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  

Lonely God?

What is the relationship between the soul and creation after the soul realizes God? Upasani Maharaj explores this question in His talk from 1924; “How does the Paramatma and a human being enjoy the Bliss?” – The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, Volume III, Page 76.

“And God stepped out on space,

And he looked around and said:

I’m lonely—I’ll make me a world.” – From God’s Trombones by James Weldon Johnson

I remember reading this poem when I was a child, it was a nice story, but was there some real truth behind it?

“What is meant by the experience of unity? The stem of the tree remains by itself always alone. It does not think that it is always alone; and if the tree were to remain in the stem-form without any further growth, that stem is never likely to think about its being alone—being one by itself. But when the stem grows into branches, sub-branches, and foliage, it gives rise to plurality, and then by looking at those ‘many’, the stem begins to appreciate that it is ‘one’—that it is alone.” – The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, Volume III, Page 76

Perfect Masters can speak on an infinite number of levels in an infinite number of ways. In this talk, Upasani Maharaj, begins with the question, “How does the Paramatma and a human being enjoy the Bliss?” Paramatma, or Great Soul, is a name for God—more specifically;

“When the INFINITE ONE does not think of the Universe but only of Himself as God—the Infinite Consciousness—He is in the state of the Beyond—the state of Paramatma.” – The Nothing and The Everything, by Bhau Kalchuri, (from points given by Meher Baba,) page 183

“The state of the Beyond,” what is that? It is the state beyond creation. It is the state beyond when “God stepped out on space.” Here we’re tempted to you the word before rather than beyond, but the states of God exist simultaneously and the state of God before creation does not disappear with the appearance of the state of God in creation, so I’ll stick with the term beyond rather then before.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John, 1:1

This beginning cannot be the beginning of God because God is Eternal—always was, is, and will be, therefore, the beginning must refer to something else—to creation. In other words, there must be a state of God in which creation does not exist. Meher Baba identifies that state as the Beyond the Beyond state of God, or Paratpar-Parabrahma.

The Beyond the Beyond state of God is sleeping God in a dreamless sleep—a state so deep that almost nothing can be said of it—except that this state is even beyond the possibility of dreaming or waking up—an eternal deep deep sleep!

“This state of God is so transcendent that nothing can really be conceived of it. It is utterly pure and immaculate and has no tinge of ‘otherness.’ It is the hidden of all hidden knowledge and the internal of all internal realities. It is beyond all words and so it cannot be adequately described. It is neither finite nor infinite, neither attributeless nor with attributes. In this domain the wings of thought, inference, discrimination and understanding are limp and useless.” – Godspeaks, by Meher Baba, 2^nd edition, page 170

We can also add, that in this state of God, since neither many-ness nor oneness exists, the states of alone or loneliness cannot exist, nor God’s dream of creation, nor God’s ‘I am God!’ awake state, also cannot exist! Yet awaken God must!

Paramatma, Allah, Ahuramazda, Yezdan, and God the Father are some of the most familiar and worshipped Names of God on the planet. These most holy Names are names for God, not in the Beyond the Beyond state of Paratpar-Parabrahma, but in the state of God named by Meher Baba as the Beyond state of God.

The Beyond the Beyond state of God and the Beyond State of God are one—like the ocean is one. But the surface of the ocean exhibits different characteristics than the ocean below itself. This is similar to the relationship that exists between the Beyond the Beyond state of God and the Beyond state of God and the most important difference between them concerns the Lahar.

Lahar is a Hindi word; Meher Baba explains that the closest parallel we have in the English language is the word whim. A whim arises without expectation or cause—it is, after all, a whim. The whim that surged in the ocean of God was “the latent original infinite whim of infinite God to know Himself, (‘Who am I?’).” – Godspeaks, by Meher Baba, 2^nd edition, page 172

“But due to the very nature of the Beyond the Beyond state of God—being so beyond anything other than its own original self, “the very prospect of this infinite urge-to-know, prompting the eternally tranquil poise of god in the unbounded, absolute, infinite Divine Vacuum, becomes inconceivable.” – Ibid.

