The Bhagavad Gita Revisited

The following excerpts are taken from the Bhagavad-Gita, the teachings of Krishna, which comprise the sixth book of the great Indian epic called the Mahabharata.

The Mahabharata is set in that transitional time between the end of the Dwarpara Yuga and our own Kali Yuga— according to most traditional calculations, somewhere around 5,000 years ago.

Dwapara was a great age; a time when Divine Knowledge pervaded the fabric of everyday life and the attributes of lucidity and purity found expression in all human endeavors. Lucidity and purity are expressions of Sattva Guna. In the Vedic teaching there are three gunas, Tama, Raja, and Sattva, that color the expression of all gross, subtle, and mental energies—and the highest of these three gunas among the trinity is Sattva Guna. Sattva Guna leads to the state of Gunateeta, described by Upasani Maharaj, as “the state devoid and beyond the Gunas,” i.e. God- Realization.

In the beginning of Dwarpara Yuga, life was guided by the manifestation of Divine Knowledge, and the ascendancy of Sattva Guna over Tama Guna and Raja Guna. But by the end of Dwarpara Yuga, life fell under the shadow of Tama Guna —the expression of ignorance and dark cruelty—and the shadow of Raja Guna—the expression of the unbridled pursuit of worldly pleasures and possessions. Consequently as the next age of Kali Yuga dawned, the ability to think, speak, and act truthfully was in decline and life became growingly selfish and deceitful.

Mahabharata means great family—the great family of humanity, but as the shadow grew longer, and Dwarpara Yuga inevitably turned to Kali Yuga, the great family had become divided by greed and distrust. It is a long story, but eventually the two sides of the family, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, were arrayed on the battlefield poised for war. Krishna, the Avatar, had done all that He could to avoid the confrontation, but even He could not stem the tide of destiny.

In the great battle, Krishna stood with the Pandavas, who represented the embodiment of Sattva Guna, against the Kauravas who embodied Raja and Tama Gunas. In fact, it was Krishna himself who drove the chariot of Arjuna, the Pandava prince and greatest of all warriors, into war.

It fell to the exalted status of Arjuna to throw down the gauntlet that would begin the war. Lord Krishna drove the chariot onto the battlefield between the two opposing sides, but Arjuna balked. Seeing the faces of both sides— faces of his brothers and kin, his teachers, and respected elders, and realizing that war would only bring suffering and death to all, he froze with indecision. Seeing his hesitancy, Krishna asked, “What are you doing? Why do you hesitate? Throw down the gauntlet to begin the war.”

“I cannot!” Arjuna replied, “How can I start this war and bring death upon all of these people?” And so it came to pass, that right there and then, between the two armies poised for war, Krishna taught Arjuna the Great Teachings known as the Bhagavad-Gita.

“He who shall say, ‘Lo! I have slain a man!’

He who shall think, ‘Lo! I am slain!’ those both know naught!

“Life cannot slay. Life is not slain!

“I say to thee, weapons reach not that Life,

“Flames burn it not, waters cannot overwhelm it, not dry winds wither it.

“Unentered, all-arriving, stable, sure, invisible, ineffable,
By word and thought uncompassed, ever all itself — thus is the Soul declared!” – Krishna

Krishna is speaking from His direct experience of illusion and reality. These bodies of ours, these bodies we cherish so deeply, exist only in the illusion and delusion of a great dream. It is the dream of us and others. Our joys and sorrows, successes and failures, births and deaths all seem so real— until we wake up.

But if it is really a dream, yet our experience tells us that it is real, then how should we act in the world—moment by moment, day by day? This was Arjuna’s question—our question.

In the conversation that follows, Krishna speaks to Arjuna about the life of action and the contemplative life of meditation. He extols the virtues and shortcomings of both, saying; “Live in action! Labor! Make thine acts thy piety…” while also counselling; “Yet the right act is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind. Seek refuge in thy soul, have there thy heaven.”

And so Arjuna remains confused. He asks Krishna which of these two paths is the better way to attain the Supreme Reality.

Seeing Arjuna’s mind impaled on the horns of this dilemma, Krishna slips between the horns saying that the two paths are, in fact, really one:

“Yet these (two paths) are one! By shunning action; nay, and none shall come by mere renouncements unto perfection.”

We have probably all heard the saying, “…to be in the world, but not of the world.” This is quite consistent with Christ’s words to His disciples;

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and save for God what is God’s.”

But Arjuna’s questions persist—our questions persist—and in order to explain the why and how of His proclamation, Krishna begins to talk about the three qualities that inform action—namely our friends Sattva, Raja, and Tama Gunas.

In the fourteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says, “Sattva, Raja, and Tama—so are named the qualities of Nature—Lucidity, Passion, and Ignorance. The three bind down the changeless Spirit in the changeful flesh, though sweet Sattva by purity living unsullied and enlightened, binds the sinless Soul to happiness and truth; while Raja, being kin to appetite and breeding impulse and propensity binds by tie of works the embodied Soul, Oh Kunti’s son! But Tama, begot of Darkness, blinding mortal men, binds down their souls to stupor, sloth, and drowsiness.”

There is a saying, “Good is not God,” another by Meher Baba, “The saint is bound by a golden chain, the sinner by a spiked one—but the goal is to be free of all chains.” From this we can conclude that even too much Satva Guna is a hindrance to attaining the Supreme Reality. This is why Krishna counsels Arjuna that one should rise above all the Gunas.

“When, watching life, the living man perceives that the only actors are the Qualities (the Gunas), and knows what rules beyond the Qualities, then he comes to Me! The soul passing forth from the Three Qualities— whereby arises all bodies—overcomes Birth, Death, Sorrow, and Age; and drinketh deep the undying wine of Amrit,” (the Eternal Bliss of Union with God).

Of course Arjuna is more than interested at this point, and asks Krishna;

“Oh my Lord! Which be the signs to know him that hath gone past the Three Modes (Gunas)? How does he live? What is the way that leads him safe beyond the Threefold Modes?”

Krishna responds; “He who with equanimity surveys luster of goodness, strife of passion, sloth of ignorance; without anger, nor wish to change them: who sits a sojourner and stranger in their midst unruffled, standing off, saying serene when troubles break, ‘These be the signs!’

“He unto whom—while centered in the Self—grief and joy sound as one word; to whose deep-seeing eyes the clod, the marble, and the gold are one; whose equal heart holds the same gentleness for lovely and unlovely things, firm-set, well-pleased when praised or blamed; satisfied with honor or dishonor; unto friends and unto foes alike in tolerance, detached from undertakings—he is named Surmounter of the Qualities.”

The teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita were not new—even in the time of Krishna.

“This deathless Yoga (these teachings), this deep union, I taught to Vivaswata, the Lord of Light.”

There is great significance in this statement by Krishna because Vivaswata is a name associated with the Sun. So, Krishna is saying that indeed He has been around for a long ling time!

