Friday, May 12, 2017

MICROCOSMIC HUMAN BODY SPRINGS OUT OF MACROCOSMIC VIRAT PURUSHA



Microcosmic Human Body Springs Out Of   Macrocosmic Virat Purusha
(Compilation for a Discourse by N. R. Srinivasan, Nashville, TN, USA, May 2017)

The body is indeed the first instrument in all that we do towards growing spiritually-shareeram-ādyam khalu dharma-sādhanam  (Kumāra-Sambhava 5.33 of Kālidāsa). It houses Jeevaatman from birth to death. Shiva makes kind enquiries of Pārvati, when the latter had been doing severe tapas; the Lord, disguised as a mendicant, asks her if she was taking proper care of her body! All of us know how our heritage developed the sciences of yoga and āyurveda to very high levels of sophistication realizing the prime concern of the body and its well-being--(Swami Chidananda). “………….Balena tapah tapena  sraddhaa sraddhayaa maneeshaa maneeshayaa manah manasaa Santih (MNU)” —By physical strength of the  body--austerity , by  austerity --faith,  by faith-- mental power, by mental power--control of the senses and  by  the control of the senses--one attains Peace and Tranquility.  Vedas pay obeisance to Food that nourishes the body whose strength is of prime importance for Spiritual Sadhana (achievement).  It all starts with peace and harmony in the   Nature (Vanspatayah santih) which peace is invoked by the human beings in themselves.

Sandhyaavandana has many benefits for lengthening life span, disease control, revitalizing nerve centers of human body and promoting peace of mind as confirmed by scientific studies. Looking at Sun with hand aperture will give clear eye-sight throughout one's life without any disease. When a body is touched with a particular finger with cold water it gives fresh energy. When you touch navel and crest of head with all ten fingers it imparts benefit to various nervous systems and through it to the body and mind.  Health   benefits of Praanaayama are well established by Yogasaastra based on scientific studies. 

One who performs Sandhyavandana  touches the various parts of the body with the wet fingers chanting each mantra as indicated : “ A) Om Kesavaaya Namah (right cheek with the thumb); B) Om Narayanaaya  Namah (left cheek with the thumb); C) Om Maadhavaaya  Namah (right eye with ring finger);  D) Om Govindaaya Namah (left eye with the ring finger); E) Om Vishnave Namah (right nose with index finger);  F) Om Madhusoodanaaya Namah (left nose with index finger);  G) Om Trivikramaaya Namah (right ear with little finger);  H) Om Vaamanaaya  Namah (left ear with little finger) ;  I) Om Sridharaaya Namah  (right shoulder with middle finger); J) Om Hrisheekesaaya Namah (left shoulder with middle finger) K) Om Padmanaabhaaya Namah (belly button with four fingers leaving the thumb) L) Om Daamodaraaya Namah (top of head with all fingers).
[Touching with fingers moistened with cold water electrifies various nerve centers (Nadis) in the body]

The origin of this religious practice of touching a part of the body with a particular finger with cold water is based on the description of Purusha or Cosmic Man   in Purushasookta of Early Vedic literature which has drawn world attention for its appreciation as well as criticism.

Upanishads sometimes describe Brahman as a Purusha (the divine being in the human form) to facilitate meditation upon him. Aupanishada-purusha (the Being described in the Upanishads) form is bright, brilliant, of golden hue, with all parts of his body of golden color and his eyes resembling a fully bloomed red lotus. Fire is his head, the Sun and Moon are his eyes, the quarters are his ears, the Vedas are his speech and the earth is his feet. Sometimes he is also described as having thousand hands, thousand eyes and thousand feet, thereby stressing his omnipresent cosmic form. 


