This Chapter deals with the unique position of man in the cosmos and the role he is destined to play in it. The Master begins by advising us to admire the Being who brought the universe into existence rather than speculate about how all this came about. We have set up, in parallel to God’s own creation, a tiny creation of our own individual existence having layers upon layers of grossness and opacity. Thus it will be necessary to shatter off those layers one by one so that we can assume our Absolute or original state once again.

We have seen earlier that the creation came about as the result of the latent motion near about the Centre. This latent motion or Stir may be called the First Mind of God. We owe our origin to that First Mind and in a sense our mind can be said to be the product of that Mind. Man is predominantly ‘man’ or mind (manas) whose chief characteristic is to think and imagine, hence the choice of the word ‘Man’ to denote the species; though it is another matter to decide whether the species deserves to be called as homo-sapiens, the species possessing wisdom! We all know that the kingly thing in man is thought which is nothing but mind in expression. The human mind being a product of the First Mind or Stir, an evolute from the God-Centre or the state of Tam, we can understand the import of the usual statement that man is made in the image of God. The above is the basis for the science of Rajayoga and also the manifestation of the principle of Parallelism which makes yoga itself possible.

At the time of creation, the soul or the innermost core of being, existed in its naked form as a separate entity. The Master says elsewhere that Jiva or individual soul became cognizant of its being when it assumed individuality. The activity of creation is said to follow the Mahapralaya or the cosmic dissolution after a pause whose length is subject to Divine will; in the state of Mahapralaya the identities of all beings coalesce into One Identity after losing their individualities. The re-emergence of manifestation from the above state of dissolution is a result of the desire arising in the Absolute causing a stir in the invisible motions around the Centre. Thus the souls exist in a state of pristine purity devoid of any covering at this juncture. When the idea of creation arises in the Absolute, the first covering of individuality or consciousness of being separate is produced. It is believed in tradition that while some souls decide to stay back enjoying the Divine company, many choose to participate in the drama of manifestation allowing themselves to be swept down by the mighty current of descent. In the beginning there were only very fine coverings with which the soul can stay in the realms of the Divine. Gradually more and more coverings formed with the addition of Manas, Chitta, Buddhi and Ahankar in cruder forms all of these contributing to our grossness. In due course samskars (impressions) started forming producing their own effects.

If we ponder a little at this point, we can understand how samskaras form. It starts with the predominant idea of ‘I’-ness and possessiveness which arises due to the feelings of attachment. As the Master puts it whenever we do something applying our head and heart we form impressions. Ideas of doership and ownership with expectancy of results according to our desires strengthen the impressions forcing us in turn to enjoy the consequences of actions thus paving the way for the endless cycle of actions and enjoyment of the fruits thereof. The opacity already created due to the initial coverings dimmed the idea of the Divine presence as our inner core and our inseparable relationship with Him. This made us desire to have separate faculties and powers so that we can create a parallel kingdom of which we will be the unquestioned masters with complete freedom to enjoy whatever we want to. Having been blessed with the original thought force we could go about the task of building our own creation of course subject to the limitations imposed by our finiteness. The notion of separateness and the idea that we are masters of our own destiny blunted our sensibilities and blurred our vision to the extent that we permitted the veil of ignorance to envelop us. This led us to support the ‘I’-ness in us which engenders the feeling of attachment to the things and beings around us. We forgot the principle, ‘isa vasyam idam sarvam yat kincha jagatyam jagat’, meaning that whatever is there in this universe is pervaded by God, He being the indweller of all and the universe is solely His. Thus there is nothing which is ours. In fact when this is taken to its logical conclusion we too are His creation and are His bodies ensouling Him. It is the situation of covering and being covered by. Lack of this Jnana puts us in the mesh of attachments and bondage. Further our liking for the pleasant and dislike for the unpleasant consequences adds to the complications. The result of seeking only the pleasurable and avoiding what may be productive of pain leads us only to further pain and misery. Thus being surrounded by pain and misery in every direction it is but natural to think that freedom from misery and suffering is the only goal. The opacity created by all the grossness obscured totally the vision of the indwelling Lord and only the manifestation with its myriad charms and glamour occupied his attention.

The Master makes the point about virtue and vice making their appearance at a particular stage of the unfolding of the manifestation. The question of right and wrong has engaged the minds of savants and sages for eons. The philosophers of the humanistic and socialistic persuasions have defined right as something which brings about maximum good to the majority and which does not at the same time take away the rights of the rest to life and property. Jesus said a man should treat his neighbor exactly the same way in which he would like to be treated by the other. We normally tend to think that which pleases us or rather our senses as good and the contrary as bad. Every religion has defined its own moral and ethical code and laid down punishments and atonements for transgressions of the code. Moral violations attracted severe tortures of every imaginable variety in equally variegated hells depending on the type and severity of the violation.

Thus at least fear of such intense and unbearable suffering which could be even interminable in the case of the most pernicious and dastardly crimes would keep the flock on the right path, even if conviction in the intrinsic truth and justification of the moral injunctions may be found wanting. Those who have determined to travel on the narrow path of spirituality know that it is absolutely right to follow all the yamas and niyamas as that would be conducive for growth and any omissions in this regard is wrong more because that would defeat the very purpose of their endeavor. In today’s milieu of downright individualism every one is right in doing anything whatsoever as long as it does not cause a public nuisance or offends the sensibilities of a section of the people. That is moral relativism at its worst. Having said so, we do find persons who are willing to take up the cause of the offending individual if only to protect his so called right to free expression and the adherence to a way of his persuasion. These are the times when no one wants to be governed by any ethical and moral code of an absolute character. Undoubtedly there would arise situations in which it becomes difficult to say which is morally the right thing to do with clarity and certainty. Under such circumstances we consult the sages for illumining our decisions. There are many such situations involving dharma sankata or moral dilemmas which we come across in the apocryphal stories in the itihasas and the puranas in which even the avatars have listened to the elders for finding a way out of the moral impasse.

