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October 2017, Kanha Shanti Vanam
Tuesday, 24 October, evening
Divine Nature
Daaji continued to talk about Maxim 4 in the evening after the group meditation. He started by reminding everyone that we simplify our lives so that we can become identical with our divine Nature: “When we add ‘divine’ in front of ‘Nature’, then the whole idea becomes very clear. It has nothing to do with the outer nature related to our surroundings – the temperature, climate etc. Of course we need to adjust with the outer nature, but identicality is possible only with divine Nature. You can’t expect to have identicality with trees! “In order to distinguish these aspects of nature, some philosophies have given different names to them. For example, the nature that has prevailed since creation is called Prakriti, and the Nature that was there before creation is called Para-Prakriti or Adi-Prakriti.
Divisibility of the soul
“In one statement in Truth Eternal, Lalaji says that it doesn’t matter if the saints, the accomplished philosophers and seers believe it or not, the soul is divisible. How to understand this divisibility of the soul? If the soul can separate itself from the Source, it is evidence that the soul can choose to divide itself. “There is a particular sloka from the Isha Upanishad that translates as: That is perfect, This is perfect. When perfection is taken from the perfect, Perfect alone remains. “Perfection plus perfection remains perfection. Infinity plus infinity remains infinity. Here, a perfect soul plus another perfect soul, or division of a perfect soul, will still remain perfect. This may be irrelevant to Maxim 4, but I wanted to share this aspect that the soul separated itself from the Source, and there is a possibility of further separation by division. And there is also the concept that the soul that exists with me here today can coexist in another dimension, for example there is the spiritual entity, which we have earlier explored in detail.
The principles of coexistence and surrender
“So the line of reasoning we often make about conquering the outer nature at times makes sense and at other times makes no sense at all. When we understand that we all coexist, we follow the principle of coexistence, we appreciate that we cannot survive in this world without all that is there. We are part of the whole. If my eyes try to fight with my ears, there will be chaos. If I try to win over my body using my hands, it becomes mutiny, because the part is trying to fight against the whole. Being part of nature, how can I say I am going to conquer nature or fight with nature? It is again creating mutiny. “Then the idea of surrender comes into the picture. Surrender is generally taken as a sign of weakness, but from a spiritual perspective surrender is a sign of strength. Without surrender, without acceptance, nothing major is possible in spirituality. When we observe nature around us, we learn so much. Nature becomes some sort of a guide or master. “Once we were travelling to Satkhol from the plains, and we were in the foothills around Moradabad and Rudrapur. There were a lot of mango trees loaded with fruits, so much so that their branches were almost touching the ground, on the verge of breaking. Master Chariji made a remark: “Look at these trees! Have you ever seen non fruit-bearing trees bending so much?” For example, oak, acacia and sheesham are all hardwoods, and they don’t yield fruits. Every tree that yields fruit – mango, chikoo, apple, peach, guava, pomegranate – has softwood. They bend under the load of fruits. This weakness, this tenderness makes them so creative.
The feminine principle
“Then Chariji posed a question: ‘What about women? They are creative, they keep humanity going.” In the morning we were talking about the original principle of space, which is widely prevalent amongst women. This space denotes the aspect of accommodation – space accommodates everything. Space also means emptiness; it means that nothingness is there. The female is considered to be weaker and yet creation cannot go on without this feminine principle in nature. “So should we consider this feminine principle to be weaker? Or should at all there be any comparison? Men might say that women too cannot exist without men, that there is some level of mutual coexistence, but the series of events proves that the space principle, which is dominant in Prakriti, is far more evolved than anything that came later in the form of the other four elements – earth, fire, water and air. Earth does not mean this particular earth; it only represents solidity.
Surrender is the key to simplification
“Anyway, surrender is the key to simplification. If we don't surrender, then we have to fight. We have to complicate the situation, the process to survive. Once we surrender, magical things happen in spirituality, because between the true Self and the questioning self, which is the seeker, there is only the ego. “Once the ego is dropped, things become wonderful, but without the ego we will also not desire and not even wish to grow. So there is a complex interplay between our desires, ego and accomplishments. “Ego should not be taken as the enemy. Babuji says in Reality at Dawn somewhere that the mind is a great instrument; it is our great friend. So don't consider it to be your enemy just because thoughts are coming in your mind and troubling you during meditation. No. Without the thinking ability of the mind, we cannot also be thinking of noble and creative things, and we cannot be worshipping the Lord. Mind is necessary and ego is necessary. When you introduce yourself to someone, you say, “I am so-and-so.”It is a fact of life, not your ego. You are presenting yourself as you are. There is no complexity. It is a simple statement. “But when you are not who you claim to be and say, ‘I am John F. Kennedy,’ then a question arises about your authenticity. When something in you provokes you to represent yourself as someone else, that is complexity of nature. And if you say, ‘I am a great musician,’ or ‘I am a great scientist,’ or ‘I am a great doctor, nobody is better than me,’ then the ego will hurt you.
The role of the Master
“In our journey from the first point to the thirteenth point, we go through all the levels of consciousness. While we are in the Pind Pradesh, struggling with the five points, we somehow juggle all the opposite qualities. As we move from the sixth point up to the twelfth point, there is the play of myself versus my Lord, myself versus my Higher Self, myself versus God. It is like ice, water and water vapour. The vapour remains higher because it floats due to less weight. The density is less. Ice and water cannot expand and spread across the sky. “Solidified ‘I’-ness stays in the lower regions. Rarefied ‘I’-ness merges into Godliness, and floats around the twelfth point. It is ‘I’ versus the Lord, and by the time we reach the twelfth point the ego is so refined that the restlessness we had earlier to progress, the need to progress, and the need to become ego-less all disappear. We don't worry about anything by the time we reach the twelfth point. “Under these circumstances we are so simple and innocent, like a new-born child. We don't even ask for food. A baby might ask for food, but at the twelfth point we have no desire whatsoever even to pray to God, “Please take me somewhere.” That too will also be gone. We don't look for any attention. Masters can pass by us, they can rub shoulders with us, but we will be in another world. It's not that we don't care or do not have respect, but we are not worried about progress. “That's when the Great Master looks upon us with kindness: ‘He or she has no desire to progress, so let me give a little push.’ He take us in his mental womb, like a kangaroo takes her joey in her pouch, and jumps across to the thirteenth point, the Central Region. “That is the role of the Master in Sahaj Marg. When you don't want to progress, he ensures it by taking the responsibility upon his shoulders and says, ‘Now this person really, truly deserves my help.’ Until then the environment is created: samskaras are removed, pushes are given, and Transmission is given, but the true role of the Master is at that moment of crossing the twelfth point, and going beyond that juncture they call the Godly Mind. “Anyway, this all gives us some sort of an understanding that simplifying and purifying our life is the only solution, not only to be identical with the divine Nature, but to become divine ourselves.” To be continued …
