Acharya Mahaprajna
The Art & Science Of Living
Chapter 3.
Truth Of Life
21
Development And Demonstration Of Power
[The fourth state of life is from thirty-one to forty years of age. In this state, power is fully developed and man is inclined to demonstrate the use of power. Power can be demonstrated in a constructive or destructive direction. The third eye should be awakened to demonstrate a power constructively and creatively.
There are three kinds of lustre - the lustre of the sun, the lustre of the eye and the lustre of the third eye. These three lustres together give bliss and the constructive use of power.
The practice of Prekshadhyana results in the awakening of the third eye, bliss and good health follow, thereby promoting positive and constructive use and demonstration of power.]
The fourth stage of life extends from thirty one to forty years of age. In this stage of life, the complete development and demonstration of power takes place. A man of thirty-two years is considered young. In this state, the power of development is at its pinnacle, and man is fully capable of demonstrating and using his power. The development and accumulation of power is necessary but the time and the quantum of demonstration of power has to be carefully decided, whether it is to be done or not, if it is to be done then in which direction? These are all highly relevant issues.
Nowadays, power is demonstrated in different channels like wrestling and sports, which are socially approved. A robber, thief and murderer also demonstrates his power but it is not socially acceptable. A weak person cannot do the above said acts as he has no power. The demonstration of power, which is beneficial, should be socially acceptable, for if it does not benefit either individual or society, it is always detrimental.
A few opium-addicted travellers came to a village and stayed there overnight. There were plenty of mosquitoes in that village which troubled them a great deal. They had rifles with them, they were intoxicated by the opium and their armaments. They thought of fighting the mosquitoes with their rifles. One of them shot at the mosquito sitting on the neck of his partner. The bullet hit his partner's neck and consequently the mosquito and his partner died. Other travellers inquired, "How was the fight?" He said, "The fight was equal, the opponents lost one mosquito and we also lost one of our partners!"
A fool always demonstrates and uses his power in the wrong direction. The impulses of ego, stupidity and obstinacy actually provoke the demonstration of power for destruction. Power in itself is not wrong, yet its implementation may become destructive. In the fourth state of life, the third eye has to be fully awake to discriminate between the constructive or destructive uses of power. The maximum use of power can occur in the fourth state (31-40 yrs) only, not at the age of twenty or seventy years.
Power can either be used for destruction or for creation. In case power is used for destruction, exploitation and oppression then that power can create havoc. A destructive person has negative thoughts and remains surrounded by destructive alternatives. When someone uses power for construction and creation then his thinking becomes healthy, generous and beneficial.
Here arises the question of who can protect others. How can those who cannot protect themselves, protect others? One can protect others only if one is capable of protecting one's own self. The protection is actually the protection of the self. The protection of self means to protect our conduct, senses and mind, and control our tendencies. Such a person will bear the trouble alone but he will never oppress others. A person conscious of spirituality is awakened, he will never trouble and exploit others. There are some animals also, whose self-knowledge is awakened, they too never trouble and harm others.
There is a story from Gyatadharmkatha (a Jain text). Yuthpati made a safe place in a deep forest for the protection of his large elephant family. The place was very big and thousands of animals could live there safely. There was no possibility of fire there. One day, a wildfire spread. There was panic in the whole forest; all the animals started rushing towards that protected place. Yuthpati also arrived with his whole family. The place was overcrowded. He lifted one of his legs to scratch it. The vacant place, created by the lifting of the leg of Yuthpati, was occupied by a rabbit. When he tried to put his leg back in its place, he saw a rabbit sitting there. He felt compassionate and so he suffered in silence. He thought that instead of creating trouble for the rabbit, he should keep his leg hanging. When the third eye awakens in someone, then he will not trouble others at all. One who protects his soul is the one who can protect others.
The basic philosophy of Prekshadhyana is the protection of the soul, which means to keep ourselves away from evils, ill thoughts and bad feelings. In that mental condition, a power develops to never harm others. We have to develop that power, which elevates, helps others and endows knowledge in our life. We have to deny and discourage the development of that power which harms others and fills our life with darkness and ignorance.
There are basically three highly valuable representatives of life namely, light of the third eye, bliss and health. We should organise our power in such a way that we accomplish all the above said factors in life. One who has no light of wisdom can neither avail of good health nor bliss in his life. The eyes are a symbol of light, and for one, who has no eyes, the whole world is full of darkness and ignorance and all materials are superfluous for him.
Light is essential. There is the light of the self and the other light is that of the sun. In case both are present and the lustre of the third eye is absent then these lights become redundant. The lustre of the third eye must be developed. A thief stole a basket of ornaments. The owner enquired about the theft from the guard. The guard said, "I know that the thief has taken away the basket of ornaments as I was awake at that time. I did not stop the thief as the box was locked and its key was with you. I thought that the thief would surely come back to take the key of that box and then I would catch him." Such is the act without wisdom.
A person whose third eye is not manifested takes wrong decisions. It is very difficult to achieve happiness in life. Though man collects materials for his comforts, it is not within his control to be happy. Generally the affluent class have no dearth of material comforts but there are few who really feel happy. Most of them suffer tensions and sorrows. They are not contented with what they have. They always continue to be unhappy, contemplating upon what they don't have. That is why, they continuously go on amassing material wealth and comforts and in this process, they never enjoy the available comforts, but remain ever tense, restless and unhappy throughout their life. The sorrow of negativism always grips them and troubles them. There is no happiness and contentment with the available resources but there is sorrow due to what they don't have. Man is inclined to compare himself materially with respect to others. He never views himself with respect to his self. He calculates his wealth and prosperity with respect to others.
