Be What You Are Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha -6

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Be What You Are

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha





2424
Respected Swamiji,
I am thankful to you for your kind letter dated 23rd containing your blessings.
Regarding the book from which I quoted last time, I had read only the Dhyana portion and I have not read the whole book. The book explained the exact experience I get while I am in Dhyana. I had no other use of that book. Now to make myself very clear I shall try to narrate in my own way.
I have been using the same mantra you so kindly gave me a few years back. After repeating the mantra with concentration for some time, it disappears. After that there is stillness and no thought and effort. There is also the joy, which I am of late, ignoring. You have explained this in your II Volume. 'Brahma Vidya Abhyasa' Pages 55, 58 (pleasure seeking is bad etc.) and 63. I am seeking at least Savikalpa Samadhi in this life alone. Hence, for long and several times, each day, I meditate.
On page 64, under the head 'The Ideal State' – in the 2nd paragraph you have said "The mind becomes 'nischala' due to the power of viveka and the effort at meditation." It is to describe this nischala-" no thought" and "no effort" state I get into, I quoted from that book, because I wanted to emphasise on the point "no effort" is involved when I get to the nischala and "no thought state". It used to be for one second, a few seconds, and now the nischala state lasts for a few minutes-how many minutes, I cannot gauge. When I get back to 'thought' state, on repetition of Mantra with ekagrata (concentration) I go back to the nischala state. So to emphasise again, in that stillness state, there is no effort at all-(there is effort when I do 'dharana' and 'dhyana' to be in 'ekagrata' on the mantra) and suddenly it becomes effortless and I get into the "effortless" state and Mantra also disappears at that time, to re-appear in a few minutes, may be five
minutes and sometimes even more.
Now I am eager to know if I have made progress enough to justify the hours of practice every day.
If my questions merit an answer, I will be grateful for your valued opinion and advice.
I am happy to know from your kind letter also, that Mataji liked my place and people. She must have felt that my house is like an ashram, which, in a way it is. You may like this place if you manage to find time to come. I can arrange for your speeches.
Asking for your blessings, I remain,
Your humble pupil,
...
Dear and blessed ...,
Harih Om Tat Sat. Your letter of the 29th to hand.
I could not reply you right then, for somehow my being was feeling quite indifferent for the past few days, and writing to you meant some definite time. Even now the indifference continues, and I am trying to see how it fares in the wake of writing this out. To feel indifferent like this is natural for one like me. The spell implies a state of stillness and non-action on the part of the mind, consciousness. That is the condition to which the inside is led by meditation and sadhana by sadhakas, even in your case, in a way.
I shall give you some clarity, for you to introspect upon.
By means of the unbroken vritti (thought, meaning the Mantra) the
mind gets free of its multiple vritti-involvement and then gets dissolved into a peculiar state of stillness. Viewed as stillness, it is a state of the mind. But a still-mind is not mind at all, for mentation-the function of the mind, denotes activity, thoughts. To be non-thinking is to be non-mental as well. If this is the case, why describe meditation and its fruition as a state at all? Any state is a becoming of that about which you say 'state'. Walking is a state of our legs and feet, sitting is also another state of the same limbs. Opening and closing of the mouth are states of the mouth.
So you should be able to understand and interpret meditation as not a state of the mind, but as something else. What is that something else, of which meditation becomes a definite expression? In meditational fruition, the mind goes into nought, non-existence as in deep sleep. Can there be a total nought, in you, while you are yet alive? In fact, nowhere at no time is there anything like extinction, total and absolute. X disappears all right, but the process does not result in total absence of everything including X. While X becomes absent, something must be present. Think.
If the mind in you becomes still, and there the mentation-for which we give the name 'mind' - gets absent, then find out what else in you becomes active. What is that other factor in the strong presence of which the mind or mentation becomes absent, gets suspended? Study the phenomenon in the language of this other factor and not of the mind. This attempt will take you to the comprehension of that 'thing' other than the mind. And that alone is the search for the Self, the non-mind entity.
So your purpose should not so much, now, be to quieten the mind – you have already done it – but to alert yourself to the existence of the non-mind existence in you.
