TRANSFORMATION OF EGOISTIC CONSCIOUSNESS

TRANSFORMATION OF EGOISTIC CONSCIOUSNESS

The word ‘Ego’ is the Latin pronoun for ‘I’. It is only the consciousness of the ‘false-self’, i.e., self-centered ‘I’, and has no existence of its own. It is like a ‘Maniac’—thinking, posing, and acting like a ‘King’. His imaginary kingdom has no real existence. His Egoistic kingdom exists only in his deranged intelligence and imaginative beliefs. Therefore, the ‘Maniac’ is an imposter! The real kingdom of God is above and beyond the grasp of imagination and illusory intelligence. God is—Divine Light, Diving Intelligence, Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. Where there is no Light of God—there is darkness of ignorance, illusions, false beliefs, and misconceptions, in which ‘Humanity’ thinks, acts, and lives under the spell of false Ego of ‘I’, ‘Me’, and ‘Mine’. This unreal and non-existent illusive ‘Darkness’, which governs our thoughts and actions – is called illusion of ‘Maya’ in the Scriptures. The apparent illusive existence of darkness is, in fact, the absence of God’s Light, i.e., ‘NAM’, and is the root cause of ‘duality’ in our consciousness. ‘Light and ‘darkness’ are antithetic and opposite, and cannot co-exist. Likewise Faith in God’s Existence is antithetic and contradictory to the ‘Egoistic Conception’ of ‘I’, ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’. To illustrate this fine and sublime point and make it more comprehensive, a concrete example of Electricity and its gadgets may be helpful. Electricity is generated in a Central Power House, and is distributed and diverted for various uses through different kinds of gadgets. The same electricity illuminates bulbs of different colours, shapes, sizes and wattage. We know that it is the electricity which is the life and light of the bulb; the filament is only an instrument for the projection and manifestation of the latent current. The outer glass case is meant to protect filament. It would sound so absurd and illusive on the part of the bulb to claim and boast that it is giving the light. That would be tantamount to the expression of false and gross ‘Ego’ on the part of the bulb. Precisely the same way, the ‘Divine Life-Current’ working through us, is the gift of the Lord, and we are different kinds of instruments employed by Him, for the manifestation and working of His Universal Drama, and for the projection of His Divine Scheme. But in our illusion, we think that we are the authors of all our physical and intellectual achievements, conveniently forgetting that the source of all Energy, Light, and Wisdom is ‘God’. To claim and boast of materialistic achievements of our limited deceptive intelligence as the outcome of our personal wisdom is stupendous human blasphemy, and ILLUSION of Egoistic Consciousness. It is a pity that with all our intellectual learning and advanced civilization, we humans should have been so influenced and ‘brain-washed’ by the illusion of our false Ego, as to have the audacity to ‘play God’. There is a Divine “LIFE-CURRENT’, called the wordless ‘WORD’ (SHABAD), running through the universe, which – creates, develops, directs, protects, maintains, sustains, harmonises, beautifies, integrates, disintegrates, regenerates all life in this vast Universe. Some how, we have become – indifferent, doubtful, ignorant, forgetful, unconscious of our ‘Heritage’ of ‘Divine Light’ and Wisdom. Consequently, we have bee – entertaining, cultivating, feeding, nourishing developing, sustaining, glorifying, magnifying, deifying the idea and conception of our false ‘Ego’, through the expression, projection and practice of ‘I’, ‘Me’, and ‘Mine’ for aeons in countless past lives. Our intelligence has been so ‘Ego-Oriented’ that this false conception of ‘I’, ‘Me’, and ‘Mine’ has become a – deep strong, unshakeable, uncompromising conviction and faith with us. Therefore, we have become indifferent, disinterested, and averse to listen, think, entertain, and believe in anything contradictory to and inconsistent with our ingrained and established egoistic ideas and false dual convictions and conceptions. This false conception of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ has permeated, absorbed into and saturated our very BEING and we have become.
