When Knowledge Becomes Bliss

Meher Baba often returned to the subject of the theme of creation and its purpose. His teachings have helped many of us in the quest to appease the convulsions of the mind. But He also continued to remind us that the Goal was something much more than teachings and explanations. In the conclusion of His book, God Speaks, Meher Baba states;

“Nevertheless, all that is said here and explained about God to appease the convulsions of the mind of man, still lacks many more words and further explanations because the TRUTH is that the Reality must be realized and the divinity of God must be attained and lived.”

Yet Meher Baba did offer many explanations and teachings, because a mind free of convulsions is a happy mind and a happy mind is a great thing.

Meher Baba used a number of different metaphors, similes, and analogies to help us understand the truth of our situation. In a series of explanations derived from the Intelligence Notebooks, He revealed that God is synonymous with Infinite Intelligence. Intelligence is the capacity to know. Infinite Intelligence is the capacity to know infinitely. Knowing is achieved through thinking and mind is necessary for thinking. Thinking and consciousness are one and the same. To Infinitely Know there must be Infinite Thought and for Infinite Thought there must be Infinite Mind…

Upasani Maharaj was one of the five Perfect Masters who precipitated the Advent of the Avatar of Vishnu in the most recent form of Meher Baba. Each of those five Perfect Masters performed a different role in the process and Meher Baba told us that Upasani Maharaj was the Perfect Master who unveiled in Him the attribute of Infinite Knowledge.

In 1924, Upasani Maharaj began speaking to His close followers about knowledge. As is often the case with the Perfect Ones, the talk begins in a simple way, but soon begins to go deeper and deeper into the subject at hand. He began with a question;

“What is better—to know or not to know? Of course there will be two replies to this question; some will say that to know is better; some others will say that not to know is better. But to find out what is really better, we must know what is meant by to know and not to know. Whether coarse sugar is good or fine sugar is good can be known only by seeing and tasting both of them. Again it depends on ourselves to say which is the better of the two…

“Without tasting both, one cannot differentiate between them; one must have both before him to differentiate. It is commonly understood that to know means knowledge and not to know means ignorance. Let us think over both of them to find out which is better.” – The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, Volume I, Part A, page 299.

He goes on to explore the question by suggesting; “When a person is in deep sleep, if a serpent crawls across his body, he does not know it, and naturally he is not frightened of it. On waking up, if he sees the serpent, or if somebody who has seen the serpent crawling across his body tells him about it, he feels frightened…

“So long as he was in the state of ‘Not knowing’, in spite of the danger, he was happy. The moment he came to the state of ’Knowing’, he was frightened—even when there was no longer any danger. Tell me now, which is better, to know or not to know?” – Ibid, pages 229 -230.

In His talk, Upasani Maharaj gives a number of examples that lead to the conclusion that the state of not-knowing is better than the state of knowing—in other words, the commonly expressed viewpoint that ignorance is bliss. Of course, He also gives voice to the opposite, the worldly point of view, that knowledge is essential for living in the world. Further on in the talk He says that the state of not-knowing leads to the state of real Knowing. But, how do these different states fit with each other, or do they fit with each other at all?

In the book of Meher Baba’s teachings called, In God’s Hand, Meher Baba draws a diagram that looks something like this:

Natural Light

natural darkness

unnatural darkness

unnatural light i.e.

The whole Universe

i.e. The whole

Maya

He then goes on to say that Natural Light equals God—Self—aloof from the three worlds;

Natural Darkness equals Spirit—the Existence of Light—Nothingness;

unnatural darkness equals the mind;

and unnatural light equals the body and the universe.

He explains that “Natural Darkness sees Natural Light every second, and unnatural darkness sees unnatural light every second. (I.e. the Spirit sees the Self and the mind sees the body and the universe).”

In other words, the seeing of the mind is the knowing of the mind and this knowing is of the body and the universe which is the unnatural light.

Applying this perspective to Upasani Maharaj’s question, “What is better—to know or not to know?” helps us understand that both the states of knowing and the not-knowing, with regard to the body and the universe, is not the real Knowing of the Spirit—the  seeing of the Natural Light which is God—Self—by the Natural Darkness.

