Chapter 1	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 17 [unpublished in English]

The subject of today’s discourse is “Existential Flow and Its Culminating Point”.

There is mind, there is microcosm, in each and every existence of this universe. In inanimate objects the mind is in its stagnant point, in cimmerian slumber; but amongst animated beings the mind plays a very important role; and amongst those animated beings or animated creatures, in humans the mind plays the most dominant role. [It is] the most dominant factor amongst humans. We may say that human beings are more psychic beings than physical ones.

[One] characteristic of the mind is that it moves – it cannot remain stationary, it must move. Even when [quiet], it goes on moving;⁽¹⁾ movement is a must. In order to maintain its existence, the mind must maintain its dynamicity.

Now, for the Macrocosm, the movement is in a particular line, in a particular flow, in a particular direction, following a particular route. And in each and every object of this universe, the movement is in a particular way, unless and until diverted or redirected to some other way by a stronger mental faculty. But in the case of microcosms, and especially of human beings, it is something different – it has a certain speciality of its own. A river moves from the mountain towards the sea, and never from the sea towards the mountain; but in the case of human minds, or human microcosms, the movement may be from the mountain towards the sea or from the sea towards the mountain. This is the speciality of the human mind.

[It is a fact of life also] that we as a people sometimes leave a particular country and go to another country, and people do this less because of physical requirement and more because of psychic urge. This is a fact of life also.

Now, the objectivated [human] mind may move from subtle towards crude or from crude towards subtle, unlike the movements of other entities of this universe. If the movement towards crude is encouraged, the mind – and at the same time the entire existence of the human being – will be converted into crude matter. That is, it will [take] the path of negative pratisaiṋcara.⁽²⁾ And if the movement towards subtle is encouraged, then one’s entire existence will be converted into either Cosmic Mind or Cosmic Cognitive Faculty. This is the speciality of mind, and that is why it is said:

Mano karoti karmáńi mana lipyate pátakaeh;
Manashca tanmaná bhútvá na puńyaeh na ca pátakaeh.

Mana eva manuśyánáḿ kárańaḿ bandhamokśayoh;
Bandhastu viśayásaungi mukto nirviśayaḿ tathá.

[It is the mind that performs good actions and it is the mind that sins. For the mind that is immersed in the thought of God, there is no virtue, no vice.]

[The mind of a person in bondage is attached to his or her objects of enjoyment, whereas the mind of a person who has attained liberation has no mental object.]

“The mind is the cause of bondage, and this mind, this very mind, is the cause of liberation, is the cause of emancipation.” If the movement towards subtle is encouraged, and there is movement with proper acceleration, then what will happen? There will take place one of two different things: either one’s existence will be converted into the Cosmic Mind – that metamorphosis of unit mind into Cosmic Mind is known as the qualified stance – saguńásthiti – or, if the very “I” feeling is surrendered at the altar of Supreme Existence, then the alternative will be that the entire existential factor will become one with the Supreme Cognitive Faculty, with the Cognitive Principle – one will become omniscient, an all-knowing entity.

Thus one will attain saguńásthiti or nirguńásthiti (the non-attributional or non-qualified stance).

Now, movement or mobility is a must for psychic existence, for any existence. Otherwise nothing will exist in this universe.⁽³⁾ And this movement is called [vrtti]. In English you may say “propensity”, but “propensity” is not the proper term. Vrtti. And when this vrtti, this psychic urge, or this psychic mobility, is towards the crude, it is called pravrtti; and when it is towards the subtle it is called nivrtti. The sages used to say: Pravrttireśá bhútánáḿ sthúlá nivrttistu maháphalá [“The pravrtti of human beings is a crude thing, but nivrtti is something that yields good results”]. Now if this urge towards matter, this material longing, is properly directed – that is, if the movement towards matter is redirected towards something subtle, towards the Cognitive Faculty, or towards the Cosmic Mind – then what will happen? This urge, this pravrtti, will be converted into nivrtti. Your longing for money, your longing for name or fame, may be converted into a longing for Parama Puruśa, who is the goal of your life.

