumn –
Ah, but, what then?
Those who would seek Peace in this world, must live in the world without a care. An excessive search for happiness shall kill the very happiness they possess.
The gardener tilled the soil, he planted the seed, he cared for the saplings, he watered the roots, and he spent months of labour to produce the flowers. And these died no sooner than they came, or were plucked off their twigs by passers-by.
For a single smile of the flower, all this effort and time were spent – and in vain.
Therefore, O Traveller,
Let not thy heart be entwined
In the things of the world;
Pass thou through them,
But keep thy heart in freedom.
Now we come to the second category of people, those who believe in the immortality of the human soul i.e. they believe that the soul lives for ever. For them, too, the human body is perishable. And, therefore, they, too, must keep in mind the fact that they must live in the world in such a way, that, leaving it, they may do so without regret and pain. They must come into this world like travellers upon a journey, and leave it in the same frame of mind.
And now let us turn our attention to the question of the immortality of the soul. A football bounces around hither and thither, as directed by the kicks it receives, and appears almost alive, by virtue of the air contained in it. And when the football bursts, the air leaks out, and the football experiences its “death”. It can no longer bounce around. What was it that lent reality to its movement? The air contained inside it. When the football burst, the air inside it, which was its “life”, spread out into the atmosphere outside and mingled into the ocean of air. Who can say, therefore, that the football “died”? For, what was inside the football escaped and became part of a greater whole.
A flame lives while it burns and gives out light, but does it die when extinguished? No, the elements of the flame mingle with the elements outside and live on their.
The following arguments can be offered in support of the fact that the soul is immortal:
1. The soul cannot experience its own Death.
2. The soul is the Observer, relative to which creation and annihilation goes on. If the soul is perishable, how can its destruction be observed by it?
3. The desire for an everlasting life is always present in the soul. There is a fear of Death.
.4. The soul is not a material substance. It can neither be created, not can it be destroyed. It must be endowed with consciousness, and that is why it cannot be made of matter which is, by itself, devoid of all consciousness.
The soul, which is of a finer substance than air and space, can never disappear. The sound of a musical instrument may cease, but that very same sound can remain permanently on a tape recording. It appears to vanish in one sphere, but appears in another. The cessation of the sound does not imply its extinction.
Nothing is destroyed in Nature. There is simply a change in name and shape. We have the scientific law of the conservation of energy, which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed – it can merely change form; it can convert itself from one form of energy to another.
The objects of the Objective World do not perish; and if this be true, then how can the things of the Subjective World perish?
Matter is composed of tiny parts – atoms and molecules and groups of atoms and molecules. When these gather together, they produce some shape, and when these break apart and are scattered, the shape disappears.
The soul is a Subjective Element, and it sees the world outside of the five senses of the body. It observes the beating of the heart; it observes the functioning of the brain. It is aware of the evolution of a new thought and of its appearance and disappearance and of the times when these events occur.
The soul is a witness to all events that occur with respect to the functioning of the body, and which indicate that the body is “alive”.
When the soul leaves the body, the bodily machinery ceases to function.
This event does not describe the death of the soul, but rather the separation of the soul from the body.
There are certain forces in he Universe which are ETERNAL. IMMORTAL and INVISIBLE. One such example is the FORCE OF GRAVITATION which keeps the Universe together. There are many such forces which operate without being directly visible. Their effects upon the Universe reveal their functioning.
All the changes that occur in the Universe are in the OBJECTIVE WORLD, and that, which perceives all these changes, is a SUBJECTIVE ELEMENT. Therefore it, (the Subjective Element) must be free of all change itself, since it perceives change. It is like the stationary frame of reference with respect to which other objects appear to move.
And where there is no change, there is no Death. TH SOUL DOES NOT DIE. It remains within the body and says “I am”, and “this body is mine”; later, in the state of sleep, it loses hold on the “I”. There are some people who go on to a higher state of sleep – sound sleep – where there are no dreams, and where the soul frees itself of both the bodies, both the “I” ‘s – that of the wakeful state and that of the dream world. Upon awakening, the soul says:
“I slept soundly. I was not aware of anything.”
Therefore, in all these states the soul does not disappear.
Similarly, upon leaving the body, the soul remains a separat3e entity altogether, different from the material elements around it. Death comes only to the body. And then again, Death does not come to the body either, for without the soul, the body is dead matter anyway – which was dead to begin with. And how can Death come to that which is already dead?
And the soul, which is composed of Spiritual Matter, remains immortal like the eternal invisible forces of Nature. What, therefore, is Death? It is simply the separation of the soul from the body.
The body is like a drop of dew. And the soul is like a ray of light which enters the dew-drop and makes it shine. It also fills it with heat and warmth. After a while the dew-drop turns into vapour and flies away. But that ray of light, which was in it, does not vanish. It simply changes its position.
There is some Goal, some Purpose before the soul, the realization of which leads to the fulfillment of all that is to be attained, leaving nothing but ETERNAL REST before it.
The intrinsic nature of the soul is PURE. For some reason, it becomes entrapped in this world, and lives in a state of misery, seeking to escape from the sorrows of the world. And this process of evolution continues until, by degrees, it has freed itself of every phase of sorrow.
Why did it fall into this sorrow? Why did it leave its Abode of Peace and enter the furnace of this world? These questions cannot be answered.
The soul is like the bird which has left its fruit-laden tree and become entrapped in the mud for the sake of a few crumbs of food.
O thou, a denizen of the sky
Art thou caught in the net of human flesh?
For the sake of a few crumbs
Didst thou leave thy fruit-laden garden!
Thou, a bird of the
How came thou to be ensnared in the net
Of this illusory world?
A bird that has been caught in a net seeks to free itself from the bondage. It pines for the empty space of the skies and the freshness of air. The enclosed space of the cage and the confined air make it restless. It live only in the hope that the window of the cage may open one day and it may fly away.
The immortal nature of the soul is revealed by the fact that the boundaries of the world, as well as the boundaries o the body, produce in the soul a feeling of suffocation. And the soul seeks to run away. That is why the soul can never find satisfaction in the things of the world. It is like the bird which has forgotten where its real home lies, and, instead, flies from one branch to another in search of it.
The soul is in search of Something. And That Thing, too, is Immortal. If the soul were not immortal itself, the search for Something Immortal would not have existed within it. The proof of the immortality of the soul can be found in the intrinsic nature of the soul itself. It runs after everything in the world in the search of Eternal Peace. And, failing to find it there, it seeks further on. One day the realization dawns upon it, that that, which it seeks, does not exist in the world. That is the turning point in its existence. It turns its back on the world. It spurns the illusions and the delusions of the world and ignores all its multifarious shapes and forms. It turns inwards, towards itself.
When it frees itself of the thought of the world, it rises beyond all desires; and when it frees itself of the thought of the body it becomes free of the thought of Death. And when it sinks itself into Deep Meditation and acquires the state of Self-Realisation, then it cleanses itself of the thought of Death and attains freedom from all sorrows.
And, then its song is heard:
There is neither a beginning, nor an end
Of my existence;
Neither the cup nor the wine can measure
The extent of my intoxication;
It is true that the bird of my soul
Has been entrapped in the furnace of this body,
But neither the net nor the crumbs of food
Can enslave my existence;
How can the clouds of my being
Bring down a rain of knowledge?-
When inside me,
There is neither a true nor a false thought;
O Nath! In search of Him, turn thy back to the world,
For those who are intoxicated with the Divine
Can move on this path without a care.
How can there be a beginning for Existence itself? The beginning of Existence cannot arise from another existence, nor can it arise from non-existence. Existence rests in Immortality. It is Immortal in itself. It is eternal.
Even if the soul has come inside the body and is sharing some of the qualities of the body, it is incessantly running towards its real home. The bird which is in a cage thinks all the time of its nest and wishes to fly off in that direction.
The feeling of separation in the soul is a proof of its pre-existence.
A drop of water lay on the petal of a flower. It had forgotten that once it was a part of the ocean. It was trembling on the petal of the rose. And when asked why it was like a tear-drop of sorrow even though it was in such beautiful surroundings, it gave in reply:
“I do not know what it is, but there is some unrest within me. Something is calling me. But I do not know who it is that calls. If I were complete in myself, this would have been my real home, and I would have been the place where I am; and I do not know of the place where I belong. What is it that I long for so sorrowfully? Who is it? And where is it? This is what I must know. And just like thirst gives evidence of wat4er, similarly, something is calling me, but I know nothing of it. I am like that thirst which seeks the Nectar of Life, but does not know where it is. My fears, my tremblings, my limited self reveal that my journey is long and I do not know where I must go. I have neither wings with which I could fly, nor feet with which I could walk; and even if I had these, I would not know where to go. All I know is that there is a fire within me which cannot be quenched:
The House of my Beloved is faraway,
I have neither wings, nor feet;
What a strange journey is this -
And I, a traveller without a goal!
What a wonderful thing it would be if my Beloved were also aware of this fact! I know that at some time I was with Someone, and now I am separated from Him. The feeling of Separation can come only if there is a
And the drop of dew became a wisp of vapour and flew away. It was a tear-drop before, and became a sigh, later.
“O Moth! Lucky art thou, for before thee there is the Flame! O Nightingale! Blessed art thou, for before thee is thy blooming flower! And I, the drop of dew, have become a tear-drop, a sigh, and am flying away towards him about whom I know nothing! Shall destiny force me to wander aimlessly? Where must I go? I must ask everyone where I must go, but my tears shall only cause others to smile, and they shall say: “When thou thyself dost not know where thou must go, why askest thou of us?”
Ah, of what use is the obligation
Of the pilot?
Lift up the anchor, and let the boat
Be driven off by the waves!
“It is possible that some unknown wave shall drive me to my destination.”
And there came a voice that said:
“O drop of dew, thou tear-drop! Thou art searching for me in the guise of a sigh! Thou art ever restless, ever impatient, a picture of sorrow. But remember this! I am more restless than thou, for thou wert separated from me! I am the Ocean, thou art my drop of water. Thou wouldst meet me, and I wouldst meet thee. Thou art a tear-drop of sorrow – my tear-drop! I rage with the storms and raise myself so that I may spot thee. No matter what form thou mayest assume, I shall always be able to recognize thee. Between us there exists a relationship. Who cannot recognize oneself? Even if one cannot see anything else in the darkness, one can feel oneself and know about oneself. The “I” of one’s existence does not disappear in the darkness. Thou, who art the “I” of my own part, how canst I know thee not? Thou hast reached the sky. I am still on earth. My waves cannot reach up and capture thee, but my yearning shall pull thee down and bring thee to me. Come out from behind the veil of thy ‘sigh’ and become thou a tear-drop once again. Fall down from the sky and mingle into the waters of some river or stream. These carry with them the cries of numerous tears. Fall thou into them, come into them and come to me. My thirsty waves shall welcome thee when thou do arrive here with the rivers. They shall make thee a part of themselves. And then thou shalt be for ever free of the fear of that Death which was within thee. Thou art mine. I am limitless and thou art limited only when separated from me. Merge thou thyself into me and become free of all fears till eternity.”
