We should attempt the Finite for the Infinite

This sentence from the message of the Master Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj titled “Dynamic path of Rajayoga“ delivered at Bangalore on 23/12/64 covers a very vital aspect of the sadhana in Pranahuti Aided Meditation. It may be considered as the summary of the entire philosophy of Pranahuti Aided Meditation in one sentence. This may be treated as an aphorism similar to Vedanta sutras.

In fact the whole message raises many aspects of the problem that we face in life and identifies and gives solution to them. Before we discuss the meaning and relevance of this sentence, it is necessary to know clearly the problem that is being addressed by the Master. In the beginning of this message Master stated

a. “Our ancients, when they peeped into it went direct to find the ultimate cause of the world, the relation between man and God and static and dynamic values of things representing Nature.”

b. He further stated “They even went beyond everything, which has resulted in the discovery of some movements being the cause of all existence. When we go to this extent, we find the Centre and its region giving us the knowledge of their existence”.

c. Further he made a statement “We see everything tending towards the Centre and the Centre itself yawning towards the circumference.”

d. Continuing he stated “After our adventure, we initiated the value of our existence and felt the co operation of the highest power around us.”

e. Continuing in the same vein he asserted that this has resulted in our knowing the main theme that is being played.

f. Then he announces how the Central region was opened up by our gradually knowing the function of the movement of the human body.”

g. He avers that “When we visualised ourselves we found that man is an epitome of the universe. This added to our advancement and we have begun to study our own centres, their motions and work and the functions of the human body.”

h. He informs us that “… owing to the sacred pledge of our ancients we avoid it (destructive purposes) and we utilise the power for the transformation of man.

i. He states later in the message that “When we peep into ourselves with this idea we find the higher centres focussing into our centres, but due to our wrong thinking and doings the effect is not coming in at all.”

j. He specifies the problem by stating “Thus spirituality is attacked by many of us giving examples of the present day civilisations and of those who have gone with unlimited pace of materialism making themselves as limited because they attempt for only the finite and afterwards they fall off. The idea should be to proceed from the finite to the infinite. It should be the idea that we should also make the finite to be merged into the infinite.”

k. He raising the point “what is finiteness” clarifies that “the centre in us has lost the capacity of grasping the Infinite.” Thus he asserts that once we gain the capacity to know our own Infiniteness the problem is solved.

l. Raising the issue as to how this can be rectified he asserts that by adopting “only those (methods) which introduce from the very beginning the character of the Infinite.”

m. He asserts that “This can be best introduced by those who have imbibed the real characteristic within their own centres; who know how to draw in the power and piety from the higher centres to the lower ones and who can transmit the effect into the abhyasi so that they may adopt the same character.

He pleads with us to ponder over this. We find here the seeds of the system of PAM sown deep and firm. It is necessary that we understand what we mean by the words ‘finite’ and ‘infinite’. At this point of time as far as I know we really do not understand either of the terms and scientists and cosmologists are deeply engaged in educated guesses, arguments, complex calculations, construction of models and invention and revision of theories and speculations. The cosmologists are definitely undecided and there is no consensus.

The problem stated from one of the points of theory of numbers in mathematics may be stated as

n. There is an infinite number of even numbers.

o. There is also an infinite number of odd numbers.

p. There is also an infinite number of natural numbers.

Now, are these three infinites the same or the group in c more than the other two infinites. This problem was stated by Galileo and I presented it as I understood the problem- I am no mathematician as you all know. There are many other classical paradoxes of the infinite. But Galileo's is enough for our discussion. The infinite has been a perennial source of mathematical and philosophical wonder, in part because of its enormity: anything large is grand, and provokes awe and contemplation and in part because of the paradoxes like Galileo's. Infinity seems impossible to tame intellectually, and to bring within the confines of human understanding.This problem or similar problems of metaphysics and physics and mathematics is not what Master is talking about. I understand that Master was taking the simple position that ‘finite’ means human being along with all that is created and ‘infinite’ means God the power behind everything.

