Differentiation, Quality of the Mind, and Spiritual Pursuits

Obstacles always arise in spiritual life. The pull of the extroversial forces on the mind is ever strong and the tendency is for the mind to be pulled into association with form, color, and differentiation. The unitary nature of existence, the fundamental knowledge that all is Brahma becomes lost to the mind when the mind becomes engaged in the belief in differentiation, separation, "I" and "Thou." With this, of course, comes the pull to that which is attractive and the repulsion from that which is painful or unattractive. Because mind is composed of consciousness with intellect, within it is the fundamental sense of "I am this," that differentiates "I" and "Thou." This is the tendency of mind to extrovert into differentiation.

In this tendency is always the feeling in the mind to go to concepts, ideas, and beliefs, to pull into the process of intellectual discrimination, meaning, "This, not this, not this." Intellectual discrimination moves the mind to differentiation and the landmarks of differentiation are forms. It brings the mind into an active process of analysis, differentiation, separations and identity in order to categorize. This tendency is a psychic tendency of a certain level of mind. It makes the mind able to interface with the body and allow it to have the body survive because it is active and protective of physical life. However, it does not help the vital living being that you are to know itself, to feel the harmony and fearlessness of the state of absolute love.

In the state of absolute love, of unending compassion and care, the state where you are truly one with your beloved, there is no differentiation, no separation. Where love alone abides and there is nothing outside of this love, nothing outside of Purusha. This is the state that the conscious vital being yearns for, is pulled to. Like iron filings to a magnet, it is pulled to Parama Purusha. Your essential nature is pulled towards him. Mind has differentiated to operate within the realm of the physical world and survival of the body. It is pulled to differentiate. There are two pulls. One is introversial, pulling you towards this ocean of unconditional, undying love. That is the pull of the eternal. The other is extroversial, pulling you to engage in differentiation, focusing upon the survival of your physical body and emotional survival, connecting with others but seeing them as separate from you and seeing yourself as identified with them. Through those associations, of course, one finds the eternal being again but always returning to form, one feels the separation. One pull is toward the differentiating mind and the other is toward unconditional love, fundamental to one's deepest nature.

Many people are confused in spiritual life about how to reconcile these two very strong pulls in the life. Sometimes they reconcile by throwing themselves into spiritual life and forgetting the world. Sometimes they reconcile by diminishing the spiritual life to a small part of their existence, occasional meditation, group meditation, and the rest of the time, they engage in this differentiated mind. Neither of these offers an integrated solution. On the one hand, your relationship to being in a physical body in the world is suppressed, not dealt with and the other pull is suppressed, not worked with. On the other hand, when one relegates spiritual life to a small corner and engages only in the pursuit of physical and psychic desires and relationships, then the mind becomes engaged in an endless pattern of grasping and feeling which ultimately only leads to suffering. So what to do, what to do? Does anyone have a solution?

Q. Madhuvidya

A. Madhuvidya. Precisely. The solution is to recognize the fundamental unconditioned love which is manifesting in each and every person, each and every living being and even in the material world. Recognize the unitary nature and that you are surrounded by boundless love every single day of your life and that your being is entirely supported in a unitary whole. There is no way to lose Parama Purusha. There is no loss of him, ever. Though there are the highs and lows in life, the joys and sorrows, the accomplishments and disappointments, it all remains within a context that becomes not just an idea but a psychic reality. You feel, "Lord is always with me. Lord is with me twenty-four hours a day. I am never alone. Every being I talk to, he is speaking through that one." He is in everyone, whether they know it or not, Lord is their nature, Love is their nature, the universe is an expression of this pure, divine love."

In this way the Universe becomes a very safe place. The life becomes a dance with Lord. Like the gopis and the gopas who danced with Lord Krishna. He played his flute and the sound enchanted them. They were always searching for Lord Krishna. Sometimes they found him, sometimes not, but they were ever in this dance, this rasa, with him.

So make it the same in your life that you are in a dance with Lord, a rasa with him. Sometimes you hear his flute, sometimes you cry for him and you don’t know where he is. But always you are in a dance with him aware that he is dancing with you and this life is a dance with him, a rasa, a lila, an expression of his unconditional love. To experience the highs and lows of this world is to charm the Lord with knowledge of differentiation, recognizing that it exists within the wholeness of his being, that his unconditional love is a stable base for your existence, always there in all circumstances. There is no place you can go that is away from him. Nowhere you can be, no time you will ever be away from him. He is always there with you, always. Feeling this great love, this ocean of grace, live your life ever aware that even when you are in the world you are dancing with him, within the wholeness of His being. The dualities are only the surface of appearances. That way make your life sweet.

That is why it is called madhuvidya, sweet knowledge. It is indeed a sweet knowledge to know that this world’s true nature is not different from him. The unconditioned love is both in the manifest and the unmanifest. It is both in the deep states of spiritual existence and in the mundane life, in your children, in your loved ones, in your family, it is everywhere, in your friends, in all those who are around you and when you are alone and in the small animals and the trees and the changing of the seasons. It is all around you as waves of unconditioned love.

So take your shelter in the Lord and nothing else. Do not take your shelter in anything less than him and taking his shelter, walk in this world with him by your side.