- Dr. S.V.Raghavan

The well accepted four purusharthas, at least by the Hindus, have been Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Both Artha, material wealth and the way of earning it and Kama, desire are to be founded in Dharma, the ethical and moral code of behavior as propounded by the sagely and the wise. Moksha freedom from rebirth or self release is attainable only when the other three purusharthas are integrated, i.e. Kama and Artha are imbued with Dharma and one is truly desirous of freedom.

If we pause to think, who shall aspire for moksha and when he will be impelled to do it. Unless felt thoroughly oppressed and suffocated by bondage one will not be moved to think about freedom. Most of the time people enthralled by the objects of the senses are so busy in getting at and grasping them that they rarely get the time even to introspect regarding the consequences of their endeavours. They are apparently standing still but all the time running. Their minds are working overtime developing strategies in securing and making permanent the fleeting pleasures which result from contacts with objects through the five senses. Being far removed from the stage of viveka, they are whirled around in a ruthless machine powered by Maya which works inexorably sparing none from its vice like grip. The very challenge of extracting lasting happiness from purely ephemeral contacts with the sensory world is keeping the victim prisoner in the mazes of worldly life. Thus it is not surprising that the majority do not have moksha as their goal as they do not want to acknowledge even remotely that they are suffering from the misery of slavery to their senses.

Again Kama, the ruling passion, is merely targeted at becoming materially prosperous by any means (that is, Karna is involved in Artha and is not directed at release or Moksha) -- so that they can ensure recurring opportunities of pleasure giving pastimes. Naturally Dharma goes out of focus because most of the time Dharma is to be found in the last vestiges of a dying conscience while they are busy securing the foundations of material prosperity. In their eyes even a sojourn in heaven or sharing the world of gods of their liking looks like something so uncertain and vague compared to the pleasures and comforts offered by the world of the concrete which is so near and so 'real'. Needless to say such a life will lead the person into an ever deepening morass from which recovery is almost impossible. We can easily see therefore that unless one develops Nitya, Anitya Viveka (discriminating wisdom between the eternal and the transitory) and vairagya which results from sincere attachment to the Real, it is impossible to attain freedom.

The Master makes it abundantly clear that the problem of life is not finding deliverance from pain and misery. It is freedom from bondage which is the ultimate cause of pain and misery. Further explaining the case He distinguishes between salvation which is a temporary pause in the cycle of birth and death and liberation which is the end of the endless circle of rebirth. This is the final end to our pains and miseries. There are hardly a few persons who have liberation as their goal not to talk of the final goal of life which means nothing but the final point we have to arrive at. It is in other words the reminiscence of our homeland or the primeval state of our present solid existence which we have to attain. It is the highest possible limit of human approach.

The logic behind choosing the goal as the highest possible limit of approach is that this ensures a person's liberation, as the point of final liberation is below and fairly near to the limit. It is to be understood that the word `near' is relatively spoken as we are now hinting at vast spaces in the Infinite and 'near' does not mean 'adjacent' in the usual sense of the term. It is the vast limitless space in which liberated souls land and partake of the real thing according to their rank and state. Thus the choice of one's goal wholly determines whether he will accomplish liberation in this life or not.

The Rev. Master in His Reality at Dawn describes in terms of twenty three circles around the centre, God-Absolute, the march to freedom. Freedom from mayavic influence is the crossing of the first five circles, freedom from egoism, is secured at the end of the sixteen circles and one tastes liberation in its pristine form after crossing the seven rings of splendour and the starting of the swimming in the vast expanse of the ocean of Nothingness.

The picture of the embodied soul likened to the silkworm wrapped in its self-woven cocoon, struggling to get rid of the coverings and emerge as a free butterfly has been used by the Master to describe the state of the bound soul. But the use of the word struggling to get rid of implies the awakening knowledge in the soul of its original free state. Master also says that the yearning for freedom from bondage is natural to every soul. The birth of the craving in it to attain to its real state of freedom is brought about only by the already and eternally free Master who gives a taste of the condition to the bound soul so that the stirring of the memories of the Homeland can begin in it and the Yatra can commence towards the origin.

Further in terms of the circles depicted in the March to Freedom, the Master says that the state of liberation i.e. interpreted as not having to take a material form again, is between the 2nd and 3rd circle. This corresponds to the crossing of the 5 points in the chest region, entry into the Brahmand and securing stabilization therein. The conditions required for this state are acquired in about a circle and a half. This may refer to the completion of the yatra in the Atman to a reasonable extent and purity of the devotion (Agni), preliminary surrender (water) and the confidence (air) points in the chest region. The Avyakta Gati (undifferentiated state so highly spoken of) is attained after crossing the 5th Circle. Now we become free of the lower maya - the maya of manifestation. This is the state ascribed to Raja Janak to whom even highly developed sages used to go for spiritual guidance.