Howsoever this may be, the problem is not so acute for a person who has surrendered his all to the Divine Master. When Arjuna faced the daunting prospect of having to fight his cousins and elders and possibly kill them too and was perplexed by the moral implications of such an act, we find the Lord asking him to leave the matter of Dharma entirely to Him, take refuge in Him as the last resort and merely do his duty as a kshatriya which is to fight for upholding righteousness. The Lord assures His dear associate that He will save him from the consequences of all sin following from such action. Really speaking, the problem of Arjuna got magnified in his mind due to bandhupriti, fond attachment to the relations, who literally bind as the root word implies and the fear of losing them in the fight caused the weakness in his heart, hridaya daurbhalyam and his quoting the sastras in the defense of his proposed abstention from fight was derided by the dear Lord as ‘mouthing wise utterances, prajnavadanscha bhashase’. A person who has totally surrendered has virtually no feeling of ego and idea of doership and ownership; he lives in a forgetful state living and moving in the consciousness of his Master. He does everything thinking that it is his Master’s command and it is his duty to obey it, thus ceasing to form any samskar. At this stage there is no discrimination in his mind as to what is vice or virtue. We find a telling example in the life of our Master, when He felt He was instructed to walk through a street where women of easy virtue were living. The Master was in a state of oblivion and felt that He was merely executing His Master’s instructions and He did not have any right to evaluate the appropriateness of the instruction. There remained nothing of His own, the body idea, the idea of buddhi, the discriminative intellect telling what is right and wrong and the idea of separate self. In such a condition neither virtue nor vice gets attached to the action nor the consequences of such an action attend the ‘performer’ of the action, the agency for the action being perceived only by others, the ‘performer’ being really inactive though acting, from the point of view of samskar formation. This is the principle of inaction in action as cited in the Gita.

God is the Ultimate moral authority, the samavarthi, the real upholder of justice and balance as held by all pious persons and thus when His will alone Is being carried out by His servant who has surrendered his all to the Lord, whatever is being done can only be right in the real sense of the term. The point to note here is that in the process of descent, the soul has added layers upon layers including those created by crude forms of ahankar, desires, emotions and feelings, the five vikaras (kama, krodha, moha, lobha and ahankar) and the three ishanas (dhana, dara and putra) play their own parts enmeshing the soul in darkness and ignorance.

The way of deliverance from this quagmire lies in forming the will to regain the original condition, adopt right spiritual discipline and adhere to the path of virtue as laid down by one’s Master who has traveled the path. In the path of ascent, the soul with the help of the Master’s grace, casts away the coverings of the cruder variety and surrenders itself totally to the Supreme Master arriving at the position where its actions are not governed by notions of right or wrong as commonly understood. In fact such noble souls who have connected themselves irrevocably to the Divine Master and function solely according to the dictates of His consciousness define what morally right conduct is. The question of virtue and vice is very relevant for the soul, which is committed to the path of ascent and it can neglect it only at its peril. The yamas and niyamas, the controls and the disciplines, have to be followed strictly and a moral character of high order is to be upheld to be deserving of the grace of the Master.

In this context, readers are referred to ‘Imperience Beckons’, containing the original work of the Master, Commentary on the Ten Commandments written from the highest levels of superfine superconsciousness as declared by the Master Himself and regarded by Him as His best book encompassing the total system of SRRY and the explanatory notes on the work by Revered. K.C Narayana published by the ISRC. The Master’s work referred to is of enormous significance to the entire humanity and constitutes the new ‘sruti’ revealed as the supreme ethical and moral code to be strictly adhered to by all human beings for leading a life of happiness and harmony amongst themselves and with Nature Herself. Revered. K.C.Varadachari has addressed in his inimitable manner the question of right and wrong in his inspiring talk, ‘The eclipse of consciousness’ (Revered. K.C.Varadachari CW V1), how it can be resolved through the practice of SRRY and the indispensable role played by Pranahuti or the transmitted Sri Ramchandra Consciousness in the making of moral man.

The Master reveals that man is a bipolar being having two poles, one of them having its root nearest the base or termed otherwise as God and the other end towards the world. This allows man to experience both the divine as well as the mundane. When the mind is attached to or involved in the world of manifestation, it is agitated, unhappy and unsteady. We are all in a way the fragments of that First Mind which has been individuated, isolated and in some sense, insulated from other individuals, so that it is thinking only of itself as Revered. K.C.Varadachari puts it. When somehow it is turned towards the cosmic mind, which is its real or original nature and is given a dip into that condition it experiences peace and calmness and begins to appear in its true colour. Such a thing is possible because it owes its origin to the First Stir, which came into existence by the will of God to bring the creation into existence. The meaning of yoga is the establishment of the connection of the individual mind to the first mind of God. But this is not possible for the individual mind to effect on its own as it is in a degraded state encumbered as it is with the burden of attachments and it is habituated to dwell on the darker aspect of substance, namely Prakriti. Hence the dynamic hand of a Master firmly connected to the Being beyond the stir is a must for effecting the yoga or connection leading to ultimate unison. Such an attainment is not secured by mere reading or philosophizing, but firm faith, devotion and confidence in the Master is needed for the success in the process.