The soul, which is kept within the boundaries and limitations of matter, wishes to meet Someone. Who is He? And where is He? The soul knows not. It knows only of the feeling of separation. And this pain and restlessness are a proof of some existence elsewhere, of another life, in which it knew that Someone or Something was with it. And this is sufficient proof of the immortality of the soul. If the soul is not separated from that which it seeks, then why is it not satisfied with the things of the world? The greatest proof of the existence of God is the insufficiency seen in the world. The proof of the existence of the ocean lies in the insufficiency of the drop.
The heart speaks of Someone
Behind the veil of this world:
And the drop of water
Speaks of the Ocean.
And the time comes when the soul understands the reality of the world around it, and the falsity of its attractions, - and it is then drawn towards that Great Reality. It is then like the piece of iron which becomes free of rust and is immediately drawn towards the magnet.
For as long as the soul is lost in the net of materialism, its natural instinct lies submerged, and it does not experience the pangs of separation from that which was with it since the beginning of time, and with which it must eventually become one.
Ask of the flute,
The meaning of its song of sadness;
It plays the mournful notes
Of Separation.
The Nature of the soul is completely different from the nature of the material objects which surround it. That is why, though surrounded by these objects, it desires Something which is not amongst them. And it desires that Something because it was, at one time, one with it. And the remembrance of that Something exists in the soul; not through the senses but through intuition. From Union it went towards Separation; and from Separation it seeks to go back towards
Separation is of two kinds. The first kind of separation is that where one is separate but not conscious of the separation. And the second kind of separation is that where one is acutely aware of the separation. To give an example: Suppose you have a relative who lives in a foreign country. You are engrossed in your own work and daily affairs, and do not feel his separation. This is the first kind of separation. And then comes the second kind, when one day you are free from your worldly cares and are lost in the thought of your relative. Then you become painfully aware of the separation. Physical separation was present in both cases, but its awareness existed only in the second phase – when remembrance set it.
The separation of the first kind exists in all of us. Our Great Relative resides outside of this world. But we are so engrossed in the world that we do not actually feel any separation from Him. No tears are shed in His remembrance, no anguish felt at the thought of Him. No letters are written.
But, one day, when remembrance comes upon us with great force – then tears come to our eyes. A pen is taken up and a letter written. And a reply received! And the reply proves that the Relative exists in some far off region.
Do not deliver up everything to the scrutiny of your eyes and intelligence. Philosophy must not be limited by “what cannot be seen cannot be believed”. Philosophy must understand that there are many things in the Universe which can be grasped only by the intuition of the heart and the soul.
LOVE cannot be explained simply by the eyes and intelligence. It is a revelation of the heart.
A proof of the immortality of the soul is that it exists within that EXISTENCE where not a single particle is unaccounted for; and it is conscious of its own SELF. Through the agency of the soul, we see all other objects of the world; but the external objects cannot see the soul. The thought of “I exist” comes only through the agency of the “I”. The thought of “mine” comes through the agency of the mind. “I exist” comes forth either in words alone, or else it comes forward as itself. It is that thing which sheds light on everything, even on the thought of Death. And, for it, the question of annihilation can never arise.
When you begin work in your office, your work bears a relationship with all the work you have done in the past and with all the work you are going to do in the future.
You have set your foot somewhere, and its position proves that it was previously elsewhere and that it shall later on be somewhere else. Your talk tells you that your relationship existed with someone in the past and it shall exist with someone in the future. The middle letter of a word, say “telegraph”, hearts a relationship with those letters which are before it and with those letters which are after it.
There is some purpose before the soul. For as long as the soul does not secure fulfillment, it maintains a continuity in the journey of existence, and once it has arrived at its goal it rests in Peace. When you are upon a journey you must walk, and when you have reached home you will rest. In both the states your existence is maintained. You are awake in the day and you sleep at night. Your existence is a reality in both the states. Similarly, one must work in Life and rest in Death. And the purpose of the soul is to die before Death – i.e. to annihilate all material relationships from itself. It must destroy all desires within itself. This is the purpose of its existence. This is what is meant by dying before Death. This is the annihilation of EGO. And this is
The soul lives either in unfulfilled desires, or else it lives in the goal it seeks. Its existence cannot be mortal, for if it is annihilated, everything is annihilated. If it does not exist – then what else can exist? Where can it exist? And how can it exist? If there is no eye, there shall be no moon. A thing as essential as the soul cannot be surrounded by annihilation. Without it, even the very thought of mortality vanishes.
“Atha-tho-Brahm-jigyasa” i.e. seek to know that Great Reality; bring such a desire into your heart. And this desire is important because it brings man to that stage where all his desires are fulfilled and he gains everything.
The soul is present everywhere. And where it is not present, nothing exists. When you open your eyes, your sight spreads out and does its work; but when you shut your eyes, the sight hides itself within your eyes and does not see. But this does not mean that “sight” has been destroyed. It is there, but in an inactive stage. The first stage was an active stage. When the body perishes, the soul takes on a body made of a finer substance and lives on there, continuing the numerous works it must complete in order to reach its real destination, for the sake of which it came into the world.
Those who believe in the transmigration of souls would say that the soul leaves one body and then takes up another as an instrument with which to complete its work.
The soul is like the writer who takes up one pencil after another, and continues writing until his prose is completed. When one pencil wears out, he lifts up another, and then another and another. And then, when he is at the end of his work, he leaves that last pencil in whatever state it is – “young” or “old”, fresh or worn out. For the work is at an end, and there is no need for the pencil any longer. The writer then rests for ever.
The prose of life ends when SALVATION is attained. And the meaning of salvation is the complete extinction of all desires. This, the soul may achieve either by taking on numerous bodies one after the other, or else it may achieve this by replacing old thoughts by new ones and continuing this evolution until it finds that one thought in which all thoughts of the world cease to exist.
What is Self-Realisation? Separating oneself from “non-self”. What is “non-self”? That, which is not one’s own self. This world, and all the thoughts centered around it, are “non-self”. To be removed from them is SELF-REALISATION and SALVATION.
“thou” art with me,
When there is none else.
When there is no second thought in the mind, when there is no other remembrance left, then this world of objectivity disappears and Self-Realisation is attained. No effort is necessary to gain Self-Realisation. An effort should be made to get rid of “non-self”. And when “non-self” disappears, Self-Realisation comes of itself.
A bird, which rests on a ship, flies off upwards into the sky and finds nothing; it plunges into the ocean and gains nothing. And finding everything around itself vast and vacant, it settles down on the ship. When man finds the vastness and the vacancy of the illusory world around him of no use to him, when he cannot find in them what he seeks and he understands their illusory character and gives them up, all desires for the world vanish. They become unreal. This extinction of desires becomes Self-Realisation.
Would you run towards a mirage if you understood its real nature? Never. Desire is meant to give happiness. But if that very desire destroys happiness, then would we not be far better off if we sought some different route? To achieve happiness one must destroy desire. And in this destruction of desire rests salvation.
What is DESIRE? The coming of the real self towards “non-self” in a state of ignorance. And the very thought of “non-self”, the very absorption in it, converts the real self into “non-self”.
You cannot look upon the real self and “non-self” at one and the same time. Either you look upon one or you look upon the other. When you look at something, you cannot look at yourself simultaneously; and when you look upon yourself you cannot see something else at the same time. “I see something,” – this statement implies that whatever you see is outside of you, and not you, yourself.
The very desire for happiness takes one far away from happiness. The very thought of reaching the goal implies that one is far away from the goal. The goal is one’s “I”; and when that very same “I” seeks a goal, it removes itself from the goal. This “I” is not that “I” which is bound in the limitations of the world; which is suppressed by the desires of the world; which is entrapped within the body; which lives in the world of gain and loss. This “I” is a different “I”, but unfortunately, it has tied itself to “non-self” and lost its real character. The real “I”, in its pure form, is that in which there is no “thou”, in which there is no “this” and no “that”. In the real “I” there is no desire which suppresses it; in it there is neither space nor time; there is neither sorrow nor joy; neither life nor Death.
To come to one’s real “I”, one’s real self, is to separate oneself from “non-self” – which is this objective world, wher5e spaced and time exist, and where there is cause and effect, and where to come into existence is life and to be obliterated is Death.
Forget thou thyself in thy “I”
This is the closest goal.
What is “I”? It is that Realisation in which there is no thought of the world, in which there is neither the thought of life, nor the thought of Death.
In order to understand the world there are three things that must be kept in mind:
The Knower, Knowledge, and the Known. And all these things cannot exist without an intervening space. In the action which encompasses all three, time comes into existence. Limitation exists here. And change occurs in limitation. In change there is life and there is Death.
In the “I” there is neither space nor time, because in it the Knower, Knowledge and the Known are all ONE. Therefore this state – the manifestation of the “I” – is one of Self-Realisation, also called Super-consciousness. Super-consciousness implies going above all other forms of consciousness. It is that consciousness which contains in it a greater Bliss and Joy than any other state of consciousness. In it, there is agelessness. This state of existence is also called Immortal. Life, one which is full of Bliss and Knowledge. The self of the “I” does not depend on anything else for its security and protection. It does not run elsewhere in search of happiness. There is a Voice which says:
Free am I from all thoughts,
Free from all fears;
I am that existence
Beyond which there is nothing else.
The state of one of self-satisfaction. Is this a limited state? Or is it unlimited? Is it momentary or permanent? Here all thoughts end. Because where God exists, time does not exist.
This condition can also be visualized as follows:-
To forget oneself is to gain rest;
The wine and the dream do bear
A witness to this strangeness.
When a man is tired of the turmoils of the world, he seeks physical rest and goes to sleep, and when his mind is beset upon by a multitude of worries, he seeks refuge in a cup of wine. He tries to forget himself, and seeks peace.
In sleep one shuts one’s eyes and goes inwards, within oneself. The world is shut out. To come within oneself is to come close to one’s real “I”, one’s real self, and to feel a sense of peace. Therefore, even this unconscious Self-Realisation – that of sleep – gives peace. When one sinks into Deep Meditation and forgets the world and all its related thoughts, then the self of man derives pleasure from itself – it merges into its true nature, and there is nothing but Peace. BEHOLD THYSELF, BY THYSELF, IN THYSELF. This is the state of Self-Realisation, and after reaching this state the Immortal Nature of the real self stands revealed. And the question of the mortality or immortality of the self ceases to exist.
There is another proof of the existence of that Immortal Self. The small “I” of man, which is associated with his body, contains little knowledge. And when it finds itself imperfect and helpless in the conflicts of the world, it becomes like the bubble on the surface of the ocean, and trembles with fear. And, just like the ocean sustains the bubble, and is at the back of it, similarly man feels some protection, which, in fact, comes from its Real “I”, which is at the back of his limited (bodily) “I”. Then, being mortal, the little “I” of man feels the essence of immortality.
