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‘NO-mIND’ — The Philosophy of the Strong
Arise! Awake! Approach the Great Knowledge and learn. Like the sharp edge of the razor is that Path – so the wise say – hard to tread and difficult to cross indeed. …the Higher Self is not for the weak to obtain. – Kathopanishad
When the forms of an old culture are dying, the new culture is created by a few people who are not afraid to be insecure. – Rudolf Bahro, Socio-Ecologist
The emergence and flowering of this Pinnacle Non-Dual State of ‘No-mind’ in the evolutionary life of a member of the Homo sapiens species (embodied souls), the only receptacle harbouring — ‘Consciousness’ — as ‘life aware-of-itself’, the sacred Soul as the divine representative and the mystical ‘Conscience’ as the divine spark — culminates in the crystallization in world-life-history of what different theological worldviews variously describe as the ‘Uttam Purusha’ (the Noble Man) ‘Ideal Man’, ‘New Man’, ‘Perfect Man’, ‘Complete Person’ – the ‘Creative Individual’.
The appearance and materialization of this Summit State of Being — existing beyond all empirical states of becoming, beyond all worldly influences, dualities and relativities, beyond all subjective discriminations and parochial attachments, beyond all earthly-illusions and self-delusions – is the highest fruition of evolution and final end of all ‘human’ existence – known to the cognoscenti as the Metaphysical State of ‘No-mind’. The emergence and actualization of this Transcendent Non-Dual State of ‘No-mind’ in an Individual member of the Homo sapiens species — is the Ultimate Reality, the final goal and definitive destination of all human life — the highest fruit of evolution.
This Onto-Teleological process – resulting in the manifestation and evolution of such a ‘no-minded’ Individual who has awakened his inner Self, fulfilled his Destiny and attained this blessed Non-Dual State of ‘No-Mind’ – this New Order of Being — on the cosmic journey of life — from the Godhead, to the microbe, to man and back-to-Godhood — is the very raison d’être of Creation, the essence of Life and the rationale of the Universe. It is the fundamental reason, the existential meaning and divine purpose underlying this ruthlessly-driven process of the world-life-history machinery towards the appearance and unfurlment of Matter, Life, Consciousness and Conscience — from the gross to the refined – continually evolving along its energic gradient of highest potential towards — the Godhead.
The attainment of this Apex State of Equanimity — the final dawning of the potent non-dual state of ‘no-mind’ — marks the successful culmination of the most beautiful and exhilarating, the most profoundly meaningful, challenging and self-fulfilling ‘homeward-bound’ Cosmic Journey esoterically referred to as – ‘re-turn to the Source’, as arriving at the ‘Other Shore’ – also sought as the immediately-lived, directly-felt, mystical experience of merger/fusion/unity … ‘in-accord-with’ the Godhead/Brahman/Tao/Asha. Islam refers to it as — ’La Makan’ — to reach the Transcendent.
This is a spiritual journey of the soul from the gross world of names and forms to the subtle world of energies, from the outer plane of divisiveness to the inner sphere of unity, from the realm of forms to the formless, from the limited to the infinite – to the very innermost core of our being, the Self.
This Blissful State of Integration is variously articulated as ‘Yojenta’ (blissful re-union) in Zoroastrianism or ‘Yoga’ (re-union of ‘individual soul’ with the ‘Universal Soul’) in Hindu Theology or ‘wahdat-ul-wujud’ (unity of being) in Islam or ‘merger with the Divine’ in religious philosophy, or simply ‘Unio Mystica’ as all mystics live it; The word ‘religion’ itself, in Latin, means ‘to re-unite’, ‘to re-join’… man with God.
The actualization of this Holistic State made manifest in the emergence of the ‘No-mind’ condition is the sumum bonum towards which all life flows; it is the Gestalt State of living that is more than the sum of its parts, encompassing all creation …and then some; it is the Super-Mortal State of Pure Being that transcends all the mundane, mortality-threatened imperatives-dynamics-mechanics of the alloyed empirico-epistemological realm. This is the Serene State of Tranquility in which all the heavens are contained, the Pure State of Bliss for which all the gods aspire.
The core factor relentlessly driving this unconscious, irresistible, innate thirst for ‘integration and completion’ in the human psyche is the existence of the ‘soul’ within all human beings. The ‘soul’ (‘Atman’ in the Upanishads, ‘Bodhicitta’ in Buddhism), the ‘Divine Representative’ innately extant in an embodied state within human beings — a representative of the Divine Force that abides within our formal psycho-somatic structure — serves to fuel, drive and direct our duality-infected human mind/consciousness – the penultimate fruit of evolution — just one-rung below the ‘ultimate state’ on the ladder-of-evolution – along its energic gradient of potential towards that ‘unified condition of being’ beyond-all-becoming. A cohesive condition of Being beyond the influences of the ‘this worldly’ state of qualities, duality and relativity – the exalted Non-Dual State of ‘No-mind’ ‘in accord with’ — the Pure Mind/Super Consciousness/God’s Will (vis-avis the normal ‘my will’) ever-abiding, as is its due, in the Transcendent-Eternal Sphere of the Spirit.
Thus, each and every ‘individual’ has a distinctive value in the world-life matrix, a unique sanctity exclusive to him/herself in the larger order-of-things because s/he represents a special correlation of conscious-unconscious forces revolving around a spiritual core – the soul (of which s/he may or may not be aware) and can thus potentially exercise her/his right to aspire for and attain this rare and elusive ‘no-mind’ state of being beyond all becoming. Yoga, as a spiritual discipline helps us ‘re-join’ this micro, inner spiritual core (soul/atman) contained within all humans with the macro, all-pervading Divine Force (Soul/Parmatman) contained in, though not restricted to, the Universe.
We must keep in mind the ‘soul’ — as the cosmic essence, is the divine representative in man and remains ever unaffected, unsullied, unlimited and unchanged through its eons-old muddy journey through multiple phases of transitions and stages of evolution in an assortment of embodied states. All beings — as manifest, particular, ever-changing, embodied individuals with duality-afflicted (alloyed state) consciousness enshrining the soul (atman) — are in essence – when thy attain the ‘no-mind’ state — an integral part of the unmanifest, universal, unchanging, undifferentiated, unalloyed State of Pure Consciousness also referred to as the Collective/Great Unconscious or the Absolute/Universal Soul (Parmatman/Tao/Brahman/Dhamma/Ahura/Allah) i.e. the Godhead and are therefore infused with its radiance and qualities among which are immeasurability, immutability, imperishability and the total freedom of action beyond accountability to the laws of nature, man, morality-karma.
The emergence of this unique ‘no-mind’ state is the Zenith of Actualization (the God Dimension) on the energic gradient-of-potential of the Universe. A Cosmic Prize avidly sought by all the world’s faiths and cultures in their theologies and mythologies as the ‘Holy Grail’, the ‘Amrut of Immortality’, the ‘Divine Elixir’, the ‘Golden Fleece’, the ‘Alchemical Pearl’, the ‘Chintamani/Parasmani’ (Philosopher’s Stone), the ‘Other Shore’, ‘Self-Realization’ or simply as the common man dreams it, the ‘Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow’.
It is due to this loophole of liberation that the doors of Godhood/Brahman-hood/Tao-hood are open to all men who “travel the road less taken…” nonchalantly standing in the line-of-fire while practicing spiritual disciplines (yoga of no-mind) diligently with the right attitude and state of desire-lessness, intention-lessness; thus finally attaining this unique, exalted Non-Dual State of ‘No-mind’ – the highest award above or below the sun conferrable on a human being.
The dawning of this ‘no-mind’ state, once attained, grants one the right of entry to the ultimate State of Godhood; the sole Doorway to Immortality available to the Homo sapiens species alone; the only Gateway to Heaven, even grander than we mortals could ever have imagined it.
The emergence of the ‘Creative Individual’ in world-life-history, forged and refined in the white-heat of life’s furnace, exemplifies the attainment of this unique and blessed ‘no-mind’ state.
As an aside we must note, in the Big Picture, human history is the result of the continual inter-play between the imperatives-dynamics-mechanics of three vital elements whose interconnected, interacting, interplay-of-forces determines the emergence of a particular given historical condition and the resultant decadent or advanced quality of civilization it attains.
The three inter-acting elements determining the emergent conditions of human history are:
‘The Establishment’ — made up of the decadent, self-serving, peoples-oppressing, natural resources-exploiting ruling elite — the political power bodies and their lackeys who have invested their lives in backing this ideology to ensure their current and future economic and existential security and growth. Vested interests such as the military-industrial complex, the bureaucrats, the boffins and technocrats, the bankers, big business bosses etc, comprising the rich and powerful (5%) who between them control the whole show, owning 95% of the nation and its resources and deciding the fate and lot of the masses in general — collectively referred to as the ‘Fat Cats’ — all of whom stand to continue to prosper and grow from propping up and perpetuating the current decadent, unjust and exploitative status quo.
‘The Herd’ — the toiling, exploited, oppressed masses – the subjects, whose allotted, pre-ordained destiny of continual toil and minimalist living conditions from hand-to-mouth is determined by the Establishment, — the ‘Fat Cats’ who grew obese on the blood, sweat and tears of the immiserated masses — collectively referred to as the ‘Milch Cows’.
These two elements creating human history are referred to in-combo as ‘the Establishment-Herd Axis’ because, invariably, the ‘unthinking herd’ is cleverly co-opted by the establishment to further their selfish agenda and ensure their secure entrenchment in the body politic and social.
The ‘Creative Individual’ who manifests from within the folds of the ‘Creative Minority’ — the Third Force — as the change agent of history, the saviour of the peoples, the Conscience of Society, the expander of horizons, the vanguard of the New Age, the bearer of the lamp etc – with the express, divinely mandated mission of enlightening and liberating the masses from the rapacious clutches of the exploitative-oppressive Establishment, who naturally, sensing the survival-threat of ‘status quo change’ he advocated, considered him as a dire danger to their very existence. Branding him as ‘the Exception,’ ‘the Opposite’, ‘the Outsider’, ‘the Oddball’, ‘the Marginal Man’, ‘the Rebel’, ‘the Maverick’, ‘Public Enemy No: 1’ etc. and invariably subjecting him to epic-scale ordeals of opposition and suffering at the hands of the unholy nexus between ‘the Establishment’ and strangely enough, their fellowmen; the very enslaved, immiserated masses – ‘the Herd’, whom they so dearly sought to liberate.
Interestingly, such “creative individuals” (Toynbee) though separated by millennia and spanning all regions and cultures of the world – are strikingly similar in their attitude and the society-catalyzing role they play in the forward movement of their civilization, they invariably share a common vision, passion and sense of mission, embrace a parallel worldview and attitude towards the world-life, have a comparable paradigm of thought, expression and behaviour, partake in a markedly similar set of external conditions and circumstances — structurally and dynamically — in their lives and inevitably contribute to the same collective end – humbly, silently, secretly making the world a better place – by catalyzing a compatible, optimally-balanced, holistic and benign growth-promoting, symbiotic condition of sustainability through a technological-ecological-spiritual synthesis in the coming New Age of sufficiency, security and spiritual fulfillment.
Thus guiding the development and advancement of civilization in harmony with its natural environment and, in so doing, kick-starting at the ‘individual’ level among the collective the grand inner ‘homeward-bound’ journey, the ‘re-turn to the Source’ … the spiritual ascent of man along his energic gradient of highest potential … towards the Godhead.
An inspired, intuitive and informed research on the personality profiles of ‘such ones’ as the ‘Creative Individuals’ — in World History reveals the Ten Pillars of the Mystic Personality’ Paradigm’.
THE FIRST PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
‘Creative Individuals’ invariably manifest in world history from among the folds of the ‘creative minority’, as ‘men of excellence’ – achieving and residing in the highest State of Unified Mind — the ‘No-mind’ — a state beyond duality and relativity — exclusively available to members of a special-unique species: The ‘Club of Homo Sapiens’.