Revered K.C.Varadachari points out that the aspirant must form the idea of his original condition and his rootedness in the base, the other pole of his being, for generating the required dynamics in the process of this inward evolution or transformation. The idea is a subtle force or an urge, which moves not only the individual but also the Lord compelling Him to take note of the devotee seeking union. In a way we may say that the aspirant also plays a role in making the Centre to yawn towards the circumference through his intense aspiration and restless seeking. This twofold process, the push from the aspirant, the result of his voluntary exertion and the attractive pull from the Divine make for the eventual attainment of the goal. The Lord is as much keen as the devotee for the union, rather more keen and even restless as perceived by men of God, to effect the union. He is merely waiting as if it were to see the arising of that ideational force or compulsive urge in the aspirant for getting back into the realms of the Ultimate, his long-forgotten homeland. We may note here that what we have termed as the feelings of the Lord are actually the empathetic and sympathetic feelings for a kindred soul, as arising in the loving heart of the human Master merged in the Highest towards a fellow being seeking the union with the Highest. This conclusion will be reached once we become aware of the Master’s statement that God the Highest has no mind for Himself.

The Master would like to emphasize the unique capacities of the human mind, which happens to be the only instrument for the utilization of the enormous power lying dormant in man. He says that the mind of man is Nature’s instrument, it is alive and active always, the principal reason for which is the fact that it is derived from and continuous with the Stir, the First Mind of God. It is quite different from the mind, if it can be called such, possessed by animals. Animals have a rudimentary mind, they are not self-aware, have no idea of the present, past or the future in the way humans can be aware of the same. They do not form impressions as they can not think. They have a wired nervous system so to speak which enables them to respond to environmental stimuli, find their food, the mate and a safe niche where they can rest without coming to harm from the hands of their predators. Nature has endowed all animals from the unicellular to the complex multi cellular versions such that they can survive and reproduce. We can say that the annamaya and pranamaya kosas are fairly well developed along with a barely emergent manomaya kosa in the higher animals such as the dog, elephant, horse and the cow and some members of these species do exhibit good memory and elementary intelligence.

It is well known that the pet animals living and moving with humans reciprocate the feelings of love and care shown towards them by their human masters, with dogs, cats, elephants and dolphins becoming the best pets. Dogs have become even metaphors for being the ideal servant utterly loyal and faithful to one’s Master lying always at His feet awaiting the next bidding, reflecting His will totally and with no thought for one’s own existence. It also symbolizes the missionary totally committed to propagating his Master’s message. Thinking, reasoning, conceptualizing and planning appear to be entirely human faculties which could not have evolved without the emergence of language and capacities for abstract symbolic representation. The human system can be considered to be a superset comprising in a generic sense, all the animal sensibilities or sensorium with the faculties of thinking, reasoning and feeling overlaid as if it were above the animal capacities.

All the saints, sages and thinkers have recognized the tripartite man comprising the animal from the navel and below, the human at the heart and divine from the head, actually starting from the forehead constituting the neo cortical region of the human brain and going upwards including the sahasrara and regions beyond brahmarandhra up to the occipital prominence discovered now by the Great Master in SRRY (PAM). The brain scientists have been able to clearly identify the primitive brain called the reptilian brain comprising the cerebellum, the medulla oblongata and the sensory and motor cortex, the limbic system and the neo-cortex the first named structures primarily responsible for animal behaviour essentially consisting of instinctive stimulus response activity and the latter named responsible for emotional and cognitive behaviour. We find that Nature never lets any previous evolutionary developments go waste but builds more complex and functionally superior organisms on the foundations of her own earlier developments in a systematic and holistic manner, all the new parts functionally integrated amongst themselves and not only that but also with the earlier units which have become subordinate structures to the new. All serve the purpose of the new organism ‘intelligently’ and in a wholesome manner with a seamless integration of the parts old and new. We find for instance and to our great astonishment that the metabolic processes found in the most primitive and the longest living organism, the bacteria are found intact even in the most advanced organism, namely man.

Modern genetics has confirmed that there is a great degree of commonality in the genes, the units of biological heredity, across all living organisms from the unicellular e.coli, through the fungus weed, the nematode worm, the fruit fly drosophila which in the hands of Thomas Morgan paved the way for modern experimental developmental genetics, the humble mouse to man. Indeed there is a lot of genetic commonness between mice, the monkeys and men. There is great degree of similarity or even near identicality in most respects across the animal kingdom inclusive of man at the level of instincts particularly in respect of hunger, thirst, sleep and sex. We may say that the body design in the functional sense is quite the same in nature in so far as the life process comprising birth, growth, multiplication, decay and death is concerned.

However man is the acme of creation with well developed linguistic, emotional, social, reasoning and computational skills which have set him apart from the rest of creation to an extent that he appears to be a special descent with a unique role to play in nature.

It is also to be noted that man’s physical evolution is complete and in fact the evolutionary process in this sense has almost stopped some twenty five thousand years ago according to anthropologists and social scientists. Man has evolved slowly but surely from his primitive tribal stage to his current modern status possessing the skills mentioned above which have enabled him to develop mutually beneficent community living manifesting what we term as culture or civilization and this feature has made the communication and subsequent exponential growth of knowledge possible across generations. Cultural transmission is more efficient and efficacious in speeding up evolution compared to the transmission mechanism through the rather dull mechanistic genetic mutation by orders of magnitude. The stage is now set for the growth and transformation of consciousness through the transmitted superfine divine consciousness of Pranahuti which, in the hands of a capable master can bring about the desired transformation for the committed aspirant in a fraction of a lifetime, thus sparing him the struggle and labour extending over many lifetimes. This is the new spiritual era which has dawned with the advent of the Great Master Revered. Lalaji Maharaj.