“EGO-PERSONIFIED INDIVIDUALS”
The tragedy is that this false mental conception of ‘I’, ‘Me’, and ‘Mine’: 1. has permeated and absorbed into the very fibers of our ‘being’ and become part and parcel of our lives, 2. has been accepted by us as a REALITY in our lives, 3. in fact, it works and projects through every aspect of our lives, 4. has become our second natures, 5. we cannot think or believe in anything outside and beyond our Egoistic-consciousness. In fact, we have been – expressing, manifesting, projecting, proliferating, justifying, institutionalizing, magnifying, glorifying, advertising, propagating, legalizing this false ‘Ego’ in our daily routing and in every aspect of our lives since aeons. This false sense of Ego; 1. Is the driving force behind our stupendous materialistic achievements, brilliant, literary and scientific knowledge and exquisitive emotional flights of thoughts and aspirations; 2. Is the basic foundation of our so-called religions, beliefs, dogmas, philosophies, rites and rituals; 3. Has diluted, modified, changed, galvanized and transformed our thoughts, habits, characters and destinies; 4. Has driven us into becoming ‘prodigal sons’ to suffer all the physical, mental and emotional agonies and miseries at the hands of the ‘Satan’ or ‘Maya’; 5. is the root-cause of our selfishness and desires, which drive us into the quagmire of all kinds of evils and sins, i.e., greed, deceit, jealousy, hatred, anger, corruption, sensuality, strife, quarrels, and even wars; 6. has blunted the sense of our discrimination between: right and wrong, truth and falsehood, virtue and evil, God and Maya in our thoughts and perceptions; 7. has mou7lded and degenerated the conception and profession of our so-called Religions to suit our selfish materialistic designs and convenience; thereby making the practice of religion superfluous, ritualistic, showy, self-deceiving, and hypocritical; 8. has driven us to live, knowingly or unknowingly, dual or multi-faceted lives; 9. has, so often, galvanized and aggrandized our convictions and beliefs in so-called religious dogmas, that we have become ‘bigots’ to the point of fanaticism. When ‘Ego’ puts on the garb of religion, woe to the humanity! It plays havoc with humanity and makes a mockery of the religion. In our blind religious zeal, we have perpetrated untold sufferings and cruelty on humanity, and crucified many Godly Saints and Prophets, in the name of religion. It is ironical that, in spite of—1. All our physical, intellectual, emotional advancement and boastful modern civilization ; 2. Proliferation of numerous religions into various Sects and Sub-sects; e. profusion of religious knowledge and philosophies of various scriptures; 4. propagation and exhortation of religious sermons and dogmas from numerous scriptures and religious books, through modern scientific means of electronics – like transistors, tape-recorders, televisions and videos; 5. Multiplication and exaltation of religious ‘Temples’ all over the world; 6. Myriad of so-called ‘Sadhus’ or ‘God-Men’ preaching and propagating different doctrines of various Faiths and Religions, ‘humanity’ has not been able to: discern, understand, comprehend, realize, grasp, recognize, identify, isolate, control, neutralize the nature and working of this false ‘Ego’ of ‘I’, ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’, culminating into the greatest FRAUD perpetrated on humanity by the ‘Satan’ or ‘Maya’ through our own ignorance and ‘dual’ misconception. This illusive ‘Maya’ has exploited the intellectual and emotional faculties of our Egoistic mind as its tools, to – produce, direct, enact, run and govern the vast Cosmic Drama of the Universe. The results of our egoistic participation in this vast Cosmic Drama are – untold physical, mental and emotional life-long sufferings of agony, sorrow, and miseries; mixed and diluted with illusory fleeting happiness, occasional thrills and temporary sensuous enjoyments to assuage the ‘Sting’ of Karmic Suffering. We conveniently forget that this unreal drama of ‘Maya’ is: rooted, projected, perfected, enacted in the illusionary plane of our intellectual and emotional egoistic consciousness. The irony is that, though we act under the inspiration and influence of the five senses which Agents of the Maya are, our acts are governed by the ‘Law of Karma’, i.e., ‘Reap as you Sow’. For the sins committed under the impulse of the five senses, we humans have to suffer the consequences of: -- being naïve enough not to be able to see ‘through’ the big illusive game of ‘Maya’: -- having succumbed to the instigation and lure of glittering grandiose temptations of ‘Maya’: -- voluntarily choosing unreal and illusive ‘Maya’ as our ‘Master’, and opting to become its dedicated ‘slaves’, speaking as ‘Master’s voice’, and acting as its ‘puppets’.
