Acharya Mahaprajna
The Art & Science Of Living
Chapter 3.
Truth Of Life
17
Truth Of Life
[In order to read and understand the Treatise of Life, we have to be mentally relaxed. The three rules of concentration, self-realisation and relaxation help in reading this treatise. We have infinite knowledge, infinite intuition and infinite bliss within us. Material comforts and luxuries are nothing in comparison to that. The practice of Prekshadhyana introduces us to that subtle world. The first page of the first chapter of this treatise is our body. The second page is on heredity and the third page is on environment. The body is further divided into three parts, namely, subtler, subtle and gross. Practice of Prekshadhyana enables us to study and assimilate the treatise of life. It teaches us the art and science of living, how to live with bliss, power and knowledge. Every man should read the treatise of life to lead a life of bliss, power and knowledge.]
Life is a big book. It has ten chapters. Each chapter has billions of pages and each page contains billions of words. These words are written in so subtle a script that they cannot be read by our naked eyes. Our Muni has written a letter in a small script. That has nearly eighty thousand words. This is considered a very small script but the Treatise of Life has that script, which is so small that each letter has billions of words. It is surprising that we ourselves have written that. But it is regrettable that we are not able to read what we have written ourselves. This is the greatest surprise. We keep on writing daily but we are not able to read. We have not only written, but we are still writing today. We keep writing every second. Even in one second, we write a lot. This is astonishing.
We have basically two types of script working within us. One type of script keeps writing continuously, it never gets tired. The other script writes and also rests. The script, which writes continuously, writes thousands of words in a second, whereas the other script, which writes with rest, writes a few hundred words in a second.
Our life is such a voluminous treatise. But we do not read it carefully. We go to school, college and university to study. We purchase different kinds of books to study and try to study the books of various faculties. What can be a bigger amazement than this - that the person studying every faculty of knowledge unfortunately never studies his own truth of life?! He never turns over the pages of this treatise. It is also true that the method of studying this treatise is unique. All other books can be read with eyes open, even in the state of restlessness. But the treatise of life cannot be read with eyes open and in the state of restlessness. It is read with closed eyes, with perfect mental stability and calmness. Without awakening his intuition, no man can study this treatise of life properly. Without removing mental fickleness and the awakening of the third eye, none can read this great epic. When impulses are given up and calmness pervades, the capacity to assimilate is enhanced.
A person who follows the rules of concentration, self-awareness and relaxation, has the capacity to assimilate it. This treatise is full of infinite mysteries, but without reading it, all the mysteries remain unknown. People who have read this treatise, admit that they have within them infinite knowledge, infinite intuition, infinite bliss and infinite power. Others who have not read this treatise do not share this view.
The present thought assumes that happiness lies in material objects. In the summer season, one feels happy with the breeze of a fan. Relishing food and cold water gives happiness when a person is hungry and thirsty. But the man, who has learnt and assimilated this treatise, avails of bliss even without these materials. Bliss, independent of material objects, can be sought only within; this is the true assimilation of the treatise. Mahavira remained without food and water for more than six months, but his bliss continuously went on increasing. The main reason for this was that he was unmoved by material-dependent bliss as he had fully assimilated and mastered this treatise. That is why the source of his bliss was so overflowing and inexhaustible. This source of bliss never dries.
We are holding innumerable mysteries within us but we fail to unfold them because we don't know how to read this treatise. So we remain deprived of bliss, power, knowledge and intuition. In spite of being the reservoir of such a vast and unique treasure, we feel inadequate, needy, helpless and dependent in life. The root cause of this is ignorance. As long as man does not unravel the mystery, he cannot differentiate between Midas' touchstone and an ordinary stone. The ignorance of man is unlimited. Man looks at the gross world only and remains ignorant of the subtle world. This is the cause of all unhappiness.
The practice of Prekshadhyana is the method of understanding the subtle world, the method of reading that subtle script of life. At least we should learn to read, whether we read it fully or not is immaterial. Simply learning to read opens up a new dimension and a new direction. The practice of Prekshadhyana is the first step towards moving from the gross to the subtle. This is the proof of the fact that man wants to know the mysteries within, which are real.
The first chapter of this treatise is the body, the second chapter is related to heredity, and the third is dedicated to the environment. The first chapter is big; it is the root of all. The second and third chapters are comparatively smaller and they supplement the first chapter. In the greatest epic of life, the environment has an important role to play.
