MIND CAN BE KNOWN BY MIND AND DIVINITY

CAN BE KNOWN BY DIVINITY.

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The topic of this seminar relates to the instrument or

means of knowing. Our Master asserts that mind can
know mind and divinity can know divinity; and the
implication is clear that mind cannot know the divinity.
The sentence of the Master taken for the seminar is a
part of the message given by him at Channapatna in
1972. He states clearly in this message that
‘intellectuality works in its own narrow sphere’ and ‘we
should always take the broader view of things and
widen it so that it may be able to cross its own
boundary.’ Mind thus is stated to be of the nature of
binding us to our own notions and dogmas.

Our mind, Master has clarified elsewhere, consists of

four parts: chitta, manas, buddhi and ahankar. He
asserted that a purified mind (with its constituent
parts) only will give correct understanding and it is the
instrument that we have to use to know our true
nature: infact it is on this axiom the whole of Rajayoga
is explained by him. Yet he makes the statement that
mind can know mind and divinity the divinity. There is
a clue here to understand that infact they are not
polar opposites but is made so by many depending on
mind exclusively to know reality.

Explaining the origin of mind he stated in the

message given at the time of the Centenary
celebrations of Mahatma Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj of
Fategarh in 1973 that “When the balance was
disturbed we came into existence. I do not want to
elaborate the subject metaphysically. The thought for
creation stirred up near about the centre and energy
began to flow out. What was that? That is the First
Mind – pure and simple and that has woven all our
frame and structure. It brought purity with it which is
still maintained. So when we begin to give wrong
suggestions, the mind which is absolutely pure, repels
them in order to maintain its eternal purity.” Thus we
understand that the Mind is pure and divine in its
nature. This leads us to think whether two types of
mind exist in us one leading us to the divine and the
other away from it.

This is the point that Lord Krishna tried to answer

when he said that human beings are of two types one
of the divine (Daivi) nature and the other demonic
(Asuric). We who practice the Sri Ram Chandra’s
Rajayoga know that our lower mind denoted by the
portion marked as ‘L’ in the heart as explained in the
book Efficacy of Rajayoga has to be transcended and
move to the higher mind marked as ‘U’ to start
knowing reality. We have on earlier occasions noted
that the duality exists not only at the mental (astral)
level but at the physical level of brain also by noting
the different functions of the right and left
hemispheres of the brain. In the message under
consideration we have to naturally think that the mind
referred to by the Master is the lower mind.
Explaining the power of mind, Master has said that it
is of the same nature as Kshob and has its roots in
the divine. “A powerful will made at the very first step
and maintained all through shall never fail to achieve
complete success.” However the problem is that we
really do not know how to make that ‘ will ‘ and we
always found ourselves no wiser for the advise. The
lower mind has its own logic and reasons to give us
not to work for achieving the objective.

We know while making this statement Master is

revealing the power of the Mind. He was saying that
we can achieve our objective if we instruct our mind
and subconscious mind properly. Unfortunately most
of us do not know how to instruct the mind or
subconscious mind though all that is required is
simple suggestion. However our mind is accustomed
to complicated ideas and beliefs and therefore the
easy task becomes very difficult. Therefore we end up
getting the mind and subconscious mind creating
things we really do not want. That is the problem of
many aspirants which the Master himself has clarified
when he said “The thinking has become so rough that
they always add their own impure thoughts in the
span of Nature. Complexities after complexities are
there and it is the creation of the human brain.”

If we do not get our mind and subconscious mind to

focus on what we want, we will surely end up getting
what we do not want during meditation in particular
and life in general. Master states in the same article
that “The present question before the world is how to
lead a happy life.” It is but natural that everyone wants
to be successful and happy but we do not have
thoughts that reflect success and happiness. Very few
of us choose our thoughts and majority of sadhakas,
leave their mind on an autopilot accepting whatever
thoughts it conjures up and then they begin to worry
about them. Master only advised us to ignore the
thoughts. If we do that there is no problem. Instead
we seem to believe in the reality of these thoughts
and wail over such a situation.