II
Somehow, we came under the influence of ‘Maya’, were lured into its net of illusive glittering phenomenon, and placed under the ‘Law of Karma’. Thus our souls have been confined into solitary cocoons of our individual ‘EGO’ manifested through the expression of ‘I’, ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’, life-after-life. In other words, we have voluntarily sentenced ourselves to confinement into miserable solitary individual cells of false ‘Ego’ for ages! Because we have voluntarily accepted this state of solitary mental confinement at the instigation of the alluring ‘Maya’ it is again our own free will to break the shackles of this self-imposed slavery, if we desire and aspire for our inherited Spiritual Freedom. It should be remembered that ‘Maya’ has been bestowed with tremendous powers by the Creator to instigate, lure, enlist, guide, direct, train , equip, employ the way-faring innocent souls, for organizing, administrating, disciplining, enacting, running the ever-lasting ‘SHOW’ of the Universal Drama. We have become so used and inured to the ‘bonded’ slavery of ‘Maya our established egoistic life is unsavory and unacceptable to us. Therefore, we cannot shake off or efface this false conception of ‘Ego’ by our mere wishes or efforts, as this false belief has so permeated and saturated into our very being, that we have become ‘the embodiment’ of this Ego of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’. Even if, in frustration or under the influence of ‘Sat-Sang’, superfluous emotions of higher and sublimer thoughts pass through our minds, the ‘Maya’ will not allow its ‘slave-souls’ to think independently and seriously any such spiritual thoughts, or to desire and aspire for freedom from its powerful clutches until and unless the stronger Divine Power of the ‘Guru’ helps and guides such aspiring souls to break the chains of slavery of ‘Maya’. God is all-powerful, omnipotent and omniscient and is constantly searching and looking out for his ‘prodigal sons’ – who feel miserable, frustrated, desperate and repentant of their ‘bonded’ slavery of ‘Maya’, and desire and aspire sincerely to shake off the shackles of the miserable slavery, and yearn to be free. Such aspiring souls are saved from the miserable clutches of the ‘Maya’, and blessed by the ‘Guru’ with Eternal Joy, Peace, Bliss and Love of Divine Grace. The whole process of this wonderful and secret phenomenon of soul slavery, freedom and Divine Blessings is initiated, contemplated, ‘worked out’, and accomplished in the mental, emotional and Spiritual Planes. Therefore, it is only on these intellectual, emotional, and Spiritual Planes that a change for the better and sublimer Life can be wrought. There is one Sun from which countless rays are scattered all around, giving light, energy, warmth, and life to the universe. If these rays are encased in capsules, each ray will enshrine in itself all the qualities and attributes of the whole Sun, but outwardly manifest itself in different shapes and colours. Similarly, God is a Single Entity, and all Rays emanating from Divinity carry the very Essence of God’s attributes. This Divine Essence of ‘Presence’ is encased in the ‘Mental Core’ of ‘False Ego’, depicting outwardly different ideas, beliefs, and conceptions. In other words God is the only Entity or Reality, and everything else is the projection of Divinity in various forms, ideas and beliefs, fashioned according to outer influences, environment, and inner instincts and impulses of individuals. Influence of our contact with the surrounding world has profound effect in moulding and changing our thoughts, beliefs, or consciousness, which from the basis of our good or bad lives. It is obvious that the crucial factor in our lives is the ‘influence’ of the ‘company’ we keep, which can make or mar the fate and destiny of our lives. This illusion of misconception of our ‘false Ego’ is engendered in our mental consciousness through the baneful ‘company’ of un-godly elements. Therefore, it is apparent that a ‘sublimer company’ is imperative and essential for a change or transformation of consciousness to higher plane.
This transformation in our thoughts, beliefs, and conceptions can be wrought only through the ‘inspiring company’ of the Awakened, Enlightened and Blessed Souls. When this transformation of our consciousness takes place, our soul is awakened and illuminated with the Divine Light and Glory and the darkness of our false Egoistic illusion spontaneously fades away just as the darkness of night fades away on the rising of the Sun.