This holistic condition of ‘No-Mind’, esoterically referred to as ‘Complexio Oppositorium’ in Latin finds its echo in the variously articulated concepts of different world cultures. In the Vedas-Upanishads, this supreme state is referred to as ‘Stitha Pragnya’ (‘stilled-mind’ state), or ‘Citta Vritti Nirodha’ (mind ripples ceased state), or ‘Samabhava’ (even-minded/same-minded/steady-minded state) or ‘Samadhi’ (‘silenced-mind’ state). Gita stipulates this blessed ‘no-mind’ state of being beyond affect by all worldly categories as ‘Brahman-hood’ (Supreme Being). In Buddhism it is well known as the state of ‘Nirvana’ (non-stirring/steady-mind), a state beyond impact by any worldly force or ‘Pure Consciousness’ (the unconditioned-undifferentiated-unalloyed non-dual state). This ‘no-mind’ state is what Patanjali called ‘Asamprajnata Samadhi’ – “Samadhi without support” – because it doesn’t depend on any particular state. Tibetan Buddhism points to this exalted ‘no-mind’ state as the raft that carries one to the ‘Other Shore’ (the liberated state); Sufism terms this unique state as ‘Fanaa’ (the state of the ‘self’ having gone away — the egoless state). Christianity experiences this sacred presence as ‘Kenosis’ (emptying of self), an experience of the dissolution of the individual self in the larger Self that enfolds us –a state of non-duality; Zen variously describes this natural state as ‘mu shin’ (‘no-mind/ego’), ‘mu ga’ (‘no-self’), ‘mu i’ (‘no-consciousness’), ‘mu nen’ (‘no-thought’), ‘mu so’ (‘no-form/posture’) and also, not-so-paradoxically, in some schools of Zen thought it is portrayed as ‘Mind Only’ or ‘Unified Mind’ or ‘Original Essence/Nature’ or ‘T’ai Chi’ (‘the Great Unconscious/Ultimate’). Japanese philosophy names this rare state as ‘Satori’, Taoism specifies it as the ‘Prajna Immovable’ (Immovable Wisdom). Martial arts, illustrates this unrivaled condition as the ‘Inviolable Mind’. Authentic Oriental Warrior Tradition esoterically depicts this special state of ‘no-mind’ as ‘Still-Weather Mind’, ‘Calm-Water Mind’, ‘Clear-Sky Mind’, ‘Clean-Mirror Mind’ all indicating a highly developed, spiritually advanced (mind-less/self-less) state of symbiotic living in the world-life, at-one-with the ‘Whole’. Greek Philosophy expresses this Transcendent State of No-Mind as ‘Equanimity’, the Stoics describe it as ‘Invulnerability’ and the Epicureans explain it as ‘Imperturbability’. Esoteric texts announce this exceptional, self-caused, self-contained, self-determining state of ‘no-mind’ as the ‘Wickless Flame’ – an absolute, independent state completely free of and unaffected by the inner forces of the libido-ego or the outer forces of the phenomenal world. Various Eastern mystic texts esoterically exemplify this singular, non-conditioned State of No-Mind as the ‘Unimpeachable’, ‘Unaffectable’, ‘Invincible’, ‘Immeasurable’, ‘Impenetrable’, ‘Inexhaustible’, ‘Immutable’, ‘Imperishable’ Mind.
The ‘Unique Individual’ who attains this Supreme Non-Dual State of No-Mind, this sacred state of ‘Individuality’ in world history is well described, defined and documented in the various Mythological-Theological-Philosophical Worldviews of all civilizations, spanning all climes and times, in a wide variety of terms — all basically denoting an ‘Exemplar’, an Exceptional Personality, a Human Being Par Excellance, a ‘Man’ among men.
In the Gita/Upanishads ‘such a one’ is referred to as ‘Sampoorna Purusha’ (Complete Man) or ‘Adarsh Purusha’ (Ideal Man). The Yoga Vasishta identifies him as ‘Jivanmukta’ (Liberated Living Man), other Hindu holy texts mention him as ‘Aptapurusa’ (Self-Realized Man) or ‘Aupurusya’ (All Man) or ‘Purshotamam Maradya’. Tantra talks of him as ‘Sutradhara’ (Controller of Events/Situations). Buddhism celebrates him as ‘Tathagata’ (Liberated One). Jainism acknowledges him as ‘Mahavira’ (Enlightened One). Islam calls such a one ‘Insaan-I-Kamil’ (Unique Man) or ‘Fata’ (Perfect One); Prophet Mohammad is referred to as ‘Uswatul Hasanah’ (Ideal / Best Man), the Quran calls him ‘siraj un Munir’ (a Lamp of Divine Radiance). Christianity recognizes such a one as the ‘Anointed One’ (Chosen/Graced) or the ‘Son of Man’. Zoroastrianism describes him as ‘Ashavaan’ (Just Man) or ‘Naroish Narra’ (‘Man’ among men). The Hebrew titles such a one as ‘Elmataro’ (Ideal Man). Zen knows him as ‘Shinjin’ (Ideal/Perfect Self). Tao sees him as ‘Shijin’ (Perfect Man). Confucius identifies him as the ‘Complete Man’/‘Wise Man’/‘Gentleman’. Lao Tzu speaks of him as ‘the Sage’/‘Superior Man’. The Chinese refer to them as ‘the Immortals’. In World History such a one is termed as the ‘Creative Individual’ (Toynbee). Indian History acclaims him as the ‘Chakravartin’ (Emperor of the World). The 20th C philosopher Nietzsche and Modern Mythology labels him as — ‘Superman’.
This Ultimate State of Being and No-Mind-ness, experienced as ‘Shunyata’ (the Divine Void pregnant with infinite possibilities) in Buddhism and ‘Sumum’ in Latin, occurs spontaneously when Atman (individual-conditioned soul) and Parmatman (Universal-Unconditioned Soul) of the Vedas resonate in frequency, connect and merge. Put simply, when the individual ‘my will’ connects and sublimates itself, surrenders and unites with the Divine ‘Thy Will’ – the exotic non-dual, ‘no-mind’ state-of-being kicks-in, lights up and takes over. So it is exhorted: “Just Connect!”
In spiritual terms when this Blissful State of Union occurs one is said ‘to be one with’ or ‘in resonance with’ or ‘in-sync-with’… the God Mind. One is then said to be ‘Connected’ or ‘Going with the Flow’.
In various world cultures it is described as being — in accord with …the ‘Tao’ (The Way) — Taoism, …‘Asha Vahishta’ (the Supreme Law/Order) — Zoroastrianism, …‘Saddhamma’ (True Law) — Buddhism, …‘Dharma’ (Faith/Duty) – Hinduism, …‘R’ta’ (Cosmic Order) — Rig Veda, …‘Brahman’ (Supreme Soul) or …‘Parmatman’ (Absolute Self) – Upanishads, …‘Me’ (Lord Krishna as Personal God)– Gita, …‘Hukam’ (The Divine Will) – Sikhism, …‘Thy Will’ (God’s Will) – Bible, …‘The Mandate’/’Will of Heaven’ – Chinese, …‘The Great Unconscious’ (God) – Zen, …‘Ash-Shari’ah’ (the way or road which God has established for the guidance of his people, both for the worship of God and the duties of life) – Koran, …‘the Axiom’ – Mathematics, …‘the Elan Vital’ (Life Force — chi/ki/prana/pneuma) – Biology, …the ‘Unified Field’ – Science, …the ‘Cosmological Constant’ – Cosmogony, …the ‘Invariable Dynamic’ (Sarosh, 1974) — as this commonly sought ‘God Dimension’ is variously termed in different worldviews.
All denoting ‘the Flow’ the sole, all-governing ‘Onto-teleological Principle’ generating, regulating, maintaining and directing the creative process of life — the eternal cycles of creation, sustenance, dissolution and evolution of all life inexorably moving through its various stages of development towards its gradient of highest potential – the Penultimate State of Mortality … and beyond (Immortality-Godhood).
Hence, in order to live a meaningful and purposeful life and fulfill your destiny, it makes sound sense to align your being, with the help of your unfailing moral compass — the Conscience, difficult though it be, so as to always be ‘in accord …with the flow’ — the all-determining, world -life-history ordering, civilization-evolving imperative of ‘Thy Will’ (the God Dimension) by achieving a non-dual ‘no-mind’ state-of-being beyond all the partial states-of-becoming the material world has to offer.
(It is of interest to note that today, the world scientists around the globe coordinately working on the frontiers of cutting-edge knowledge questing the origins of the Universe and Life refer to the same ‘holistic vision’ (the ‘God Dimension’ – so avidly sought and identified by the world’s sages of yore) though in different terms, as their quest for the ‘Grand Unification Theory’ (GUT) or the ‘Theory of Everything’ (ToE) or the ‘Unified Field Theory’ (UFT) or the search for ‘Singularity’. This is compatible with the essence of the Indian philosophy of ‘Advaita’ (Absolute Non-Duality) – a state beyond the empirical realm of phenomena transcending the algorithm of cause-effect, where the ‘observer’, the ‘observed’ and the ‘act of observation’ merge into unison (Singularity/God Mind) — as postulated by the Vedantic sage Shankaracharya centuries ago.)
This creative cosmic process – relentlessly, even ruthlessly, driving the evolution of all beings along the line of least resistance towards their peak point-of-actualization on the energic gradient of potential – the Godhead — finds creative expression in man’s intense fundamental soul-longing and spiritual-thirst for absolute identity/union/fusion/merger/at-one-ment with the ‘Godhead’, the ‘Flow’ (‘Thy Will’). This deep, cosmic aspiration for unity with the Divine is unmistakably documented and emphatically expressed in the various scriptures and holy books of our world’s cultures.
In the Gita (18-61) Lord Krishna definitively decrees: “I am seated in the hearts of all.” The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad reveals: “Aham Brahmsi” –‘I am Brahman’. The Veda pronounces: “Shivoham” – ‘I am Shiva’. The Chandogya Upanishad avers: “Tat Tvam Asi,”—‘That, Thou Art’. Katha Upanishad announces: “The ‘I’ within me is One with Brahman”. The Taitiriya Upanishad avers: “From Bliss we come and to Bliss we return” or “What Thou art, That, may I be”. Zarathushtra aspires: “Grant me That Wisdom, O Ahura, that I may be one with Thee.” Jesus proclaims: “For I and my Father are one,” well aware that he would be accused of blasphemy and eventually crucified by the unholy nexus between the entrenched vested interests of a corrupt clergy and decadent ruling elite on one hand, and an unawake, apathetic mass on the other. Mansur Al Hallaj too, a mystic of Islam, had the courage of his spiritual convictions to boldly declare the higher truth: “An Al Huq” – ‘I am Truth/God’, well knowing that he would be denounced and butchered by the dogma-blinded Orthodoxy as a heretic because of it. And despite being tortured and put to death in a most painfully gruesome way he resolutely stood his ground to the very end. Thus did Shabistari proclaim: “Rise above time and space, pass by the world, and be to yourself your own world,” and Socrates concur: “Man must rise above the Earth” and Nietzsche prophetically assert: “Man was made to be surpassed, I teach you the Superman.”
This Transcendent No-Mind State of Being – Unio Mystica, as Atman Self-Realized, Buddha Nature, Mohammad Mind and Christos Consciousness – an eternal state beyond mutation, division and mortality exists above and beyond all the mundane experiences and influences of the world-life. ‘IT’, is a state beyond measurement, beyond all forms and qualities, standards and norms, values and mores of the relativity-swayed, duality-ridden world-life — beyond the empirical categories of space-time-consciousness, beyond the imperatives of creation, nature and mortality, beyond the laws of fate, karma and morality. ‘IT’, is a state beyond the principles of ethics, mathematics and logic, beyond the confines of tradition, conventions and customs, beyond submission to ideologies, dogmas and doctrines, beyond the transient limits of the outer world of form, sentience and volition and the inner world of the untamed libido-ego complex … and yet, though ‘transcendent’ of all worldly categories, ‘IT’, paradoxically, is at-one-and-the-same-time perpetually ‘imminent’ in them all as their very Essence, their ‘Original Source’, even though apparently subject to the vagaries of their superficial reality, though not in spirit.
Such persons are primarily fueled, driven and guided by the ‘Awakened Individual Conscience’ (the Divine Spark), extant in all men — and beholden only to the ‘Universal/Absolute Conscience’ – the Godhead. It is also referred to as the ‘Cosmic Connection’ and is renowned – by those who partake of this state — as the ‘toughest armour’ and ‘softest pillow’ known to man; endowing him with a unique inner-state of grace, equanimity and sense of security — a joy unspeakable and peace profound that surpasseth all understanding; even when tied-to-the-stake in the burning-centre of the flames – in theory and in practice.. That’s probably what Gandhi meant when he advised: “If you have faith in the cause and the means and in God, the hot sun will be cool for you.”
Through the practice of Shunya Samadhi on the ‘Prajnaparamita’, one must “just connect” with the central flow of the creative energy stream that powers the universe (‘Thy Will’), also variously referred to in different cultures as ‘Prana’ (Hinduism), ‘Pneuma’ (Greek), ‘Fluidum Vitae’ (Latin), ‘Elan Vital’ (W. Philosophy), ‘Mana’ (Polynesian) ‘Ki’ (Zen), ‘C’hi’ (Taoism).
This State of Connectedness with the universal flow-of-force bequeaths one an advanced mind-state of dispassionate objectivity and detachment, a state of disconnectedness from ‘this worldly’ distractions, illusions and ego delusions resulting in the emergence of a potently sharpened ‘no-mind’ condition — a State of One-Pointed-ness (ekagrata). This intensely focused ‘no-mind’ condition, in turn, facilitates one in attaining a heightened meditative state of ‘super-consciousness’ (for want of a better word) which enables one to penetrate through the veil of Maya and transcend one’s partial, parochial, limited state of subjectivity and ignorance, sublimate one’s Aham (beast/ego/lower self) along with all its millennia-old, historically-conditioned — personal and racial (histo-genic) — emotional baggage, prejudices and illusions and expand one’s horizon beyond the world of particulars, thus endowing one with the grand spiritual vision and acumen to encompass, paradoxically, the Universal — the fathomless, seamless, boundless ‘Whole’. This creative cosmic process is described in the Upanishads as ‘Sat-Chit-Ananda’ – ‘Truth-Meditation-Bliss’, the 3-steps to the Absolute-Universal State of Pure Energy – and its original condition of Immortality-Eternity-Infinity.
