The Balance of Nature
Divine Life
Society Publication: Chapter 63 Your Questions
Answered by Swami Krishnananda
Spanish Visitor: There is so
much suffering, and struggle; a war is going on right now because of egoism,
power, pride...
SWAMIJI: You see, sometimes
you sneeze, sometimes you have pain in the stomach, sometimes you have fever;
are these good things or bad things? These things are not called good things,
but why do they happen, if they are not good? Why do these things happen?
The reason why these things
happen is also the reason why the other things happen, to which you made reference.
It is a cosmic dislocation making internal adjustments. These things, sneezing,
stomachache, fever, etc., are internal adjustments of the body to maintain its
balance. It passes through certain peculiar painful adjustments for the purpose
of maintaining a balance of health. Otherwise, unnecessarily, why should you
vomit and all that? No purpose is served. Nature maintains a kind of balance
where certain extremes take place, which maintain the balance.
When you eat too much, you
will have indigestion. Now, it is not a bad thing that is happening, though it
is certainly not a happy thing. It is necessary for the maintenance of the
health of the body. You have done some extreme thing by overeating. You have
walked in the rain, which is an extreme thing that you have done, so you got
sneezing and fever. You have not slept properly, because you travelled too much.
Mild dislocations are set
right by mild adjustments. Serious dislocations may lead to surgical operations.
Then, destruction, flood, earthquake, war, and wholesale wiping out of humanity
in certain parts also can take place, as when some extreme illness has crept
into the system, some limb of the body may have to be severed by amputation. It
is not a bad thing, because it is necessary for maintaining the balance of your
system. It is a painful thing, but it is a necessary thing, also.
You have to see as Nature
sees, not as one person sees. A limb that is severed by amputation may not like
to be amputated, but you must not see it from the point of view of the limb
only. You must see from the point of view of the whole organism; then, you will
see the necessity for it, though it is a very unpleasant thing. So, unpleasant
things are not always unnecessary things.
We cannot have a cosmic eye,
and we cannot think as Nature thinks. The total eye of Nature alone can see the
total need within its constitution, which includes people like us. We are also
a part of Nature only. So, when it does something for maintaining its own
internal constitutional balance, and it does it for its own purpose, which is
the well-being of the whole, we, as isolated individuals, who cannot think as
Nature as a total thinks, find that some odd thing is taking place; it looks
like it is not very good.
Nature never does a bad thing.
There is no such thing as a bad thing for Nature. It looks unpleasant, because
we are outside Nature, psychologically. If we are one with Nature, we will see
nothing improper taking place. We are looking at things by standing outside
nature. That is why we cannot see things properly and impartially.
American Visitor: War and
hunger and these things have been happening since the beginning of time, and
you said something about Nature taking its course. Could you clarify that for
me, on how Nature affects?
SWAMIJI: I have already told
this, and again you are asking the same question. We are parts of Nature. Every
one of us is a part of Nature. And every part is supposed to be in harmony with
the whole. A part should not be in disharmony with the whole; otherwise, the
whole will take action against the part, and set it right by doing something,
which is what I mentioned in some detail, and that something is the thing that
you see with your eyes.
We are in disharmony with
Nature, disharmonious with God Himself. We are asserting our individuality too
much, which Nature abhors. No limb of the body can assert independence totally
out of harmony with the organism; then, pain will start, aches and all sorts of
illness will arise. That illness is rectified by Nature's medical activity; the
medical activity may be bitter medicine, or it may be a surgical action, which
it does, as all these events that you see in the world taking place. It can be
a thunder, it can be a flood, it can be anything; it can do whatever it likes
for its purpose.
In the same way as you do not
complain against anything that is happening within yourself, you will not
complain against anything happening in the world, if you are one with the total
whole. You do not go on complaining against yourself. You know the reason for
it. You do not complain, you simply see that it is rectified. Similarly, you
will not make complaints against anything if you are one with Nature, and if
you can think through the mind of Nature and see it with the eye of Nature.
Now, we are not able to do that; we are thinking individually, so we do not
understand what is happening. The lower whole has to be sacrificed for the
higher whole.
Excerpts from:
The Balance of Nature - Chapter 63 Your Questions
Answered by Swami Krishnananda
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