Today’s subject of discourse is “The Macrocosmic Stance and Human Life”. Human beings not only want expansion, but undisputed authority in the process of expansion. Not only do they seek the Supreme shelter, they want to bring that shelter within their reach. Out of this desire to attain the Supreme, out of this longing to become as vast as the Supreme, they discovered the science of intuitional practice. But this discovery was not easy. They had to cross numerous hurdles such as ritualistic observances, isms, doctrines and cults. Their discovery was the reward for their long-cherished desire to attain the Supreme. Without the desire for expansion, they would have never tried to realize Brahma even while remaining in the ocean of Brahma. The entity closest to them would have remained far away.

It is the innate desire of human beings to seek expansion, to yearn for the Supreme. They want to attain Him for their personal happiness, self-preservation, and attainment of bliss. The owner of a hundred acres of land wants to own a hundred and fifty acres; a millionaire wants to become a billionaire. But if the desire for self-expansion or happiness is limited to the mundane world, clashes of interest and various hindrances will certainly arise before long. It is not possible to enrich oneself at the expense of others for very long.

Due to the defective mentality, “Let others live in destitution, but I want immense wealth; let others be landless, but I want landed property”, many people had to suffer in the past, and many are suffering even today. This mentality begins with violence and exploitation and ends with violence and exploitation. Violence begets violence. If a person becomes a billionaire today by exploiting the masses, tomorrow the same masses, driven to irrepressible violence by poverty and hunger, will snatch away the billionaire’s accumulated wealth and raze his honour to the ground. The endeavour to expand should not centre around finite objects of the mundane world. Whether the mind accepts it or not, every limited resource of the world should be treated as the property of the entire humanity. The collective wealth of the human race should not be amassed by a few individuals.

The human desire for expansion is an innate desire. It cannot be suppressed, but must be given full scope for expression. Since desire for expansion is harmful for society when limited to the material sphere, it should be diverted to unlimited objects. No matter how much people acquire from this unlimited stock, it will not create conflict amongst individuals. While running after the acquisition of finite objects, the dissatisfied human beings of the past realized one day that their minds were looking for something which had hitherto eluded them.

Psychic objects are limited by nature, but the Entity who is the Subject of the mind is unlimited. The final establishment in that Entity alone is the real expansion, the Supreme fulfilment of sádhaná. One glorious day, while moving along the path of Pratisaiṋcara towards the Supreme Subject, human beings attained Him. Actually, it not proper to say they “attained” him, because one only attains an object with the help of the mind. When one attains the Supreme Subject the small-I loses itself completely in Him. Neither the mind nor words can attain Him; they merge in Him. One does not “get” Him; one becomes one with Him.

In the process of expansion clashes occur between the boundary of one object and that of another object. In the case of mundane objects it is impossible to expand without encroaching upon the boundaries of other objects. This clash over boundaries brings out the worst in human beings – narrow-mindedness, greed, casteism, provincialism, nationalism, etc. – as they strive to establish themselves in the empire of the universe. Those who are bound by these sentiments deny the existence of the Absolute Entity. Even if they set out with a goal before them, their love for crude desires grows so intense that their goal becomes totally obscured. Being preoccupied with their own self-interests, they lose their capacity to look towards their goal. Such people are called mohándha or blindly infatuated.

Those who are moving will have to think constantly of their goal, not of their movement, and certainly not about the probable obstacles they may encounter along the way. If one thinks of obstacles, the obstacles themselves become one’s goal, and the actual goal is relegated to the background. Hence in the sphere of Brahma sádhaná only Brahma is the goal, only Brahma is to be meditated upon. Spiritual aspirants must not entertain any thought about the impediments which may arise at the time of meditation, but focus their minds upon the supreme culminating point. To establish a heavenly kingdom in this mundane world human beings will have to fight tirelessly against the internal and external demons. But this does not mean that the demons should become the object of ideation.

Brahma Sádhaná is entirely different from jad́a sádhaná (the pursuit of matter) because it focuses on the goal and not the clash. Spiritual aspirants who struggle to expand the self should never compromise themselves with those forces which try to thwart the process of supreme expansion. The path of self-expansion (dharma sádhaná) is the path of valour. There is no place for inertness or cowardice on such a path.

In the social sphere, the perennial struggle of human beings should not be undertaken individually but collectively. Those who provide leadership in the social struggle must be established in yama and niyama (code of yogic morality). Such people I call sadvipras.

