When Wisdom Dawns, Ignorance And Illusion Disappear

May 1977, Summer Course 1977, Brindavan

Published English.

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The reputation of our motherland has been known all the world over from time immemorial. That reputation is now being sharpened by the ideals and the teachings. You young people should give it a further shining with your care and attention.

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Amongst the four : , , and ; takes the most important place. The other three take a subsidiary place. They are only steps to reach . The bliss that one aspires for by doing , and various other types of rituals is transient and temporary. When the good and the earned by any individual get exhausted, it becomes inevitable that he returns back to human birth. This is the reason why man should attempt to reach what is permanent, and sustaining.

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Our have taught us that only people who know can reach . Only those who can understand will become identical with . The meaning of this is that only such people, who acquire familiarity and expertise in the can attain or liberation. When the moonshine is somewhat dull and when one cannot see clearly, it is quite natural that one looks at a rope and thinks, in illusion, that he is seeing a snake and gets afraid. Although what exists is only a rope, his own illusion makes him think that it is a snake and he gets afraid. In the same manner, although is not bound by connections and attachments in the world, yet it is natural to reflect and think that there is something material and worldly about the . Our ignorance is responsible for our not being able to recognise the elementary truth that is con-tained here. This ignorance is described by several names. It is sometimes called and sometimes called . These are different names for this ignor-ance. There are many other names like , , and so on. These are words used to describe this state of ignorance. It is in the context of such ignorance that man tries to create an illusion in his own mind about what does not really exist. Man also tries to forget what really exists. The creation of something which does not exist is described as . This is also to forget what really exists. In these two things, man experiences illusion. Just as in the case of a rope mistaken for a snake, the rope constitutes the basis, so also for all the creation we see around us, the basis is , the Lord.

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One aspect is to find that reality is covered by something called . For this process, there are three states of our body: one is the gross body, the other is the subtle body and the third is the causal body. In creation, there are two methods. One is the individual purpose and the other is the collective pur-pose. A tree represents an individual form and the forest indicates the community, the totality of trees. The house is an individual form. A village consisting of several houses is a total form. Without a tree, we cannot have a forest and without a house we cannot have a village. Here, one human body becomes an individual form. The combination of several such individual forms becomes a total community. Without an individual form, we cannot have a total group form. The most important characteristic of the human form is the blood; the life blood that flows from head to toe. The total life flow that is contained in all the individuals that make up the community gives you the total group form.

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The causal body is the third aspect of the body. The totality of all such forms constitutes the . The totality of the subtle forms is called . The individual form of the subtle is called the . The totality of the gross body is called the . The individual gross body is . Here, we have indicated the individual gross body as , the individ ual subtle body as , the individual causal body as the . This aspect of has been taught to us by presenting one and the same individual in three different forms: the gross, the subtle and the causal form.

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It has become common for us to hide the connection that exists between the five elements that constitute the basis of creation and of the . Because ignorance covers the reality here, it has been called . This is of two kinds. One is called , related to untruth, and the other is called related to wrong ideas. The idea that sprouts from the feeling that the particular thing does not exist is represented by untruth or . If there is a feeling that one does not know whether that particular item exists or does not exist, it is referred to as . This type of is responsible for . is the main path for liberation or .

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and are two other processes by which this ignorance of can be got rid of. consists of thinking over or contemplation of what you listen to, and consists of digesting what you have taken in the form of the listen-ing. This implies that we will not get the result just by listening. By this process, one can understand the nature of a particular aspect. denotes recognition of these two and getting rid of them. In , there is something that is being covered due to ignorance in us, and that is the aspect of . What arises out of untruth can be got rid of by listening to truth. The best way in which we can remove a doubt is to listen to people who know the truth. When such people come and tell us the existence of that truth, we can get rid of our ignorance. By listening to others, who know the reality, there is a possibility of our being able to get rid of this ignorance of .

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By using two other processes, ( and ) that is, to contemplate and digest what you have listened to, can be got rid of. This implies that we will not get the result just by or listening. By just listening, one can understand only to a limited extent the nature of the item. But to experience it fully, two other stages, (that is to contemplate on what we have listened to) and (absorbing what you have listened to) are necessary. It is only after going through these three steps: , and that one can remove this ignorance of .

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Because of our illusion, we are creating in our mind things which do not exist. By lack of belief and faith, we are forgetting the existence of even what exists. Although, what really exists is the rope, by imagination we think that it is a snake. What is the reason for this? The reason is the darkness which arises in you out of your ignorance. Because of this thought that the rope is the snake, several consequences follow. The fear that is not in you, enters you; and also you run away from the situation. These consequences follow. There is no snake there. The fear that comes into you is simply illusory and running away from it is also the result of illusion. Truly, if with the help of a light, you remove this illusion and this ignorance and you discover that there is no snake there, then you go close to it and fear will disappear. In fact you will handle it with your hand, take it and throw it away. In the whole world, what really exists, is only the aspect of . Because we do not believe in this aspect of , creation, which is only a projection on the substratum of , appears to us as real. By proper experience, we can make an attempt to understand this myth. Truly, once we understand the nature of , and once we get the meaning of that word, then we will be in a position to use the right word to describe a particular situation. In a given situation, when we do not know the correct meaning of the words and when we are ignorant of the aspect of , then we begin to give a misrepresentation.