Here is a Mantra from Chhandogya upanishad that describes Universal Macrocosm Person (Purusha) having the universe as his body parts.  In turn a meditator has to invoke these divine parts in his  own body  and meditate  upon Self within him.
Tasya ha vaa etasya-tamano –vaisvanarasya moordhaiva sutejah chakshurviswaroopah   praanah prithagvartma samdeho bahulo bastireva rayih prithivyeva paadau | ura eva vedirlomaani  barhih hridayam gaarhapatyo mano-anvaahaarya-pachana aasyama-ahavaneeyah||Ch Up. 5-18-2

For this Vysvanara Atman who has swept celestial region, the heaven is his head; the eye is the Sun; the air is his Vital Forces ( Pancha Praanaas); the middle part of  the body is the elemental ether; his bladder is water; Earth is his feet; the chest is the sacrificial altar; the hair on the chest is the sacred grass Dharba; the heart Grahapatya sacrificial fire; the mouth is the Aahavaneeya sacrificial fire; and the mind is the Anvaharya sacrificial fire. [all these  factors  are to be meditated upon in the very body of the meditator]

[The meditator (microcosm)  upon Vyswanara should reflect that Paramatma (macrocosm)  who is having  all the three worlds  as his body existing in   his own body   and thinking of the  fact that the three sacred  fires needed for fire sacrificial ritual are in his own body and should offer the  prescribed Pranahutis  and others (see Sandhyavandana and  meal-time  mantras)  with the dedication that he is worshipping the Vyswanara Paramatman with this Pranagnihotra and Jatharagni   mantras].