The stuff that is in the body, other than the materiality, making the body alive, active, sensing etc. is just one. That is the thing which gives rise to the so called mind and mentation, and that alone leads the meditation to a state of suspense in mentation.
As the gross and solid things are seen by the senses (eyes, etc.) this body-different substance can only be apprehended by your understanding. Understanding is the power of consciousness. Using consciousness you have to get nearer and nearer to this inward existence, different from the body, and glimpse it AS IT IS. It is like going near an oven where firewood was burning all along, but having burnt the firewood, the flames receded, the ashes on the firewood lie concealing the glow. When you take your palm nearer, you will feel the heat, but no fire will be seen because of the ashes. But the heat indicates there is still the presence of fire.
Similarly, you have to go nearer, inside the body, to the inmost presence, every time feeling its presence by its own property. The property is partly awareness, partly something more. Mind you, we are discussing about 'something' which is totally incomparable with whatever we know. This incomparability must be the clue for the seeker. Using it, search, seek, feel, try to comprehend, until at last the subject becomes clear.
Do you feel you are striking at something positively during the meditative stillness? If so, what is that something? Can you grasp it distinctly, in its own light, background and property? Does the finding tally with whatever you have understood about the Self? Is the finding and tallying together giving you the surety and consolation, doubt-freeness, fulfilling and consummating your quest? The answers have an everlasting effect, and they have to be repeatedly taken up for one's own consideration and answering.
So leave the words like 'mind becomes quiet and still'. Start using different words, which will tend to denote what other things and expressions are there. The description will be opposed to the mind and comparable to the Reality. If it is so, you are ascending in the horizon of wisdom and realization.
Does my summarization make sense? Read, think, reflect upon and let me know if you want anything more. Otherwise, this is enough for the time being.
I have heard more from Mataji about everything in that region, in your house in particular. Very good. This letter largely is also for your wife. So please tell her I remember her very well, and Mataji has a lot of good words to say about her responsible temper and behaviour and tradition-oriented outlook and management.
Love and Sivasis to you both.
Yours
Swamiji 1980
2525
Revered Swamiji,
Jai Gurudev! Pranams.
I received your affectionate letter of 5th April and also the first copy of Vicharasetu. Your article on "Knowledge Part II" is very enlightening. I passed on this copy to my friend Dr ..., for reading and benefit. You are a superb Saint, the like of which I have not met in my life. I, indeed, love and adore you. There are others like Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, Lahiri Mahashaya and Swami Yoganandaji, whose lives I have read and who have greatly influenced my life. But they all lived before I was born. Among all the living Saints I take liberty to approach you from time to time for some answers. I hope you will reply directly (not philosophically).
Q.1. I (or my body) suffer from fall of hair from all over the body and it has not been cured in spite of treatment by renowned doctors. Why is this disease incurable? Why did Ramakrishna suffer from cancer? Was it of his making? Why after getting knowledge he lived with a sick body? If he did not desire, I at least desire. To what extent "Self-Knowledge" can cure physical ailments?
Q.2. Is it that knowledge of the Self is meant only for better "human behaviour" and a free state of mind, to enjoy peace and tranquility within and it remains ineffective to solve many of life's problems? With proper attitude of mind you can live with the problem. Or is one utterly helpless? It is not a funeral of day-to-day problems!
Q.3. Our Scriptures are totally silent about creatures other than Man. Is their's only an un-intelligent existence and further their helplessness, by being eaten by the so-called intelligent Man?
Q.4. So many people die of starvation or are killed by dictators. Is this their own creation? How?
Q.5. What is clairvoyance and telepathy? Is all that is written on these achievements true of false? To what extent can it solve world's problems? Do you possess these powers? If so, why don't you reveal them at least amongst your devotees!
My letter, though silly, is of a very personal nature. I hope you will clarify my doubts. On many previous occasions you have preferred to reserve your opinion on the so-called "Miracle Men". I hope, if time is ripe now, you will kindly explain. With kind regards. You will forgive me for such silly doubts.
Your Own,
...