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As in this analogy, if one wants to learn , one has to have a deep desire for that. It will be wrong for us to think, that is like ordinary worldly education. If we look at it from one point of view, is really easier to learn than some of the things which we learn in the worldly sphere. If we can recognise this properly, then it will provide an easy path for us to learn. On the other hand, if we take a superficial aspect, that will create great difficulty for us.

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Today, the tendency to make comparisons between various things has increased. A very bad quality, by which you present the faults of others, is becoming widespread. If we can get rid of these two things, then it will be possible for us to understand this aspect of . What we are experi encing usually relates only to the material world around us. It is necessary for us to interpret and see what the subtlety that is contained in our experience is. On the same occasion and at the same time, both the aspect of and may come. In the illusion by which we called the rope a snake, what really has happened is, the existing rope has disap-peared and a snake which does not exist there has appeared in our mind.

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There is one small story. A great devotee, who was a very wealthy person, took a lot of gold and out of that gold he had prepared several fine items, each of twenty of gold. He made a fine idol of , a seat for putting that idol, an umbrella and also a cow to go along with . Each one of the items weighed twenty , the total being 100 of gold. In this way, he was experiencing Divinity of God in the forms made of gold. Time is such that things continu-ally go on changing; and with the passage of time, misfortune came to him and there was poverty in his house. A time had come when he did not have food to eat. He was driven to sell away the gold things which he was worshipping. He went to a person who would buy these items, and he wanted to get each one of them weighed and find out what price he would get for each item. The other wealthy person who was to buy the items, weighed the idol of . After finding the weight of , he offered to pay . 10,000 for it. After that, he weighed the pedestal and he said that he would pay . 10,000 for that. Then he weighed the cow and he said that also will fetch . 10,000. The devotee was in great pain. The devotee asked how it is that , the pedestal and the cow will each fetch the same . 10,000? The person who was going to purchase them was obviously not going to pay more money because it was the figure of . He will merely pay the cost of the weight of gold in each one of the items and not value the idol of differently from the cow. So, also, in the case of an individual, his value will depend on the Divinity that is in the individual and not on his wealth or his appearance, or his material possessions. The cup, the cow, the pedestal and the figure of are only different in their forms and in their names. The man who is going to value them, will value them on the basis of the amount of gold which is contained in each of them, and this is the same in all of them. The basic content of all these things is gold; and although each has a different form, it is the same gold. In the same manner, in this world many things appear to have different names and different forms and may create different impressions on different people. But what exists as a common base in all these things is the aspect of .

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It has become common to recognise each body and its form separately, and the common divine con-tent is not seen by anyone. We are only looking at those different bodies and forms in an external way, but the real connection and comparison between one and another is through the .

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What has left and what he was regarding as his father is the life-force that was in the body and this life-force has left the body and gone away. What has left the body is his father and the dead body that is remaining there is not his father. It is the life-force, or the which entered the body that gives him the illusory feeling that the body was his father.

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We see here that so long as there is life in a body, we promote the connections and the relation-ships with that body are experienced, but the moment that life goes away from that body, we will hesitate to keep that body in our home. We will have no attachment or affection to that body once the life-force has gone away. This body has taken a form which is made up of all the five elements. This is only a casual and artificial appearance. There is a distinct difference between this body, which is composed of the five elements, and the which is in the body. We should get the knowledge by which we can recognise the distinctive difference between the body and the .

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This human birth has come to us with the purpose of establishing to the world the oneness that exists in all the creation. The nature of this oneness can be recognised by promoting the two qualities and . By promoting the qualities of and (control of mind and of the sensory organs), it is possible for us to recognise divinity in the various that exist between the and the . When we understand the nature of these six and also understand the importance of these two qualities, and , we will know the nature of .

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It is in this context that the pro-claims that divinity is everywhere in speech, in action, in words, and in all places. In the presence of an individual who goes on praying and asking God, “Oh God, are you listening to my prayer?” God will exist by his side listening with His ears. For one who prays, “Oh God, are you always with me and accompanying me?” God will always be by his side and the devotee can listen to the footsteps of the Lord. For one who prays, “Oh God, are You looking at me?” God’s eyes will always be with him. Everything is a result of your own devotion and faith. But in God’s view, there is no difference between one devotee and another. “,” whatever your ideas may be, they are merely reflected. All blame and blemish are in you and in your ideas. It is not right to ascribe any blame or blemish to God. It is not possible for any insect to survive in fire. While the blame and blemish and all contradictory ideas are really in you, to attribute them to God is a weakness. When the capacity to experience these things becomes weak, then you take recourse to an alternative and put the blame on God and begin to find fault with Him.

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