“Vivaswata gave it to Manu (his son) who passed it down the line to all My Royal Rishis. Then with years the truth grew dim and perished, noble prince!
Now once again I will declare to you this ancient lore, this mystery supreme—seeing I find you my devotee and friend.”

But Arjuna is puzzled. How can this same being have been around since the beginning of time? He asks;

 

“How shall I comprehend this thing You say, ‘From the beginning it was I who taught…?’”

To this Krishna responds revealing the nature of Divine Incarnation—the Avatar—the Christ—the Messiah—the Ancient One who comes again and again, in different guises and different forms ;

“Manifold the renewals of My birth have been, Arjuna! And of your births, too! But Mine I know, and yours you know not, oh Slayer of the Foes! Albeit I be unborn, undying, indestructible, the Lord of all things living; not the less by Maya, by My magic which I stamp on floating Nature-forms, the primal vast—I come, and go, and come.

“When righteousness declines O Bharata! When Wickedness is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take visible shape, and move a man among men, succoring the good, thrusting the evil back, and setting Virtue on her seat again.”

It is the story of the Avatar, The Ancient One, The Highest of the High, The Christ, The Buddha—His Names are many, His shapes are many—He dons them all like we put on clothes appropriate to the situation and the time.

And Arjuna believes in the divinity of Krishna and by His teachings his darkness is dispelled, but Arjuna still sees Him as a man and so asks Krishna to reveal Himself—reveal His Godhood.

“If this can be, if I may bear the sight, make Yourself visible…show me your  very Self, the Eternal God!”

And Krishna obliges His beloved devotee.

“Gaze then Arjuna! I manifest for you those hundred thousand shapes that clothe My Mystery: I show you all my semblances—infinite, rich, divine—My changeful hues, My countless forms, see in this face of Mine…Behold! This is the universe! Look! What is live and dead I gather all in One—in Me! Gaze, as thy lips have said, on God Eternal, Very God! See Me! See what thou prayest!”

Krishna then tells Arjuna that what he wishes to see cannot be seen with earthly eyes, “therefore I give to you other eyes, new light! Now look! This is my glory, unveiled to mortal sight.”

And right there, on the battlefield, between the two armies poised for war, Krishna reveals to Arjuna His Universal Form.

I find it interesting that in the story, when Krishna reveals His Universal Form to Arjuna, it is Sanjaya, who narrates the story. Sanjaya is Dhritarashtra’s advisor. Dhritarashtra is the blind king who has fathered the Kauravas warriors.

Sanjaya tells Dhritarashtra that Krishna is now displaying to Arjuna all of the splendor, wonder, and dread of His Almighty-head.

“Out of countless eyes beholding, out of countless mouths commanding countless mystic forms enfolding; in one Form supremely standing, countless radiant glories wearing, countless heavenly weapons bearing, crowned with garlands of star-clusters, robed in garb of woven lusters, breathing from His perfect Presence breaths of every subtle essence of all heavenly odors; shedding blinding brilliance; overspreading—boundless, beautiful—all spaces with His all-regarding faces—so He showed! And sore amazed, thrilled, overfilled, dazzled, and dazed, Arjuna knelt, and bowed his head, and clasped his palms and cried, and said…”

Try to imagine, if you can, what Arjuna sees. He sees the earth, its moon and sun, the solar system; all solar systems that make up our galaxy; all galaxies; the entire creation coming into existence and then being absorbed through Krishna’s Divine Form.

Try to imagine that all of creation is less than even a speck when compared to the Subtle World with all its powers and experiences, heaven and hell, angels and gods, and all divine beings; and that the Subtle World is less than even a speck when compared to the  Mental World, the abode of Archangels and real Saints—the world of Mind itself.

Try to imagine all these three worlds being born and existing and then being absorbed—crushed—between the teeth of Krishna’s Divine Form.

This is what Arjuna saw while standing on the battlefield between the two armies of the Pandavas and the Kauravas poised and ready for war.

Arjuna exclaims; “You fashion men and then devour them all, one with another, great and small alike! The creatures who you fashion you then take within your flaming jaws—lapping them up!

“Lord God! Your terrors strike from end to end of earth, filling life full, from birth to death, with deadly, burning, lurid dead! Ah Vishnu! Make me know why is it is that You appear so? Tell me, who You are who feasts upon the dead!?”

Seeing within Krishna Universal Form the aspect of Shiva—The Destroyer—reignites Arjuna’s ambivalence regarding the war and his role in it. Krishna responds thusly;

“Arise Arjuna! Destroy your foes! (It is) by me they fall—not you! The stroke of death is dealt them now, even as they show thus gallantly. Arjuna, you are My instrument and it is I who bid them perish! You will only be the slayer  of the slain!”

Apparently, Arjuna gets it—gets who Krishna really is—and after praising Him in every way utters, what I think is a very interesting observation—how easy it is when graced with the familiarity of a Divine Presence, to forget that He is not like we; or as Meher Baba reminded us on more than one occasion, “I come down and laugh and play with you—but never forget, I am God!”

Arjuna says, “For you are All! And if in anger now, You should remember I did think You my friend, speaking with easy speech, as men use each to each, and did call You ‘Prince,’ yet never comprehending Your hidden majesty, Your might, and Your majesty; and in my heedlessness, or in my love, on journey, or in jest, or when we lay at rest, sitting at council, straying in the grove, alone, or in the throng, did do You the most Holy, wrong, then forgive me for that witless sin!”

Arjuna then asks Krishna to show him once again His personal form—His human form:

“Now I know that you are Father of all below, of all above, and of all worlds within, as so with all reverence I ask Your grace, as father to a son, as friend to friend, as one who loves to his lover, turn your face in gentleness and mercy upon me on and show me once more Your visage that I know and let me once again behold the form I loved most of all, my Charioteer, in Krishna’s kind disguise.”

To his request Krishna replies;  

“Let trouble shake your heart no more because your eyes have seen My terror and My glory. As before I have been so will I be again for thee; with lightened heart behold!”

“Then back again the semblance dear of the well-loved charioteer; peace and joy it did restore, when Prince Arjuna beheld once more, Mighty God’s form and face clothed in Krishna’s gentle grace.”—Sanjaya

With Arjuna’s earthly sight and familiar state returned, his heart beats calm, his mind can think, and Krishna tells him of the rarity of his experience.

“Yes, it was wonderful and terrible to view Me as you did, dear Prince—to see me as the gods see me! Yet not by study of the sacred texts, nor from sacrifice, nor penance, nor gift-giving, nor with prayer shall any so behold Me as you have seen Me!

“Only by fullest service, perfect faith, and uttermost surrender am I known and seen and entered into, Indian Prince! Who does their all for Me: who finds Me in all, adores Me always—and  loves all that I have made, and loves Me as an end in itself, that person  Arjuna, comes to Me!”  