Let us look at the same thing from the point of view of regions spoken of by the Master. The crossing of five circles is equivalent to crossing the Heart Region in which the whole manifested Universe with all the various powers working in it is contained. The Heart Region extends from top to toe and the pind pradesh is a minuscule fraction of it comprising the 5 knots below Ajna chakra.

What we have written about so far covers the progress (in terms of knots) up to and beyond tne 10th knot, including thereafter the vast regions of the virat in Sahasra Dal Kamal from which the Great Lord Vasudeva showed His Virat Rupa to Arjuna. The regions of Brahmand, Para Brahmand, the three states of Prapanna, Prabhu and Prapanna-Prabhu and innumerable points in the Sahasrara of which at least 65 have been hinted at by the Master are all deemed to be crossed when one enters the Mind Region i.e. of Godly Mind or the field for the play of kshob or Primary stir, after he gets the crossing through the shikar, the top or crown of the head. This is solely the gift of Master's grace; this can in no way be deserved in the true sense of the term. Moving from one point to the other in those vast expanses of the Godly kingdom is a super human task. It is impossible even to dream of accomplishing it by his own effort through thousands of years even assuming the devotee to be very sincere, firmly oriented to God and extremely diligent.

In case the person traveling the vast expanses of the Brahmand and beyond happens to leave his body with the final goal not accomplished, it takes eons for him to get to the Goal as it is well nigh impossible for him to keep oriented to the Goal. The reason is, he starts enjoying his drift in the vast expanse so much that the craving, one pointed attention to the Goal and the helpless dependence on the Master who alone can take him to the Goal are pushed to the background. This is like the aimless drift of the logs of wood moved this way and that by the currents of the river; there is no guarantee that he will reach the destination. Rather he is apt to lose his way in the signless desert though one of supreme calmness and full of divine splendour. He is a good but lost soul for all practical purposes. Hence the emphasis of the Master on ensuring that we achieve by His grace the state described above of the liberated souls even while in this mortal frame.

While describing the conditions of the central region the Master remarks that "Here is the end of all activities. We are above actual consciousness in the Heart Region and its potentiality rooted in the Mind Region. We are now free from the endless circle of rebirths". Nowhere in the spiritual literature we find such a description of liberation which has been normally taken only in terms of "Na Iha Punaravartate" i.e., does not return here again. The sights of most people, however advanced they have been considered by us, had been set to the Agna chakra or at its best though in very rare cases it had been the crown of the head, the apex of sahasrara region. People have hinted at Kapala Moksha where the soul is said to leave through the Brahma Randhra. Rev. Lalaji has indicated that the yogi of calibre can sojourn into the brighter world and return at will through the Brahma Randhra. Approaches beyond the shikar while living in the body have became possible solely through the divine blessings of Rev. Lalaji, the great practical discoveries in spiritual training made by Rev. Babuji and His munificent grace.

In this context one may draw attention to terms Jivan Moksha and Videha Moksha which we come across in the discourse of such matters. The Master writes in Voice Real that Jivan Moksha is a state in which the man has transcended body consciousness. Videha Moksha is the further matured state of Jiven Moksha. Else where in Voice Real Jivan Moksha is described as a state which has crossed potentiality. The real Jivan Mukta is then one who has stabilized in the Central region consciousness.

In the end one can see what the Master has to say regarding the way of securing liberation for the aspirant. This would be by the Master permanently diverting the soul towards God-Absolute. However, if the aspirant has not created a deep and earnest longing for it and has not been a diligent abhyasi such a diversion can cause even physical harm. But for a good dedicated and devoted abhyasi proceeding with full faith in the Master as the Redeemer and confidence in himself and who has resolved firmly to free himself of all bondages, liberation in its ultimate sense of being in the condition of nothingness or zero is very much achievable.

Let us all practicants of the Rajayoga of Sri Ramchandraji set our sights firmly on the ultimate goal of human life and proceed with joyful abandon under the graceful sunshine of His grace on the path towards that state where death has met its own death and freedom is free from itself.

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We should pass through family life in a disinterested way doing everything for duty's sake without any feeling of attachment. The family life is not a thing to be cursed if it is moulded in a proper way. Suppose you are compelled to do something and do it for its own sake without any motive of your own, I will call it a disinterested action bearing no impression on your mind. We should think that we do everything, even in connection with wife and children, in compliance with the order of God. In this way all our actions will ultimately turn into puja. This is a very easy method for connecting your thought with the Almighty.

- Revered Babuji Maharaj