Chapter VIII
Bondage
People can discard as many gross
bodies in which they take temporary residence as the number of times they pare
their nails. But the subtle body cannot be changed; it lasts and persists. This
is the most secret doctrine of Indian spiritual thought. Going further along
this line of discovery, it can be revealed that person means: a complex of the
gross body, subtle body, and individual soul (jivi). Vedantic philosophy would declare that the individual soul
shares the quality of eternal, unchanging, everlastingness (nithya).
The objective world (prakriti) is also eternal, but with a difference: it undergoes perpetual change. It is never the same, but it persists forever. The basis for the objective world, namely the life force (prana) and space (akasa), are eternal, but they act and interact without rest and manifest variously and manifold.
The individual Atma (the jivatma) did
not have its origin in either space or the life force; it is not material in
nature. It is eternal, without change. It did not happen through the impact of
the life force on space or space on the life force. Things brought together
will disintegrate.
But things that are themselves ab initio cannot so come apart. For,
disintegration means resuming the original nature, becoming what it originally
was, reducing itself to its native substance.
The gross body is the result of the
combination of the life force and space, so it dissolves itself into its
components. The subtle body also dissolves, but only after a long long time.
The embodied soul (jivi) is not brought together, so it
cannot fall apart. It has no birth. It cannot be born. A unitive part-less
being can have no moment of origin.
The objective world, consisting of
billions of varied things, forces, and events, is governed by the will of God.
God is all-knowing, all-penetrating, all-pervading; He is activating the
objective world and acting through the objective world all the time. Creation
is ever in His care. His sovereignty is beginning less and endless. This is the
doctrine of the dualists (dwaithins).
Ignorance, the source of evil
This gives room for a question. When
the world is ruled by God, how does He permit it to be so wicked and evil? The
answer given is that God is not responsible for the grief and pain.
The sins we commit are the
progenitors of the grief we suffer. Joy and sorrow are the consequences of the
good and evil that people perpetrate.
God is the Witness. He doesn’t punish
or cause grief. The embodied soul (jivi)
is beginning less, that is to say, has no birth, but it involves itself in
incessant activity and thus has to go through the inevitable consequences of
that activity. This is the experience of everyone, the characteristic of
everyone’s mind. This is the unbreakable law of the objective world.
Grief or joy is the image of the
activity in which one engages. It is the resound, the reflection, the reaction.
The individual soul can be the witness without concerning itself with the good
and bad of the activity. When involvement happens, good has to be experienced when
good is done; evil, when evil is done.
Vedanta asserts that the individual
soul is, by its very nature, pure and unblemished. This is the accepted
doctrine, according to Indian (Bharathiya)
thought. But this truth has been befogged by ignorance and neglect, so illusion
(maya) pollutes the experience, and
the shade of ignorance breeds evil.
But when beneficial activity is
engaged in, the clouds of illusion are scattered and the reality of the Self is
realized. All beings, all souls (jivis)
are pure, by their very nature. Good acts can remove the taints of evil deeds
and preserve this essential purity. Then, the soul is led into the Godward
path. The Godward urge will transform the thoughts, words, and deeds of the
individual.
Essence
1) In the first part
of today’s post, Swami describes and reveals that the gross body and the subtle
body are bound to perish, though the subtle body takes longer time to perish
2) However, the Soul
/Atman is beginning less and therefore endless.
3) Then Swami touches
upon the belief that Easwara is the creator and sustainer of this creation and
everything is as per His will, as per one of the Hindu Philosophy.
Swami writes, “The objective world,
consisting of billions of varied things, forces, and events, is governed by the
will of God. God is all-knowing, all-penetrating, all-pervading;
In one of the speeches, a monk of
Rama Krishna Parama Hamsa ashram says, “In Christianity, In Islam in few other
religion, it is stated that God watches and punishes the sinners, God even
dissolves the creation . On one hand, we say God is ever merciful and on the
other hand, we imagine Him as a harsh force, punishing the sinners. Is this not
contradictory”?
4) Swami is bringing the same thought
here in today’s post. God is ever compassionate and can never punish anyone for
their mistakes, howsoever grave the mistakes are. If this is so, then why the
world is so cruel? Why there is so much pain and sorrow in this world created
by God?
Swami answers, “The sins we commit
are the progenitors of the grief we suffer. Joy and sorrow are the consequences
of the good and evil that people perpetrate”.
Swami’s statement unveils and reveals
us the indisputable theory of Karma, which we Hindus, believing in rebirth, do
and must accept without any doubt.
Is there any end to this continuous
vicious cycle of Death-Rebirth-Death, for undergoing the results of our deeds?
5) Swami’s words come to us ,
soothing our heart and soul, like the breezy air that flows and cools us
within. Swami says, “when beneficial activity is engaged in, the clouds of
illusion are scattered and the reality of the Self is realized. All beings, all
souls (jivis) are pure, by their very
nature.
Good acts can remove the taints of
evil deeds and preserve this essential purity. Then, the soul is led into the
Godward path. The Godward urge will transform the thoughts, words, and deeds of
the individual.
Love.