“The state of knowing thus, if appreciated and hankered after, leads to suffering and pain; the same state of course can turn into the state of Sat (Real knowledge) and lead to Infinite Bliss.” – The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, Volume I, Part A, page 234

But how is this possible? How to wean the mind away from its habituation to the body and the universe and turn it towards the Spirit which can know the Self when the consciousness of the mind is rooted in the gross physical world? Would it not be like being in the ocean and trying not to get wet? And in fact that is exactly what the Masters tell us; “When you are thrown in the ocean, do not get wet!” If we are honest about are situation, most would agree that when confronted with being in the ocean our concern is not with not getting wet, but with not drowning! Upasani Maharaj offers these suggestions…

“One should first of all understand and experience that he himself is all this world—all creation—and is playing himself all the various parts simultaneously. Then, he should think that since all of creation is born out of himself, that since it depends on the various duals (dualities), and that since all the duals are false—not true—he himself, similarly, must be untrue. He will, or rather he has then, to understand that both the true and the untrue states are within him. As this gets fixed in his mind, he begins to feel, or rather gets ready to experience, that he is independent of both these states, and that he has to find out and experience his own original state upon which his existence is based.

“He has to study, to realize, that at the bottom of those two states lie the pure state of ‘knowing’—that that pure state is the same as Sat-Chit-Ananda (Knowledge-Power-Bliss). If one trains his mind to think in this way, eventually he experiences the state of Sat-Chit-Ananda within himself.” The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, Volume I, Part A, page 251.

In summary, there are three eternal states of God; God asleep—without consciousness (knowing) or unconsciousness(not knowing), God dreaming—consciousness (knowing)  of creation and the body, and God awake—consciousness (Knowing)  of the Self—the I am God state. As the dream state is necessary for the average human being to pass from the deep-sleep state to the awake state, so is consciousness of the state of creation and the body necessary for God to achieve the fully awake I am God state. Upasani Maharaj puts it this way:

“After all, the whole world is the transformation of the state of knowing. The illusory Prakriti (the phenomenal universe and the primary substance that makes it up) is useful in attaining that Infinite Bliss; it means the illusory Prakriti is useful ‘to know’ the Infinite Bliss. The state of knowing in its true state is the original state, the state of Infinite Bliss; that is what one comes to on accurate thinking; however, the state of knowing as is experienced in and of the world becomes harmful and useless, since it leads to suffering and pain.” –Ibid. page 234-235.

In other words, the purpose of creation and the body is only to acquire the consciousness necessary to know the Self—God. This consciousness is achieved upon attainment of the human form, and at this point, Upasani Maharaj states, that the creation and the body and all their experiences becomes harmful and useless.

But this association and identification of God with the state of creation consciousness is not so easy to break because it has been going on for 8,400,000 pre-human forms and a similar number of incarnations in the human form! 

Meher Baba has told us that with every gain in consciousness comes impressions—sanskaras. If consciousness is like a mirror, then sanskaras are like the dust of the journey that covers the surface of that mirror. That is why, though consciousness is full and complete in the human form, it still is unable to reflect—to reveal—the I am God State to the embodied soul. Therefore, what needs to be done is to remove the dust from the face of the mirror without breaking the mirror.

The first step in the process is to loosen the dust so that it can be removed. This loosening is accomplished during the process of reincarnation. Technically it is about spending the sanskaras. Meher Baba uses the term to suggest a process of exchange of sanskaras—exchanging more gross sanskaras for less gross sanskaras—making the dust lighter and less sticky. Though the overall number of sanskaras during the process of reincarnation stays roughly the same, there is some thinning out, but the actual removal of the sanskaras takes place during the process of involution. During involution, sanskaras are gradually transformed from gross sanskaras, to subtle sanskaras, to mental sanskaras, and the overall number of sanskaras also gradually diminished until, in the end, they are all eliminated—all of the dust is removed from the mirror’s face.

Knowledge of the world, as Upasani Maharaj suggests, is tantamount to consciousness of the world, and consciousness of the world, because it is acquired by experiencing the world, creates dust. That is why He said, “the state of knowing as is experienced in and of the world becomes harmful and useless, since it leads to suffering and pain.”

All of the various yogas, spiritual teachings, and techniques are for the purpose of minimizing the accrual of new sanskaras while the embodied soul is conscious of the world and also to facilitate the spending up of those sanskaras so that the time spent in the process of reincarnation is kept to a minimum.

“You know how to eat and drink, you know mischief, you know how to procreate, you know what is bad and good for others, you know the ways and affairs of the world, you know how to do business, you know many an object in the world, and if you don’t know some, you open the schools to know about them. Virtually you already have that state of ‘knowing’—that knowledge about all that is around you. You are experiencing it, but this knowledge and experience is seen to lead only to suffering and pain, and that is what you are having—enjoying—experiencing—knowing. So what more know remains for you to know? If you are tired of this knowing, which you are having in plenty, then try and begin to appreciate the state of ‘Not-knowing’, and demand it of your Sadguru.” –Ibid. page 236.  