In Kena Upanishad the disciple asks the teacher whether there is any entity behind the sense-organs like the ear or the organ of speech or even the mind that impels them to work. The teacher replies that there is, and that Brahman is the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear, the speech of the speech and the mind of the mind. Therefore Vedic scholars have concluded that an individual is essentially is a microcosmic form of the Virat Purusha who is Macrocosmic.
As per Vedic knowledge, our hands and feet consist of the five elements – Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth.  While talking about the good habit of Eating food with hand as per Ayurveda each finger is an extension of one of the five elements: Thumb: Fire; Index finger: Air; Middle finger: Heaven/ Ether; Ring finger: Earth; Little finger: Water; Five Elements in Hand.
Let us look at the sloka:  Karaagre vasate Laksmee karamadhye sarasvati | karamuule tu Govindah prabhaate karadars anam ||”
It means  at the Top of the Palm Dwell Devi Lakshmi and at the Middle of the Hand Dwell Devi Saraswati, At the Base of the Hand Dwell Sri Govinda; Therefore one should Look at one’s Hands in the Early Morning and contemplate on Them. Hence, this sloka suggests that the divinity lies inside our hands. Another familiar sloka “Samudra vasane devi… parvata sthanamandale” says that Mother earth (Cosmic Stree or woman) has Ocean as Her garments and mountains as Her bosom.
We come across such thoughts linked to body parts in many slokas enlightened by the wisdom of Vedas. It is worth therefore recalling here relevant portion from my discourse on Purusha-sookta.  Purusha in Purushasookta is the Cosmic Man. Vedas visualize the emergence of the Micro-cosmos (Vyashti) from the Macro-cosmos (Samashti). The total Universe, conceived as one whole, is the Virat Purusha. Therefore, His eyes are the total eyes of all creatures; His breath is the total breath of all creatures and so on. Let us go through the details of Purushasookta in this context.
Sun is the source of all light energy. Therefore in the language of Upanishads Sun becomes the deity of the organ of the vision. If there is no light in the Cosmos, all eyes would be inexplicable holes under the brows on the two sides of the nose.
Similarly Moon is the presiding deity of the mind. The total of all minds is the Mind of the cosmic person. In Creation also out of his   Mind came the Moon of all minds.  From His Breath came the Air. All living creatures breathe air. Therefore the total noses must be breathing the total atmospheric air. The presiding deity of speech is Fire. From the mouth of the Cosmic Person came Agni the Fire.
Now how do we get the total concept of a person with these various parts?  The Macrocosmic form should necessarily stand embracing everything in His Form Divine.  This the mantra in Purushasookta elaborates as follows:   From the Virat Purusha’s navel emerged the “inner space” and from His head emerged the “outer space”.   From His feet the “Earth” and from His ears the “four quarters” manifested. Thus the world was created.   His head is high above in the outer space.  So is ours. His middle-navel area represents the “inner space”. His feet should then comprehend as the “Earth”. We stand on earth with the help of our legs.
We hear sound because we   have all ears. Ears alone are not sufficient. There should be particular object of perception, the sound. In order to create sound, space is necessary. That is Aakaasa.  The directions or quarters (disaah) representing space becomes the Ears of the Purusha and hence the presiding deity of ears. The total ears of the Universe are the Virat Purusha’s ears and from them were born directions (disaah) meaning space.
Purushasookta says earlier the principal Vedic Gods—the Moon, Sun, Fire, and Vaayu were all born from the Purusha and from the same Virat Purusha were also born “outer-space”, “inner space” and the “world of Objects”
Bhagavadgeetaa  on Microcosm and Macrocosm
Bhoomir aapo analo vaayuh kham mano buddhir eva cha |Ahamkaaram   iteeyam  may  bhinna prakitir ashtadhaa ||(7_4)
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and egoism – thus is my Nature (Prakriti) divided into eight categories.
Apareyamitastvanyaam prakritim viddhi may paraam | jeevabhootaam  mahabaho u yayedam dharyate jagat || (7-5)
This is my lower Nature (Prakriti); different from this, O mighty  armed one, know the higher Prakriti of mine in the form of individual soul (Jeevaatma) by which this world is sustained.
Etadyoneeni bhootaani sarvaanyeetyupadhaaraya | aham kritnasya jagatah prabhavah pralyastathaa || 7-6)
Know that all beings have these two for their origin; I am the origin of the entire Universe as also its destroyer.
In these three slokas above Bhagavad Gita describes that humans are nothing but the miniature   representation of the Macrocosm. This applies to all living entities also.  Eight–fold Prakriti mentioned in 7-4 is lower energy.  The other Nature mentioned in 7-5 is called higher energy referred as Consciousness, Atma, Akshara, Purusha and Chetana (Sat-Chit). Prakriti is also described as Asat. It is the material cause. Prakriti is the original source of the material world consisting of three modes (Gunas), and eight basic elements out of which everything in the universe has evolved according to Sankhya doctrine. That which creates diversity as well as the diversity itself, and all that can be seen or known, including the mind is called material Nature (Prakriti)
In order to understand the subtle nature of Divinity in us it is very important to understand the difference between two. The eight-fold aspects of the Divine nature constitute the human body and the bodies of other creatures.  This s known as Apara Prakriti or gross manifestation. Beyond the gross is the subtle nature of the Divine   known as Para Prakriti which forms the essence of everything called Self or Atman.
Also Gita says:
Sarvatah paani-paadam tat sarvato-akshi-siro-mukhah | sarvatah srutimalloke sarvam-aavritya tishthati (13-14)
With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, He exists in this world, enveloping all.
Mattah parataram na-anyat-kinchidastidhanjaya | mayi sarvam-idam protam sootre maniganaa iva || (7-7)
There is nothing whatsoever other than Me. All this is strung in Me as cluster of gems on a string.is His head is figh above So is in  all human beings.H

Vishitaadvaita therefore says the individual Self (Atman) is an integral part of (Paramaatman) with which it merges ultimately. It therefore does not say that Aatman dissolves into Paramaatman.   In Vedantic philosophy there is an intimate identity between the part and the whole, and, the microcosm, the individual, is a miniature of the Macrocosm, the Universe.  When the Creator comes to identify with what He has projected in His creation, He becomes the individualized entity (Jiva). “When this mighty Virat chooses to forget His Divine Glory (due to His Leela or play), and identifies with a given body, then He apparently sinks into the miseries of the limited, mortal, pain-ridden human life—extremely individualized and agonizingly ego-centric” says Swami Chinmayananda.   Bhagawaan also says in Geeta: “Mamaivaamso jeevaloke jeevabhootah sanatanah” One part of my eternal nature is born in the world as an ego-centric entity.  At the same time He also makes it clear subsequently the equipment alone decays and that the essence in the Jeeva survives as it is eternal. This is further supported by the Upanishadic Mantras “I am the eye of all eyes. Ear of all ears…….” etc., that we have  learnt from Kena Upanishad.