Such ones actualize this Gestalt State of No-Mind – the grandest prize the Cosmos has to offer, through an immediately-lived, directly-experienced happening of a mystico-intuitive ‘Revelation’, real-izing in less than a nano-fraction of a thought-moment the liberating powers of the ‘Eternal Soul’ — the ‘Atman’ (the Higher Self –Vedas), the ‘Bodhicitta (Buddha Nature – Buddhism), the ‘Divine Self’ (Christianity), ‘Essence-of-Mind’ (Zen), ‘Self-Nature’/‘Original Mind’ (Taoism) — that exists dormant within all human beings … and are instantly freed from the fetters of the illusory world of duality and relativity.
Real-izing this Truth, they are now liberated from all the traps and trappings of the illusory, phenomenal world of particularity, relativity, duality and multiplicity and exist afresh no-mindedly in a new Transcendent Non-Dual State of Unified Being at the Noumenal roots of Super-Reality itself — beyond the illusory reality of the empirico-epistemological framework, beyond the dominion of deceptive physico-psycho dualities and conceptual ethico-moral polars – blissfully residing in the unified, unalloyed, undifferentiated Ontological Realm of Pure Being.
Thus an ancient Sanskrit text asserts: “Just as the lion on emerging from its cage is freed from its bondage, so the sage on realizing his true ‘self’ is freed from the net of the world, from the shackles of caste, religion, stage of life, traditional morality and the scriptures.” (Yoga Vashista VI a: 122.2) and as the Bible too affirmed: “See the Light …” the Light that sets you free — as the secret to immortality. So a Buddhist Sutra joyfully chants: “Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha!” (O’ bodhi, gone, gone, gone forever to the Other Shore, landed on the Other Shore, svaha!)
Similarly seeking to surpass this Great Divide that rends our universe at the physical and conceptual levels and go beyond the confusing divisions of states and forms, beyond the restricting dichotomies of the natural world, the misleading dualities of mental states, the illusory dialectics of history and the confines of ethico-moral polarities; beyond the limits of particularity and relativity, beyond the shackles of an obsolete tradition, convention and custom and the subjective, parochial, culture-programmed compulsions of discrimination, separatism, racism and sectarian exclusive-mindedness that afflicts the rest, ‘such ones’ exist in an mystical, holistic, undifferentiated, all-inclusive state defined as ‘No-mind’ — a non-dual state of being which lies beyond the spatial, temporal, material and consciousness-centric framework of ‘now and then’, ‘here and there’, ‘this and that’, ‘self and other’ as found in the phenomenal world — the realm of particulars.
Thus, extolling this ‘no-mind’ state beyond the world of duality the Ashtavakra Samhita 17.5-7 advocates: “Those who seek enjoyment and those who seek emancipation are both found in this world. Rare is the noble-minded one who desires neither (total detachment) enjoyment nor emancipation (a ‘no-mind’ state). It is only a few broad-minded persons who have no sense of (preference for) either attraction for, or rejection of righteousness, wealth, desire and emancipation (‘no-mind’ state) … (such a one) rising above the traditional four goals of life due to his absolute knowledge. For the man of wisdom there is neither longing for the dissolution of the universe nor aversion to its existence. Hence he is blessed as he lives contentedly with whatever kind of living comes to his lot”. Sri Rama, having attained ‘absolute knowledge’ beyond the realm of relativity, says in the Yoga Vasishta “I am free from the dirt of duality. All this is Brahman. I do not desire heaven nor do I desire hell. I remain established in the self”. The Gita too affirms, “The man who is not troubled by pain and pleasure, who remains the same (no-minded), he is wise and makes himself fit for eternal life”, as does Divani Shamsi Tahwiz V111, saying, “The Man of God is beyond infidelity and religion. To the Man of God, right and wrong are alike”. So as Shin Jin Mei advises, “No love and no hatred: that is enough./ Understanding can come,/ Spontaneously clear/ As daylight in a cave” and as Lao Tzu affirms “The Sage brings all the contraries together and rests in the natural balance of Heaven”.
Such ‘ones’ are rooted in the Universal Realm, beyond ‘here’ and ‘there’ in space – abiding in Infinity; beyond ‘now’ and ‘then’ in time – existing steadfast — in Eternity; beyond ‘self’ and ‘other’ in consciousness – residing in the Absolute Mind (the ‘No-mind’ state); beyond ‘being’ and ‘non-being’—immersed, as is their ‘original nature’ — in Immortality. Shattering all their parochial fetters of subjectivity and tradition ‘such ones’ transcend the precincts of phenomena, of multiplicity, relativity and duality and rise above all worldly categories — moral and immoral, true and false, good and evil, right and wrong, pleasure and pain, honour and dishonour, friend and foe, victory and defeat, fame and shame, sinner and saint, superior and inferior, subjective and objective, past and present, left and right, above and below etc. — existing in their ‘essence’ per se — an undifferentiated, Unitive State of Being mystically referred to as the ‘No-mind’ state — an Eternal Order of Being beyond all the states-of-becoming, beyond compare and measure, completely different to, above and beyond all worldly processes, forces, forms and qualities … and yet, paradoxically, operating at their very roots — even when seemingly appearing to be subject to the vagaries of their superficial reality.
Thus, the ancient Indian Epic, the Mahabharata, advises: “Give up virtue – there need not be any desire for it. Give up vice – for it cannot have any attraction. Give up both – the truth and falsehood – for they both depend on the (partisan/partial) motive. Give up intellect (the duality/relativity-steeped mind states) and know the absolute (the unified ‘no-mind’ state/ Godhood).”
This is an Omnijective State of Being above and beyond ‘subjective’ and ‘objective’, a Gestalt State different to and greater than the sum of its parts; an implicit Axiom State from which all the explicit imperatives, principles, rules and laws that construct, govern and regulate creation-world-life-history emerge and evolve …and into which they all eventually — at the time of involution when the cosmic process attains its goal of ‘successful completion’ – remerge and dissolve. Zen terms this – the highest and most unique state of mind accessible to and achievable by man – as the state of ‘mu-shin’ (‘no-mind’ state) or ‘mu-ga’ (‘no-self’ state) or ‘mu-i’ (‘no-being’ state) – a Super-State of Mind/Self/Being simply beyond comprehension and compare. This state is also referred to as ‘Satori’ in Japan, ‘Samadhi’ in India, ‘Nirvana’ in Buddhism.
The Gita too describes the unified ‘no-mind’ state of the yogi – the man who acts no-mindedly – self-less, motive-less, intention-less — liberated from enslavement to all world categories, detached from his ego and its attachments, freed of all expectations for the fruits of action, desiring neither its rewards nor fearing its consequences, saying: “He who is without affection on any side, who does not rejoice or loathe as he obtains good or evil – his intelligence is firmly set.” or “He who is content with whatever chance events manifest in his life, who has passed beyond the dualities and who remains the same in success and failure, honour and dishonour – even when he acts is not bound (by the laws of Karma),” or “In this world the yogin has no interest whatever to gain by the actions he has done and nothing to be lost by the actions that he has not done; for he is independent of all being.” The Gita shares the secret with us, clarifying: “Since I have no craving (a state of ‘no-mind-ness’ i.e. no desires/attachments/expectations of reward, nor their opposite states viz: disappointments/doubts/fear of retribution) for the fruits of action, actions (seemingly positive or negative) do not contaminate me (affect my Karma).”
This unique form of ‘devotional act’ enacted in a state of dispassionate objectivity and detachment, solely for the sake of the act itself, because it is so right to do, regardless of the rewards to be gained or lost in this world or merits in the next, is the highest sanctified form of selfless-action that earns man the grand prize of Immortality, even without his seeking it. Action/s performed in this frame-of-mind is referred to as ‘Nishkama Karma’ (desireless action) in the Gita and is esoterically termed as ‘effortless effort’, ‘actionless action’, ‘doingless doing’, ‘intentless intent’ or ‘will-less willing’ — all exemplifying the unique condition of ‘no-minded’ action — in Zen; a heightened more potent and effective world-life promoting form of ‘non-action’ or ‘non-doing’ untainted by ego motives, preferences or intentions. Thus too the Ashtavakra Samhita clarifies, “It is bondage when the mind desires or grieves at anything, rejects or accepts anything, feels happy or angry at anything” (all, various facets of the ego-mind state). Therefore such ones remain ‘no-minded’ in everything they do, everywhere they go.
Thus Lord Krishna says in the Gita: “O’ Kurunada, for the man of discrimination (vivek) there is only one objective (the good of all men), while the indiscriminate man pursues multifarious (selfish) objectives,” and attains only misery. Being highly discerning such ones are inward-bound, single-mindedly focused on one (core) reality – the Noumenal World of Spirit. Whereas the indiscriminate mass, being outward-bound, pursue a multitude of selfish objectives that enmesh them in the transient, illusory world of phenomena, matter and multiplicity. (Hedgehog v’s. Fox Mind).
Likewise, the Chinese master Seng-t’san in his Zen Sutra ‘On Believing in Mind’ enlightens us about this state beyond duality, saying: “The ultimate end of things where they cannot go any further, is not bound by rules or measures…. This is where thinking never attains. This is where imagination fails to measure. For in the higher realms of true suchness (essence) there is neither ‘self’ nor ‘other’. So too, Lao Tzu advised: “Keep your mind free of divisions and disturbance. When your mind is detached, simple, quiet then all things can exist in harmony, and you begin to perceive the Subtle Truth (Absolute Mind/Godhood).” The One!
The mystic, Jallaludin Rumi, saw the world in its material and spiritual aspects as a multipolar world full of clashing opposites in which the only way to reconcile the opposites – sulh-e-azdad — and harmonize these inherent inconsistencies and contradiction was by sublimating the ego and striving to understand them and arrive at their “essence” — the unified core. Thus he sang, “To look at the ocean, beyond the spray, to look at the essence beyond the words,” saying, “The life of this world is nothing but the harmony of the opposites”, confirming, “I have shed duality, and see the two worlds as one. I seek One, I know One, I see One, I read One.” Therefore too, did Christ advice: “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body will be filled with light.”
Zarathushtra, c. 1200 BC – generally accepted as the foremost prophet of mankind and the founding father of the Theology of Monotheism — once and for all put an end to all arguments on dualism by affirming in the Holy Avesta (Zoroastrian scripture): “Certainly, O’ Mazda Ahura! It is best that I get the better of my ‘egotism’, wherein lies the end of all dualities”. Gatha 32.16. … “And to go to the Absolute, beyond the Realm of the Spentas (the world of dual forces and relativity),” and clinches it by saying: “This State (of Non Duality/No-Mind) is available to one who is master of himself (man of self-control).” Gatha 43-15. Only such a one, as Karl Potter points out, most approximates, “… the ideal of complete control and freedom and his ultimate superiority over morality.” Thus the Qur’an questions: “Do you not see how God has put all that is on the earth, under your command?”
Theology aspires for this Beatific State of No-Mind/Non Duality as the ‘Complexio Oppositorium’, devotees pursue it as ‘Union with God’, mysticism celebrates it as ‘Unio Mystica’, philosophy quests it as the ‘Ultimate Reality’, the ‘First Cause’, the common man looks for it as ‘Cosmic Consciousness’, artists seek it as the ‘State of Connectedness with the Flow’, science searches for it as the ‘Theory of Everything’ or ‘Grand Unification Theory’ or ‘United Field Theory’ or simply the quest for ‘Singularity’, Morality thirsts for it as the ‘Flowering of Conscience’, esoteric literature refers to it as a ‘Return to the Source’, poetry pines for it as ‘Fusion with the Beloved’ etc. Sufi philosophy too is essentially infused with the idea of ‘Tawheed’ (Unity) and ‘union with the beloved’ (the Primal Root) a state from which the aspirant has been temporarily separated, thus his consequent deep soul-longing and profound spiritual thirst for reunification with the Divine. This state, once actualized, enhances — at the collective level — the welfare and well-being of the world-life in general and at the individual level leads to ‘Moksa’ – Emancipation. Mission Accomplished!
This is an Independent State of Being and Freedom, uncontaminated by ego-limitations, personal desires and selfish agendas (Nishkama Karma) and beyond the insidious fetters and distractions of the illusory, duality-riddled world of phenomena (maya); the world of sentience, multiplicity and hedonist-narcissistic-materialism — the world of Preyas (pleasure), enjoyment seekers who are invariably found habitually mired in a condition of misery vis-à-vis the world of Sreyas (Happiness), truth seekers who are invariably found joyfully residing in the Realm of the Unified Spirit.