How will sadvipras be created? They will be created in the continued endeavour to expand the self. By reciting holy scriptures or by acquiring a few Saḿskrta titles, one cannot succeed in spiritual pursuit. Brahma does not care who is of noble descent or high caste. The important thing is to continue sádhaná. One’s life can only be properly evaluated in the light of that struggle.

Násti teśu játividyárúpakulakriyádi bhedah.

The struggle in collective life, with the sadvipras in the position of leadership, will continue endlessly. Sadvipra after sadvipra will come: the torch carried by one will be handed over to the next. But the sádhaná of individual life is not endless – it culminates in the attainment of Brahma. Those who believe that they must first attain success in individual life before participating in the collective struggle will not succeed. They will never bring expansion in their individual lives if they ignore collective welfare. To be worthy of being sadvipras, individuals will have to concentrate on both intellectual and social development. Otherwise, no matter how lofty the word dharma might sound in theory, it will remain as a big hoax in the practical field. All spiritual aspirants must strive to become sadvipras, and that, too, from this very moment. If a person who takes bribes starts an anti-bribe campaign he will become an object of ridicule. One will have to make an earnest endeavour to develop oneself thoroughly; mere rhetoric will not do. Only those endowed with sincerity and devotion can be called righteous, and can successfully propagate dharma. For the propagation of dharma government help is not required.

Those who want to thwart the introversial phase of the Cosmic Cycle in individual and collective life are dominated by Avidyámáyá. In the struggle against Avidyá, if the thought of Puruśa (Cognitive Faculty) is kept awake in one’s mind, Avidyá’s influence will start to wane. In individual life the six enemies (ripus) and eight fetters (páshas) are collectively known as the force of Avidyá. For the preservation of the physical body, and to keep social tyrants under control, these páshas and ripus need to be maintained, but the mind must not be allowed to become their slave. Those who want to destroy them would be better off committing suicide. Sincere spiritual aspirants must keep their páshas and ripus firmly under control, making them subservient to their disciplined mind.

Though the Avidyá force is expressed in various ways, its expression in the human mind can be divided into five categories: avidyá, asmitá, rága, dveśa, and abhinivesha.

Avidyá

Anityáshuciduhkhánátmasu nityashucisukhátma khyátiravidyá.

When human beings become blindly infatuated with objects of enjoyment and lose all common sense, when they become totally absorbed in the pursuit of finite objects forgetting the infinite, they make the error of believing that the impermanent is permanent. This useless pursuit exhausts all their vital energy. They forget that no single object of the world enjoys permanence. Some educated people say, “Well, I may not live long enough to enjoy all the pleasures of life, but my grandchildren will.” This yearning for the finite is caused by avidyá.

Under the influence of avidyá, people become so infatuated that they forget the difference between pure and impure; and so greedy that they eat rotten meat, choose to forget that alcohol is bad for health, and even try to prove the unholy as being holy by force of logic. Some people claim that eating meat and drinking alcohol are a part of dharma sádhaná; and some state they eat meat to maintain their health and strength.

Lost in blind pursuit for finite objects, people fail to realize that the pleasure they derive will actually bring more sorrow in the future. An alcoholic does not understand that heavy drinking severely damages the liver: an opium addict does not understand that the temporary pleasure derived from the drug gradually benumbs the nervous system. This mistaking pain to be pleasure is caused by the influence of avidyá. Those who succumb to this influence can be likened to a dog chewing on a dry bone in a burial ground. The dog thinks that the blood oozing out of its jaws comes from the dry bones and greedily bites even harder, further damaging its jaws. The poor animal wrongly thinks sorrow is happiness.

Under the influence of avidyá people believe that the finite objects created by static Prakrti are their own. They think, “my horse, my son, my daughter, my wealth,” and believe that with these objects they will live eternally. But the fact is, all these limited objects will desert them after sometime. Nothing that can be called one’s own will remain.

To understand avidyá properly, one must pursue the path of spiritual practice. Without sádhaná one cannot escape the devouring jaws of avidyá.

Asmitá

Drgdarshanashaktyorekátmatevásmitá.

Asmitá literally means to arrogate the full authorship of an action. The actual authorship of action, no matter what that action may be, does not belong to the sensory and motor organs. In the absence of Átman (the knowing entity) the organs become totally ineffective. If the image an of elephant is reflected on the eyes of a corpse, it will not be able to see it. A corpse has no Átman, no witnessing entity, and thus no capacity to see. People often believe that mind is everything, and thus commit the error of taking the mind to be the author of actions. This error is called asmitá.