An infinite power is with you. It gives proof of its existence by sending new waves of thoughts, new ideas, new inspirations, new knowledge, into you. If this were not so, from where would these new ideas, thoughts and inspirations come to you? From yourself? Or fom somewhere else? If they came out from within you, then how is it that you were not aware of them? If they did not come out from within you, then from where did they come?
This reveals very clearly that, associated with your small “I” there is a larger, more powerful self, which fills the small self with new knowledge and inspirations, and continues doing so all the time. And then again, it is not only one “I” that this larger, powerful self sustains – it is associated with all the “I” ‘s in existence and has sustained them all, from time eternal.
It is only when the small “i” forgets itself that it merges into the larger “I”. It is then like the bubble which drowns itself in the ocean and becomes one with it. It then becomes the very picture of Eternal Bliss.
The real Self of man is Immortal and Everlasting.
THE SECRET OF CREATION
(Why the world was made)
‘AKAOHAMBAHUSYAM’
There is none but He in the Universe,
In reality, there is none but He.
‘I AM ONE. LET THERE BE MANY 1’
‘ALL THAT EXISTS IN THE UNIVERSE IS A WAVE OF MY UNENDING OCEAN.’
It is one of the laws of Nature to multiply – to become many, from “one”. One thought can be expressed in many words; one voice can sing many songs; one heart can be filled with a multiplicity of thoughts. Similarly, that Great Beginningless Reality said: “I am one. Let there be many,” and the Universe came into existence in that single thought. The many diversified names and forms are all a result of that THOUGHT, that single wish.
We will naturally question how a Universe of such great vastness came to be created in a single thought. It is sufficient to reply, that, if one can, in one’s sleep, create an independent world of one’s own – a dream – then why cannot that Supreme Power, which is greater than all other powers, create a Universe in a Single Thought?
Even that, which one call ‘matter’, is another form of that Thought. The Universe is a great miracle of that Divine Thought.
You say: “I exist”, but where is your “I”? Do all the organs of your body together go to form that “I”, or does your “I” encompass all these organs? What is the ocean? A gathering together of millions of drops of water. A form that consists of innumerable drops of water. What is the earth? Countless particles of dust. What is intelligence? A gathering together of many coherent ideas. In every “I” that one sees in the Universe, there is a variety which is contained in a unity. Every “Whole” is composed of “parts”. This, indeed, has been the finding of science as well. One can exist as many.
There is a seed before you. It brings forth a number of different things from itself. It is one, but inside it is some multiplicity which cannot be seen directly in the seed itself. To display this multiplicity, this one seed hides itself inside the earth. After some time there is no sign of the seed inside the earth. After some time there is no sign of the seed inside the earth. What happened to the seed? Did it disappear? No. No Genuine Force or Energy of Nature ever disappears. There is something which is like the soul of the seed, and which exists. And there springs up from the earth a small plant, which later grows into a tree. Branches are formed; leaves grow in them and then flowers and finally fruits.
What do all these shapes and forms of the seed represent? Are they “one” with the seed, or are they separate from the seed? Were all these multiplicities present in the original seed? If not, then where did they come from? And, if they were present in the original seed, were they one with the seed or separate from it?
We shall be forced to admit that all the multiplicities are manifestations of the seed itself, and are the various shapes and forms of the seed itself.
The one form of the seed changed itself into numerous shapes and forms.
Where, then, is the seed, after the manifestations it produces? One does not know. That which is before one’s eyes is not the seed.
The very manifestation of the different forms of the seed conceals the seed itself! The seed veils itself with its own manifestation of Multiplicity.
In other words, the manifestation of multiplicity is another form of the seed. The observer sees a continuous change at work. What is the tree made of? An evolution is at work. Every leaf, every branch is searching for the seed. The observers outside are postulating: “The seed is nowhere! That which is before us is a tree with its variegated shapes and forms.” This is a great deception. There is nothing but the seed in reality.
Reality and the external shapes and forms are two things. The shapes and forms are a VEIL, and the Reality is behind the veil.
Thou art so revealed that every particle speaks of Thee!
And yet Thou art so concealed
That no one has ever seen Thy Face!
All refer to the “manifestation” as a tree. No one calls it a seed./ Strange! There is no difference between the veil and that which it veils. And the veil appears separate from that which is veiled.
All these shapes and forms came from that one little shapeless and formless seed, which became so concealed that no one could establish its existence!
But that does not deter the seed from carrying on with its work. The seed is happy that its work is progressing. For if the seed had remained alone with itself, then that which was within it would never have been revealed. Until the time the sun conceals itself, it is impossible for the stars to become visible.
Unless that ETERNAL EXISTENCE conceals itself, it is impossible for the Universe to manifest itself.
This is where atheism comes in. That, which is before one’s eyes, is that which is believed, and that, which cannot be seen, is not believed. But little does atheism realize that the very thing which it negates, exists in the evolutionary manifestation before it. How can the existence of something be denied when it is before us? But that, which is before us, is in the shape of an evolutionary manifestation. That, which is being sought, is only One Thing. Not everyone can see that ONE in this manifestation of many. Experience shows us that, where there is a seed, there is no tree, and where there is a tree there is no seed.
You can look upon the seed and see only the seed; or you can look upon the tree and see only the tree. It is not possible to actually see the tree in a seed and the seed in a tree. One cannot, without prior knowledge, deduce that the two came from each other. They will stand out as separate entities to an ignorant observer.
Similarly, when one looks upon God, one does not see the Universe, and when one looks upon the Universe, one does not see God.
But time flows on and evolution proceeds. How, then, can one say that a certain tree came from a certain seed? There is no seed in sight. However, for every motion, for every change, there must be a beginning and an end. And it was to reach that last stage of evolution that the seed disappeared in the first place. If the seed was present in the beginning, then it must be present at the end of the evolution. Its evolution must end at that last stage. And then everyone recognizes the seed as that which had brought forth the particular tree in question. There was Perfection in the beginning and there was Perfection in the end, and the two met. And that last product of evolution of the tree – the seed – then contained in itself the power to produce multiplicity again. And in this way, one seed gave way to numerous seeds. And every seed contained within itself the power to produce an infinite number of seeds! The fact that the seed disappeared in the ground did not detract from its power to produce.
“AKAOHAMBAHUSYAM’. This became the voice of not only the first seed, but of each and every seed.
The Beloved comes every moment,
By routes that are new;
In garments that are new;
To reveal His Beauty;
To capture thy heart,
To fill thee with joy,
He comes;
He comes in faces new,
He comes as a plant,
He comes as a flower
He comes as the fruit.
There is but One Reality which is hidden behind the Veil of the Universe and revealed through it at the same time. Without Existence, nothing can exist, and Existence reveals the presence of an ABSOLUTE EXISTENCE. It is that Absolute Existence which manifests itself as Existence, in its outer forms and shapes. Water exists in the shape of a bubble, and, therefore, the bubble itself is a manifestation of water. There is a veil of separation which exists, and which does not exist. The veil does not exist, because the bubble itself is water; and the veil exists because the water assumes the shape of a bubble, and is known by that name.
The bubble is never found in the water, search as we may;
And if found, it is never separate from the water.
The entire secret is revealed here. That, which is perceived through the senses, is the world, and that, which is perceived spontaneously all by Itself, is God. All can feel the presence of that Reality, the young and the old, the believers and the non-believers. Some feel It after gaining knowledge about It, and some feel It unknowingly.
The task that we have before us is that of knowing Him and then understanding Him. And then, later, knowing him again after understanding Him.
All that is before us is He. Even though we observe that ONE TRUTH, we still think of it as the “world”.
It is but a wave filled with air,
Which gives rise to the bubble
All else is nothing but water.
When the seed exists, then why not call it a seed? True, its outer appearance is that of a tree, and, therefore, it may be called that as well. Every shape and form and name that exists is based on that One Existence which has neither a beginning nor an end, and which remains the same always.
Look at the wave. It is a wave, and it is also water. The first is unreal and temporary, and the second is that which exists. A temporary, passing shape seems to proclaim:
”I am a wave”. And the permanent, real voice says: “I am water”. When you look towards the wave, what is it that you are, in fact, observing? Water, and only water. But what do you say? “That is a wave”. The first is a realization, and the second is a simply a thought which gives a name to the outward appearance before you. That which is before you is an ABSOLUTE EXISTENCE. Where is it? It exists behind the veil of the Universe. It is like the water which is the absolute existence behind the wave.
‘Being’ and ‘non-being’ both rest upon the foundation of that Absolute Existence. ‘Being’ is the real face of that Absolute Existence. It exists in various shapes and forms. Without it, nothing can exist.
How can that voice be drowned
When each and every particle is calling forth
The name of that Reality?
What a wonderful game is this –
Where veils are revealed within veils
And the heart is within revelations
And revelations within the heart.
There is an Absolute Existence, and the Universe His outer face. How, then, can one know Him? “HE EXISTS” but WHO or WHAT is HE? How to know the KNOWER? How can one understand Him when there is no one like Him and He is like no one.
When we try to grasp Him by the force of our intellect, which is constrained by limits, then we build up for ourselves a being in limitations in which names and forms exist separate from one another.
The knowledge about that real SELF is always with man, for he feels the reality of his own existence. But when he tries to visualize the real SELF, by using the “I” that asserts “I” exist”, then the Real SELF cannot be found. The “I” of the body asserts itself; the senses, the mind, the reason and ego assert themselves. And the Real SELF is lost.
The very desire to grasp the real SELF removes one from the real SELF. Otherwise, Self-Realisation is ever present. If to attain Self-Realisation means to realize the Self, though we know nothing about the Self, then, the question will naturally arise whether we wish to realize the Self through the Self, or through “non-self”?
The Self cannot be realized through ‘non-self’ because the ‘non-self’ is an objective thing. And if we speak of realizing the Self through the Self, then the whole idea becomes ridiculous. Who does not know that he exists.
It is strange that one who is aware of the existence of the Self, becomes filled with ego when he tries to visualize the Self in some particular form. Using the very same Self, which is the essence of all existence, he becomes aware of other things around him, and is instantly filled with the egoistical thoughts of “I” and “Mine”.
The “I”, which is our body, can be felt by the aid of our senses, relative to external things. “He”, “They”, “You” establish the existence of “I”.
Suppose, for an instant, that there is nothing in the entire Universe except that “I”. There is no “you”, no “he”, no “they”. What shall become of the “I”? Relative to what shall it proclaim “I exist”?
What would become of the eye if there were nothing to see? What meaning would we attach to the ears if there were nothing to hear? Of what significance would the sense of touch be, if there were nothing to touch? What would be the significance of the sense of taste if there were nothing to taste? What would be the significance of the mind if there were nothing to think? What would become of reason if there were no knowledge? All these would exist, but be practically non-existent. These can be given a reality only relative to other things around them.
