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by
Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL
No. 107
January : 2010
WORLDS WITHIN THE WORLD
Based on lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty
The great conclusion of the sanatan philosophy about ‘life’ as such is that it is a continuous movement between experience to experience proceeding towards that ultimate state of ‘perfection absolute’. The concept of Brahman the God or whatever other names you give to define this state is that of pure perfection only. Even a trace of impurity or imperfection in our character is unacceptable. A drop of poison makes the jar of milk useless. Even a slight trace of imperfection also contaminates our true nature resulting in miserable existence causing untold sufferings. Our sufferings constantly remind us that we are still impure in our thoughts and actions. Hence is the imperativeness of sadhana to purify ourselves.
The concept of Brahman in its most endearing aspect of satchidananda of eternal bliss or ananda is our motivating force. Without that concept of Brahman kept constantly in front of us, for what indeed one would strive in life? Why indeed life should be lived if not for a blissful existence?
Brahman being the source of all that is blissful, uncontaminated with any blemish, the SAma Veda declared:
MAham Brahma nirAkuryAm
MA mA Brahma nirakarot
AnirAkaranam astu anirAkaranam me astu
May I never ignore or deny Brahman. May not Brahman ever deny or ignore me. May not Brahman ever reject me. Let me never reject Brahman.
These are words worth remembering all one’s lifetime.
Once Brahman enters into our thoughts, we are inspired to live life with fullness of purpose. Brahman is the difference between an attitude of meaningless wandering and a purposeful journey. Once the mind catches this truth, one sees everything around him, his life, his actions, his tasks et all, in their true perspective.
Do we have any other choice? The sanatan philosophy asserts that progressive evolution is the characteristic of life itself. With all its ups and downs, setbacks and frustrations, everybody lives to reach Brahman.
And so the life goes on. Each of us in our own way is moving non-stop towards that ultimate destination yantrArudhavat – as if mounted on a moving engine.
As we move along, each one of us defines his own position, his own understanding, his own realization, his own consciousness, his own progress. Although all of us are part of the moving caravan, we also have our own created worlds of mental awareness, our wisdom and our level of knowledge or ignorance.
When people journey together, they share their personal experiences and feelings with each other, thereby helping each other, supporting each other in their understanding and also benefiting themselves in the process. The sanatan philosophy recognizes that this co-sharing in each other’s efforts in the journey is a divine arrangement. One for all and all for one is a natural – nay a divine – law of existence. As the Lord said: parasparam bhAvayantah shreyas param avApsyatha is a sound advice. A sAdhaka constantly benefits from the experience of others and reciprocates.
That is what also the scriptures do for us. The sanatan philosophy has such a vast reservoir of scriptures in The Vedas and Upanishads, the purAnas, the itihAsas, the shastras available which is unique compared to any other faith. They are compilation of collective wisdom of millions of seekers, gurus and acaryas from time immemorial on which dharma is established. They are the essence of the human heritage meant to guide the humanity.
But it also is conceived that all individual achievements in thought and action, even if uniquely different from each other are divinely ordained activities and are part of a grand divine endevour that eventually reveals some aspect of Brahman. The intention of Divine is intrinsic in every activity. All wise men acknowledge that and see the origin of all knowledge as Brahman inspired and as revealed to them. No one makes a claim for its originality. All are ascribed to Brahman who has revealed the knowledge to them. All great saints are ‘seers’ who have seen and have related what is seen by them for the benefit of the rest of humankind.
But how much have they been able to see is each one’s own personal experience at a particular stage of their sAdhanA.
With that personal experience they create their own convictions, their own world of consciousness. That explains why so many logical variations we have. NAnA muni nAnA mat – each thinker to his own thoughts observed Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa.
In the midst of the great collective grand process of spiritual evolution and world movement, these individual experiences indicate the individual worlds that we create in our minds. Each mentalised state is a world in itself where we live.
No two souls are at any time at the same stage of their sAdhanA. We have discussed earlier that sAdhanA is a very personalized relationship between the aspirant and his object of aspiration, between man and his God, between the soul (jivAtmA) and the supreme soul (paramAtmA). Each one of us creates his own domains of happiness and unhappiness, his own heavens and hells, his own world within the world. Our needs are our own creations and have to be addressed individually. There can not be an omnibus solution excepting generalized guide lines.
This goes on to explain the multiplicity that we observe even within the oneness concept throwing light on the very process of individual movement within the overall collective movement.
We have an Upanishad called the Kathopanishad which not only speaks of the goal of life but also explains the individual soul’s journey to reach that goal. In one sloka it says:
Iha chet asakat boddhum prAk sarirasya visrasah
Tatah sargesu lokesu sariratvAya kalpate.
If one fails to realize the truth within the time frame of one life and i.e. one body, then he has to take up bodies after bodies in worlds after worlds as a necessity for his own liberation.
Perfection in realization has to be achieved. There is no debate on that. Perfection is achieved only by going through the process of purification encompassing ‘life’s after ‘life’s and each life requires a suitable body for housing the soul, to be able to work its way.