III
We have been thinking, believing, acting, living, suffering for ages in the ignorance and dilemma of our false Ego, i.e., in the darkness of illusive ‘Maya’ never realizing that there exists a better, sublimer, holier, freer, joyful, blissful, loving, graceful and real Divine life in the Realm of our Lord the God in whose ‘Divine Presence’ there can be: no darkness, no ignorance, no illusion, no sorrow, no pain, no suffering, no fear, no want, no desire, no hatred, no enemy, no ‘Satan’, no hell and such a joyful, blissful, peaceful, glorious, loving, magnanimous Kingdom of God is ours for eternity by inheritance, without claiming, without earning, just ‘for the taking’ by His Grace. This sublime State of Consciousness does not comprise of: 1. mere pleasant intellectual excursions. 2. Imaginary hypothetical visions. 3. Emotional flights of thoughts in the unseen. 4. Reveries in fanciful notions. 5. Exhibitions of psychic powers, 6. Learning scriptures and giving hair-splitting discourses on religious dogmas and philosophies. 7. Having a large following of disciples, 8. Sufferings of austerity of ascetic life 10. Immolation of life for salvation of soul. But it constitutes: 1. inner intuitional experience of the Soul. 2. Vibrating thrill permeating through body, mind, and soul. 3. Exhilarating reveries of the Divine Realm. 4. Intoxication of Divine Bliss. 5. exquisitive Joy of Divine Touch. y. infatuation of Celestial Music. 7. Invisible Sacred Divine Flame, 8. Ecstasy of Divine LOVE. 9. Cosy warmth of the Divine Sunshine 10. Breathing, moving, living, and having our being in the Divine Glory. 11. beholding and enjoying the be-witching and captivating Divine Beauty. 12. sweet caresses of Divine Grace. 13. soothing peace of Celestial Silence. 14. Eternal, Universal. LIVING RELIGION. Therefore, for the attainment of this exalted State of ‘Self-consciousness’, we have to: - do ‘Sat-Sang’ in the company of the awakened Illuminated and Blessed Souls. – grasp the intuitional reflection of scriptures and spiritual books: to regular daily meditation of ‘Gur-Mantar’, --does our duty conscientiously, --serve the ‘Guru’ and His ‘Sangat’ devotionally with heart and soul. – live in seclusion as far as possible. However, the false concept of ‘Ego’ has so deeply penetrated, permeated, infused, instilled into our sub-conscious mind, that it has become our second nature, and has turned us blind to the ‘Divine Light’ and deaf to the ‘Celestial Music’ of our own Soul. Therefore, it is not so easy to ‘wish-away’ or discard this false conception with a wishful thought of intellectual comprehension. In fact, the ‘GENE’ of ‘Ego’ originated when the ‘Divine Nucleus’ was encased in the false idea of ‘I’ due to ignorance. The separate identity of encased ‘Divine ray’ will continue its individual existence in our consciousness until it is merged again into the mainstream of the Divine Current. In other words, we have to live and work with this false ‘Ego’, until our soul is ultimately re-merged into God, by the Grace of the Guru. For this, we have to change, re-orient, and transform our false sense of ‘Ego’: FROM—‘I’, ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’ to –‘THOU” AND ‘THINE’, in our consciousness, by constantly remembering, contemplating, meditating, entertaining, nourishing, developing our belief and faith in the concept of the Benevolent and loving ‘God’, and by thinking, acting, living and having our being in the Grace of God’s Eternal Realm of Kindness, Compassion and Love. But, the truth is that, we have been doing just the opposite to our own detriment! To bring about this transition: from – Egoistic Consciousness to – Spiritual Consciousness a complete change of ‘Faith and allegiance’ from – illusive, unreal, non-existent darkness of ‘Maya’ to – the Eternal, Real, Benevolent, and Loving God and his Grace is essential. The Article “transformation of Egoistic Consciousness” was first written three years ago. Since then, flights of new thoughts on the subject have dawned upon my intuition. These thoughts are being incorporated in this revised edition as “After Thoughts”.
LUDHIANA KHOJI
August 1, 1987
AFTER THOUGHTS
GOD is ONE –without a second. GOD is immanent in His Divine attributes of: Grace, Glory, Light, Power, Compassion, Kindness, Joy, Bliss, and Love. In His grace, He created the vast cosmos in which the universal drama is being played by individual entities. To give these individuals the sense of separate entities, and to work and compete in the vast cosmic drama, the awareness or consciousness of ‘ego’ was introduced. The ‘Ego’ is like the subtle filament, through which the electric current passes and works. Therefore, ‘Ego’ is an instrument for the projection, expression and manifestation of the Divine Will to: create, maintain, sustain, run and govern the vast cosmic drama. ‘Darkness’ has no existence of its own. It exists in the absence of Light and fades away in its presence the NESCIENCE of God-Consciousness. When our consciousness illuminated by the Divine Light of our soul, this illusion of our Ego fades away spontaneously. Human mind works on two different planes of consciousness: 1. Egoistic Consciousness in the Cosmic Plane. 