Similarly, if the Self were like the “I” and were to contain nothing around it, nothing above it, nothing below it and nothing beyond it, then it would become indefinable. It would be impossible to attach any meaning to the Self if there were nothing with which it could be related. Even the statement: “I AM TRUTH” would lose all significance when applied to the Self.
Hence SELF cannot be of the same form as the “I”, which cannot stand by itself. Self must be an existence which is above the bounds of relativity and comparison; it must be that which stands in need of nothing other than itself.
The moment this Self is identified with the thoughts of a bodily “I”, it becomes surrounded by the world of limitation.
Self Realisation, therefore, does not mean “I EXIST’. On the contrary, it means: “I DO NOT EXIST’ i.e. a negation of that “I” which stands in the way of the real Self.
The very thought of understanding Reality removes one far away from Reality. When we come close to a mirror to see its real, pure state, we see, instead, our own reflection. We see the mirror be clouded by the reflection and not the mirror in its pure, intrinsic state which is image-free. Similarly, that Absolute Existence cannot be seen in its pure state when the world of thoughts associated with the “I” seeks to see it. It then gives an image of limitation which is, in fact, a reflection of the limited “I”. And the world of thoughts, which belongs to the “I”, then drowns the Absolute Existence in its veils of limitation.
Chase not the illusions of these shapes and forms;
This is all a play of thoughts – this world.
The world around us can indeed be referred to as a world of thoughts, for without human thought nothing would be definable.
Whenever we try to understand the reality of the world around us we are confronted by THOUGHT. For as long as there is Thought, the world exists, and when Thought vanishes, as it does in sound sleep, the world, too, vanishes.
In order to understand that Absolute Existence, we must separate ourselves from Thought. To separate ourselves from Thought means to understand the falsity that underlies it, and to think of its presence like one would think of the reflection inside a mirror, having no reality of its own.
In the “I” of that Great Reality, this world exists with all its multifarious shapes and forms. And there is but only one way in which the “I” of that Great Reality can be defined. It is that, and only that, which EXISTS. It is EXISTENCE itself.
If all the objects that surround the eye were considered devoid of “existence”, they would lose their reality. The earth “exists; the sky “exists” the sun “exists”; the moon “exists”; the stars “exist”. Remove the word “exist” and where do all these things stand? Separated from “existence” they lose all significance. But then again, when we try to understand that same EXISTENCE without taking recourse to shapes and names and forms, it eludes us altogether.
It is strange, indeed, that Existence, without which nothing can stand, cannot be revealed all by Itself.
A strange covering is this –
Thou art hidden behind a transparent veil
Which neither conceals Thee
Nor does it reveal Thee!
Against the laws of the world
Thou art revealed in thy veil,
And when the veil is removed
Thou dost disappear!
The presence of that Absolute Existence is felt by everyone at all times. And the knowledge of Self-Realisation rests with everyone – believers and non-believers, both. But the moment they try to grasp this knowledge, this feeling, with Thought, it evades them.
One can ask, that, if self-Realisation is ever-present with everyone, then what great significance can be attached to it, wherein lies its greatness? This question implies that the enquirer has a “non-self” realization mingled with his Self-Realisation. This is like viewing one’s own reflection in a clean mirror. There is the purity of the mirror reflecting the clarity of the image. The image takes up a large portion of the pure face of the mirror. One cannot clean the mirror by rubbing out the reflection directly. There is only one way to clean the mirror. One must move away from the front of the mirror, if one wishes to see it in its pure state.
Te thought of ‘I EXIST’, which is within everyone – the believer as well as the non-believer – is not sufficient, because within it is the “I” of Thought manifesting itself in the shapes and forms that Thought brings. And in this existence there is the thought of life and the thought of Death, there is the thought of joy and the thought of sorrow. The “I” of thought produces in the REAL. “I” certain images which are not inherent in it. To say ‘I EXIST’ is not simply to exist as such. The REAL ‘I’ which proclaims ‘I EXIST’ is, in fact, not only the foundation of existence but also the Foundation of All Knowledge. This Real “I” – “I EXIST’ – is Real Knowledge. And when all images are removed from this Real “I” comes towards its intrinsic, real Nature, which is All Existence; and all the pictures of the world vanish like dancing shadow figures.
The Real “I” then proclaims ‘I EXIST’; ‘I AM KNOWLEDGE’, ‘I KAM EXISTENCE’.
The “I”, which is always surrounded by the world of thought, is a very different, a very weak and fragile “I”. It can be created and it can be destroyed; it lives in ignorance and knowledge and knowledge, and for the greater part of its existence, it is surrounded by misery.
But when the veil of thoughts, the magic-play of shadows, disappears, or else becomes like a mirage or an illusion, then the soul of man takes on the garb of the Real-Self and becomes All Bliss and Everlasting Joy.
O Wise man, why askest thou me
When I became drunk?
Filled with intoxication was I,
Even before the world came into being.
When this happens, the world begins to exhibit itself in its true illusory character. Its names and forms and images cease to have any meaning, and they do not effect the purity of the mirror of Absolute Existence or the Bliss that surrounds it.
Let the world remain before my eyes to see;
But within me, let there be none else but Thee!
When it is discovered, once and for all, that the existence of a bubble in the water is merely an illusion, and that the only reality is water, then the entire question is solved. The existence of the bubble, its “I”, is not separate from the “I” of water. What, therefore, is the shape we call a bubble? It is water and only water. There is no place there for the separate existence of a limited entity. One must see the water behind the veil of the limited entity of the bubble. The limitation is in name and form only. The basic reality is water.
The human “I” is like the limited “I” of the bubble. It exists in the world of thought, but at its foundation is that Absolute Existence. The limited human “I” perceives the world in its various shapes and forms, but in reality it is looking upon that Faceless Reality which is exhibited everywhere.
This world is a painting
Done by the wave
Of that Intoxication Divine;
Or it is the voice
Of One lost in Love.
People will ask, how did a world exhibiting such infinite variety come from that Absolute Being? How did so many different qualities manifest themselves from ONE who was free of them all? This question is without foundation. Without diversity one cannot think of Unity, and without Unity there can be no diversity. This is as it should be.
Now we can look either upon the Absolute Existence as containing various qualities, or else we can look upon these external attributes containing the Absolute Existence. We can also think of these external qualities as being illusory in nature, and think only of the Absolute Existence as being real. And that Absolute Existence is not separate from one’s existence. The empty space inside an open, vessel is not separate from the infinite space outside of it, nor shall it ever be so. It is only the shape of the vessel which tends to give the volume of space within it a separate existence.
But, still, we cannot ignore, entirely, the shapes and forms which limitation has imposed. They must be treated with respect. And they must be seen in the light of their own individual reality. Once the bubble has come into existence we shall have to acknowledge its roundness, because that is a shape in itself. A ring can never be found directly in gold, and since gold cannot be worn directly on the finger, it must of necessity be moulded into a ring first. And then of course, the ring is very real, too, apart from the gold, as the price at the jeweller’s shop will testify.
The reality underlying everything is the same, but one must differentiate between the various different names and forms. This becomes a necessity physically. When viewed from REALITY all these names and forms are one; but when viewed from LIMITATION these are seen as separate. An ocean is an ocean; a drop of water is a drop of water; a wave is a wave and a whirlpool is a whirlpool.
There are three viewpoints:
1. There is Reality and Reality alone.
2. There is the world and only the world.
3. Reality and the world both exist.
In the first case there is neither a creation nor a destruction; there is neither “one” nor “two”; there is neither truth nor untruth; there is neither day nor night. There is Something which can exist independent of all else; it does not exist relative to anything else. There is neither space nor time. It can be called neither “existence” nor “non-existence”.
Thy reality does not rest
Upon my confirmation or denial of Thee.
It stands not in need of the world
Of my limited “I”.
In the second case, we have the world before us. Cause and effect both exist. There is the great and the small, there is darkness and there is light.
In the third case. God and the Universe exist separately. Reality and the World are two.
In the first case there is only Reality, and there is no world; in the second case there is only the world and no God; in the third case, there are both.
A barrister once visited me and gave me a gift of roses. As I stared at the roses in admiration, he said: “Sir, did I give you the roses so that you may look only at them and forget about me altogether?”
I laughed and replied: “But if I had looked only at you and had ignored the roses, you would have complained that I did not appreciate your gift.”
And saying this, I returned his roses. He was obviously hurt, and said: “The grievance has increased.”
I replied: “I should think the cause for all complaints has been removed now. The complaint was: that, if I looked only at the roses, I ignored you; and if I looked only at you, I ignored the roses. In both cases, a certain amount of ingratitude was involved. Having but one pair of eyes I could look only at one thing at a time. I would have to choose between the flowers and you. But now – the flowers are in your hand, and I can look upon both simultaneously.”
The barrister was very amused and asked me: “All right, Sir, what is the significance of this example?”
I said: “God created this world and placed it before man. There were some who became so engrossed in this world that they forgot all about the Creator. And then again there were some who left the world and went out in search of Him, towards Him. In both these cases, God was dissatisfied. ‘Did I create the world so that you may forget all about me?’ he said to the first lot. ‘Did I create the world so that you may ignore it altogether and come only towards me?’ He said to the second group of people. The world was created so that man may enjoy its beauty and partake of its joys. There was a third group of people who placed the world before the Creator and accepted it along with the Creator. These gained both – the world as well as its Creator. They kept the Creator of the world in their hearts and did their chores in the world, thinking of them as gifts from that Divine Being.”
The world cannot make one forget God, rather it brings one closer to God.
I could lose myself in the beauty
Of Thy Creation;
This world is the idol
Through which I worship Thee!
THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
When you receive a letter from someone, the letter implies that the sender is not before you. He communicates by letter. After receiving the letter, and after going through its contents and reading the name of the sender, you become convinced of the fact that the phenomenon is not one that could have taken place all by itself. The contents of the letter, its words and sentences, the connection of the letter with the postal delivery system and its arrival at your doorstep – all go to show that the occurrence is not accidental, and could not have taken place out of the blue, as it were. There is some purpose in the sending of the letter, there is an enquiry, a request for a reply. Regardless of whether the sender’s name is on the letter or not, its very existence proves that there must be a sender who has written it for someone, and that the writing contained therein has some meaning. It is very likely that the letter may be from someone you have never seen before and have never known before, but the fact that he has sent you a letter shows that he wishes to reveal himself to you. And he may send gifts to you, every day, that do not bear his name. He may do all that to find out how his letters and gifts are affecting you, and what efforts you are making to s3eek him and know him. By the time you step out of your house, the postman has dropped the letter in your house and has gone. You go to the post office and enquire after the name of the sender. However, the post office officials inform you that they are merely concerned with the address of the person to whom the letters and gifts are sent. It is not their business to locate the address of the sender. You must do that yourself.
“Justhuju kun justhuju, kun justhuju”
Search after Him, Search after Him;
Look within yourself –
And find Him there!