What we should believe is the Master, whose

presence is felt as peace (balance) accompanied by
an awareness of ‘Nothing’ and many a time non
awareness of anything. When Master also advised us
to think or imagine that there is a Divine Light without
luminosity and meditate he advised that we should
ignore all thoughts while meditating. He assured that
the suggestion given at the beginning of meditation
will continue to work at the sub-conscious level
throughout the period of meditation. The unregulated
mind has its own way of making us doubt the Master
and we seem to get active with our ideas generated
by the mind which has got clouded through carnality
and relationships. We do not give importance to the
presence of the Master by believing him; instead we
give importance to the unwanted thoughts and believe
in their reality. We thus do not choose our beliefs
based on experience and instead we merely accept
what our lower minds tell. That is how the impure
mind fails us in our task.

’Mind is its own enemy’ said Lord Krishna very

emphatically in the Bhagavad Gita. Master also says
this but adds the same mind has to be used to control
the mind. When we hear sadhakas who are intent on
being successful in their spiritual pursuit and try to
analyse their thoughts we find them entertaining
thoughts which are in their very nature exact opposite
of what they seek. While they want to be successful
they do not show any evidence of having thoughts
and beliefs that promote their cause. Master when
asked us to have yearning he was only hinting at this;
we seek but do not yearn!

If we want to achieve success in our endeavour then

we have to create thoughts and beliefs that will allow
us to achieve the goals. We can think of our mind as
a station that sends out energy signals: these energy
signals are our thoughts and beliefs. These energy
patterns are picked up by our subconscious mind. It
then works out and creates situations, circumstances,
and events to help us achieve whatever we seek. It
also attracts the people to us and guides us to the
people who can help us achieve our goals. This is
what is meant by the sentence often used by Masters
that “when we are ready the Master comes to our
doorsteps.”

The subconscious does not distinguish between what

is good and bad for us: it simply acts on our
instructions. Those instructions are our energy signals
which are as we mentioned earlier our thoughts. So
while we may want to achieve realisation, our lower
mind impure as it is, does not allow us to think that we
can and if we regularly maintain that notion either as a
mark of humility or fear of incapacity or we are
indoctrinated to that effect by the sanyasis, that we
can not achieve the same, we should know we are
instructing our lower mind to create situations for us
that will not enable us to achieve our goals. This is
why it is so important to eliminate negative thinking
and create a positive thinking pattern in spirituality. It
is in this context we should understand the value of
the advice of the Master that we should have faith in
us that we can reach the goal.

It becomes clear that if we want to achieve our goal

and live the life of natural cooperation that we want,
we have to send the right messages to our
subconscious mind. It is a matter that is not readily
acceptable to our mind because this appears to be
naïve and simple. But that is the method suggested
by our Master. If we examine whether the entertaining
of patterns of negative thinking is helping us we find
that it does not. That type of defeatist mentality
enables only to get defeated. When we get calmness
and peace during the meditation, if our attention goes
to these states of divinity we progress faster. It is
these states of divinity that know and lead us to
divinity. That is how we can say divinity knows
divinity. But for this to happen we should be clear that
divinity reveals itself through calmness and peace.

The importance of having one method, one master

and absolute faith in our own deservancy to reach the
goal cannot be over emphasized in sadhana. These
statements of the Master are based on very sound
principles of the science of mind. We should have
unflinching faith in our mind and its capacities.
However even as stated earlier, it becomes reliable
only when it is pure or in other words is the higher
mind.

In any enquiry into the nature of things three aspects

are to be remembered. One, the object sought to be
known should be clearly defined. Two, the instrument
of knowing should be pure and clean. Thirdly the
knower should be objective. In any attempt to know
the workings of mind the instrument and the knower
happen to be the same and many times the object of
observation itself is an aspect of mind or one of its
processes.