A king had four poets who were so intelligent and wise that they could recite a poem instantly to offer solutions to various problems. The king was impressed by their calibre. One day the king thought that he should know himself. He asked this question to the poets. One poet advised the king to drop this question of knowing himself. This excited the curiosity of the king and he insisted on the answer. The poets shut their eyes, then all the four cited four lines and introduced the king to his inner Self. The fourth line was, "The king, you are the son of a female slave." The king heard it and was stunned. He asked, "How did you know that I am the son of a female slave?" The poets replied, "This is very obvious. I served you so long and unfolded the biggest mysteries and in return you offered me only an edible item as a gift. I inferred by this gift itself that a king cannot offer such a petty donation. Such a petty donation can be offered only by the son of a slave." The king made enquiries and found that he was the son of a female slave and subsequently was crowned king.
The second chapter is on environment. This can be easily understood through a story.
A king went hunting. He saw a cage hanging on a door of a house. A parrot was in the cage. On seeing the king, it repeated "Come, let us steal." The king heard it and moved ahead. Then he came across a hermitage. There too a cage was hanging with a parrot in it. On seeing the king, the parrot started speaking, "Please come, you are welcome, most welcome." The king heard it and stopped as he was surprised. He went to the parrot and asked, "I met the first parrot before you and it was speaking of robbing and killing, whereas you are speaking in a tone of welcome. What is the secret?" The parrot spoke, "O king, we both are real brothers. My brother lives with robbers and follows their language, their conduct and behaviour. That is why it speaks the language of robbing and killing. I actually live with saints, I hear their language, imitate their conduct and so my speech has become sober, serene and welcoming."
This is the miracle of atmosphere and environment. As long as these two chapters of life are not read and digested, till then the proper understanding of this greatest epic cannot be assimilated. The first chapter is on the body. This is most complicated and profound. It is difficult to grasp. It is divided into three parts - subtler, subtle and gross. In the words of psychology unconscious, subconscious and conscious or in other words, the totally unknown, the unknown and the known. One part of our body is so small that it is very difficult to perceive it. The water is gross, we can see and know it. When the water turns into vapour, it becomes subtle, and it is difficult to see it. The subtler body is like vapour, hence it cannot be seen. It has so many vibrations that it becomes very difficult to know them. With the practice of meditation, our consciousness gets concentrated and empowered and gradually we develop that power which enables us to realise and know all the vibrations emerging from the conscious or unconscious body. Then we can study the script and establish contact with that. The man practising Prekshadhyana starts reading the gross first. The grossest is our aura, which works concurrently with the gross body. Those who have learnt to read the aura will unravel a lot of mysteries.
Nowadays, doctors are striving to evolve a new system for curing diseases. That is called the aura curing system. Some doctors in Chennai have constructed an equipment which can take photographs of the aura of the thumb and then diagnose the disease. They have claimed that by the study of the photographs of the aura of the thumb, thirteen diseases can be diagnosed. One can predict the diseases likely to occur in the coming two, four or six months. And the time of death also can be known by ones aura. The aura can enable one to know these secrets and empower one to read some parts of the treatise of life. By virtue of the aura, one can know the conduct, behaviour and nature of man. In the state of concentration of meditation, the aura can be read, and external forms and colours become immaterial. What is the aura of the energy of man? What is the aura of electricity? On the basis of his colours, his power and purity are known. Power cannot be measured by the external shape and size. It is measured by the internal energy and bioelectricity. A person, whose inner energy is weak, has weak aura. A doctor and a practitioner of Prekshadhyana should necessarily know the gross body. A practitioner of Prekshadhyana has the knowledge of the flow of vital energy along with the pulse and the endocrine system. Without knowing the flow of this vital energy, this treatise cannot be read. We think, speak and walk, all this is done by the vital energy. The soul neither thinks, speaks nor walks. The computer or robot undertakes work through the electric power. Similarly the vital power of man is the bioelectric power that does all the work.
The hundred pages of the Treatise of Life is the subject under consideration. When and how these hundred pages will be discussed, it cannot be said. However, we have commenced it. All of us should clearly aim to sincerely practise the reading of this treatise. By this practice, we shall learn the art and science of living and realise and fulfil the purpose of this precious human life creatively and constructively.
It is paramount to know how to lead this life purposefully and how to live with bliss, power and knowledge. This philosophy of life should be held in esteem by us and also adhered to. I wholeheartedly wish that this philosophy of life is practiced and embraced by all the people so that every person is able to lead a life full of bliss, power and knowledge.