Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.

I was told by Ma whether I would speak about the qualities of a seeker. I can, I do. First of all, be very clear what is meant by a seeker. Generally, the entire spiritual life, so far as this holy land is concerned, is a kind of an aftermath of religious life. It is generally preceded by a religious life. That does not mean that there cannot be a seeker without a religious background. You may not have gone to the temple, you may not have recited the names of God, but you may have inherited the religious heredity. You may have inherited it. Even your parents may not be believers of God. But their parents and grandparents could have been very good believers in God. So don’t take the physical facts alone into account. Our heredity is working very inwardly and its influences are in the psycho-intellectual level, in the mind and intelligence. So in our country, generally, spirituality follows religion, and all our religious practices are intertwined with spiritual and philosophical truths. This is something perhaps you may not find anywhere else. If at all anywhere else also it is there, it may not be so conspicuous, pronounced or effective.

To be a seeker means to have a definite enquiry in one’s life. This enquiry is a derivative of the mind, heart or intelligence. It may be a yearning of the heart, a compulsion of your emotions, or maybe a very patient and sustained enquiry by the intelligence. So whenever a person becomes a seeker, he must have something as the to-be-sought and gained. Now such a kind of a characteristic is not very common. We may have a number of devotees who love God, fear God, respect God, who like to think of Him and remember Him. None of them may be a seeker. To be a seeker clearly means to have a persistent enquiry. “I would like to know what is God. I would like to know is there any soul. I would like to know the meaning and purpose of life. I would like to know what is meant by liberation. Is there any heaven? Is there any hell? Is there a life before the birth of the body, and after its death?” So the enquiry can be relating to this world. Where is this world existing? It exists practically nowhere. There is a boundless space. From what could have been this unbounded sphere called the space could have been evolved? There must be a source. That source should be greater than the unbounded sphere, called the universe. So can you think of anything greater than the universe? Because that will also then stand included in the universe. So there can be very baffling and amazing questions. Any one of them, when it grips the mind of a person, he becomes a seeker. But he becomes meaningfully so provided that seeking becomes part of his life and he is giving it a lot of importance. Just like you are giving importance to food and nourishment to the body, peace and joy for the mind, and knowledge for the intelligence. You give a lot of importance to sleep. Perhaps if you are given to reading, reading. Similarly, a very good place and importance should be given to this seeking.

Now such a seeker will necessarily be a seeker of truth or seeker of God or seeker of the Self. Whether you turn inward and locate the Self, or turn outward and try to probe into the ultimate source of matter and energy or you enquire after the so-called God, all enquiries, Hinduism says, are converging to become one. There is no difference at all. I can tell you and prove to you that there is no difference also. Remind me during the days of association with you sometime.

Now such a seeker must necessarily have some qualities. These were the qualities that yesterday somebody raised and I started answering and ended up with viveka alone. Following viveka, or coupled with viveka, we have a number of other qualities. These qualities are quite a number of them. Now Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Geeta, thirteenth chapter, speaks about 20 characteristics, virtues or excellences, which together constitute knowledge and the Knower. 20 items are mentioned there. If you look into śrīmad Bhāgavatam, śrīmad Bhāgavatam presents the same proposition by presenting a number of other qualities, very few are common, some are different. The characteristics or the qualities of a seeker are what everyone should focus.

Now wherefrom shall I begin, and where shall I end? I would like to say that seeking or yearning should become a substantial, undeniable part of your life. It is generally associated with, coupled with your mind, heart and intelligence. When we say yearning, it is associated with the heart. When you want peace, it is associated with the mind. When you want to know, it is associated with the intelligence. Either you can have one or them, or two, or even three, it’s ok. Now such a seeker should primarily believe in one factor. I have a personality. It is composite. This composite personality consists of two factors or components. One is the physical gross body, consisting of all its parts and organs. But this is only an external or exterior gross counterpart. There is another called the inner counterpart. The inner counterpart consists of the mind, intelligence and ego. If at all there can be a comparison between the two, it is this. The inner counterpart is the causal one and the exterior counterpart, body, is the effectual one. Without the cause, the effect cannot be. But without the effect, the cause can still be, it may not be called the cause then.

So the interior or the inner counterpart, consisting of the mind, intelligence and ego, they are the superior and the body is the inferior. Not only that, the entire body remains only as an instrument for the mind to employ and conduct the activities it proposes. How many times shall I say this? Our whole body along with the organs is only an instrument, like any instrument in the hands of its wielder. Suppose there is a drilling machine. The machine has to be operated by an operator. Then it starts drilling. It drills all right, drilling is done by it, but there must be a conscious agent to make the drilling machine function its task. In the same manner, the body by itself will not be able to do anything at all. If you want to raise your hand, a decision that “I should raise the hand” should be there internally in the mind. So the body is employed and the employing factor is the mind. The mind in itself gets its direction and guidance from the intelligence. Intelligence is the only faculty which is given to “knowing”. Knowing is different from feeling. Knowing is different from having a number of emotions associated with the mind. To know – the intelligence is only interested in knowing. And then whatever it knows, any subject can be given to the intelligence, it will try to probe into it, analyze it, finally discover, assess, evaluate the merits, demerits, etc. Our intelligence is meant for that. So the intelligence must do its function and give the guidance, “Mind! Look, this is where you have to go. This is what you have to do. This is not desirable. This is desirable.” All these assessments and identifications are done by the intelligence.

So, a seeker is one in whom the body and the senses work no doubt, but they work in harmony with the mind. The senses should not do something which the mind does not like, or resents. And the mind should not do anything which the intelligence does not direct it to do. So the mind should always be closely benefitted by the intelligence and its deliberations, and the senses should always function according to the dictates of the mind. So a seeker is one in whom he constantly strives to have this kind of a yuktata. To be yukta means to be integrated. Integrate what? Integrate the senses and the body, with the mind, with the intelligence. There is also a level of integration in that ego. So the ego should become enlightened at one point. I don’t like to use the word “enlightened ego” because I am afraid all of you will pick up that phrase, and then say, “I have an enlightened ego.” Enlightened ego is perhaps the last attainment that you can have, but you can have a sublimated ego, a sublime ego, a qualitative ego, which will always look for greater, loftier, deeper, broader, and better and better things. Ego plays quite a lot of part. Ego is actually coordinating all the sensory, emotional, mental and intellectual activities.

So a seeker should always try to arrive at this kind of an integration in his personality. When your personality is integrated, I think, we achieve the purpose of human life. The body will be healthy. The mind will be peaceful and joyous. The intelligence will be illumined. The ego will be sublimated and ultimately enlightened. This is broadly, the quality and the character of a good committed seeker.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.