2. Spiritual Consciousness in the Divine Realm On the Egoistic Plane, we are conscious of our separate identity – as apart from God. This ‘duality’ of our ‘Ego-Self is expressed in ‘I-ness’ of individuals. These separate entities have different, variant, and divergent interest, ideas, thoughts, understanding, feelings, idiosyncrasies, sentiments, opinions, beliefs, convictions, faith. These different individual interests and beliefs are bound to create differences, clashes, conflicts, opposition, controversy, ill-will, envy, jealousy, avarice, enmity, quarrels. This ‘Ego-Self is demonstrated in ‘I-ness’ in various forms-such as: I think, I understand, I learn, I teach, I feel, I work, I rest, I act, I eat, I drink and in all our thoughts and activities. This ‘I-ness’ creates the instinct of “possessiveness” in the expression of ‘my-ness’: my body, my opinion, my dignity, my husband, my wife, my children my house, my country my community, my religion, my God and so on and so forth! It is the ‘Ego’ of ‘Me’ which feels slighted, ignored, dishonoured, insulted, ridiculed, cheated, bullied, hurt, at the slightest provocation. These ‘feelings’ inflame and ‘fan’ the ‘fuel’ of baser instincts of ‘Ego-Self’, which incite: resentment, criticism, dislike, protest, hatred, repulsion, indignation, opposition, confrontation, enmity, revenge. These depraved malicious egoistic thoughts, emotions and actions breed” doubt, misunderstanding, suspicion, envy, jealousy, avarice, bitterness, repulsion, ill-will, allergy in our mind, and generate in our ‘Ego-Self’: differences, dissension, friction, conflict, confrontation, aggrandizement, revenge, hostilities, quarrels, wars. In fact, the whole humanity individually and collectively is deeply involved in this pernicious egoistic quagmire. In such depraved, corrupt and vicious environments prevailing and pervading all over the world humanity is being brutally grinded in the materialistic clutches of Maya and suffers from: unhappiness, restlessness, tension, worries, misery, agony and consequently feel: lonely, betrayed, forsaken, desolate, fearful, apprehensive, terrified, panicky, bleeding, groaning. These feelings pervade our heart, intelligence, understanding, thinking, emotions, dealing, and decision, thus engulfing our homes, communities, societies, religions, countries, nations, and universe. And this dilemma is pervading and engulfing the whole ‘humanity’, in spite of our boastful: developed intelligence, scientific achievements, modern civilization, profound preaching, numerous scriptures, and various religions. In spite of various well-intentioned institutions of: social reforms, temperance societies, religious institutions, academic universities, scientific research institutions, august bodies like UNO etc. The overall condition of the world is getting more and more complicated, confused, confounded, insecure, pitiable, hopeless, precarious. Therefore, it is quite obvious that all our efforts to reduce and eliminate human degeneration have been of little or no avail! This is because we have been ‘beating about the bush’ and have failed to diagnose the basic insidious universal malady of ‘Ego-consciousness’!
II
Most of us are quite satisfied with the materialistic life of our ‘egoistic-self’, entailing life-long sufferings of unhappiness, restlessness, tension, disappointments, frustrations, miseries and are accustomed to inure to this pattern of life, taking it to be the natural course. Such people are not prepared to listen, consider or believe in anything beyond their established erroneous convictions and conceptions. But there are some aspiring sublimated souls, who are not contented with their present materialistic life of sufferings and turmoil based on false individual ‘Self’. Such developed souls desire, aspire and yearn for better, higher, nobler, holier, carefree, joyful, blissful and graceful SPIRITUAL LIFE—leading to the Kingdom of God. They become aware of their ‘Egocentric-self’ and the resultant chaos and miseries created by the egoistic consciousness. And aspire for the higher-self of Divine Consciousness. This transition of consciousness involves change ideas, thoughts, beliefs, convictions, conceptions, and faith ingrained, embedded and accumulated in our sub-conscious mind through innumerable past lives. It does not entail any change of place, country, nationality, religion, occupation, or denying ourselves or ‘renouncing’ possessions, properties, duties obligations, divine bounties and nature or running away from the responsibilities and exigencies of the cosmic life. We all know that the glass chimney of lantern is blackened by the smoke of the burning light inside. The more this ‘soot’ is thickened, the more the light becomes obscure. When the ‘soot’ is removed the light passes through the clear transparent chimney and reflects outward. Similarly, the ‘soot’ of materialistic thoughts, emotions and deeds has been accumulating on the ‘chimney’ of our egoistic mind since innumerable past lives. Therefore, our ‘mind-chimney’ has become so hazy and opaque that the Effulgent Light of the Soul cannot reflect on our mind, and we continue to live, and have our being in the darkness of illusion of our egoistic consciousness and suffer the consequences. To put it differently, the pictures from cinematograph can be visualized on the screen in the ‘darkness’ of the hall. When the light is put on, the pictures do not reflect in the light and the screen looks blank! Similarly the ‘pictures’ of materialistic world appear on the ‘screen’ of our egoistic mind in the darkness of ignorance and illusion. When the Divine Light reflects on our mind through ‘Intuition’, the darkness of illusion of our egoistic mind fades away spontaneously, and our consciousness is sublimated and illuminated. Therefore, unless the Divine Light of the Soul reflects and illuminates our mind, the illusion of our egoistic consciousness of ‘False-Self’, cannot be removed or eliminated, and our ‘Real Divine-Self’, cannot be realized or experienced. In other words, human mind is only a ‘mirror’ to reflect and project outwardly the innate Divine Light and intelligence. Our mental mirror is overcast with the cloud of illusion of materialistic world and has become foggy and hazy. Therefore, the reflection of Divine Light through the mirror of human mind has become warped, blurred, imperfect, deceptive and erroneous. This is the illusion of our Egoistic Mind.