Hindus popularly worship   Navagrahas.  These are not the actual planets in the modern sense, although they are translated as planets.    They were concocted from the original   worship of Vedic deities Sun, the Star of the Earth planet, its shadow or reflection Moon and   millions of Stars about which we have very little knowledge.  Puranas landed us in the worship of the so called Grahas with all sorts of myths and beliefs. You are all aware of the myth about Eclipse as well as Rahu and Ketu which is not supported by astronomy.  Vedic wisdom talks about the deities in the Cosmic Person with corresponding presence in the microcosm. Their positions in the body as well in the world influence the course of events both at the universal and individual planes. This concept has been successfully exploited by modern astrologers promoting the worship of Navagrahas and their appeasement (Shanti) for ward of evils. You know how they are wrong about actual Uttarayana Punyakala start which is Winter solstice Day in the Northern Hemisphere.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3.2.1 to 3.2-9) speaks of eight Grahas and eight Atigrahas in the body in the sense of grasping deities (sense-organas) and overseeing grasping deities (sense-faculties).

Graha means Indriya or sense organ (grinhati atmaanam svavasam karoti) that which grasps.  The nose is overpowered by odor; it is subordinated to the object of sense, of smell. The  faculty  of senses is more powerful than  the organ. Eight sense organs (GRAHAS) and the eight sense faculties (Atigrahas) are: Nose—Apana; Mouth—Name; Tongue—Taste; Eye—Roopa(color): Ear—Sound; Mind—Desire; Hand—Action; Skin—Touch. Thus all these have been deified Atigrahas being the controllers of Grahas. Though the Indriya is called Graha, the objects of the senses (faculties) are more powerful than the Indriyas (sense organs).

The analogy of man’s constitution with the temple architecture is a favorite theme of many canonical texts as Sri-prasna, Vishnu Tantra, Silpa Ratna Vaatulaagama and Aparajita Silpa. The texts insist that the devotee must approach   the temple as if it were the body of the Divine. A prayer verse describes the imagery as follows: “Deho devaalayah prokto jeevo devassanaatanah”, the human body is said to be the temple and the individual Self, the eternal Lord. 

The Lord enshrined in the sanctum (Garbhagriha of the Hindu Temple) is the intelligent cause of creation.  The various structural components of the temple symbolize various limbs of the Lord as the material cause of the creation.  Vaastu Saastra such as Silparatnam and Aparajit priccha present the entire temple as the physical body of the deity for whom the temple is built. Vaastu texts visualize the sanctum as the head of the Lord; the tower above the sanctum as the braid of His hair; the Mandapams, the pavilions as His hands; and the gateway tower as his feet.  Agnipuraana, however, identifies the inner sanctum alone with the body of the Lord.

 It is interesting to note that the architectural  terms used in all the texts are the names of the human body; Paada=feet; Jaanu=knee; Janghaa=thigh; Kukshi=belly; Grieva=neck; Kandhara= shoulders; Naasika- nose; Mukha=face; Sirsaha=head; and so on, As a temple is laid out, it is said to picture a man lying own.  His feet connote the entrance-tower, his genital organs the flag-staff (dvaja stambha), his belly the assembly hall (ranga manddapa), his heart the porch (antaraala or sukanaasi), his head the sanctum, and the brows meet, the seat of the icon.