There are numerous paths that lead to God-Realization; but here, in this passage, Krishna reveals the highest path—the path of Love. It is so simple, one needs no special talents or intellect; no diet, or dress, or mode of life, or sacrifice, or practice is necessary—only love for God—only love for the God-Man—the Christ—the Avatar.

Krishna then goes on to make a distinction between worship of the personal and the impersonal states of God;

“Whoever serve Me as I show Myself, constantly true, in full devotion fixed, those hold I very holy. But those who serve and worship Me as The One, Invisible, Unrevealed, Unnamed, Unthinkable, Uttermost, All-Pervading, Highest; who adore Me thus, mastering their senses, cultivating an impartial mind that looks upon all without distinction, joyful in response to all acts of goodness, these blessed souls come unto Me.
Yet this path (of service and devotion to the Impersonal State of God) is most difficult to tread. It is an invisible path that can scarce be trod by man.

“But as for those who live their lives renouncing self for Me, full of Me, fixed to serve only the Highest, night and day musing on Me, who clasps Me with heart and mind, whose soul clings fast to Me!—him will I swiftly lift up from life’s ocean of distress and death, to dwell with Me on High!”

But Krishna is also a pragmatist—the Avatar and all the Perfect Masters are always, as I have learned, pragmatists. These Perfect Ones never stand on ceremony, are always adaptable to every situation, and are always here for us only. The Avatar never gives up on us, never gives up on anyone or anything.  

“But if your thought droops from such height; if you find that you are unable to remember me constantly in your body and soul, do not despair!

“Instead give me service! Seek to reach Me by worshiping Me with steadfast will.

“But if you cannot do that, them do your work for Me, toil in works pleasing to me! For he who labors right for Love of Me shall in the end attain!

“And if even in this your heart fails, then bring Me your failure! Find refuge in Me! Let go of failure or success — the fruits of labor— renouncing even hope itself for Me, then come with humble heart,  for, though knowledge is greater than diligence, yet worship is better than knowing, and renouncing better still, for near to renouncing — very near — dwells  Eternal Peace.”

I find it interesting that in this statement Krishna has made what appears to be the lowest path the highest — the fruit of failure becoming the requisite for renunciation. Is this not an expression of God’s mercy and compassion?

“Who does not hate any living thing, being himself kindly and harmless, compassionate, exempt from arrogance and self-love, unmoved by good or ill, patient, contented, firm in faith, mastering himself, true to his word, always seeking Me heart and soul, vowed unto Me, that man I love!

“Who troubles not his kind, and is not troubled by them; free of wrath, living beyond gladness, grief, or fear, that man I love!

“Who does not chase after his desires, looking here and there with longing, free of sin, serene, well-balanced, unperplexed, working with Me, yet from all works detached, that man I love!

“Who fixed in faith on Me, dotes upon none, scorns none, rejoices not and grieves not, unperturbed when good or evil manifests or departs, that man I love!

“Who keeps an equal heart for friend and foe alike, equally bearing shame and glory; who remains at peace in heat and cold, pleasure and pain; abides without desire and endures praise or calumny with passionless restraint, linked by no ties to earth, steadfast in Me, that man I love!

“But most of all I love those happy ones who without effort or awareness live life in single-minded fervid faith and love unseeing, drinking the blessed nectar of my Being!”

And in the end, Krishna turns to Arjuna and once again counsels him to fight. This war was inevitable and even the Avatar could not stop it. The forces of destiny had been fixed; there was no way out.

Could not God Himself stop a war? There is an old story about a candidate for the priesthood who was being examined by a bishop, and a question regarding God’s omnipotence was asked of the candidate who responded by saying that even God cannot do everything. “And what is it that God cannot do?” asked the Bishop. The candidate answered calmly, “Even God cannot beat the ace of spades with a deuce of clubs.”

Stopping the war would destroy the game—His game. And what is His game? It is the game of awakening God to God’s own Reality—His own true Self—our own true Self—our own Divine Reality.

And so it was time for Arjuna to commence and fight the war; but the real question was how he should fight; how he should act; how he should hold himself.

“Do all you do for Me! Renounce for Me! Sacrifice heart and will and mind for Me! In faith of Me all dangers you will vanquish by My grace. But, if instead you trust to yourself, forgetting Me, then you will perish!

And then Krishna reveals to Arjuna that, in fact, Arjuna has no power to stop the war either—that Arjuna has no power to not fight. Thinking that he does, is just another delusion.

“If this day, relying on yourself, you say, ‘I will not fight!’ vain will your resolution prove, for the qualities of your nature spurred by fair illusions will rise within you and prompt you to the very actions you have disavowed and you will be lost.

“Arjuna, I am the Master that lives in your heart; it is I who pulls the strings and you who dance to My tune. Trust Me, your Master, and come to Me for your nourishment and your relief. Oh prince of men, only then, by My grace, will you gain the uttermost repose, the Eternal Place.”

Then Krishna offers His last words to Arjuna, revealing the unique relationship of God and man and the love that God, in the form of the Avatar, has for each and every one of us—for all of His creation—for each and every state of Himself.

“Arjuna, you are precious to Me! Hear My last words; I tell this to you for your comfort. Give Me your heart! Adore Me! Serve Me! Cling to Me in faith and love and reverence; and I promise that you shall come to Me! For you are sweet to Me.

“So let go of those archaic rites and writs of duty! Fly to Me alone! Make Me your refuge, and I will free your soul of all of its sins. Be of good cheer!”

As Meher Baba said; “Don’t worry, be happy!”

In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna is saying that there are numerous ‘ways’ to reach the Supreme Reality. There is meditation and contemplation; works done with an attitude of renunciation and detachment; living life in the knowledge that “all things shall pass.” But it is also pretty clear that Krishna is saying that of all the ‘ways’, the best and the highest, is to hold on to Him—the Avatar—the Ancient One—the Godman.

Meher Baba wrote/dictated a book called God Speaks. In it He answers many questions about how the process of God Realization works through the dream of creation and the mechanics of evolution, reincarnation, and involution of consciousness.

 I have read God Speaks many times over the past thirty-five or so years and have come to the conclusion that God Speaks is God’s story; it is Meher Baba’s story—the story of the Avatar—the Ancient One—the Godman. In other words He is telling us who He is.

But just imagine the difficulty of the task. Let’s say that you were suddenly to awaken on another world inhabited by beings that have never heard of or seen a human being, or have even heard of the planet Earth. What would you tell them when they begin to ask you who you are? “Well, I’m named Michael; I’m a musician, and I live on this planet called Earth…”

But that approach wouldn’t work because in all these answers there is an underlying assumption that the beings you are talking to understand what it is to be human. You would have to first explain what it is to be human. That would be a little difficult, no doubt. Now, by extension, how can the Avatar begin to explain to us who He is—that He is God in human form and what God in human form means?