With his advanced mental capabilities man can lift himself out of the present, fix up goals to be attained in the future, arrive at the proper methods to achieve them and thus evolve much more rapidly than the animals. Man exhibits free will, can conceive of his various desires and intentions, analyze them with reference to the goal, exercise discrimination as to what is conducive to the achievement of the goal and what is not. He can practice control, postpone gratification, can develop aspiration for the attainment of superior goals placed far above those merely directed towards the satisfaction of primitive urges. He can evolve from the state of pashu or animal, to a nara, a manava, a rishi or mantra drishta-seer of mantras and push on further to live at more refined levels of consciousness which make him godly. In comparison the evolution of animals is painfully slow determined, as in the generally accepted view of Darwin, only by the process of random mutation and adaptation driven by the forces of natural selection emerging from the changing environment. We may say that if a soul is trapped in an animal frame it will be severely limited in the possibilities open to it for further evolution. It will be apt here to consider the view expressed in ‘PAM and Afterlife’, written by Revered. K.C.Narayana (p 7), ‘When we place plants, insects, fish, reptiles, birds and beasts into their several classes, we can observe that they resemble the grades in a school. The souls of plants, after dying, gather together in their myriads and form larger psychic units. These innumerable little units go one step up, then as one psychic entity enters the body of an insect after conception. Myriads of insect lives again make one being which, in due course, enters the body of a fish or bird. And so the process continues. Finally the embryonic souls of animals so evolve that many making one psychic entity eventually become one human soul.’ This gives an idea of the Great Chain of Being, the lower forms forming successive steps in the ladder of evolution, the human being forming the top rung in the ladder.

It is possible that the passage can be in both directions depending on the actions and intentions behind the actions, though it is generally held that once the human form is secured it is extremely rare that there is relapse into the lower order in evolution except under extreme circumstances of crude bestial behaviour on the part of man. The Hindu scriptures state that the soul has to be born and suffer in 82 lakhs of yonis or bodies of plant, insect and animal before it is blessed with the human frame. All the saints without exception have stated that it is almost impossible to have the combination of a human birth, the birth occurring in a family of evolved souls, good health and education, being blessed by the company of holy and pious persons, having the keen aspiration and craving for realization and as a crowning blessing to be accepted by a capable Master who has traveled the entire distance for spiritual training. Such indeed is the great fortune of the abhyasis in the Natural Path for which they should remain grateful forever to God the Supreme.

All this and more is possible for man whose mind has originated from the first Stir and hence it is very wrong on the part of the pseudo Mahatmas to rail it in the worst possible terms blaming it for all the ills of man and not recognizing its real value and merit. The Lord says in the Gita that the mind (denoted in the verse by the ‘self’’ component of it) is verily the friend of oneself and this same mind can become the enemy of oneself (atmaiva hyatmano bandhuratmaiva ripuratmanah Ch vi.5). We have to use the higher mind or ‘self’ for the up-liftment of the lower ‘self’ and one should not decry or denounce the ‘self’. This is the meaning of the lower self being ruled and regulated by the higher self brought about by the diversion of the thought energy from ‘L’ to ‘U’ as it happens in SRRY through Pranahuti. In this context it is quite illuminating to note the import of the very next verse to the one referred above spoken by the Lord, namely, bandhuratmansthasya yenatmaivatmana jitah l anatmansthu satrutve vartetatmaiva satruvat ll, where we will interpret the first reference to ‘atma’ in the second pada of the verse as the lower self (L) and the ‘atma’ occurring subsequently in it as the higher self (U).

It is the practical experience of the aspirants on the Natural Path that the diversion effected by the trainer of the thought current from ‘L’ to ‘U’ after checking its downward flow plays an indispensable role in the most vital development in the field of spiritual sadhana referred to by the great Lord. It has also been said that the mind is the cause for both bondage as well as liberation (mano hi hetu rbandha mokshayoh). It all depends upon how it is put to use; the Master has said on many occasions that it is by acting upon the wrong and vicious suggestions given by the unregulated and ill-disciplined mind man gets into misery and suffering, hence we should resort to ways and means by which it can be brought to the state of regulation and discipline naturally. Decrying the mind needlessly and attempting to dispense with it would be just like throwing the baby along with the bath water. There are many who think that one has to destroy the mind and become Amanaska as they call it, to get beyond the mind for becoming one with God. The Master differs from this view emphatically and says that man has to use the only instrument he has, that is the mind, for his higher evolution.

Talking about God and His mind, the Master makes a revolutionary revelation that God in His Ultimate condition does not possess mind for, if He did, then He will be subject to the effect of samskaras just like us which is not an acceptable state of affairs.

Discussing further the potential of man, the Master states that every particle of the human body possesses tremendous power and the entire universe is closely connected with it. As the line of humanity unfolded during the process of creation, the flow of energy issuing in the form of jerks from near the Centre slowed down and congealed as if it were at several stages forming knots. The formation of twists and turns during the flow of the current also contributed to this. Action and reaction produced their own effects. The energy which was in very subtle form of the first mind has been rendered finally in the grossest form of matter. The outward process of manifestation has been the same both for man and the rest of the universe. Thus there is an intimate connection between man and the universe. If man becomes subtler and subtler he will be able to comprehend the subtler forces at play in the universe and will be in a position to control them if so willed by Nature. Of course this implies that such a man has learned first to control himself and has become sufficiently subtle so that the inner workings of Nature are transparent to him. The Master says further that every point in the spinal column is filled with enormous power.