For the latter well know — with regard to the bottom-line of all world-life experiences – the definitive statement that sums everything up is, “All Is Vanity”, or as the Upanishads and Buddhism put it: ‘Sarva Maya’, ‘All (world-life) is Illusion/Unreality/ Imaginings/ Fantasy’/Dreams. They well know there is no permanent ‘reality’, no ultimate ‘truth’, no ‘final abode’ within the confines of the world of phenomena and therefore do not delude themselves by wasting resources, time and energy pursuing and storing the transient, corruptible treasures (illusions) of the world-life — wealth, power, fame, success etc. They focus beyond ‘this world’ with all its goodies, centering instead, on the eternal, uncorrupt-able treasures of the ‘Spirit’ – Truth, Perfection, Beauty, and Immortality. The mystic-author Edgar Allan Poe refers to this state of delusion, saying: “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” This is perhaps what St. John of the Cross meant when he cried out: “Nothing, nothing, nothing./Nothing, nothing, nothing./Even on the mountain top, nothing!” Thus the Lankavatara Sutra expounds: “The triple world (of creation) originates from the discrimination of unrealities and where discrimination takes place there is duality and the notion of permanency and impermanency: but the Tathagatas (enlightened beings) do not rise from such discrimination of unrealities.” Sakyamuni (an avatar of Buddha) similarly advised: “A corporeal phenomena, a feeling, a perception, a mental formation, a consciousness – which is permanent and persistent, eternal and not subject to change – such a thing the wise do not recognize; and I also say that there is no such thing.” Einstein was certainly not joking when he reminded: “Reality (as we know it) is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
In other words, in the final reckoning, having ultimately attained our Ishta Devta — our life’s aim (a rarest-of-rare Grace-granting Vision of the Lord), after decades of sincere, selfless efforts, prayers and worship and countless Nishkamic sacrifices in the service of our fellow beings at the lotus feet of the Lord we must – in the final reckoning — be inspired, prepared and willing to commit our final and greatest act of self-sacrifice by renouncing Him – this Grand Prize, forthwith, in the very next instant. Hence Swami Amardas informs us of Sri Ramakrishna who was an intense lifelong devotee of the Lord: “Thus did Sri Ramakrishna not only shatter his Idols of Worship, but also put to the sword his Ishta Devta (Personal God) revealed unto him.” So too the ‘Bodhisattva’ who vows to defer his own state of enlightenment until all the remaining sentient beings have passed through ‘the gate’ ahead of him. Or King Rantideva’s statement: “I do not desire from God the great state attained by divine powers or even deliverance from rebirth. Establishing myself in the hearts of all beings, I take on myself their suffering so that they may be rid of their suffering”– Srimad Bhagvatam 9.
That is why Buddhism talks of Anatta (Non-Self) to free mankind from the enslaving idea or image of an ‘ultimate individual reality’ imagined to exist within or outside oneself as such, for all time to come. For when the idea of detachment is consciously adhered to as final, the insidious error of attachment to the idea of detachment occurs and it is this subtle attachment to the idea or image of detachment that forever enslaves us to the tyranny and misery of external things, the outer world of Naama-Rupa-Guna (Name-Form-Qualities).
Hence the Zen saying: “If you meet the Buddha on the road, slay him!” For, as the Buddha himself articulated: “Who seeks me by form, who seeks me in sound, perverted are his footsteps on the way; for he cannot perceive the Tathagata.” –Diamond Sutra 26. So too a Zen mystic sings: “Welcome to Thee O’ Sword of Eternity / Through Buddha and through Dharma alike / Thou hast cleft Thy way.” The Zen poet Rikyu in same vein spoke: “With this Sword of mine, the Buddhas and the Patriarchs I kill,” or as a Zen Meditation echoes: “The Solitary Sword of Emptiness flies Heavenward / Killing both, the Buddhas and Maaras.” Zen master Daito Kukushi’s ‘Last poem’ mystically proclaimed: “Buddhas and fathers cut to pieces-/ The Sword is ever kept sharpened! / Where the wheel turns, / The void gnashes its teeth.”
The idea being, as the renowned samurai-sage Miyamoto Musashi suggests: “One must respect God and Buddha but one must not be dependent on them.” So too did Confucius advice: “Respect the Spirits but keep them at a distance,” and A.J. Ayer aver: “No morality can be founded on authority, even if that authority were divine.” Emerson confirms: “The faith that stands on authority is not faith” or “The highest virtue is always against the law.” Huxley agrees: “No rules can inhibit a man of integrity.” Similarly Buddha advises: “Do not rely on others or on the readings of the sutras and shastras (scriptures). Be your own lamp,” or “Examine my teachings as a goldsmith investigates the purity of gold. If there are only impurities reject them. Do not accept them merely because the Buddha is saying so.” Samurai–sage Miyamoto Musashi, 17th C. announced: “Even if the Principles are realized they must not tie us down,” or as Samurai Asakura Toshikage, 15th C, insisted: “Even if one has learnt all the sayings of the sages and saints one should not insist on applying them obstinately.” Emperor Ashoka’s 8th Pillar Edict clarifies: “I value inward inspiration – the Awakening of the Heart, / Not a formal blind compliance with rules that we impart.” Bob Marley sang: “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” Plato too suggested: “No trace of slavery (to authority) ought to mix with the studies of the freeborn man… No study, pursued under compulsion, remains rooted in the memory.” The 3d Patriarchs Sermon, ‘Believing in Mind’, clarifies: “The ‘two’ exist because of the ‘One’/ But hold not even to this One; / When a mind is not disturbed, / The ten-thousand-things offer no offence.”
Thus an ancient Chinese Classic explains: “Social reform must begin within the individual. Inward renewal of Conscience is ultimately more effective than external imposition of law.” Therefore, in our spiritual pursuit of the highest state of being through the practice of ‘detachment’ (pauranic vairagya) we must remain 360 degrees aware and 101% alert not to get attached to the insidious enslaving idea or image of detachment. Thus it is said: “The sutra can either enslave or liberate” — depending on the open-ness or close-ness of our own mind-state. So, as Zen Wisdom has it: “Whether clinging to the ‘world’ or clinging to ‘Dharma’ one is still immersed in the same deluded state of the ego-mind.” The whole point is that there should be no attachment, no clinging, no abiding — not even to the ultimate prize of heaven and its privileges. Instead, one should – like the Lotus flower deep in the muck – remain serenely detached, pure, dry and clean, even though living immersed within and surrounded by the sludge and corrupting influences of the illusory world one must strive to attain the state of transcendently living — in a ‘no-minded’ way — fearing no thing, attached to nothing and not allowing anything to cling to it.
(It is interesting to note here that the early Indian (Aryan) ethos exuded this core value of ‘non-attachment’ as revealed by the Greek traveler Apolionius Tyanaeus who visited India in 1AD and wrote: “In India I found a race of mortals living upon the earth but not adhering to it. …possessing everything but possessed by nothing.”)
Here it is important to keep in mind what the Gita stipulates: “The Atman is not to be attained by the recitation of the Vedas, nor by keen intellect, nor by listening often to the scriptures. Only whom It chooses, attains It. Only to him does the Atman reveal Its form.” That is why Grace (Baraka [Islam], Munui [Zen]) is not something that can be directly achieved by any amount of outward show of holy efforts or godly devotion, or worship, or pilgrimages. Grace cannot be contracted for. There is no guarantee on receiving it no matter how truly religious or spiritual you are, no matter how genuinely pious or learned you are, no matter how purely devoted, selfless or righteous you may have been all your life. Grace chooses whom it chooses, Full stop. On its own criteria and terms that appears to be arbitrary and random, baffling all men unaware of the Big Picture. As history reveals, many an irreverent rascal (in the eyes of the church-society-state) has oft times been so graced e.g. Benedict Joseph Labre, who wanted to be Trappist and a Carthusian and succeeded in neither. He finally ended up as a tramp. He died in some street in Rome. But, as Merton points out, “And yet the only canonized saint, venerated by the whole Church … is St. Benedict Joseph Labre.” (Interestingly, Grace or ‘Nirketu’ in Sanskrit, translates as nir = no and khetu = reason.)
THE SECOND PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
We must keep in mind that the chief binding characteristic of the Group/Herd Mind is ‘non-thought’, and any one who dares to think for her or himself is fair target for the herd’s mischief. For such a one, it is ‘open season’ 24×7. – Sarosh, (1974)
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. – Henry David Thoreau
Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. – Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher
‘Such ‘Creative Individuals’ invariably appear from within the folds of the ‘creative minority’ as anchorites — ‘contrarians’, vis-à-vis majoritarians (main-streamers) — with thoughts, beliefs, values, goals and tendencies ‘opposite to’ or ‘different from’ that of the masses… ‘treading the path less travelled by’. But, invariably, their synergetic impact on humanity in terms of the development of alternative thoughts, increased freedoms, expanded horizons of creativity, enhanced conditions of individual well-being and social welfare etc, by far out-weighed their miniscule numbers.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead
The chosen heroes of the earth have always been a minority. There is not a social, political or religious privilege that you enjoy today, that was not brought for you by the blood and tears and patient suffering of the minority. – John B. Gough
In the ‘Dhammapada’ [ch. 16] Lord Buddha describes such a one as ‘Uddham Soto’ – ‘he who goes upstream,’ i.e. one who swims against the current/ tide (‘the Contrarian Man’). Such a one is also referred to as ‘Srotapanna’ – ‘one who does not enter the stream’ i.e. the main-stream of the world-life; the world of senses and mind — of sounds, colours, smells, tastes, touch and qualities, of illusory outer conditions and delusional inner thoughts.
For such a one, having the gall to stand out among the herd as an ‘Individual’, oft referred to as — ‘the Exception,’ ‘the Outcast,’ ‘the Oddball,’ ‘the Rebel,’ ‘the Maverick’, ‘the Wild-Canon’, ‘Public Enemy No 1’ etc — is basically viewed with apprehension and hostility as being ‘opposite’ to and ‘different’ from the mass man. This is because he is, by virtue of his nature, inherently, instinctually and spontaneously in strong opposition to the world-dominating current of sensual passions that otherwise mesmerizes the mass man — ever in zealous pursuit, albeit in vain, of ‘this-worldly’ power, pleasure, prosperity, position, possessions etc as a guarantee ensuring his eternal security and comfort; only to end up deeply disappointed and further immiserated due to his ignorance of the illusory and ephemeral nature of these ‘this worldly’ baubles. As Ibsen highlights, a minority may be right but a majority is always wrong, saying “The majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That’s one of these lies in society that no free and intelligent man can help rebelling against. Who are the people that make up the biggest proportion of the population – the intelligent ones or the fools?”
The former – the mystic-natured, are inward-bound, mining the inner-world of ‘Soul’ for the eternal, uncorruptable treasures of the World of Spirit viz: purity of Being, unity with Divine, Immortality through the study of books on various religions, philosophies and histories books and the process of self-refinement; whereas the latter are outward-bound, seeking their Prize in the myriad illusory avenues afforded by the ‘outer world’ (as a distraction for the mass man to disable him from separating the worldly chaff from the spiritual wheat), thus spending their whole lives vainly focused on gathering the transient, corruptible, mutable, perishable treasures offered by the world-life viz: power, wealth, fame, status, success, popularity, greatness, ad nauseum – all of which, they ultimately discover to their horror, were only a mirage.
The former delve ‘reality’ in the Noumena – the immutable realm of the spirit, the idea and pure energy, the latter search for it in the Phenomena – the mutable world of matter and alloyed entities and energies. The former spend their life in the fruitful pursuit of Truth-Knowledge-Wisdom that leads to life ever-lasting, the latter are engaged in the life-long vain and futile hunt for sensual pleasure and materialist acquisitive hedonism that only leads to the burning ghats, again and again (continual cycles of rebirth in the world of misery). The former are few, the latter are many. The former attain fulfillment, the latter remain immiserated.
In his writings in the Dhammapada, Buddha highlights the difference between the two, the contrarians and the majoritarians saying: “In the unessential (illusory outer world) they imagine the essential (ultimate reality), in the essential (real inner world) they imagine the unessential (useless speculations and imaginings) – they who entertain such wrong thoughts, never realize the essence (Eternal Truth). What is essential (inner essence – the soul), they regard as essential and what is unessential (outer form – the physical world), they regard as unessential – they who entertain such right thought, realize the essence.” Enunciating the same truth from a different angle Lord Mahavira stated; “He who mistakes insecurity for security and security for insecurity goes astray.”
Such ones are anchorites (Greek for ‘one who goes apart’) by nature and design. They are men of character, substance and resolve, walking down a different path to that of the mass man, heading towards a different calling and end, requiring the use of a different set of methods and means in achieving it. They bring the highly unwelcome message of self-responsibility, self-effort and self-repair; a message that is anathema to the weak-minded, pleasure-pursuing, material gain-focused masses; something they do not wish to hear about, leave alone learn and know, even if it’s the ‘only way’ out of their condition of despair and misery. Such ones are unwaveringly focused on the welfare of ‘all man’ and the well-being of ‘all life’ and are steadfastly bound for the joys of the infinite, the imperishable treasures of the spirit, despite and in spite of being well aware in advance of the life-long condition of colossal ordeals, suffering, hardships and persecution this entails in the world-life, but being, as Erica Jong pointed out, “Too blessed, to be stressed! Too anointed, to be disappointed!” they remain undisturbed, hyper-focused solely on their mission. These anchorites are known to take “the road less traversed by” vis-à-vis the followers of the beaten path and are said, “to march to a different drum beat” vis-à-vis the popular tune of the day. In the language of the mystics, such a one is said, “To be in the world but not of it” and is referred to as ‘Muqtadar Ka Sikander’ – ‘Master of His Destiny’. For as Lawana Blackwell pointed out, “Patterning your life around other’s opinions is nothing more than slavery”. So, Thoreau clarifies: “I can only sense progress when I am swimming against the stream.” and Ayn Rand reminds: “Only dead fish swim with the tide.”