Look upon this world, and then seek to know its Creator. After coming into this world, seek to know where lies His Kingdom.
What a beautiful letter is this Universe, which He has sent! The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing; the stars, the sun and the moon are glittering in the skies; the rivers are flowing down; the oceans are swelling their bosoms. The mountains are looking up towards the paths He will tread when He comes. There is a game of hide and seek which is going on all the time. Beautiful, golden pictures are before the eyes. Paintings which are invaluable. Who is the Artist? Who is the sender of this beautiful letter? The beauty of the world so captures one’s imagination that one becomes engrossed in savouring each and every word of this beautiful letter. One forgets that one must seek the sender of the anonymous letter. After seeing the Art, it is essential to meet the Artist.
For some time, the receivers of this beautiful letter may admire its contents; they may gaze upon the beauty of His world. But the time is surely to come when it shall become necessary to seek Him. He is an Artist as well as a Writer. He has sent beautiful paintings along with His letters. By sending these beautiful things he wishes to create a feeling of love for Him in the heart of the receiver. He wishes to create a thirst which will lead the receiver to seek His Beauty, after seeing the beauty of His Art, as manifested, for instance, in the beauty of the Rose. A fraction of His beauty reflects itself in the colour and the softness of the flower. The heart which is lost in the beauty of the flower shall slip off its slippery petals and fall before Him.
Where is He?
This question was asked of the flower in the garden; it was asked of the sun and the moon and the stars; it was asked of the rivers and the oceans; it was asked of each and every particle that Nature created. Where is He, Who has made everything so beautiful?
Alas, that the nightingale should cry
And the rose have no ears!
Alas, that the tongue should cry
And the particles of dust have no answer!
What a wonderful thing it would have been, indeed, if each and every particle could speak and give an answer to the question: ‘WHERE IS HE’?
One thing is certain, however, that there is a letter before us. The sender has either forgotten His name and address or else He has deliberately concealed them. He has done this to create in the heart of the addressee a search and a desire for Him, so that tears may flow from the eyes and sighs escape from the lips for His sake – for Him, the Unknown – and so that He may be ultimately found. He who forgot to write His name and address on the letter.
No matt4er where we may look in the world we shall find only the world and its manifold faces. Where is the Creator?
He cannot be found anywhere. Each and every particle of dust appears to say: “I exist, I exist. He is nowhere!” This is true. The heart of man speaks of the beauty of Him Whose creation is so beautiful. His beautiful letter has given an indication of His existence, but He Himself is nowhere to be found. His writings exhibit His beauty. The heart is being pulled in His direction. What a strange kind of an attraction is this? Invisible, yet so powerful. After all, there MUST be a sender of this anonymous letter. The letter proves the existence of the One who is trying to conceal Himself within it. Perhaps He has hidden Himself so that His name might be made known. The letter has proved the existence of the sender. It is impossible to believe that He does not exist. God is NOWHERE must be replaced by: GOD MUST BE SOMEWHERE. The secret of HIS hiding must have some significance; and the voice of man must cry out:
Perhaps I am not worthy enough
To catch a glimpse of Thee;
But thou canst feel my yearning
And my joy at the thought of Thee.
It is true that the one who sent the letter is absent. By writing from a distance, he brings in your heart a remembrance of him; he creates a feeling of love and establishes a relationship. What, indeed, would be the state of mind of the receiver of the letter, if the sender were to come along with the letter, itself? Would the addressee then read the letter or talk to the one who sent it? If he were to look only at the sender and ignore the letter altogether, the message would lose all significance. And if he were to read the letter only and ignore the sender then it is very likely that the sender would be offended.
Therefore, His concealment has a significance. It is justified. The fact that He has hidden Himself does not imply that He does not exist. Why is He silent? The reply to this is that He has already written the letter and sent it, and the letter itself is a proof of His concealment. And concealment is a strong proof of Existence. For how could a thing conceal itself unless it existed in the first place?
The concealment, the separation, and the delay in
That, which they seek, is Greatness itself, and hence no delay can be long enough. Indeed, if a few moments of this life can gain in exchange Eternity, then the bargain is very good.
For the moth to plunge
Into the Flame and burn –
For just a little moment –
Is no great achievement;
When a moment’s burning gives
Everlasting Life.
Regardless of whether the letter is anonymous or has the name of someone written on it, it has been written by someone. The words that form the letter are not due to the random scattering of drops of ink. They are beautiful and well-formed; each and every letter has a meaning, and each and every sentence points to some end that must be reached. And that destination is where the writer lives. He must be found. That is the goal which must be attained by the reader of the letter.
It is difficult to imagine how a random scattering of drops of ink could produce such a well-written letter. Similarly, it is difficult to imagine how this very orderly Universe could have been created by a sudden random process somewhere in space. The very existence of the orderly Universe points to an Intelligent Being. If one can believe in an accident or a chance producing such an orderly creation, then why cannot one believe in the Writer behind the scene, who wrote this beautiful poem of the Universe? He used matter as a pen, to carve out this Universe. A writer’s pen is lifeless, but his intelligent hand works behind it. Similarly, matter is lifeless but the Intelligent Force behind it uses it as an instrument for Its Thoughts.
Albert Einstein, who was perhaps the greatest scientist the world has ever known, had this to say about the Supreme Intelligence he saw working in the Universe:
“The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the power of all true science…. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the Highest Wisdom and the Most Radiant Beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling is at the centre of true religiousness.”
There is nothing in this Universe which is without significance. And everything is heading towards its own basic reality, towards its own element. The writer did not draw a straight line; instead, he drew a circle.
Everything goes around in a circle and returns to its original element. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. The drops of water end up ultimately in the ocean. Each and every breath that we take ends up ultimately in the atmosphere, from which it originated. And the human soul ends up ultimately in that Reality from which it originated.
Everything in this world is working towards that goal, pushing the human soul onwards towards its destination. Every success is like a step in a ladder. The feet are raised only to be placed on the steps higher up. And when the destination is reached, the feet stop moving and the ladder is then of no use.
For as long as I was bound by thoughts,
I remained far from my goal;
But then I used the ups and downs of life
As a ladder for my ascent.
When man realizes that every stage in life is carrying him onwards towards a beautiful destination, then he looks upon the gains and losses of this world, the ups and downs of life, and Life and Death, as simply different steps of a ladder carrying him upwards. One foot is always below and the other above. After understanding the real meaning of life, he becomes perfectly satisfied with all that life brings, taking everything that comes his way as a form of progress towards his real destination.
The map of the Universe reveals that its Artist must have been a very clever one, a very great one.
The moment man complains of the thorns, he finds roses before him; the moment he complains of the dark night, he finds the sky illumined by the moon and the stars. The wise manses in every phase of nature a certain regularity which overrules any irregularity. Or, in other words, he sees a regularity in every irregularity. For he sees a design behind everything, which is for his own betterment.
If the onslaughts of life shatter your dreams,
Be not afraid!
The tailor cuts the cloth
Only to sew it.
The painting is created by an Artist, and he is revealed even in his concealment. He is revealed in his art. When love springs up in the heart for that Great Artist. He draws closer. The cries of man reach that Great Writer and tell Him that His letter cannot be understood without a personal interpretation of it directly from Him.
The answer to a question lies in the question itself. A question remains a question only up to the moment the answer comes. And when the answer comes, the question forthwith transforms itself into the answer. For as long as the question is unanswered, it remains a question. And then again, for every question there must be an answer. The answer is hidden, while the question is revealed. The answer lies at the foundation of every question.
God is hidden
And the World, revealed;
The treasure is concealed
And the forest, before us.
After we have understood that the answer to every question lies within the question itself i.e. just like “four plus four?” contains “eight” within itself, then we can try to seek the Final Answer within the question: ‘WHERE IS HE?” In answer to this question. He must exist somewhere in the very world in which the question is posed.
Since the world is an offspring of His Thought, and that Thought is like His Own Face. He can manifest Himself in the reality that surrounds us.
It is His Knowledge that appears before us in the form of these “words and letters” of the Universe. It is His Art that lends this beauty to the world. It sis His Own Existence which is being manifested before us in the shape of the Universe. If there were no water there would be no bubble. Similarly, if He did not exist, nothing would exist.
It is His Bliss that fills the attractive things of the world, and seeks to draw man to Himself. The things enveloped in limitation group together and give evidence of some Greater Thing which exists.
Good, Better, and Best are three stages. One must pass from the first to the second and from the second to the third. In the final stage there is God-Realisation. And after that there is nothing else. The highest degree is a form of perfection of all preceding degrees. The changeable joys and pleasures of this world point towards some Unchangeable Bliss. If there is movement, there must be rest. If there is sound, there must be silence. If there is a changeable world, there must be an Unchangeable God.
Just like darkness is surrounded by light, and the two are in natural opposition, similarly the perishable is surrounded by the Imperishable, and the world of sorrow is surrounded by a world of joy.
The Writer of the letter has placed His aims and objectives before the reader in the form of the words and sentences and the meanings attached to them, even though He Himself, is not present therein, directly. Every limited object gives an indirect proof of some Unlimited Existence. Every part gives the proof of the Existence of the Whole. After every darkness there is light. And, then again, darkness and light are not two entirely separate things. Darkness is the absence of light. The limited is a smaller form of the Unlimited. The bubble is a very weak and fragile form of the powerful ocean.
The relationship between the Unlimited and the limited is very deep and profound. Both are inter-dependent and cannot exist without one another. Darkness and light can only exist relative to one another, even though they appear to work in opposition.
In every part, I saw the drama of the Whole,
Within the shape of the drop, I saw the ocean.
How does the limited prove the existence of the Unlimited? It is like the little drop of dew, which rests on the petal of a flower, and gives an indirect proof of the existence of the ocean.
Let us look at that drop of dew. Resting alone on the petal of the rose, it trembles with fear. It had always thought that it would lie for ever on the petal of the rose and that it would never be separated from its beauty. But the waves of the wind shook the twig on which the flower bloomed, and fear sprang in the heart of this drop of dew as it beheld the dust below on the ground. Clinging to Life is a natural instinct in all living creatures. It gives a proof of the fact that Life must be Eternal.
Sorrow is, in reality, non-existent. That, which goes against your wishes, is sorrow. When you do not get what you desire, there is sorrow; and when you get what you do not desire, there is sorrow. If one can get rid of one’s desire, then sorrow shall cease to exist.
I love the world
Though I am rebuked by it;
For in my religion
To give place to sorrow
Is to sin
When the world rebukes us, we are unhappy, but the truth is that is we who allow ourselves to be made unhappy by converting things that come before us to shapes of sorrow. If that, which comes before us, is not against our wishes, it can never become a source of unhappiness. When we complain of sorrow thrust upon us by others, then, indeed, we ought to complain against ourselves for giving a resting place to sorrow. The wise man, who does not see the events following his wishes, makes his wishes correspond to the events. And, thereby, he gains Peace of Mind.
