Reuniting of the Individual with the Cosmic
Divine Life
Society Publication: Chapter 7 The Path to
Freedom: Mastering the Art of Total Perception by Swami Krishnananda
Our nature is intrinsic to us,
and an answer of a spiritual character can only come from within, not from
without. All spiritual growth is an inner growth, like the growth of a tree. It
is purely internal, though in its internal growth it draws sustenance from
external forces. The individual center, which is a unit of force, seeks
expression and gathers within itself a momentum, like a river that flows into
the ocean. The human individual’s evolutionary act may, to some extent, be
compared to a river flowing to the ocean. In the beginning it is a droplet like
the Ganga at Gangotri or Gomukh, and we cannot even see it, so insignificant it
is in the beginning. But though it is small rivulets, yet even at the very
beginning it has a tendency to move towards its destination. Though this
tendency is not visible outside, it is inherent within, and it gains momentum
by moving further. It gathers its tributaries into itself and gains more
strength; and in this gaining of strength, it also gains further momentum to
rush through the plains, inundating villages, sometimes destroying things,
caring not what it confronts in its way. Somehow it finds its way to its home
in the ocean, where it shall gain peace forever. When the river reaches the
ocean, it rushes no more. It wants nothing further, for its purpose is served.
Likewise, human energies are
forces that cannot rest quiet until they reach their consummation in the sea of
forces. Though the waters of the river are akin to the waters of the ocean in
substance, the manner of their working is different. While the ocean is calm,
subdued and magnificent in its profundity, the river is restless and cannot
find peace anywhere. It is universal force in comparison with individual force.
As a river seeks its peace in the vast expanse of the ocean, the forces that
constitute the unit of individuality rush towards the sea of force in the
cosmos. All our hectic activity throughout the day is an attempt of the
segregated units of energy to find their attunement in the ocean of energy. We
have been isolated from home, and we ask for an attunement with it. Now in this
process of the reuniting of the individual with the cosmic, many a mistake may
happen, as in the rivers trying to find their way to the ocean. The river may
have to face mountains obstructing its path, due to which it may have to run in
a thousand directions, splashing its waters hither and thither and wasting
itself in the effort to confront the barrier, overcome it, and find its way to
the ocean.
The human individual may have
to face the same situation. It is not that the human energies flow calmly,
majestically into the ocean of universal force. We are obstructed by circular
motions of force – whirls and coils of energies which may catch us on the way
and suck us into themselves, wherein we may either get caught up or lose
consciousness of our destination. This happens when the ultimate purpose of the
movement of the universal force, manifest as an individual, is coupled somehow
or other with personal desire.
We have two kinds of energies,
the Deva and the Asuric, the higher and the lower, one pulling us up to our
universal home and the other tethering us down to the universal campus. The
forces that tie us to the body are called desires; the forces that try to
escape the limitations of the body and seek their expansion in the ocean of
force are the aspirations for freedom.
The onward journey of
righteousness, therefore, oftentimes gets smothered by the downward pull of
desire. The stage of the Brahmacharin is the time intended for gathering
momentum, gaining strength for further fulfilment. The Grihastha-dharma is an
obstacle on the way that has to be confronted and overcome. Hence, the Ashramas
are a process of education of the soul. Even the soul is an object for us. It
is really a non-objective principle, incapable of objectification. We cannot analyze
or understand it with our intellect; it is ourselves. Who is to understand his
own self?
Remember, we have the Devas
and the Asuras in us. The tremendous battle between the two is going on always
– one asking for nectar, the other for poison. Both are struggling for victory
within our own selves.
Painful is the life of sadhana; therefore, we do not know
which of the two directions to go. When we are asked to move both ways and are
in the lower forms of mental expression, in the counter form of evolution, we
are likely to listen to the call of the lower nature. It is easier to flow with
the current of the river than to swim across or move upstream. The tendency of
the lower Prakriti is to move towards the objects. The lower Prakriti, the
Apara Prakriti, is the totality of the objects of the world and the forces that
tend towards these objects. The lower nature of Apara Prakriti calls attention
of the desireful mind; the higher aspirations, though they may be present even
in the lower levels like fire hidden in a matchstick, are smothered and not
visible.
No one likes to deliberately
commit a wrong, but everyone unknowingly does it because the inner voice of the
conscience which speaks in the language of Truth is misdirected by the illusory
light that is shed by the senses that direct the mind towards the objects.
The relation to the four
Purusharthas – dharma, artha,
kama and moksha – is a
final attunement of the individual forces with the purpose of creation.
Excerpts from:
Reuniting of
the Individual with the Cosmic by Swami Krishnananda
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