Idres Shah in his book on Sufism says about such a one: “…he develops superior insight and a higher state of consciousness, his world has extra dimensions; to him things are meaningful in a sense in which they are not to people who follow only the training imposed on them by ordinary society.” Similarly, it was said about the far-sighted Sufi Hafiz whose words and actions, though seeming strange to the masses, were far ahead of his times: “It is as if his mental eye, endowed with wonderful acuteness of vision, had penetrated into those provinces of thought which we of a latter age were destined to inhabit.” Karl Potter too affirms that a man of excellence usually manifests as an individual with tendencies “opposite or in contrast to” that of “the masses” of his time. For only such a one, he points out, most approximates “the ideal of complete control and freedom and his ultimate superiority over morality.” The founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu, summed up this profound truth of ‘individuality’ and ‘oppositeness’ simply: The sage reverts to that which the masses pass by.”
The Gita (2.69) too clearly exemplifies this state of ‘Oppositeness’ announcing: “The Sage awakens to light in the night of all creatures. That, which the world calls day, is the night of ignorance to the wise.” Further reinforcing this contrarian idea of distinction the Gita continues: “He who in action sees non-action and inaction in action, he is wise among men, he is a yogi and has accomplished all his work.” Or “He who sees eternity in things that pass away and infinity in finite things is said to have pure knowledge. But if one merely sees the diversity of time and things with their divisions and limitations, then one is said to have impure (partial) knowledge.” So too did Guru Nanak echo what the world’s scriptures, saints and sages have proclaimed since millennia:“Wealth, property and maya (the material world in all its manifestations) are false (quasi sense of happiness/security); in the end, the mortal departs in sorrow, leaving these behind”. Another veiled comment from the Katha Upanishad conveys this critical concept of ‘Oppositeness’ and the vitality of being an individual saying: “There is the old tree, her roots grow upwards, the branches downwards. …It is called Brahman and it alone is the undying.”
Thus a Sikh mystic, highlighting this contrarian ‘state of oppositeness’ of the strong man, claimed: “All the actions of true devotees are opposite to the ways of the world. To see the beloved they shut their eyes. People desire wealth; they love poverty. People run after pleasures; they seek pain. People adore life; they love death.” Swami Sivannanda also espoused this philosophy of the strong individual treading a path different to the mass man by proclaiming: “All that one calls honour and reputation (that which the world calls day), must be considered as filth and poison (the night of ignorance) by the spiritual aspirant, whereas he must accept dishonour and scorn (the night of all creatures) the way that one wears a golden necklace (with pride). That is how we can reach the Goal with certitude.”
In his book ‘Corinthians’ St Paul too espouses this concept of ‘oppositeness’, advising adherents: “Do not model your self on the world around you but let your behaviour change, modeled by your new mind.” Saying about the superior individuals: “And they that weep, as though they wept not: and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not: and they that buy, as though they possessed not: and they that use this world, as not abusing it.” (1 Cor. 7:30) — thus suggesting a behaviour pattern contrary to the masses. This is possible, explains Chuang Tzu, (c. – 450 BCE), because, “The true Sage brings all the contraries together and rests in the natural balance of Heaven.”
The Samutta Nikaya likewise states: “Sights, sounds, tastes, odours, things touched and objects of mind are without exception pleasing, delightful and charming so long as one can say ‘they are’. These are considered a source of happiness by the world with its gods, and when they cease, this is by them considered to be suffering. So, what others (the herd) say is the source of happiness (the pursuit of power, wealth, fame, position etc as transient ‘this worldly’ baubles that keep us distracted, absorbed and engaged for lifetimes in a vain self-deluded pursuit of illusions), that, we (the contrarians) say is suffering (samsara); what others know as a source of suffering (facing hardships, difficulties, mortal challenges that develop our nature and refine our spirit as permanent ‘other worldly’ treasures), that, we know as the source of Happiness. Behold! This Doctrine of the Strong is hard to understand indeed, wherein the ignorant find themselves bewildered.”
Similarly, Xi Kang, Han Dynasty, advised: “Do as a thirsty person drinking from a river.. he drinks happily enough but does not covet the voluminous flow … This is how the gentleman exercises his mind for he regards rank and position as a tumor and material wealth as dirt and dust. What is the use of wealth and honour to him?”
Vivekananda, emphasizing the philosophy of the strong mind rooted in contrarian ideals which the masses dread, thunders in similar vein: “He who dares misery love / And hugs the form of death, / Dances in destructions dance (the Pralaya), / To him alone, the Mother comes.”
Taoism too highlights the strategic advantage of pursuing an opposite path, one that is anathema to the masses, but fruitful for the visionary. Master Lao Tzu (604 BCE) said: “That which enables the rivers and the seas to become the ruler of all the water courses is their ability to remain the lowest (whereas everyone seeks to be the highest). It is on this account that they are rulers of them all.” Tung-Kung-Shu (c. 200 BCE) elucidated this enigma of the opposites, explaining: “When one places himself in qualities below others, in character he is above them; when he places himself behind others, in character he is before them.” Yang-Hsiung (53 ACE) echoes this paradox of ‘reversals’: “Men exalt him who humbles himself below them; and gives the precedence to him who puts himself behind them.”
THE THIRD PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
Whenever and wherever such ‘Creative Individuals’ appear they invariably find themselves locked in a perpetual state of conflict, opposition, struggle and confrontation with the ruling elite — the rich and powerful, and the mass in their milieu – their fellowmen; referred to in-combo as ‘The Establishment-Herd Axis’.
As the flames of fire do not burn a forest that has been made wet by rain, so too does suffering not touch the man who has got right vision, who is wise and who knows what has to be known. – Yoga Vasishta II 11.41
Such unique, “Creative Individuals” (Toynbee) — whenever and wherever they emerged — were customarily labeled as ‘the Contrarian’, ‘the Outsider’, ‘the Oddball’, ‘the Rebel’, ‘the Marginal Man’, ‘the Outcast’, ‘The Pariah’ and in many cases as ‘Public Enemy No: 1’ by their milieu and were invariably subjected to epic-scale ordeals and suffering at the hands of the unholy nexus between the power bodies – the ‘Establishment’ and strangely enough, their fellowmen; the very enslaved and immiserated masses – the ‘Herd’, whom they devote their lives to liberating from the yoke of the oppressive, exploitive ruling elite and at the same time, awakening them to the sheer majesty of their true condition of being.
However the discerning cognoscenti from the ‘Creative Minority’, from whose fold ‘such a one’ usually (though not always) emerges, know him as — ‘the Exception’ (the ‘change agent’ of history), ‘the Liberator’ (from the yoke of the exploitative ‘Ruling Elite’), ‘the Saviour’ (of the oppressed masses), the Bearer of the Lamp (bearing the light of knowledge that enlightens) — and other concepts in like vein.
Ironically, whenever and wherever ‘such ones’ appear they always find themselves rabidly opposed and locked in a perpetual state-of-conflict with the non-thinking masses of their place and time. Basically, this visceral level reaction of fierce opposition and hostility perpetuated against the ‘Creative Individual’, the “superior man” (Confucius), by the mass around him was a result of their inability to understand him and put a handle to this ‘different type’ of person — this contrarian, opposite-thinking, unusual breed of being and therefore, steeped in their state of ignorance and fear they ferociously opposed such a one might and main. As Oscar Wilde reminds us tongue-in-cheek, “The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything, except genius.”
This ordeal of a constant state of opposition, confrontation and persecution by the unholy nexus — the Establishment-Herd Axis — was the common fate of all those who belonged to the ‘Creative Minority’, with the worst-of-worst treatment specially reserved for the ‘Creative Individual’ – the Crème de la Crème of Humanity (“the superior personality, genius, mystic or superman” – Toynbee), who usually evolved and emerged, forged in the crucible of struggle and conflict, from this dynamic group.
All great thinkers in history who expanded our horizons of knowledge, enhanced our conditions of existence and explained the mysteries of our being and the universe — saints, prophets, mystics, philosophers, poets, artists, scientists, warriors of peace and other such ‘creative individuals’ from all walks of life as seekers of truth and followers of the way — from times immemorial to this very day, underwent – without fail – as their ‘rites du passage’ this ordeal by fire of constantly running through the deadly gauntlet of constant hostility, struggle and persecution by the unholy nexus between the decadent ruling elite — the rich and powerful (the Fat Cats), and the non-thinking, exploited masses (the Milch Cows) of their place and period. But ‘such ones’ remain eminently unperturbed in the turbulence surrounding their singularity, well knowing, as an English Proverb proclaims: “Winter is the spring of genius,” or as Gandhi quipped: “Opposition makes the man,” or as J. R. Lovell stated: “That cause is strong which has not a multitude but one strong man behind it.”
Therefore the true ‘man of faith’ (shraddha) and vision, though usually in the minority, thinks, acts and lives without regard to the praise or blame of the world, because he finds the pure joy of duty (dharma) — the fulfillment of his innate cosmic destiny — in the fearless selflessness of the ‘act’ itself, in and through which he discovers himself and, in the process, contributes something of lasting value to the well-being of humankind, the harmonious progress of civilization and the welfare of the world, in general. Such ones are men of unshakable faith and conviction, intuitively aware of a power beyond the phenomenal world of appearances, a power to which they felt themselves responsible and beholden above all. Their conviction is not a parochial confession of faith or a vague social idealism, it is a spiritual certainty that a great pilot is guiding and evolving them from one stage to the next, leading them to increasingly higher states of refinement and perfection while, at the same time, imparting them the strength and solace to sustain and endure the fiery trials to which they would have to be subjected, as a ‘rites du passage’ if, at all, they were to attain their goal, accomplish their mission and fulfill their destiny.
Underlying their conviction is the belief that love and justice form the core of the universe. A person with such a conviction displays a calm demeanor, a composed mind and a compassionate heart. Such ones are completely indifferent to what happens to their little self and thus are totally absorbed in the greater, more potent, meaningful and fulfilling life of the spirit. They are not elated by victory, nor dejected by defeat; they have no attachment to expectations or fear of consequences, whatsoever they may do or be. They act purely for the sake of the act in-and-of itself, simply because it’s the right thing to so do, unbothered by any rewards to be gained or lost in ‘this world’ or merits in the next. They and are not contaminated by any selfish personal motives or agendas of power, pleasure, profit or merit, unwaveringly focused on so acting as to contribute to the good of the situation and in so doing, add to the general welfare of mankind. Such ones, as a result of their moral conviction, become exalted, calm and noble; developing a dispassionate attitude, they remain unmoved by ideas of personal gain, ambition or power. As a consequence they attain the state of joy inexpressible and peace profound that surpasseth all understanding. A state “which the world can neither give nor take away,” thus serving, Dr S. Radhakrishnan affirms, “as an assurance that though the waves on the shore may be broken, the ocean conquers nevertheless.” Thus, ‘such ones’ contentedly stand alone, unaffected by the masses, well aware of A Lincoln advice, “Avoid popularity if you would have peace.”
A Rinzai Zen Master affirms: “A man of great character is not expected to be led astray by other people. He is master of himself wherever he goes. As he stands all is right with him,” and Harper Lee confirmed: “The one thing that does not abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience’. For, the man who follows the crowd will get no further than the herd. The man of faith who takes a different path –the road less travelled, walks alone and is likely to find himself in places no one has been before. The man who dares puts forward a brand-new idea could count on being ridiculed and despised. Creativity in living is never without its attendant difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt and the unfortunate thing about being ahead of your times, is that when people finally realize that you were right all along, they’ll jump onto your bandwagon and say that it was obvious to them from the very start. So, basically, you have two choices in life; you can either dissolve into the mainstream of mediocrity or you can be distinct. To be distinct you must be different, you must strive to be what no one else but you alone can be and do what no one else but you alone can do. That is your ‘individual’ sanctity, your God-granted right to assert your difference. And, in so creatively striving, be prepared to suffer the javelins of the very herd for whom you strive and ultimately, sacrifice yourself.
Such ones are driven by a unique vision and graced with the uncommon ability to calmly run the gauntlet of fiery ordeals imposed on them by the Establishment-Herd Axis and thus, step beyond the pale of orthodoxy and dogma and expand the horizons of life. They use the unusual idea, the original theory, to pique Tradition and jolt the Establishment — to prod the conscience and consciousness of the masses and ruffle the feathers of the rapacious rich and powerful who iniquitously, unjustly and unethically benefit from the status quo — unmindful of the hell they themselves were personally, unjustly subjected to because of their righteous acts.
In fact, as it turns out, this circumstance of fiery ordeals — this state of perpetual opposition, persecution, struggle and conflict confronting the ‘creative individual’ — is an essential ingredient of the ‘mystic personality’ paradigm; it is their ‘rites du passage’ to salvation … and ironically, to the ‘this worldly’ riches and greatness most unsought, unwelcome and unrequited. For, without this fortunate set of circumstances of constant confrontation, harassment and hounding, opposition and hostility, badgering and persecution jointly at the hands of the corrupt, decadent ruling elite and the exploited mindless mass of mediocrity around them, they would have never have discovered their true nature – the Godhead within. Thus, for the miracle of the transformation and emergence of a heavenly butterfly from a lowly caterpillar a Latin Wisdom advises: “Lucter est emergo” – Struggle to emerge.