The drop of dew can either give up the notion of falling off the petal of the flower, or else it can give up the fear induced in it by the trembling of the flower. Another way it can gain peace is if the wind ceases to play upon the flower and the flower becomes still. And this happens sooner or later, and when it does, the drop of dew begins to understand the laws of Nature. It becomes aware of the fact that its relationship with the flower can never be permanent. Any minute the wind can begin again and cast the dew-drop into the dust.
It is better if thou look beneath thee
And see that, of which thou must, one day,
Become a part – the dust.
And when this understanding dawns upon man, he ceases to be like the shining drop of dew, but, instead, becomes like a tear-drop.
A wise man looks upon the tear-drop and is surprised to see the shining drop of dew transformed thus. From whence came sorrow?
The Wiseman asks the drop of dew:
“O thou, who dost lie on the petal of such a beautiful rose, why art thou filled with sorrow?
And the drop of dew says:
“I cannot live, where I am now, and where I wish to live. In my limited form there is the fire of Death. Either I shall be cast into the dust below or I shall be evaporated by the heat of the sun, and shall wander away into a world of restlessness. Sorrow has become the picture of my life. There is no limit to my sadness. In this small form of mine there is a vast misery.”
The Wiseman:
“Your fear is justified. But you do not know that the shape you are in is not your only shape. You also exist in a greater form, from which you were separated.”
The dew-drop:
“What form is that? I know myself to be only as big as I am.”
The Wiseman:
“You are right. You see yourself as you are. But you have become so small only because you have been separated from something. Otherwise you are a vast ocean of water.”
The dew-drop:
“The ocean? What is that? Where does it exist? If it exists, how can I reach it?”
The Wiseman:
“Life rests on the foundation of Peace. Real Existence must be a picture of Peace. You are restless. This shows that you are far removed from your own reality. Everything attains peace when it returns to its natural state of rest. I ask you whether you are perfect or imperfect? If you are perfect, then why are you so restless? And if you are imperfect, then there must exist some perfection to which you belong. When you merge yourself into that perfection, into that whole, of which you are a part, you shall become perfect. It is only when you have reached your destination that this restlessness shall cease. It is true that I cannot reveal to you the ocean in this garden, but if you look within yourself you shall see that the restlessness within you is because of a separation which is gnawing away at your heart. Thirst reveals the fact that one is still separate from water. Hunger reveals the fact that one is still away from food. And your limited self tells you that you are still far away from your Unlimited Self. A part cannot exist without a whole. A drop of water cannot exist without the ocean. The limited space confined in a cup cannot exist without the Unlimited Space outside. This restlessness within you is not due to any other cause. It exists because of your separation from the ocean, which you have forgotten. But your very nature shall force you to unite yourself with that ocean. Your saying that you are small is an evidence of that greatness within you. The proof of its existence cannot be found in this garden, but it can be found within you. There is nothing in this garden which can compare with the size of the ocean, and hence nothing here that may be used as an example to illustrate its vastness. Hence I cannot answer your question about the size of the ocean. But you can visualize the size of the ocean by thinking about countless drops of water like yourself, all gathered together. That is the size of the ocean. As for your question as to how you can reach the ocean, I have only this to say, that, the craving for peace which exists within you, and which gives a proof of the existence of the ocean, that intense desire shall carry you forward through many different phases of existence until you reach the ocean and find satisfaction.
Children though we may be,
We still can find our way home!
Nature has taken upon itself the responsibility of taking everything to its final goal, and it shall take you to your final goal as well. This fire of sorrow within you, and the heat of the sun, shall carry you away in a small vapour. You shall reach the sky, and from there you shall come down as rain and shall fall into streams and rivers, which will then carry you down to the ocean.”
The drop of water perished in the Ocean
And became Imperishable.
The limited form of the drop of water reveals the presence of the ocean; the rays of light, which come from the sky, prove the existence of the sun. The limited self of man proves the existence of the Unlimited Self of God.
A step forward towards the destination proves the existence of the destination. An incomplete paragraph, coupled with a desire to write more, proves that the actual form of the paragraph is to be something else. The fact, that the thought of happiness exists in the world but no happiness exists within the world, proves that everlasting happiness lies somewhere else. The wailing that proceeds from the lips of man when he is hurt indicates that his cries are for the ears of Someone who can come to his aid. If there were no aid coming from anywhere, there would have been no cries as well. The wailing and crying is an instinctive act; it calls for Someone. If a child could exist without a mother, then he would never cry even after falling. If there were not the infinite sky outside, the imprisoned wings of the bird in the cage would not yearn for it. Tears are a form of pleading, a silent voice which calls for Someone. Prayers are a picture of helplessness, and reveal the means of deliverance from the helplessness. There is no need to become despondent, because for every problem there must be a solution, and for every prayer there must be an answer.
Suppose you stand outside a house. You do not know who is inside, but you send a note inside, requesting for various items. When these items are delivered to you, you immediately become convinced of the fact that someone exists within the house.
Similarly, the moment man starts getting the answers to his prayers, he becomes convinced of the existence of God. When your troubles disappear, all by themselves, and very suddenly, then, of a necessity, there must be someone who removed them. He provides man with strength to overcome sorrow, and He gives man everything that man needs. He looks after man even when the “I” of man is not conscious of the world or of itself. He is God.
When you go to sleep, where is your “I”? Who is it that maintains the working of your bodily organs even at that time? Who is it that sustains the Universe? When you awaken in the morning, your eyes meet the sun, flowers give you fragrance, winds provide a fan for you. And the rivers flow down to the ocean as if proclaiming to the whole world that all that is limited must merge into the Unlimited.
There are some who believe that the object bringing fulfillment comes only after the need has arisen for it. But reality proclaims otherwise. The object exists first, and the need for it arises later. For the eyes there is the sun, for thirst there is water, for the breath there is air. For every need in life, that, which fulfils the need, exists even before the need arises. Thirst could only have come as a need because there was water to begin with; hunger could only have come as a need because there was food to begin with.
Who is it that provided the mother with milk even before the child was born? Who is it that has provided the Universe with self-sustaining laws?
Dead matter is not responsible for all these orderly creations. There is some Living Force, which has taken upon Itself the responsibility of fulfilling all the needs of your life.
It is that very God, whose existence you question. Who is providing you with all the limited joys which you need for your limited body, and Who wishes to free you from all sorrows. Is He not clearly outlined before you as the Artist of this painting of the Universe? Who is it that comes into your heart as Love, as Inspiration, as Knowledge, all of which go to make the world more beautiful? It is not you who bring forth all these attributes, nor does the world, for these things exist neither within you nor within the world. These are external attributes which come from a Source Outside. Who is it that cares for all your needs, and answers all your prayers, and gives you a promise that even as He provided all the answers to your needs before you came into the world, so will He provide all the answers to all the needs that may arise within you in the future? And he gives this promise with a measure of responsibility.
Let Him worry over thy needs –
Let Him worry
Who is worrying over them;
Why invite sorrow by worrying
Over them thyself?
If we can grasp this one truth, that the answer to every need exists even before the origin of that need, then, indeed, we shall be free of all fear. When one becomes a guest, all the responsibilities fall upon the Host. If we look with care, we shall discover that all the people in the world are like guests. This is so, because a guest is one who enters a house and then leaves it in the shape in which it was when he entered it. In a like manner, people come into this world, which has been constructed prior to their coming, and then they leave it behind in the same state. The sun, the moon, and the stars., the atmosphere, etc., etc., all are provided by the Host.
Man is like a guest who arrives one day, stays for one day, and then leaves one day. He is surrounded by the past, the present and the future. If he can look upon himself as a guest and leave all his worries to the Host, then, indeed, all the responsibilities will fall upon the host and he will be free to enjoy himself. And the Host is so Perfect that He cannot, and will not, make a mistake in His arrangements. After all, it was He. Who created the Universe with such unerring accuracy. He has provided for all the comforts of the guest. And if there be a few things that are missing, or some that are not entirely according to the wishes of the guest, then these omissions can be looked upon as deliberate. The Host has arranged things in a particular manner because He understands what is good for the guest, more so than the guest himself. He fulfils all the desires of the guest and gives him comfort; he also does not fulfils certain desires, but then this is for the betterment of the guest.
Thy anger is our medicine
And thy mercy our nourishment;
Whatever Thou art doing –
Is for our betterment.
The proof of the Existence of God cannot be obtained by means of the intellect alone. Purity of the heart is required. The eyes can see a lump of sugar but they cannot taste it. For the taste there is the tongue.
Those who have understood
The meaning of God-Realisation,
Have unraveled the secret of Life,
And have concealed it within themselves;
Their mouths are shut, as if locked,
And their hearts are full of revelation;
Their lips are silent
But their hearts speak.
Someone asked me: “What pleasure is there in God-Realisation?”
I replied: “I shall tell you what pleasure lies in God-Realisation provided you can describe to me the exact taste of any fruit – say, the mango.”
The same tongue, which tastes the mango, cannot speak of the taste of the fruit. It can call it “sweet”, but then that is no exact description. Sugar is also sweet, and there are other things also which are sweet. But they are not like mangoes. The sweetness of the mango has a peculiarity of its own, which the tongue can taste, but cannot describe.
I, a dumb person, have seen a dream
And the entire world is deaf;
Alas! I have no tongue to speak with
And they have no ears to hear me!
The eyes and the ears can do only two separate chores, even though they are very close. The ears can only hear and the eyes can only see. Even if occasion demands, they cannot interchange their functions. Similarly, the functions of the intellect and the heart are different. The intellect is limited and can live on in the world of limitation. But the heart can reach out to regions not bounded by this limitation. Love is one such force which manifests itself in the heart, and not in the intellect. Love is not based upon reasoning alone. Love is a feeling, separate from the gropings of intellect. What is Love? Who can define this attraction? Only those who have been in Love can speak of it, and even then they cannot define it or explain it, they can best feel it.
Similarly, the Bliss of God-Realisation can be understood only by those who have felt it.
How the heart is lost in love.
Cannot be known by the intellect;
Ask of them who have lost their hearts
And they shall know.
When I was asked whether there was any gain in seeking God-Realisation, I replied that the sense of gain was as great as the sense of gain of a person finding an ocean while searching for a drop of water.
The pleasures, which are derived from the senses, go no sooner than they come. They are like the little spark of light in the dark jungle.
The happiness, which lies in one’s heart, shines like the sun and there is no darkness which surrounds it.
The air is now invigorating,
And the breeze scatters scent;
The flowers are blooming,
And the nightingale is singing.
That joy which is Unlimited and which has no connection with the senses; that joy which is felt all of a sudden in the heart, like a flash of very bright lightning, even when the eyes and ears are shut and one is not conscious of the material world; that joy of all joys – where does it come from? It does not belong to the world because the senses were disconnected from the world. It is there; one cannot deny its existence. It is beyond all powers of description; it is different and unusual; it does not come from the material world.