Vastu Purusha Mandala is the metaphysical plan of a temple incorporating course of the heavenly bodies and supernatural forces. This Mandala square is divided into (8×8 =64) 64 metaphysical grids / modules or pada for temples. (For dwelling places 9x9=81 metaphysical grids / modules or padas).  At this square  Vastu Purusha is shown lying with his chest, stomach and face touching on the ground - his head is shown at Ishanya (north-east) and his legs shown at Nairutya (south west).  The center point is known as Brahmasthana and at this vital energy point Lord Brahma presides over the temple site and protects it. 

The Tamil Saint Tirumular said "our body is a Temple”.   “The vastu-purusha-mandala represents the manifest form of the Cosmic Being; upon which the temple is built and in whom the temple rests. The temple is situated in Him, comes from Him, and is a manifestation of Him. The vastu-purusha-mandala is both the body of the Cosmic Being and a bodily device by which those who have the requisite knowledge attain the best results in temple building.” (Stella Kramrisch; The Hindu Temple, Vol. I)

Chakras are vital energy points (Kundalini energy) in the human anatomy, i.e. breath channels, or nadis, and the winds (vayus), that are centers of life force (prana), or vital energy. They include:  1. Muladhara, 2. Swadhisthana, 3. Manipura or manipuraka, 4. Anahata, Anahata-puri, or padma-sundara, 5. Vishuddha or Vishuddhi,   6. Ajna and 7. Sahasrara

According to Vastu Mandala Aajna is the sanctum. The vimanam and shikara forms the space element and the currents of life ascends through the 'Brahma-randra shila' or stone slab placed at 'griva' (neck) of the Vimana.  The finial of the Shikara of the Vimanam is the grid at which unseen Sahasrara is located.

In another account, the forehead of man is said to represent the sanctum, and top of head, the tower. The eye-brows is the seat of the icon. The icon is located in the Ajna (chakra) center. The finial tower is unseen above the head, in the Sahasraara region; and the womb of the sanctum at the tip of the nose.

Here is a more detailed scheme of a correspondence given in Silpa Sastra—Purusharupa of Aalaya Human form of temple;

Paadau paadasila tasya janghaa paadordhvamuchyate |
Garbhaischaivodaram  Jneyam katischa katimekhala || 1||
Sthambhaasva baahavo jneya ghantaa jihvaa prakeertitaa |
 Deepah praano asya vijneyo hyaapino jalanirgamah || 2 ||
Brahmstaanam yadetaaccha tannaabhih parikeetitah |
Paadachaarastvahankaaro jyotistvacchkshuruchyate || 3 ||
Taddoordhvam prakritistasya pratimaa-aatmaa smrito budhaih |
Nalakumbhaadayo dvaaram tasya prajananam smritam ||4 ||
Sukanaasa bhavennaasaa gavaakshah karna uchyate |
Kaayapaalee smritah skandho greevaa chaamalsaarikaa|| 5 ||
Kalasastu siro Jneyaa majjaaditmarasamyutam |
Medascha vasudhaa vidyaat pralepo maamsa uchyate || 6 ||
Astheeni silastasya snaayuhu keelaadayah smritaah |
chaksushee sikhaalayasya dwajaah kesaah  prakeertitaah |
Evam purusharoopam taddhyaatvaa cha manasaa sudheeh ||

Vaatulagama text provides a brief picture as follows:
Garbhagrihe sirah proktam sikhaa sikharmuchyate|
Naasikaa sukanasee syaadalaraalam galam smritam ||
Mantapam deha ityuktam praakaaraah kara uchyate|
Gopuram paada ityuktam devasthaanam prakathyate ||

Meaning: Garba-griham (main sanctum) is equated with human head; antarala (vestibule)   is equated with human neck; ardha - mantapam (half-hall) is compared with human chest; maha - mantapam (main hall) is equated with the stomach; flag-post is viewed along with human male organ; and gopuram or temple gateway tower is viewed along with human feet. There is yet another account which reckons the neck as the tower; the heart, according to this account is the porch where the devotee stands and looks at the icon.

