23 Apr 2006
When any facility is available in the nature, the Lord will use it. Only when extreme necessity comes, the Lord uses His superpower [to overrule the laws of nature]. Shankara walked all over India for debates because there were no computers, emails or telephones through which arguments could be done. Once He wanted to argue with Kumarila Bhatta. But when Shankara looked through divine vision, the Bhatta was burning his body as self-punishment for a sin he had committed. He was sitting in a heap of paddy husk and had ignited it, so that it burnt his body slowly. For Shankara there was no time to reach there by foot. Therefore, there was an extreme necessity to use His superpower. Immediately He traveled through space and was there in a few seconds. But today when debates can be done through emails, there is no need of leaving the house for the propagation of the knowledge either by foot or by traveling through space using superpowers especially when aeroplanes are available.
One should leave one’s house only if the atmosphere is extremely opposed to spiritual sadhana. There is no need for leaving the home just for the sake of propagation because computer technology is available today. Shankara and Mandana Mishra left their houses in their time since such facilities were not available. Therefore, the background of any saint in the present time is to be carefully analyzed and you should not respect a saint simply for his age, red robe, leaving the house, traditional study etc. Traditional scholars pose too much that they have studied the shastra in Sanskrit. In fact, Tarka Shastra is exactly the present science in which the analysis of all the items and phenomena of the universe exists (Tarkyante Padarthah Asmin Iti Tarkah). There is no greatness of any language. After all, any language is just a vehicle of communication of knowledge. In fact, science is superior to Tarka Shastra because Tarka Shastra is only theory, where as science is theory supported by experimentation. Certain concepts of Tarka Shastra are proved wrong by science. The Tarka Shastra says that sound travels in space. It is wrong. Sound needs a medium of matter for propagation. Tarka says that gold is a special form of energy because it does not corrode. But it is wrong. According to science, gold does not corrode because the product of its corrosion is instantaneously disassociated back into gold, since the corrosion reaction is a fast reversible equilibrium. Therefore, tradition has no value. Only the truth in the tradition has value. Whether the truth is traditional or modern, the truth is the truth. The contact with the Sadguru and subsequently receiving the true knowledge, assimilating it and translating it to practice, is the greatest qualification in the spiritual path. All the other points are a waste.
You might have left your home and family members. You might have become a saint by taking the orange robe, you might have roamed all over the country and met several saints, you might have studied Shastras in Sanskrit in a traditional way, you might not have eaten garlic etc. All this is of no use if you do not catch the Sadguru, get real guidance from Him and implement it. When you go to an interview, you will be tested in the assimilation of the knowledge of that subject and in its experimentation. Without proving that you have realized the concepts and the correct interpretations, will you be selected by saying that you have left the house with a great urge and roamed from college to college and studied the course dressed in proper college-uniform, attained degree etc? The job is not given directly to the degree holder without an interview. You might have got the degree by memorizing the subject. You must be tested in the realization of the subject.
The realization of subject comes only with the help of the Sadguru and not from a Guru who has also memorized the subject. You cannot reach the goal without proper direction. The proper direction can be given only by the right knowledge, which is given only by the right Guru. If the knowledge is right, your practice will be right and you will achieve the right result. Therefore, one should not fall in the illusion of dress, traditional practices, language, traditional studies, leaving the family, leaving the house to roam everywhere, having a great urge etc. What is the value of your urge if you are in the wrong direction without assimilating the right knowledge? You have lot of spiritual urge and have left everything but you are going in the wrong direction. Therefore, you should rise above all these illusions and give importance to the analysis and search only for the truth discarding all obstructions.
Mandana Mishra was in a traditional dress, had learned the traditional Shastra in the Sanskrit language and followed all the traditional rituals. Sage Vyasa came as a saint with knowledge of Sanskrit and Shastra. Shankara argued with them for days together on the point. The cobbler was in a bad dress without any tradition and was speaking in a lower language (Prakrutam) but Shankara fell at his feet without any argument appreciating the cobbler’s point. You should just see the point and the subject and not see anything else because the truth is beyond all the external factors. Shirdi Sai Baba was eating garlic when a traditional Brahmin visited Him. Sai told him “He who can digest garlic alone can eat garlic”.
God Does Not Need Service
The Lord does not require service or anything from anybody. But He tests your love for Him through the sacrifice of your service in the form of work and the sacrifice of your hard earned wealth. That is the real proof of your love, which is proved by you in this same way to your family. You are covering your false love under the pretext that God does not need anything or any service. Why did Rama need the service of Hanuman? Why did Krishna ask Arjuna to fight, when He showed that He is actually killing all the enemies by Himself through the Vishwarupa vision? The Lord went to Shaktuprastha and asked for a little flour to pacify His hunger. The Lord was not really hungry. It was only the Lord’s way of testing the real love of Shaktuprastha for God. The proof of love is only service through action and not mere sacrifice of words and mind. The Veda and the Gita praise the sacrifice of work and the fruit of work in several places.