So we acquire our bodies. But since the body has limited usefulness and is perishable, it has to be renewed again and again. The soul’s duration within a particular body is defined as a ‘life’. So, one has to go on with the birth-death cycle, to eventually evolve to that perfect state.
The kind of life we have and the mentalised world we live in, is linked with the kind of body we possess. Each body has its own characteristics and its own capability to perform. There are as many number of body forms available as may be required. They say there are eightyfour lakh body forms available. But the veracity of the number is not significant. The idea is to convey that depending upon the soul’s specific need for evolution, it gets the most appropriate body form that is most conducive.
Once a human, does not necessarily entail a human birth to follow. The soul gets the body and the life associated with it that would be most appropriate for its progress. That is determined by the individual’s actions in all its prior lives which have gone to shape his mental and psychic consciousness. The life one gets is always commensurate with the actions (karma) indulged in and performed so far. It is our karma that always determines what kind of life we are all born with. ( Please refer ‘The concept of many births’ in AHWAN October/ November 2000 issue).
With each body and life, one lives in a world of his own. Each world could be heavenly or hellish. It all depends on the state of one’s mental condition which is in turn dependent on the degree of one’s spiritual awareness practiced and achieved so far. The concept of many heavens and many hells (lokas) are reflections of one’s mental and psychic development. The quality of the world one lives in, is defined by the quality of one’s mind and psyche. (For further understanding please refer to ‘Multi-dimentional creation and On the concept of Heavens and Hells – in AHWAN February 2007 issue).
So the truth is, each jiva creates and lives in a mentalised world of its own, depending on its individual perception and understanding of the conditionalities of its existence.
The question then arises, if our individual worlds are so different from each other, what about the theory of one world, one creation of Brahman?
As human beings we are so radically individualistic and different from each other. Yet we all belong to the race of humankind. With all our differences we know that we are all part of that race governed by common overriding principles. We have no chance of existing isolated and separated from the ‘one humanity’ concept. When we fail to see this we are in conflict.
Same thing applies to our individual mentalised world and the divine world of ‘one creation’. Our worlds are part of that oneness concept of wholeness (virAta). Our worlds are ‘INDIVIDUAL’ specific where as the creation is ‘ALL’ specific.
This creates the disharmony that exists. The jiva misinterpretes this as its fate forgetting that it is the result of its own interaction with the circumstances dictated by its own ego and desires. This disharmony with the divine is the genesis of all misery.
Thus the problem itself offers the solution. The disharmony is the reason. Essentially the conflict of disharmony, the conflict between the individualities (vyastivAda) as opposed to collective totality (samastivAda) is to be removed if the jiva has to exist in peace to be able to pursue its spiritual journey.
How does one bring in this harmony? Our scriptures explain it this way that provides the answer.
Whenever we are confronted with a situation not to our liking, our immediate reaction is that the situation must change to conform to the whims of our own ego. Normally people would assume that the turn of events are wrong and must be corrected. The way we rush to appease gods through rituals, seeking favours from the external divine powers, go to great lengths to ward off evils, betrays our own weak self confidence and our ignorance.
Such things may bring some temporary comfort to a troubled mind but we completely misunderstand why we are in the midst of misery and the lessons to be learnt from it. All miseries are due to our own acts of commissions and omissions that have gone against the principles governing the holistic world of Brahman. The wisdom lies in our conformity with the divine principles and not at any stage running counter to universal laws.
When this simple truth seeps in, the composure returns, self confidence grows, mind starts thinking with clarity and we take the right steps to emerge stronger and better. That is the grace of Brahman, the divine blessing. As long as the ritualistic actions, prayers, worships etc go to strengthen our mental condition, they are welcome. But they are no substitute for individual efforts.
Duhkham na dadAti daivam na dadAti sukham bibhu
Balam dadAti Ishwara svachestayA prApnosi shAntim
It is not fate that brings misery. Bibhu the all powerful Brahman also does not dole out happiness. Ishwara, the aspect of Brahman that controls the creation gives you the enabling strength to face all situations. By using that power which is His grace, and engaged in self effort only, peace shall return to you. Pray to Brahman not for somehow take away your misery. Appeasing Him to protect you with no endevour from your end will not deliver you. Pray to Him to stand by you, guide you while you fight your own battle.
But how can that grace flow to you, if your own thought process, the world of your creation does not conform to that of Brahman’s? Conforming to the ways of Brahman by surrendering to Him and remoulding your own world, your thoughts and actions remaining in line with the divine principles ensures peaceful existence and happiness.
The Bhagavad Gita’s repeated advice to align all thoughts, all actions, all life with the Divine is the only way to the destination of peace. That is Sanatan dharma for you. That is the spiritual approach to life.
It is foolish trying to create a world of my own. But if I discover comfort within the oneness of the world, understanding and conforming to the divine principles, the ways of Brahman, I have the chance to discover peace. My world must dissolve within the one world that Brahman has created. I must understand, that along with everything else my need for my welfare is very much the part of the total world movement.
The spiritual sAdhanA is all about that.
