Central Chronicle
Tuesday August 21, 2007
Whenever the demand comes from the world of pudgal, we must have the discriminatory power to discern, which demand to fulfil and which to ignore.
The material world does not overwhelm a person who has this discriminatory power
Acharya Mahaprajna
There is a question: 'Why is there any need for Sadhana (Spiritual practice)? Our sense organs are healthy, our mental faculty and intellect are functioning well. Our home is equipped with all comforts, why, then, is there a need to do sadhana?' We need to ponder deeply to get the answer to this question.
Life is a battle. A person struggles to live. This struggle sometimes takes place in the external world, but it goes on continuously, day & night in the inner world. There are two fundamental entities in the world - sentient and non-sentient. One is the soul and the other is the matter or pudgal. There is a constant struggle between soul and pudgal. The soul wishes to retain its form but the gross material world does not allow it to do so. Pudgal has been so built that it pulls the soul towards itself. Acharya Pujapada wrote very beautifully: 'Pudgal is satisfied with pudgal (matter).' The physical body is made up of pudgal. So it is appeased with just pudgal. It needs food, water and other things besides these. The body is a cause of discomfort when its expectations and desires are not fulfilled. Accordingly, we can say that pudgal is satisfied with pudgal, consciousness is content with consciousness and soul is pleased with the soul. Pudgal attracts consciousness but consciousness wants to stay away from it. The struggle between consciousness & pudgal takes place constantly.
In this struggle, the person who ignores or neglects the demands of pudgal wins. It is thus a question of losing and winning. A person, who fulfils the demands of matter, loses. The person who does not fulfil the demands of matter but goes against the tide emerges as a winner. If we keep on fulfilling the demands of the material world of pudgala, it means we flow along with them. In this stage, we accept defeat in the world of consciousness. Whenever the demand comes from the world of pudgal, we must have the discriminatory power to discern which demand to fulfil and which to ignore. The material world does not overwhelm a person who has this discriminatory power. However, our entire behaviour is influenced by pudgal. We take the help of pudgal for all necessary functions like eating, speaking, thinking, living, etc. our world has become so grossly materialistic that the concept of atheism has come into vogue.
One who believes in the soul and Paramatma (Liberated Soul) is called a theist. A person who does not believe in the doctrines of soul, Paramatma and rebirth is called an atheist. If any one were to ask me who of these two modes of thought is simpler and more natural, I would answer: "Atheism." An atheist does not need to do anything, but theists have to face many difficulties because the soul is incorporeal, invisible and difficult to reach. It is difficult to prove the existence of an incorporeal element. The elements, which are corporeal and visible, are evident. Because there is no difficulty for atheists, voluminous literature has not emerged on the philosophy of atheism. But innumerable volumes have been written to prove the existence of the soul. The struggle is not between the doctrine of atheism and theism, but is in the realm of philosophy too. Struggle is thus intrinsic to every human being.
In the beginning of this chapter, I raised a question - "Why does a man do sadhana? Why does he attend meditation camps & why does he waste his precious time for ten days?" The answer to these questions would be: One who wants to be a victor practices sadhana! The loser does not need to put in any effort to practice sadhana. He can merrily enjoy life by eating, drinking, sleeping, having fun and finally ending this play of life. He does not need to put in so much effort. One who wants to be a winner in the struggle must be self-aware and practice austerities, meditation and self-introspection, etc.
Many years ago, I had written an article that was published in the magazine 'Kadambini'. It provoked a lot of discussion. I wrote: "Hunger is natural but fasting is not. Anger is natural but not forgiveness, sexual desire is natural but not celibacy." It became a big issue. But can we ponder whether these are not natural for living beings in the gross world (of pudgal)?
Eating, drinking, sleeping and having sex are all natural instincts. To get angry is also natural. An administrator once said-'if we don't get angry, our administration will not run.' Anger is considered be a natural instinct. Forgiveness needs to be cultivated. No one advises you to get angry but for the development of forgiveness, many camps and workshop have been held. We have never heard about any camps or workshops that teach us how to get angry. Yet every one gets angry. Even a small child knows how to get angry.
This is a tricky issue - we want to give up that which is natural, & we want to cultivate that which is unnatural. This is precisely where the struggle lies. If we accept what is natural, then there is no conflict at all. There is no need for any practice.