AUM

Man is Infinity’s Heart.
Man is Eternity’s Breath.
Man is Immortality’s Life.

The Secret Supreme¹

The Secret Supreme is the Supreme Himself. He can be seen. He can be felt. He can be realised. When He is seen, He is Existence. When He is felt, He is Consciousness. When He is realised, He is Delight. In His embodiment of Existence, He is Eternal. In His revelation of Consciousness, He is Infinite. In His manifestation of Delight, He is Immortal. His Vision Transcendental and His Reality Absolute are man’s tomorrow’s achievements. Man’s expanding love, crying devotion and glowing surrender are God’s tomorrow’s possession.

God is at once finite and Infinite. He is in space. He is measured. He can be measured. He must needs be measured. He is beyond space. He is measureless. He is boundless. He is Infinite. Smaller than the point of a needle is He. Larger than the seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds combined is He. In His Heart is the earth’s Suffering. In His Soul is the heaven’s Joy. Secretly He tells the earth: “My child, I am yours. I am at your service. Use me. Lo, you and I are fulfilled.” Openly he tells Heaven: “My child, you are mine. You are at my service. Bend your head and go and give my Vision’s Light and Reality’s Height to your brother Earth, younger in wisdom, older in patience.”

The Secret Supreme is the Knowledge Supreme. This Knowledge is the song of liberation. This Knowledge is the dance of revelation. This Knowledge is the silence of perfection. When a man is liberated, he sits at the feet of God. When a man reveals the highest Truth, he plays in the Heart of God. When a man is perfectly perfect, God will shake hands with him. Rest assured, one day, God will send that perfect son of His into the world.

The world tells you the frightening secret: God is austere. God is demanding. God is stern. I tell you an illumining secret. God is reachable. God is loveable. God is enjoyable. When your mind is calm, God is reachable. When your heart is pure, God is loveable. When your soul is sure, God is enjoyable.

For God’s sake, do not be afraid of God. He not only enjoys, but appreciates your jokes. Your innocent jokes delight Him. The Vedic seer is now singing in you, through you and for you: “If, Oh God! Thou wert I and I were Thee, Thy prayers should have their due fulfillment here and now.”

And now for your own sake, for your own joy and for your own pride, you can sing along with the Vedic seer, “Oh God, Thee I shall not sell for the highest price, not for a thousand, not for ten thousand, not for an amount measureless, Oh my Lord Supreme of Infinity’s plenitude.”

Self-realisation is the Secret Supreme. Right now we are in both ignorance and knowledge. The Isha Upanishad teaches us that ignorance and knowledge should be pursued together. Through ignorance, we must conquer death. Through knowledge, obtain Immortality. Here ignorance means ritualistic actions, actions done for the sake of fruits. And knowledge means the deepest meditation that makes man consciously one with God; action done to fulfil God here on earth, there in heaven; truth for truth’s sake.

The world tells me that human birth is the worst possible curse. I tell that human birth is the best possible opportunity. India’s peerless Avatar (the direct descendant of God) Sri Krishna has something more to tell the world. He says “Blessed is the human birth; even the dwellers in heaven desire this birth, for God-realisation is attained only by a human being here on earth.”

Dear North Dakotans, dear friends, dear brothers and sisters, I have come to you to speak on the Secret Supreme. I wish to spring a surprise on you and this surprise is undeniable. With my soulful joy and in all sincerity, I wish to tell you that your very State and your very University have, just a few days ago, secretly, most open-heartedly taught me the Supreme Secret. The dedicated Motto of the State of North Dakota has taught me the Supreme Secret: Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable. The aspiring Motto of the University of North Dakota has taught me the Supreme Secret: Light and Law. With your kind permission I wish to say a few words on these two divine Mottoes. To start with the State Motto, — Liberty means responsibility. Whose responsibility? God’s responsibility. When a man is liberated from the meshes of ignorance, God acts in him proudly, God acts through him unreservedly, God acts for him unconditionally.