So extroversial movement, if properly directed, may be converted into nivrtti, that is, introversial movement, at any moment. So do not think that you are beyond the pale of humanity. Just convert your physical urge into an urge for spirituality. The surging waves of pravrtti today will tomorrow be converted into subtle blissful vibrations. Thus one should not be concerned at all in this regard. Pravrttireśá bhútánáḿ sthúlá nivrttistu maháphalá.⁽⁴⁾

And the culminating point, the desideratum, is Parama Puruśa – love, eternal love, universal love, personified. What is Parama Puruśa? Universal love, when personified, is Parama Puruśa. Your march, your movement, is towards Him. That is, your mind moves from crude to subtle, from matter to Parama Puruśa; in this march, in this universal march,⁽⁵⁾ everybody has the right to do it; everybody has the birthright to move along this path of righteousness. Just show people the path – just tell them: “O human beings, the path is ready for you, you just come!” Whoever is endowed with a human mind and a human body is entitled to follow this path, and at the end of the journey, one day, one is destined to attain Parama Puruśa. When Parama Puruśa, the Cosmic Cognition, is your goal, success is a must, success will be with you.

But during this march, the approach is two-fold. One [approach is], Parama Puruśa is your goal, Parama Puruśa, love personified, is your goal, and you must get Him. When you have accepted Him as your object of adoration,⁽⁶⁾ you must get Him. And the other approach is, while moving towards Him, in that movement, you are fighting against all your internal and external bondages.

While moving towards the Cosmic goal, while moving towards the Cosmic Cognitive Faculty, one will go on fighting against one’s internal and external bondages. These external bondages, that is, imposed bondages, imposed from outside, are known as pásha:

Ghrńá shauṋká bhayaḿ lajjá jugupsá ceti paiṋcamii;
Kulaḿ shiilaiṋca mánaiṋca aśt́ao pásháh prakiirttitáh.

[Hatred, doubt, fear, shyness, dissemblance, vanity of lineage, cultural superiority complex and egotism – these are the eight fetters.]

These are the eight external bondages, or imposed bondages. One must fight against these imposed bondages, one must wage war against these bondages. And then there are the six ripu. Ripu means “internal enemies” – not imposed saḿskáras, imposed bondage, but inborn bondage.

So one should wage war against these eight⁽⁷⁾ external bondages and six internal bondages. This fight is with the left hand, and with the right hand what is one to do? One is to serve the entire universe without any restriction of caste, creed or nationality, and with the sentiment of, with the feeling of, with the knowledge of, Neohumanism: “The universe is mine; all living beings are mine. I am to serve them, I am to help them. If I don’t serve them, if I don’t help them, who else is to help them?” If, in this way, you are fighting those inner and outer bondages with one hand, and serving the universe with the other hand, what will happen? Your existence will be blissful in each and every field of your movement. So one’s very existence will be joyful, one’s very existence will be blissful.

Human existence is a psychic flow, and to attain proximity with Parama Puruśa, to become one with the Cognitive Principle, is the goal of human life, is the desideratum of all human existential flows. We should remember this, and our movement should always be with never-ending acceleration. We are to move on, and our only march, our only desideratum, is that Supreme Cognitive Principle. And there cannot be more than one desideratum for human existence.

Footnotes

(1) A few words here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(2) In the Cosmic Cycle, pratisaiṋcara is the step-by-step introversion and subtilization of consciousness from the state of solid matter to Nucleus Consciousness. –Eds.

(3) A few words here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(4) A few words here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(5) A few words here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(6) A few words here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(7) A word here was inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

Chapter 2	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 17 [unpublished in English]

The subject of today’s discourse is “Instinct and Devotion”. What is instinct? When the psychic flow emanates from the feeling of unit corporality and moves along the maze of human corporal relationship and again comes back to its starting point, then that certain psychic flow is known as “instinct”. In each and every living being, including plants, there are instincts, and whenever there is any mind, mind of any form – developed form or undeveloped form or even mind in a dormant condition – there is instinct. But the standard of this instinct varies amongst human beings and animals, and animals and plants, and it even varies amongst plants, it varies amongst animals and it varies amongst human beings.