The discussion, I think, sheds new light on a story I heard many years ago from Sufi Idries Shah:

“Nuri Bey was a reflective and respected Albanian who had married a wife much younger than himself. One evening when he had returned home earlier than usual, a faithful servant came to him and said, ‘Your wife is acting suspiciously. She is in her apartments with a huge chest, large enough to hide a man. It should contain only a few old embroideries, but I believe there may be much more in it now—she will not allow me, your oldest retainer, to look inside.’

“Nuri went to his wife’s room and found her sitting disconsolately beside the massive wooden box. ‘Will you show me what is in the chest?’ he asked.

‘Because of the suspicions of a servant, or because you do not trust me?’ she replied.

‘Would it not be easier to open it, without thinking about the undertones?’ asked Nuri

‘I do not think that is possible.’ She said.

‘Is it locked?’

‘Yes.’

‘Where is the key?’

She held it up and said, ‘Dismiss the servant and I will give it to you.’

The servant was dismissed. The woman handed over the key and left the room, obviously troubled in mind. Nuri Bey thought for a long time. Then he called four gardeners from his estate. Together they carried the unopened chest by night to a distant part of the grounds and buried it.

The matter was never referred to again.”

No doubt, this story can be taken in many different ways, but regarding knowing and not knowing, I wonder if it is an example of the exercise of intelligence without the need for knowing?

Using the example of sleep and wakefulness to explain why the state of not knowing is superior to the state of knowing, Upasani Maharaj states;

“By going to sleep the person enters into the state of not knowing. When he gets up a few hours later, his brain is calm and cool, and he feels pleased and calm himself. This means that he felt pleased and happy after having gone into the state of not knowing during his sleep.” – Ibid, page 237.

But as His talk continues, it becomes clear that the example of sleep and wakefulness is not just an example; Upasani Maharaj is also revealing a special yogic technique that can be used to gain control over and within one’s life.

“To avoid all knowing, one sleeps off. However the sleep that you go in for to avoid knowing is not within your hands. Full control of sleep state—when one can sleep whenever one wants—is ideal. If you want to get up at a certain time, you must be able to do it spontaneously, by yourself; in the same way you should be able to sleep whenever you want to do so.

If you decide to not sleep for a few days, you must be able to remain without sleep, without the least exhaustion, without any of the after-effects of not having any sleep for days.

If one can control himself in this way, he can work for a few months at a stretch and then sleep continuously for a month or so at a stretch, and get up again on a certain day. People who study in this way can even remain awake for a year at a stretch.” – Ibid. page 238.

Clearly, Upasani Maharaj is indicating a state of being beyond the ability of an average human-being. As Gurdjieff often reminded us; with respect to consciousness, the average human being lives in the dark dank basement of a most beautiful house with many rooms on many stories. These rooms, representing states of consciousness and awareness, contain powers and blissful experiences and knowledge beyond one’s wildest dreams and imaginations.

“Commonly the knower makes use of the state of knowing for understanding gross objects with the help of the gross body. But indeed, what the knower has to do is to stick to the consciousness that he has—that he experiences at the time of knowing any gross object—instead of trying to know it. That consciousness (awareness) must not be mixed with the knowing of the gross object. That is, the state of knowing as it is, is to be made an object to be known and try to know it with the help of the state of knowing. This means, to know the consciousness of one’s own existence beyond the gross body is to be taken as to be known, and to become one’s self the knower; in other words, one has to experience—to know—the state of knowing.” – Ibid. page239

In other words, to know the consciousness of one’s own existence beyond the gross body, one must turn that consciousness, that awareness, that thinking, away from the gross world and the gross body. When it is thus turned away, then in regard to the gross body and the gross world, it is in the state on not-knowing—the state that leads to the knowing of the the Self.

How much of the body and the world does one really need to know? Meher Baba once said, “With regard to those souls who attain God-realization subsequently, the two requirements stand, namely, inner poise and adequate adjustment with everything in the universe.” – Beams From Meher Baba, page 29

There was a period of about ten years in my life, beginning sometime around the mid-1970’s, when I completely stopped watching television, listening to news programs, or reading newspapers, periodicals, etc. I did not stay abreast on any contemporary trends in music, art, or literature. I continued to work as a musician and teacher of guitar and the only read the works of the Masters and spiritually advanced beings. Really, I had no idea about anything going on in the world—wars, catastrophes, even who was president of the United States…

To this day I am convinced that in that period of ten years I missed out on nothing of any importance at all. Indeed, when I eventually picked up a newspaper, I was struck by the fact that it was the same news I heard ten years before—only the names and places were changed—the blanks were filled in differently, but the stories were the same.

