A Humble Suggestion

[ BY Sj. ATUL CHANDRA BANDYOPADHYAYA, BHAKTISARANGA ]

To err is human. However learned and intelligent a man may be, he is liable to a creeping error. The greatest philosopher should always remember that human nature is at every moment apt to fall into various errors, especially when we undertake to judge of things, spiritual and eternal, with our empiric knowledge. Of all human excellencies, reason is undoubtedly the greatest; but it has its own jurisdiction. There are men whom Nature has indeed favoured with superior powers. Our mind again is always changeable. We accept a theory today and reject the same a few days after. Every one so often experiences the fallacy of theories established by great men. The great inequality that we often perceive in the productions of the mind of the same man should discourage dogmatism. A man’s body varies with the weather and time, and changes oftener than the moon; so the mind must rise and fall like the mercury in the tube. It is one hour pure as ether; the next moment, foul as the thickest fog. Where is, therefore, the certainty of human intellect? Where is the boast of human reason? This fickleness of the mortal frame, this instability of human wisdom should teach us humility and abate our pride. This is overlooked by many philosophers most of whom are found strongly prejudiced towards their own favourite opinion. Prejudice or prepossession generally stands like a stumbling block in the way of justice and do not suffer our reason to look abroad. It is this fatal propensity which shamefully misleads our judgment. To avoid being led astray by such a dangerous error, we must be very careful to divest ourselves of acquired prejudices and hear impartially before we pass any sweeping remark on any subject.

It is admitted on all hands that the powers of the mind do depend upon the organs of the body which vary in course of time. The mind being inseparably connected with matter cannot proceed beyond material phenomena. It has therefore no access to the spiritual world, the door of which is shut against all who want to enter with his prepossessions or the dim light of the wisdom of this world. Rules and laws of the material world have no access there. Material time and space have no place in this world of eternity. Material senses cannot approach that realm. Who can set landmarks to limit dimensions or find plummets to fathom the depth of that mighty mysterious existence? What numbers can state, what line can gauge the lengths and breadths of that eternal world? A theist cannot help conceiving of One Spiritual Supreme Being in this spiritual Realm of eternity, in spite of all that can be said by the most obstinate atheist and his own doubts can devise.

Be you the most intellectual giant, the most learned scholar, the best orator, the most experienced man in the world, you must stop dead at the gate of the Divine Sphere of Spirit and seek counsel of sound judgment as to how to proceed further.

You will have to drop all before you face this world and submit fully to the process of deduction. This is what is called civil death which makes you competent to have a glimpse into the mysterious principle of spirit.

A light (empiric knowledge) may be useful to us to find out something in a dark room (material world); but it is of no use to us when the sun shines brightly upon us. It is simply ridiculous to attempt to see the sun with the help of a light, which owes its origin to the sun. God is Self-effulgent. His Powers are identified by His Person. In material objects there is a difference between the person and his powers, between the thing and its attributes, its name, its form and its action. But it is a spiritual truth that in spirit the thing is identical with its name, form, attribute and action. Most of the western philosophers having identified the mind and the perverted ego with the soul or spirit failed to rise beyond matter and its relation. The line of demarcation between the soul or spirit and the mind, will be observed in the following sayings of Krishna (the Lord of all Lords) in the Geeta -- (1) The solid, (2) liquid, (3) fire, (4) potency and (5) space (these five elements which form the physical body or outer case of a being ) and (6) the mind, (7) the understanding and (8) the perverted ego (the three elements which compose the astral body or the inner case of a man) are all substances which have relation to the creative principle of matter whereas, the soul which is an emanated atomic part of the Divine Soul, is a sort of His Energy of a different nature which produce beings who are spiritual in nature but liable to be enthralled by Maya (His illusory energy) when their true and innate position as eternal servants of the Deity is forgotten by them. God has infinite powers, but the Scriptures describe of only three divisions of the attributes of His Powers, viz. (1) The attribute of God’s Power which exhibits spiritual existence called the chit shakti and the spiritual kingdom is called chit-jagat. (2) The maya-shakti which creates the material phenomena known as mayik-jagat. (3) The jiva shakti which differentiates souls that are naturally located between chit-jagat and mayik-jagat and are so constructed as to be liable to be enthralled by maya-shakti in consequence of want of power when unaided by chit-shakti of the Deity. Those who prefer to serve their Master are protected from falling into the clutch of maya and undergoing troubles in consequence, and they are admitted in chit-jagat as eternal servants.

The soul engrossed in matter loses itself in mind, and the mind takes the seat of its master the soul and acts through senses enjoying this world. In fact the soul is the proprietor of its properties (1) mind and (2) body. When the sleeping soul is, fortunately however, made to turn back to hear and think of or to move toward its, original position, matters give way: the body and the mind follow suit till the final object of spiritual existence is attained. Mind engrossed in matter is doomed to wallow in the mud of this world, whereas, mind liberated from all pressure of gross matter tends to go back to God and back to Home above. Between mind and spirit there is a wide gulf which can only be bridged over by spiritual cultivation.