Paripurna Avatara
The saint asked whether Swami is a Paripurna Avatara. Swami is the human incarnation of Lord Datta. This means that Lord Datta entered the human body of Swami and is giving this special divine knowledge. The saint need not worry that God is living in the human body of Swami. According to the saint, Datta is only a sage and not God. Therefore, when Swami is the human incarnation of Datta, the saint need not worry at all. Swami is the human incarnation [reincarnation] of a sage. That sage was a Guru and therefore through Swami He is giving the knowledge. The sage Datta started giving this knowledge through Swami from childhood. If the sage stays till the end of the life of Swami, certainly Swami is the Paripurna Avatara of the sage Datta. Perhaps due to jealousy towards Swami, the saint arrived at the conclusion that Swami is not an incarnation of God because Datta is not God. Due to the anger of the saint on Swami, Datta suffered in this way! Of course, Datta does not mind this because His tradition is to suffer for His devotees.
Suffering of the Human Incarnation
The saint said that the human incarnation should not undergo any pain when the sins of His devotees are transferred on to Himself. The Lord certainly has the power of Maya to avoid pain while suffering the sins of devotees. But that will be cheating the Lord of Justice who is Himself. It is a violation of His own constitution as a judge. You fine your son as a judge and as a father you pay the fine. Here you should really pay the fine. You should not just pretend as if you paid the fine. Then you are cheating your own department [justice department] and yourself since you are the head of that department. Jesus experienced all the pain of crucifixion. Unless the pain is experienced the sin will not be pacified.
Removal of Ignorance
The saint said that the path of self-attainment is the removal of Mala, Avarana and Vikshepa of ignorance. Certainly the removal of these forms of ignorance step by step, removes self-ignorance and you can attain your self. Up to this point, there is no dispute. The dispute arises only when you say that the self is God. Suppose an ordinary person became mad and forgot himself. When he is cured of his madness he only becomes himself and not the king. If the king became mad, then by removing his self-ignorance the king will become king. But the king (Lord) imposes ignorance and acts mad but does not really become mad [madness represents ignorance in this analogy]. You are taking common item between yourself and the Lord as the awareness. In fact, the awareness is only the cover of the Lord and is not really the Lord.
Suppose you are a thread. You are comparing yourself with the shirt of the king. There is no point of comparison between you and the king because there is not a single similarity. Similarly you are an imaginable item of creation. This creation is the shirt of the Lord. You are part and parcel of the shirt. You can say that the shirt is cotton material and your self, the thread, is also cotton. You can say that you are qualitatively equal to the shirt though not quantitatively. Now you are assuming that the shirt is the king himself. Now you are removing the quantitative aspect and saying that the thread is the shirt, the shirt is the king and therefore the thread is the king. Neither is a thread the shirt (due to the quantitative difference) nor is the thread or shirt the king (due to qualitative and quantitative difference because the thread or the shirt are imaginable and the king is unimaginable). The quantitative difference between the thread and the shirt never disappears even after Pralaya [dissolution of the universe] because the thread remains in the shirt as usual even in the Avyakta or invisible state.
Before creation, neither you nor the universe existed and so there was no context of comparison. During the existence of the universe, the present quantitative difference exists. Even after the dissolution of this universe (Pralaya), the shirt is condensed to an invisible micro-state and you are also correspondingly condensed to the most micro-state. The reduction or expansion of the both the universe and the soul take place correspondingly. The same quantitative difference always exists.
You are dreaming of a state where the shirt is reduced to a thread and then you can be equal to such a reduced shirt. This is impossible. When the universe is condensed into Avyaktam, the entire universe does not disappear except one soul. The universe is also not condensed into one soul. Your assumption of the removal of the upadhi in both Ishwara and Jeeva is only a dream of your jealousy. You are assuming that a peon after retirement and the collector after retirement become one and the same and exist as a human being. This simile is not correct here because Ishwara will never leave His post. Even in the Pralaya the universe is in the form of a microfilm and even then Ishwara is the owner of the film. The ownership of Ishwara is never lost and is eternal. Therefore, where is the practical chance of Jeeva becoming the Ishwara by removing the Upadhis of both? Therefore, the concept of equality of Ishwara and Jeeva in Advaita is meaningless because it never materializes at any time. Simple theoretical assumption is of no use. You may say that the king and beggar will become a handfull ash after death and therefore there is a possibility of equality at least in that time. But this king (Ishwara) is eternal since this creation remains eternal and always exists either in expressed state or condensed state. The Jeeva may lose the Upadhi in salvation but Ishwara need not have salvation and does not leave the upadhi of the universe, which is either in micro or macro form. When such a problem comes, the Advaitin turns the tables by saying that the world is unreal and therefore since the Upadhi is unreal, the common awareness remains as one and the same at all times. Such argument is the climax of foolishness. Shankara never said that the world is unreal. He only said that the world is real and negligible (Mithya). Such state of mithya of the world is only in the view of God and not in the view of the Jeeva. Even in the view of God the world is not unreal because God created the world for entertainment. If the world becomes completely unreal, the entertainment becomes unreal. The Jeeva in fact is negligible with respect to the universe and is Mithya as compared to it. Even in the view of God when the world is real, how can the Jeeva say that the world is unreal? This sort of foolish attempt shows his madness to become God. Let him take the path of devotion and service. He will not only become God, even God will become his servant.
