The Ontological Existence
Divine Life
Society Publication: Chapter 14 – Fruit from the
Garden of Wisdom by Swami Krishnananda
The value of a thing cannot be
appreciated unless the mind is on a level equal to the value of the object
which is to be evaluated. I told you the example of a gold necklace put on a
cow's neck. It does not mean that the gold necklace has no value, but the cow
cannot appreciate it. You cannot want a thing unless you are needing it. If
your needs are already attended to by other means, you will not ask for
something irrelevant.
The mind which is involved in
the physical body and social relations requires a diet which is physical and
social. Unfortunately for us, God is neither physical nor social. Our needs are
physical and social at present – to some extent, psychological. God is none of
these. How can God attract us? If you are not merely a physical entity, not a
social unit, or merely a mind that thinks, but an ontological existence, then
you will not have such a problem, doubt or fear.
"Ontological" means
concerning "pure being". One cannot be satisfied by anything but
ontological existence. Only then love for God and need for God is felt. Your
ontological existence is buried deep under the debris of physicality and
sociality and psychological and political associations and that which is buried
cannot act. So we do not feel the need for that which can be felt only by that
which is deep within. All present we are not wholly ourselves; we are only
partially ourselves. We are on the tip of the iceberg of our personality, and
we are thinking through that tip on the top; and the larger base, which is
heavy, is beneath the conscious level.
Our real personality is deeper
than the conscious level, but we live only in the conscious level, and
therefore, we are really not living in ourselves. Hence, we do not want God at
present. This is the problem. But when you go deep beneath your conscious
level, beneath your subconscious and unconscious also, further down, deeper
than the unconscious even, you enter the metaphysical level, the ontological
being.
Go deep, deeper than what you
seem to be. What is inside the body? You will find the mind. What is inside the
mind? Intellect. What is inside the intellect? In deep sleep, the body is not
there, the mind is not there, the intellect is not there. But are you there? In
deep sleep; are you there, or are you not there? You are there. Have you a
doubt? Are you existing in the state of deep sleep, or are you not existing?
Are you alive or dead in deep sleep? Very alive.
How do you know that you are
alive? Who told you? When you had no consciousness of your existence in sleep,
how do you make a statement that you are alive there? It is a hearsay, or real
fact? Now you are stumbling on something which is the mystery of your being.
That which you were in the state of deep sleep is your real personality - not
intellect, not mind, not the senses, not the body, not relations, not friends,
not enemies, not gold, not silver. Without anything you existed, and let us
know what it was that existed at that time. That is your ontological status.
Excerpts from:
The Ontological Existence - Chapter
14 – Fruit from
the Garden of Wisdom by Swami Krishnananda
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