The Quintessence of Mysticism
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at the American University, Washington, D.C.
There are three principal paths that lead to God-Realisation: the path of Selfless Service, the path of Love and Devotion and the path of Knowledge and Wisdom. Raja Yoga (Mysticism) is a significant aspect of the Yoga of Knowledge (Jnana Yoga). The Knowledge Supreme is something infinitely more than mere philosophical knowledge. Mysticism is experience, the direct and intimate experience of Truth. After covering a great distance in the path of knowledge, philosophy gets tired and takes rest. Mysticism begins when and where philosophy ends. The seers, after having personally experienced the knowledge of Truth, revealed it to the world at large.
The seers sing:
Him I have known, the Being Supreme,
Refulgent, luminous as the Sun beyond darkness,
Far beyond the embrace of devouring gloom.
The seers teach us that the Transcendental Reality and the All-Embodying Existence are one and the same.
A mystic takes unity and diversity as one. Further, he sees unity in diversity. He tells the world that the One and the Many are one. The One is Many in its universal form. The Many are One in their transcendental form. In our spiritual life, we come across two significant words: occultism and mysticism. Occultism is secrecy and cries for secrecy. It wants to house everything in top secrecy. Mysticism is not like that. Mysticism is ready to offer its achievement, transcendental Knowledge, to all who cry for it.
The difference between a philosopher and a mystic lies in the fact that a philosopher, with the greatest difficulty, sees from a distance, and rather imperfectly, the body of Truth, whereas a mystic enters into the very soul of Truth at his sweet will and can live there as long as he wants. And, also, he is permitted by the Supreme to bring to the fore the vast wealth of the soul and share it with the seekers of Truth. Mysticism affirms that the Knowledge of the Divine is universal.
Let us for a moment enter into the lore of the supernal mystery of the Vak in the Vedas. Vak is The Word. Vak at once embodies and reveals the Truth. In its embodiment of Truth, it receives creative inspiration in infinite measure from the Supreme. In its revelation of Truth, it offers to mankind the Supreme, the Liberator Supreme. Vak is the connecting link between two worlds: the world that has not yet realised and fulfilled itself and the world that has already realised and is fulfilling itself.
Mysticism has a language of its own. Its name is Intuition. In it, no mind or mental analysis can ever exist. A mystic sits on the wings of the Intuition-Bird and flies to the Ultimate Real. Intuition reveals the perfect oneness of the Transcendental Vision and Absolute Reality. A mystic is sincere enough to tell the Truth. He says that it is next to impossible for him to interpret his inner experience. No word or thought can do justice to his experience. At this point the Vedic seer cries out, “What shall I speak, what verily shall I think?” The poor mind and senses are no longer alive, having collapsed in their race toward the Unknown. Not for them the Ultimate Mystery of the Universe. Not for them the Knowledge of the Beyond. Mysticism emphasizes the unity of all souls in the Universal Soul. When we look at the Universe, we see it as the scene of conflict between good and evil, darkness and light, ignorance and knowledge. Needless to say, this struggle commenced long before the appearance of man and still continues. The light works in and through the aspiring soul; the darkness works in and through the unaspiring soul. The real transformation of human nature comes not through an austere, ascetic life or a complete withdrawal from the world, but through a gradual and total Illumination of life. And for that, one needs aspiration. Aspiration, and aspiration alone, is the precursor of this Illumination.
A mystical experience is the aspirant’s inner certitude of Truth. This certitude rests on revelation. Revelation is inner authority. Inner authority is final. And who has this authority? Not he who is a victim of merciless logic, but he who has had the experience and who has now grown into the experience itself. Logic is the reasoning and reasoned truth, which is the pride of the finite. Mysticism is the revealing and revealed Truth, which is the pride of the Infinite. If we believe in mysticism, then we must realise that the Ultimate Truth is not only above reason, but contrary to reason. If we believe something through reason, we enter onto the life-torturing path of plurality, the unconscious plurality of separateness. But when we believe something through our inner, mystic faith, we enter onto the life-giving and life-fulfilling path of unity’s Transcendental Reality.
Martin Luther vehemently distrusted the effectiveness of reason. Nor did he have any faith in ritual or in mere work as a means to salvation. In his mysticism, we see the smiling and convincing face of faith. Faith alone can bring about salvation. Faith alone has the key to salvation.
Existence and essence live together. They are one. In the thirteenth century, Meister Johannes Eckhart dynamically asserted this view. We have to realise that essence is singularly manifest in the divine qualities of the human soul, whereas existence is gloriously manifest in the human qualities of the divine soul. The end of the journey for the human soul is complete union with God. The end of the journey for the divine soul is the absolute manifestation of God.
Mysticism tells us that God-Realisation can be attained not by the practise of ideas, but by the constant feeling of oneness with Truth. An idea, at best, indicates the passive aspect of the sense-world because a mental formation is directly or indirectly caught by the sense-world. But the feeling of oneness with Truth easily transcends the sense-world and indicates and ascertains the active and dynamic aspect of life’s evolving process in the flowing stream of Eternity.
A mystic tells the world that God’s Body is Wisdom and God’s Soul is Love. A worldly man feels that his body and his physical activities fashion his soul. A mystic smilingly says that it is the soul that molds the body and transforms it into the unlimited consciousness-light of the soul.
According to Santayana, “Mysticism is not a religion, but a religious disease.” Santayana is perfectly right when he says that mysticism is not a religion. In my opinion, mysticism is the highest aspiration that religion embodies. But as for “religious disease,” I can never agree with Santayana in his profound realisation.
I want to say with all the spiritual confidence at my command that mysticism serves as a panacea; not only for those who cry to see their Beloved God’s Face, but also for those who are afraid of seeing God’s Face in His Omniscience and His Omnipotence; and even for those who are at once mercilessly and unpardonably unbelievers and disbelievers in the very existence of God.