Levels of Human Beings
There are five levels of human beings. The first level consists of the highest devotees who treat Krishna as God. Krishna declared again and again that He is God in the Gita because Arjuna was in the highest level at that time. But this highest level is very dangerous and one can slip very easily. Hanuman demonstrated such slipping by engaging in a fight with Rama to protect Yayati. The devotee from this first level falls to the second level due to the attack of a little jealousy and egoism. The devotee in this level blames the Lord for claiming Himself to be God. Therefore, the transaction between these two levels is very frequent. The Lord keeps a safety measure for this purpose. While stating that He is God, He also stated in the Gita that God did not become the human body (Manusheem Tanum; Avayaktam vyakti…). This means that God is in Krishna and God has not become Krishna. This concept of dual personality becomes helpful to interpret His past statement that He is God. Krishna will now say that the God in Him spoke that He is God. Thus, in the second level of devotee He will say that God is in Him. Both these levels always co-exist because one day or other even the highest devotee will certainly fall down unless the devotee becomes mad like Radha. Since Hanuman did not become mad like Radha, just in one instance (in protection of Yayati) he showed his fall. Of course, Hanuman only showed the concept through the role that He had taken [He did not actually slip]. This concept of dual personality was exhibited when Arjuna asked Krishna to repeat the Gita after the war. Krishna told him that God told the Gita at that time and that Krishna could not repeat the Gita later.
The devotee may even fall from the second level due to jealousy and egoism. He cannot tolerate the Krishna as God and also cannot tolerate that God lives in Krishna. He either wants to be God too or wants God to live in him too. He will enquire Krishna for at least a future chance of such a state. The follower of a politician remains in the party only if a future chance of being a minister exists. Radha and Hanuman never thought of such a chance. But Radha was made the master of God and Hanuman was made God. In the third level, Krishna says that He is the messenger of God. But the devotee cannot tolerate even this since he likes the privilege of being God. Unless some future prosperity is shown, devotees will not serve the Lord as bonded slaves. Slavery is the sixth stage [highest] of devotion. Even the mighty Hanuman remained in this stage forever. But the human being, who is like a small monkey does not like this! Jesus gave the corresponding statements in all the states. He said that He and His Father are one and the same, He said that He is the beloved son of God and He also said that He is a messenger of God. Mohammad mentioned only to the third level that He is a messenger of God. If the devotee feels that he has no chance of divinity even in the future, he will leave the human form of the Lord from all these levels. Therefore, the Lord encourages the devotees by showing the attainment of the divinity. If the jealousy and egoism are highest, the Lord comes to the fourth level by saying that every soul is God or God lives in every human. Otherwise the devotee will join the Union of Advaitins. He wants to become God atleast along with others. Of course, he will be very happy if he alone becomes God in future like Krishna. Below this, the fifth level is the state of atheism where the concept of God itself is rejected. The fourth level is better than the fifth level because at least the word ‘God’ is uttered by the person by his mouth.
Psychology in Preaching
While preaching, the Lord follows the psychology of the receiver and speaks according to his corresponding level so that the preaching is palatable (Priyam) and the devotee does not run away on hearing a harsh truth (Satyam), which may correspond to a higher level. But at the same time the Lord will not preach a lie (Amrutam) even if it is liked very much. He will introduce a slightly higher level so that a little truth with little harshness is introduced. The psychology of the receiver, which likes only the palatable concepts is as important as the truth. If a lie, which is highly palatable is spoken, a huge number of followers will appear. But what is the use of such preaching? The receiver is not really benefited in the long range (upper world). If the entire concept is revealed, it is so harsh that people will run away without even hearing it. Therefore, the middle golden path of Aristotle should be followed so that a minimum number of followers at least appear.
If the preacher shows some miracles, huge crowds will follow Him and will be interested only in solving their problems by exploiting that superpower. In that case the preacher could speak any nonsense, but the followers will clap in appreciation. The devotion of such followers is only artificial and such devotees are the prostitute devotees. Miracles are exhibited by the Lord spontaneously in the case of extreme necessity for the sake of a really deserving devotee. The miracle is expected to help the devotee in the spiritual path. The sage Udanka did not ask for the vision of Vishwarupam. But still the Lord showed it and sage Udanka got its benefit permanently. The sage believed the human incarnation throughout his life. Arjuna could get only some temporary benefit by the same vision and therefore the Lord did not show it by Himself until Arjuna requested for it. Duryodhana did not ask for it but Dhritarashtra asked to see it. In the case of these two, there was no use at all and the vision did not change them. Miracles cannot be a poof of the existence of the Lord in a certain human form because even devotees, either good ones or bad, can also show miracles.
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