There are so-called great men or rational thinkers who deny the existence of spirit. But this truth cannot be subjected to dry reason or barren arguments, but it is only to be felt by sincere men as intuitive truth.

The prudent philosophers have discovered that all the mistakes we are guilty of, originate from (1) tendency to commit mistakes, (2) illusion, (3) defective senses and (4) the cheating propensity, whereby our boldest and strongest thoughts are lost. (1) We mistake ‘infamy’ for ‘renown’ and ‘ruin’ for ‘benefit’. (2) We misunderstand things when the brightest rays of truth shine in vain upon our mind. (3) The senses we observe with are always defective and incapable of giving us a perfect view of things observed. For instance when we look at a glassful of water with our naked eyes, we do not see any germ in it unless and until a microscope be used. Then again we do not see in darkness. (4) A general inclination for deception creeps into our hearts when we take one sided view and establish facts or theories with the greatest assurance. All are subject to fall victim to these defects, The only exception is God the Almighty and His associated counterparts who remain in the Absolute Truth. He is All-knowing, All-powerful and All-blissful. He is Omni-present, Omni-scient and Omni-potent, the like of Whom cannot be found anywhere. He is One without a second and possesses infinite powers. Out of His own supreme power and prerogative He appears before us as “AVATAR” or “SREE BIGRAHA” He comes down from His Ever-blissful Abode to this world, in the form of a man when we actually need His help. Sometimes He sends His “Parsadas” Associated Counterparts fully empowered to act here on His behalf. When theism is forced to give way to pantheism, atheism scepticism and agnosticism ; irreligion unscrupulousness and duplicity bring about chaos on earth. Sin and its consequences surge round us tumultuously clamouring to have their way and we find ourselves in the midst of a whirlpool against our wishes. He comes to this world to save us from their clutches and re-establishes peace and order.

He may remain here and at the same time everywhere in and out of the universe. Mutually contradicting powers and attributes live in harmony with Him ruled by His super-natural Self. With all His paraphernalia and with all His Majesty, Might, Glory, Beauty, Wisdom and Supremacy, He reigns eternally in the spiritual world and at the same time exists in every created object and place in all His fullness. The Omnipotent Author of Nature is Supreme Will in Himself and is above Nature, her laws and rules, because everything has come out of His Will and power. Supreme Lord Krishna-Chaitanya is at the centre of all spiritual and material phenomena - the point whence “Harmony” shines eternally with her All-Beautiful Lord - “The Absolute Truth”. His Injunctions are at all times universally true and must be universally relied upon. They are embodied in the Vedas, the Geeta, the Upanishads, Sreemad Bhagabatam and other Sat-Shastras which must be accepted as the only evidence in spiritual matters. Fortunate and blessed persons hear and obey them. They are not intended for any particular sect or a particular caste or creed, but for all beings and all souls - whether animal, human or celestial. They are not based on local or apparent truth, but on the Absolute or unchallengeable Truth. If brought to this platform by the Grace of the Almighty, persons of contrary interests and different sentiments come to peace and live in eternal association with that Transcendental Being, the life of continuous joy, peace, happiness and success in this world in and the next ; Harmony having laid her hand on the contending parties and brought all their differences to an amicable conclusion. How to arrive at this platform should be our first question.

I alone cannot approach His Divine Abode unaided by the spiritual light from One Who realizes the principle of spirit. Here comes the question of “Sat-Guru” - our spiritual guide - who is the nearest and dearest part and parcel of the Supreme Being. He comes to this world, in the form of a man to save dormant souls from the clutch of Maya (His illusory energy), to infuse into every man the Divine power to go through life victoriously and successfully, to give every erring being the power to be re-instated to his former position and have all the rights and privileges of such a position - the eternal service of Godhead.

Generous Reader, do you feel the need of such a friend, staunch and true, - who will stand by you thick and thin? - who will give you power to win, when you are strongly tempted to do wrong in accordance with or in contradiction to the dictates of your own reason and judgment?

”Where can I find our Spiritual Guide” How to get Him to be interested in me?” - should naturally be our next question.

If I am sincere and true in my desire, He can reveal Himself to me. He is always near me. He is ever ready to receive everyone who comes to Him. Many have found Him. Many are enjoying His friendship and living in close communion with Him. I should express my willingness to obey Him and I will find a consciousness in me that He has heard my prayers. The next moment I find Him disguised before my eyes in human form - “Mahanta Guru” or “Sat-Guru” welcoming me with his stretched arms and the Gate of God’s Realm opens.