“A thousand times I have looked, and a thousand times I have ascertained, that the world and all its affairs are truly nothing into nothing.” – Hafez

“Life is a dream!”  “Creation is an illusion!”  “It is all just the play of Maya!” These statements are often heard from spiritual teachers and students in various spiritual circles, but what exactly do they mean and who actually experience their truth?

Kabir, a Perfect Master, said; “If you have not experienced it, it is not true!”

Yet the Masters and the God-Realized continue to remind us that the reality experienced by the average person is a dream—an illusion—a play of Maya.

Meher Baba explains in Godspeaks and the Intelligence Notebooks that all and everything is God—that nothing exists other than God—and that what appears to the contrary is merely different states of illusory consciousness and the experiences that these states create.

Fundamentally, there are three states of God; God deep asleep—without consciousness or unconsciousness; God dreaming in the dream state; and God in the fully awake I am God state. All of these states exist simultaneously and eternally in the Infinite. Creation—the dream state of God—is the mechanism by which God acquires the Infinite consciousness required to experience the third state of God—the I am God state. The I am God state knows the Infinite as it’s Self and knows it’s Self as the Infinite.

Meher Baba conveys this message and the details of its process in various ways, using various metaphors, analogies, and comparisons. In the Intelligence Notebooks He explains that the Infinite can be known, but to know the Infinite, knowing must itself be infinite and that infinite knowing requires Infinite Intelligence—Intelligence being the capacity to know.

Infinite knowledge is that which can be known and this knowing is thinking and this thinking is consciousness. Meher Baba explains that consciousness and thinking cannot exist without the other.

But in order to think, mind is required. In order to think infinitely, an infinite mind is required. When infinite mind thinks infinitely, Infinite Intelligence gains knowledge of itself—consciousness of Itself—and attains the experience and the state of I am God.

Meher Baba explains that once consciousness achieves the human form, mind is infinite and has the capacity to know the Infinite, but because of sanskaras—impressions—it thinks not of the Infinite, but thinks of the finite—the world—creation—and identifies itself with that. This identification is synonymous with what is called awareness, or what is called chaitanya, and in the state of creation consciousness chaitanya, awareness, and ego are all inextricably bound together. This goes to the meaning and import of Upasani Maharaj’s statement;

“When ‘knowing’ transforms itself into the knower and the to be known in the form of a gross object, then the knower and the to be known become responsible for the apparent pleasure and pain. Since the pure state of ‘knowing’ does not concern itself with anything gross to be known, it is automatically referred to as the state of ‘not knowing. It is this referred to state of ‘not knowing’ that transformed itself into the ‘to be known’ gross objects in and of the world. Thus, the pure state of ‘knowing’ is the state of ‘not knowing’ anything in and of the world; in other words, ‘knowing’ and ‘not knowing’ become one and the same. Of course, this looks like a puzzle, but the world itself is a puzzle and we are here to solve it, and here is the way to do it.” – The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja, page 239.

That which is to be known is the Self and consciousness is necessary to know the Self. Mind is needed to achieve consciousness and forms are necessary for consciousness to evolve and involve. Mind creates the forms and mind experiences the forms—takes the sensual enjoyment derived from associating and identifying with those forms. With every gain in consciousness through the process of knowing there is a parallel tendency for the Self to identify with that which the mind experiences. Identification causes the Self, through the mind, to identify with that which it knows, but the Goal is to identify with the knowing rather than that which is known. Upasani Maharaj referred to the situation as a puzzle and then went on to offer a solution.

“The knower has to stop—disregard—discard the knowing of the gross objects, and has only to look to the ‘knowing’ part of it, i.e. the consciousness of the state of ‘knowing’; then, that very state of ‘knowing’ gives the experience not only of ‘not-knowing’ anything in and of the world, but also ‘the state of knowing’ of one’s self without any knowledge of anything gross. What is there then to interrupt the Bliss? This is the state of all Silence.” – Ibid. page 239.   