Asmitá causes human beings to confuse drkshakti (witnessing entity) with darshanshakti (faculty of sight). Sádhakas must remember that the mind and the indriyas can only perform their allotted duties when Consciousness is reflected on the unit mental plate.

By forgetting that the Cognitive Faculty is the witnessing force behind the faculty of seeing, behind the existential I-feeling, people become worse than animals.

Rága

Shukhánushayii rágah.

The human mind constantly needs pabulum. A mind devoid of any pabulum attains the non-attributional stance. But sleep, senselessness or death cannot be regarded as the non-attributional stance. From the viewpoint of psychology, sleep and senselessness are almost similar. They occur when the kámamaya and manomaya kośas of the mind remain suspended due to some reason or other. In both cases the mind still has an object. In the case of death, the psychic power (reactive momenta) is detached from the nerve cells of the brain and hence the mind cannot perform actions.

In the wakeful and dream states human beings seek to acquire objects with the help of their entire mind. Under the influence of avidyá they think that they will derive pleasure from eating a certain type of food, or become more comfortable by wearing certain clothes, or get some satisfaction by playing a certain role. This tendency to run after certain objects in the pursuit of pleasure is called rága or blind attachment.

People live for joy and happiness, and that is why they run after various objects. They do not understand, or sometimes refuse to understand, that nothing in this universe except infinite Brahma can give them permanent happiness. When people lose the sense of discrimination by foolishly giving indulgence to rága it should be understood that they have allowed themselves to become pawns in the hands of Avidyá.

Dveśa

Duhkhánushayii dveśah

The opposite of rága is dveśa. There are some objects or ideas upon which people cannot fix their minds because, according to their saḿskáras, they find it painful to do so. They are reluctant to analyse whether those objects or ideas are really painful or tormenting. When an attempt is made to divert the mind from those objects or ideas to escape the anticipated pain it is called dveśa. Most of the wars and battles of the world are the result of either rága or dveśa. Dhritarastra’s love for Duryodhana and his animosity towards Bhiima was one of the causes of the Mahábhárata war.

Abhinivesha

Svarasobáhii viduśopi tathárúŕhá’bhiniveshah.

In the world there are many wise and gifted people who understand the difference between Vidyá and Avidyá. Theoretically, they know what is real and what is unreal, what is dharma and what is adharma. They deliver eloquent discourses on dharma and morality in meetings and symposia, yet knowingly indulge in sinful deeds in their personal lives, even though they are aware of the dreadful consequences of their sinful actions. This suppression of Vidyá is also an expression of Avidyá shakti in one’s personal life.

Incidentally, I remember a story. Once there was an alcoholic who realized, by studying good books and generally cultivating his knowledge, that addiction to wine is a very bad habit indeed. Under the influence of Vidyá shakti he even made a vow to give up the habit of drinking on the next auspicious day. When that auspicious day came he marched resolutely past the wine bar he used to frequent. When he was ten steps past the wine bar he said in self-appreciation, “Well done, mind. You are so firm in your resolution to kick the habit of drinking that you’ve succeeded in taking ten steps past the wine bar. Congratulations! Today I will reward you for your courage. Let’s open two bottles of wine!” After that the alcoholic continued to visit the wine bar regularly and drink large quantities of wine. This story is a beautiful illustration of abhinivesha or psychic obsession.

From where does abhinivesha derive its impetus? From the acquired saḿskáras of human beings. As long as human beings are guided by their own individual flow, they are microcosms, and when they are guided by the Cosmic flow (Brahmarasa or Parárasa) they become liberated souls – they become one with Shiva.

The life or vital energy of human beings is the coordinated functioning of the ten vayus. As these vayus are one of the fundamental factors (the aerial factor) in the extroversive flow of the Cosmic imagination, it can be said that vital energy is created and vibrated by the Cosmic imagination. Thus, human life is no more than a mere bubble in the vast ocean of Consciousness. The influence of Avidyá on the human mind, the dominance of one’s individual flow, and microcosmic reactive momenta, are only relative factors. No one can advance by disowning the vast Macrocosmic flow.

However vain or conceited one might be, one’s vanity will be smashed into smithereens one day. To proceed towards Parama Puruśa one will have to jump into and drift along the vast Cosmic flow. In the process of this movement one will realize His divine sweetness. By relinquishing the authorship of action one will gradually merge into the Macrocosmic authorship; one’s individual flow will merge into the rásaliilá of the Supreme.

To merge one’s individual life and mind into the Cosmic flow and enjoy divine sweetness is not something unnatural. Rather, to dance, laugh, and weep with such intensity that one will be branded as a lunatic is really quite natural!