III
The ‘ghost of ego’ has firmly established its sway on our mind and we are content to be the ‘His Master’s Voice’ of this ghost! We just cannot think or act otherwise! This ‘ghost of Ego’ reigns and asserts its authority in all aspects of our lives, i.e., through our body, mind, heart, feelings, thoughts, understanding, ideas, intelligence, desires, aspirations, beliefs, convictions, faith, religions, happiness, sorrows, miseries, joy, life, and death: in fact, we are ‘possessed’ by this ‘ghost of Ego’ and have ourselves become PERSONIFIED EGO-GHOSTS! We have been slaves of this ‘Ego-ghost’ since innumerable past lives and are unable to shake off this ‘slavery’ by our own efforts. Even if we so desire, we cannot just ‘wish-away’ or discard the ‘Ego-ghost’ from our mind by intellectual exercises or philosophical theories! In fact, we have sentenced ourselves to indefinite ‘confinement’ in ‘solitary cells’ of our ‘Ego’ since aeons, and have become so used and inured to the drudgery and miseries of this ‘slave-life’ that we have become indifferent and complacent about the thought of ‘freedom’ from this egoistic slavery! We work ‘in conjunction’ and ‘in tune’ with the dictates of our ‘egocentric-self’ and are ignorant of the existence of the ‘Real Divine Self’ – within ourselves! ‘From from this ‘Egoistic slavery’, in which the whole universe is involved, can only be achieved if we can perceive and realize the illusive Nature of our ‘Ego’ by ‘intuition’, i.e., reflection of the Divine Light within, with the help and guidance of Blessed and Illuminated Souls it is beyond the understanding or grasp of physical, academic, scientific knowledge and mental or occult perceptions. It is simply an AWARENESS of innte heritage of Divine Joy, Bliss and Love within our souls, to be experienced and enjoyed in our consciousness on the spiritual plane of Intuition. These Divine attributes of Joy, Bliss and love are lying dormant in our souls just to be ‘tapped’ with faith and meditation and enjoyed in profound measure. In our ‘Ego-Consciousness’ we obstruct the inflow of Divine Light and Grace into our mind, and thereby deprive ourselves of the Divine knowledge and Grace. Therefore, we are left to mend for ourselves, and thereby suffer the consequences of our depraved egoistic selfish thoughts and deeds, according to the ‘Law of Karma’. It must be remembered that the sense of ‘Ego’ is transient and ever-changing in its manifestation and ramifications. Only the ‘Soul’ or the ‘Real-Self’ abides, and is ever immanent. The process of transformation of ‘go-consciousness’ to ‘Divine-consciousness’ hangs on the subtle conviction and faith in Divinity. It is not an ‘intellectual exercise’ alone! Faith in Divinity is the extremely delicate and sensitive crucial ‘Screen’ hanging between ‘Egocentric-Self’ and the ‘Real Divine Self’ of our Souls. In fact ‘faithlessness’ in Divinity is the source and sustenance of our ‘Ego’, while ‘faith’ in, and devotion to the Lord is the seed of ‘Divine Insight’ or ‘Intuition’. Developed intelligence can at best give us mental perception about the nature of and the difference between the ‘False0Self’ and the ‘Real Self’, but our intellectual knowledge cannot ‘initiate’ us into the ‘Divine Realm’. In other words our intelligence can, at the most, take us to the outer courtyard of Divinity, but is unable to usher us into the Divine Realm. Beyond that, the Divine Courier of ‘Intuition’ takes charge of our ‘Self’ and conducts it to the Gracious Presence of the Lord. What is required is the re-orientation of our ‘Egoistic Consciousness’, or ‘Grafting’ the faithless ‘Egoistic-Self’ with the nucleus of Divinity, i.e., ‘Intuition’. This is subtle process of transformation of our ‘self’ on the sublime plane of ‘Intuition’. This ‘inner experience’ of Divine Intelligence and ‘Effulgence’ can only be perceived or realized by ‘Insight’ of the Soul, called ‘Intuition’. And the seed of Faith in Divinity, Spiritual Insight, and ‘Intuition’ can only be ‘sown’ and developed in the sublime company of Awakened, Illuminated, and Blessed Souls. Such Souls can awake, inspire, infect and ignite our slumbering souls and USHER them into Divine Consciousness.