It is interesting to recall here the apocryphal story in the Hindu mythology in which a rishi called Dadichi makes a gift of his spinal cord suffused with power acquired through his penance to Indra, the king of the Gods, to be used by him as the weapon Vajrayudha to kill the demon Vrithra. Similarly every particle in the composition of the nucleus of the brain cells has enormous power as compared to the power of kundalini of which so much is talked about by every one who steps into the arena of spiritual sadhana. The Master says that the most powerful nuclear weapons of the modern day would pale in comparison with the power lying hidden in the brain cells. All this would come to the understanding of posterity in course of time.

All religions, philosophies and sciences are more or less agreed that God created man in His own form. But this does not mean however that the physical form of God is the same as that of man, the human body made of flesh, bones, skin and so on possessing the various limbs. It really means that man is composed of all the powers, forces and energy present in Nature in the same order. Behind this solid external appearance of the physical world there are finer and still finer worlds even as behind the apparently solid physical body of man there exist innumerable bodies each subtler than the one immediately above it. It is common to hold that the subtler one is the cause of the grosser one immediately following it regarded as its effect. Though it is difficult to assign names to all these bodies as they are really innumerable, it is usual for the mystics and philosophers to identify three principal bodies amongst them viz., the physical (sthula-gross), astral (sookshma-fine) and the causal (karan- purpose or destiny).

Speaking a little more elaborately we can say that man is composed of certain structures which ensure his 1. survival needs 2. reproductive or perpetuating needs 3. emotional needs 4. love needs 5. creative drives 6. aspirational needs 7. superconscious living and these may be classified into the physical, etheric or pranic or energetic, emotional, mental, aspirational and causal bodies.

The same can be looked from the kosa or sheath point of view, the subtle body or the astral being composed of the prana maya ( the etheric-energetic), manomaya (psychological ), and vijnana maya (higher mental, intuitive and aspirational) kosas. The astral body gives an indication of the psychic or internal condition of the person and it is said to be transmigrating along with the soul when the physical dies. It also goes away when the individual gets rid of the karmas-impressions of actions, vasanas-traces of impressions or predispositions which induce one to indulge in actions repeatedly for deriving enjoyment said to reside in the ananda maya kosa and trishnas-cravings or intense desires, absolutely. In a sense it may also be called a karana sarira as the other formations occur once it is formed. It is regarded as a conglomerate of manas, subtle senses, ahamkar and buddhi. The astral can be atomic or all pervading. We can associate the astral with the domain of plan for action, the planning being in tune with the purpose behind the existence or the goal of life itself. Ordinarily man is lacking in goal clarity very much and that is the cause of a great deal of confused activity on his part, searching vainly for lasting happiness from sources in the external world which are really incapable of granting the same, accumulating pain and misery in the bargain and repeating the endeavour through endless cycles of birth and death.

It is necessary that one recognizes clearly the real purpose of existence and makes his astral in tune with the causal; the physical falls in tune automatically when the causal and the astral are aligned. This triune alignment makes for a peaceful, happy and harmonious existence. It may be noted that the individual causal or the individual will should be aligned with the Mahakaran (supreme or divine purpose) or the divine will for the ultimate transcendence of birth itself (Ref. Astral body, Karan sarir. BP V1). With all the above mentioned bodies from the grossest to the finest, man is in existence as a true copy of the entire manifestation of God. The Master represents this as a series of twenty three concentric circles having Zero or God as their Centre.

Man has emerged from Reality and has brought the essence with him. It is his ultimate purpose to have union with the Reality and realize his true nature. This is possible only when he keeps pace with Divinity and links it with the line of humanity. As seen earlier, Humanity is akin to Divinity at the source and assumed grosser form due to the jerks caused by the actions and counter-actions in the process of evolution. The line of humanity is essentially parallel to the line of divinity, though the former took a different turn and formed curvatures moving away as it were from the line of divinity. This is due mainly to the formation of the idea of separateness and subsequent development of ‘I’-ness and ‘mine’-ness feelings, The cause of this distorted perception is due to the choice of the soul keen on participating in the play of manifestation. With the formation of the knots in the path of, downward descent of the energy the pole in man’s being linking him to the world is almost entirely shielded from the other pole near the base or what is in essence, the Stir. This has resulted in God almost going out of reckoning in the life of man. This can be termed as the immoderation or lack of balance in the present day human living. That is, there is undue attachment towards the things of the world or one’s worldly existence causing a disproportionate attention to be paid in the maintenance and upkeep of the worldly life.

It is necessary to bring all the constituents of the human existence to their original state of poise and tranquility so that it may keep up its link with divinity for restoring moderation and balance in human life. The Master outlines the process of divinization of man as follows. The divine influx occurs into the aspirant’s heart due to the will of the Master in the practice of meditation along the lines of SRRY bringing about absorbency in the divine and detachment from the world in a gradual manner. The distracting effects of sense desires and impulsive urges are overcome through the practice of ‘A’ and ‘B’ meditations. The individual mind gets accustomed by and by to the new rhythm of the Stir of which it is but a part and attains calmness and tranquility. The immoderation produced in the constituents of the human frame of existence due to the action of the separative human will is gradually reduced bringing about the balance. The intensity of the force working along the line of humanity is progressively diminished till it vanishes almost. This is the transformation of the human into the divine or divinization of man. When the practices advised under PAM are followed assiduously with sincerity and faith in the Master, the parallelity between the human and the divine disappears. Both the human and the divine become one almost, as a trace of humanity is still left. God being infinite, man at his highest approach, becomes likewise but in his sphere of humanity. When the human limitations are gone, the expanse of the self becomes unlimited so much so that the entire universe seems to be contained within the self. Anything that strikes anywhere in the universe cause an echo in his heart and everything in Nature is within his knowledge and perception. Our great Master is a shining example of such a perfected human being. Such is the potential of man when he gets the dynamic contact of a Master like Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj and yields to Him completely and unconditionally with an unwavering determination to reach the Goal.