The word "temple" as used in anatomy has a separate etymology from the word temple, meaning "place of worship". Both come from Latin, but the word for the place of worship comes from templum, whereas the word for the part of the head comes from Vulgar Latin *tempula, modified from tempora, plural form ("both temples") of tempus, a word that meant both "time" and the part of the head. Due to the common source with the word for time, the adjective for both is "temporal" (both "pertaining to time" and "pertaining to the anatomical temple").   King James Version of Bible says “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that Spirit   of God dwelleth in you”

We all know that our body is constituted with five elements as we are born by the Supreme   Will and therefore we say the human is Microcosm coming from the Macrocosm. It is therefore no wonder we pay our tribute to five element as we enter and leave the temple. Water constitutes the major portion around 70 %. Solid portions constitute earth made up of bones   muscles, metal element etc. that go back to earth when a person dies and the body is burnt or disintegrated. There is enough wind and space within the body for its survival.  Our body has   the mechanism for combustion through Jhataraagni (stomach fire) as I have explained before while describing Praanaahuti mantra, without which survival is not possible.  

Paying obeisance to Five Elements as Vyahrtis of Brahman
If you closely observe orthodox devotees visiting temple they take care to pay respect to Pancha bhootas or five elements of nature in their act of worship.  These five elements are often referred to as Vyaahritis or embodiment of   Brahman and so they are meditated upon as Brahman alone. Linga is worshiped as five elements in five famous temples in South India.  Orthodox Vaishanvites prostate before the flag-post with their eight body parts touching the soil and with folded hands called Sashtaanaga Namaskaaram. Then they touch the mother earth and place the little dust on their head. This is in veneration of Mother Earth (Prithvee), one of the elements.  As the devotee watches the Lord he receives the Aarati with respect and touches his eyes.  This is second obeisance to the element Fire (Agni) which he receives into his eyes. Then when the holy water is offered by the priest he first sprinkles a bit on his head; the next three little servings are consumed. This is his third obeisance to the element of water (Aapah). Then he circumambulates himself three times with folded hands. This is for paying obeisance to   the Self within (Aaatma Pradkshina). No prostration is done body touching the floor near the sanctum which is divine charged atmosphere to avoid pointing his feet towards some of the deities installed during Vaastu pooja. He then leaves the premises and takes a bigger circumambulation with folded palms (Namaskara Posture). He then feels the air (Vaayu) around, and in that posture pays obeisance to the fourth element Air. He then sits at the Northern end gazing at the cupola of the temple tower rising to great heights.  Here he pays his obeisance to the last element space (Aakaasa). He then leaves the temple premises chanting Om Namoh Naaraayana! This is his final obeisance to the Supreme Principle irrespective of whatever deity he might have worshiped. Thus his focus

Brahman and the five great elements in all his worship with which he brought us to this world and call back when we are refined or get rid of all Karmas!



It is worth recalling here the Vedic  Aachamana (Purification ritual) Mantra: “ Aardram  jwalati jyotiraham  asmi | jyotrirjwalati brahmaahamasmi | yo aham asmi brahma aham asmi | ahamevaaham maam juhomi swaaahaa // (MNU)
The self-effulgent   waters are luminous. Fire is luminous.   I am Brahman.  I who am such a one (different from body and others) am having Brahman as my Self.  Being of that form as I am, I offer myself as an oblation unto the Supreme Consciousness (prajnaanam  Brahma).

This Mantra is expounding that the Aatman is distinct and different from the body, the Indriyas  and others. It is a wonder that though it is wet it burns. This is suggestive of body having 70% water being reduced to ashes at the time of cremation. This mantra suggests offering back of the pure Self to its original master for getting rid of the sin of having stolen it.