“Thus it is that the very inconceivability of the prospect of the infinite whim surging in the Beyond-Beyond state automatically unfolds the prospectiveness, which is also latent in the infinite state; and this manifestation (of prospectiveness) bestows upon the most original Beyond-Beyond state of God the prospect of an infinite aspect different from the most-original and eternal state.” – Ibid. Page 173

And this state of possibility in which the original whim could manifest, Meher Baba calls the Beyond state of God, and it is in this Beyond state that the Lahar manifests as the question, “Who am I?” 

With this question, two things occur; that part of the Original Ocean Meher Baba called the Ocean of Everything answers the question and says, “I am God!” but, that part of the Original Ocean that Meher Baba called the Ocean of Nothing could not answer the question—but tried!—resulting in innumerable wrong answers to the question, like, “I am stone,” or “I am insect,” or “I am fish,” or “I am bird,”— or animal, or I am man, or woman, etc. In other words, God as the Ocean of Nothing, began to dream the dream of creation, and began to experience Himself as all the creatures of His creation—and He became lost in the dream.

God woke up—but God woke up in a dream—His dream—and somehow He had to find His way through His dream and really wake up into His real awake state of “I am God!” And somehow God did wake up—and God does wake—drop by drop of the Ocean of Nothing. To the question of the first drop to awaken, Meher Baba tells us that there was a first drop to awaken and that drop was the first God Realized soul who, after dropping His body in creation, returned and continues to return to His creation in different bodies, at different times, for all time, as the Ancient One—the Christ—the Buddha—the Messiah—the Highest of the High!

Having said all of this, we return to Upasani Maharaj’s talk that began, “What is meant by the experience of unity? The stem of the tree remains by itself always alone. It does not think that it is always alone; and if the tree were to remain in the stem-form without any further growth, that stem is never likely to think about its being alone—being one by itself. But when the stem grows into branches, sub-branches, and foliage, it gives rise to plurality, and then by looking at those ‘many’, the stem begins to appreciate that it is ‘one’—that it is alone.” – Ibid., Page 76

So the stem—the trunk—of the tree grows limbs and branches and foliage. Of course, it is still the same one tree, and therefore continues to experience itself as alone—non-dual— but should the tree begins to identify itself with one of its limbs, or branches, or leaves, then everything that is not that one thing it identifies itself with becomes the other, and hence, the tree experiences the state of plurality.

“If while experiencing the presence of all that growth on either end, it does not forget that it is just alone, then it never loses the experience of its real status, but If while experiencing the ‘many’ at its either end, it forgets its oneness, then it is lost.” – Ibid.

But the experience of this lost-ness is necessary in order to experience the state of found-ness—the state of wakefulness—the” I am God state”. It is one of the great spiritual/esoteric ironies that in order to experience oneness, plurality must first be experienced; in order to experience the light, darkness must be first be experienced; in order to experience reality, illusion must first be experienced; and in order to be found, one needs to first become lost.

“Whosoever wants to experience his oneness must necessarily experience the plurality around; it is the experience of plurality that makes one experience his own ‘single’ position. Having experienced his ‘oneness’, if he does not forget it—lose it—while experiencing plurality, then he attains the state of Paramatma, but if he ‘forgets’ his ‘oneness’, then, of course, he is lost. A human being is one that has forgotten, or rather, has not experienced his ‘oneness’, and has lost himself in the surrounding plurality.” – Ibid., pages 76-77

Where does one get the experience of plurality? The answer is, in creation, which is the manifestation of the dream state of God. Where does one get the experience of oneness? Here again, the answer is the same, one first experiences oneness in the state of creation. What this means is that God Realization occurs while in the body—actually while in the three bodies; the gross, the subtle, and the mental bodies.

Meher Baba tells us that after Realization those bodies usually get dropped—discarded—almost immediately, but can be retained for some period of time depending on the promptings of the destiny of the individual Realized soul. Still, whether the bodies are dropped immediately or after some time, the experience of God for the Realized soul is eternal.