The concept of God asserts that God is the power behind all existence. God is at once finite and infinite. He is space and as such he is measured. He is beyond space and therefore he is measureless. He is boundless. He is infinite. God is infinite Consciousness, infinite Bliss, yet he can also assume a finite form. He is infinite, He is finite; and at the same time He transcends both the infinite and the finite. He is life, He is death; yet again He is beyond both life and death. God is boundless and in the field of manifestation He takes all forms, from that of a tiny insect to that of a large elephant. Many people cannot agree with the idea that God can be finite. But if he cannot be finite there is a limitation on him that he cannot be a finite and that would be blemish.

But let us think of one of God’s divine qualities called Omnipresence. According to our human feeling, when we think of Omnipresence we immediately think of vastness. True, He is as vast as the world, but because He is in everything, God can also be finite. Again, God is omnipotent. Where is His Omnipotence if He cannot become a small child, a tiny insect or an atom? He can be vast, He can be infinitesimal.

There is a peculiar problem God has. He cannot perceive. He knows but does not know that he knows, in fact he knows but there is no “he” to know. This is what Master said when he said that God has no mind. It is we the Homosapiens that provide all the senses to him; with our exquisitely developed powers of cognition and cognitive perception we lend him with our capacity to question and understand, to reflect. It is because we and not God are Homosapiens, the creatures that do know and know that they know. This is the reason why God cannot do anything on his own and he has to depend on the humans to express him. This is an interdependency that is absolute and neither the human nor the God can manage without each other.

If God is having no mind, obviously he can have no will. Then what does it mean when we say that our will must be in consonance with the will of God? God is pure and simple consciousness and its main characteristic is to remain balanced and be equanimous or as we understand being a Samavarthi. He is by himself nothing and is totally ignorant. When we move towards the Centre and dwell in that region it is Ignorance that reigns and knowledge per se is not there. This is also the condition of Sahaj Samadhi where every action is automatic and there is no premeditated will that works. In the case of human beings perfect Sahaj Samadhi may be a far off thing but in the case of God that is his natural and permanent condition. This Balancedness carries along with it the criteria of Rtam or order. There is an inviolable order in the entire realm of the Divine which includes everything. This is also the nature of Nature and that is why we many times use it as a synonym with that of God. Balance is the condition of Nature and to be in that condition is the call of the Commandment 4 of the Master.

As human beings we are evolving towards our immanent and transcendental Perfection. We are aspiring towards the infinite while being in the finite. Right now, we feel that this is God’s creation, but we think that God has His own separate existence. But this feeling is wrong. Just as the soul is inside our body, God is inside His creation. Otherwise the creation cannot exist. When the soul leaves the body, we will die. Similarly, if God left the creation, the creation would also come to an end. God the infinite has entered into us, into these finite bodies, which last for a finite number of years.

The Infinite gets the greatest joy only by making itself finite as well. We have to know, we have to feel and we have to realise this for ourselves; only then will we see God in His creation. Otherwise, we will think that God is in Heaven and, although we are His creation, we have no connection with Him. This is crucial to understand the concept of the inherence of the Divine in human and work towards the realisation of the Divine. This is basic to understand the concept of Antaryamin or Dahara Vidya. That is the reason why we meditate on the Divine in the heart.

Finite and Infinite, according to our outer understanding, are opposites of each other. But in God’s Eye they are one; one complements the other. The finite and the infinite always want to go together. The finite wants to reach the Absolute, the Highest, which is the Infinite. The Infinite wants to manifest itself in and through the finite. This is what Master has stated even as mentioned in sub-paragraphs “a – m”.

Without this mutual interdependency there will be no true joy, no achievement, and no fulfilment. In and through the finite, the Infinite is singing its song of unity. In and through the Infinite, the finite is singing its song of multiplicity. However it is essential to note that the finite is always separative and the Infinite always integrative. The Infinite always includes all the finites but whether the finites integrate into the Infinite is by option of the finite. Master in his message on Unity stated “There is no question of separation. We are coming closer and closer. This is a message for all.” This is the crux of spiritual education.

God is everything, but each person or a finite being has to feel for himself what God is for him. He can be infinite Light, infinite Consciousness, infinite Power, infinite Joy, infinite Bliss, infinite Compassion, infinite Strength, infinite Knowledge and infinite Energy.