I beg your pardon to repeat my old example to explain

this. Imagine a ‘bee’ somehow entered a room which
has closed doors and window panes. The bee tries to
get out of the room; it sees its freedom through the
glass window panes; but however much it tries it is
not able to get out of the same. Similarly the seeker of
freedom sees the opportunities for freedom through
the window of mind but he is not able to get out of the
window. The seeker like the ‘bee’ can somehow
sense the freedom and even experience it from time
to time but this he does only through the window of
the mind. The seeker may truly be sincere in the
longing for freedom. The misfortune is that regardless
of what is attained or experienced one remains inside
the mind and continues to search with the mind. This
is one of the tough problems we face due to our
formal training and education. We have had occasion
to discuss this aspect while we discussed problems of
sadhana in Vijnanamaya Kosa.

Master while giving his method indirectly helped our

mind, find its futility. Our Master has asked us to
meditate on Divine Light without luminosity. This is an
impossible concept for the mind and it is forced to
stare at this idea. In doing so he has blocked the way
of the mind for the seeker and left open the way to
freedom. Further by assisting the seeker through
Pranahuti which informs the nature of pure and
unalloyed consciousness he opened the path to
freedom. In real spiritual training the mind has to be
made silent and put to rest. Master therefore called
himself a ‘silencer’. Thus it is divinity that can know
the divinity and the mind can never know the source
or its origin.

For an individual the way to Divinity is silence and in

that silence the window of the mind disappears. This
is what happens when we receive Pranahuti and
imperience the real Silence beyond all
comprehension of the mind. We realize it is our true
nature to be free and all the bondages are our
creation having no reality content. In fact there are no
windows or window panes and they are all creations
of our individual mind. Even as Ether and Air all that
exists is free and it is our mind that creates the
boundaries. Boundaries of Earth and Water are
human in origin and are illusions created by us. That
is why disputes about them never abate. We cannot
conceive of the Defense Ministry without these
boundaries of dubious origin and sanctity. Perhaps
human mind requires many a ‘Sunami’ to understand
this. In fact all our inquiry or search into the nature of
our being through mind is an exercise similar to the
blind man searching for a black cat in a dark room
which is not there. We erroneously look for something
that is never lost, our true nature, because our nature
is not a thing!
However the mind is not to be shunned. Its true
nature of being Universal, without the limitations of
the Ego, relationships and ideas if recognized, it is
itself the freedom. Such recognition of freedom
renders the mind benign and useful. We need to see
‘what the mind is’ and ‘also what it is not’. The mind
has a creative genius and therefore enjoys parallel
status with that of the Divine. Even though such a
freedom is there many of us do not understand the
same and funnily lead ourselves to be bound by its
creations. The ideas which are its windows (its own
creations) attract us to look through them always. We
like to live and die looking through the windows of the
mind. This is how we instead of living in freedom
prefer to suffer bondages which are our creation.
Though our true nature is so near, by applying the
telescope in the wrong direction find the same hazily
far off from us and go on wailing through out the life.
This is a stark and unpleasant reality but true
nonetheless.
During meditation when Pranahuti is getting absorbed
and the emptiness is getting filled there comes a
stage, when all thoughts are gone but awareness
pure and simple stays. There I have invariably found
a calm and peaceful stillness that is remembered as a
slight jolt. The ripples observed around the ‘eye’ of
stillness leaves me dumb and awe stuck. Here on
recall it is found the mind stopped functioning and
with it are gone all ideas and beliefs, notions and
aspirations; all mind stuff is gone. The awareness of
self is totally destroyed. In the initial stages there was
a sense of what may be termed as apprehension of
loss of self identity. On later occasions of such deep
absorption there emerged the clarity of vision.
However this kind of clarity in the beginning lasted
temporarily and I landed back in the plane of
individual identity patching up the damaged belief
systems. This resulted in seeking for that state where
the mind stuff is all but gone. This is the cause of
restlessness even after vision of the absolute state.
Repeatedly the vision is sought and had and thus the
belief systems assiduously developed and owned
were given up in the void of Being. This is a painful
process of annihilation of the creations of the self. I
have found that the great Master Sri Ramchandraji
Maharaj blesses us as often as we seek such a state
of void and vision of the absolute so that we move
into the realms of the Divine where no individuality
breathes. That is his love and blessings.