Dear and blessed child,
Harih Om Tat Sat. Your letter of the 4th May to hand. I read it then and there in full, and knew what it would be to give you a reply. Obviously I needed time. Also my nature is under an indifferent spell for weeks now. The association with the world arouses a variety of sentiments and emotions. And "indifference" is also a definite one, the most beneficial and perhaps the ultimate it can produce, especially in one with Viveka (discrimination). In the indifference-adorned individual, the mind-functions cease as will in Samadhi, the intelligence remains undisturbing again as in Samadhi. That is the fruition, then, spiritual sadhana brings about.
Now, to give you the reply you need, I will need to write quite a few paragraphs. Let me attempt.
Disease, by its very nature, is a sequel to the violations which take place during the course of living, knowingly or unknowingly. Disorders, on the other hand, may be organic, congenital and also acquired as in accidents, fights, sports, etc. Like day and night,
ingoing and outgoing breath, these will coexist with health.
Now-a-days we are discussing so much about atmospheric and sound pollution. Are these not new developments, man made, which will surely result in an additional variety of health problems? So diseases will be as complex as the living is. Understand this definitely.
When diseases first arose in human beings as in animals, some of them got cured by themselves as a Natural course. But a great many remained uncured, or incurable. What does this mean? Except those which our system can easily cure by its own survival mechanisms, all other diseases become a subject matter for mankind to deal with and redress.
The number of incurable diseases was very large in the early days of mankind. The situation called for systematic efforts to search and discover their causes and remedies. To understand the diseases – the why and what for of them – and on that basis evolve effective cures, was certainly given to man. At every stage in life, we begin with Nature's gifts, and then develop our own creations using them more and more. Even now, there are diseases for which cure has to be evolved by us. And as long as we are not able to find remedies, these will continue to haunt our health.
The course is exactly like incidents coupled with accident, regularity beset with irregularity, remembrance intertwined with forgetfulness. This is the way Nature works. In our country, leprosy is still wild, whereas in the European countries, it has been eradicated.
Body is a biological complex, an outcome of biochemical, biophysical – say bio-psychic – processes. These processes imply the existence of various physical and chemical substances with their respective properties. They belong to the ken of matter and energy. Naturally, they are governed by their own laws and reactive potentials. If there
is irregularity or disorder in these bio-chemical sequences, the condition calls for a bio-chemical or bio-physical treatment. Is it not just obvious?
That is why for diseases and disorders, you find medical people and surgeons administering medical-biochemical and surgico-physical remedies. And generally they are not spiritual people. If spiritual redress alone is the need, how can doctors effect their cures? So dear child, understand diseases and challenges of health to be purely in the material-sphere, a biochemical question. It has nothing to do with spirituality or Self-knowledge. The sphere of matter is ruled by matter-related laws, and the sphere of the mind is ruled by the mind-laws. Of course, the mind and matter are, in the final depths, so closely inter-allied that both have a peculiar relationship, defying complete assessment.
So the trouble you report, like any other disease or disorder, is completely due to a biochemical or physical malfunctioning. The cause may be pre-natal, post-natal or even para-natal. Quite possibly it is due to the reaction of material substances or factors in the material part of your being, namely the body. As long as the chemical or biological cause is not discovered, the condition will continue to prevail. It has nothing to do with your spiritual interests, dedication or otherwise. It is no reflection of your bad spiritual currents. Suppose we have only contaminated air to breathe, the atmosphere is so polluted, is it an individual creation? And will you blame the individual for the plight?
To attribute all this to spiritual causes and then hope for spiritual relief is not sound sense at all. Look at the massive research in medicine going on in the world at the government level or corporate level. All this indicates that the challenge to bodily health is a situation to be handled by purely material, chemical measures. Being
so, why are you relating your disorder to spiritual seeking, its inefficiency or ineffectiveness, or suggesting that through spiritual efforts the disorder should be removed? Think how far is the proposal meaningful.
At the same time, there are instances in which apparently incurable conditions of the body have found amazing reliefs by seemingly spiritual steps. One of our devotees had a kind of swelling on the body. Several doctors examined and studied the condition and finally said the patient himself will have to find out what preceded the development and what exactly could be the cause for it. And ultimately, with the entry into the spiritual path and initiation to Brahma-vidya, the trouble disappeared once and for all. I have nothing to say specially about this, nor do I expect the patient to report anything miraculous.
