Acharya Mahaprajna
The Art & Science Of Living
Chapter 1.
Ishwara: Friendliness
08
Why Friendliness With Life?
[Friendliness is essential with disease, old age, the present moment and life. Material development has not led to a happy life; rather it has escalated fear, terror, cold war and hostility. It is friendliness, which gives good health and eternal happiness by promoting moral, ethical, and spiritual values, and strengthening universal brotherhood.]
Prekshadhyana is the art of being in solitariness. Those who have learnt to be in solitude can establish friendliness with the present moment. Now the question arises, "Why is friendliness required?" The answer is - 'search within'. Man keeps seeking the truth with the help of spirituality and science. Purposes may be different. The truth being searched for by science is only developing the physical and material comforts. The result of development of material comforts is quite discouraging and damaging. It has contributed negatively to the human, social, moral and ethical values and augmented fear, atrocity, enmity and cold war. The result of searching for truth through spirituality is strengthening friendliness. "Seek truth within and have friendliness with all." This is an important message of Prekshadhyana. That search for truth, which does not culminate in friendliness, is not beneficial and fruitful for humanity. Friendliness is the most beautiful and blissful flower of our life. Those who nourish its seed in their life prosper remain ever delighted, calm and healthy.
Medical sciences admit that the cause of a disease could be germs, virus or bacteria. Wherever man lives, germs and viruses co-exist in that atmosphere, then why will man not have sickness? Our bodies have germs and viruses, that remain passive as long as the resistance power of our body is good and we remain healthy. Those possessing friendly propensities have good body resistive strength, so they always remain healthy. As soon as the emotion of hostility crops up, the morale gets weakened, which simultaneously emaciates the body's resistive power. The more vehement the instinct of enmity, the more sickness will afflict man. There are two branches of science, one is medical science and the other is psychology. Medical science has already declared the cause of all the ailments to be germs and viruses. Psychologists have refuted this claim and declared that the cause of ailments is different and it is mental distortion and lack of morale.
Those whose morale is weak get easily afflicted and affected adversely by disease, whereas those with high morale have more capacity to fight the disease and they remain less affected in spite of having multiple ailments.
The person who has not developed friendliness has an underdeveloped morale. Enmity is so poisonous that it keeps troubling and weakening the morale of whomsoever it infects, creating frustration, hatred and animosity. Hatred, frustration, depression, weakness, jealousy and dejection are ferocious germs that keep eroding ones health and consequently make one sick.
The first and foremost result of friendliness is good health. Man always wants to be healthy. Though you resort to medicines when sick, from the spiritual point of view you should take shelter in spirituality, medicines are only an aid. Shelter and assistance are entirely separate entities. Though help can be taken from anyone, shelter has to be consciously chosen in spirituality. Man who seeks shelter in medicines and doctors loses his health, but those who take shelter in spirituality protect themselves and develop friendliness. Help is taken from food and water but shelter cannot be sought in them.. Similarly: Medicines are simply a help, man is not expected to take refuge in them.
The second blessing of friendliness is happiness. Only those who have a burning desire for establishing friendliness can realise happiness. Some people get angry and upset due to enmity when they see another person. On development of friendliness, they realise eternal happiness.
A child, sitting on the path and playing with clay appears more beautiful and peaceful than a picture. The lively picture of the child is manifesting a unique emotion, which makes it fascinating and captivating. The beauty is due to the mental feelings and magnanimous waves. Persons having friendly feelings become beautiful in spite of being physically ugly. Though Socrates was ugly, he was considered beautiful due to his glowing, positive mental feelings of brilliance, and friendliness, so much so that his physical ugliness was shadowed. Gandhiji was not beautiful, but a western thinker quoted him as one of the most beautiful persons. His personality and conduct revealed tremendous cosmic inbuilt friendliness.
The child was ordinary looking but his nature and deep magnificent spiritual friendliness made him appealing and loving. The king got attracted and said to the child, "Why do you play with clay? Don't you have toys? Should I bring toys for you?" The child indicated towards his body and said, "This body is also made of clay. In the end we also have to merge with clay; if not with clay then with what should I play with?" The king was astonished and exclaimed, "What strange logic!" He said, "You are a good child, come along with me." The child thought for a while then said, "I can accompany you and stay with you but I have two conditions. The first condition is that whenever I sleep, you have to keep awake.
The second condition is that you have to be always with me and that you'll never leave me alone." The king said, "This is not possible for me." The child said, "I also cannot live with you. When I sleep, my God keeps awake and he always remains with me. It is not possible to leave Him and stay with you. It is not worthwhile to stay with those who do not give me company always." Likewise happiness or friendliness always remains with you for twenty-four hours a day. Even during sleep it exists. It always accompanies you and never leaves you.
The second blessing of friendliness is eternal and stable happiness. A person, who has developed friendliness never becomes sorrowful, remains ever ecstatic. Where there is non-grooming of friendliness, man is instantly tempted to develop hatred and animosity. A person, who has developed friendliness, howsoever bad he may be can never be provoked by scornful tendencies. Once Jesus Christ went to the house of prostitutes and his disciples asked him why he had visited a prostitute. Jesus said, "I am going where I have to go." His devotee said, "Sire, she is unchaste and irreligious, so why do you want to go to her?" Jesus said, "I should go there." Jesus went to that house of prostitutes and he felt no hatred whereas other people felt hatred. Whenever there is happiness, then the feeling of hatred lies dormant. We should hate the evil and not the civil doer. Gandhiji also used to preach, "Hate the sin, not the sinner."