The Master takes up the subject of realization and the means to be adopted for its attainment. He says elsewhere that it is not enough for one to be curious about the nature of realization but he should also try to attain it. God-realization has always been dear to the heart of all those living in this country from time immemorial. It has even been extolled as the highest purushartha or goal of human endeavour and existence. But, as the Master puts it, like the conception of God, the idea of God-realization has also been enmeshed in controversy and shrouded in mystery to such an extent that any sincere man of reason and science is put off by the very mention of the word. The subject has been presented in all sorts of artificial colours according to the taste and mental skills of the scholarly saints. The men of learning express their opinions on Realization or the conditions pertaining to it generally on the basis of their learning and not on that of their experimental or experiential knowledge and for that reason realization has become, regretfully a present day art.

Reality has sunk down deep leaving out only the colours with the result people begin to focus their attention on those very paintings and get into them that which is neither spirituality nor Reality. The Master says with characteristic finality that one must not have the right to touch the subject of Realization unless he has attained to that state living the life of practicality and whereby the Divine wisdom has awakened in him. Naturally one is interested in knowing what it is to attain the state of realization. In what follows we attempt to survey briefly the views held by the various schools of thought on the subject.

Some people hold that seeing light like a flash of lightening or a dazzling and multihued luminous orb of radiance within or without is an indication of that state; the Master disagrees emphatically with this view and states that He often felt and witnessed luminosity in the early period of His practice but proceeded on further under the watchful support of His Master as Light is not the Goal. Some others think that being in a protracted cataleptic trance is a sure sign of the state of realization. Another favoured viewpoint is that the vision of one’s ishta devata in the waking or dream condition is a hallmark of the exalted state. Experiencing the arousal of the kundalini, it’s piercing of the six chakras and its subsequent merging in the Sahasrara has also been spoken as the condition of realization in the Tantrik school of sadhana. This has been spoken in glowing terms as the mystic union of shakti and siva bestowing infinite bliss and the state of immortality upon the aspirant. The brahma sutra in Vedanta speaks of it as the condition of satyam jnanam anatham brahma-truth, knowledge, infinite. The adherents of the path of jnana have described it as merging and becoming one with that unalloyed pure consciousness, eternal and unchanging, the Supreme Self of all. According to the Patanjali yoga sutras the object of yoga for the Jiva is to attain kaivalyam, a state of supreme aloofness from prakriti knowing one’s real nature to be different from it and being rooted in one’s own nature-svarupe avasthanam.

There is another very popular version, namely the continuous anubhava of the state of satchidananda (existence consciousness bliss).

The advaitins hold that realization consists in the realization of the identity between the individual soul or self and the Brahman, the supreme Self, the transcendental Reality, the One without a second, Eternal, Changeless, Source and Substratum of all and of the nature of Knowledge, Bliss Absolute, Pure Consciousness through the Nirvikalpaka Samadhi experience. This experience is characterized by a loss of all distinction of knower, knowledge and object of knowledge. The individuality is lost altogether as illustrated in the example of the lump of salt dissolved in water which is no longer perceived to be distinct from water and cannot be separated from it. This experience leads to the destruction of the primal ignorance and the soul is released from the veils of Maya leading to the state of liberation. Further the soul experiences the transcendent Bliss of Brahman having recovered its real and primal nature which had been obscured by ignorance.

Incidentally the Raja yoga works do not mention Nirvikalpaka Samadhi at all but refer to Conscious or Samprajnata Samadhi and the Superconscious or Asamprajnata Samadhi, indicating respectively, the state in which the consciousness of the object of meditation persists though the meditator and the object of meditation are fused together and the state in which even the consciousness of the object of meditation is lost. However the Master states that the nirvikalpaka experience, though a yogic attainment can bring the aspirant only to a state of salvation, a temporary pause in the cycle of birth and death and not liberation which is a permanent cessation of the cycle. He says further that some sort of kalpana remains even in the nirvikalpaka state and the state of inertness acquired in that Samadhi experience can not be maintained continuously at least by the householders who have to attend to very many duties. The real state of Samadhi is that in which we remain attached with Reality pure and simple every moment, no matter if we are busy all the time with our worldly work and duties. This is Sahaj Samadhi, one of the greatest attainments and the very basis of nirvana (SS 335-6).

In another Vedantic school with a large following, the Vishishtadvaitic one, it is held that in the state of final release there is no annihilation of the self and its sense of individuality. According to Sri Ramanuja, the most illustrious propounder of this school, the struggle for release or realization would cease to have any meaning for a sensible person if it should happen that the person himself would be extinguished in that state. Who is there then to enjoy that priceless state of unending bliss? In the condition of release the soul attains the state of its fullest unfoldment or blossoming, manifesting its essential nature of knowledge and freedom from all evil and sin to the fullest degree. This nature had been obscured and contracted while in the state of bondage due to the effects of karma. The released soul possesses the power of beholding the Supreme person, enjoys the company of the Supreme and has its supreme delight in His service. While it enjoys uninterrupted Bliss in equal measure with the Supreme, this equality does not extend to the cosmic functions of the Supreme. Further the soul continues to be a dependent on the Supreme even in its final state of release, for it is ever the body of the Supreme Being. Having reached the abode of the Supreme, regarded as the Srivaikunta by the devout Viashnavites there is no return to the earthly plane of bondage, suffering and misery.

