Dr. Devdas Menon/
Dr. Sukumar Canada
SamOur goal in Sarika life journey is also in speech. The reason we have this perspective is because our senses, eyes, ears, etc. are always facing outwards. Feeling that we find happiness in external things, the mind and intellect instinctively look outward.
Although the Supreme Soul is omnipresent and the same in all living and non-living things, we can easily find it in our inner soul. That is what is called self-realization. One finds one’s happiness and fulfillment within oneself, not externally. Yamadeva said that we can experience the world only at the level of our mind. Atman, our goal, is not something to be sought and found externally, but the Self that is within us. So the spiritual journey to salvation is not a pilgrimage to some distant holy place, but this journey of wisdom is actually an inner journey.
Gurudev nodded his head in agreement and said, ‘That’s right, spirituality is a journey within ourselves. Each step on this journey can be said to be a deep insight into ourselves. First the sadhaka realizes that the world that we perceive through the five senses, which we see outwardly, is actually only a glimpse, felt, and manifested within our mind. The senses are subtler than external material objects, and the mind is subtler than the senses. More subtle than the intellect.’
Gurudev stopped and started again. ‘But material objects, including our bodies, are all densely condensed aggregates of five elements. It is the creation of God. Subtler than the dense panchabhutas, the unadulterated pure panchabhutas are sky, air, fire, water, and earth. It is these Shuddha Panchabhutas that produce the mind and intellect. When this entire physical universe is combined, it becomes the universal form of God. Similarly, if all the mind and intelligence in the universe are combined, it becomes the universal mind. The progression from the individual perspective to the worldview is very important in the spiritual quest. The practitioner discovers the Universal Mind beyond the limited mental power of the individual. Realizing. At this level the state of the practitioner is almost equivalent to dormancy. Then, if there is any remaining of distinct individual impressions, that too ceases, and even the subtle mind becomes valuable.’
I closed my eyes and tried to imitate this spiritual journey within. The Guru’s presence also supported my own spiritual journey. When all forms of name have disappeared, only blissful, infinite, limitless, pure emptiness remains.
When I came out of that stupor, Gurudev said: ‘What you have experienced is an unmanifest, abstract level. It is subtler than the universal mind. That is the origin of all manifest forms. It is the great ocean of God. The ultimate cause, the cause of all things. The root of the Kaladesadis.’