He has given us a path which takes us directly to this

awareness of nothingness and to assist us he has
given us also many individuals who can put that mind
in check and give us a taste of some moments
without the mind. Those supra mental moments I
prefer to call His grace. That is the divine path leading
us to know the divinity as the sole Reality that is all
pervasive.

What is reality? Why are we here? These are

questions many people fail to consider anymore in
this age of quantum mechanics, computers, and high-
tech gadgets. I think that everyone except me knows
these, or they think the questions have become
irrelevant. However as a true seeker I am the kind of
person who would consider such questions and is
amazed by things other people take for granted.

Let us start out by taking a look at a description of

reality put forth by mystical philosophers. For
thousands of years, mystics have said that there is
‘One Energy’ in the Universe, that the Universe and
everything in it is the play, the dance, and the
vibration, of that ‘Energy’. Underneath the seeming
multiplicity, they say, everything is made of the same
substance. This Energy, they say, is everywhere, and
at all times. This principle is sometimes described as
Omnipresence, or God. The Hindus call this principle
Sat, and it is everywhere, making up everything of
past, present, and future. The mystics in addition to
noting that this one energy is omnipresent also said
that this ‘Energy’ is aware of itself being everything
and everywhere and at all times: that it is conscious,
that it has consciousness and this they called Chit.
We should note that the word consciousness, used
here does not carry the same sense as what we
would ordinarily think of as knowing, in a cognitive
sense. This is not the same sense as our senses and
our brain knowing or recognizing something, though
that is one of the reference points we have,
intellectually, for understanding the term
consciousness. Ultimately, we have to experience
being it. So, we have this Energy, this oneness, this
Unity conceived as in and behind and over and
around and through everything and this energy of
Unity is aware of itself being everything.

Now, just for a moment let us pretend that we are this

One Energy. If we were everything, there would be
nothing outside of us to seek. Then what is our
original question of mind knowing the mind and divine
knowing the divine? There would also be nothing to
seek and know and get, nothing we would lack,
because we are everything. There would also be no
where to go, since we are already everywhere. So,
here we are, everything, always, everywhere, with
nothing to want and no where to go. The mystics who
had this awareness of who they were, were naturally
happy, peaceful, and blissful. This they said is the
third characteristic of Reality and called it Ananda,
which means bliss. This, according to the mystical
view, is who we really are: Satchitananda.

Our fears, our desires, our ideas that we have to get

to somewhere, the idea that we lack something, is, in
this view, an illusion. We are not a separate ego in a
bag of skin, but rather are this Oneness. All this is
good philosophy and good description of the nature of
Reality. But if this is true, why is it we are so unhappy
so much of the time? Why do we feel so powerless?
Why does it seem as if we are a separate creature in
what looks to be a pretty dangerous world? It is
obvious that to live, we need a constant supply of a
very specific combination of gases to breath. We
need food on a regular basis, or we perish. We need
to keep the temperature of the environment within a
certain narrow range. And there are ultraviolet rays,
and other dangerous electromagnetic forces, and
poisons, and dangerous people who want to hurt us,
and if we get just a few miles away from the surface
of our planet we cannot survive. If we are this One
Energy of everything, why do we feel so isolated, so
separate and why are we so unhappy so often?
The sages answer this question saying that we are
not happy and peaceful and in touch with the fact that
we are all and everything, everywhere, eternally
peaceful and blissful, because of our mind. Our mind
is in the way of our experiencing who we really are. In
fact, it appears that our mind is creating an alternate
reality, that is, in a sense, like dust covering a mirror
and keeping us from seeing who we really are.
Seeing that the mind gets in the way and obscures
our true nature from us, the mystics came up with
some methods for perceiving reality directly, without
the filter of the mind, and the most effective of those is
meditation.

