Inn of Madness

II

During the life of the Rishi Bhardwaj, a householder by the name of Shonak went to him one day and said,

Maharaj, what is that Thing, knowing which all else is known?

The Rishi looked at him and saw that he was a householder. You should understand that householders are very different today. In those days a man would become a householder after twenty-five years of brahmacharya – chastity in thought, word, and deed –, during which time he gained extensive knowledge of the Vedas and Shastras, the ancient Hindu scriptures. After twenty-five years of leading a householder’s life according to the teachings of the Shastras, he would enter the Vanprastha ashram – secluded life, devoted solely to the realisation of the Lord –, cut off from worldly life and worldly people. You might say that in this day and age the latter phase has become more like a business. A man reads one or two books and then starts giving lectures, but pays little attention to the Inner Self. If a man’s eye is not open, what can he say on the subject?

Kabir Sahib once had a conversation with a learned pundit, and eventually remarked to him,

Oh brother, your mind and my mind can never agree; I say what I see and you say what has been written.

It is entirely different to speak from experience. One can never be fully convinced by reading someone else’s statements, for seeing is believing. God gave equal privileges to all human beings, and the only difference between a Master-Soul and an ordinary man is that one is in tune and the other is not. The embodied soul has got consciousness, for while living in this physical form, yet it is of the same essence as God, Who is All-Consciousness. He is the ocean and we are the drops, but unfortunately we are under the influence of the mind; the mind, in turn, is being dragged by the senses, and the senses are dragged by worldly enjoyments. In this way, the jiva – embodied soul, soul in creation – has become the image of the body and the world, identified so much so with these that it has forgotten its True Identity. For he who has forgotten his own self, the matter of knowing the Lord is very far away.

For this reason nearly all Masters have advised,

Man, know thyself.

Nanak says,

Without knowing oneself, this illusion will not go.

And, when does one see what the soul is?

When the senses are stilled, the mind is stilled, and the intellect at rest, then only will one know the soul.

It is for the soul to experience the Lord –

He cannot be known by senses, mind, intellect, or pranas.

It is very clear-cut.

Knowledge is like a child of all books. Love is the mother of all books, for God is Love and the soul, being of the same essence as the Lord, is also Love. But, what do we do with this Love? At the sense-level we scatter it in hundreds and thousands of places.

One heart and millions of desires; on top of that more desires; then where is the place for Him to sit?

If one withdraws from everything else and concentrates in one place, great power with spring forth. If a pipe has ten holes and you close up nine of them, the water will simply gush out of the tenth. Up to now our soul has been under the mind’s control; but by withdrawing from the outer influences and receiving strength, it can gain control of the whole being. Remember that God is All-Attention, and the soul, having the same nature, is also all-attention in miniature. When that All-Attention wished to become from one to many, the whole of creation came into being. The soul also has great power; but under the mind’s influence it has scattered its attention hither and thither, thereby weakening itself. If only it would withdraw from the outer attractions, it could create a town, at least. It is with much sorrow that I say that the soul’s strength has been divided into so many avenues.

So, all True Masters say that realising God is a simple matter – 

What is there to realising the Lord? Just uproot the attention from here and plant it there.

It is simply a matter of withdrawing and gathering together the scattered attention. As you know, the rays of the sun under normal conditions will not ignite anything; but if you pass them through a convex lens and thereby concentrate them, anything they settle upon will burst into flames. The whole of this life’s purpose is to become still – to withdraw from outer environments, and to concentrate. You have great strength in you; you are the child of a Lion.

So, when Bhardwaj Rishi answered the householder Shonak’s question, he sought to reply in such a way as to be of help to Shonak in his household duties.

Knowing he was a literate man, the Rishi said,

There are two kinds of teachings. One is called Apara Vidya and the other Para Vidya.

Apara Vidya comes from books, scriptures, etc., and creates some interest in the seeker, which leads to some devotion, too. For this, customs, rites, pilgrimages, saying prayers and singing hymns, giving alms, fasting, performing austerities, etc. will help to create the bhakti – devotion to God. However, this is all preparation of the ground and there is no real satisfaction in it, because it will not give salvation or realisation. All these things come under the category of good actions, and one may gain a heavenly place through them; but again and again the soul will have to return to earth, for they are all at the level of the senses.

These are the first steps to be taken towards the Lord, just as a child goes to school and first learns how to use a pencil; but you can see just how much value these actions hold. You all have taken these steps at some time or other, but now go ahead. Make the best use of the foundation you have built; the foundation alone cannot take you to the Ultimate Goal, without your knowing the self. Brothers, withdraw, become conscious of your self, and get the contact with the Overself.

As Bhardwaj Rishi told Shonak the householder,

When you know yourself, you will know everything.