Inn of Madness

VII

Wherever the attention is, so do we go and reside.

If one comes up above the sense-enjoyments and rises above the body consciousness, our coming and going in births and deaths will cease.

Otherwise,

Good and bad karmas are both binding, like gold and iron shackles.

This is written in the Gita. On the path of pitriyan the coming and going continues, but the path of Light starts above the senses. Inside there are only two guides – Light and Sound – and They start when one rises above the senses. Where the world philosophies end, there religion starts. You can also say that the ABC of Spirituality starts from here. You will meet very few Masters Who have knowledge of this. If only those who teach customs and ritual would also teach the true meaning or basis behind them, there would be Love and harmony among men. We must love God, and as God is in each being, we must love all. If all men sincerely took this up as a principle, where would be the conflict? If each one had first-hand knowledge of the soul, and that the soul is the same in all, would we not respect each other?

Tulsi Sahib says,

The Guru Who bows down to the disciple is called a Sadhu.

The Guru Whose eye is open sees the Lord in each individual. However, he whose eye is not open cannot be blamed for not paying his respects to the Lord in others. But, what is happening today? Gurus stand proud and erect, and the disciples go on bowing down, bowing down, in all faith.

The Master is trying to help us understand that the time is now. It is night and we are staying at the inn; in the morning we must leave, and what have we accomplished up to the present? Man has achieved so much intellectually and physically, but what has he done for himself spiritually? We know little or nothing about the Truth or about our True Self. After all, material success is achieved and sustained through you, and you will have to leave it all one day. If you leave the body without solving the mystery of life, it will result only in paying the karmic debts of ignorance.

The worldly people will help and respect you only out of their own selfish desires. Even if one person may have all sincere sympathies and fine qualities, what can he do to help you when you have to leave? He can only stand and pray,

Oh Lord, have mercy on this soul.

At such a time only a God-realised Soul can be of help to you.

Oh Nanak, break from undeveloped company and seek the Realised Soul; they will leave you while living, but even after death He will never leave.

Worldly companions cannot be with you always; so why not seek One Who will be a constant companion?

And Who is that? He is what is known as a Master, Sant, etc. A Sant is not necessarily He Who is seen in a particular garb, but rather is He Who has realised the Truth and has become the mouthpiece of the Truth. Whoever goes to such a Soul will, on the first day, gain some experience in the science of rising above body consciousness, and will learn how to increase this daily so that the soul might leave the body at will – even one hundred times daily. All fear of death will be removed. And, remember this: the Truly Realised Person will never teach you outer practices, but will recommend that whatever you have been doing up to now should be made full use of by going ahead.

Salvation can only be achieved by rising above.

Put your attention on that Higher Place, where even Shiva is meditating.

That Higher Place lies above the senses, where it is said that Lord Shiva is meditating. This is why the Inner or Third Eye is sometimes called the Shiv Netra – Shiva’s Eye. Its position in the body is behind and between the physical eyes, but is above the senses. If one’s full attention can be concentrated there while living, then the soul becomes free from the wheel of life. With a little right understanding one can soon see that this life was not meant merely for eating, drinking, and gratifying all desires and passions. It has a far nobler purpose, and those who do nothing to accomplish this purpose in truth waste their lives.

“This pure, priceless, bodily gown you have dirtied, spot upon spot.”

It is a priceless gift, this human form – king of all the species. It is written in the Koran that when the human being was made, the angels were ordered to bow before that form. It is the temple of the Lord: keep it pure and clean.

This body is the temple of God, wherein dwells the Light of Truth.

We keep the outer temples in spotless condition, but what happens to the Inner Temple? We may spend thousands on toilet requisites and beauty treatments, but inwardly the human form is filled with filthy passions of the senses. Even a dog sweeps the ground with his tail before sitting, and even for an insignificant caller one will quickly tidy up the home; and yet we want the Emperor of all existence to manifest in our heart. Can He manifest in a dirty heart?

“Inside we are black with deeds, outwardly fair and attractive; yet we wish to copy the pure and chaste One.”

The enjoyments and passions have blackened our hearts – we are filled with jealously, greed, anger, lust, backbiting, and more. To all outer appearances, however, we are pure and clean and make a grand show by copying the God-realised Person. If you cover a dung hill with silk, will it then issue forth a sweet fragrance? Nature says no. If you cover a block of ice with a thick blanket, it will still give off its coolness. We have the human form in which we can realise God, but we are daily soiling our lives with more and more spots. Even the dirt alone will eat away the texture. An ethical life is the most important stepping stone towards Spirituality. Certain disciplines of the Hindus called yama and niyama were made for this, as was also the Eightfold Path of the Buddha, the four fasts of the Jains, and Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.

Oh Nanak, take the Name of the Lord when the heart is pure; you are trying to absorb the lies of the world.

His Name should not be on your tongue if you have a dagger in your pocket with which to kill someone. You may deceive the whole world, but can you deceive the Lord? Even for the world, the cat will be out of the bag sooner or later, for one cannot hide a lie forever; and in the end it will come out into the open.

“Why light this worldly fire for only two days of life?”

Why waste the only two days of life in the fire of enjoyments? Soon you must leave it all behind. And, why were you given this life? Life is duty; Life is Love; Life is the Holy Gift of God.

“Anger, envy arose in the heart of man like a serpent.”

These ugly things reside in the heart, but the soul is the image of Love; for God is Love, and He can be realised only through Love. The purpose of all outer practices is to develop devotion, to incite interest, and to establish regularity. It is part of the soul’s innate nature to attach itself to something, but unfortunately wherever it attaches itself results in misfit. The soul is consciousness; and if consciousness is to enjoy peace and happiness, it must attach itself to some higher consciousness. If it gains some brief enjoyment through attaching itself to matter, it does not mean that the matter is responsible for that; it is but a reflection of the soul’s own happy nature, a reflection of consciousness. While the attention is focused on a certain thing, it will go on enjoying; but when the attention is withdrawn the enjoyment ceases. Is this not true?

If this conscious entity – the soul – would rejoin the Greater Consciousness – the Oversoul –, become fully charged and come into expression, all happiness would manifest in the whole being. But, we do not enter that place where the happiness lies. Instead we spend all our lives searching in every other direction – North, South, East, West. Our Hazur used to say that we are like the weaver’s shuttle which goes back and forth.