Inn of Madness

I

Man spends his whole life exploring the so-called wonders of the world in outer things and places, but few ever dream of exploring the Inner depths of this wonderful house in which we live – the physical form. Throughout history, few have solved the mystifying riddle of life.

When regarding the body, what do we see? Do we see but a five to six foot statue of matter? Do we not realise that some Power sustains this human form, and is, in fact, imprisoned within it? Even though the body has nine outlets, yet the prisoner within cannot get out through any of them. Why? Because it is being controlled. Breathing goes on incessantly, and when the breath goes out, it does not stay out; some Power is drawing it back into the body. Sometimes a man is shot – perhaps ten or twenty times – yet he does not die. On the other hand, he might slip when walking and break his neck – what a grand enigma! We have no knowledge of this Power within; we never give a thought to It, or to that Source from which it draws life and sustenance.

Masters have said that those people who do not believe in God, even though they may always be near the holy places, are atheists. However, those who do not know who they truly are, realistically speaking, are more atheistic. Excuse me, but where God is concerned, are we not all atheists? For no one has seen Him. A small child is more conscious of his True Self than an adult, but as he grows he becomes more and more aware of the body. When you ask him who he is, he will open his eyes and mouth wide in an endeavour to express what he truly is; but when fully grown he will tell you, I am Ram Das or I am Ram Singh, for he cannot differentiate between his body and his Real Self.

When you say, ‘This is my body,’ have you ever taken it off as you remove your coat or shoes? We say, ‘This is my body,’ but, in fact, we have become the body. We do not know who ‘I’ is, or who it is that says, ‘This is mine.’ So, it is a more damaging ignorance not to know one’s True Self – that self which must eventually experience the Overself. The self or soul is the conscious entity which enlivens the body and which depends upon something even greater for its existence. As long as it is not conscious of its True Nature, it cannot experience that Greater Nature; so in the true sense there are very few theists in the world, for a theist is one who has realised himself and has realised the Lord also.

Intellectually, the whole world can say,

I am not the mind, I am not the senses, I am not the intellect, I am not the pranas, and so on;

but has anyone ever separated himself from these things? We can take off our coat and hat, but can we step out of the body and see who the indweller is?

Self-realised people say that the greatest book of knowledge is the physical form, through which all written scriptures have come. The explorers of the body, the Rishis, Munis, and Mahatmas, realised the Truth of the mystery and found the Power that controls the human being – and that is one’s True Self. That, in turn, is sustained by the Overself. Scriptures came through such Men Who were in tune from within, Who, by analysing Themselves and rising above body consciousness, got into higher touch and became the mouthpiece of the Greater Power. Whatever They said came direct from that Power; They did not speak at the level of mind or senses, and this is the big difference between words that come from a realised Person and words that come from the intellect, for the intellectual can speak only from that level, whereas the realised Soul speaks as inspired from above.

Emerson said,

Those thoughts which come without thinking are always perfect.

A Muslim fakir says,

Actually you are the mother of all books; 

and He also says,

When your outer self finds your Real Self, then you will see that something is within you and that God is speaking within you.

Guru Nanak says,

Whatever comes from the Beloved, I give out.

He does not speak from His own thoughts.

Christ said,

I have not spoken of myself; but the Father Which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

When Philip asked to be shown the Father, Christ reminded him,

Have I been so long with you and yet thou hast not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father […] I am in the Father and the Father in me. The words I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.

For example, if one listens to a radio that is tuned in, one hears the sound. From what place does the radio catch the sound? From whatever station it is attuned to.

A God-realised Person is in tune with the Lord, and in Him the Lord speaks:

Brahm speaks through the physical form: If there were no physical form, how would Brahm speak?

That Divine Link is in each human being: not more in one and less in another, but the same in all. However, only Those Who have come into realisation and are the mouthpiece of God can see that

I and my Father are One.

This is because They rose above the mind, senses, and the net of illusion and saw that the Sustainer of all life is the One Lord.