The Masts (Part 7.)
As I mentioned when I began these seven posts about the masts and other spiritually advanced souls, the book, The Wayfarers — Meher Baba with the God-Intoxicated, by William Donkin, is available from Sheriar Press, and I hope that if any of my readers’ thoughts and imaginations has been inspired or stirred by my comments and descriptions, they will read this book for themselves and investigate further — for what I have said in these blogs only scratch the surface of what is in this great book.
Now, in my closing comments on The Wayfarers, I would like to speak not about the eight types of masts or the other four categories of spiritually advanced souls, i.e. the God-merged, the God-absorbed, the God-communed, or the God-mad, but about the state of ordinary human consciousness and the general question of so-called normality — for it is in the Foreword of The Wayfarers, given directly by Meher Baba, that this subject is broached in a discussion of the difference between ordinary madness and mast states.
What interests me, what catches my attention most, is when Meher Baba says that what is considered normal or sane is not in any way dependent on some universal objective standard or truth. And this seems important to me because man often takes pride in his so-called state of sanity and pride binds one in a sense of self-importance. Meher Baba puts it this way,
“The average man of the world is tied to the world, and is molded by the ways of the world. He reacts to the world according to the prompting of inclinations developed as a result of the diverse impacts the world has on his mind. His main basis of reaction is the mind, as shaped by the imprints of the bipolar experience of the opposites — success and failure, joy and suffering.
The responses and reactions given by the mind of the ordinary man of the world are not determined by true values, or by a real understanding of life; they are determined by the chaotic and conflicting tendencies built out of experiences that have not been properly assimilated nor understood. Though the outer behavior of the ordinary man is in conformity with the average pattern of responses and reactions, his inner life is subject to severe mental conflicts and suffering and to an ever-renewing sense of frustration.
Outwardly, the average man may seem to have equanimity; but his equanimity is only apparent, and not real.”
Meher Baba then goes on to talk about what happens when a persons equanimity gets disturbs, the ways he attempts to regain his poise, the experiments he makes, in response to an inner prompting from a latent longing to discover God or real Truth, the possession of which would establish an unbroken peace and fulfillment that is unfailing under all types of exigencies and circumstances.
But it is that incredible statement I quoted, “The average man of the world...,” that is worthy of re-reading and pondering.
“The average man of the world is tied to the world, and is molded by the ways of the world. He reacts to the world according to the prompting of inclinations developed as a result of the diverse impacts the world has on his mind. His main basis of reaction is the mind, as shaped by the imprints of the bipolar experience of the opposites — success and failure, joy and suffering.
The responses and reactions given by the mind of the ordinary man of the world are not determined by true values, or by a real understanding of life; they are determined by the chaotic and conflicting tendencies built out of experiences that have not been properly assimilated nor understood. Though the outer behavior of the ordinary man is in conformity with the average pattern of responses and reactions, his inner life is subject to severe mental conflicts and suffering and to an ever-renewing sense of frustration.
Outwardly, the average man may seem to have equanimity; but his equanimity is only apparent, and not real.”
“The mind is a great and a wondrous thing until they bring you to the door of the King, then, like shoes upon crossing the threshold of a holy place, it should be removed and left at the door.” — Rumi
(Next up, discourses and teachings of Jalal al-Din Rumi.)
Now, in my closing comments on The Wayfarers, I would like to speak not about the eight types of masts or the other four categories of spiritually advanced souls, i.e. the God-merged, the God-absorbed, the God-communed, or the God-mad, but about the state of ordinary human consciousness and the general question of so-called normality — for it is in the Foreword of The Wayfarers, given directly by Meher Baba, that this subject is broached in a discussion of the difference between ordinary madness and mast states.
What interests me, what catches my attention most, is when Meher Baba says that what is considered normal or sane is not in any way dependent on some universal objective standard or truth. And this seems important to me because man often takes pride in his so-called state of sanity and pride binds one in a sense of self-importance. Meher Baba puts it this way,
“The average man of the world is tied to the world, and is molded by the ways of the world. He reacts to the world according to the prompting of inclinations developed as a result of the diverse impacts the world has on his mind. His main basis of reaction is the mind, as shaped by the imprints of the bipolar experience of the opposites — success and failure, joy and suffering.
The responses and reactions given by the mind of the ordinary man of the world are not determined by true values, or by a real understanding of life; they are determined by the chaotic and conflicting tendencies built out of experiences that have not been properly assimilated nor understood. Though the outer behavior of the ordinary man is in conformity with the average pattern of responses and reactions, his inner life is subject to severe mental conflicts and suffering and to an ever-renewing sense of frustration.
Outwardly, the average man may seem to have equanimity; but his equanimity is only apparent, and not real.”
Meher Baba then goes on to talk about what happens when a persons equanimity gets disturbs, the ways he attempts to regain his poise, the experiments he makes, in response to an inner prompting from a latent longing to discover God or real Truth, the possession of which would establish an unbroken peace and fulfillment that is unfailing under all types of exigencies and circumstances.
But it is that incredible statement I quoted, “The average man of the world...,” that is worthy of re-reading and pondering.
“The average man of the world is tied to the world, and is molded by the ways of the world. He reacts to the world according to the prompting of inclinations developed as a result of the diverse impacts the world has on his mind. His main basis of reaction is the mind, as shaped by the imprints of the bipolar experience of the opposites — success and failure, joy and suffering.
The responses and reactions given by the mind of the ordinary man of the world are not determined by true values, or by a real understanding of life; they are determined by the chaotic and conflicting tendencies built out of experiences that have not been properly assimilated nor understood. Though the outer behavior of the ordinary man is in conformity with the average pattern of responses and reactions, his inner life is subject to severe mental conflicts and suffering and to an ever-renewing sense of frustration.
Outwardly, the average man may seem to have equanimity; but his equanimity is only apparent, and not real.”
“The mind is a great and a wondrous thing until they bring you to the door of the King, then, like shoes upon crossing the threshold of a holy place, it should be removed and left at the door.” — Rumi
(Next up, discourses and teachings of Jalal al-Din Rumi.)
posted by Michael Kovitz at 8:27 AM
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