Moses, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Zarathushtra, Christ, Mohammad, Bah ‘u llah, Socrates, Bruno, Hallaj, Gandhi, King and scores of other great thinker-mystics-change agents, known and unknown, on the path of truth were subjected to this unvarying historical condition of hostility, of opposition, confrontation and conflict by the degenerate ruling elite-herd nexus of their times. Socrates, for his moral superiority and greater knowledge, was perceived as a threat to the Establishment – the status quoists and was made to drink hemlock (poison) by the rulers and their obsequious lackeys on a trumped charge of “corrupting the youths”. Aesop, who through his popular ‘Fables’ shed revealing insights into man’s follies and frailties, cleverly mirroring the absurdities, whimsies and wiles of the corrupt rulers of his times, coupled with his ability to express it fearlessly with profound wit and truth made him popular among the people but highly unpopular with the ruling-elite clique who – with the tacit approval of the fickle masses — falsely implicated him in a case of corruption and sentenced him to be thrown off a cliff. Joan of Arc was falsely accused of heresy and burnt at the stake. Bruno too was burned at the stake for challenging the Church. Hallaj was brutally tortured and slaughtered by the Islamic Orthodoxy for having the courage to stand by his convictions of a higher truth. Gandhi and King, who threatened the immoral status quo of their unjust, iniquitous societies, were assassinated by the entrenched politico-economic vested interests … and so on and on. ‘Such ones’ well knew, ‘the nail that sticks out most gets hammered on the head,’ but this did not faze them a jot for they also better knew, “Calamitas virtuitus occasion” – Calamity is virtue’s opportunity, as Seneca put it. (Amongst their inner-circle and the cognoscenti they were oft humorously referred to as ‘obstinate nails’ or ‘intractable thorns’ in the sides of the ruling clique and its coterie of the rich and powerful).
This leitmotif in history, the constant historical badgering and persecution of the ‘creative individual’ by the masses is thus the central pillar of the ‘mystic personality’ paradigm. Zarathustra, suggesting a reason for this state of constant persecution-inquisition-execution of the good and pure man, exhorts true believers: “In the Abattoir of Love none but the good and pure is sacrificed. Those who are emaciated and of diseased-stock are not sacrificed. Are you a true lover? If so, run not away from being sacrificed, for it is only a carcass which is not considered fit for sacrifice.” For in and through this grand and noble sacrifice of the ‘graced man’ alone, lies the very redemption and salvation of the world’s peoples. As for example in the case of Jesus Christ wherein God sacrifices His only begotten Son as a sacred act to assuage the great suffering of his people and plant a potent seed of hope for the new future.
Swami Ramdas offers a tenable reason for this perennial historical conflict, saying: “The God-realized man is God himself in human form. Ignorant souls cannot recognize Divinity in the man in whom the Universal Spirit is realized and attained.” Khalil Gibran, in his work ‘The Prophet’ puts it poetically: “The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.” Or as Sri Ramana Maharishi suggests: “The ‘I’ casts off the illusion of ‘I’ and yet remains as ‘I’. Such is the paradox of Self-realization.” The Zen Master Yoka Daishi (d. 713 C E) reinforced this sentiment in his ‘Song of Enlightenment’ saying esoterically: “The great elephant does not walk on the hare’s lane, / Supreme enlightenment goes beyond the narrow range of intellection; / Cease from measuring heaven with a tiny piece of reed; / If you have no insight yet, I will leave the matter settled for you.” St Paul too affirms: If a man be before his time, though he stands in the midst of the sun, he will appear to his contemporaries as one dwelling in darkness. The wisdom of God has always been a mystery and because the ‘princes of this world’ do not understand it they have in all ages crucified the Lord of Glory. (1Corr.11, 7, 7-8.) But as Jesus, applying its moral to his own mission, clarified: “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.” (Psalm 118).
William Johnston, in his book ‘The Inner Eye of Love’ reinforces this theme of the endless persecution of the man-of-excellence throughout history by offering a western influenced modification of the well-known ancient Chinese ‘Ox-Herding’ pictures symbolizing the mystical quest of self-sacrifice and self-discovery. In the original picture story, the sage, after having lost himself (in the last but one picture) i.e. having attained the spiritually advanced egoless state comes to life again (in the final picture), “transformed and enlightened the compassionate old sage (voluntarily) returns to the market-place (of suffering) to save all sentient beings. Now his love is a new love and he is a new man, a new creation. However, and this is the point of focus, Johnston continues: “This is a picture of beautiful compassion. But I have sometimes felt that had the pictures been composed in the Christian West they would have ended with yet another picture which would hold the caption: ‘The wise old man is assassinated’. For the inner-eye of this enlightened and compassionate sage would immediately see the terrible social injustice and the oppression of the poor …He would raise his voice in protest and even holy anger calling for liberation. And he would suffer the cruel fate of all the prophets from the just Abel to Martin Luther King …for love of the oppressed brings one into conflict with the rich and powerful and with the establishment. So it was with Jesus.” But whatever it is, in the final analysis, as Ayn Rand reminds: “Great men cannot be ruled,” for they make their own laws. As Xi Kang, Han Dynasty, 206 BCE – 220 CE affirmed: “Do as a thirsty person drinking from a river… he drinks happily enough but does not covet the voluminous flow … This is how the gentleman exercises his mind for he regards rank and position as a tumor and material wealth as dirt and dust. What is the use of wealth and honour to him?”
Albert Schweitzer, in his book ‘The Quest of Historical Jesus’, reiterates this historical motif of the constant persecution of the “original genius” by the masses around him by clearly telling us that we the mass of ordinary people with our half-baked ideas and half-way thoughts are not aware of, “…what the ultimate goal towards which we are moving will be, what this something is which shall bring new life and new regulative principles to coming centuries, we do not know. We can only dimly divine that it will be the one mighty deed of some mighty original genius whose truth and rightness will be proved by the fact that we (the herd) working at our poor half-thing, will oppose him might and main.” Daisy Bates explains, “No man or woman who tries to pursue an ideal in his or her own way is without enemies,” and Emerson humorously concurs, “As long as man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.”
Emphasizing this perpetual state-of-conflict and danger dogging such a one, the mystic poet Pushtu sang: “To be a divine lover is no easy thing, /For the divine lover has to cut off his head with his own hands, /Yea, to be a divine lover is no child’s play, /For day and night the lover lives on the executioner’s pike.” Even ancient scriptures describe the ordeals and persecutions of the Mystic on his ‘journey of faith’ as one of whom it is said: “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword, they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated – of whom the world seemed not worthy – wondering over deserts and mountains and living in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11: 37-38). But they couldn’t give a damn, for as Omar Khayyam sang, “Pagan? Zarathushtrian? / Haereticus? I am! / Every nation holds its notion of me. / I am my own man, whatever I am.”
But Zarathushtra points out the import of undergoing this process of struggle and hardships, saying, “Sorrows and sufferings, trials and tribulations are great disciplinarians that lead one to the spring of spiritual enlightenment.” For as a Chinese Proverb states: “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials”, or as a Hindu Proverb makes clear: “Without being hammered, a stone cannot become a God,” and as Guthrie confirms: “In nature, as in art, so in grace; it is rough treatment that gives souls, as well as stones, their luster. The more the diamond is cut the brighter it sparkles, and in what seems hard-dealing, their God has no view but to perfect his people. Similarly, Zen Master Yoka Daishi, (d. 713 C E), in his ‘Song of Enlightenment’ esoterically sang, “Let others speak ill of me; / Those who try to burn the sky with a torch end in tiring themselves out; / I listen to them and taste (their evil-speaking) as nectar; / All melts away and I find myself suddenly within the Unthinkable itself.” (15) “Seeing others talk ill of me, I acquire the chance of gaining merit, / For they are really my good friends; / When I cherish being vituperated, neither enmity nor favouritism, / There grows in me the power of love and humility which is born of the Unborn. (16) “…. how can jackals pursue the King of Dharma? / With all the magical arts the elves gape to no purpose. /…. The elephant carriage steadily climbs up the steepest hill, / before whose wheels, how can the beetle stand?”(55)
Invariably, in history, such ‘blessed’ ones, as men of excellence and change agents of history, are either not understood at all and are therefore feared and marginalized or sometimes are even deliberately misunderstood and fiercely opposed by the ruling elite and masses of their era who, in their deeply-rooted, inherent sense of inferiority, inadequacy and insecurity felt greatly threatened by the former’s spark and shine. Because of their contrarian nature and the differentness of their thoughts, words and actions they are perceived as a direct threat to the established status quo and are swiftly earmarked for neutralization; co-option or extermination. Such ones come to this veil of tears as volunteers, to help alleviate the suffering of their fellowmen, to widen their horizons, awaken them to the light and bring them to greater freedom, but ironically, they always end up enmeshed in a perpetual state of opposition, struggle and conflict with the very masses they have been sent here to liberate …and in-and through that very process they help contribute to the good of the world and achieve their personal salvation.
‘Such ones’ are undeterred by external hardships and opposition; they are conscience-driven with their own internal sense of vision and mission, their own battery, fuel, steering and compass which they follow religiously and relentlessly, never distracted, never wavering from their sense of core focus and single-minded purpose regardless of the insurmountable gauntlet of mortal hurdles they have to confront and overcome. They doggedly continue on their mission despite whatever the world thinks, says or does and in spite of the face of overwhelming opposition from the decadent Establishment-Herd Axis. For they well know, as Harper Lee reminds: “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
These advanced mystics, yogins, bodhis, sufis, cabbalists and other seekers of truth live by the internal strictures of their own belief structure, value system and ethico-moral worldview and invariably, throughout history, come into direct opposition and conflict with the mass of mediocrity in their milieu. Examples are legion. Exceptions are difficult to find. Albert Schweitzer highlighted this saying, “Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of the way, but must accept his lot calmly even if they roll a few more boulders upon it. A strength that becomes clearer and stronger through its experience of such obstacles is the only strength that can conquer them. Resistance is only a waste energy.” He well understood, as Virginia Woolf suggested, that “Great bodies of people (herd) are never responsible for what they do.” And they revel in that amorphous anonymity to do the worst of things. For, “Madness is something rare in individuals – but in groups parties, peoples (as a mass), ages it is the rule,” as Nietzsche stated.
Similarly, Einstein too verified: “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds,” and Jonathan Swift reminded: “You will recognize the mark of a true man by the sign that wherever he goes their will always arise a ‘confederacy of dunces’ in opposition to him”. Buddha’s succinct lament: “I do not fight with the world but the world fights with me,” says it all. Prophet Muhammad too underwent unjust opposition and persecution throughout his life and reminded his people: “The faith of a believer is not perfect unless one thousand sincere people give witness to his infidelity.” The 12th C Sufi Mystic Junaid of Baghdad echoed this saying: “No man reaches the rank of truth, until a thousand ‘honest’ people denounce him as a heretic”, or as a Jew Mystic pointed out: “A rabbi, whose congregation does not want to drive him out of town, isn’t a true rabbi.” In similar vein Lucius Morbis informed: “You are not yet blessed if the multitude does not laugh at you.” Or as Seneca pointed out, “It is the practice of the multitude to bark at eminent men, as little dogs do to strangers.” But as Zarathushtra advises in the Avesta: “Never be dispirited if your efforts to achieve something positive are at the same time thwarted by the reactionary forces (of evil).” He insisted “Righteousness will ultimately Triumph over Evil. So never be downhearted and never give way to the deadly emotions of anger, fear, grief and despair. Always remain optimistic, come what may!”
And as the Chinese Taoist Mystic Chuang-Tzu (400BC) too calmly pointed out, in spite of this incessant state of opposition and persecution at the hands of the masses: “The mind of the Wise Man is never conquered by the multitude of the small,” and Albert Camus confirms: “Man’s greatness lies in his decision (inner resolve) to be stronger than his condition (outer circumstances).”
For, as Vivekananda boldly asserted: “Truth, purity and unselfishness – wherever they are present, there is no power below or above the sun that can crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition.” Or as a Persian Mystic said, “One man with moral courage makes a majority and by himself alone, can overcome the world.” Such a being is known as the Force of One or Majority of One. The I Ching too avers: “Thus the Superior Man: when he stands alone is unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world is undaunted.”
So, whenever ‘such ones’ appear and wherever ‘such ones’ go, they find themselves ferociously opposed; harassed, hounded, heckled, harangued, hectored, humiliated and often hanged by the hostile herd…. but they, as such, nevertheless remain unperturbed and hold steadfast to their path, regardless… We understand now, what the mystic means when he exhorts to “dance when you are broken.”
But the central factor dominating the lives of ‘such ones’ was – opposition, hardships and suffering — in one form or another: whither at the hands of their milieu or as a result of their circumstances or the heaviest and hardest ordeal of them all – the final spiritual trial and test of soul purity. So a Sufi mystic illuminates: “To be a lover of God is to be dogged by ill-health, difficulties, persecution and poverty. For without illat (hardships), zillat (humiliation) and killat (poverty) no true aspirant can reach the Divine.” In the Bhagwat Purana Lord Krishna too says to Udho: “I make three rare gifts to my most beloved devotees. They are poverty, illness and dishonour.” For, as Gandhi explains: “God sometimes does try to the uttermost, those whom he wishes to bless.” Or as Abu Burda (SB 4.70), elucidates: “When God has a person’s well-being in mind, He inflicts him with His trials.”
