In a previous chapter, “Life, Death and Saḿskára”, it was shown that with the help of His Citishakti Cosmic Consciousness acts as the witnessing entity. The wavelength of this Citishakti is infinite, and therefore we say that it flows in a straight line. When the mind or manah takes the átman – the witnessing entity of the unit mind – as its so-called object (this is to be done by complete surrender – there is no other way because actually the mind is the object of the átman), the mental waves will get straightened gradually.

In the end, when its wavelength will, as well, become infinite, and those waves will also flow in a straight line, the mind will get transformed into the átman. This state is called samádhi. Here the psychic waves have attained a parallelism with the spiritual waves of the átman. This psycho-spiritual parallelism is known as “idea”, or bháva. When this bháva or idea is conceived on the psychic level, it is “ideology”. Ideology, therefore, is the conception of idea and nothing else.

Hence when we call some materialistic or political principles of a person, party, nation or federation an “ideology”, it is a wrong use of the term. “Ideology” involves in it a spiritual sense; it is an inspiration which has a parallelism with the Spiritual Entity.

Shabda or sound is in its initial stage a psychic wave. Let us see what artha, or meaning, is. We hear a sound, but the concept of the word uttered is not clear till the mental waves are brought in contact with the physical concept involved. A child hears the word “cat”. He sees a cat and the mother says, “See, my son! That is the cat which drank your milk yesterday.” The boy associates the word “cat” with the cat seen. That means he establishes a parallelism between the mental waves created by uttering the word “cat” and the physical wave coming from the physical form of the cat. Hence psycho-physical parallelism is the meaning of a word which itself (the word) is a psychic wave. So psycho-spiritual parallelism is idea and psycho-physical parallelism is artha, or meaning.

This psycho-physical parallelism can be either direct or indirect. Indirect parallelism will be the case when the object expressed in the word (psychic wave) is not perceived directly and thus physical parallelism cannot be made directly, but the physical parallelism has been made with the help of some internal saḿskára already formed or through some description made by some other source.

Psycho-physical parallelism always tends to make the psychic waves cruder, and if the mental wave gets cruder, human beings will be transformed into cruder beings (the path of negative pratisaiṋcara will be taken by them) and spiritual elevation will remain a dream. But then in day-to-day business, we have to conceive the meaning of words and thereby establish psycho-physical parallelism. Then, is human destiny sealed for ever? No, it is not! We can have a supreme position of the spiritual wave over the physical wave and perceive the latter as one of the manifestations of the spiritual infinite one. This is what Ananda Marga philosophy means by Brahmacarya. Brahmacarya does not mean celibacy but means the assimilation of the psychic wave of the unit mind into the eternal waves of the Macrocosm. Ananda Marga lays down for the spiritual aspirant a practical method by which this spiritual imposition is done and the mental waves are saved from becoming cruder. Rather by bháva sádhaná (spiritual practice of auto-suggestion) at the time of action laid down by Ananda Marga, the mind will tend towards Brahmacarya and thereby towards psycho-spiritual parallelism, the only way to ultimate liberation. Because, for mental liberation, the psychic waves must be made subtler, and this is only possible if one either entertains only subtler mental waves or by inspiring with a spiritual force gets a parallelism of the mental waves with spiritual ones.

According to the philosophy of Ananda Marga, complete development of the integrated personality is an essentiality for perfect spiritual realization of the human being. Personality includes all three – the physical body or jad́ádhára, the mental body or bhávádhára, and the spiritual or supramental body, or cetanádhára. This means, it is a collaborated composition of physical, metaphysical and spiritual bodies. So the proper development of each is essential.

For the physical, there must be proper nourishment (for this, see Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 3, where food habits for spiritual aspirants and others have been dealt with). Struggle in the physical field or physical labour helps in purifying the physical structure. The mental or metaphysical body needs physical and mental struggle and also mental food. Mental struggle results from aggressive adoption of newer and progressive thoughts rather than blind clinging to faiths devoid of any rationality, simply because they prevailed in ancient days and were supported by our forefathers. Mental food can be had from ideas (ideas meaning psycho-spiritual parallelism). The spiritual body is the higher mind, subtler taste or higher taste. When the microcosm keeps itself absorbed in the Macrocosm, the meaner and cruder thoughts wave away. The spiritual body gets strengthened by longing for the Great – an intense desire to be for Him. This is the real bhakti or devotion. This is the ultimate and only way to final liberation or final union.

Shrii Shrii Shankaracharya has declared bhakti as the best way to mokśa – the ultimate liberation: Mokśakárańa samagryáḿ bhaktireva gariiyasii.