Acharya Mahaprajna
We have set out in search of truth. The highest goal of human life is - he discovery of truth. In the entire animate world, man is the only living being who can discover the truth. All other living beings, whether animals, birds or gods, are incapable of discovering it. No other living creature has such a developed brain, such mature complexes and centres of transcendental knowledge as man has. Thus, man alone is capable of discovering the truth. It is good for us to grasp this fact, to recognize the significance of being born a man, to perceive clearly the quintessence of human life, which is the search for truth and its attainment.
Lord Mahavira said,
"Seek the truth on your own"
We have gathered here to seek the truth. We seek to know the truth and to know ourselves. It is not that one man seeks the truth and the other makes use of it. In the scientific world, of course, one person makes a discovery and the whole world derives benefit there from, but the world of spirituality is altogether different. In this world only the man who seeks the truth, can profit from it. Only those who seek the truth shall find it. Those who do not - will never find it. Those who seek the truth shall profit from it; the non-seekers can derive no benefit there from. The researches carried out in the field of spirituality, the discoveries made by transcendental men, what they perceived, what they found and experienced for themselves, have been communicated by them to others. Others listened and profited from those discoveries, but they could not derive full benefit there from. They put those discoveries to use, but they could not exploit them fully. The transcendental sadhaks presented before others the truth they had realized for themselves, but such a presentation could not awaken in others a similar realization. The truth received through the medium of speech remained 'heard knowledge' - the intellect and intelligence grasped it - but it could not become 'realized truth' only when the hearers seek truth on their own, and attain it for themselves. Before that, nothing materializes.
Hearing the truth is not altogether vain; 'heard knowledge' helps create the right background for the discovery of truth. But that background remains a mere background until the sadhak, using it as his base, advances further on the path of truth. Until the sadhak realizes the truth on the experimental level, he cannot say, 'This is the truth. I have experienced it for myself." Until then he merely appeals in the name of others. What he presents is borrowed truth. He can only say - this is the truth laid down in the agamas, in the Gita or the Bible: in the Guru Grantha Sahib or in the Koran. He can never say, "This is the truth which I have realized for myself." Only when a person has attained the truth and experienced it for himself, can he say, "This is my truth. I have experienced it for myself. I have lived it;"
The field of spirituality is a scientific one. It is a field in which everyone has to own a scientific outlook. Whoever traverses this path has to become a scientist. It is not that Acharya Tulsi becomes the scientist, seeks the truth and all others become his followers and exploit the truth realized by him. No, it does not happen like that. Every sadhak has to become a scientist, every sadhak has to experiment for himself and realize the truth on his own.
"Seek the truth" - this alone is not sufficient, by adding "Apana" (meaning 'for yourself, on your own'), Lord Mahavira indicated that "Seek the truth;" is an incomplete maxim. The complete maxim is: "Seek the truth for yourself”. This is a very significant pointer. It emphasizes the importance of self-exertion on the part of the sadhak.
Another relevant question which arises is what though we have undertaken the search for truth, where is the laboratory in which we shall conduct our research? How are we going to find out the truth? For our research, we need a well-equipped laboratory. Where is such a laboratory to be found? Our body in itself constitutes a great laboratory; no scientist in the world could own a vaster or richer laboratory. The structure of the human body is so intricate as to fill the greatest scientist with wonder. What to speak of a scientist's laboratory, if all the laboratories of the world are combined, they will together form only an infinitesimal part of the great laboratory of the human body: Nothing can compare with it indeed: This body of ours is a well-equipped laboratory. It is in this laboratory that we seek the truth. We have also with us the requisite means and appliances. All the exercises of consciousness, the spiritual experiments, constitute as the most sophisticated instruments of our search. All the highly sophisticated, and powerful’ apparatuses as found are in the scientific laboratories, and instruments even more subtle, are to be found in our body. They are self-activated. However, they have become rusted for lack of employment, rendered inactive. We have started on our journey. We are trying to remove the rust. As the accumulated dirt is wiped off, all the appliances will start functioning again. Through these appliances, we reach the subtle-most truth.