In the beginning, God has no knowledge of Self, or anything else. In the end, God has knowledge of Self which is Everything. In between, God has knowledge of the nothing of the Nothing, i.e. knowledge of the world and the body. This in-between state becomes the ‘reality’ that Self, through the mind, experiences and identifies with for what seems to be an almost endless chain of forms and lifetimes—though Meher Baba reminds us that though it appears to the contrary while in the state of this false reality consciousness, in the end, when the Goal is reached, the time that has been spent in creation consciousness is recognized for what it truly is,  literally the briefest of moments—less than a blip on the radar screen—less than nothing itself.

All of the four yogas—Karma Yoga, Dynan Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raj Yoga—are designed to assist the Self in the state of creation consciousness to become not-knowing of that state and thereby knowing of the Knowledge, Power, and Bliss of the one Eternal Reality of the Self.

At the very end of his talk, Upasani Maharaj states;

“I have talked a good deal and you have listened. Even if you read this talk again and again without having any experience for a while, in the course of time it shall lead you to experience that state.

“Of course, this is a difficult and subtle subject. It can be fully understood only when one reaches the highest state. But those who have read books on Vedanta, or who feel much interested in this subject will begin to grasp it on constant reading and thought. Constant reading, even without understanding, will ultimately lead one to experience it.

“Reading, thinking, and putting into practice constantly whatever is laid down in these talks is the simplest means for those who desire to escape the cycle of births and deaths they are caught up in—with all their accompanying types of suffering and pain—and  of attaining all temporal and spiritual happiness—that Infinite Bliss.” –Ibid. pages 246-247.

Gurdjieff used to say that one who is really serious cannot take everything so seriously. Is not this state of really serious the prerequisite for those who desire to escape the cycle of births and deaths they are caught up in? And for those of us still experiencing creation consciousness, how much knowledge is enough and how much knowledge is too much? Somewhere there is a sweet spot and, no doubt, that sweet spot is different for each soul in creation.

A dog can only run half way into the woods before it is running out of the woods.

Two martinis are enough; three martinis are too much; four martinis are not enough…

Arjuna's Distress

Years ago I was a given a cassette tape of a rendering of the Bhagavad Gita by Barbara Stoler Miller read by Jacob Needleman.

(http://www.jacobneedleman.com/bhagavad-gita)

I have listened to it a lot and still listen to it from time to time in my car—because my car has the only cassette player that I own.  Anyway, the other day I popped in the cassette on my way to the grocery store. There was a long silence as it rewound and then it began to play from the beginning.

If you have read the Bhagavad Gita you know the story. A war is about to commence between the Kurus and the Pandavas—two families from the same one ancient origin—like two branches of the same tree. Arjuna asks Krishna to drive their chariot to a place between the two armies. It is Arjuna’s duty to give the sign for the war to begin, but he hesitates and begins to voice his heartfelt concerns to Krishna. This first chapter of the Gita is called Arjuna’s Distress; it is also called Arjuna’s Dejection. He expresses his feelings to Krishna in a most eloquent way.

Arjuna is a great warrior and throughout his life he has always recognized and performed his sacred duty with enthusiasm. But this time, as he surveys the two armies—armies made up of fathers and sons of families he knows, and elders and teachers who he admires and respects— he is overcome by a strange pity. He sees omens of chaos and destruction—nothing good will come of the war for either family—win or lose.

Arjuna asks Krishna how he can participate in a war that would end in the corruption of the family and family values and rip apart the entire fabric of society. He says that when the family and society are unable to function appropriately, the forces of nature become unbalanced and famine and disease, fires and floods ensue and envelop the world.

In fact, history proved Arjuna to be one hundred percent correct. By the end of the war, both families were virtually annihilated; the structure of society was torn asunder, and the Earth was left weeping in despair. In the end, Time had entered the Age of Kali, a dark age, where the shadow of the sun appears to dwarf the sun itself.

Listening to Arjuna’s distress I was struck by how perfectly he articulated the highest level of human morality. It was so consistent with Vedic and Christian teachings on the sanctity of the family, family values, and the community.

“Grandsires, sires, and sons, brothers, and fathers-in-law, and sons-in-law, elders and friends—shall I deal death on these even though they seek to slay us?

“No, not one blow will I strike to gain the rule of all the Three Worlds, let alone to seize an earthly kingdom…

“Krishna, if they be guilty, we shall grow guilty by their deaths; their sins will light on us if we slay them…

“What peace could come of that? For if indeed, blinded by lust and wrath, these who cannot see, or will not see, the sin of overthrowing kingly lines and the slaying of kinsmen, how can we who do see not shun the very same crime and not feel guilt and shame?”