The unorthodox and fundamentally atheistic religions, Jainism and Buddhism do not talk about God-realization. Buddha did not evince any interest in knowledge for the sake of knowledge, which according to him is mere idle speculation. Hence he did not entertain purely metaphysical questions relating to the ultimate origin of things, the self and God. He directed the attention to the practical problem of the existence of suffering, its cause and the way to get rid of suffering entirely and permanently. The bodhi or the Wisdom of the Buddha is the illumination concerning the issues connected with suffering and it consists of the Four Noble Truths, the Third of which is the extinction of suffering (nirodha) called Nirvana, while the Fourth Noble Truth comprising the eightfold path is pressed into the service of the total eradication of suffering. This blessed state of Nirvana is regarded as the complete cessation of suffering and extirpation of craving, tanha, cause of suffering. It is a state where the five aggregates (skandhas) viz., form, feeling, perception, karma volitions and consciousness itself and all that pertains to the aggregates have ceased. There is no more becoming and it is the supreme security from bondage. It is the state of release from the wheel of existence. It is beyond all relativity, is neither the effect of a cause nor it can give rise to any effect, it is neither the path nor the fruit, it is the supreme Truth, Absolute, Unconditioned and the Uncompounded. It has also been described as the state of absolute happiness, paramam sukham by the Buddha himself in the words, ‘A burden, indeed, are the five aggregates; Happy it is to lay down that burden’. In the state of Enlightenment, there is only joy arising out of the casting away of the burdens.

Nirvana experience cannot be communicated from one to another, it has to be experienced by each and every person for himself by following the eightfold path diligently just as the taste of a lump of sugar is had by each person by putting it on his own tongue. Buddha believed and taught that each man has to work out his release himself by perseverance, self-exertion and insight and not through prayers and petitions to a supreme being just as he (Buddha) himself attained to the state of enlightenment. It is also to be noted that Buddha taught that there is no permanent or enduring entity called soul or ‘I’ or self behind the ever changing psycho-physical processes making up man. As there is no God either postulated in Buddhism, self-realization or God-realization does not have any significance for the Buddhist. The word Buddha, meaning one who is enlightened or illumined by the wisdom about the nature and fact of suffering, its cause and the method by which it, namely, desire for and clinging to the things compounded can be got rid of for attaining the state of nirvana, informs the goal of the aspirant in Buddhism.

The Jain school talks of the state of release from the state of bondage after the destruction or elimination of karmic matter or pudgala accumulated over it through innumerable lives. It is the emancipation from births which is the desirable end to be achieved through austerities, penance and ceaseless adherence to the yamas and niyamas. Special emphasis is laid upon scrupulous following of the principle of ahimsa or non-injury in word, thought and deed to any being at any time or state of existence as the most superior form of moral discipline. The words Jina, meaning one who has conquered the senses and attachment to the world and Thirthankara, meaning one who is capable of helping others to cross over the ocean of samsara, having done so himself, clearly indicate the goal set in Jainism.

The other major religions of the world, namely, the Christian and the Islamic paths do not have the goal of realization as set in the Upanishadic tradition at all. There is no higher conception as to the real destiny of the soul in both these religions.

In particular we find amongst the followers in Christianity the belief that all their sins have been atoned for by the suffering of Jesus Christ, thus absolving them of any accountability to their actions and impressions formed by their own volition and the need to undergo the bhog for getting rid of the effects of their own actions. This violates the universal principle of causality as expressed in the law of karma upheld in the ancient tradition. On the Day of Judgment, the good Christian is resurrected and enters Paradise where he is blessed with all the joys of heaven whereas those who have trodden the path of evil handing themselves over to Satan so to speak go to the purgatory and are damned for ever.

It is not held however in Islam that Prophet Mohammed has atoned for all the sins of his followers. The destination of the souls is Paradise, Hell or Purgatory depending on the nature of their actions, good, bad and or intermediate. There is no higher conception as to the real destiny of the soul.

The Sufi tradition, a mystic one and the spiritual undercurrent of Islam, is however refreshingly different. It runs quite parallel to the way adopted by the mystic traditions of this land, namely, that of devotion, surrender, unconditional faith in the Master and the effacing (negation) of the disciple in the Master who is regarded as the final goal, even God being regarded secondary. In the southern Viashnavite tradition, we have the instance of the azhwar Madhurakavi dedicating his all and everything to his Master Nammazhwar or Satagopa and singing only his praise. We find a similar approach by our Revered. Master who regarded His Master as all in all and did not look anywhere else for His sustenance and progress on the path towards the Ultimate. The Great Master Lalaji Maharaj is believed to have come in the highly revered lineage, the Nakshabandhi Order.

The Master makes a clear departure from all that has been said above. He observes that as long as it can be defined, it is not Realization. It is a dumb state beyond expression. The thought of people in general does not go beyond the point of liberation, which they take to be the final limit of human approach. But this is a wrong idea. Liberation is really one of the lowest attainments on the Divine path, very much like a toy in the hands of a child to play with. The state of realization lies far ahead. It is a limitless expanse and one must keep his eyes fixed on That and That alone and go on and on to trace it out. That state is a changeless one. It is not a state of Anandam or Bliss as held in popular imagination, the destination being beyond Bliss. The place is a dreary wasteland having no charm for the traveler. The experience is like that of tasting salt which has lost its saltishness ‘sang-e-benamak’. It is the state of Tam or Complete Ignorance or the Base from which the Stir has emerged and which supports it and through it the entire creation. It can be experienced through neither the physical organs nor the senses but only in the inner core of one’s heart. Again it is virtually impossible to attain this supreme state without the help of Pranahuti from a capable Master who is Himself established firmly in that state. The Master quotes Swami Vivekananda who holds firmly that the highest approach, i.e., achieving oneness with the Absolute is possible only in the path of Rajayoga and the active support of a master endowed with the power of Pranahuti. A master is fit to be called such only when he is capable of applying his inner powers through Pranahuti for awakening the soul and guiding it safely through all obstacles in the path. Obviously the master himself should have traveled the entire path and know all the intricacies regarding the knots and their unfolding without causing any harm to the disciple. The practice of Hathayoga can not take one beyond Ajna chakra and it entails the growth of ego which bars the further approach of the person.

