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Pujya Dr. K.C. Varadachari - Volume -1
 

Discourses on The Philosophy of Sri Ramchandra's Rajayoga - Lecture -9

  
Master says that there is a difference of levels attained by several types of souls. He agrees with the ancients that those who are practising sinful deeds attain a condition or state of Hell and those who are ignorant by good deeds most probably attain the level of Paradise. But to those who are innocent it is the world of Brahma. But as for the wise and learned people they create for themselves an artificial paradise in which they try to live. Obviously, the learned and the wise men build their own castles and dwell in them. It might be very uncomplimentary to the wise and learned. But, as I have always held, the process of learning involves a constant process of unlearning also. Any wise man going to advanced study in any subject would be asked to revise his original premises and rethink them and unlearn the usual habits of mind. That way leads to, what we may call, a development of Inner Being, and also it leads to the ultimate realisation of greater awareness of Reality. That is why every true learner is in a constant process of learning which involves a process of unlearning. That will also suggest to us the contradiction in Vidya and Avidya. Today's Vidya may be tomorrow's Avidya. Therefore, there is a 'relativity' in the very notion of knowledge and the notion of Ignorance. We have to arrive at a stage of transcendence over these fixed goals or limited notions of Vidya and Avidya. So, Master says that we must come to that condition of innocence which is Complete Ignorance, as defined by the Master. So, we have to use complete Ignorance in order to reach that State of Complete Ignorance.

Is it possible? Master says that In His own life, He had not read anything till perhaps He has attained that state. Afterwards, He began reading the old literature or learned treatises. That made him understand the limitations of those learned works, and also to size up the level of understanding of each of these learned men. So, personal anubhava is more important and ultimately it is the only means by which you can attain that state of Complete Ignorance which entitles you to enjoy the Real Realm of Brahma or Brahma Loka. This leads us further on to, what is called, the worlds of Infinity in which the realized souls, who are, as He calls it, swimming and expanding, so that they are one with the Ultimate without any kind of separation.

In the chapter entitled "Man and his nature" Master tries to clarify the very person who wants to attain the Ultimate State. A man who wants to attain the Ultimate State is one who is continuously in relation to the Ultimate condition. But he has also developed another end of pole to him. God has only one pole, but man has two poles, one pole is in God and the other pole is at the very end, namely, this world, external world. That is why, he calls him 'bipolar' - having two poles. Now, the one pole, namely God, is, as you may say, beyond even the mind. It is the State of Tam, and this mind is connected with the First thing that comes out of the Tam, namely the First Mind. That continues to be the constant healer and energy and life. From that point, he goes on developing or enwrapping himself with the processes which come in a natural way. There are four processes taking place at this state. Manas, which is purely one with the First Mind or Kshob; then, there is Chit, then there is Buddhi and there is Ahamkar. So long as these four are concerned, you might find, Ego also is well developed. Intellect is there and there is a feeling that there is ego. These would be in their purest or subtlest condition in the earlier stages. They come immediately after the soul is formed. In fact, the soul is eternal element in God. And when it comes out into play, the four come in along with it. They may be said to belong to the state of God. But, afterwards, grossness develops and several deeds or several knots develop. And at every state, there is what we call grossness, greater and greater grossness. At another point, Master describes the process, as it were, of the cocoon, the soul weaves through its mind, within which it is trying to isolate or individuate itself. At that stage, it grows even. And there, outer one is being formed by the mind. So it is the mind which is the powerful element in evolution. In fact, we have gone to this condition. But, at this level, also, we have developed certain other things, we began to develop pleasure. We began to discriminate between what is pleasant and what is painful, not what is right and wrong but what is pleasant and what is unpleasant. So, there are, even today, philosophers who consider that you will have to identify pain and pleasure with good and evil. The pleasant is good and pain is evil according to large masses of mankind. Some people invert it and say that pain is good, pleasure is evil. Either way, it does not solve the problem. We are in fact caught up in the dilemma of pleasure and what is less pleasure, and this has got wide application. In any case, man is today caught in this mind of dilemma and he wants to escape from this particular situation. But then, man also has, as I have stated, a peculiar and unique quality, viz., of having the mind continuous with it from the original first Mind. This Mind is passing, and that is why, all our minds behave alike and all of us have developed also. All of us are fragments of One Supreme First Mind, and that First Mind which is really Cosmic in nature has been individuated, isolated and in some sense, insulated from other individuals, so that it is only thinking of itself and not about other people at all. It is contradictory, in one sense, it would like to absorb or even annihilate also. Now, there is mind and the unique quality of the mind is seen in its capacity to evolve to its lowest and the grossest form. Animals also have a mind; because they are also degradations of the mind, and yet, that mind is not conscious of its connection with the Ultimate. It is only at the level of man that he becomes conscious of its original connection or force of the First Mind. Our aim in all literature, in fact of philosophy, is to get at that Original Mind which is pure, which is powerful - Omnipotent in one sense. The Mind does not lose its connection with the other end. Now, all that energy which we are expending on creation can be reversed and we might try to find out and draw more power from that Original Soul, if we have to escape from the pain, pleasure - world of vision.

Incidentally, Master says that even God has no mind and that is correct for the obvious reason that mind is from the first point which has been created. So, He Himself is behind that Mind. There are many people who think, if you want to become anything, first destroy the mind. Then, by destroying the mind, you will be one with God without his mind. Master points out that this is not the way. The instrument of mind has been given to you "to explore the ultimate grossness on one side and regain your subtle condition again and pick it up". The possibility for man is that he can have the continuous experience of the Ultimate First Mind to the grossest level. But that is possible only when you attain in full force the First Mind within you, and since there is a loss of that force, you find that the lowest levels forget though they are sustained by the original Force, which can draw the First Mind. So, Mind has to be used for this purpose. You cannot involve to your condition of the Divine and transcend unless you are able to use the mind that is given to you. Now, as a matter of fact, this is the struggle. Some people want you to become Amanaska, go beyond the Mind and destroy the Mind. If you destroy the mind, you destroy the instrument by which you can ascend the ladder. So, there is no way of attaining that condition except by utilizing the mind.

You must use your mind. You must use it yourself. The mind that has come to the lowest end and is in suffering must turn back to get at the source or purity itself. Now Master says at this point, it cannot be done with your own efforts, but only a Divine personality, can help you to connect your lower end with your own higher end, because you have created so many barriers to your own flexibility to connect yourself with the original condition. Therefore, the Supreme personality or the Divine personality alone can connect you back and also create that flexibility in you by moulding your whole being by removing the knots and other interferences and putting back to the Ultimate. And that is to be done by that Mind. You are not able to achieve your goal yourself. The instruments of knowledge, so called, learned instruments of Divine or the instruments of karma are useless, because we have found them to be of no use. Nor the usual method of Raja Yoga that is being practised without the help of the Divine connecting you with the Ultimate is of any avail. There is no yoga otherwise. Your evolution, therefore, is almost clearly dependent upon your getting a Divine personality to help you reverse back to your Mind and connect it with the other pole. When these two poles are connected, there is a Neutral point and immediately you go to the other higher State or God. Without this connection of the lower, the higher is impossible.

That is why, Master says there is great need for the man to have the Divine personality who has attained this particular kind of connection with the Ultimate and has to bring down that Ultimate to every individual who seeks this particular condition of transcendence of mind. If we want to get transcendence over mind, it is possible not by annihilating the mind but by connecting its two poles. Then alone you have access to enter into the Divine.