Lord Halifax once aptly remarked: “If none were to have liberty but those who understand what it is, there would not be many free men in the world.”

We all shall have liberty, both inner and outer. The inner liberty is the highest realisation of the absolute Truth. The outer liberty is the most successful manifestation of divinity’s perfect perfection on earth.

Union: Man’s union with God. God is consciously and fully aware of this union. Man is learning to be aware of it. Before long he too, will be consciously and fully aware of their union. In man’s union with God, we see man, the soulful gratitude. In God’s union with man, we see God, the Compassion-Flood.

Now and Forever: Once liberty has given birth to man’s union with God, or man’s union with God has given birth to man’s liberty, man’s life starts living forever in the Eternal Now.

One and Inseparable: Liberty and Union are inseparable because they have to enlighten each other. Now and forever are inseparable because they have to feed each other. Man and God are inseparable because they have to fulfil each other.

I am now inspired to invoke the soul of the Master-philosopher Aristotle to speak on the citizens and their state: “Great is the good fortune of the State in which the citizens have a moderate and sufficient property.” I do hope that Aristotle’s lofty message can adequately be applied to the citizens of North Dakota.

It is high time for us to dive into the life-growing and soul-fulfilling Sea of the University Motto: "Lux et Lex" (Light and Law).

Light is not a theoretical knowledge, but a practical wisdom. Law, the divine law, is not a command but an experience. Man’s inspiration expands through the bliss of light. Man’s aspiration ascends through the peace of law. The spiritual light has an inner glow that illumines the outer life. The unspiritual light has an outer glare that obscures the inner life. When an aspirant lives in light, he is the doer. When an aspirant lives in the divine law, he is the knower. The difference between an ordinary man and an aspirant is this: that an ordinary man wants to be defended by the law, although he himself will not care for the law or follow the law; whereas, an aspirant will soulfully, unreservedly and unconditionally defend the law. Law is truth. We have to know how to use the truth in our daily activities.

This is true, absolutely true. We must always tell the truth with a divine intent. Our truth must be flooded with love, concern and oneness. Our truth must illumine and not blind. Our truth must liberate and not bind. Finally I wish to say, as regards the University motto, that Light is the weight of the universal Soul and Law is the height of the transcendental Soul.

The Secret Supreme. If you want to realise the Secret Supreme, you shall have to meditate. You have to know how to meditate. And for that you need a spiritual teacher. Until you have a teacher of your own you have to meditate all alone. During your meditation do not be afraid of anything. Fear you can give up and you must. God’s constant love you can have and you must. Your fear kills God’s love. Your aspiration for God-realisation and your surrender to God’s Will kill all your fear, born and yet to be born. Harbour divine confidence in the inmost recesses of your heart. Confidence is the secret of success. Hope is the secret of attempts. Doubt is poison. Doubt destroys your life of aspiration sooner than at once. During your meditation do not fight against evil thoughts. If you constantly fight against evil thoughts, you will, to your widest surprise, strengthen them. But if you open yourself to divine thoughts, evil thoughts will find no need for you. Needless to say that they will be terribly jealous of your divine thoughts. They will in no time leave you. During your meditation try to cultivate divine love. Try to love humanity soulfully. You may say: “How can I love others when I do not know how to love myself?” I tell you how you can love yourself. You can love yourself most successfully just by loving God unreservedly. You may ask: How can I love God when I do not know what love is? My immediate answer is: “Love is the transforming power in our human nature. Love transforms our life of stark bondage into the life of mightiest freedom. Love cries for Life. Love fights for Life. Finally, love grows into the Life Eternal.”

The Secret Supreme is God-realisation. Nothing more and nothing less. Yesterday my ignorance unconsciously offered me to God. Today my knowledge consciously offers God to me. In my unconscious awareness of God, neither God nor am I fulfilled. In my conscious oneness with God, both God and I are fully fulfilled.

The Bhagavad-Gita —- The Song of the Transcendental Soul

Introduction

I read the Gita. Because it is the Eye of God. I sing the Gita. Because it is the Life of God. I live the Gita. Because it is the Soul of God.