Some diseases are a result and outcome of mind-disturbances, called aadhees in Sanskrit. Those vyaadhees (diseases) resulting from aadhees will find relief when the mind‟s disharmonies are redressed, for which spiritual pursuit helps the best. Again, the ultimate truth is that from the mind substance alone, through its powers obvious as well as implied, the body with, its different organs is formed, using the biochemical and physical constituents found in nature. As such, the mind-substance can work wonders on the body, especially in distressing situations where there is no other source of correction. But the measure and kind of distress, to determine whether it is one to be looked after providentially by the mind-substance, will have to be left choicelessly by us to what –? I don't know! You cannot say that here is a situation for Providence, and therefore let Him set it right.
Providence will cease to be providential, if it were to listen to the seeker's prayer at the time and in the manner he specifies himself. Surrender is surrender, acceptance is acceptance. There is a clear
difference between your surrendering, expecting that by that your need will be honoured; and the surrendering prompted by the feeling that, that alone is the right step before you – knowing fully well that 'I don't know, nor do I want to know; my cause fulfils itself in making the surrender.' Dear child, there is great difference between the first and the second course. In the second, you are not surrendering, but taking in a treatment. All right, like some treatments, it may be abortive as well!
To interpret Self-knowledge as anything more than subjective, spiritual, is basically wrong. You seek to know the Self because by that knowledge you propose to keep the disturbance-prone mind steady and stable. The need for Self-realization is there because of the chaotic situation of life. To withstand the onslaught of the chaos is the knowledge sought. Nothing except Self-knowledge will give the steadiness and surety you need. The taapatrayam (miseries caused by the body, by the world, by strange agencies in a strange manner) are sought to be eliminated by Self-knowledge. This does not mean that the disease will be cured, but that the misery of mind due to the impact of the disease – like for instance the misery of one like you in the present trouble – will be relieved. Will not the Self-realized saint have a body subject to aging and greying? Will not his teeth fall? Will he not pant while negotiating a climb? Diseases too are a feature co-existing with health. Out of the so many factors which compel seeking of Self-knowledge, bodily fates and challenges are also one, a strong one too. For another, it may be the flimsy and agitated state of the mind. For yet others, it may be the need for intellectual clarity and decision.
Your Question. 2-- So, Self-knowledge does not mean the 'burial of the problems of life', and therefore their elimination; but it does mean the progressive and even full ineffectiveness of the problems. We use a word 'dissolution' of the problems. A problem is a problem for the
problematic state it creates in the mind or intelligence. For a Knower, the problematic state will not be there in the mind. The better understanding and interpretation will be:
Emotionally, the mind is victimized by three basic traits raaga, dvesha and bhaya. The knowledge of Self eliminates these and makes the mind free from their torturous, painful effects. All diseases of the mind are caused by these three germs. A state of fulfillment of desires, a sense of freedom from all forms of miseries, and freedom from spiritual, worldly and the other-worldly fears; these indeed are the ultimate benefits of Self-realization.
'Ah, why should I have this fate?', 'Should this not be the other way?', 'Is this the symptom of being fortunate?' Does this tally with holiness?' 'How can this be the evidence of fulfillment?' – questions and cravings of these kinds denote discontent thriving in the heart and mind. Such discontent will find its dissolution by Self-knowledge. Rather, as long as the least note of discontent prevails in the seeker, his knowledge is not full and steady, and his purpose is not accomplished. In Vivekachoodamani, you have the best illustration:
Does the one, woken from dream, continue to pursue the pleasurable or painful events or actions which occurred in dream? Does he continue to run away from the tiger that frightened him in dream; or bemoan the loss of his relative, as witnessed in dream?
In fact, the test of having woken up is the cessation of his association with dream and its phenomena! Is it not? You can test your own mind by applying this standard.
The laws under which the body is born and is thriving are the same for both, the Self-knower and the non-knower. The blood from a non-knower can be transfused to the body of a Knower, and vice versa.
