Articles for Saadhana

I would like to explain today, at least briefly, the most important, fundamental and ultimate concept of spiritual thinking and spiritual wisdom and fulfilment. What is that?

We are placed in a world amidst so many things in the world. Everyone is just an individual. Behind him we find an infinite past and in front of him he finds an infinite future. Around him he finds infinite surroundings. By their very nature all of them should be including everything and all. Everything and all in what manner? We have the senses – so all kinds of possible variety in the sensory perceptions – in colour, in sound, in touch, taste, and smell, all the variety will be there. Then in the manner of words and speech, you will find, all the different kinds of speech should be and will be there. Similarly thoughts - all the variety of thoughts ranging from best and super best to worst and deluxe worst. In the sphere of understanding you will find it is ranging from the best of propriety to the worst of impropriety – all these are there.

If you can think impartially but effectively in a subtle manner, the source of all this variety can only be, can only be a non-variety which can give rise to all. It is something like this – from zero starts all arithmetical processes. The zero by itself is neither minus nor plus, it is zero. From zero you arrive at a point and then you go below or you go above. But the point where you stand is neither below nor above, but it is capable of giving rise to above and below. This is the truth everywhere.

So in spirituality, the source of everything is a neutral and impartial, but which has the power to contain all the variety that is possible. And the fullness of this creation will be including one and all, falling in the categories of good and bad. If you think of a world where only good will be there, it is impossible! The lowest degree of good is the highest degree of bad and the lowest degree of bad is the highest degree of good. So any spiritual thinker will not be satisfied by mere standards and procedures of morality. The very adoption of morality means excluding immorality and this immorality is very much part, one segment of the whole. When you accept morality you accept one half of the whole circle.

We divide things into moral and immoral so that you will be initiated into a process of exclusion or abandonment. Half of the creation you can keep away and half you accept. Now once you have learnt to renounce half, gradually you will have the impetus and the ability to renounce everything. When thus everything is left mentally, you attain the supreme truth. It can be described as transcending everything or denying everything. It is either non-dual or all-fold.

Swamiji is taking Kathopanishad, I don’t know whether he has come to that – there is a very important statement by Nachiketas, the young boy, where he says

अन्यत्र धर्मादन्यत्राधर्मा –

दन्यत्रास्मात्कृताकृतात् ।

अन्यत्र भूताच्च भव्याच्च

यत्तत्पश्यसि तद्वद ।।

anyatra dharmāt anyatrādharmāt

anyatrāsmāt kṛtākṛtāt |

anyatra bhūtācca bhavyācca

yattat paśyasi tadvada ||

(Kathopanishad, Sloka 14)

He arrests the conversation of Yama and asks him, “Yamaraja ! Stop ! Please look and hear!”

anyatra dharmāt anyatrādharmāt – Different from dharma and equally different from adharma. Adharma and dharma, Dharma and adharma – different from both.

anyatra dharmāt anyatrādharmāt anyatrāsmāt kṛtākṛtāt - We generally have cause and effect here. Different from cause and different from effect, when did the first effect start, and what became the cause? So the initial cause, it must itself should not have been an effect. That means the cause and effect chain increases and you have to go further beyond. So at one point of time there was no cause or no effect. Something was there. Now that is going to produce an effect becoming itself a cause. But before that there was no cause at all.

anyatra bhūtācca bhavyācca - different from past and future.

yattat paśyasi tadvada - if you see anything, then please tell me, otherwise close your mouth and keep quiet.

See it is an Upanishad which says that, and in no less or different a situation than one in which Yama Dharmaraja and a boy from the earth. One is from the earth, Yama Dharmaraja is from the heaven. It’s a conversation between a super human agency and a human boy! Just see! I wonder whether you will be bold enough, simple enough, innocent enough, ready enough, pious enough to listen to this voice. So I am keeping in mind what A. asked me yesterday, that Bheeshma or Drona should have killed Duryodhana and avoided the 45 lakhs of people getting killed in the war.