The Gita is God’s Vision immediate. The Gita is God's Reality direct.

They say that the Gita is a Hindu book, a most significant scripture. I say that it is the Light of Divinity in humanity. They say that the Gita needs introduction. I say that God truly wants to be introduced by the Gita.

Arjuna is the ascending human soul. Krishna is the descending divine Soul. Finally they meet. The human soul says to the divine Soul: “I need you.” The divine Soul says to the human soul: “I need you, too. I need you for my self-manifestation. You need me for your self-realisation.” Arjuna says: “O, Krishna, you are mine, absolutely mine.” Krishna says: “O, Arjuna, no mine, no thine. We are the Oneness complete, within, without.”

The Gita is an episode in the sixth book of the Mahabharata. “Mahabharata” means “Great India”, India the Sublime. This unparalleled epic contains 220,000 (two hundred and twenty thousand) lines. It is six times the size of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. Surprising in size and amazing in thought is the Mahabharata. The main story revolves around a giant rivalry between two parties of cousins. Their ancestral kingdom was the apple of discord. This rivalry came to its close at the end of a great battle called the Battle of Kurukshetra.

The family tree

Santanu had two wives: Ganga and Satyavati. Bhishma by Santanu and Ganga. Chitrangada and Vichitravirya by Santanu and Satyavati. Vichitravirya’s two wives, Ambika and Ambalika. Dhritarashtra from Ambika and Vichitravirya. Pandu from Ambalika and Vichitravirya. Dhritarashtra’s hundred sons, the Kauravas. Pandu’s five sons, the Pandavas.

Yudhisthira was the legitimate heir to the kingdom. His father, Pandu, had reigned a number of years offering the utmost satisfaction to his subjects. Finally Pandu retired. He retired to the forest. To succeed him was his eldest son, Yudhisthira. And he did it devotedly and successfully. Dhritarashtra was Pandu’s elder half-brother. God had denied him sight. Strangely enough his affection for his hundred sons blinded his heart as well. Being blind, naturally he was not qualified to inherit the throne. The eldest son of Dhritarashtra was Duryodhana. Only 99 brothers were to follow him. Yudhisthira, Pandu’s eldest son, had only four brothers to follow him.

Truth’s Pride was Yudhisthira. Falsehood’s Pride was Duryodhana. Through the illumined hearts of Pandu’s five sons, God smiled. Through the unlit minds of Dhritarashtra’s hundred sons, the devil smiled. The devil often succeeded in embracing the blind father, too.

Seven hundred verses are there in the Gita. About six hundred are the soul-stirring utterances from the divine lips of the Lord Krishna and the rest from the crying, aspiring Arjuna, the clairvoyant and clairaudient Sanjaya and the inquisitive Dhritarashtra.

The sage Vyasa enquired of Dhritarashtra if he desired to see the events and have a first-hand knowledge of the battle, from the battle’s birth to the battle’s death. The Sage was more than willing to grant the blind man vision. But Dhritarashtra did not want his eyes — the eyes that had failed him all his life — to obey his command at this terribly fateful hour of his conscience, his kingdom’s life, especially when his own sons were heading for destruction. He declined the sage’s kind and bounteous offer. His heart was ruthlessly tortured by the imminent peril of his kinsmen. However, he would deeply appreciate the sage’s granting the boon to someone else from whom he could get faultless reports of the battle. Vyasa consented. He conferred upon Sanjaya the psychic, miraculous power of vision to see the incidents taking place at a strikingly great distance.

Is the Gita a mere word? No. A name? No. A speech? No. A concept? No. A kind of concentration? No. A form of meditation? No. What is it, then? It is The Realisation. The Gita is God’s Heart and man’s breath, God’s assurance and man’s promise.

The inspiration of Hinduism is the Soul-Concern of the Gita. The aspiration of Hinduism is the Blessing-Dawn of the Gita. The emancipation of Hinduism is the Compassion-Light of the Gita. Again to pronounce that the Gita is the sole monopoly of Hinduism is absurdity on the face of it. The Gita is the common property of humanity.