The mantra quoted above from MNU is generally prescribed for chanting during Aachamana or sipping water in a specified way for ceremonious self-purification. This symbolic action consists in taking a very small quantity of water by the mouth which should not pass below the throat.  These few drops of water are considered as an oblation made to the deities dwelling in the body; for all the Gods dwell in man. Taittariya Samhita says “Brahmano vai sarvaa devataa”—The Braahmana (Brahmopaasaka) is all the Gods.  That is why we touch twelve parts of the  body identifying with 12 names of sustenance aspect of Brahman—Vishnu during Sandhyavandana ritual. 

The drop of water represents the finite Self. The fire in man (Jhataraagni) into which it is offered stands for the Supreme Light (light of all Lights), the Ground of all Gods. The Mantra, therefore, truly enunciates   the refunding of the individual Self into its source, the Supreme Self, or the realization of the identity between the Jeevaatma and Iswara when the clouds created by ignorance are removed.



 
REFERENCES:
1) Ramachandra Rao, S.K., Indian Temple Traditions, Kalpataru Research Academy,  Sharada Peetham, Bengaluru, India.
 2) Champakalakshmi, The Hindu Temple, Roli Books, New Delhi, India
3)  Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, Aspects of our Religion, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India.
4) Visweswarananda, Bhagavad Gita, Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India
5) Holy Bible, King James Edition
6) Annanta Rangacharya N.S., Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Bengaluru, India
7) Various Internet Sources
8) Swami Vimalananda, Mahanarayana Upanishad, Ramakrisna Math,  Chennai, India