IV
What is ‘Intuition’ – as distinct from intellectual knowledge? The reflection of ‘Divine Light’ on the mind, and the inner experience of the Soul are called ‘Intuition’. ‘Intuition’ comes from ‘within’, but intellectual knowledge is developed from ‘without’. ‘Intuition’ sees the Reality in it totality, while intelligence dissects it into parts and gives imperfect or erroneous knowledge of Divinity. ‘Intuition’ is inner experience of the ‘Real-Self’, i.e., the ‘Soul’, while intellectual knowledge is the experience of the outer senses. Human intelligence is derived from ‘Ego-consciousness’ and is limited, imperfect, hypothetic and illusive, while ‘Intuition’ is the reflection of Infinite and Perfect Divine Knowledge and Wisdom. Intuition is the means of direct ‘communion’ between ‘Man’ and ‘God’. ‘Intuition inducts the soul into the Divine realm and gives ‘face to face’ view of the Reality, but intelligence can, at best, formulate hazy and hypothetic vision of ‘Reality;.every soul is gifted with the inner faculty of ‘Intuition’ which can be developed, just like the outer mental intelligence. But this ‘Intuition’ cannot be achieved or developed by outward: knowledge, intelligence, philosophies, hair-splitting discussions, rituals and rites, religious dogmas, renunciation and ascetic life. This ‘Intuitional’ faculty is the gift of the Lord and can only be developed in deep SILENCE in the inner recesses of our Soul. This SILENCE is not mere absence of speech or noise. It is STILLNESS or THOUGHTLESSNESS of mind, which means cessation of THINKING. This process of STILLNESS or SILENCE can be developed by turning our mind inward and concentration on ‘GUR-MANTAR’. This is called ‘MEDITATION’. Only in perfect deep silence and calmness, the reflection of Divine Light or ‘Intuition’ descends on our mind to illuminate it with Divine Effulgence and Wisdom. Even a passing idea, thought, doubt, or wish emanating from the mind, disturbs this ‘stillness’ and obstructs the inflow of ‘Intuition’ into our mind. But the restless mercurial mind cannot be controlled and stilled easily. It requires long persistent efforts and practice to concentrate it in meditation. In this arduous, prolonged practice of meditation, company and guidance of Blessed, Illuminated Souls is not only helpful but essential. Personal contact of company is the easiest and quickest way of conveying thoughts and influencing others. The effect of such influence of thoughts is dependent on the intensity and conviction of one’s feelings on the one side, and the receptivity of the other mind. Hence, persons of developed minds with deep conviction and strong faith, can influence, inspire and infect weaker minds with their dynamic thoughts. Where vocal exhortations or intellectual propaganda fail to leave any sustaining mark on the minds of audience the very presence of a Dynamic Personality can silently inspire and transform the lives of individuals with powerful penetrating spiritual rays and vibrations which constantly emanate from higher spiritual Souls. The same principle applies to the Intuitional writings of Enlightened Souls which are ever fresh, original and soul stirring. If cultivated powerful mind can effect the ordinary mind so deeply on the mental and emotional plane. Enlightened Divine Souls can also inspire, awaken and ignite aspiring souls and introduce them into the subtle Intuitional Plane. If laser rays and radio-active radiation can penetrate through thick metals and the destructive flash of ‘lightening’ can do so much havoc on the physical plane, the subtle dynamic and radiant spiritual rays of Divine vibrations emanating from ‘Dynamic’ Personality of a ‘God-man’ can also pierce the thick clouds of materialistic ideas and intellectual conceptions and touch the fringes of the soul of the aspirant, and USHER him into the Divine Realm. Thus, the silent dynamic rays of Divinity can transform the life of an aspiring soul to higher plane of spiritual consciousness, being reborn into the Divine Realm. This is the direct, secret and sacred method of introduction of aspiring souls into the Divine Realm on the intuitional plane of consciousness, which ahs been practiced by Prophets, Gurus, Sages and Saints – since ages. In the company of such illuminated Souls, i.e., ‘Sat Sangat’, the mind is gradually calmed down, harmonised, turned inward, ‘pulled in’, concentrated, absorbed, infatuated, and lost in the joy and Bliss of Divine Grace and Love. But such genuine Blessed and Illuminated Souls, i.e., Sages, Saints, Bhagtas are rare. As our concentration becomes intense and deeper, we lose the sense of our body and the surrounding world. During such deep meditation, we lose the sense of our individual ‘Egocentric Self’ altogether, along with its illusive creations and ramifications. In such inward ‘stillness’, the dawn of ‘Intuition’ descends and develops gradually. As our consciousness dives deeper and deeper into the fathomless Divine Realm, we come face-to-face with the Reality of ‘Divine presence’ in all its ‘Glory’. In this sublime state of consciousness, the sense of our separate individual ‘Egocentric Self’ evaporates spontaneously with its projections of ‘I’, ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’.