Some people tend to equate instinct with saḿskára, but it is not one with saḿskára. Saḿskára means reaction in potential form. That is, an action is done but the reaction is still to come. This stage, this phase, of action is known as saḿskára. So instinct and saḿskára, or vrtti (propensity) and saḿskára, are not the same thing.

In certain living beings, in certain creatures, I said the mind is almost in dormant stage and there is no flow, no emanation, no expression beyond the scope of corporality. But in the case of certain plants, animals and certainly human beings, it moves beyond the periphery of corporality.

This instinct in certain cases is something inborn, just like an inborn faculty. But in other cases it may be increased through culture, through association, through study and through education, and also through spiritual practices or sádhaná. Study, as I have said a number of times, is a very important thing, and it should always be encouraged.

In certain undeveloped creatures, instinct means only inborn instincts, and in such creatures the psychic waves cannot move beyond the arena of corporality. Most of these undeveloped creatures are non-mammals; you see certain expressions among certain groups of snakes and fishes (not in birds, but in fishes and snakes). They even eat up their own eggs; that is, they have not got any love and affection for their progeny. But there are fishes who carry something like a sack inside their bodies and they carry their children in those sacks. There are some snakes who also take their children with them. Not only have they inborn instinct, but they have something more, that is, they have love and affection for their children. This is true of some species of snakes, but love and affection for their children is more prominent in mammals.

Mammals are more developed than non-mammals because in the case of mammals mothers feed the children with their breast-milk and certainly they have got affection for their children – that is why they do so. But human beings are developed creatures.

Instinct is of two kinds – ordinary instinct and inborn instinct. Even in developed creatures there are inborn instincts and other instincts, and in undeveloped creatures there are inborn instincts, but in some cases there are other instincts acquired though study, association, culture and spiritual sádhaná. You should remember that spiritual sádhaná is a must for all living beings.

Now in the case of developed creatures what happens? The mind moves along the sense of corporality, but sometimes it crosses the periphery of corporal senses, and this shows that it is above ordinary beings and has crossed the arena of corporality. In the Vedas it has been said:

Yacchedváunmanasii prájiṋastadyacchejjiṋána átmani;
Jiṋánamátmani mahati niyacchettadyacchecchánta átmani.

[One should merge one’s object of ideation into the sense organs, the sense organs into the doer “I”, the doer “I” into the existential “I”, the existential “I” into unit consciousness, and finally unit consciousness into Supreme Consciousness.]

Now, when the mind remains restricted within the four walls of the corpor, then it is an ordinary creature – a creature of no standard. But when the mind develops within the corporal structure or corporal existence – when this objectivated mind develops or when the object of the mind is not only the objectivated counterpart of its own senses – it is a bit advanced. Then in a more developed phase the mind feels or accepts the actional faculties of the body as its object, so it is to be treated as more and still more developed. And when in the phase of progress not only the actional faculties but the point whence these actional faculties emanate becomes the object, it is still more developed. In this way human beings move along the path of bliss. The life of a dog is much more developed than that of a fish, and the life of a monkey is quite developed. Human life is more developed than that of any other creature.

Now you see, instinct is generally something inborn, but I told you that human beings can increase their instincts by sádhaná, study, association, etc. But sometimes instinct is imposed on human beings, on human minds, as something which must be followed, must be obeyed. Under such circumstances you see that imposed item, and the mind flows, the mind moves, developing its instinct, but coming to that particular mental structure it cannot come outside that imposed idea. What happens? The mind cannot move forward. The mind will have to move within the periphery of this imposed idea. That imposed idea is called dogma or bhávajad́atá. You are moving forward. You are developing your fraternity throughout the universe but if a dogma says – a dogma based on a particular scripture or a particular philosophy says – “You know, you are a blessed being and they are slaves – they are there to be ruled by you, they are to be governed by you” – this idea checks the progress. It is dogma. You have developed fraternity for all animals, and suppose the scriptures say, “O human being, those animals are your food. You should kill them. You should eat them.” Now your progress in the realm of spirituality, in the phase of development, is choked there. It is dogma, and when a dogma comes you should first apply your common sense. If common sense fails to give you a satisfactory reply, apply logic. If logic fails to give you a satisfactory reply, apply your sense of humanity and get the reply and do accordingly. You are not to be guided by any dogma.