This instance proves the sameness of the two bodies. The minds of both make all the difference. The laws of the body are begotten of Nature and ruled by same Nature. And the Knower's intention at every time is to be in close harmony with the Creator's laws about Creation. The Knower will never try to wrestle with these laws at all. To think of doing so – to wrestle – will be to admit a basic contradiction, a self-imposed doubt, discontent and challenge. The moment such a situation prevails, is allowed to be, the harmony the Knower aimed at all long, will fail miserably. A desire of any kind, a resentment of any kind, a fear of any kind is repugnant to Wisdom. The emergence of any of these will only give further and further opportunity to the Knower to examine his own position and try to eliminate the repugnant growth or prevalence with greater care. Thus his thoughts will not be 'why this disease came to be', as if it was not to be there! On the other hand 'in the presence of this condition, why is the mind losing its stability; where recedes the basic Self-wisdom and the task belonging to it?' Do you, my dear boy, get the line of this thinking properly?
Look at the situation from another angle. The Creator is all-glorious. His powers are supreme. With all that, what you see and live with is the situation His world has to present before mankind! That means, His worth or power is only to arouse this miserable condition! Well, being so, what does He think about it, in His own mind? Is it either to His liking, or is it something He cannot redress? In either case, what will be His mind's reaction? If his creation's mind thinks this way, what will His do?
The answers you cull out can as well apply, or must, to your questions about the Knower too! Ill-health, abnormal features, etc. are in the very progressive nature of things, and so there is no question of deducing any disorder or contradiction about them; the phenomenon is not to be interpreted in the way you, and several others do. The
truth lies still beyond, or in between.
What do you say about the frog struggling and wailing, held mercilessly, firmly in the mouth of a snake? Again, the smaller sized lion leaping upon the huge elephant, slapping and clawing him on his weak spot cruelly, putting him to death! Whose is the will or wish in the matter? How will you assimilate these sights and enmities?
So the ultimate answer is a full zero about any question! The last and consummate purpose of any world-thought, a discussion about the world's fate or Nature is to take away from the seeker's mind all forms of discontent and opposition, taking into account anything for the purpose. That is the attitude called indifference. In the Upanishads and the like, to generate indifference (nirveda) an infinite variety of contradictions are displayed forcefully before us. Beauty will create attraction, cruelty will evoke resentment. But beauty juxtaposed with cruelty, more so in the background of innocence or unanswerable plight, is the sight which will arouse the right measure of indifference. Until the indifference is generated and preserved, our mind would only remain a worldly product, to suffer like anything else created in the world and tossed about by Nature's laws.
I think I have said enough. The writing may be disjointed due to lack of time. Set it right in your own mind.
In the 13th chapter of Gita, Jnana or wisdom is described as a set of virtues and practices. The intention is that only in the presence of these virtues, Self-knowledge will shine. Or, the knowledge of Self is virtually the prevalence of these tenets and practices. Of the things listed, there is one which reads: 'The constant perception of misery and evil in janma (birth), mrityu (death), jara (old age), vyadhi (disease), in everything of the world especially the sentient beings.' What does this imply? Diseases, about which you have raised your question, are
a sure feature of the world, and perceiving them constantly as a menace to worldly life conduces to the germination and growth of Wisdom. Is disease then helpful or not?
As long as the world is there, its several traits are inevitable. If the body prevails, its diseases also will. Neither all will have the same disease nor will it be likely there is one free of any disease. To question any disease as pestering any one, as if it were particularly a sinful fate, is a contradiction in the very thinking, religious thinking of one. What you call in religion as 'sin' is, viewed spiritually, an inevitable worldly trait, bodily trait, social trait, or economic outcome.
Your Question. 3- Creation encompasses extremes. As we see it, it ranges from the highest form of sentience to the lowest form of insentience. Animals and birds also have their place in between the extremes. Obviously, they are what they are. To the extent their senses and powers permit, they also take shelter and protection. Snake does not, cannot make a hole for itself, it has no capacity. So it uses the holes made by others, or made naturally. Birds do travel seasonally thousands of miles. They have their methods of avoiding mating, adopting measures in their own ways to suit their needs, avoid dangers, etc. To the extent their abilities permit, they do make use of them. Nothing more is to be construed. You have to be guided by what you see obviously. Deductions can be wild, also be validly real. In making them real, lies effectiveness.