As we grow in meditation, veil after veil of illusive darkness of Maya is withdrawn from our mind, until a new revelation of Divine Presence rises in our consciousness and we are blessed with the Grace of God. When such Divine Consciousness is awakened we will realize and feel that ‘God’ resides in ‘our self’ as well as in all ‘other creation’. In this state of sublime consciousness our behaviors towards other will be – as if we are dealing with ‘ourselves’. Only then we can comply with the Biblical precept of: ‘Love thy neighbors as thyself’. In this realization of Divine Self, there can be ‘no duality’. The aspirant realizes that only ONE GOD pervades and engulfs the whole universe. When the mind becomes aware or conscious of the ‘Divine Presence’ within, it is so dazzled and infatuated with the ‘awe’ of: Divine Effulgence, Divine Immanence, Divine Grace, Divine Glory, Divine Majesty, Divine Wonder, Divine love that it spontaneously loses the sense of ‘False-SELF’ or ‘Egoistic Consciousness, and experiences Divine Grace, Divine Joy, Divine Bliss, Divine Compassion, Divine Kindness, Divine Love and becomes ‘God-like’ in its ‘Divine-self’.
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For the culmination of this wonderful and miraculous ‘transformation’ of – ‘Egoistic Consciousness’ to – ‘Divine Consciousness’ the following salient and crucial points should be comprehended and realized: 1. God id ONE without a second. 2. He pervades and engulfs all creation. 3. His Will prevails and is manifested everywhere in the Cosmos. 4. We have become oblivious of, or ignorant of ‘God’ and his Will. 5. Therefore, we have developed Egoistic Consciousness or ‘False-Self’ – as apart from God. 6. This ‘Egoistic Consciousness’ is the root cause of our depraved thoughts and deeds. 7. Consequently, we suffer from unhappiness frustration and miseries.
8. On the other hand there is permanent happiness, joy, bliss and love in
‘Divine Consciousness’. 9. It is necessary to realize, identify and discriminate between the nature of our ‘False Individual Self’ and ‘Real Self’. 10. Even if we become intellectually aware of the above salient points, very arduous and prolonged efforts are required to change our mentality or consciousness. 11. But these efforts become easy with the Divine Grace (a) in the company and guidance of Blessed and illuminated Souls, (b) with concentration of mind, (c) by regular deep meditation. This transformation of consciousness will be perceptible in the change of mind, thoughts, beliefs, actions and behavior of the aspirant, in every aspect of his life – from unrest to peace, from selfishness to selflessness, from hatred to love, from vice to virtue, from sorrow to joy, from misery to bliss, from cruelty to kindness, from sin to nobility, from jealousy to tolerance, from wrong to right, from frustration to tranquility from limited intelligence to all-intelligence from myopic vision to celestial vision from fleeting pleasure to infinite bliss, from egoistic consciousness to Divine Consciousness from ego-centric to Divine effulgence, from ‘karmic law’ to Divine grace, to ‘Maya’ to God, from ‘I’, ‘Me’, “mine’ to ‘Thou and thine’, from hell to Heaven. But this process of ‘transformation of consciousness’ is not merely and intellectual exercise or ‘scientific experiment’. It is a practical course in the ‘Science of the Soul’ to be learnt and imbibed in the school of
Sat’Sangat’, i.e., regular company of the ‘Blessed and illuminated Souls’.