Again, if some scriptures say, “You will have to do penance if you cross the ocean,” you may lose your caste and you cannot cross the ocean though you understand that each and every land created by Parama Puruśa is your land. But still you cannot cross the ocean because that is what the scriptures enjoin.

Again, some scriptures say quite properly, “Have mercy on all living beings.”

Práńáh yathátmano’bhiiśt́áh bhútánám api te tathá;
Atmaopamyena bhútánám dayáḿ kurvanti sádhavah.

“Just as your life is extremely dear to you, similarly the lives of others are equally dear to them. A person who thinks thus and shows mercy on other creatures is really a sádhu, or virtuous person.” In order to become a virtuous person one need not give up one’s worldly life. When this idea dawns on one’s mind one realizes, “Why should I kill an innocent creature just for the sake of the gratification of my palate.” But then one may suddenly discover a different kind of scriptural injunction – “Oh yes, you may sacrifice animals in a particular way and the sacrificed animal will attain salvation.” People follow the scriptural injunction helplessly but in their heart of hearts they realize that the whole thing is irrational. Yet they cannot gather sufficient courage to go against the scripture. This sort of idea which impedes the progress of the mind is called “dogma”. A dogma arises from either a defective philosophy or a scripture. This sort of dogma should be rejected forthwith.

Yuktiyuktamupádeyaḿ vacanaḿ bálakádapi;
Anyaḿtrńavat tyájyamapyayuktam Padmajanmanah.

“If even a young boy says something logical, it should be accepted, and if the Supreme Creator Brahmá says something illogical, it should be rejected as rubbish.”

If even a young boy says something logical it should be accepted because that will lead to progress, but when a dogma comes it chokes the progress of humanity. Many scriptures teach wrong things and many philosophies teach the wrong logic. Such teachings cannot judge anything along rational human lines. They fail to understand that just as their lives are very dear to them, similarly, the lives of animals also are equally dear to them. Then why should I not show mercy to others? Why should I act like a mean, selfish person? And if they say or argue that if the animals are sacrificed in this way they will attain liberation from animal life, then I will counter-argue, “O human beings, you are also a creature, why don’t you attain liberation from human life by slitting your own throat? Why don’t you help your children or your relations to attain liberation from human life by sacrificing them. Why are you so eager to apply this liberation movement, this hatchet or axe, against innocent goats?”

Have you now understood what dogma is? You must not tolerate any kind of dogma. That is, on one side there is dogma and on another side there is the human heart, or humanity. Then finally the starting point, the emanating point, of those actional faculties is your object, and when this emanating point becomes your object you will become one with the Qualified Consciousness. Under such circumstances there remains little difference between a human being and Parama Puruśa.

Now, if one offers that object, under such circumstances the unit mind coincides with the Cosmic Mind, and under such circumstances that object of yours, that is, the Cosmic Mind which has become your object, is [[offered]] at the altar of Parama Puruśa, [[at the altar of the]] Cosmic Consciousness, the[[n that is your non-qualified stance, rather]] super-qualified stance, nirvikalpa samádhi. Now this instinct, as I have said, is a human quality – a quality not only of human beings but of all living beings having an iota of mind, having a bit of the mental faculty. So you all should develop the faculty from unit to infinite and become one with Parama Puruśa.

You see, this instinct which you all have inherited from birth and which you can develop through study, through culture, though association and through spiritual sádhaná, should be developed more and more. When you have got this opportunity to uplift this instinct, you should do it.

When this instinct is converted into love for the Supreme, that metamorphosed instinct, that transmuted instinct, is known as “devotion”.

This devotion is a heavenly attribution, and this heavenly attribution is enjoyed by human beings. In future, if any developed animal comes in close contact with human beings, it may also develop such an instinct and convert its instinct into devotion. It may also enjoy the Supreme Bliss.