Meditation is designed to regulate the mind, until

eventually we gain enough control that we can look
directly at reality, rather than filtering reality through
the mind. The traditional systems were satisfied with
the concept of Satchitananda and their methods of
meditation led them there with persistent labour and
effort.

However Master stated that Satchitananda is not our

real nature and our true nature is one of total
“Nothingness”. The Master said that at the moment of
creation, this One Energy or Centre of all and
everything polarized itself into a seeming duality: the
Centre and the Stir or Kshob. One is latent and the
other is the patent. The zero and action are the polar
opposites that emerged. The seemingly opposite
forces are what we may consider as the cause for the
Universe to manifest in the first place. It is obvious
that this duality is a "seeming" duality. The reason
why these dualities, these opposites, only seem to
exist is that each side of the duality depends on the
other side for its existence. ‘Here’ makes no sense
without ‘there’ and ‘Love’ makes no sense without
‘Hate’ and ‘This’ makes no sense without ‘That’. They
are not, mutually exclusive opposites, but rather
aspects of the same thing, the same process. Thus
the dualities arise like good and bad, divinity and
mind.

Each of these seemingly opposite poles are, really,

totally dependent on each other. They are one thing,
not two. In being opposite, they are also inextricably
tied to each other, and one cannot exist
independently. They are like two sides of the same
coin. We can not have a one-sided coin, and the two
aspects of duality cannot exist separately either, nor
can one win out over the other. We can see clearly
the implication of understanding this when we
struggle to develop tolerance, patience and co-
operative spirit in our transactions.

When we see ourselves as an entity sharing both

these principles we know who we are. That is the
reason why Master asked us to meditate in the heart
where both activity and inactivity meets. When we do
see who we really are, we relax. Meditation, while
helping us in balancing ourselves helps to get the
mind out of the way, allowing us to experience reality,
directly, and when this happens, everything flows.
When we see reality directly, when we directly
perceive who we really are, without the mind getting
in the way and imposing the world it created on top of
everything, there is nowhere to go, nothing to get,
nothing to fear. That is how we in the initial stages of
such experience relax and experience happiness,
love, peace, and bliss. As the state advances in its
depth we move on to the state of balance and further
on to a state of “Nothingness.” Nothingness then is
Divinity at the time of Origin as well as when we reach
our goal or know our real nature. Sadhana then is
Nothingness knowing itself! And what is the purpose?
Happiness unbounded and eternal peace.

When we describe things in this way, some persons

think that if we were able to see reality directly in the
way we have described, then we would have no
motivation and no connection to life as we know it.
This however, is not at all what happens. When we
see who we really are, we are still aware of the world
the mind creates, the world of things and events, and
we still participate in it. We know, however, all the
while, that it is all a game, a play, and nothing, really,
can go wrong. Or, rather, that whatever happens, we
and everyone and everything else is still that One
Energy of all and everything.

We can see that there are two ways of seeing things.

In one way, the way of the mind, we see the
separation of things and the tension between
opposites, and think all that to be reality. This could
be called "The Game of Black and White." The
problem with this way of seeing things is that when
we play, we add a rule that gives us a lot of trouble:
the rule that White Must Win. We think good must win
over evil, without realizing that the two depend on
each other, and cannot exist independently. We want
life to win out over death, again without realizing that
they are one thing, not two. This struggle to make
what cannot be a reality; a reality is what creates
suffering.

