Message 158

Paris, 27 Jan. 2009

A spontaneous satsang with a Delhi disciple

Life is interested only in survival and procreation; nothing else. Actions from life driven by the need for survival and procreation are necessary. ‘Desires’ or ‘fears’ are step-downs from action of life to activities of mind.

For example, one needs to eat to live and there is a desire for food when the body needs nourishment. If the body is free from the stranglehold of the mind then there is no feeling of disappointment if the food is plain nor is there a feeling of gratification if it is gorgeous.

So also, one perhaps needs a car to travel and function to earn one’s living. The desire for a car in this case is again necessary for survival. If however, there is a psychological investment, then one compares his car with others’ and a series of depressions and elations follows.

It is not necessary to shun wealth. A contrived simple life is not necessary. If there is the energy of understanding, then one can be a king living in all luxury and yet be a sage. Such a person neither glories in his wealth nor feels humiliated if it is lost.

A king was full of veneration and adoration for a sage living in his kingdom. He decided to bring him from his humble hut and provide him comfortable stay in the king’s palace. He personally went to invite him and had expected a polite refusal from the sage. But the sage immediately agreed and accompanied the king. In the palace, he accepted the luxuries and started living in a royal style. The king was amazed, but tolerated. After a few months, the king could not take any more and asked the sage: “What makes a sage different, if he too accepts the royal style of living?” The sage said: “Come with me to see the difference” and he took the king beyond the territory of the kingdom. Then he said to the king: “I am now going away, can you come with me?” The king said: “This is not possible.” The sage smiled and said: “This is the difference”.

Take now an example of ‘fear’. A person who works in an organization for his living is made the subject of a political move to remove him from his job for the gratification of those scheming against him. If he puts up a case, and proves that he is worthy of retention, it does not help because the people who are conniving against him are not interested in listening to him.

Now, if this person adopts even so-called unfair methods to out-maneuver those plotting against him, but has no feeling of animosity towards them; then he is acting from life. The actions are purely for survival. These are not driven by fear of the mind, but from the survival instinct.

When this understanding happens as a blast of Chaitanya (Intelligence), then the light of Bhagwat Gita dawns in the body:

Empty Energy Awareness (Vibhu) is the Life, the Love, the Lord (Prabhu). This Divinity has nothing to do with divisions such as merit or sin devised by ‘I’ covering up the Intelligence. Not understanding this, is at the root of human sorrow and suffering.

There is no such thing as consistency according to a pre-conceived pattern. There is only an energy of understanding. Just as a river flows inconsistently – sometimes meandering this way sometimes that way, but always driven by gravity alone, so also the actions of those in understanding and equanimity may be inconsistent from the point of view of ‘I’, but these are always drawn by Grace.

Simplicity and sincerity, comprehension and consistency can never be companions. Where there is understanding, the destructive ‘discipline’ does not exist.

JAI SIMPLICITY, JAI COMPREHENSION