 “Impaled on the horns of a dilemma,” is a saying that seems to perfectly characterize Arjuna’s situation. Knowing what would come of it, should he begin a war that he knows will end in the destruction of families and society,  or should he support the institution of the family and society over his personal dharma, or?  The first chapter of the Gita ends when he tells Krishna that he will not fight.

The second chapter of the Gita, sometimes called The Yoga of Knowledge, begins with Krishna chiding Arjuna for his hesitation to fight.

How has this weakness taken thee? Whence springs the inglorious trouble, shameful to the brave, barring the path of virtue?”

But Arjuna argues back, reiterating his dilemma.

“Better to live on beggar’s bread with those we love alive, than to taste their blood in rich feasts spread, and guiltily survive!”

I find it most interesting that Krishna does not respond by counseling Arjuna to choose one way over the other based on the merits of the two options; instead he, as is said, slips between the horns of the dilemma by challenging an unchallenged assumption that lies at the very heart of Arjuna’s confusion. Krishna says:

 “Thou grieves where no grief shall be! Thou speak words lacking wisdom!  For the wise in heart mourn not for those that live nor for those that die.”

And why do the wise in heart not mourn? Because,

“Nor I, nor you, nor any of these ever was not, nor ever will not be, forever and forever afterwards.”

He goes on to say that this higher self—this real self—this soul—is eternal and infinite. It is not born; it does not die; it cannot be cut or burned or killed. Bodies are put on and exchanged like clothing, so why hesitate to perform the very duties that lead to the knowledge and experience of the higher self—the soul?

“Naught better can betide a soul born into a warrior’s life than a war of sacred duty when, as now, it is thrust upon him unsought.”

Karma is the hand we are dealt in any one lifetime. Dharma is the way we play that hand. The Bhagavad Gita thrusts us deep into this question; how to live our lives in a way that leads most directly to the knowledge—consciousness—of our own real—higher—self. And where is the question asked and answered? On the battlefield, between the two armies, poised and ready to fight.

Some find it strange, or unlikely, that this conversation between Krishna and Arjuna—between the God-Man and His beloved disciple—took place in the middle of a battlefield moments before a catastrophic war. Did Krishna choose this moment, or was the moment thrust upon Him, or does such a distinction even exist for God?

Certainly for Arjuna, a great warrior, the moment came at the right time. It was a moment of choice, a choice from which there would be no turning back, a decision that would shape the future of the world itself—a choice that would impact far more than the life of one man. How appropriate it was, therefore, that the conversation took place on a battlefield before a war. A warrior is a man of action; would it not seem out of place for him to be in a contemplative setting to receive Krishna’s teachings?

And Krishna counsels Arjuna to act, because he is a warrior and a sacred war has been thrust upon him. It is not a question of whether to fight or not, fight he must, but real question that Krishna speaks to regards how the action should be performed. And here the answer is quite clear; all actions should be done without attachment—the actor being unmoved by success or failure—indeed, that success and failure should be treated as two ends of the same stick.

“Therefore, arise, Arjuna and arm yourself for the conflict and your heart to meet with equality pleasure or pain, profit or ruin, victory or defeat. Actions free of attachment, oh Son of Kunti, will not bind you and you will not suffer karmas because of them.”

But let’s take a step back first and take another look at the bigger picture:

There is a relationship that exists between transitory life and the Eternal life, between the born and the Never-born—between the dying and the Never-dying, between consciousness of illusion and consciousness of Reality—and in this relationship Reality knows and illusion is always trying to figure out.

Meher Baba characterized this relationship when He described three states of God—God in the Deep Sleep State, God in the Dream State, and God in the Awake State. He told us that for God to awaken to His Reality He must pass from His Deep Sleep State into His Dream State—just as we do every day when each of us passes through our own unique dreams in the dream state on the way from the deep sleep state to our own unique lives in the awake state. The Dream State of God is what we call Creation. You and I, experiencing our transitory lives in duality is, in fact, God experiencing Himself in His Divine Dream.

Of course, while experiencing Himself as us in His Dream State, He is not conscious of His Awake State, and that is why He, in His Awake State is always reminding us that His Awake State is our Awake State too—and that when we experience It, we will experience, as He said, “…that you and I are not we—but One.”

Once we begin to understand the nature of this process—this cycle from God in His Deep Sleep State to God in His fully Awake State—does not for us, God in in His Divine Dream State—God experiencing Himself as us—the question arise as to how one should attempt to live in this Divine Dream State? In other words can one live in a way that either expedites or inhibits the length of time—lifetimes—that one must pass in the Divine Dream State?