If the rays of the sun come inside the house from an open window, then the existence of the sun outside is clearly established. If the air is laden with fragrance, then, indeed, one can think of the existence of flowers somewhere.
One of the greatest proofs of the Existence of God is that, when man separates himself from the limitations of the world he experiences the presence of Something SPIRITUAL.
Ah! What was it.
That pierced my heart? –
Though his hand carried no spear and no bow.
The Effect gives a proof of the existence of the Cause. Spiritual bliss gives the proof of some Unbounded Bliss somewhere.
Suppose that you have come across a flower for the first time in your life. Your eyes will examine it and see its intricate design and colour, and you will be led to believe that it is colour and design alone that go to make the flower; but then your nose will detect a fragrance and shall appear to suggest that the flower is only fragrance; your sense of touch will suggest that the flower is only softness.
Each of these senses gives a different interpretation of the flower. The eyes know nothing of the qualities perceived by the nose and the sense of touch; the nose knows nothing of design and colour; the sense of touch knows nothing of fragrance and design and colour. Then again, the tongue shall reveal the taste of the flower, of which, the eyes, the nose and the hands, can tell nothing. And when the wind produces a rusting of the leaves and the petals of the flower, the ears detect the sound. Each of the senses of perception gives the flower a separate attribute. And yet the flower is not five different things. It is a combination of all five. When the inner organ of the mind perceives this combination, it sees the picture as a unified whole. But is that all there is of the flower? Are our senses sufficient to describe it completely? Are all its attributes known to their fullest extent? Or is there some other quality which can be perceived only by some other sense of perception, which we do not possess? Neither the senses nor the mind can answer this question.
There is something there which cannot be grasped by the five senses alone and in which all the qualities of the flower are manifesting themselves and the flower is gaining a shape in existence. That thing is like the screen on which a movie film is being projected. If there were no screen, the pictures would not be exhibited. If all the qualities of the flower were to vanish, the flower would cease to exist. Therefore, for the flower to manifest itself, there must be Some Background on which all these aggregate of qualities can appear. The Background cannot be space for space can exist only in the perception of the mind. The Background cannot be the mind either, for the mind itself rests upon something. In sound sleep the mind does not exist, but that Something is there, which acts as a background for the mind in the awakened state. The mind is not a reality in itself. Beyond the mind there is Something which exists even when the mind is asleep. It is that Something which proclaims its existence when the mind awakens and says: “I slept soundly. I was not aware of anything”. Here there is neither space nor time nor causation, but there is Something, which contains in itself a feeling of Peace and Rest. It is aware of the existence or non-existence of other things; it is a CONSCIOUSNESS which proves the existence of the mind. And this consciousness acts in conjunction with the mind when the mind is awake, and all alone by itself when the mind is asleep. In the state of wakefulness and in the state of dreaming, in sleep, this consciousness acts with the mind. But in sound sleep, or the state of super-consciousness, or deep meditation, it acts without the mind.
It establishes the existence of the world when it acts though the mind; and it establishes the existence of God when it is all alone by itself.
Close thine eyes, thine ears and thy nose;
Enter thou thyself,
And if thou cannot see God even then,
Then laugh thou at me!
There are three stages of Knowledge:
1. Lower Consciousness i.e. a consciousness of the world
2. Raised Consciousness: an interplay of internal thought.
3. Super-consciousness: an absence of internal thought, or a state of meditation.
And beyond all these three stages there exists one of PURE CONSCIOUSNESS.
Consider the following associations:
Consciousness plus thought = the Material World
Consciousness plus vague thought = the
Consciousness minus temporary thought = Dreamless World.
Consciousness minus Complete thought -= Super-consciousness
CONSIOUSNESS WITH NO THOUGHT FOR ALL TIME IS PURE CONSCIOUSNESS.
Everything manifests itself in consciousness. If there were no consciousness, there would be no world – material or spiritual.
In one type of consciousness, one sees the world, and the world appears as solid matter. In another type of consciousness one sees the world of the dreams, and this appears to be as real as the world of the wakeful state. While it exists, it appears just as solid and material as the outer world of the wakeful state. But when one awakens, the world of the dreams is nowhere to be found. Similarly, when one goes to sleep, the world of the wakeful state vanishes.
One can recollect vaguely the world of the dreams upon awakening; but in sleep there is no accurate recollection of the world of the wakeful state.
These are simply two states of consciousness in which there is an interplay of the thoughts and the mind. In sound sleep, consciousness and thoughts – and a little later – even the mind, cease to exist. In this state there is neither the world of the dreams nor the world of the wakeful state. The reality of everything around oneself and associated with oneself vanishes, and there appears to be nothing existing. This state is that of CONSCIOUSNESS MINSUS TEMPORARY THOUGHT, and it is a state which disappears the moment the body awakens. And even if the body does not awaken it may slip back into the state of the dream world. Man exists in both these worlds – the outer world of the wakeful state and the world of dreams.
The state of sound sleep, where apparently nothing exists, is a very temporary state. Beyond this state there lies a state which does not depend upon sleep for its manifestation, but is connected with that PURITY which transcends the mind. That state is known as a state of Super-consciousness. That is why that state is considered much higher than the state of worldly wisdom which is associated directly with the mind. In that state the ‘SELF’ of man is with itself, and there is the elimination of the active as well as the inactive mind. The “self” experiences joy. There is neither space nor time. Upon descending to the level of lower consciousness, all matter appears as Solidified Thought, which is no more real than the matter of one’s dreams.
The mind is then seen as a sudden wave of consciousness, just like the world of the dreams is seen as a consequence of thought, which merges into consciousness upon awakening. The material world is also revealed in consciousness; it lives in consciousness and vanishes within it. One who knows the secret of the material world and its relationship with thought, does not worry about its nearness, for its existence and non-existence are equal in his eyes. Regardless of whether the bubble remains on top of the ocean or it bursts, the phenomenon exhibits only water. One does not seek to wipe out the world from one’s mind, for, in this wish a new thought is created. He, who knows the secret of the world, then thinks of the world as he would think of the world of the dreams, - a vanishing world. And just like the world of dreams is destroyed upon awakening, similarly the world of the wakeful state is destroyed by the thought of Death.
Death, too, is another phase of consciousness.
The Knower of Truth then understands that the world is simply a phase of consciousness, or else a manifestation of consciousness. He does not consider anything to be separate from himself. And that is so, because nothing can be outside of consciousness, and if consciousness be outside of anything, that thing cannot exist.
One state of consciousness is the World; and another state of consciousness is God.
PURE CONSCIOUSNESS or ABSOLUTE CONSCIOUSNESS is that which exists all by itself and doe not stand in need of any other consciousness to activate it. It is either a consciousness of consciousness itself or else not even that, for there is nothing relative to which it can be called consciousness. How does this cup of the Universe manifest itself in that Consciousness? It is like the snoring of sleep, or the movement and sound of breathing in intoxication.
The manifestation of this world against the background of that Consciousness is like the formation of waves and storms on the surface of the otherwise calm ocean. The storms and the waves do not add or detract from the quantity of the ocean, which remains the same in all phases.
Coming back to the flower, which was revealed by the qualities perceived by the senses acting upon the mind, we must revert to the existence of consciousness upon which the mind rests. Thus, the qualities of the flower fall upon the senses of the body; the senses of the body fall upon the mind; and the mind falls upon consciousness. Therefore, the flower, along with all its qualities is existent only on the EXISTENCE which is Pure Consciousness, which is Immortal and Everlasting.
There are three features of this Absolute Consciousness:
Sat Chit Anand
Existence Knowledge Bliss
It is that Eternal Consciousness which provides itself as a Background for the manifestation of the flower in the garden and the manifestation of the garden in the world. It is that one singular proof which cannot be refuted. And this Consciousness has two states of existence; one, that, in which the mind is working, and the other, that, in which the mind is absent.
If the world is to be seen, then the Spectacles of the Mind are necessary. If God must be seen, then the Spectacles of the Mind must be removed.
Consciousness plus mind = World
Consciousness minus mind = God
I do not move around with head uncovered;
Look at this – my four cornered hat!
Its four corners do reveal the four
Things that I have left –
The world, My little God,
Salvation, and fourthly,
The very notion of “leaving”, -
For I have left even that.
The little God, the Relative God that one creates for oneself, who depends upon the little self of man for his existence, and who caters primarily to man’s needs, is a product of man’s mind.
The thought of “leaving” a particular thing only arises when one assumes that one is separate from that thing, and that one has an existence independent of the existence of that thing. However, if one has no separate, independent existence which is different from the existence of that thing, then the thought of “leaving” that thing cannot arise. There is nothing which can be lost and nothing which can be gained.
He, who considers his own existence as separate from the existence of God, does not understand the secret of “oneness”. And he, who does not consider himself as a limited being before an Unlimited God – like the little bubble before the ocean, or like the slave before the master, or like a part before a Whole, or like a lover before the Beloved or a worshipper before his Ideal – he, who cannot see separation, cannot partake of the joy of union.
When the drop of water asked the ocean why it, (the ocean), had separated the drop from itself, the ocean gave in reply: “I didst separate thee from myself to take the joy of
The cloth is sewn together,
Only that one may take joy
In seeing it taken apart;
Separation has been made
Only that one may take joy
In the coming of
And the ocean continued:
“It is not only you who are separate from me, it is also I, who am separate from you. You wish to meet me, while I wish to meet you. This design has been created so that the desire for
These stages of consciousness cannot be simply destroyed by a simple thought. A man who is in the dream world cannot dismiss that world by simply calling it a dream, because, while it exists, it is very real for him. Similarly, the wakeful state is real while it exists, and whatever it contains has a reality up to the moment it exists. In it lie truth, devotion, love and service.
One must walk with care on this path of life, and slowly and surely reduce one’s ego. And the easiest way of doing this is by Service, not simply by words alone. And then the day comes when the desire to seek God develops within us:
At last, the day has come, at last!
The day that fulfils all our promises,
That ends this tiresome journey
Of ages past, the day
That ends all our travails and trials.
“I” merges into “Thee” and the “Thee” then contains in itself everything: “I”, “thou”, “them” and “it”. All these differences cease to exist in that one “Thee”. The separation comes to an end. After delivering oneself up to that Supreme Power one becomes free of all the sorrows and troubles of the world.
I have arrived there –
Where I was heading;
Never more shall I wander
To and fro;
This is my destination,
This is the end.
Whether or not the drop of water shall ever return to the ocean, is a question which only the ocean can answer. If it returns, it shall partake of the joy of
This is all the drop of water can say:
“Let me remain at thy door
Lift me not from there, O, Almighty;
Let only the pain for thee rise
Within my heart;
How can I raise myself
With my own strength?”