“The Yogis and Satpurushas always ‘study’ to experience their ‘own-ness’—there being ‘One’—and once they experience that state, they never lose it.” – Ibid.    

And here, Upasani Maharaj describes, as much as can be described, the nature of that experience;

“He experiences that all around him emanates from himself and terminates in himself, and hence he sees himself to be all alone for all time.” – Ibid.

Poor lonely God! So what does He do? In order to enjoy his aloneness, he, himself, “takes a form and becomes many in many a form and object of enjoyment, and then he enjoys himself with their help.” – Ibid.

Imagine that you’re home all alone with nothing to do. So you pull out your movie projector and turn it on. You begin to get engrossed in the movie. Now, you no longer feel alone. With regard to Paramatma, His projector is Ishwar—Ishwar being another state of God in the forms and roles of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, (Afridgar, Parvardigar, and Fanakar) who creates, preserves, and dissolves creation—the movie—that Paramatma watches/enjoys/experiences. But there is a difference between the way the Paramatma and an ordinary human being enjoys creation—the movie.

“Even when the Paramatma enjoys the happiness eminent from a gross form, he does not do it like a human being. For instance, to enjoy the happiness eminent from the mango, a human being has to actually eat it to enjoy it, but the Paramatma just holds it in his hand or puts it to his nose and through the invisible minute pores in the skin he is able to have to have the happiness eminent from the juice of the mango without ever tasting—without ever interfering—with its gross structure in any way. As he sucks that happiness—that invisible happiness—the invisible happiness all around is also attracted by it and accompanies it, and thus, he not only enjoys the happiness eminent from the mango, but also enjoys the happiness that exists all around.” – Ibid., page 77

I had a friend some time ago whose go-to response to anything and everything was; “It’s all Bliss!” I doubt, of course, that this was his actual experience, but Upasani Maharaj does seem to be saying in this quotation is that my friend’s assertion is both accurate and possible—when consciousness goes beyond the gross, subtle, and mental sphere, and experiences the Infinite Bliss of the sphereless sphere of Reality.

To anyone who has had the great good fortune to be in the presence of the Avatar or a Perfect Master, or even hear their words and teachings, it would not come as a surprise that often what first appears to be a pleasant day of frolicking at the shore suddenly turns into the deepest of deep dives into the hidden depths of the infinite ocean knowledge.

And so it is, that in this talk by Upasani Maharaj, after what appeared to be a simple clarification of the difference between the enjoyment of the Paramatma—the Almighty God Allah, Yezdan, Ahuramazda, etc. — and the Jivatma—“that pure celestial soul identified with the projections of the mind,”— the talk soon turned to the deepest of explanations regarding consciousness and the very nature and purpose of creation.

“Why are all the animate and inanimate objects in and of the world available to the Paramatma for his continuous enjoyment? Well, because he enjoys without destroying anything and even as the enjoyer of everything, He remains alone by himself and does not forget his unitary state while experiencing that all things come forth spontaneously from that from which he emanated—from that which lies beyond the trinity of enjoyer, the enjoyed and the enjoyment.” - The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, Volume III, page 78

I regularly practice a meditation on Meher Baba’s name. It’s a simple technique; I just try to inwardly repeat His name continuously for fifteen minutes. During that time I do not resist or try to stop any other thoughts that automatically arise within me, no matter how pleasant or unpleasant, high or low, sublime or vulgar—because, I have learned, that the very effort to resist or change a thought actually empowers and draws greater attention to it. 

 I have also come to see that the thoughts are not the problem at all—that it is my identification with those thoughts that is the problem. Identification is when I take myself to be something other than what I am—when I become “identified with the projections of my mind,” as opposed to remembering “that pure celestial soul” that I am.