The Master further characterizes the state of Realization as one in which the state of ‘is-ness’ or existence is not felt. This can be called the negative description of the state. The drop having merged in the ocean can not be cognizant of its individuality. And by the same token as long as cognizance of the separateness between the soul and God is there, it is not the final state. In fact that feeling of separateness and the idea that it can carry on independently is the first covering which leads to the accumulation of further coverings and the alienation of the soul from God. That is the primal ignorance.

The Master also gives a positive description of the state of Realization in which the soul develops an unfailing or special will. This derives from the oneness with God achieved at this stage and the omnipotence of God’s will is reflected in the realized soul. This exercise of the will by the soul is not to achieve its own ends as such a thing as self and ownership ideas have been transcended long back during its evolution. It receives the commands directly from the Base and executes the same to fulfill the divine mandate without any preferences or prejudices of its own. As has been pointed out earlier, the humanity is all but extinct existing in traces and the being is filled up through and through with divinity expressing only That and That alone in action for the ultimate good of the universe as desired by the Divine. It thus becomes the perfect instrument in the hands of God for the expression and actualization of His will.

It is apt to consider here the position taken by the Master regarding miracles, which are quite erroneously held to be the criteria for saints or yogis of great attainments in the spiritual field by many lay persons and even sadhakas ignorant of the real state of affairs (Ref. SS p 187). A rajayogi endowed with the power of transmission can no doubt display miracles but he never likes to do so since that will be derogatory to his pious position. Citing the example of Jesus Christ who displayed miracles all his life but was ultimately betrayed by one amongst the twelve disciples he got, Master shows that miracles are of no account at all. It was not the miracles displayed by Christ but his noble teachings which won him such a large following subsequently. It is therefore better and in our ultimate interest for us to fix our eyes upon Reality rather than upon miracles which are undoubtedly petty affairs and can be displayed by persons of inferior attainments and common talents. Most of the time it is a deliberate fraud played by dexterous gurus upon credulous people to entrap them in the fold of their gurudom. Sage Patanjali cautions the aspirants on the path of yoga regarding the development of siddhis or miraculous powers during sadhana declaring them to be veritable obstacles and harmful distractions in the march towards Realization. Such has been the view of all great saints and sages and our Masters have been no exception in this regard. We are all advised not to attempt to alter the outer circumstances but adjust our living accordingly thus expressing our submission to the Divine will. When a close associate of our Revered. Lalaji Maharaj, unable to withstand the suffering of the Master, implored Him to apply His spiritual powers for the cure of the ailment causing unbearable pain to Him, the Master merely replied that He would abide by the will of the Supreme Beloved.

The only miracle is the transformation of ordinary man into the Real Man. The method we are following, namely the Natural Path is declared by the Master to be based upon the spiritual science, the science of superfine thought or Pranasya Prana and its application through the process of Pranahuti and there is no magical, mythical or miraculous element about it.

As we observed in the beginning, the idea that we entertain regarding the nature of God, the Highest, influences the method we adopt for His realization. God is really very simple and subtler than the subtlest. His very simplicity has become the veil to Him. The method adopted to attain Him should also be of the same order of subtlety. One will not use the mighty and gigantic crane to lift a tiny needle. The method also shall be such that we may be able to remove the barriers created by the things produced by our own will, imagination, action and surroundings. The Master is referring here to the artificial constructs we have made for representing God through picture, images and idols, the elaborate rituals fashioned by us for His worship and the superstitious beliefs and fanciful notions we have built around the whole process of spiritual development. All these have formed artificial walls around Reality obscuring its view entirely from us, the seekers of that very Reality. All our thoughts are to be regulated and the individual mind should be cleared of the burdens lying over it making us progressively lighter and lighter like cotton so that we may soar higher and higher for uniting with the Lightest. In the system of SRRY, the capable Master infuses Reality itself in the very beginning by the first stroke of His will and this forms the seed for the further development of the abhyasi on the path. The Master’s will also serves to add to the momentum to the abhyasi’s progress. The Master also watches over the growth of the plant of spirituality and protects it from the scorching sun of adverse samskaras and environment in which the abhyasi may be placed. The duty of the abhyasi is to water the plant by constant remembrance.

In this context the Master reassures the ordinary grihastas that the family life is not a barrier for realizing the Highest as God is not a forest dweller, rather it is the grihastashrama which has produced saints of very high order like Kabir and His own Master Revered. Lalaji Maharaj. We know from our experience the proof of this statement lies in the very life of the Master Himself and in the lives of the many intimate disciples of the Master. The family life and its challenges form the ideal training ground for the aspirant; the taunts and rebukes of near and dear, the miseries and sufferings one encounters in it constitute the penances and austerities which smoothen our path towards the final state of Realization. We learn to love and sacrifice in the family surroundings and this same love grows, crosses its own boundaries and turns into universal love when we remove the brokenness from it as He says in one of His messages(SDG pg37).