The other way or the divine way of seeing things

involves accepting that all the seeming opposites are
one system, one organism, and that everything "goes-
with" everything else, and that fighting to make one
side disappear or lose is futile. Now this does not
mean that we do not strive to be good, or to stay
alive, but it does mean that we realize that this striving
is not to be taken too seriously, and that we do not
need to suffer over it. It is often said that the Buddha's
doctrine teaches us that suffering will disappear if one
has meditated long enough, or if one sees everything
differently. But his real teaching was not that at all. He
was clear in stating that Suffering is not going to go
away and only that the one who suffers is going to go
away. Similarly Master held that Sufferings, are
caused by undue attachment and being attached to
one side of a duality and expect that to win always is
as silly as being attached to throwing a ball in the air
and expect it never to come down. It will not happen.
In fact, operating in this divine way, in which we see
things as more of a game, works much better. Our
Masters have adopted it, and had equal passion for
life as any of us and for sure they had better results.

The only way by which I think we can lead this type of

living is to meditate as advised by the Master without
any changes and modifications. His system is integral
and can be practiced only fully. To practice some
portions of his system and think that is also doing
good will not help us develop the integral living.
It is likely that some persons may try to see the
similarity in Vedic passages in Kena Upanishad “ na
tatra caksur gacchati na vag gacchati no manah na
vidmo na vijanimo yathaitad anusisyat /3/ But it is
obvious the Reality here, is only stated to be beyond
the instruments of Cognition and not Mind as such.
Our Master stated that we go much beyond this
condition and move in the realms of the Mind region
of God before entering the Central region and the
Centre itself. This is where one of the powerful belief
systems affect us and the Vision of the Mind region of
God itself get blurred and one is left repeating the
words of the ancient sages and seers. Many victims
of this notion are there and that is because they do
not leave their dogmas as Master put it.

Master summarized beautifully the system when he

wrote “In short, just say: every honest genuine
practicant is bound to comprehend and experience
spiritual advancement in the right way. In the
beginning, mostly there may be emphasis on the
importance of physical and material experience.
However, comprehension concerning health and
peace of heart and mind should develop gradually.
Miracle, jugglery, black magic, machination, fraud
etc., producing effect through such means, is entirely
against spirituality and Brahma Vidya (Divinity); and
anyone after these can never be a deserving vessel
for this superb science. Certainly there remains so
much beyond and above the reach and grasp of heart
and mind (intellect), but proper comprehension and
experience of that too is possible only through the
heart and mind, which is oriented to soul and
God. Just due to this, then, there is special emphasis
on cleaning and training of heart and mind in this
science. The finest Divine gift, which is patrimony of
the entire progeny of mankind, stands reserved just
for the human being, residing in the state of
moderation in all respects. However, proper form of
orientation and effort for that is difficult to be ones
fortune. It is rightly stated: 'To be Real Man is hardly
available even to human beings!'
That is no point for dejection; anyway, but Divine help
happens to fall to the lot of human being of right sort
of courage alone. As such, adopt the purpose of life
and path of its realisation; and move on and on until
the purpose be fulfilled, holding on to the promise that
whoever moves one step towards it, the goal
advances ten steps towards that one. The experience
of all this is a matter of fact, but only for the one, who
may have faith in that Divine assurance, and keeping
stead fast to it may continue marching on. Amen! “

After having quoted the Masters’ summary of the

system to add is the impertinence of the Mind. But the
monkey has its own way. With divinity filled in our
being we radiate His effulgence. When we radiate
light and unconditional love, other people with good
hearts are magnetically attracted to us to form the
Satsang. After all, like attracts like, even in the
physical world, so why not be surrounded by seekers
with simply wonderful hearts? That is the way of
divinity knowing divinity.

Let me conclude by stating

“Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe

to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even
worse.

Whatever a mother, father or other kinsman might do

for you, the well-directed mind can do for you even
better.

The Divine Mind can only be that which has directed

itself towards the Divine and that alone can know the
Divinity.