I have also observed that when I don’t resist or identify with those thoughts and just let them pour out like, as Gurdjieff once put it, “from the empty into the void,” I begin to experience that those thoughts are not me and that the mind which continuously churns them out is not me. It is as if my mind is both the projector and that which is projected, and that my Self is something other than the projector or that which is projected. Of course, I do not experience that Self directly; in my state, the Self I experience is but one of the many shadows of that real Self that I am—a kind of intermediate self Gurdjieff once identified as the deputy steward.

So both the Paramatma and the Jivatma project and enjoy the movie of creation, but there is a difference, because the Paramatma does not identify with that movie while the Jivatma does. I think the distinction also helps to explain the statement; “he enjoys without destroying anything,” that the Paramatma does not need to eat the mango to enjoy it; in other words, that the relationship of the  Paramatma to His creation is totally benign—is not dependent on the destruction of any of the forms of creation. To me, this speaks of real love—unconditional love—love that asks absolutely nothing of the object of that love—love that takes absolutely nothing from the object of that love—in other the words, the only love worthy of being named love!

“And when the topic turned to the subject of love, the pen broke and the paper tore!” - Jalal a-Din Rumi

Many years ago I was staying in the Far Cabin at the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was a warm summer night and I was sitting at the little wooden desk in front of the open screened window near the door of the cabin. I was reading a book by Rumi when I was distracted by a commotion in the window. A large moth had flown into the web of a large spider and was struggling to get out. Immediately the spider appeared and jumped on the moth and began stinging it. The scene was going on right before my eyes, not more than a foot away from me, and so I saw everything very clearly. The spider would sting the moth again and again and the moth would writhe in pain—finally it stopped writhing and the spider collapsed over the moth and did not move. After a few days, what was left of the moth was discarded, and dropped to the bottom of the window.

Inspired by Rumi’s teachings and the atmosphere of the Center, I realized that what I had been witnessing was an act of love—love of the spider for the moth and love of the moth for the spider—the latter even more difficult to comprehend for sure. Why would the moth be attracted to the web of the spider? Because the Infinite Intelligence that guides the lives of all souls in creation is constantly working to guide that soul’s dream of itself to the realization of its real Self. In the end, that moth after circling the flame will fly into the flame, and lose itself in that flame, and become one with that flame.

“Like waves upon my head, the circling curls,

So in the sacred dance, weave ye and whirl,

Dance then, oh heart, a whirling circle be,

Burn in that flame; is not the candle He?” – Ibid.

I have talked about it before, that third thing that exists between any two things—the Sandhi, (http://imbedded.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-importance-of-sandhi-part-one.html). The Sandhi exists in creation—in illusion—everywhere and in everything; it is the dusk between day and night and the dawn between night and day, the caesura in music that is felt between motives, phrases, themes, sections, and movements, and it is found in the moment between the inhalation and exhalation of every breath—yogis pay particular attention to this moment.

But the Sandhi also exists in the state of Reality, in the Divine Junction (Turiya Avastha), where the Realized soul can have the dual experiences of “I am God” and “I am human.”  It is this state of Reality Upasani Maharaj calls the border...

“The Paramatma is just on the border—the fence between that original infinite One and Creation. The Yogis, the Satpurushas, etc. are always trying to attain that state of being on the fence. The origin of all happiness lies on this border land. The third that emanates from the union of the two is the state of pleasure and pain in and of this world.” - The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, Volume III, page 79

A thoughtful read of this statement shows that Upasani Maharaj has unexpectedly taken His talk in a new direction…

“Without coming together, without union or mutual action of the two, the third (state) does not come into existence.” – Ibid. page 80

In other words, the state of pleasure and pain that is experienced in creation is the result of the Sandhi—the Border—the Divine Junction between illusion and Reality. Here, Upasani Maharaj names this state as consciousness—as experience.