It cannot be stressed too often that it is truth of the teaching which is all-important, and never the personality of the teacher. This is why Master said that the Master, the method and the mission are to be relied upon. It is important to remember that the true teacher is the spokesman of the truth. All the masters, in fact are the emanation of this truth, appearing in countless skillful, compassionate guises in order to guide us through their teachings, back to our true nature. At first then, more important than finding the teacher, is making a connection with the truth of the teaching, for it is through making a connection with the truth of the teaching that we discover our living connection with a master. The need for educating people in this path of Grace is paramount. This is the logic of the ISRC as we all know.

How can we regain the capacity of grasping the infinite is the question of all serious aspirants, we know our thinking is limited or finite; our awareness of our existence is narrow and restricted. We seem to understand the need to think broad but find it very difficult to do so. We have a glorious mind yet we find it difficult to reflect the glory of God. We seem to be not capable of even thinking that our mind is really pure thanks to our indoctrination into the material and self centred life patterns.

Why is it that people should find it so difficult even to conceive the depth and glory of the nature of mind? Why does it seem to many such an outlandish and improbable idea? The teachings of the Masters speak of four faults, which prevent us from realizing the nature of mind:

a. The nature of minds is too close to be recognized. Just as we are unable to see our own face, mind finds it difficult to look into its own nature.

b. It is too profound for us to fathom. We have no idea how deep it could be; if we did, we would have already, to a certain extent, realized it.

c. It is too easy for us to believe than to think.

d. It is too wonderful for us to accommodate. The sheer immensity of it is too vast to fit into our narrow way of thinking. We just can't believe it. Nor can we possibly imagine that enlightenment is the real nature of our minds.

When one past thought has ceased and a future thought has not yet arisen, in that gap, in between, there is a consciousness of the present moment; fresh, virgin, unaltered by even a hair's breadth of concept, a luminous, naked awareness. That is what we Imperience. Yet it does not stay in that state forever, because another thought suddenly arises. This is the nature of mind. However if we do not recognize this thought for what it really is, the very instant it arises, then it will turn into just another ordinary thought, as before. This is the cause of delusion and is the root of all bondage. If we are able to recognize the true nature of the thought as soon as it arises, and leave it alone without any follow up, then whatever thoughts that arise all automatically dissolve back into the vast expanse of Void and we feel we are liberated. This is the exact reason why Master asks us to ignore the thoughts during meditation.

We however know that it is always not that easy to ignore the thoughts that crop up during meditation and at other times. The answer of Lord Krishna that it is possible to control mind by practice and renunciation is not all that easily practicable for the common man. Here comes the need for help from another person who has controlled his senses and mind. This is what was stated by the Master as can be seen from sub-para ‘m’ above. The most interesting aspect of this is a ‘finite’ helping another ‘finite’ to know the Infinite. Thus we start from the finite and move on towards the Infinite. The various attitudes and approaches to sadhana have been dealt in detail in our literature and here we need not go into those details. Most importantly with this approach we develop one of the noblest qualities namely ‘humility’ which paves the path towards our perfection.

Awareness of the various powers in the human frame and utilisation of those powers are two different things. The materialistic approach tries to use, misuse and abuse these powers for petty purposes refusing to acknowledge that those powers are provided to us by Nature for the purposes of Nature. When we utilise these powers located mostly in the Pind desh we become highly isolated and insulated to achieve our wants and desires. But these very centres when brought under the control of the higher centres serve the purpose of Nature and are of common good. Therefore there is need to make this ‘finite’ pind desh glittering first so that it can be surrendered to the ‘Infinite’ for utilisation for global and cosmic good. Master says that “Research is necessary to know all these things for the common good of mankind.” That is an indication of the hard work we need to do in this field of spirituality.

In Pind desh the logic is of separation and individuation.Separation has been the theme of consciousness on Earth for thousands of years. We have separated into tribes, then countries and empires. We have separated, or divided, ourselves by race, sex and religion. We have even separated our own consciousness further from its source, focusing it firmly in the external world and away from the light within. Intuition and the inner aspects of the five senses have been largely ignored in order to focus upon the game of living, and the game plan has revolved around separation.

