Be plain and simple to be identical with Nature.

The topic implied in this commandment is a bit difficult to explain. Simplicity is the very essence of Nature. It is the reflection of that which existed in the Absolute in a latent state. It promotes growth. It can be aptly described as the quintessence of the Ultimate. This is in fact the life-substance of Nature. Activity starts from this point which is verily the very Origin. All that follows falls within the sphere of Maya, where the people mostly abide in the pursuit of their activities accordingly. In other words it is this one that led to the composition of forms. This continued to develop in man too, and finally led to the formation of strong knots which are now difficult to undo except by the special power of will. Being entangled in these knots, man assumes a form which reflects grossness at the very surface. The external atmosphere and environment also effect it, putting it to actions and counter-actions which brings it from bad to worse, and the simplicity gets enshrouded within it. All these combined together form a snare which keeps man entrapped in it.

The perfect silence that existed before creation was disturbed by the effect of the Stir (Kshobh) which led to the formation of forms. Since all created things had brought with them a reflection of the real power, their actions were also similar to those of the cosmic powers which were set into motion by the effect of the Stir. Thus a spider’s web began to be formed. Every particle in its composition possessed the power, and will continue to do so till the time of its return to the Origin comes. When man was created his condition was dormant. The dormant elements which he had brought with him had no manifestation. Gradually the powers inherited by him began to develop and the same original thought that had caused the primary stir, being present in man, began to manifest itself in proportion to its magnitude. It began to display its actions similar to those related with the Divine. The Divine will was to bestow His power from above downwards i.e from high to low, which are contrary to each other. Therefore this will which is present in man took a contrary trend since the particles were thinking the contrary aspect as their real nature and began to manifest itself in proportion to its magnitude just as Divine creation was according to His standard. Therefore man’s creation was contrary to the Nature and similar network started creating in himself, which in respect of purity is in contrast to that of Divine, though the action in both the cases was almost the same. The return of God’s creation will come into effect when the time limit fixed by the Divine will expires, and the return of man’s creation, i.e., of the network interwoven by him, will be possible only when he nullifies the force of the vibrations which he had set up for their formation. Since the vibrations set up by man were contrary to those of the Divine, their crudely grosser form came down into man’s being, whereas the Divine vibrations being finely subtler retained their original character. The difference between the two kinds of vibrations is that the former possessed a perversive trend, and the latter the same as it originally had. All the powers residing in the Absolute are present in man because his thought force comprised all the particles that were present at the time of the Main Stir, but since they possess an inverted tendency their working took a different course, and the faculties possessed by him began to be utilised in a reverse way. All this combined together promoted the growth of the intricacies. Every particle of it became strong and powerful like that of God’s manifestation. In this way man has brought into being a tiny creation of his own. All his faculties being thus animated grew strong and restive and his mind and thought began to co-operate with them. This resulted in the creation of a world of thoughts. The balance was disturbed and conflicting tendencies began to develop. One faculty now induces him to have a walk in the open. Another stops him from doing so on the ground of catching cold. The third one presents another view; and the fourth still another. The fifth one begins to think of earning money and the sixth suggests the undertaking of some employment. The seventh dissuades him from undertaking excessive hard work for the purpose. The eighth one recommends the establishment of cordial attachment with some rich relation so as to capture his heart and offer him inducement to transfer his entire wealth to him. Another faculty comes forth to declare that all this is quite useless so long as he does not get married and have children to enjoy that wealth. He finally gets married and has children too. Now the problem of their education comes in, as they grow up. Further, hearing of the nice acting of one Jamila, he was tempted to go to the theatre. He went there and witnessed the show several times. The coquettish movements of Jamila captured his heart and he was induced to attend the show again and again. Every thing of Jamila began to attract his heart. This led to the commencement of love. Now he further to pine over the same thought, giving further strength to it by turning it into his habit. The network thus began to grow more intensified. The habit excited in him a tendency to look upon every similar thing as Jamila. Now he began to think of having money sufficient enough to satisfy his lusty desires, but the constant thought of Jamila offered him no time for earning money by lawful means. He at last began to think of stealing but at the same time feared prosecution and imprisonment. But the thought of Jamila had caught him so tightly that he at last resorted to stealing—an unfair means. Now imagine what he originally was, and what he has finally been led to, by the effect of his thoughts which had entrapped him so tightly. Similar incidents added further to the intricacies of the net, giving greater strength to it by the effect of his thought, which fomented them all the more. The grossness went on increasing. Its resultant effects led to the development of further evils like passion, anger, lust, etc. In short, a complete conglomerate was formed. The retracing from it can now be effected only by the process of casting away all that he had taken in previously, giving place to the first state, strengthen his will and divert the downward tendency upwards, and by removing perversion of thought by fixing it firmly in the right direction.

Now since this diversion of thought is beyond the capacity of a common man, he should attach himself to some great personality who is himself firmly established in the highest plane beyond all possibilities of fall. The downward tendency of thought indicates that one has descended to a lower plane, assuming a grosser form. In such a case it is quite essential for him to get himself attached to one of his fellow beings with faith and devotion, so that his downward tendency may be mended by his influence. This will relieve him of all distracting thoughts. He must also cultivate habits which will be conducive to his efforts for shattering the net-work. For instance, the ears should attend only to noble talks; the eyes should see only that which is pious and good; the heart should be inclined only towards that which is virtuous. There may be many such other things which will automatically come to his knowledge if he is after it. Besides this, he must also put in his own sincere efforts to shatter the net. At every stage there are practices and meditations for this purpose, but a strong will and confidence are essential everywhere. At different Chakras or plexuses there are various knots in this network and still more are under formation. For shattering them, the help and support of one who has shattered his own is really invaluable. The theory deserves careful study. These being mysteries so far are now revealed so that people may ponder over them and bring them into practice. After dealing with the subject, my humble request to you, the reader, is that you should try to re-own the latent power which is the very quintessence of Nature by breaking up the network interwoven by yourself. Taking up for the ideal the simplicity of Nature, which is before everybody’s view, you should set to work for the attainment of the Goal in a way that all senses having merged in, may become synonymous with that remains after the fading away of the previous impressions. Then alone can you think of yourself as diverted towards Him in the true sense.

The only method can be one that I have described above. One must go on reducing the activities, shaking off all superfluities that have entered into his being, for the purpose of shattering his individual network and assuming the purest state one has finally to acquire. This is possible only when he associates himself with one who, having shattered his own network, has had enough swimming in the Infinite.