Published in Eastern Light for the Western Mind
Today is a Good and Special Day
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at 3 p.m. at the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
Today is a very good and special day for me to think of God. Today is a very good and special day for me to pray to God. Today is a very good and special day for me to meditate on God. Today is a very good and special day for me to love God. Today is a very good and special day for me to speak to God.
Why? Why? Why? Because today nature is extra peaceful and extra soulful. Today nature is lovingly and unreservedly helping me both inwardly and outwardly in my life of aspiration and dedication.
Today, while I am thinking of God, I feel that there is no necessity on my part to think of anything or anybody else. I feel that from now on I shall be thinking of God alone. Indeed, it is a great accomplishment.
Today, while I am praying to God, I no longer feel attached to the possession-life, but lovingly drawn to the illumination-life.
Today, while I am meditating on God, I clearly see that my self-giving is nothing short of my God-becoming.
Today, while I am loving God, I feel that there is nobody on earth who knows what love truly is. I don’t blame anybody, for in order to love others one must become love itself. It is God alone who has that capacity and who knows what love is. Therefore, I have decided from today to love only God. He is at once the Love divine, the Lover eternal and the Beloved immortal.
Today, while I am speaking to God, I feel and see clearly that each individual human being is in the process of evolution; I feel and see clearly that each individual human being is an evolving God, a realising God, a manifesting God and a fulfilling God. Each individual human being is another living and perfect God of tomorrow.
Published in Wisdom-Waves in New York, part 2
Three Friends: Inspiration, Aspiration and Realisation
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at 7:30 p.m. at SUNY at Brockport, Brockport, New York
My three old friends, my three good friends, my three intimate friends, my three indispensable friends, my three inseparable friends are inspiration, aspiration and realisation.
My inspiration-friend always helps me run far, farther and farthest and, at the same time, fast, faster and fastest. My aspiration-friend helps me fly high, higher and highest and, at the same time, fast, faster and fastest. My realisation-friend helps me dive deep, deeper and deepest and, at the same time, fast, faster and fastest.
At the end of my journey’s close, my inspiration-friend shows me my Beloved Lord’s illumining Feet. At the end of my journey’s close, my aspiration-friend shows me my Beloved Lord’s fulfilling Head. At the end of my journey’s close, my realisation-friend shows me my Beloved Lord’s immortalising Heart.
Right from my spiritual journey’s start, my inspiration-friend has accelerated my progress. My aspiration-friend has created a new world of all-illumining dawn for me. My realisation-friend has liberated me from the meshes of ignorance.
With inspiration my Beloved Supreme created the entire Universe. With aspiration my Beloved Supreme wants to become His Universe. With realisation my Beloved Supreme wants to sing the song of perfection in His entire creation.
My inspiration-friend is always for a new creation, a new realisation, a new manifestation and a new fulfilment. My aspiration friend creates inside the new creation the message of transcendence, constant transcendence. Today’s ultimate height is tomorrow’s starting point: this is what my aspiration-friend teaches me. Finally, my realisation-friend tells me that these divine realities — the new creation and the message of self-transcendence — are not something that I acquire in the process of evolution. No, these are something that I eternally am. They are my own Eternity’s Divinity.
Published in Wisdom-Waves in New York, part 2
Sound and Silence
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Sound and silence are two Vision-Realities of God. Silence is the cry of Eternity. Sound is the smile of Infinity. They are equally powerful and equally immortal.
God created His universe with His Silence-Light. God maintains His universe with His Sound-Delight.
The transcendental Silence and the universal Sound complement each other. The transcendental Silence offers its purity-breath to the universal Sound. The universal Sound offers its beauty-life to the transcendental Silence.
Silence we need to realise who God is. Sound we need to tell the world what God does and where He is. Silence we need to feel God’s Compassion-Light. Sound we need to feel God’s Justice-Light. Silence we need to feel the Power-Heart of God. Sound we need to feel the Power-Feet of God.
In sound-life we experiment. It is through experiment-life that we eventually reach perfection. In silence-life we experience. It is through experience-life that we eventually achieve complete satisfaction.
Silence reigns supreme when my aspiration-life feels that I am eternally of my Beloved Supreme. Sound reigns supreme when my dedication-life feels that I am eternally for my Beloved Supreme.
My sound-life expresses what I have: my sleepless love of God. My silence-life embodies what I am: my eternal hunger for God.
When I run along Eternity’s Road with the sound-life, God’s Compassion-Eye protects me, guides me and leads me. When I run along Eternity’s Road with the silence-life, God’s Satisfaction-Heart feeds me, energises me and helps me reach my destined Goal.
The transcendental God blesses me when I swim in the sea of silence. The universal God blesses me when I grow into the roaring waves of the sound-sea.
My searching mind has countless questions. I devotedly pray to my Lord Supreme and soulfully meditate on Him for all the answers. My Lord Supreme tells me that not only does my silence-heart have all the answers, but my silence-heart itself is the answer, the only answer.
O seeker, ask your mind to cry and cry for unthinking silence. God will definitely answer your prayer. And He will give your life something more: His unsinking Sound.
Sound is the unparalleled pride of newness in a seeker’s aspiration-life and dedication-life. Silence is the unparalleled pride of fulness in a seeker’s aspiration-life and dedication-life.
When silence and sound become inseparably one in a seeker’s life, God gives him a new life-perfection and shows him His own Heart-Satisfaction.
Earth has sound. Heaven has silence. My Lord Supreme has salvation, illumination and liberation. And what do I have? I have a gratitude-heart.
Published in Sound and Silence, part 2