“The third is recognized as consciousness—as experience. This experience consists of two types, or two aspects, the pleasurable and the painful—the Anukila and the Pratikula. Both of these, the pleasure and the pain, are experienced in that border land—on that fence; and that has been so from time immemorial. Wherever pleasure or pain is experienced, you can always see the junction—the union—the coming together—the mutual action of the two. It is because of the intrinsic natures of the two that the experience—the consciousness—of pleasure and pain is experienced. To have fever there must be a body and something that is adverse to it coming together. Similar will be the state of a belly-ache; there must be two striking against each other.

“Every pleasure or pain is the result of reaction between any two constituents.  This ‘third’ that is created in the world by the coming together of any two is generally seen to lead to the experience of, the third, where the Paramatma resides, is all full of pleasure—full of happiness—full of Bliss.

“This is the reason why the Shastras—the Teachings—having always advised one to use the joining periods of the day—the morning, the afternoon, the evening, the midnight, etc. for practicing the various means to attain the state of the Paramatma—to become one with him. Because the Paramatma is on the fence—on that junction—whatever is done at such ‘times of junction’, slowly but surely leads to one’s development and to the attainment of the attributes of the Paramatma.” – Ibid.

This morning I was sitting on the patio repeating Meher Baba’s name. It was a warm morning, the sun was already very intense, and there were also a lot of flies. After meditating, I tried to understand what had happened—why this meditation was different than most. It was obvious that the source of my distraction was quite external and physical, as opposed to the usual internal distractions of thoughts and feelings. Being a gross conscious person—my consciousness being centered in the gross world—it was quite natural for me to become distracted by the sensations evoked by the heat, the sounds of the buzzing flies, and the sensation of them landing and walking around on my body.

I remembered that I had involuntarily attempted to shew the flies away. What was going on? I concluded that it had to do with the sensations that the mind interprets as pleasure and pain, but I realized also that sensations are just sensations and that it is the mind that classifies them as pleasurable and painful. So, then what is pain? I decided that when the mind interprets a sensation as being a danger to the body, then it labels that sensation a pain and that the degree of the mind’s engrossment is directly in proportion to the degree to which the mind identifies itself with the body. In other words, any perceived danger to the body becomes a danger to the mind, and by extension, a danger to the self.

There is a translation of a teaching in the Bhagavad Gita that says;

“The senses are superior to the sense objects, the mind is superior to the senses, and the Self is superior to the mind.”

(Notice the large case S, to indicate the eternal, infinite Self of Reality as opposed to the illusory, limited, false self, created by and identified with the mind.)

So when the mind identifies a sensation as a warning sign of danger—that something is wrong with the body or that it is under attack—the mind then prompts the body to take actions to protect itself. This action could take an intentional effort, like moving into the shade when one feels too hot, or it may be an instinctive or autonomic response of fainting caused by the vasovagal syncope when certain conditions arise in the body, particularly the loss of blood flow to the brain caused by low blood sugar, dehydration, etc. The fainting actually causes the body to fall down, bringing the heart and brain to the same level to encourage blood flow.

Of course, what we are talking about here is the working of the limited mind and its projections. We are in the domain of the average human being. But the domain of the Paramatma is different. In the state of a God-Realized being, called Sadguru by Upasani Maharaj, along with the limited mind, there is also the consciousness of the unlimited Universal Mind which is requisite for the experience of Reality. So, the Paramatma in the state of the Sadguru can choose what reality he or she wishes to experience and when to experience it because the Sadguru sits on the border—the Sandhi— between false reality and Reality.

The Masters are always explaining the meaning and purpose of life. These explanations have an awakening power—a power that emanates less from the explanation itself, whose target is the mind, and more from the experience of Reality which is conveyed by the Masters’ state of consciousness. Unlike the thoughts and ideas of regular people, the Masters’ consciousness has the power to nurture another level of consciousness in the unrealized soul.

What the Masters are always reminding us is that life—creation—and all the lifetimes experienced within it have only one purpose and that is the awakening of the consciousness of the soul to the realization—the experience—of “I am God!”