We have even been separated from the records of our experiences over the countless millennia prior to current, recorded history. In this materially-focused world of separation, we do not even know who we are as a human race, where we came from, or how we came to be living on this one small planet within the vastness of the universe. For most of today's population, it is just easier to avoid such haunting questions by thinking of ourselves as being alone in the universe.

However even as Masters plan and execute there is a change that allows the human race to set sail in the direction of integration, where we will find answers to these and many other vital questions. The universal theme that is being played on Earth today is shifting from one of separation to one of inner integration. Integration basically means people learning how to love themselves and how to love others. Integration invokes a sense of wholeness. An integrated self no longer has the opposing parts which foster the inner tensions that promote a lack of self-love and self-acceptance.

As Dr. K.C.Varadachari stated “the integral view severs nothing, annuls nothing; it restores to unity the divided both in the organic (Pind) as well as in the cosmic.(Brahmand) Perhaps it discovers that the organic itself is an inherent form of the Cosmic or Transcosmic (Para Brahmand), and as such analogies of the organic are not un-germane to the Transcosmic itself.” (Complete works of Dr.K.C.Varadachari vol II p.548) Integral wisdom we should remind ourselves is not just adding up or a total of all that is but that in which each and every finite has a role to play which in no way is less significant than the rest. Such wisdom is possible only through the process of co- ordination and mutuality and love.

When people (finites) love and accept themselves, they can love and accept others unconditionally. This opens the door for the further development of an inner sense of the connectedness of all life. Other people can then be seen as simply other parts or expressions of the same fundamental Infinite Being. All people are seen as one, with the universe within us, and not something separate that is outside of us. Opposites do still exist in a world of integration, the opposite sex, the opposite poles of a battery, the opposite sides of a coin; but these all complement each other rather than causing a sense of division. Our Master uses the concept of a magnetic field in a dynamo where it is the coordinated and integrative interaction of the opposite poles create the initial impulses for the whole of universe. This is an area of research that scientists may explore.

As our sense of inner integration continues to develop throughout, we find that our previously separate compartments of consciousness begin to join together. The subconscious, conscious and super-conscious minds only have to function separately during times when the issue of separation is being explored. But in Pranahuti Aided Meditation since we invoke the influx of the power from the Centre which flows down through the different cosmic and universal dimensions located in the human frame and finally reach the heart the process of integration gets completed. Intuition and conscious telepathy become progressively easier to develop. But purity of intention and dedication to the well being of the Universal are prerequisites for this. Integration is by itself a darsana. With it, we see life as a harmonious and complementary variety of thought, feeling and action. Such a complementary, coordinated, cooperative and harmonious feeling among the people (finites) is best called as Love. In contrast to the emotional relationship between a man and a woman, divine love is a luminous pool of light and not a beam focused on one object at a time. And that is the basis of all service. Such a service brings us to the feeling expressed by Master that “We are united in the common cause keeping towards proper order the good of man and humanity.”

Unconditional, holistic love is the answer to all of life's challenges. We are here on Earth to learn how to meaningfully integrate ourselves with all that is in Nature. We are here to accept ourselves and others completely, and without judgment. One may ask whether we are supposed to love someone who is determined to be non-loving. The secret here is that there is a difference between an acceptance of the outer belief systems of a person and an acceptance of his inner essence. Regardless of that person's outward belief system, and whether we agree with it or not, it is the inner essence of the person that we learn to recognize, love, accept and integrate with. It is such a love of all that is the basis of the prayer that we are asked to make at 9 P.M.

The Masters method in this regard reveals a secret that unconditional love will heal the world, and there is no shortage of its supply. The universe is permeated and held together by the love aspect of the one Master. The universe was created by three fundamental aspects of original consciousness Will, Love and Action. Love is the medium that fills the entire universe, while the Will of the Master holds that universe together within its embrace. Love is not something that we generate. It is something that we allow to flow through us. We have only to allow it to flow in order to experience its wonder. Every part of space, every part of matter and every part of our being is filled with the love of Master. Master stated that “Love is the inner awakening to Reality.” Such an awakening to the Reality is possible only through the service to the finite. That is why we are told that “we should attempt the finite for the Infinite.”