Talks mar 9

 190

imp

D.: How is the ‘I-I’ consciousness felt? 

M.: As an unbroken awareness of ‘I’. It is simply consciousness.

 

D.: Can we know it when it dawns? 

M.: Yes, as consciousness. You are that even now. There will be no mistaking it when it is pure.

D.: Why do we have such a place as the ‘Heart’ for meditation? 

M.: Because you seek consciousness. Where can you find it? Can you reach it externally? You have to find it internally. Therefore you are directed inward. Again the ‘Heart’ is only the seat of consciousness or the consciousness itself. 

D.: On what should we meditate? 

M.: Who is the meditator? Ask the question first. Remain as the meditator. There is no need to meditate.

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191

Talk 208. 

It is enough that one surrenders oneself. Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one’s being. Do not delude yourself by imagining such source to be some God outside you. One’s source is within yourself. Give yourself up to it. That means that you should seek the source and merge in it. Because you imagine yourself to be out of it, you raise the question “Where is the source?” Some contend that the sugar cannot taste its own sweetness and that a taster must taste and enjoy it. Similarly, an individual cannot be the Supreme and enjoy the Bliss of that state; therefore the individuality must be maintained on the one hand and God-head on the other so that enjoyment may result! Is God insentient like sugar? 

How can one surrender oneself and yet retain one’s individuality for supreme enjoyment? Furthermore they say also that the soul, reaching the divine region and remaining there, serves the Supreme Being. Can the sound of the word “service” deceive the Lord? Does He not know? Is He waiting for these people’s service? Would not He - the Pure Consciousness - ask in turn: “Who are you apart from Me that presume to serve Me?” Still more, they assume that the individual soul becomes pure by being divested of the ego and fit for being the body of the Lord. Thus the Lord is the Spirit and the purified souls constitute His body and limbs! Can there be a soul for the souls? How many souls are there? 

The answer must be, “There are many individual souls and One Supreme Soul.” 

What is soul in that case? It cannot be the body, etc. What remains over after all these are eliminated must be said to be the soul.

 Thus even after realising the soul as that which cannot be discarded, the Supreme Soul must be known to exist. In that case, how was the soul realised to be the ultimate reality after discarding all that was alien to it? Should this be right, the soul which was described as that inalienable reality is not the true soul. All such confusion is due to the word ‘soul’ (atma). The same word atma is used to signify the body, the senses, the mind, the vital principle, the individual soul and the Supreme Being. This wide application of the word has given rise to the idea that the individual soul (jivatma), goes to constitute the body of the Supreme (Paramatma).

 “I, O Arjuna! am the Self, seated in the heart of all beings; ...” (Bhagavad Gita, X-20). 

The stanza shows that the Lord is the Atma (Self) of all beings. 

Does it say, “the Self of the selves”? If, on the other hand, you merge in the Self there will be no individuality left. 

You will become the Source itself. In that case what is surrender? Who is to surrender what and to whom?

 This constitutes devotion, wisdom, and investigation. Among the Vaishnavites too, Saint Nammalvar says, “I was in a maze, sticking to ‘I’ and ‘mine’; I wandered without knowing my Self. On realising my Self I understand that I myself am You and that ‘mine’ (i.e., my possessions) is only You.

Thus - you see - Devotion is nothing more than knowing oneself. 

The school of Qualified Monism also admits it. Still, adhering to their traditional doctrine, they persist in affirming that the individuals are part of the Supreme - his limbs as it were. Their traditional doctrine says also that the individual soul should be made pure and then surrendered to the Supreme; then the ego is lost and one goes to the regions of Vishnu after one’s death; then finally there is the enjoyment of the Supreme (or the Infinite)! To say that one is apart from the Primal Source is itself a pretension; to add that one divested of the ego becomes pure and yet retains individuality only to enjoy or serve the Supreme, is a deceitful stratagem. What duplicity is this - first to appropriate what is really His, and then pretend to experience or serve Him! Is not all this already known to Him? 

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193

Talk 209. 

Mr. B. C. Das, the Physics Lecturer, asked about free-will and destiny. 

M.: Whose will is it? ‘It is mine’, you may say. 

You are beyond will and fate. 

Abide as that and you transcend them both. That is the meaning of conquering destiny by will. Fate can be conquered. Fate is the result of past actions. By association with the wise the bad tendencies are conquered. 

One’s experiences are then viewed to their proper perspective. I exist now. I am the enjoyer. I enjoy fruits of action. I was in the past and shall be in the future. Who is this ‘I’? 

Finding this ‘I’ to be pure Consciousness beyond action and enjoyment, freedom and happiness are gained. 

There is then no effort, for the Self is perfect and there remains nothing more to gain. 

So long as there is individuality, one is the enjoyer and doer. 

But if it is lost, the Divine Will prevails and guides the course of events. 

The individual is perceptible to others who cannot perceive divine force. 

Restrictions and discipline are for other individuals and not for the liberated.

Free-will is implied in the scriptural injunctions to be good. It implies overcoming fate. It is done by wisdom. The fire of wisdom consumes all actions. Wisdom is acquired by association with the wise, or rather, its mental atmosphere.

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Talk 211. 

Mr. B. C. Das, the Physics Lecturer, asked: “Yoga means union. I wonder union of which with which.” 

M.: Exactly. Yoga implies prior division and it means later union of one with another. Who is to be united with whom? You are the seeker, seeking union with something. That something is apart from you. Your Self is intimate to you. You are aware of the Self. Seek it and be it. That will expand as the Infinite. 

Then there will be no question of yoga, etc. Whose is the separation (viyoga)? Find it.

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Talk 212. 

Maharshi observed: Pradakshina (the Hindu rite of going round the object of worship) is “All is within me.” The true significance of the act of going round Arunachala is said to be as effective as circuit round the world. That means that the whole world is condensed into this Hill. The circuit round the temple of Arunachala is equally good; and self circuit (i.e., turning round and round) is as good as the last. So all are contained in the Self. Says the Ribhu Gita: “I remain fixed, whereas innumerable universes becoming concepts within my mind, rotate within me. This meditation is the highest circuit (pradakshina).”

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Talk 213. 

Mr. B. C. Das asked why the mind cannot be turned inward in spite of repeated attempts. 

M.: It is done by practice and dispassion and that succeeds only gradually. 

The mind, having been so long a cow accustomed to graze stealthily on others’ estates, is not easily confined to her stall. However much her keeper tempts her with luscious grass and fine fodder, she refuses the first time; then she takes a bit; but her innate tendency to stray away asserts itself; and she slips away; on being repeatedly tempted by the owner, she accustoms herself to the stall; finally even if let loose she would not stray away. 

Similarly with the mind. If once it finds its inner happiness it will not wander outward.

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Talk 214. 

Mr. Eknatha Rao, a frequent visitor, asked: Are there not modulations in contemplation according to circumstances? 

M.: Yes. There are; at times there is illumination and then contemplation is easy; at other times contemplation is impossible even with repeated attempts. This is due to the working of the three Gunas (qualities in nature). 

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D.: Is it influenced by one’s activities and circumstances? 

M.: Those cannot influence it. 

It is the sense of doership - kartrutva buddhi - that forms the impediment.

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