God Speaks is His explanation—His story—and it takes Meher Baba 159 pages of the 201 pages of principle text (2nd Edition), before He even mentions the word Avatar. He is like an artist painting the under-painting, background, and all of the other characters from stone to man to angels and saints, before painting himself into the canvas.

“Hence, at the end of every cycle, when God manifests on earth in the form of man and reveals His divinity to mankind, He is recognized as the Avatar—the Messiah—the Prophet. The direct descent of God on earth as the Avatar is that independent status of God when God directly becomes man without undergoing or passing through the processes of evolution, reincarnation, and involution of consciousness. Consequently, God directly becomes God-Man, and lives the life of man amongst mankind, realizing His divine status of the Highest of the High, or Ancient One, through these (five) Qutubs or Sadgurus, or Perfect Masters of the time.”—God Speaks, page 159

Meher Baba goes on to make the distinction between the Avatar and other God-Realized individuals. Then returning to the unique status of the Avatar He says on page 162:

“In this manner, infinite God, age after age, throughout all cycles, wills through His infinite mercy to effect His presence amidst mankind by stooping down to human levels in human form, but His physical presence amidst mankind not being apprehended, He is looked upon as an ordinary man of the world. When, however, He asserts His divinity on earth by proclaiming Himself the Avatar of the Age, He is worshiped by some who accept Him as God; and glorified by a few who know Him as God. But it invariably falls to the lot of the rest of humanity to condemn Him while He is physically in their midst…

“The Avatar is always One and the same because God is always One and the same, the eternal, indivisible, infinite One who manifests Himself in the form of man as the Avatar, as the Messiah, as the Prophet, as the Buddha, as the Ancient One,—the Highest of the High. This eternally One and the same Avatar is made to repeat His manifestation from time to time, in different cycles, adopting different names and different human forms, in different places, to reveal Truth in different garbs and different languages, in order to raise humanity from the pit of ignorance and help free it from the bondage of delusions.”

Please remember that the story of the Mahabharata is set in a period of time roughly five-thousand years ago and was communicated for thousands of years through the long tradition of oral transmission. This great epic was only later written down in Sanskrit—approximately 1700 years ago— and English translations began to emerge a mere hundred years ago or less.

The question arises; are the words uttered by God immune to the ravages of time? Or in the words of the legendary Sufi Saint Mullah Nasredin, is what we have here, “the soup of the soup of the soup of the chicken your friend brought?”

 Allow me to digress:

A friend knocks on the Mullah’s door one day. “What do you want?” asked the Mullah. “I’ve brought a chicken for your wife to make into a soup.” So the Mullah invites him in, they sit around while the soup is cooked, and then they eat it.
The next day there is another knock on the door. “Who’s there?” asks the Mullah. “I am the friend of your friend who brought the chicken,” the man replies; “can I have some soup?” The Mullah invites him in and goes back to the kitchen. There is only a little soup left, so he adds some water and serves the soup.
Over the next several days, friends of the friends of the friends come to his door asking for soup and the Mullah continues to add more and more water to the soup.

 “This isn’t soup!” states the seventh guest, “this is water!” to which the Mullah replies, “No, it is the soup of the soup of the soup of the soup, etc. etc. of the chicken that your friend of the friend of the friend etc. brought!”

What was it that Krishna told Arjuna?

“You see Me as Time who kills, Time who brings all doom; the Slayer Time come hither to consume.”

So apparently, even the acts of eternal God are not exempt from the effects of time once He has released them into the world. The point was brought home to me one day while I was sitting in Mandali Hall at Meherazad, India with a number of other pilgrims listening to the stories of Eruch Jessawala, one of Meher Baba’s closest followers. Somehow the subject of the Bhagavad Gita came up—perhaps it was something I said—and Eruch offered the following:

“There are so many paintings of Krishna and Arjuna standing next to each other on a golden jeweled chariot. It is really very beautiful, but brother, those chariots of war were not at all like that.

“You see, in those days, the war chariots were built in such a way that the driver (Krishna) sat below the warrior (Arjuna) just above the wheels and had to endure the choking dust, the stench of rotting corpses, unable to even see where He was going. It was the warrior sitting above the driver who directed the driver by kicking him on the shoulders and face.

“You see, it was the Avatar, Beloved God Himself, who accepted the position of the lowest of the low out of love for His lover. What a sacrifice it is that He makes for us.”

And He does it again and again, sacrifices again and again for all time and All Times by taking a human birth and living among us to help each of us in our journeyless journey to God.

Why does He do this? Is that not another way?

There was once a king who asked his spiritual advisor why God comes again and again. The advisor parried the king’s question by saying that it was such a beautiful day, why not first have a special holiday on the kings royal barge.

And so the king gathered a huge retinue of soldiers and family and they departed on the barge. Far from shore, the waters became very turbulent and the mighty barge began to rock and sway. In the middle of this tumult the advisor picked up the king’s youngest son and through him overboard.

The king immediately jumped into the water to save his son.

As soon as they were safely onboard the waters became calm again and the king turned angrily to his advisor. What was the meaning of his cruel act? The advisor calmly replied, “You asked me why God has to come again and again. You could have ordered your soldiers to save your son, but you jumped into the waters first—because of love.”

                                                                                                                                               ©copyright, Michael Kovitz,7.27.2010  

Au Contraire

“In the spiritual game, the loser rejoices and the winner feels ashamed.” – Meher Baba

In His Talks, Volume II, Part A, page 108, Upasani Maharaj states:

“The state of the world is contrary to that original state from which it evolved. The world evolved from Para Brahma (God in the Eternal, Infinite, Beyond State). This evolution worked on the principle of the orb and its reflection, i.e. the form and its image, i.e. the substance with its shadow; the first thing, thus, that appeared was the opposite of the original, the second opposed the first, the third opposed the second, and so on, till it—the Para Brahma— appeared in the form of a human body in the state of the world—a state opposed to the original Para Brahama…

“After birth, the child is taught by the parents and others the ways of the world and thus it is made to attain the state of the world, a state which is opposed to its state at the time of birth—the state of Brahma (God).

“This introduction to the world leads him on, with the result, that egoism, desires, etc., take possession of him, and he now has to bear the subsequent sufferings resulting from them; he has now merged himself in the state of the world.”

The world and all its affairs are contrary to God. It is my belief that failure to understand this contrariety is what causes people to misunderstand God and question God’s actions. How often is it heard, in all the great teachings, that God—that Vishnu—that the Avatar—that the Savior—is the Preserver and Protector of all, and yet, in the world we see children and innocents dying, sometimes in the most brutal of ways; we see suffering all around us; we see unhappiness and pain? And we hear people say, “How can He let this happen? Who is He really preserving and protecting?” 

At some point do we not begin to entertain the thought that God preserves and protects us—all of us—through the act of preserving and protecting the Way, the Way that contains all ways and paths to Him? The world, and all its affairs, all its “nothings into Nothing,” is the necessary mechanism for acquiring the consciousness that is capable of knowing, in the words of Meher Baba, that “You and I are not we—but one.”