The irony is that with their own levels of sentience, they are sometimes even better off than men with higher sentience! For instance, (this example is not clear in its purport) what do you think of a patient in the last stages of rabies? He is kept in a dark room, and doctors and relatives keep themselves at a safe distance. Even children are denied to go near the father, if he is the victim. Are not the animals equally fated? What is hydrophobia or other such
condition to men, is perhaps the general fate of these animals. There is no clear difference at all.
Your Question. 4. Starvation death and dictators' rule, etc.: An individual does not and cannot live all alone. He lives in a society. The conditions of the society surround him practically in every walk of life. These days we travel comfortably and fast in vehicles invented and developed by technology. But in the earlier times, modes of travel were very bad and slow. There are so many accidents and deaths taking place on journeys now. Are they not a kind of technological dictatorship? When technology rules, it becomes dictatorial in its tyrannies. Starvations, dictatorial rules, are all part of the social set up.
Likewise, in the political or administrative sphere, there is every chance to become victimized. In one sense, mechanical electronic failure takes place. In another case, psychological failures or maladjustments take place. The cause is machine on one hand and mind, the psychic machine on the other. The outcomes are parallel. These are in the very nature of things. Starvation can be an economic outcome, result of mal-distribution of wealth by those who assume power over wealth; or can be due to natural disharmonies like bad weather, etc. In that case, Earth's seasons fail! Is it not? Besides individual factors of the body and mind, that govern our life, there are social, political, economic, agricultural and technological factors too. Each has its own influence and domain, which sometimes proves catastrophic. The situation cannot be helped. As with the failure of the seasons, we have to accept these as well.
Question No. 5. Clairvoyance and telepathy – the question simplified, will be "Can we see, except through the normal external eyes, governed by the usual laws of vision? Can we hear except through the organs called ears? In other words, to see colours and objects, and hear sound can we do without the biological eyes and ears?
The basic and complete answer is given by Nature through the dream experience of ours. In the dream, everything including the body and its organs is created suddenly, with no external help, by the supra-material mind – Mind that is subtle, spiritual, and not governed by the material laws at all. Again, it is the mind substance (not the mind, mind you!) and power that gives shape to the body within the womb, including all organs, ears, eyes as well. So, why should one doubt the capability to see without the eyes, hear without ears, etc.?
But will these phenomena be common for all of mankind? No, it has not been. Can these be acquired systematically? Yes, is the answer which the science of Yoga gives. However I don't deal with the so called Yoga science, as it has not been found of much use to the type of people that come to me.
But Patanjali, who has dealt with the subject rather exhaustively – and whom we can take as the first and last authority so far on the subject – has said that different types of meditation done with objects of the universe like the moon, internal and external objects - as a point or place of imagination either inside the body or outside on the body itself – pursued intentionally will bestow upon the practitioner these powers. The types of meditation and aids are mentioned in his text. Whether any one has practised them in the way Patanjali has said and with what results, I don't know. Nor am I interested to know these.
The powers, not necessarily clairvoyance – maybe a vague semblance of it – or clairaudience, which individuals report, if true, are not acquired by them by consistent practice, but somehow had by them spontaneously. The gift is generally attributed to the merit accrued to them in the past lives. Evidently, they cannot say anything useful about the merit or its operative process. I do not deal with anything like this. On the other hand, I have always thought of avoiding any intrusions in my mind or life, by agencies whose existence and
operation cannot be properly known or assessed. So even if any spiritual powers wanted themselves to bless or curse me, I have disallowed them sternly, for the uselessness and emptiness they hold within. So your question about my having powers like these is answered.
However, there is one power distinctly, and perhaps a few others indistinctly, which are to my liking. By dint of this I propose to interact with others, remaining always unconquerable to their minds and conquering, perhaps, theirs. Making the seeker's mind disappear and withdraw into its own source of origin; making it, when awakened, reflect pure wisdom and delight unharmingly, making them illumined and become themselves 'Masters and Teachers' in due course` has been my mission! Some devotees have alleged mystic powers in me. Dr. Subramaniam of Jamshedpur did mention once, in answer to a sudden question from me, 'Swamiji does have some powers!' To this date I have not asked him, nor have I known what specific powers he meant, that day! You may ask him or the others at Jamshedpur, who have moved with me closely for several years now. I am interested in the replies you get, if anything.