A generally accepted answer is to do good and not bad, to help and not hurt others, etc. And no doubt, this is useful advice, to a point, but as Meher Baba said;

“The saint is bound by a golden chain, and the sinner by a spiked on, but the Goal is to be free of all chains.”

What are the chains? The chains are impressions—sanskaras—the by-product of actions performed—that get imprinted on the consciousness of the evolving soul. Once created, these impressions smudge consciousness, like a dirty film on a mirror. For the mirror of consciousness to reflect the Reality of the soul, the mirror must be spotless, and so all impressions—all sanskaras—ultimately have to be removed through the process of experiencing these impressions. The experience of these impressions is felt as pain or pleasure—the spiked and golden chains—respectively. “But the goal is to be free of all chains.”

Krishna counsels Arjuna to perform actions unmotivated by the results—the fruits—of the actions. But how is this possible? Again, the answer is simple. If one does not initiate actions on his own, lives in the state described by Upasani Maharaj as “Be as it may,” performs only those necessary actions that the circumstances of his karma thrust upon him, and then gives away all the fruits of the action performed—does not partake of the fruits of the action—then the actions, good, bad, or otherwise creates no new impressions—bindings—gold or spiked chains.

Krishna says that all actions have to be performed as sacrifice—a somewhat uncomfortable idea for many these days who think of sacrifice as the ritualistic killing of animals, or the giving away of personal possessions. But look deeper into what Krishna is saying:

“Some sacrifice to the ancestors; some sacrifice to the gods; but know, Arjuna, that all sacrifices, no matter how abhorrent, inevitably comes to Me.”

The answer is simple, but simple is not always easy when one is so fully habituated to responding to each and every demand of the false-self—the self of one’s dreams.

Let’s look even further into what Krishna is saying.

There is no escaping action; there is no escaping movement; are not action and movement the same?

There are the movements of the body; there are the movements of the breath and the blood; and the beating of the physical heart within the body.

Thoughts and feelings move in the mind, and there are the movements of the heart—the real heart—the seat of love—the Ars e Maula—the Seventh Heaven—the seat of God.

Atoms move; planets move; the sun and stars move.

In fact, is not action; is not movement; the very definition of life itself?

And what instigates action—movement?

Meher Baba said it all began in the Beginningless Beginning when without cause the Whim—for is it not the characteristic of whim to be causeless?—surged in the Beyond State of God—the Original Deep-Sleep State of God—and asked the question, Who am I?

“When we compare Paramatma to an infinite, unlimited ocean and we say that Paramatma got the urge, it can also be said in terms of comparison, that the infinite, unlimited ocean got the first urge or WHIM.” – Meher Baba, God Speaks, 2^nd Edition, page 9.

Now about that state of God that preceded the Whim, not much can be said, because in order to describe something, there has to be something to be described and since this state is totally unmanifest there is nothing to be described. It would even be inaccurate to say that this state was everything or nothing because everything and nothing did not even exist. It was not even something. It just was—even saying that is not quite right.

It was only after the Whim that Everything and Nothing manifested in the God state. Meher Baba explains that the manifestation of Everything and Nothing created a state that could be distinguished from the Most Original First State that He called the Beyond the Beyond State of God as the next state of God He called the Beyond State of God.

Take the ocean for example. The ocean is one, but its surface exhibits different qualities than those which are below the surface. That relationship is similar to the relationship between the Beyond the Beyond State of God and the Beyond State of God.

And then there is the distinction between the Everything and the Nothing and the relationship that exists between the Nothing and the Everything…

When the Whim surged in the Ocean of God with the question, “Who am I?” some of the Ocean of God knew immediately and answered quite rightly “I am God!” Meher Baba named that part of the Ocean of God that knew, the Everything.

But some of the Ocean felt of God did not know, yet felt somehow compelled to try to answer the question “Who am I?” That part of the Ocean of God, Meher Baba named the Nothing—the Shadow of God.

And what were the answers that the Nothing began to come up with? “I am stone; I am plants and trees; I am fish; I am birds; I am reptiles; I am mammals; I am man.” And as man, the Nothing continued to answer, “I am female; I am male; I am saint; I am sinner; I am black; I am white; I am brown; I am yellow; I am a king; am a beggar…” The answers of the Nothing just go on and on and on. And, of course, all these answers are false; all these answers must be false; because all these answers are not, “I am God.” For God alone exists; God alone is; and even the Shadow of God is the dark reflection of God’s own effulgence.