“…you would not be able to restrain yourself from such laughter, if in some way or another, they were suddenly clearly to sense and understand, without any doubt whatever, that not only does nothing like ‘light,’ ‘darkness,’ ‘heat,’ and so on, come to their planet from their Sun itself, but that their supposed ‘source of heat and light’ is itself almost always freezing cold like the ‘hair-less dog’ of our highly esteemed Mullah Nassr Eddin.” – G. I. Gurdjieff, All and Everything, page 134.

I read this statement many years ago in Gurdjieff’s book, All and Everything, whose purpose Gurdjieff defined as, “To destroy, mercilessly, without any compromises whatsoever, in the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries rooted in him, about everything existing in the world.”

Years later, in Upasani Maharaj’s Talks, I heard the same thing. He said that the Sun is not the source of heat and light—that it is a very dense and dark sphere that reflects the real light of the soul of all beings and creatures in Creation. In other words, the Sun is more a mirror than a source.

In terms of reality, the world and our perception of it resembles Htrae, an imaginary world in the comic book series called Bizarro Superman. A description from Wikipedia goes as follows:

“In the Bizarro world of ‘Htrae’(‘Earth’ spelled backwards), society is ruled by the Bizarro Code which states, ‘Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!’ In one episode, for example, a salesman is doing a brisk trade selling Bizarro bonds: ‘Guaranteed to lose money for you’. Later, the mayor appoints Bizarro No. 1 to investigate a crime, ‘Because you are stupider than the entire Bizarro police force put together’. This is intended and taken as a great compliment.”

What the masters are saying is that the world, as we know it, “do opposite of all things” which represent and lead to reality.

The path to God—consciousness of God—consciousness of the ‘I am God state’—passes through many states and stages. For many seekers, their spiritual odysseys begin with a sincere questioning of the truth of all they have been taught, and all they, and others, have come to believe. It’s often a strange state to be in—a state in which the seeker begins to seriously doubt the truth—the reality—of everything their senses and their minds tell them to be true, while everything that they are hearing from the teachings of the masters is not yet their experience, or as Kabir once said, “If you haven’t experienced it, it is not true.”

“The present education leads only to pain. What is the use of such education? If, however, you think that the present state of yours is that of happiness, and your present education as the cause of that happiness, you can only be described as fully blind to your own real state; that is all.” – Upasani Maharaj, Talks, Volume II, Part A, page 64.

Education, this is another Au Contraire example. For the most part, there is a world-wide view, rarely challenged, that education leads to success in life, and success in life leads to, is the same as, happiness. But one does not have to go very deeply into his own experience to realize that this is simply not true. Personally, I have found absolutely no connection between success in life and happiness. I have also found absolutely no connection between education and happiness. Some of the most highly educated people I know are suffering, confused, and, well frankly, barely able to ‘handle’ life as it comes to them. On the other hand, some of the most happy, wise, and sane people, have, comparatively, very little education in the modern sense.

“Your present education does not lead to happiness. (And) what you think is happiness is not happiness at all; it is (only) the apparently pleasing prelude to the terrible on-coming pain. In short, your whole present mode of behavior and your present education are, and lead to, nothing else but all-round suffering and pain.” – Upasani Maharaj, Talks, Volume II, Part A, page 65.

Too harsh?  Unfair? Well I guess we all have to decide for ourselves. But before deciding, consider this. The Masters teach that cause and effect is a law that governs creation. Action leads to action. The question is, can we see this cause and effect? For example, does education lead to success? The Masters would say no. As both Meher Baba and Upasani Maharaj explain, the present life one is leading—experiencing—is the consolidated mold of the impressions formed in the previous life. Impressions formed in this life are, generally speaking, not experienced in this life, but in the next. In other words, we live one life behind. What we experience today are the impressions of our last life—and lifetimes—and the impressions we create in this life form the consolidated mold of our next lifetime.

The Masters explain that there are three different types of actions. What they call satvic actions are the ones that lead to punya—punya creates happiness in life and advancement in the spiritual panorama.  What are satvic actions?  There are many, but basically, satvic actions are those self-less actions that lead one closer to love for God and makes others happy. Meher Baba said, “Real happiness lies in making others happy.” Notice He said real happiness.

What the average person calls reality is less stable than a house of cards.

I remember when we experimented with mind-altering drugs in the old days. Ingesting just a drop of some chemical could put us into another reality that could last for days. In that state, people and things looked different, connected differently, and had different meanings and different values. In that state, new ideas and possibilities emerged, while old ideas and concepts took on different meanings and implications. Sense of self was altered—personal boundaries and images, both physical and mental, were altered and changed, and later, after the chemicals wore off, many of us were left asking such questions as, “Which reality is the real reality?” or “Is either reality real?” or “Are any of the realities real?”

Decades ago I stopped taking drugs after an experience—a glimpse—showed me, in no uncertain terms, that a state, a higher state, was a real possibility and could be reached through some kind of inner work and outer help. I also realized that though mind-altering drugs had given me the glimpse, the drugs were not the way to attain that higher, more real, reality; in fact, for me to continue to use drugs would hinder the work I needed to do.

I spoke in the last post about the fallacy of modern education as spoken of by the Masters. The following story illustrates another big fallacy of illusion, the fallacy that good is God. I’m not suggesting that good is bad, or that good is without benefits—indeed, as Meher Baba said, “The saint is bound by a golden chain, and the sinner by a spiked one, but the goal is to break all chains.” Meher Baba also said, “Good is not God.”

 I believe the following story illustrates two points: that good is not God, and that the work of the Perfect Masters is often misunderstood because average people come to conclusions based on many illusory ideas that are often sentimental, self-serving, and morally subjective. But let’s let the story speak for itself. I first heard the story from Bhau Kalchuri, a long time close disciple (Mandali) of Meher Baba. This version of the story is an excerpt from my book, Supervisions, (co-written with Dr. Dorothy Mead), available at eladi-publications.com.

“A mass murderer went to a Perfect Master for help. He realized his soul was in grave jeopardy because of all the people he had killed. So he joined a group who had gathered in the presence of a Perfect Master. The Master was an old and grizzled looking man who wore nothing but a piece of burlap cut from an old gunnysack. Seeing the stranger in their midst, he nonchalantly inquired why he was there.

“The man spoke quite openly and honestly. ‘I am a bad man,’ he said. ‘I have killed many people and I am terrified for my soul. I have heard about you and come begging for your help.’ Of course, all in the group had turned to see the man who was confessing to being a murderer.

“‘Let me get this straight,’ said the Perfect Master, feigning the tone of a scholar or a philosopher. ‘You are a murderer?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘And you have come to me for help for your soul?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘I see. Now tell me, how many people have you killed?’

“‘Ninety-nine,’ the man replied, and all of the people gave a collective gasp.

