AUM — Vol. 5, No. 1, 27 Aug. 1969

AUM

Man is Infinity’s Heart.

Man is Immortality’s Life.

Desire and aspiration¹

Desire is a wild fire which burns and burns and finally consumes us. Aspiration is a glowing fire that secretly and sacredly uplifts us, our consciousness, and finally liberates us.

Thirst for the highest is aspiration.

Desire is expectation. No expectation, no frustration. Desire killed, true happiness built. Aspiration is surrender. Surrender is man’s conscious oneness with God’s Will.

As war brings the commerce of a country to a standstill, even so our tremendous inclination to the pleasures of ignorance brings all our inner spiritual movements to a standstill.

Already as things exist at present, our very birth compels us to be far away from God. Why wallow deliberately in the pleasures of the senses and move farther away from God? Indeed, to satisfy the imagined necessities of our human life and cry for the fulfilment of the earthly pleasures cannot but be self-torturing evil. But to satisfy God’s necessities, real and divine, in us and through us, is self-illumination.

Poor God, ill-lit men always take you amiss. They think that you are merciless. Yet when you fulfil their lecherous desires, they think that nobody on earth can surpass you in stupidity.

Now poor man, look at your most deplorable fate. In the apt words of Bernard Shaw: “There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire, the other is to get it.”

Desire means anxiety. This anxiety finds satisfaction only when it is able to present itself before solid attachment. Aspiration means calmness. This calmness finds satisfaction only when it is able to present itself before the all-seeing and all-loving detachment. In desire and nowhere else abides the human passion. Human passion has a dire foe called judgment, the judgment of the divine dispensation.

In aspiration and nowhere else dwells man’s salvation; man’s salvation has an eternal friend called Grace, God’s all-fulfilling Grace.

Desire is temptation. Temptation nourished, true happiness starved. Aspiration is the soul’s awakening. The soul’s awakening is the birth of supernal delight.

A true seeker of the infinite truth never can gain anything from Oscar Wilde’s discovery. He says: “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.” The seeker has already discovered the truth that it is only through high, higher and highest aspiration that one can get rid of all temptations, seen and unseen, born and yet to be born.

Wilde says something else and this is quite significant. “I can resist everything except temptation.” Needless to say, nobody blames him for that for temptation is a universal disease. For a mortal without aspiration, temptation is unmistakably irresistible. But a true seeker feels and knows that he can resist temptation, but what he cannot resist is transformation, the transformation of his physical nature, his entire consciousness in the bosom sea of Time. Of course, the transformation of his physical nature, his entire earthly consciousness — never did he resist and never will he. On the contrary, that is what he is on earth for.

Look at the strength of a bubble of desire! It has the power to encage our entire life for its absolute use. Look at the strength of an iota of aspiration. It has the power to make us feel that God the Infinite is absolutely ours. And something more, God’s infinite Love, Peace, Joy and Power are for our constant use.

The objects of the senses and man’s attachment to them are inseparable. But the moment they see the smile of God, they fail to admit their intimacy. What is more, they become perfect strangers.

Fulfil your body’s demands and you lose your self-control. Fulfil your soul’s needs and you gain your self-control.

Don’t desire vice. In refraining, you will possess something more valuable — self-control. What is self-control? It is the power that tells you that you have not to run towards your goal. The goal has to come to you and it shall.

The capital of the outer world is money, which very often changes itself into poisonous honey. The capital of the inner world is aspiration which eventually transforms itself into self-realisation.

The acme of human desire is represented by Julius Caesar: Veni, vidi, vici. (I came, I saw, I conquered). The pinnacle of divine aspiration was voiced forth by the son of God. “Father, let Thy Will be done.”

Passion’s slave is man. God’s child is likewise man. What do you want to be? God’s child, or passion’s slave? Choose. One selection leads you to utter destruction, the other to immediate salvation. Choose, you are given the golden and unconditional choice. Choose, choose you must. Here and now.

Duty supreme²

> I woke and found that life was Duty.

Duty and Beauty are like two poles, north pole and south pole.

What is Beauty? Beauty is the oneness of the finite and the Infinite. Beauty is the expression of the Infinite through man the finite. Beauty is man’s embodiment of God, the Infinite. In the material world, in the physical world, it is through Beauty that God reveals Himself.

It is the Beauty of the soul which is Beauty unparalleled in the physical world. This Beauty inspires the outer world and fulfils the inner world. This Beauty makes us one with God, God the Infinite. This Beauty makes us one with God’s Soul, the light Infinite. This Beauty makes us one with God’s Body, the Universe. When we live in the world of aspiration, we come to realise that the transcendental Duty and the universal Beauty are the perfect expressions of one and the same Reality.