The desire for union which exists within the drop of water and the ocean, has another name for it – LOVE. It assumes several forms:
(1) Where there is a desire, but one does not know for what or for whom the desire exists. The drop of dew rests like a tear-drop on the petal of a flower. There is a pain and a restlessness within it. It is sad, but it does not know why. Someone is calling it, and it can hear the Voice, but it knows not whose Voice it is, and from where it comes. It is strange, indeed, that the drop of dew has no idea what it is separated from. But the fire of separation burns within its heart. The rose ceases to charm it and holds no attraction for it. Its red petals are a reminder of the glowing fire of separation that burns within the breast of the dew-drop.
The garden is full of flowers with a multiplicity of colours. The branches of trees are swaying with the breeze. The nightingales are singing. The peacocks are carrying out a dance of joy. And the dew-drop looks at all olf them and says: “No, not this! Not this!”
In the Vedas it is written;
“NAYTEE, NAYTEE” which means “NOT THIS, NOT THIS.”
Who am “I”? Not this outside world, for “I” perceive it, and it exists separately from me. “I” am not the five senses for I perceive their action. “I” am not the mind, for its thoughts appear and disappear before me. “I” am not the reasoning faculty for I can perceive the channels along which it proceeds. “I” am not the vital forces associated with breath, for I inhale and exhale them. And thus all of objectivity is eliminated. A voice cries out: “Not this, not this!”
Finally, everything is set aside as “not this, not this” and there is nothing left. Everything is disowned. But there is still that THING which says: “not this, not this”. IT remains. IT cannot be disowned, for it does not belong to the outside, objective world. IT cannot be set aside as if it were an object of the outside world. IT does not belong to the outside objective world – and for that same reason it cannot be claimed as one’s own. For to claim something is to see it outside of oneself, like one would see a thing of the objective world. When everything else has been eliminated in this search, that which remains is found. And that which is found is that which was being sought. What a strange destination!
The beauty of the objective world failed to provide an answer for a desire which appeared insatiable. The things of the objective world were of a different substance, they could neither be possessed nor claimed, for theirs was an existence entirely separate. It is meaningless to think of bringing down the stars from the heavens for they belong to the sky and not to the earth. That, which is not “mine” cannot be made “mine” forcibly, therefore, I do not desire the next world, if there is any, for that, too, would be of some fine material substance, and would be an objective world outside of myself. I am the WITNESS that perceives everything around me, the weird dance of the objective world – this one, or the next.
What figures of fantasy,
Dost thou bring before me – O Heart!
Raised to heights sublime
And drowned in depths below.
The figures of the world pass away like a racing horse, or like the brushing of the wind. They bring forth shapes and forms like those of the clashing of fierce waves of water on the surface of the ocean. These things are not “I”, and the “I” is not in them. They all exist within that turbulent ocean. But the “I” searches for the pearl of peace which lies hidden somewhere in its depths. The trembling, disappearing shapes and forms, which are born out of the restlessness, can never given an unchanging place of rest, peace and happiness.
O Heart! Thou art never free
Of the shackles of desire
And canst not find a place of rest,
In the flurry of thy restlessness.
And in this restlessness is lost peace and happiness and salvation. The mind is filled with scattered thoughts, and the heart is torn. The intelligence of man failed to solve the riddle before it. And it failed because the solution lay not in the objective world, which was before it, but rather in the SUBJECTIVE WORLD.
O Farhad! If only thou had dashed thy spear
Against the loneliness of thy own heart,
Thou would have found that treasure
Of Everlasting Beauty!
A bewilderment faces the intelligence of man. That, which was sought in the various phases of the world, is not found in them. And that, which is Self itself, is in a subjective position and cannot, therefore, be understood by intelligence.
And there rings out the voice of the wise one,
Art thou still lost in the illusory snares of the world?
Having grasped the significance
Of that which is within thee,
And that which is without,
Seekest thou a spring of joy
In this perishing mirage?
How canst the sight of the nightingale,
Engrossed as it is in the sight of the rose,
Seek to capture within itself the whole world?
Intelligence, too, is a thing of the objective world and it does not contain within itself the solution to the problem. And then come the VITAL FORCES which are the foundation of the structure of life. Upon the shoulders of s whiff of air rests the existence of man. And that, too, belongs to the outside, objective world. That, which was seen, was not that, which was sought. And when “Not this, Not this” was all that was left, only the subject heard its own voice; but it could not see itself even though it was aware of its own existence. What was it aware of? What could it perceive in itself? That, which it had sought after, was present within itself. For within itself there was only the subject, and no shadow of the outside world made its appearance felt. And what happened next?
When “I” broke off all attachments with the perishable world outside, when “I” quenched desire, which was also of this world, when “I” broke all relationships that bound it to the outside world, when “I” came within itself, “I” found what it has sought. It was like the bird that soared everywhere in the sky, but towards the evening, returned home and settled down upon its nest, and went to sleep. The fatigue of the day was forgotten, and forgotten, too, the nest in sleep.
That which I sought everywhere from place to place,
Suddenly I found it within myself, face to face.
A lifetime of search bore fruit. “I” found that which “I” had sought within its own self.
After losing everything, “I” gained that one thing which “I” sought. There was pain and effort involved in losing and leaving the world, and there was nothing but rest in finding “IT”.
In order that one may know oneself, in order that the subject may realize its own subjectivity, it is necessary that the objective world be forgotten. And then nothing else must be done to achieve the object of one’s search. To lose everything is, in effect, to gain IT. Either one must lose everything and find IT, or else find IT and lose everything!
Fill thine eyes
With the nectar of Realisation,
And watch the tears roll down, -
Of this world, and the next,
When He came, I lost myself,
So strange was the effect
Of his radiance on me.
I was far from Truth
When I was in me;
I shall be filled with it,
When I have emptied myself –
Of me.
The tumbler is full of water, there is no air inside it. If one wishes to introduce air within, one must throw out the water, and the air shall enter the tumbler of itself. It takes a fraction of a second to shut and open one’s eyes; it takes some time to pluck off the petal of a flower; but it takes not even this much of time to attain God-Realisation. To leave all that is perishable and temporary is to become one with the Soul.
If thou must walk on the lonely paths
That lead to the house of the beloved.
Then set thy right foot forward, on thy ego,
And thy left foot on the road.
The false ego of man is closely related to the mind and body as well as to the objective world. The reflection of the Real Self in these physical attributes brings forth the thought: “I exist”. This false “I” of man is like the false “I” of the reflection in a mirror – a false “I” which exists within the mirror for only as long as the mirror exists. When the mirror is shattered to pieces, this false “I” thinks of itself as annihilated. The existence of the mirror fulfilled one important purpose. It brought forth the real “I” in the garb of the false “I” of the mirror. And with the coming of this false “I”, the possibility of the real “I” perceiving itself in its image became a certainty. The real “I” became aware of its own beauty in its reflection. It became aware of itself. And when the mirror broke, it did not consider itself annihilated.
What, therefore, is the conclusion?
“Not this, Not this”, led to the realization that, that which was being sought was, indeed, never lost, but was instead being wrongly sought after in the reflection of the mirror. When God Realisation or Self-Realisation came, then one understood that that which was found was never separate from oneself. The coming of the soul towards itself can only be conceived if one assumes it was separate from itself – which it never was! It was like the illusory reflection which presented an unreal separation, but which eventually led to the concept of real union.
The drop of dew lies in the garden waiting for enlightenment. It does not know what it yearns for. This first stage is that of unconscious separation which is present in all the souls all the time in the same manner. The believers and the non-believers both feel this separation. How can one deny the existence of God, when everything that exists in the temporary world proclaims very clearly that it is not that which is being sought. If this world were the object of the search, then it would be sufficient to provide absolute peace and contentment, and one’s heart would be at rest within oneself. There would be satisfaction in all phases of life. Storms and infernos would not alter this equilibrium, for they would not exist for one who dwelled in them constantly. A fist that lives in the water cannot be disturbed by the waves in it. But separate it from the water and it will die in desperation on the shore. For a brief while the fish may exist on the solid earth, but its real life exists only in the water. Its agony on the solid ground is sufficient proof of the fact that its life lies elsewhere.
This argument is the strongest proof of the existence of God.
If there were no water the fist would never have struggled in agony on the shore, and its life would have been maintained by the air outside. This argument proves that man’s existence, beset upon by the restlessness which stems from his surroundings, is indeed not at its real place of rest. Why is the earthly life surrounded by recurrent storms of sorrow? This is to tell man that this world is not his real home. He is like the fist which cannot find rest and life on solid ground because its real home is in the water.
Surely there is Something which can provide man with Absolute Rest. The existence of restlessness proves the existence of a state of rest, for if there were not rest, then restlessness itself would serve as rest. This is like proving the existence of water from thirst.
The drop of dew came to the realization that the destination of its life lay not in the garden, but elsewhere, and it sought to go from the stage of unconscious separation to that of conscious separation, and this was the stage of love. It sought to go from a separation about which it knew nothing, to a separation from something.
When I, with determination,
Did set foot on my journey
There came forth a message to me
From the morning breeze –
“The beauty of thy beloved
Shall not leave thee alive;
I swear by the fragrance
Of yon flower!”
But the lover has eyes and ears only for his beloved. He is deaf and blind to everything else. The drop of dew was listening to the voice within its heart – how could it hear anything else/ With a shudder and a gasp, it turned into a wisp of vapour and flew away from the petal of the flower. Perhaps, that, which cannot be found in the depths of the ground, may be found in the heights of the sky. It could not have flown off the flower all by itself, but the fire of its agony turned it into vapour, - though to outer appearances it was the heat of the sun which did as much. The shoulders of the wind carried it to the heights of the sky, where many a dew-drop had arrived before it and with which it mingled.
Alas, it is not only I
Who sing this melodious raga
In homage to thy flowery beauty;
There are a multitude of nightingales
Who do the same
Each and every particle that exists is running towards the essence of its being. The particles of dust are being mingled. into the sands of the deserts. The drops of water are being mingled into the ocean. The air is running off into the emptiness of space. And space exists in perception, in thought. It is mingled into that First Thought that created it. And the First Thought mingles into the First Thinker. And finally, the entire Universe mingles into deep sleep and dissolves away into nothingness.
The drop of dew which left the flower is now in the sky, within a cloud, amidst numerous other drops of water. The search is on for its real beloved, its source. This search burns like a fire within the breasts of all the drops gathered there. And one day fulfillment comes. In their meanderings in the sky, they behold the ocean, and the first sight of the ocean brings recognition. The drops were meant for the ocean. It was like the attraction between an iron and a magnet.
The cries of: “Not this, not this” changed to “This is it! This is it!”
If there on earth be any paradise,
It is this, it is this, it is this.
The next stage of unconscious separation began – a conscious separation which revealed that which was sought. And then the desire arose that only out of union could there be complete fulfillment. Ah, but the distance! A little drop high up in the heavens, and the vast and still ocean on the earth! A terrible height, a fear of shattering to bits upon falling, a fear of drowning in the dark depths. But love surpasses everything, and smites all fears. In life or in death, in existence or annihilation – there must be a union.
(CONTINUED IN PART TWO)