The individual flow of microcosms throws them into the grip of Avidyá, whereas the Cosmic flow leads them towards the Supreme. The Cosmic flow is nothing but Brahma Himself (rasovaesah). He is the blissful flow personified.

Saguna Brahma, as creator of the universe, has imbibed vast saḿskáras with which He is continuing His endless creation. Those saḿskáras are being exhausted in the extroversive flow of the imagination of Hirańyagarbha (Brahma in His creative mood).

That which is the svarasa of Brahma is the parárasah of microcosms, and that which is the svarasa of microcosms leads them into the clutches of Avidyá. The more human beings advance towards the authorship and witness-ship of the Supreme Entity, the more they understand the expression of the Cosmic flow. The more they proceed to the Cosmic Stance (bháva), the more effulgent their existence becomes and the more the darkness of ignorance fades. To shake off the influence of Avidyámayá one must take shelter in Him. To count beads or practice ritualistic worship without directing one’s mind towards the Supreme Entity is of no use. To pretend to be virtuous outside while harbouring sinful thoughts within is absolutely meaningless. Such hypocrisy carries no value.

The beginning, the middle and end of dharma sádhaná is to rush towards Him, to channelize all the positive and negative propensities of mind toward Him. Spiritual aspirants will not destroy the six ripus (not even káma or physical longing) but will utilize them for their benefit. When utilized as aids for spiritual progress they will do no further harm. So-called jiṋánis may fight the propensity of krodha (anger), but devotees will utilize it to fight staticity. They will shatter the meanness and pettiness of the mind through psychic strength and fearsome temper. So-called jiṋánis claim that the propensity of greed (lobh) is harmful, but devotees disagree – they nurture greed to attain Him. Jiṋánis abhor vanity or pride (mada), but devotees say that the only object of pride in their lives is Parama Puruśa. Jiṋánis detest the propensity of blind attachment (moha), but devotees say, “I am already in love with Him. I have a blind attachment for attaining my Lord”. The propensity of jealousy (mátsarya) as a ripu is very bad, but a spiritual aspirant will never take it as harmful. In this way spiritual aspirants keep their vision fixed on Brahma. Those who fail to focus their entire entitative existence on Him, those who do not flow towards the Macrocosmic Nucleus of the Cosmic Cycle, realize one day that everything in their lives has become futile.

On seeing the ostentatious practices of religion the popular ideas of a Sufi saint are likely to arise in the mind of a sádhaka:

Andhakárer minár hate moyájjiner kańt́ha pái
Múrkha torá kámya toder hetháy hothay kotháo nái.

[I listen to the voice of the muezzin from the minaret in darkness. I say you are all fools – where is your God? He is neither here, nor there.]

If you throw a stone in the pond, the ripples that it causes vibrate other objects in the pond. Similarly, when the Cosmic flow is inspired by Puruśottama it vibrates in its entirety, thereby vibrating all the receptive minds in the universe. These emanated vibrations take different forms to provide momentum to human beings in different ways. This force of inspiration keeps all the receptive minds connected to Puruśottama, the Supreme Source of all emanations, and motivates them to rush towards Him. When the Macrocosmic stance dances in its individual Macrocosmic Flow, the microcosms dance in parárasa.

In the past the svarasa (divine flow) of Brahma was expressed through Maháprabhu Caetanya, causing people to madly run after him, dancing, crying, singing and laughing in ecstatic joy. Brahma’s svarasa was also expressed in the flute sound of Shri Krśńa, which resonated with such divine sweetness that people ran towards it, madly forgetting their family, culture, prestige, lineage, and so on. The gopiis of Brindávan, leaving the privacy of their homes, also danced, sang and burst into laughter to the tune of the flute.

In Ananda Marga this divine flow of Brahma is embedded in different lessons of spiritual meditation. Thus, those who practice this meditation, whether in the present or the future, whether within time or beyond time, will certainly cry, sing and dance with exquisite spiritual joy, and advance steadily towards the blissful Macrocosmic stance.

Advancing thus, establishing oneself in yama and niyama, and becoming a true sadvipra, one will attain oneness with the Supreme Entity. Developed human beings will have to move along this Macrocosmic flow of Brahma. One who tries to remain aloof from this divine flow does not deserve to be called a human being. One should bear in mind that the highest fulfilment in life lies in movement in the Cosmic flow. The path along which this movement takes place is called the path of bliss, the path of Ánanda Márga.