Lastly, I want to say that you, like many others, are mixing up God with what does not go with Him, interpreting Godliness in a manner which does not go with Godliness. God is used and sought for Godly and mind‟s purposes, not for curing diseases or setting right the biochemistry of the body. Body being born of food and chemical substances, biological and chemical laws alone rule it. For the rules of chemistry are also generated and preserved by the root God. Will Godliness violate its own previous laws? Then why does God at times seem to favour and alter the physical situations in life? That is because faith, a product of the mind and Mind-substance, from which indeed all chemical and physical constituents have been born, sometimes acts upon matter for a reason and in a manner which
remains rather abstruse. The effect is taken into account and praised, like the empirical drugs, whose ultimate effect is not scientifically known, yet the efficacy is seen in actual experience!
In the world, all incidents cannot always be known fully. That is the nature of creation. That is how the Upanishads describe phenomena as inexplicable. Whatever is argued and established, the truth is that we begin first and end last with the mystic creation and the mystic Creator, and vice versa. This fundamental feature will always remain unassailable.
I think you should guide your thoughts and conclusions on these facts and truths. Thinking can be progressive as also retrogressive. To make it progressive is the true effective role of the seeker.
Love and Sivasis, let me stop for the time being.
Swamiji 1980
2626
Respected Swamiji,
I am giving you my personal details below:
With a brilliant academic career, having completed my Ph.D thesis from I.I.T. Kharagpur, recently I have joined this Plant and am posted at the mines. I am a native of Bankura district of West Bengal. I am of 28 years age and unmarried. By nature, I am simple, soft, sober with high ideals and moral values. During my academic life I maintained high hopes, guided by reason and ethical values, was isolated when I grew as an individual. I always dream high, above average, for me as well as for my incoming generations (premature thinking) and act in terms of that to build up a fine generation by Self-rise.
Now, after coming to this industrial and practical life, I feel insecure. I feel all my ambitions and dreams are going to fail. I am gradually entering a mechanised, routine type of life like the other millions. This environment and society is not going to be accepted by my mind. I am unhappy and mentally worried, uncomfortable.
Please advise me.
With due regards,
Yours faithfully,...
Dear and blessed Soul ...,
Harih Om Tat Sat. Your letter of 18th to hand. Your ambitious life, following which you say you are in an incompatible industrially oriented society, and hence the consequent depressing notes your mind is driven to, all are noted. And now, you seek a valid, practical redress.
O.K. My dear boy, this is nothing new or unwelcome. Nor is it anything extraordinary, taking into account the mental structure you have portrayed about yourself. Academic career is only to equip you with the right knowledge and insight to meet and pursue the actual life-situations that follow. If the insight or ambition fostered earlier does not fit in with the present situation, all that is called for is a patient re-examination of your own mind and its outlook, and then a timely orientation, by which your mind will survive with what is the best and outstanding in it.
In fact, dear boy, does not actual life-pursuit mean this growth and promotion? If the previous phase of yours was academic in nature, the present is actualistic and professional in nature. That is all the difference.
The right and progressive thinking for you now, will be:
The situation before me being what it is, my mind and upbringing being what they were, they are, how best can I be effective, and yet fulfill my objectives? The situation I am not going to alter, nor is it needed. By my mind, I shall build, rebuild, nourish, strengthen and improve to fuse into itself the past and the present closely well. Am I prevented from this in any way? Well, what more is to be learnt by me now, by which this new challenge will be met, and effectiveness now and success later can be achieved?
Dear boy, never lose heart. There will be no loss for you at all. What looks gloomy really contains promises of sustained growth and fruition. Be prepared for it, and start the new outlook at the earliest. Let me know, what further you need from me for this venture. With love and ashis, yours in Truth & Beauty,
Swamiji 1980




Om Tat Sat
                                                        
(Subham Bhooyat)


(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of H H Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha ji  for the collection)


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