SPIRITUALISM

     There is some controversy about it. This is what Gandhiji said about Spiritualism- "I never receive communications from the Spirits of the dead.......But, I do strongly dis-approve of the practice of holding or attempting to hold such communications. They are often deceptive and are products of the imagination. The practice is harmful both to the medium and the spirits, assuming the possibility of such communications. It attracts and ties to the earth the spirit so invoked, whereas its effort should be to detach itself from the earth, and rise higher. A spirit is not necessarily purer because it is disembodied. It takes with it most of the frailties to which it was liable when on earth. Information or advice, therefore, given by it need not be true or sound. That the spirit likes communication with those on earth is no matter for pleasure. On the contrary it should be weaned from such unlawful attachment. So much for the harm done to the spirits.

     As for the Medium, it is a matter of positive knowledge with me that all those within my experience have been deranged or weak-brained and disabled for practical work whilst they were holding or thought they were holding, such communications. I can recall no friend of mine who having held such communications had benefited in any way."

     This is what the great intrepid thinker Sri J.Krishnamurthi said in one of his talks at Oaks Grove, OJAI " First let us understand what you mean by a Master. Unfortunately, a great many books have been written about Masters, initiations and discipleship and many supposed spiritual societies have been formed around all this. There exist many Swamis and Yogis, who encourage and cultivate all these conceptions. You, who are seeking satisfaction, which you call happiness, Truth, become their tools and are exploited by these teachers, leaders and their societies. One moment they talk about the abstract idea of Masters, and the next they make of them an actuality, by telling you the followers, what the Masters desire you to think and do. So, you are caught up in confusion.......This process of making the Masters into actual entities comes slowly, through hints and messages, till you believe that your leaders have actually met the Masters, and that these beings have told them how to save humanity; and you through so-called devotion, which is really fear, follow the leaders and are exploited.".............On another occasion Krishnajee said " .....There are so many swamis, both white and brown, who tell you about these things.....And who talks and writes about these mysteries except those who, consciously or unconsciously, wish to exploit man in the name of brotherhood, love and Truth? Beware of such people! They have set going incredible and harmful superstitions. Often I have heard people say that they are guided by Masters who send out forces and so on. Don't you know, cannot you perceive for yourself, that you are your own Master, that you create your own ignorance, your own sorrow, that no other can by any means free you from suffering, now or ever?..........."

     When a Theosophist asked Sri Ramana Maharishi whether he approved of the search for invisible Masters, the reply came with laughter and lightning wit: " If they are invisible how can you see them? " This drove the questioner to the statement " In consciousness " to which Sri Ramana replied, " In consciousness, there are no others."

     To the question " What happens to the dead? Can we see them? ", Sri Ramana's answer was that these problems were irrelevant and that no seeker after the Truth should be concerned with them.

     Our Real Quest is the Supreme Truth, Eternal Happiness, that transcends all fleeting experiences and occurrences; for therein lies our total security and freedom. We can never hope to attain Perfect Happiness, Freedom and Security by depending on any relative existence, however good and Powerful it may be; since , in its very nature, it is a creature of time, non-eternal. God is the only Eternal Reality, filling all time and space with His Supreme Presence, All the Created Worlds, with all the beings, live, move and have their existence in Him. Since He is our Antaryamin, seated at the Core of our being, no intermediary is needed to take us to Him. If we but learn to look within, we will be able to come face to face with His Blissful Presence. Theories may, at best, appeal to the intellect, but it is practice alone that can grant us the vision of the Supreme Truth hidden deep within the Core of our being.

     In dualistic consciousness lies the seed of all conflict, sorrow and suffering. Hence, it would not be possible for us to get over our sorrow and suffering by clinging to dualistic processes, on whichever plane it may be. Harmony is the outcome of the feeling of oneness and discard that of separation. Though in the waking and dream states, man is aware of conflict and suffering, he comes to experience a kind of harmony in deep-sleep state. But this experience of peace is not the result of any conscious effort on his part; it is the soothing balm administered by Nature to the aching soul, however temporary it may be. In order to make this peace permanent, one must turn the consciousness of vague negative unity that he experiences in the deep-sleep state, into a living Reality, even on the waking plane. This is extremely difficult, for in the waking state it is not possible for him to maintain the negative unity as in Deep-sleep state. He is now face to face with the baffling multiplicity of the phenomenal existence, with its perennial conflicts, troubles and turmoil. I n the deep-sleep state, there is a feeling of blankness, nothingness, the problem of duality is not there.

     By merely denying the names and forms, we will never succeed in solving the life's problem. Hence the only way to achieve lasting peace is to trace the apparent diversity to its source within and realise the underlying unity. One must be able to feel the unity underlying the diversity even in the waking state. The experiences of the waking and deep-sleep states must be connected on the conscious plane and integrated. Anything that draws us away from our Centre in to the fields of ever expanding diversity, anything that makes us rely on on any relative existence, whether in the seen or unseen worlds, instead of solving our life's problem, makes it more complicated and confusing. We must be beware of such temptations. It will be enough if we come to realize that all the visible and invisible worlds with all their beings, names, and forms, have sprung up from God and have their existence in Him, filled with His Supreme Presence.

     We need not enter into any controversy regarding spiritualism. For our purposes it is not necessary. The saints who realized God did not go into the details of spiritualism. They reached the Supreme Truth by the direct and straight path. When such a direct path is ever open to us, the path tested and found effective, there is no need for us to grope here and there in a state of uncertainty.

     The attraction of the variety is so great that even most mature thinkers are lost in it. Variety and multiplicity must always be tethered to the underlying unity. In the flow of the external pull, one is apt to forget the inner unity. So, the consciousness must be made to balance equally within and without. This should be our main aim and not spiritualism. Our life is short. Already, much of it is wasted in unfruitful pursuits. With abiding faith in the Saving Grace of the Lord, let us do our best to utilize the balance atleast, for our highest good. May His Supreme Will be done.

JAI SRI RAM