Not only is life meant wholly and solely for this purpose, it has no independent existence from this purpose. I wrote about this at length in a previous blog, Ayushya – Period of Life, http://imbedded.blogspot.com/2015/02/ayushya-period-of-life.html . Ayushya is just another name for the Fence, the Sandhi, and the highest manifestation of the Third Force often spoken about by G.I. Gurdjieff—the dream state between God’s deep sleep and fully awake state.

Near the end of His talk, “How does the Paramatma and a Human Being enjoy the Bliss?” - The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, Volume III, pages 76 – 81, Upasani Maharaj clarifies the process and the importance of the role the Avatar and the Perfect Masters—the Sadgurus in the state of Paramatma—play in this process.

“This is the reason why the Shastras—the Teachings—having always advised one to use the joining periods of the day—the morning, the afternoon, the evening, the midnight, etc. for practicing the various means to attain the state of the Paramatma—to become one with him. Because the Paramatma is on the fence—on that junction—whatever is done at such ‘times of junction’, slowly but surely leads to one’s development and to the attainment of the attributes of the Paramatma.” – Ibid., page 80.

The state of the Paramatma and the Sadguru are one and the same and to approach one is to approach the other. The difference is that to approach the Paramatma is to approach the impersonal aspect of God while to approach the Sadguru is to approach the personal aspect of God.

“If the Sadguru is favorably disposed to a person who practices in this way, that person is soon able to attain that state of junction lying beyond the state of the sun; why? Because the Sadguru has attained that state—because there is no difference between the Sadguru and the Paramatma—because they are the same—they are one. Whoever attains that state becomes the Paramatma—becomes all that lies beyond the Paramatma; it is he who becomes the enjoyer, the enjoyed, and the enjoyment, or remains beyond all the trinities; it is he who is beyond the body-state, beyond births and deaths, beyond space and time.

“As long as the atma remains within the solar circle or under its influence, it assumes the state of Jiva and becomes chained to the cycle of births and deaths—to the continuous flow of pleasure and pain; but once it gets outside the solar circle, the soul escapes from all that is of and in the world—the world that is nothing else but the third formed by the interaction of the two—the earth and the sun.

“The states of existence and non-existence, the states of pleasure and pain, are all the outcome of the interaction between the sun and the earth; the whole creation is the outcome of their interaction. God created the human form to get beyond the zone of interaction. That is why the yogis always try to get beyond the state of the Sun and, having attained that, are able to enjoy that sole Infinite Bliss.” – Ibid., pages 80 – 81.

                         

 “Inscribe these words in your heart. Nothing is real but God, nothing matters but love for God.” – Meher Baba

A Sip of Wine

“Oh Lord,

My eyes believe that all they see is real —

are not these stones and trees and birds and bees

and creatures of the earth and sky and sea real?”

“My lover, they are not real,

the Self within them is what’s real.

Their forms are only shadows cast

that come and go from nothing to nowhere.

See them, love them, but upon them do not depend.”

“And my Lord,

what of men who speak and walk and love and hate,

who laugh and cry with joy and pain,

and grow from babes to live and die —

are they not real — like You and I?”

“My lover, they are not real,

nor is the pain and pleasure that they feel.

The Self within them is what’s real,

while their forms like clouds that cross the sky

appear as shapes that dance and cry.

Know them, love them,

but upon them do not depend — the Self that is real has no beginning or end.”

“But my Lord, I am a man.

Am I not real,

or my thoughts and what I feel?

Who is it then that seeks for You

and in my heart what voice speaks to You?

And are You real or just a dream?

It seems that nothing’s what it seems!”

“My lover, you are not real,

the Self within you is what’s real —

that Self and I are really one.

When you experience this, my work is done.

You say that nothing’s what it seems,

and that’s because your life’s my dream,

though in this dream my life’s displaced

and found again when you’re effaced.

Know Me.

Love Me.

Upon Me alone depend.

Within you I will awaken in Bliss,

beyond beginning and without end.

Remember, dear one, these words I say,

‘Nothing is real but God.

Nothing matters but love for God.’” – A poem by Michael Kovitz  

 © Copyright 2000 Michael Kovitz