The West says that she has something special to offer to the East: the New Testament. The East accepts the offer with deepest gratitude and offers her greatest pride, the Gita, in return.

The Gita is unique. It is the Scripture of scriptures. Why? Because it has taught the world that the emotion pure, the devotion genuine and the philosophy solid, the detachment dynamic can easily run abreast.

There are eighteen chapters in the Gita. Each chapter reveals a specific teaching of a particular form of yoga. Yoga is the secret language of man and God. Yoga means Union, the union of the finite with the Infinite, the union of the form with the Formless. It is the Yoga that reveals the supreme secret: man is tomorrow’s God and God is today’s man. Yoga is to be practised for the sake of Truth. If not, the seeker will be sadly disappointed. Likewise, man’s God-Realisation is for the sake of God. Otherwise untold frustration will be man’s inevitable reward.

The eyeless father made repeated requests, strong and weak, to Duryodhana, his morally, psychically and spiritually eyeless son not to go to war. Vidura, the pure heart, Duryodhana’s uncle, failed to throw light on Duryodhana’s thick head. Sanjaya, his father’s prudent charioteer, equally failed. Neither was Bhishma, the oldest and the wisest, successful. Duryodhana felt his own understanding to be superior. Finally Sri Krishna, the Lord of the universe, most fervently tried to avert the hurtful and heartless battle. But the ignorance-night in Duryodhana would by no means surrender to the knowledge-sun in Sri Krishna.

The Gita was born in 600 B. C. Its authorship goes to the sage, Veda Vyasa. With a significant question from Dhritarashtra, the Gita commences its journey. The whole narrative of the Bhagavad-Gita is Sanjaya’s answer to Dhritarashtra’s single question. Sri Krishna spoke. Much. All divinely soulful. Arjuna spoke. Little. All humanly heartful. Dhritarashtra was the listener. The Divinely and humanly clairvoyant and clairaudient reporter was Sanjaya. On very rare occasions Sanjaya contributed his own thoughtful remarks, too.

Sri Krishna was Arjuna’s body’s relation, heart’s union, soul’s liberation. As God, he illumined Arjuna with the Truth Absolute; as a humane human, to his earthly friend, with truths relative.

Philosophers enter into a deplorable controversy. Some enquire how such a philosophical discourse could take place at the commencement of a war? How was it possible? There are others who firmly hold that this momentous discourse was not only possible but inevitable at that hour, since it was the divinely appropriate occasion for the aspirant Hindu to discover the inner meaning of war and live in accordance with his soul’s dictates and not follow the poor, unlit knowledge of morality.

The Gita is the epitome of the Vedas. It is spontaneous. It is in a form at once divinised and humanised. It is also the purest milk drawn from the udders of the most illumining Upanishads to feed and nourish the human soul. The Gita demands man’s acceptance of life and reveals the way to achieve the victory for his higher self over the lower by the spiritual art of transformation, physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual.

The Gita embodies the soul-wisdom, the heart-love, the mind-knowledge, the vital-dynamism and the body-action.

The blossoms of the heart

Is my God complete? Is my God perfect? Is my God fulfilled?

"Oh, my God, are You complete?"

"No, I am not."

"Why are You not complete?"

"Perhaps you are the cause."

"Oh, my God, are You perfect?"

"No, I am not."

"Why are You not perfect?"

"Perhaps you are the cause."

"Oh, my God, are You fulfilled?"

"No, I am not."

"Why are You not fulfilled?"
"Perhaps you are the cause."

"My God, You are a very clever God.
You put the entire blame on me.
All right. I accept.
Now tell me,
How can I make You complete?
How can I make You perfect?
How can I fulfil You?"

"To make Me complete, my child,
Give Me your heart of heartful love.

To make Me perfect, my child,
Give Me your life of lifeless ignorance.

To fulfil Me, my child,
Give Me your soul of soulful promise."