“‘I see,’ said the Perfect Master. ‘You have killed ninety-nine people, and you want my help for your soul?’ his voice sounding thoughtful and inquiring.

“‘Yes, that is the truth.’

“‘I see. You have killed ninety-nine people. You are sure it is ninety-nine?’

“‘Yes, I am sure,’ said the murderer, who was beginning to wonder at the Perfect Master’s questions.

“‘Ninety-nine and not one hundred,’ the Perfect Master persevered while the murderer grew more impatient.

“‘Yes, I have killed ninety-nine and not one hundred.’

“‘And you are coming to me for my help?’ The man jumped to his feet. He felt the so-called Perfect Master was either crazy or teasing him.

“‘Where are you going?’ asked the Perfect Master in mock surprise.

“‘I feel I have made a mistake in coming here. I don’t believe you are taking me seriously. I am leaving.’

“‘On the contrary,’ replied the Perfect Master, ‘please sit down. I promise I will help you.’ The man sat down again.

“‘Now let me get this straight,’ said the Perfect Master. ‘You are a murderer and you have killed ninety-nine people and you are coming to me for help for your soul?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘And you are sure you have killed ninety-nine people?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘And not one hundred?’ Again the man jumped to his feet.

“‘What are you doing?’ asked the Perfect Master with all the innocence of a child.

“‘I am leaving.’

“‘Please sit down. I promised I would definitely help you,’ said the Perfect Master. The man again sat down.

“‘Now listen carefully to what I tell you. Will you do as I request?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘Very well. Do you see that tree by the road over there?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘This is what I want you to do. I want you to go and sit beneath that tree. You are to stay there; I will see to all your needs. You will have food and protection from the elements. You are just to stay there, but when people pass by on the road, you are to go to them and bless them.’

“‘Bless them?’

“‘Yes bless them; you can say may God’s blessing be upon you—anything like that you wish. Can you do it?’

“‘Yes,’ replied the murderer, who was happy to be given a penance for his sins.

“And so the man began to stay under the tree and bless people when they went by. He stayed there for years—after a while, people even began to think he was some kind of great saint.

“It so happened that one day a messenger on horseback came galloping down the road at top speed. The murderer was out in the road, busy doing his blessings, when the man rode by. Not seeing him coming, the murderer stepped in front of the charging horse, the horse reared up and the rider was thrown into the air. Picking himself off the ground, the rider was absolutely furious.

“‘What the hell are you doing, man?’ he shouted at the murderer. ‘Are you crazy? You fool! I am delivering an important message from the king. See what you’ve done, you piece of shit?’ and he went on like that, railing against the murderer, who himself was getting more and more angry.

“Finally, the murderer could stand the abuse no longer and picked up a large stone and crushed the messenger’s head. Just then, at that very moment, the Perfect Master arrived, said simply ‘One hundred,’ and bestowed upon the murderer the highest state of liberation. The Perfect Master gave him the state of God Realization.”

Anne, the character being told the story in my book was quite confused.

“Victor, I have absolutely no idea what this story means,” Anne said after a long pause.

“You see, Anne, the messenger was carrying orders from the king for the execution of one hundred innocent people. By killing the messenger—his one hundredth murder—he saved one hundred people. The Perfect Master knew this in the beginning, knew exactly what was necessary to balance the murderer’s actions and liberate him from their consequences.”

But Anne’s dismay and irritation were in no way relieved by the explanation. “I get it,” Anne said, “but I don’t think I like it. It disturbs me on many different levels.”

“As it did me when Amrit first told it to me. Do you remember when Aunt Lily was telling you about the mirror?”

“Yes. I like that story,” Anne replied with a smile.

“Well, applying the metaphor to this story, the Perfect Master could see the dust that distorted the murderer’s consciousness and also knew how to wipe it clean. He created the perfect circumstances for the murderer to save one hundred lives. He knew all along what would happen, but, of course, neither the murderer nor anyone else had any idea what the Perfect Master was actually doing.” – Kovitz and Mead, Supervisions (eladi-publications.com).

“In Christ there is no East or West.”

A point has no dimensions, no up, no down, no depth.

The extension of the point—a series of adjacent points—is a line.

A line has dimension—one dimension.

Extend the line and it becomes a plane—two dimensions.

Extend the plane and it becomes a shape with three dimensions. Technically this shape is called a prism. It can be a cup, a square, a book, a sphere, and so on.

But can the prism be extended further, into a four-dimensional shape?

The idea that creation has more than three dimensions has been around for a long time and interest in it seems to revive from time to time. The nineteenth century was such time. I came across the idea of multi-dimensional space years ago in the writings of P.D. Ouspensky.

For me, the possibility of four (or more) dimensions of space was important in two ways: its impact on my understanding of time, and its impact on my understanding of the universe.

With regard to time: for Ouspensky and other like-minded thinkers, our faulty perception of the fourth dimension is what we call time.

To illustrate his idea, Ouspensky used the example of a world of only two dimensions—a world of the plane exiting in three dimensional space. In this plane world existed plane beings—beings of only two dimensions—beings who could only fully perceive two dimensions. For plane beings there exists a forward and a back, a left and a right, but no up or down, because the plane has, as it were, no thickness.

Ouspensky asked us to imagine a striped poll of different colors being passed through the plane. What would the plane inhabitants see? He suggested that they would see before them a phenomenon of a changing color, but they would not see the poll either above or below their plane. They would not understand that what they perceived was only a slice of the total phenomenon, that it was a result of the movement of the poll through their plane, and that movement was not movement, but something that they deemed to be called time.

Ouspensky then asked us to consider the possibility that our three-dimensional consciousness, our three-dimensional world, stood in the same relationship to the fourth dimension as the plane beings’ consciousness stands in relationship to the third dimension.

Without the ability to perceive the fourth dimension, what chance would there be for us to really understand the nature of the universe and all its phenomena—including ourselves? For do we not fully believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are physical beings of three dimensions? I see myself, perceive myself, as an adult man existing in the time we call the year of 2013. I exist as a point with no dimensions.

But do I ever doubt that a man is the totality of what I am—who I am? I remember, have memories, even photographs of myself as an infant, a child, a young adult: different points that make up the line of myself, a line that even extends beyond me—beyond the so-called present—into the future. Is not the entire line of me, from birth to death, a more comprehensive meaning of me? I would have to conclude that yes, it is, but if I am also being honest with myself, and ask myself the question, “Is the consciousness of myself that I actually experience the consciousness of the point or the consciousness of the line?” I would have to conclude that it is the former and not the latter.

And what of time itself—the so-called past, present, and future? Does not the average person feel that the past is something that’s over and done—something that no longer exists—while the future is that which is to come, and in relationship to the present does not yet exist? If the past and the future do not exist, then what is the present? Is not this illusory point of no dimension between the past which is over and the future that is yet to come?