Once Ajeevak Acharya said to Ardhakumar, "You criticise and hate everyone." Ardhakumar responded, "I do not criticise and hate any person, actually I am criticizing and slandering false outlook and notions." Those who have nursed friendliness in their mind will never hate or feel enmity towards any person, howsoever bad or greedy the person may e- His compassionate feelings will be so strong that he would contemplate how to get that person dissociated from evil and unethical conducts. When a person named Sangam troubled Mahavira, the feeling of compassion awakened in him instead of hatred towards Sangam. Mahavira said, "The world is prospering and emancipating by following my preaching and your behaviour is going down."
Friendly emotions develop a sense of humour. Humour is the most beautiful part of life having fragrance, nectar, prettiness and taste. Every person cannot be humorous. Humour is a big power and only persons with deep, friendly emotions can acquire it. Mahavira was also very humorous. There are many tales of Acharya Bhikshu. Once Muni Hemraj brought a mixture of pulses as alms. Acharya Bhikshu said to him jokingly, "Why have you brought mixed pulses? Anyone can become sick by eating this, you should have brought the pulses separately." Muni Hemraj felt very bad. It was lunchtime and all the sadhus were seated for their meals, but Hemraj was not there. Acharya Bhikshu understood and said, "Hemraj! What are you doing? You are seeing my vice or your vice." On hearing this, Muni Hemraj got up and came for the meals.
Acharyashree is also very humorous. There are many humorous anecdotes in his life. A person from a camp which propounds the opposite philosophy called on Acharyashree. His intention was not good. He came after the discourse to Acharyashree and said, "Sire, my son has disappeared." Acharyashree sympathised with him and said, "This is really very bad." Then again he asked, "Sire, should I search for him? If I search for him then will it be a sacred act or a sin?" Acharyashree understood and did not reply philosophically. He said, "You are very strange. When you had your son, you did not ask me whether it would be a sinful or a sacred act. Now when you are searching for him, you are asking me whether it will breed sin or sacredness. The result of your quest will be the same as for having a son." The visitor got the message and went away silently.
Everybody cannot be humorous. Humour is present in a person who has developed friendliness. Those who are willing to develop friendliness have to struggle a lot. Those who indulge in hostility have no struggles. The sadhana of friendliness is very difficult and full of problems. If the person practising the sadhana of friendliness does not indulge in humour then he is likely to break down in the face of the problems.
Mahatma Gandhi has written that he became a Mahatma only after undergoing several agonies, struggles, sorrows, atrocities and oppressions. He would have collapsed had he not been humorous. It is true that a person with humour can only sustain and survive the path of disappointments or dejections. Humour is the outcome of friendliness. That is why the important objective of Prekshadhyana is to search for the truth and develop friendliness.
We have so far discussed friendliness with life, sickness and old age. There is the mystery of bioelectricity in our life. Our life is governed by bioelectricity. Hostile feelings reduce the strength of bioelectricity and gradually annihilate it. Those who have a weak bioelectricity of life have neither resistance power, nor happiness and calmness in their life. Actually happiness is nothing but the realisation of this bioelectricity of life. Bioelectricity is developed through friendliness with others. If one does not learn friendliness in a meditation camp then such meditation is a failure. He only knows and realises the bliss that knows vital energy and upper bodily humours. Others waste their life and energy indulging in sensual pleasures.
The feeling of friendliness increases the bioelectricity of °ur life. It strengthens our vital energy and upper bodily humours. The friendliness connects the vital energy and upper bodily humours and generates stable happiness. That is why when man, practising Prekshadhyana, understands the power of meditation, he definitely stresses upon the development of the power of bioelectricity and its development through friendliness. In spite of practising Sadhana in meditation camps, if a father does not befriend his son, a brother does not befriend the brother, a mother-in-law does not befriend the daughter-in-law and vice versa, then the whole process of meditation will be useless. Despite spending ten days and having learnt the process of long breathing, holding of breath, controlling the breath, perceiving the body psychic centres and psychic colours, if one could not still develop friendliness, then the family members will not see any reform in you. This would be a total failure of the meditation process, shattering faith in the whole process itself. A German judge was asked about his experience of the camp. He replied, "I cannot say how I am, because my development and condition can only be assessed by my wife and children. If after three months, my family members acknowledge, feel and say that I am a changed man, a more friendly person, then I shall certainly write about my camp experience and the impact of the meditation on me."
People from various walks of life participate in the meditation camp. After three months of attending the camp, if family members duly certify them to be friendlier, only then is the participation fruitful. If this does not happen, then you should reason out the cause for the failure. It could be that the seed of knowledge was not properly sown or that rain was not there, for the seed to grow into a tree. So you may have to sow the seed again. Sometimes in one season itself the farmer has to sow the seeds two or three times. Unless the friendly emotions are very strong in you, your sadhana of meditation not be successful and fruitful. You should practise meditation, pursuing this objective, criterion and judgement in life.
The development of friendliness will pave the way for the development of health, happiness, bioelectricity and peace. You will surely get happiness. Participation in a ten days camp for Prekshadhyana meditation will help you to be aware of your innerself and to lead a happier life.