For without this intensive and ruthless mind churning state of chaos, soul shakeup and spiritual turmoil — the necessary inner-circumstances of mental agitation, emotional upheavals and spiritual ferment – the critical conditions vital for the emergence and actualization of the highest potential in man – like cream from churned milk or a pearl from an agitating grain of sand — would not materialize within their souls.
Such unique individuals appear as the vanguards of society which then begs the question, “Quis custodiet ispos custodies?”
Maybe Shaw puts his finger on it when he reasons that the cause of the incessant persecution of the ‘creative individual’ by his milieu is because, “Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity towards those who are not regarded as members of the herd,” but as Noble Laureate Aung San Suu Chi, points out, “Fear is not the natural state of civilized people”.
We must keep in mind that the chief binding characteristic of the herd is ‘non-thought’ and any one who dares to think for himself is different and therefore to be feared, a fair target for the herd’s mischief.
To get a first-hand feel of what our world’s great thinkers and change agents of history lived, experienced and thought about this core dichotomy and perennial struggle between the ‘creative few’ and the ‘mediocre many’ permeating world history, the issue of — the mindless opposition and persecution of the pure, selfless and strong ‘Creative Individual’ — the Giant (Gulliver) in his milieu by the mindless ‘multitude of the small’ (Lilliputians) — have a dekko at what they experienced and how they articulated it.
ZARATHUSHTRA
ZARATHUSHTRAZarathushtra (c. 1200 BCE) – widely accepted as the Foremost Prophet of Mankind, the Founder of The Theology of Monotheism and Father of Modern Ethics by his insightful and uncompromising separation between the forces of good and evil, both inner and outer – is a classic model. His lament in the Avesta (Zarathushtrian Scripture) on his continuous state of struggle and suffering, opposition and conflict at the hands of his countrymen, kin and the ruling elite which entangled him throughout his life (literally right from the moment of his birth to the time of his death) in his grand crusade for ‘Righteousness’ and selfless service to his less illumined brethren, is archetypal.
MUHAMMAD
Prophet Muhammad too faced a barrage of opposition and resistance from his own relatives, the power clique and the people at large. He was oft insulted, abused, humiliated and driven from refuge to refuge. In a particular instance, when the Paighamber was chased with stones and abuses out of the city of Taa’if, wounded, footsore and utterly exhausted, this is the lament-prayer he addressed to God in his distress: “O Lord, I complain to You of my weakness, of my useless efforts. I am insignificant in the eyes of men. O You Most Merciful, Lord of the weak! You are my God, forsake me not! Leave me not prey to strangers and enemies. I am safe if You are not displeased. I seek refuge in the light of Your face, which dispels all darkness, and bestows peace now and forever. Resolve my problems as you so please. There is no power, no strength, but in you.“
JESUS
Jesus too was driven to the point of despair when he cried out on the cross: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? This heartrending cry was uttered by Jesus when nailed to the cross, when he was wracked by the pain of his human body. Jesus took upon himself the suffering of the world and this lament is the collective cry of all human beings in times of heartbreak and trouble.
Jesus drew attention to the inevitable persecution of the good man by the unthinking masses and forewarned his disciples and all seekers of truth about the constant condition of unjust persecutions they should be prepared to endure and overcome with strength and resolve, with love, tolerance and faith saying, “A Prophet has no honour in his own country…a (true) man’s enemies will be those of his own household. … But beware of men (the unthinking masses) for they will deliver you (the Creative Individual) up to the councils (the decadent Establishment) and they will scourge you in their synagogues… If the world hates you, know ye that it hath hated me before you. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of this world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you… Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven … Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake …rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. … And ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake; but ye that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. … And when they bring you unto the synagogues and unto magistrates and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer or what ye shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach ye in the same hour what ye shall speak. … For, it is not ye that speak but the spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. …. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. …For whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find life eternal. … For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? … So I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that despitefully use you and persecute you. … And I say unto you that ye resort not to evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also. …And if any man shall sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also … and whosever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.”
Jesus also forewarned his disciples, again and again, of the great inner spiritual upheavals, distress and suffering that would engulf the followers of the path, encouraging and assuring them that they can and should sustain and endure it, for it is this very distress that precedes and heralds the great liberation. No doubt, as Jesus affirmed, this process of ‘internal renewal’ was a very painful process, one of great inner uprooting and turmoil, struggles and suffering, both internal and external, wherever they went — for the sake of following him. But as Paul guaranteed: “The Lord trains the ones he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training” (Heb 12:6-7). Jesus advised his inner-circle not to think “in man’s ways” (Matt 16:23) thus inspiring and reassuring his followers that this transitional condition of inner turmoil and outward suffering was an intermediate and necessary phase: “Do not be alarmed for this (turmoil and upheavals) is something that must happen, but the end will not be yet. …All this is only the beginning of the birth pangs” (Matt 24:6-8), exhorting them, “…when these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.” (Luke 21:28) …”When you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh.” (Luke 21:31) … “the man who stands firm till the end will be saved.” (Matt 24:13) …“your endurance will win you your lives.” (Luke 21:19)
ALBERT EINSTEIN
The early 20th C thinker-scientist Einstein too offers us a meaningful insight into the epic battle between the “creative individual” and “the herd”, saying: “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” He highlighted their characteristics, saying: “The really valuable thing to me in the pageant of human life seems to one to be not the political state but the creative sentient individual… it alone creates the noble and sublime while the herd, as such, remains dull in thought and dull in feeling…. All the valuable achievements material, spiritual and moral which we receive from society have been brought about in the course of countless generations, by creative individuals. … only the individual can think and thereby create new values for society and set up new moral standards to which the life of the community conforms. Without the individual personality able to think and judge independently of mass opinions the upward development of society is unthinkable. … Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions, which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most are even incapable of forming such opinion.” He categorically stated: “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” Thus Einstein could comfortably say: “I do not regret being cut off from the understanding of other men. I am compensated for it in being rendered independent of the (asinine) opinions and (petty) prejudices of others.” Einstein continued tongue in cheek: “In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep… the majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of its tyranny however, is alleviated by its lack of consistency.” He then affirmed: “I salute the man who goes through life always helpful, knowing no fear and to whom aggressiveness and resentment are alien. Such is the stuff of which great moral leaders are made who proffers consolation to mankind in their self-created miseries. Einstein finally concluded: “The health of the society thus depends quite as much on the health of the individuals opposing it as on their (the herd’s) close social cohesion.”
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHENietzsche, an early 20th C thinker-philosopher also differentiated between the morality of the “superior individual” and the morality of the “weak herd.” ‘Master morality’ (Herren moral), according to him is the standard of excellence of the individual, the noble, the strong, the brave, the free; it is essentially a morality of ascending values, one that is “value creating”. Slave morality (Sklaven moral), on the other hand, is the standard of the lowly, the mean, the weak, the fearful, the herd mentality of those who perpetually live in spiritual, moral and intellectual — even if not necessarily physical – bondage.
Further, as Nietzsche explains, being that the master morality is the morality of the “superior individual” while slave morality characterizes the unthinking mass of mediocrity — the “herd”, the latter is always viscerally and vehemently opposed to the former. The herd, as have-nots on the scale of humanism, is thus full of unconscious resentment and animosity — fearful of its artistic, intellectual and moral superiors. Distrusting them instinctively, the herd bands together and creates its own set of lowered values under the quantitive banner of the “majority” to protect itself against the qualitative ‘creative minority’.
Nietzsche termed this reversal of the true standards — of the low becoming the high and vice versa, with mediocrity being the ‘new’ standard of excellence — as a “transvaluation of values”. It had turned morality upside down and sought to project the good of master morality as an evil. So, Nietzsche concluded, it was essentially a morality of “resentment” and envy, a morality of the low, the crude, the mean and closed-minded that said “no” to “everything presenting an ascending volition of life – that is to well-being, to power, to beauty, to self-approval.”
In his book ‘The Will to Power’ Nietzsche incisively describes the characteristics of the herd’s insecurity and its unfounded need to repress, subdue and co-opt the creative individual saying: “The instinct of the herd considers the middle and the mean as the highest and most valuable; the place where the majority finds itself; the mode and manner in which it finds itself. It is therefore an opponent of all orders of rank; it sees the ascent from beneath to the above as a descent from the majority to the minority. The herd feels the exception whither it be below or above it as something opposed and harmful to it. Its artifice with reference to the exception above it, the stronger, more powerful, wiser and more fruitful, is to persuade them to assume the role of (society’s) guardians, herdsmen, watchmen — to become its first servants. It has therefore transformed a danger into something useful. Fear ceases in the middle of the herd; here one is never alone; here there is little room for misunderstanding; here there is equality; here one’s own form of being is not felt as a reproach but as the right form of being; here contentment rules. Mistrust is felt towards the exceptions. To be an exception is experienced as guilt”. Thus the reversal of values that had turned the high into the low and vice versa and had given precedence to the stupid majority over the intelligent minority had become the new dominant standard and ideology of the modern times. The process of the dumbing down of society had begun.
H. L. MENCKEN
Mencken, an early 20th C journalist-thinker too felt, like Nietzsche, Einstein, Maslow and other great contemporary thinkers, that in the millennia-old perennial conflict between the two protagonists in world history — the ‘man of excellence’ vs. the ‘ruling elite-herd axis’, “resentment” was the key to the whole absurd business.
Mencken classified mankind into two groups. The” intelligent minority” and the “booboisie”, “Homo Boobiensis” i.e. the “vast herd of human blanks” – a term he coined. Mencken was very influenced by Nietzsche and his ideas and said: “It is only a small minority of human beings who maybe said, with any truth, to be capable of thought. … It is only doubt that creates. It is only the minority that counts.” Mencken, in his 1924 essay ‘Bugaboo’, declared: “The fact is that the safeguarding and development of civilization are and always have been in the exclusive care of a very small minority of human beings of each generation and the rest of the human race consists wholly of deadheads … others are simply trailers … the rest of the human race has taken a free ride.” Mencken then concluded: “I believe fully that the first rate men of the world constitute a distinct and separate species – that they have little if anything in common with the lower order of men. …All the great enterprises of the world are run by a few smart men; their aids and associates run down by rapid stages to the level of sheer morons. … In an average great bank or railroad or other corporation the burden of management lies upon a small group; the rest are ciphers….”
According to Mencken, the fundamental difference between the “superior intelligent minority” and the “inferior herd of human blanks” did not lie in a man’s state of position, possession or education, but in his “individual humanism.” He made clear that by the herd, “the mob”, he did not mean the “poor”. He said: “It is possible for a man to amass billions and yet lend no hand in human progress and it is possible again for a man to live in poverty and yet set the clock ahead a thousand years…. It is possible for the poor man to belong to the highest caste of men and for a rich man to belong to the lowest.”
As Mencken emphasized, it was not the lack of money, social refinement or academic qualifications that in themselves made a man inferior. Rather, the ‘inferior man’ was simply the one who knew nothing that was not common knowledge to every adult and could do nothing that had not already been done by someone else. He was mainly attracted to base ideas and things, affected by low emotions and saw things in a mean way. His outstanding characteristic was his readiness to believe what was palpably not true. He was an eager customer for all forms of dogma, superstitions and quackery. The more irrational and nonsensical a proposition, the more unquestionably he swallowed it. He ferociously resisted every step in human progress and distortedly looked upon those who did contribute something to that progress as immoral and enemies of God. Fearing anything that was different, anything or anybody that was not in conformity with his own very limited range of ideas, he had a natural tendency to flock together with the rest of the herd, with those whose minds were on as mean a level as his; a herd in which everybody is as good as anybody else. In such an environment he felt secure as no troubling moral or intellectual demands were made upon him, he encountered nothing that would be likely to disturb his narrow convictions and throw him into the turmoil of having, “to think things out for himself.” In Mencken’s view: “The one permanent emotion of the inferior man as of all simpler mammals is fear – fear of the unknown, the different, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants beyond everything else is ‘safety’. His instincts incline him towards a society so organized that it will protect him against all hazards not only against perils to his hide but also against assaults upon his mind – against the need to grapple with unaccustomed problems, to weigh ideas, to think things out for himself, to scrutinize the platitudes upon which his everyday thinking is based.”
Mencken strongly felt that what the ‘inferior man’ dreaded above all else was “liberty”. Liberty in fact would have scant use for him. His conception of it was “to quit work, stretch out in the sun and scratch himself.” He mouthed platitudes about freedom but freedom was really the last thing in the world he wanted. His sole desire was to be safe and the ironic thing was that this safety could only be guaranteed him by the direction and control of his very superiors from the ‘intelligent minority’ whom he so bitterly resented and strove at all times to reduce and bring down to his own mental, moral and cultural level of imbecility. In fact most of the liberties the ‘inferior man’ enjoyed had been thrust upon him by those above him usually to the tune of loud complaints. Mencken wrote in a letter: “…the mob is inert and moves ahead only when it is dragged or driven; it clings to its delusions. A geological epoch is required to rid it of a single error and it is so helplessly and cowardly that every fresh boon it receives, every lift upon its slow journey upwards, must come to it as a free gift from its betters – as a gift not only free but also forced.”