Yet the mystics and the seers say something else, experience something else. There is only the moment, the eternal present that not only includes the so-called past and future, but also extends—exists—above and below the line of my life, as a plane that, itself, extends—exists—beyond that plane as a prism, that extends—exists—beyond that prism in even more dimensions.

And what of the God-Realized ones—what do they say—what do they experience? They tell us that all dimensions of creation, all of creation itself, with its space and time and paraphernalia, does not exist at all—is but an illusion—a dream—a dream we all will ultimately awaken from and experience the Truth, the Reality, of Self, of God.

“The little girl looked down at the sky and wrote bottoms up

And the word called her mad

And she almost came to believe it herself.

“One day in her lifetime of tears there appeared at her side

A light without shape or origin

And for a long time neither she nor it did move.

“One day the light began to slowly turn

And the little girl being bound to that light also began to turn—

“Over and over, around and around,

Faster and faster with such force

That her eyes opened wide and she saw the light

Become all colors and all colors become One.

“Moving in seven directions at once

The little girl became motionless

And exiting in seven dimensions at once

She experienced herself—infinitely and eternally” – Michael Kovitz, 1971.

                                               …………………………

“To the Universe—The Illusion that sustains Reality” – dedication to the book God Speaks by Meher Baba.

When I was a teenager in Chicago, Illinois, my friends and I would, on some weekend evenings when the weather was pleasant enough (not always a given in Chicago), migrate to a certain location in a park along the lakefront and meet up with other high-schoolers, to hang out and do whatever teenagers do with their spare time.

Sometimes it was quite enjoyable for me, especially if whatever girl I was interested in at the time would act friendly towards me, and sometimes it was unpleasant for me if the said girl of my eye du jour ignored me or was friendly to one of my imagined competitors. Of course, mine were not the only dramas that played out at the park. Everyone had their own dramas, experienced their own heavens and hells.

Years passed. I had graduated from college, but still lived in the same general area of the city. One weekend evening I took a walk down to the lake and found myself in that same park and that same location where we all used to hang out, and what was I surprised to see? High-schoolers hanging out, doing what we used to do—doing what I used to do.

I experienced a strange feeling as I observed them laughing and talking, doing what they do—doing what we did. It was the same place, same scene, but with different people. It is difficult to explain this strange feeling I felt, but it was something like, forms don’t change, people don’t change, but consciousness changes by playing through the forms in order to experience, in order to involve, in order to become. Years later, Meher Baba helped me to understand that the soul, through the medium of its evolving and involving consciousness associates with, identifies with, various and numerous forms of creation in order to gain and later perfect the consciousness by which it will know itself to be God.

“I died as mineral and became a plant,

I died as plant and rose to animal,

I died as animal and I was man.

Why should I fear? Was I ever less by dying?

And yet once more, I shall die as man, to soar

With angels blest; but even from angel-hood

I must pass on; all except God doth perish.

And when I have sacrificed my angel soul,

I shall become what no mind e’er conceived:

Oh, let me not exist! For Non-existence

Proclaims in organ tones, ‘To Him we shall return.’” – Rumi

So, Meher Baba explains that the consciousness of the soul must associate with various forms in order to evolve and perfect itself. The important question for me is, can there be association without identification?  What I mean is, if the soul through its consciousness needs to associate itself with say a human form of a particular sex, of a particular race, of a particular religion, in a particular time and place, etc., is it necessary that the consciousness actually takes itself to be that human form of a particular sex, of a particular race, of a particular religion, in a particular time and place, etc.? The fact that the average person does consider himself to be the form his consciousness is associating with, in fact, never even questions that he may be something other than that human form of a particular sex, of a particular race, etc., does not mean that the identification is necessary for the association.

I remember a story told by Upasani Maharaj. He said that one day sometime after He had achieved God-Realization at the hands of Sai Baba, he ‘woke-up’ in Sai Baba’s body. Now both were Perfect and therefore beyond the distinctions of religion and caste, still, Sai Baba was considered to be a Muslim and Upasani was considered to be a Hindu. Of course, their followers tended to be Muslim and Hindu respectively—being still identified with the superficial distinctions of illusory—un-perfected—consciousness. And so, he said with a touch of amusement, that now the Hindu followers were bowing down to a Muslim in a Hindu’s body and, likewise, the Muslims were bowing down to a Hindu in a Muslim’s body. Upasani then went on to say that all His talk might seem strange to the average person but, in fact, the illusion of individuality is just that, an illusion—that Jivas are constantly in the process of moving from body to body, inhabiting different bodies—with illusory consciousness never even being aware of the changes.

Who am I? ‘Au contraire.’

“Leave all and follow me.” – Jesus Christ

Can you imagine how extreme, how radical, how contraire, that statement must have been at the time? Only a few had any idea at all who He was—who it was who was making that statement. Most didn’t know Him at all; of those who did, many thought he was a rebel—a heretic; a few considered Him a teacher—a rabbi; and only a very few—only those to whom He gave the Gift—knew Him to be God in human form. And even in those days, the idea of leaving all—one’s wife or husband, one’s family, one’s wealth and possessions—to follow some wild-eyed preacher, was a preposterous idea.

At some point when I was a boy I began to question everything. I wasn’t trying to make trouble; I was trying to make sense—sense of what I saw going on around me and what I felt going on within me. I wasn’t particularly disturbed or confused, but I did feel like an outsider looking in—like watching a party through a window. Inside, people were laughing and talking—arguing and agreeing, but basically relating from what appeared to me to be a whole assortment of truths that they all seemed to understand and automatically accept—truths that I wondered about—truths that were not self-evident to me. Not that I rejected them; I just didn’t see them, and the ones I did see I just couldn’t take for granted.

When I was able to formulate a question at all, I did not have any trouble finding people that were more than willing to answer it—to help me. The problem was that almost without exception, the answers that they gave only made sense in the light of the very truths I was questioning—the truths that they never seemed to have any need to question themselves. These conversations would often turn sour when I begged the question—when I questioned a particular truth. Suddenly the helpful person would become irritated, or even indignant. I was no angel myself, and I would argue back. After a while I learned to stop asking and start reading—but reading wasn’t much better.

I never gave up hope however. ‘There must be answers—real answers. There must be some, or someone, who knew.’

“Age after age, when the wick of Righteousness burns low, the Avatar comes yet again to rekindle the torch of Love and Truth. Age after age, amidst the clamour of disruptions, wars, fear and chaos, rings the Avatar’s call:

‘COME ALL UNTO ME.’

“Although, because of the veil of illusion, this Call of the Ancient One may appear as a voice in the wilderness, its echo and re-echo nevertheless pervades through time and space to rouse at first a few, and eventually millions, from their deep slumber of ignorance. And in the midst of illusion, as the Voice behind all voices, it awakens humanity to bear witness to the Manifestation of God amidst mankind.

“The time is come. I repeat the Call, and bid all come unto me.” – Meher Baba, Meher Baba’s Call, Amednagar, India, September 12,1954.

Yuga.