It must follow then, does it not, that all actions resulting from the state of not knowing are, in fact, more wrong answers that naturally proceed from the state not knowing—in other words, the actions—the movements—of all of creation, from atoms to suns, from stone to man, from sinner to saint, etc.?

“The saint is bound by a golden chain and the sinner by a spiked chain…” but the goal is not a golden chain; the goal is “…to be free of all chains.”

Arjuna saw himself as a man, as a warrior, as a member of a family and he knew that his actions had consequences. What he was, what he took himself to be, and what situations of life unfolded before him, were his karma. The choices that he made, the actions that he chose, in relationship to his karma was his dharma, and throughout his life Arjuna’s, the choices he made were based on his understanding of his karma and his dharma. But now, on the battlefield, on the precipice of war, he could not envision the right choice and vowed to do nothing.

But Krishna said no, He told him that he had to fight. But there is an important back-story here—a context for Krishna’s counsel—and that all important back-story is the found in the whole of the Mahabharata that preceded the part called the Bhagavad Gita.

In fact, Krishna had done all He could to convince the Kurus to abandon their plans for war. But they were stubborn and arrogant and greedy, and they could not---they would not— hear what Krishna was telling them. The Kurus would fight, would wage war against Arjuna’s family and supporters, and to back away from the fight in this situation—a war that Arjuna did not seek, but was thrust upon him, would have the worst consequences for not only Arjuna, but for all concerned—for the planet—for all generations to come—for you and for me.

“Know now, dear Prince! that if the consciousness of your soul remains focused on Me, and during your practices I remain your Refuge, you shall come most surely unto perfect hold of Me.” – Krishna,  Bhagavad Gita, Chapter VII

In India I acquired the habit of taking short naps in the afternoon. I totally enjoy these naps, when I can fit them in. Did you ever notice that naps are very different than ordinary night sleeps?  When I nap, I never toss and turn and awake in exactly the same position I was in when I closed my eyes and began taking Meher Baba’s name—sometimes His name is in my mind as I awake.

I usually don’t remember my dreams when I awaken from a nap. I slowly come back to a sense of myself and first experience myself without thinking of things—I call this state, thinking myself. I learned the term from Meher Baba. For me, this state of thinking myself  is an I am state, but without the I, and also without the here of I am here—in other words, all that is there is just the am.

I enjoy this state. There is no motivation to either return to my nap, or to get up and start doing things. The motivation for the latter comes only with the return of thoughts not of myself—thoughts about me. It is a state of thinking that has a sense of me present—me being the illusory me who was born, who lives, and who will die. It is a state where the here of I am here returns and I orient myself to it.

I begin to think normal thoughts about what I’ve done and what I need and want to do. I can be aware of how these thoughts, at first like weightless clouds, become more substantive as they pick-up energy in the form of feelings—the energy of attachment.

What happens next is that my body begins to respond to these thoughts and feelings and I become motivated to get up and do things. Most of the things I begin to do are motivated by a sense of need or desire that comes from within but is concerned with that which is perceived as without.  At one point Arjuna asks Krishna if the battle that Krishna is talking about is within him or outside of him. Krishna’s was that He failed to perceive a difference.

Meher Baba said that the source of all needs and wants—the motivation for all actions—are sanskaras—impressions stored in the mind that were the outcome of previous actions—previous doings—mostly performed in previous lives. These sanskaras from past lives are the cards that we are dealt and must play in the present life. It is never an option to not play the hand—the game—the question is always how to play the game—and that is what the Bhagavad Gita is all about.

If the game is played to satisfy the self, it will only continue the cycle of births, lives, and deaths. So Krishna says, first separate the self from the Self, and then play the game as sacrifice dedicated to that Self. This separation can be accomplished through the various practices of different yogas as defined by Meher Baba’s in the book called the Intelligence Notebooks.

I think it would be fair to say that in this day and age, for most people, the most appropriate and quickest of the yogas is the category of Bhakti Yoga called Sadguru Bhakti—the most perfect yoga—the Supreme Path— that always  travels through and with a Perfect Master or the God-Man.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” – John IV

“There lives a Master in the hearts of men who pulls the strings and make them dance to His tune. Trust Him, and take Him for your succor.
“So—only so, Arjuna!—shall you gain, by His grace, the uttermost repose, the Eternal Place!” – Bhagavad Gita, Chapter XVIII

And it makes perfect sense, at least to me, that the path from self to Self cannot be accomplished through attention on the self, but by attention to the Self—the former being, as Gurdjieff once said, “like trying to jump over your own knees.”