Duty. In our day-to-day life, duty is something unpleasant, demanding and discouraging. When we are reminded of our duty, we lose all our inner, spontaneous joy. We feel miserable. We feel that we could have used our life-energy for a better purpose. Only a man devoid of common sense can say that he does not know what his duty is. Each man knows his duty well, too well. It is up to him whether or not to perform it.

Today I am supposed to speak on Duty Supreme. An aspirant’s is the life that has to perform the Duty Supreme. His first and foremost Duty is to realise God. There can be no other Duty save and except this Duty — God-Realisation — in his life here on earth. An aspirant, when he saw the light of day, was inspired by God Himself, with this message:

“Realise Me on earth.

Fulfil Me on earth.”

Time is fleeting. Time does not wait for us. We shall have to be wise. Each moment we can utilise for a divine purpose. Each moment we can utilise in performing our soulful Duty.

Duty is painful, tedious and monotonous simply because we do it with our ego, pride and vanity. Duty is pleasant, encouraging and inspiring when we do it for God’s sake. What we need is just to change our attitude towards Duty. If we work for the sake of God, then there is no Duty. It is all Joy. It is all Beauty. Each action has to be done and offered at the Feet of God. Duty for God’s sake is the Duty Supreme. No right have we to undertake any other duty before we work out our own spiritual salvation for did God not entrust us with this wonderful task at the time of our very birth? The Supreme Duty is to constantly strive for God-Realisation. Time is short, but our souls’ mission on earth is lofty. How can we waste time? Why should we spend time in the pleasures of the senses?

Now we often say that we are under no obligation to others because we have not accepted anything from them. They have not given us anything. True, we are under no obligation, but there is a word called “expectation”. I may not have taken anything from you, but that does not mean that you cannot expect anything from me. At times your expectation may be legitimate. Expect, you certainly can, but there is one thing that you cannot do. You cannot claim. You can expect and it is up to me to give you what you want, but claim you must not. Only God can claim, nobody else. God and God alone can claim me my entire life. Each individual has to feel that God has the absolute right to claim him forever, here on earth, there in heaven.

Love your family much. This is your great duty. Love mankind more. This is your greater duty. Love God most. This is your greatest duty, the Duty Supreme.

There are two things. One is remembrance. The other is forgetfulness. All of us know that it is our duty to collect our salary. Indeed it is our duty. And we always remember it. But there is another duty. We have to work. That duty we forget. In order to get our salary, we have to work. Somehow we manage to forget this. In the spiritual world also, there is a duty. This duty is to enjoy the fruit of God-Realisation. We all know it and we are extremely eager to perform this duty. But unfortunately we forget the other duty: meditation. One duty is to enjoy the fruits; the other duty is to acquire the fruit. But we are clever enough to cry for the fruits of realisation long before we have entered into the field of meditation. No meditation; no realisation. Without meditation, God-Realisation is nothing but self-deception.

An aspirant has a most significant duty and that duty is to have perfect faith in his divine possibilities. If he has faith in himself plus faith in the living Guru, then he can easily perform the Supreme Duty, the duty of self-discovery, God-Realisation.

Love and devotion

Question: How can we teach ourselves to love humanity, not just as a collective whole, but also specifically, when a person's defects and bad qualities are so obvious?

Question: How can we tell if our love is vital or pure?

Question: Is it possible to prevent oneself from giving off impure vital love and to substitute the heart's pure love for it? How can we consciously give pure love?

Question: In what way does love for one's Guru differ from devotion to him? Is it possible to have one without the other?

Question: When we concentrate on love and devotion, should we direct it mainly to the Supreme or to our Guru?

Question: Do the words "psychic" and "spiritual" mean the same thing?

Question: What is devotion? Just a desire to do everything possible for one's Guru?

Question: What are the manifestations of devotion?

Question: If we feel that we are not devoted enough, how can we increase our devotion?

1) He should try to love the Master more than he already does.

3) He should try to develop more purity in his outer life.

Question: If one has aspiration, but not devotion, does this hinder his spiritual progress?

Question: What is the difference between spiritual strength and spiritual power?

Question: In the spiritual life, the importance of purity is always stressed. Are pure actions worthwhile if thoughts are impure? How can we purify our thoughts?

Question: Should husband and wife try to feel the same kind of love and devotion for one another as they try to feel for their Guru or should it be of a different kind?