APPENDIX
The Human and the Divine
Swami Chinmayananada’s speech to Alabama Students)
Our outer essence is human; our inner essence is divine. The human world is the desire world. The divine world is the aspiration world. In the desire world, when we get something we immediately cry out, "Eureka, I have found it! This is it." But in the divine world, when we get something we say to ourselves, "There is something else I need, something higher, deeper, more illumining and more fulfilling." This sense of dissatisfaction is not bad or un-divine. This  kind of dissatisfaction makes us feel that we are destined to grow into something infinitely higher than what we are now.
Human right and divine right--Human right tells us that we dare to defend our rights. This is the motto of the State of Alabama: "We dare defend our rights." Now why do we want to defend our rights? Because we feel that our skills and capacities are not properly appreciated and admired, that we are to some extent exploited. Therefore we feel that it is our bounden duty to defend our rights. The divine in us also tells us that we must dare to defend our rights. But in this case, it is our divine right to offer our inner message to the world at large, our divine right to tell ignorance that we belong to the Supreme alone. We are of the divine and we are for the divine. We cannot mix with ignorance and we must not allow ourselves to be devoured by ignorance. True, we have wallowed in the pleasures of ignorance for millennia. But that does not mean that we shall not exercise our divine right to go deep within and bring to the fore the Light infinite to inundate the world of suffering and darkness.
The human in us wants to discover if there is any Truth, Light and Divinity in others. It is in doubt whether others have these qualities. But the divine in us knows that Truth, Light and Divinity are everywhere. They are not the monopoly of any individual; everybody has deep within him Peace, Light and Bliss in infinite measure.
The human in us wants to see the face of reality, so that it can change the reality to suit its own desires. The divine in us wants to see the face of reality so it can grow into the very image of the transcendental Reality.
The human in us constantly cries for success, more success and abundant success. But the divine in us wants progress, constant progress, inner and outer. This progress is founded entirely upon self-giving, and self-giving is the precursor of God-becoming.
The human in us wants to possess the world so it can utilize the world in its own way. Alas, to its extreme sorrow it sees that before it possesses the world, the world has already possessed it mercilessly. The divine in us wants to offer its very existence to the world; it wants to illumine the world with its love and selfless dedication. Lo and behold, it sees that before it has illumined the world, the world has illumined it totally.
The human in us wants to realize God the Power so that it can lord it over the world. The divine in us needs the God who is All Good. The human in us prays to God and meditates on God and hopes to bring God down to satisfy its teeming desires. The human in us prays to God for its own satisfaction. But the divine in us prays and meditates so that God can utilize us in His own way, in a divine way, in a supreme way.
The human in us wants to move from the door of the body to the room of the soul. It wants to go from the body to the soul through the vital, the mind and the heart. The divine in us wants to do the same thing, but the other way around. It wants to go from the soul to the heart, from the heart to the mind, from the mind to the vital, from the vital to the body. The divine in us feels that since the soul has Light, we have to enter into the soul's room first and from there enter into the other rooms, which are obscure, unlit and un-divine.
When the human in us becomes sincere, we realize the undeniable fact that we need transformation: the transformation of the body, the transformation of the vital, the transformation of the mind and the transformation of the heart.
Right now, the body is constantly wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance, consciously and deliberately. But there shall come a time when this very body will try to aspire and try to serve the divine, here on earth and there in Heaven.
Right now, the vital in us is aggressive and destructive, but this very vital will one day aspire to become dynamic and progressive. Right now the vital in us will say, like Julius Caesar, "Veni, vidi, vici". I came, I saw, I conquered. But this same vital, when it gets illumination, will say, "I came into the world to love the world, to embrace the world, to become one with the world."
Right now, the mind in us suspects the world, judges the world and doubts the world. But the same mind, when it cries for illumination in the near or distant future, will realize that it has come into the world to perfect the world's ignorance and illumine others. But before it illumines others, it will feel the necessity of self-illumination; it will realize that its ability to perfect others entirely depends on its own perfection. So the mind will perfect itself first and then offer its perfection to the aspiring world.
Right now, the heart in us is insecure, weak and impotent. It sees the Vast, but it does not want to establish its inseparable oneness with the Vast, precisely because it is badly frightened. But when the human heart is transformed into the divine heart, it will throw open its door to the world at large and there all humanity will find a haven. The heart will become inseparably one with God's creation. By becoming one with God's entire creation, it will feel that it has fulfilled its promise to the soul and its mission on earth. Its promise was that it would receive the soul's light in boundless measure, and its mission was consciously to serve humanity with this light.
The soul, too, has made a promise, a promise to God and to man. To God, the soul has made the solemn promise that it will manifest divinity on earth; and to mankind, the soul has promised that it will liberate the body from the meshes of ignorance. Here 'body' means the body consciousness, which includes the physical, the vital, the mental and the psychic. The soul is bound to fulfil its promises to God and man.
Each human being becomes a conscious instrument of God when he enters sincerely into the spiritual life, the life of aspiration and dedication. Before that, he is in the world of ignorance, the world of sleep. But the impossibility which looms large in this human life need not and cannot forever remain with us. Our life of ignorance will eventually be transcended. Our essence, deep within us, is divine, and what we have within is bound to come to the fore at God's choice Hour.
The human in us wants to discover the Light; the divine in us wants to reveal the Light, which it feels it has always had. When the human in us aspires, it wants to grow and become. But the divine in us constantly knows that it eternally is.
The human in us will be fulfilled only when it consciously accepts the dictates of our inner divinity. The divine in us will fulfil itself only when it transforms, illumines and perfects the human in us. By the transformation of the human in us and the manifestation of the divine in us, we grow into perfect Perfection.
The human in us prays:
Hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam mukham
Tat tvam pusan apavrinu satyadharmaya dristaye
The Face of Truth is covered
with a brilliant golden orb.
Remove it, O Sun, so that I
who am devoted to the Truth
may behold the Truth.
The progressive divine in us says:
Veda-aham-etam purusham mahaantam
Aditya varnam tamasah parastat
 ||  (Purushasookta)
I have known this Great Being, effulgent as the sun beyond the boundaries of tenebrous gloom.
And the Transcendental, the all-pervading Divine in us, says: He the Absolute and we the aspiring consciousness are inseparably one.