Shekhsadi was a great hermit. He saw a beggar sitting on the way. He found him quite happy and fulfilled. The beggar's face had no sign of the slightest worry. Observing the beggar, he contemplated upon his own self and thought, "In spite of being a saint and thinker, I remain gloomy throughout the day. And this beggar is fully contented despite leading a materially bankrupt life, even deprived of the bare necessities of life. Furthermore, he is disabled also, as he does not have legs. Still he is happy and contented. I have almost everything with me and still I am unhappy, whereas this beggar has nothing with him, not even his own legs and yet he is happy. What is the secret?"
Shekhsadi went to the beggar and asked, "You are so deprived, how are you still happy?" The beggar said, "I have learnt a beautiful philosophy of life, of never brooding over the negative of life. I always thank God who has blessed me with a healthy mind. I remain happy because of my healthy mind and never feel sad at not having legs."
Shekhsadi grasped the secret of his happiness.
There are two kinds of people, the one who keeps focusing on what he does not have and the other who keeps focusing on what he has. People, who keep brooding over what they don't have, remain ever unhappy despite having uncountable assets and prosperity. They are called pessimists. People who count their blessings always remain happy and blissful in spite of having nothing with them materially. They are called optimists. Human psychology has categorised people into pessimists and optimists.
Nowadays pessimists are in abundance. A person with wealth worth millions of rupees may compare himself with a person who is wealthier, and he thinks that he too needs more. Thereafter, he keeps accumulating wealth at the cost of happiness. Similarly, the person with more wealth keeps worrying and comparing himself with another who is better off materialistically. In this process, he remains worried, restless, and unhappy. So when a man broods over what he does not have with him, then even God cannot remove his unhappiness. Bliss is experienced by the one only, who rejoices in what he has got and never worries over what he has not. A person whose mind is full of lustre, will never brood over what he has not, remaining ever satisfied, fulfilled and blissful with what he has.Once Acharya asked one of his disciples, "When you wander for alms in the town and people start abusing you, then what will you do?" The disciple replied, "I shall think that they have only abused me, at least they have not beaten me.? Acharya again said, "If they beat you then what will you do?" The disciple said, "I shall think that they have only beaten me, at least they did not break my hands and legs." Acharya again asked, "If they break your limbs, then what will you do"? The disciple responded, "I shall think that they have just broken my limbs, at least they did not kill me." Acharya once again asked, "If they attempt to kill you, what will you do"? The disciple replied, "I shall think that they are just taking my life but at least they are not robbing me off my Dharma."
This is purely emotional thinking. One who always practises emotional thinking safeguards his bliss. But it is a difficult act. Pure emotional thinking transpires only when our third eye is illuminated. Generally people believe and are guided by the dictum, 'Tit for tat*. They believe in abusing ten times in response to being abused even once.
Unfortunately, one hardly thinks of not reacting in the same way and realise the importance of non-abuse. It is enjoyable and blissful to pursue the right view, but commonly man tends to think negatively. Right view emerges from the opening of the third eye. There are basically three kinds of light namely the light of the sun, the light of the eyes and the light of the third eye. The light of the sun alone is not effective, as without the light of the eyes you cannot see it. Even if you have both the light of the eyes and the light of the sun, you cannot form the right view without the light of the third eye. So all the three lights are imperative. This is the trinity of the lights. The activity of these lights creates a life of bliss. Only people who have the lights and the bliss can use this power creatively and constructively.
The fourth state of life (31 to 40 yrs. of age) is one of power demonstration. In this age, parents or guardians have to carefully look after their subordinates, children and disciples. It is to ensure that their direction of power demonstration is constructive. In this age, power is at its pinnacle. When power develops to its peak then its capacity becomes immense, unlimited. When water turns into vapour, then it is difficult to assess its power. In the ordinary phase, air has normal power but in the form of a cyclone or a storm, it develops into a huge energy. As long as one's power is not properly organised, it is likely to create madness, passion and destruction. It is important to organize and use our power constructively in this state of life. But unfortunately, everyone is instinctively inclined to misuse this power. Those who understand the importance and secret of Prekshadhyana use the power for the benefit of mankind.
Preksha means to perceive with piousness, beyond designations. It is really difficulty to perceive pure consciousness. A yogi went to meet his sadhika (a woman pursuing the spiritual path) sister at her house. She was taking a bath at that time. The yogi opened the door and shut it immediately. He met the sister after she had taken the bath. The sister asked, "You had opened the door, then why did you go back?" The yogi said, "At that time you were taking a bath and you were naked. How could I stay back?" The sadhika said, "You are an accomplished saint. Do you still hold the difference between woman and man? It means you have not yet achieved perfection."
It is difficult to dissolve this difference. The rays of our emotions surround the rays, which emerge from the power of the eyeball. Emotions are of two types, one associated with our likes and the other associated with our dislikes. In that condition, the real light never comes out of the eyeball. Initially, the light of our emotion comes out, and then the real light follows. That is why we see every object in the light of our emotions. We see the actual element in a perverted form. It is difficult to develop far sight and profound insight.
In the fourth chapter of life, one has to be fully awake, for proper organisation of power. In this context, one must seriously think of attending the meditation camp at least once before the age of thirty-one years so that the power is used properly and life becomes successful and blissful. Those who are pursuing the demonstration of animal power (negative and destructive power) can never progress successfully and creatively in life. In contrast, people who are able to enhance the power of their soul, will lead a meaningful life. In due course, they will also be enlightened.