“A bird in the forest

   once flew to a palace.

Inside the palace was a mirror.

   When the bird came to the mirror,

      it saw that there was another bird

         inside the mirror.

That bird (reflection)

   was only the real bird's shadow,

      but the real bird was deluded

         and took the reflection to be another bird.

It started striking its beak against the mirror;

   its shadow inside the mirror did the same

      and the birds' beaks struck each other.

At last the real bird was tired of fighting

   with the bird inside the mirror,

      but it could not understand

         that the bird in the mirror was no other bird,

            but was its shadow.

When the real bird became tired,

   the mirror crashed,

      and with it the unreal bird disappeared.

At that moment when the mirror crashed

   the palace also disappeared;

      the real bird was left alone

         and it realized, "I Alone Exist."

Shadow does not exist.

Shadow is nothing,

   but in spite of its being nothing,

      to bring it into existence is illusion.

And though shadow is nothing,

   it IS,

      and is whereby the illusion (self-delusion) starts.

When this shadow is found to be what it is,

   nothing,

      it is here that illusion ends.” – Bhau Kalchuri, The Nothing and the Everything, p. 330, copyright 1981 AMBPPCT.

Au contraire. How can it be otherwise? If consciousness is illusory, then it must follow that all that follows is illusory—like the image in the mirror. Stand at arm’s length from the mirror; look at your face. You’ve never really seen your face have you? Just its reflection. Others have seen your face, but you have never seen your face. Look at your face and your head in the mirror; estimate the size of the image—from the top of your head to the bottom of your chin—maybe twelve inches or so? Now, place your index finger on the mirror at the top of the image of your head, then place the index finger of your other hand on the mirror at the bottom of your chin. How big is the image? Surprised?

Not only is creation an illusion, even the ‘reality’ of that illusion as perceived by the average person is an illusion.

“When all of you eat, it means I have eaten. Some of you may doubt this statement of mine and ask me as to how it could be possible? Well, if your Jiva (Soul) is within me and mine in yours, it means that when you eat I am virtually eating through your mouths, and vice versa.

“What place or thing is there without the presence of my Jiva? Remember my Jiva pervades everything—all the animate and the inanimate, and yet remains over (beyond everything).

“If your Jiva is within me, then my Jiva is there within you to eat for you; that is why when you eat I have virtually eaten.

“And why don’t I eat myself? I do not do so, simply because I do not want you people to eat, i.e. to satisfy your hunger. Of course, all that I am telling you is contrary to your conception of eating and satisfying your hunger. After all my ways are contrary to those of yours.” – Upasani Maharaj, Talks, Volume II, Part A, page 125.

What’s all this about eating and not eating? Masters speak on many levels. Desires are experienced as hunger. Satisfying those desires is the act of eating. Upasani is saying that He wants His followers to eat less, to satisfy their desires less. But He knows also that His followers are not Perfect. Masters are all very pragmatic. And so, what He is saying is that due to their association with Him, when they eat He will have eaten, i.e. He will take on the suffering and pleasure of the acts of their eating—so that the very act of eating does not create even further bindings that inhibit the ultimate certainty of their Realization.

“Behind the curtain a secret game is being played

That you know not, so don't give up nor be dismayed—or grieved.” – Hafez

A fellow I know, as he puts it, went down a rabbit hole some years ago and never came back. He had received a powerful shock that sent him on a personal odyssey in search of answers. He wasn’t looking for ultimate Truth, at least he wouldn’t have put it that way—probably still wouldn’t—but he just wanted to know the truth about things.

So, he started looking, he started asking questions, and he started listening. But what he saw, and what he heard, only agitated him more. Like a man examining the individual threads that make a tapestry, the more he pulled out and examined, the more the whole tapestry began to unravel. The further he went, the more he examined, the more un-truths, deceptions, and lies he discovered.

As the tapestry unraveled another tapestry with another pattern began to emerge. Now he believes that there is a grand conspiracy. Certain individuals are behind the untruths, deceptions, and lies—individuals selfishly motivated by greed and lust for power and control. When asked, he says with more than a touch of anger and grief, that he wants his country back—he wants his life back.

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – JRR Tolkien

Meher Baba says that the search for Truth is energized by a powerful disappointment with the world coupled with a growing love for God. In the poetry of John Donne, the forcing together of two images or thoughts into a single dissonant image is called a metaphysical conceit. In John Donne’s poem, The Flea, a flea bites him and then hops over and bites his lover. Their blood, mingled in the body of the flea, representing love’s union, is an example of a metaphysical conceit.

“Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deny'st me is;
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be;
Thou knowest that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead.
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pampered, swells with one blood made of two,
And this, alas, is more than we would do.”

And what of the forcing together of illusion and reality, is this not the greatest of all metaphysical conceits? Remember Upasani Maharaj’s meaning of the word Jivatma?

“That pure celestial soul identified with the projections of the mind.”

Or, Christianity’s Holy Spirit? The third part of the trinity comprised of God the Father, God the Son, and God as the Holy Spirit—is not that Holy Spirit that pure celestial soul wandering in ghostly consciousness—false consciousness—taking illusion to be reality and reality to be illusion—is not that combination of reality and illusion—that metaphysical conceit—wandering like a ghost, haunting its own dream of itself, man?  I am Michael; I am a man; I am this and that.

“Praise be to God, for He never tries His slave in vain.” – Hafez

Meher Baba reminds us:

“You are first a child, then grow old and drop the body, but you never die and were never born. In the East, Vedantists believe in reincarnation, in numberless births and deaths until one attains God. The Muslims believe in one birth only and in one death only. The Christians and the Zoroastrians believe the same. All are right. But Zarathustra, Ram, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and all previous Avatars meant what I mean by real birth and real death. I say: ‘You are born once and die once.’

“All the so-called births and deaths are only sleeps and awakenings. The difference between sleep and death is that when you sleep, you awake and find yourself in the same body. But after death, you awake in a different body. You never die; only the blessed ones die and become One with God.”

Paraphrasing Meher Baba, we all went down the rabbit hole with our first birth—our entrance into creation as that metaphysical conceit called Jivatma by some, or Holy Ghost by others. While in that rabbit hole we go through numerous illusory rabbit holes—our dreams of our comings and goings as stones and birds and animals and man and saints and sinners and angels—until we die the final death and emerge with full consciousness from the rabbit hole we first went down, as pure celestial souls finally unburdened from the projections of our minds, knowing ourselves to be what we have always been—infinite, eternal, drops of the Ocean of God.

Au Contraire has been one of the longer series of postings in Embedded with the Kali Yuga—I think for good reason. Everything we know—everything we think we know about ourselves, creation, and God goes contrary to the teachings of the Masters, and so there is more than enough that can be said to fill endless blogs and books. And although the posting Au Contraire ends here, God willing, Inshalla, other postings will follow spotlighting various divine themes and teachings. In fact, will not they all be, my dear, au contraire?