Today’s topic of discussion is “Perfect Spirituality and Neohumanism.” The inner spirit of the path of sádhaná is expressed in a particular shloka:

Yacchedváunmanasiiprájiṋastadyacchejjiṋána átmani;
Jiṋánamátmani mahati niyacchettadyacchecchánta átmani.

[Wise persons first merge their indriyas into their citta, then their citta into aham, then aham into mahat, then mahat into jiivátmá, and finally their jiivátmá into Paramátmá, Supreme Consciousness.]

The entire phase of the divine cult is divided into different sub-phases.

The First Phase

In the first phase one withdraws the mind from external physicalities and establishes oneself in the realm of done “I”, that is, objectivated “I” feeling (extro-internal objectivated “I”, not intro-external objectivated “I”). And under such circumstances, what happens? One certainly establishes full or part control over external physicalities, and one will be in a position to help the world in that realm, if not fully, certainly partly. But when the mind is goaded by certain dogmas, one cannot have a clear idea regarding the external physicalities. So one fails to do one’s duty in that realm of extro-internal movement.

The Second Phase

Similarly, in the second phase, the done “I”, the objectivated “I” [feelings] of the mind, are withdrawn from that realm of affairs and established in the pure doer “I” feeling. Under such circumstances it is quite natural that we feel all the pains and agonies, all the pleasures and joys of the human mind, and help the world accordingly – help the entire world, not only the living world but both the animate and inanimate worlds – and become assets to human society. That is, such people’s approach must be Neohumanistic. But if the mind is not pure, if it is amalgamated by dogma, then certainly even if such persons are spiritual aspirants they cannot be assets to human society. The very approach is defective, the approach is not pure. Even if they do sádhaná for twenty hours out of twenty-four hours in a day, you can be sure that their sádhaná is not on the right path, because theirs is not the path of Neohumanism. It is a defective path – it is a path rent by dogmas.

The Third Phase

And the third phase is when the ego is merged in the pure “I” feeling. In this way, a personal ego, rather, all the egoism of an individual, is withdrawn from the world, and one is established in the pure “I”. Under such circumstances, we may expect that such a person will feel the charm of all human lives, the charm of all living creatures, or rather the charm of living of the entire universe. And you know, this charm of living is not only associated with flora or fauna, but is associated with all beings, even inanimate objects – gold, iron, water, and everything – because everything is moving in this universe, everything is dancing to the rhythm of Parama Puruśa.

Pránáh yathátmano’bhiiśt́áh bhútánámapi te tathá;
Átmaopamyena bhútánaḿ dayáḿ kurvanti sádhavah.

“Just as one’s own life is dear to one’s own self, so the lives of other creatures are equally dear to them. Those who realize this truth are the real sádhus.” In this phase of sádhaná, such sádhakas feel that all living beings are their own. In sympathy with the joys and sorrows of all living beings, they help all creatures.

But where such a [mentality] is wanting, where there is such a mental defect, or defect in the approach, the approach is not Neohumanistic. Where such a mentality is wanting, where people are guided more by ahaḿtattva [doer “I”, ego], they say: “I am doing, I am giving. This was done by me, that was done by me,” and so on. [The higher faculty of mahattattva, pure “I” feeling, is not affected by any sense of ego or vanity.] Though people at this stage are moving on the path of sádhaná, still there is some defect in them. Their minds do not inspire the lives of others, their minds do not touch the minds of others. They do not reach the sweetness of others’ “I” feelings, for they are too preoccupied with themselves. Their approach is defective; their path is not the path of Neohumanism.

The Fourth Phase

And when spiritual aspirants enter the final stage, become one with Parama Puruśa, certainly there remains no duality in them. They will realize the fact that everything is in Him, everything cometh from Him, remaineth in Him and goeth back to Him. No, there is no question of any duality. Everything becomes theirs, and they become everyone’s.

So under such circumstances, such persons cannot say: “I am the messenger of God, and what I say is the way. And those who follow me are the blessed people, others are the cursed people.” No, there cannot remain such a defective idea in such persons; everything is theirs. But when such an idea is working, there is certainly some defect in them; it is something faulty, something non-Neohumanistic. Those who think thus are not guided by the spirit of universalism, and it should be understood that they can never attain the Supreme Goal in life. They are neither apostles nor prophets nor realized souls. They themselves are following a defective path – not a Neohumanistic path – and they also explain things wrongly to others. People thus far have obeyed them out of fear, but in fact they have merely confused others.

Now the last point is that those who are established in Cosmic Cognizance, Cosmic Cognitive Principle, certainly do something for the universe both in action and thought. Those who do not do so are either far away from that supreme stance, or have missed that supreme stance in the late hours, that is, just before attaining salvation. If spiritual aspirants accept Neohumanism from the very first step of their spiritual movements, spiritual approach, then because of their Neohumanistic approach, the world will have been benefited by them.

But in order to attain the goal of salvation, of final emancipation, one will have to accept Neohumanism [if not at the first step, then] as the final course of action; one will have to establish oneself in Neohumanism just on the eve of one’s final merger with Parama Puruśa – maybe for a few moments only; otherwise it is impossible for one to establish oneself in perfect spirituality and attain Parama Puruśa. Neohumanism is the last word for attaining Him.

Those who did not accept Neohumanism from the beginning – who accepted it just before the final stage – also followed a defective path. If Neohumanism is accepted just before the final state, then the world will have been deprived of those people’s service. Perhaps they did not lose anything personally, but there was certainly a collective loss for the whole humanity. Had they really accepted Neohumanism from the very first step of their spiritual movement, then the trees and plants, the animals and other creatures – all the animate and inanimate worlds – would have benefited immensely. But as they did not accept it in the initial stage, so the world was at a loss.

And those who have been declared as being established in pure spirituality, in perfect spirituality, but show no reflection of Neohumanism in their external dealings – those whose minds are assailed by divisive tendencies, who want to keep one community separate from another and create confusion in the minds of others in the name of scriptures – it should be clearly understood that what has been declared about those people is not true. If the path one follows is not true, then it is impossible to reach the goal. Neohumanism is the only way – human beings will have to accept it today or tomorrow.