In contrast, according to Mencken, the ‘superior individual’ – he who belonged to “the more enlightened minority of mankind”, — refused to be swept along by the popular public sentiment or passing fashions of the day. The mere fact that everybody believed something was for him sufficient evidence that it was not true. Such a one was skeptical alike of popular tastes, the dogmas of religion and political shibboleths. He had no objections to the ‘inferior man’ believing what he pleased so long as he did not try to impose his beliefs on others by putting it to a majority vote and then enforcing the outcome by police regulations. His skepticism was even secure and amiable enough for him to admit that his opinions too were but opinions and that the other fellow might, after all, be right. He directed his aspirations not to what was brutish, cheap, mean, low and commonplace but rather to the rare, noble, difficult and elevating. Contemptuous of obloquy and indifferent to both, praise and blame, reward and punishment, he usually made some kind of contribution to the improvement of the human race. Fascinated by the challenge presented by a particular problem whether the composition of a sonata, the isolation of a bacillus or the designing of a better mousetrap, whatever it was, he gave to mankind something that it had hitherto not had and which was of lasting value.
So whatever he did, for Mencken, the most important mark of a ‘superior man’ was that he could do it well and this “competence” was the supreme virtue. He called it “the most steadily attractive of all qualities.” He said: “The only sort of man who is really worth hell-room is the man who practices some useful trade in a competent manner, makes a decent living at it, pays his own way and asks only to be left alone. He is now a pariah in all so-called civilized countries.”
But as Mencken stressed the fundamental difference between the “superior intelligent minority” and the “inferior herd of human blanks” did not lie in man’s physical strength, social position or wealth, for the most stupid man could at least be born to these even if he lacked the brains to attain them by his own merit and efforts. Therefore their superiority must lie in such largely innate things as natural humanism, intelligence, breeding, decency, tolerance, honesty and above all a sense of honour – the very things that the inferior four-fifths were without and the presence of which they so deeply resented in their betters. In his ‘Notes on Democracy’ (1926), Mencken restates this premise saying: “…. men differ in their heads as they differ outside. There are men who are naturally intelligent and can learn and there are men who are naturally stupid and cannot.” This second category Mencken termed as “morons”, “ciphers”, “human blanks” and meant what Nietzsche meant when he spoke of the “herd”. For both men this segment accounted for 95% or more of the human race.
Mencken was personally very animated by his private code – the concept of honour. “Honour” he concluded: “is simply the morality of the superior man.” He felt that this concept was incomprehensible to the ‘inferior man’ whom he termed here as the “moral man”. He distinguished between the “moral man” — the inferior person and the “man of honour” – the individual of superior stock. He defines the inferior ‘moral man’ as the one who abstains from certain acts because his religion or society holds out the promises of the most glowing rewards if he does not commit them and threatens him with the most gruesome punishments if he does. To Mencken such a selfish, fear-ridden motivation was beneath his contempt. He clearly stated the differences between the two. The inferior ‘moral man’ refrained from a given act because he was afraid somebody might be looking, whereas the superior ‘man of honour’ refrained from the same act for the simple reason that it was beneath his idea of what constituted human dignity. The ‘moral man’ set great store by the opinion that others held of him, regardless of whither that opinion was right or wrong; the ‘man of honour’ cared not a whit for what others might think – he was guided only by his own innate sense of what was and was not right and decent. The ‘moral man’ would lie just as readily as he would tell the truth, depending upon which was necessary to save his skin or earn him some benefit. On the other hand, the ‘man of honour’ told the truth instinctively but would not hesitate to lie if a lie was necessary to save the good name or happiness of someone else. Nor was this to say that the ‘man of honour’ did not now and then slip; he did, but he usually recognized the fact honestly and made peace with himself, whereas the ‘moral man’ made every effort to conceal his weakness, to deny it both to himself and to others, and worse, to evade it by trying to pass the blame off to someone else. Thus, to Mencken, the inferior ‘moral man’ is one who is without courage to do certain noble and uplifting things himself and is grimly determined that no one else will do them either. He is the classic case of an insecure puritan; beset by the haunting fear and resentment that somebody somewhere must be having a good time. And it was this determination to inoculate all others with his own mean and low standards of quasi-rectitude, which according to Mencken, led to a host of social bans and other aberrations that today stunt and distorts the more creative and liberating urges, the more transcending impulses of our everyday lives.
Mencken came out particularly strongly against the Establishment, the standardized, regimented and “organized” institutions and entities – geared to delivering scaled-down mass-values – that were the root-cause of these degenerate times. He continuously railed against the Government, the Church, the State, the education system, commerce and corporations — all of which, according to him, centered around and catered to the inferior ‘moral’ majority. Thus diminishing the dynamic, vitalist spirit of society and the more wholesome benefits and satisfying lifestyles it would usher in for the masses. About the church he said: “It would be hard to find in civilized history a match for the power that …lays in the hands of the Catholic clergy …obviously such a system is a formidable impediment to the firm functioning of the intelligence. The catholic is not only forbidden to do any effective thinking for himself on matters of faith and morals, he is also discouraged from speculation in the fields adjacent which include those of history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy and many of the physical sciences. … The truth is that the Catholic system is, in its very essence, inimical to intelligence and commonly either throttles it or drives it out of the fold.” He concluded: “Catholicism (like all organized religions) in general seems to me to be a preposterous and degrading fraud.”
Regarding the world of education he felt that the spirit, “once bearing a torch and beckoning towards the heights, now led to the dark stairways into the black and forbidden dungeons ….” He felt that the principal aim of the “hocus-pocus” was not to impart knowledge but rather, “to cram the pupils as rapidly and as painlessly as possible with the largest conceivable outfit of current axioms in all departments of human thought.” Its aim was not to educate humans but to turn out “good citizens” and a good citizen was by definition one who’s views and conduct differed as little as possible from those of all other citizens. Here you have an unending assembly line churning out ‘good citizens’ more conducive to better management and control by the ruling elite and useful as fodder for their canons, or as slaves for the grinding mills of industry and corporations. Thus reinforcing the decadent capitalist culture of mass-production and conspicuous consumption dedicated to the insidious alter of the decadent ‘God of Profit’ at any cost; regardless of the unconscionable price paid in terms of dehumanizing the individuals, dumbing down society and devastating the environment.
The job of the university professor and his administration according to Mencken was, “to manufacture an endless corps of sound Americans. A sound American is simply one who has put out of his mind all doubts and questionings and who accepts instantly and as incontrovertible gospel, the whole body of official doctrine of his day, whatever it may be and no matter how often it may change.” He said about the teaching profession, “school teachers, taking them by and large, are probably the most ignorant and stupid class of men in the whole group of mental workers.” He stressed, “Not one in ten of them have any sort of grasp of the difficult subject he professes or shows any desire to master it.” He wrote, “The American university student … has been a victim of the same process of leveling (dumbing down) that has destroyed his teacher. He had been taught conformity, blind obedience, the social and intellectual goose-step which stifled all human originality and growth.” But Mencken reserved his choicest criticism for the Government – the Democratic form in particular – and its namby-pamby leaders who had to manage the inferior “democratic man” and “kow-tow to the mob.”
He was convinced that by and large the founding fathers had no real belief in democracy whatever and had framed the American Constitution “to hold the superior few harmless against the inferior many.” He felt that in practice:” all government in its essence was a conspiracy against the superior man, its one permanent object was to police him and cripple him.” Why? For the simple reason that the superior man was devoid of any illusions or sentimentalities and could see with unsparing gaze the weaknesses of the government he lived under and so might be inspired to propose, or horrors — worse still — precipitate “change”. And change was anathema, the very thing that every organized entity or existing establishment hated and feared above all else. ‘Change’ meant a shake-up in the deeply entrenched vested interests and readjustments and realignments in the power-wealth equations to accommodate new evolutionary ideas and methods which would result in more advanced, liberal ways of governance — the very thing that an established institution addicted to its power-base abhorred and feared most. ‘Change’ was an invasion of its prerogatives and any individual of the “intelligent minority” who advocated such a thing for whatsoever reason was its natural enemy, nay Public Enemy No: 1.
So Mencken griped about democratic government saying: “Thus one of its primary functions is to regiment man by force, to make them as much alike as possible and as dependant on one another as possible and to search out and combat originality among them.” Mencken, as far back as 1908, in his volume on Nietzsche, argued that: “knowledge and not government bought us the truth that made us free. Government in its very essence is opposed to all increase in knowledge. Its tendency is always towards permanence and against change… and it stands in direct antithesis to every effort to find the absolute truth. Therefore, it is plain that the progress of humanity far from being the result of government has been made entirely without its aid in the face of its constant and bitter opposition.” For, as Mencken pointed out, in opposing this threat to its own permanence, in holding in check any knowledge or originality among its subjects, the government would not stop at any means, however base. And to say this was to say that the government was “an agency engaged wholesale and as a matter of solemn duty, in the performance of acts which all self-respecting individuals refrain from as a matter of common decency.”
Though Mencken thought very poorly of politicians he believed that a truly great individual, a member of the “intelligent minority” could enter politics and yet remain uncorrupted by its base motives. Such politicians were the colossal exceptions and the reason they stood so far above the average was that they were superior by their very nature, members of the civilized minority. They were not a part of the mob and would not be intimidated or swamped by it and could not be bought or co-opted by it. Whatever they had contributed to the progress of government and society had been the result of their own genius and efforts, efforts that had usually been met by the fiercest of opposition from those very members of their establishment who were beneath them in the scale of humanity.
Mencken, like other contemporary thinkers of his time, felt that the unjust but understandable “resentment” against the ‘intelligent minority’ harboured by the ‘inferior majority’ played a key role in distorting society and its institutions. Democracy, like its obverse side ‘Puritanism, had its source in envy. He said: “there is only one sound argument for democracy and that is the argument that it is a crime for any man to hold himself out as better than other men, and above all, a most heinous offence for him to prove it.” The essential thing about democracy was that it was “a devise for strengthening and heartening the have-nots in their eternal war upon the haves.” This war, waged against the creative minority, then had only one motivation — the inferior “democratic man’s” envy of his betters – and it was carried out with one aim in mind – that of bringing the “creative intelligent minority” down to its own dull, degraded and miserable level of imbecility, so that the dangerous, status quo-threatening ideas of the “creative individual” who insisted on thinking for himself, could at best, be neutralized and brought safely under control or otherwise rendered inoperable and at worst, earmarked: “exterminate with extreme prejudice” (CIA speak). And the “inferior man” aka the “moral man” aka “democratic man” waged this war in the most ferocious manner and without the slightest concept of fair play or honour. It was the mark of the “superior man” aka “man of honour” to view the acts and ideas of others with a certain magnanimity and tolerance, whereas the inferior man’s resentment of those who ranked above him on the intellectual, moral or merit scale did not permit him to show any tolerance whatsoever. Again, the liberal-minded ‘superior man’ was perfectly content and willing to grant that opinions, which differed from his own, might after all have something to be said for them. But the narrow-minded’ inferior man’ could not for a moment consider or admit that any view other than his own had a right to exist.
Finally, it was characteristic of the superior man, the “man of honour” to be open and receptive to new ideas and at least give them a hearing: on the contrary, new ideas were precisely what the inferior moral/democratic man dreaded most. New ideas were unfamiliar and threatening and made demands on his limited mental powers to which he was incapable of responding without exposing his ignorance; they cast doubts on the unstable threadbare clichés by which he had hitherto been living, therefore he made every possible effort to put down all new ideas and the intelligent creative individuals who originated them and those who defended them were, for him, from his inverted viewpoint, agents of the devil who had to be shackled into conformity or annihilated.
This penchant of the herd mentality to turn all standards, values and ideals topsy-turvy was for Mencken the Nietzschean nightmare of the “transvaluation of values”. It had stood morality on its head. It had sought to turn the good of ‘master morality’ into evil, or what is worse yet, sin. The herd, subject before the justifiable pride of those above it, condemned pride and made a virtue of humility; helpless before their strength, it called strength an evil and glorified weakness, enshrining the sub-standard as the ‘new’ standard. Thus, as Mencken suggested, with “…envy turned into law, cowardice sanctified, stupidity made noble …the inferior majority were free to make its nation in its own image – “a buffoon among nations.”
This absurdity of the rule of the ‘inferior majority’, constituted for Mencken the very essence of democracy and thereby its ultimate worthlessness and unspeakable obscenity to hold that “all moral excellence and with it all pure and unfettered sagacity reside in the inferior four-fifths of mankind.” And if there was really such a thing as an “inferior four-fifths of mankind,” then the logical inference had to be that the remaining one-fifth was superior.
Now, according to Mencken, had the inferior man been satisfied merely to claim this equality and rest his case there, it might have been possible to grant some kind of validity to the mass man’s argument, for in theory at least, all men should be equal before the law and all should have the same right too, to give voice to their opinions, however asinine. But, having gone so far, the power-intoxicated ‘mass man’ could not help but go all the way and accomplish the Nietzschean nightmare in which, blinded by envy and resentment the unthinking herd-man saw himself not only as good as the ‘intelligent individual’ who ranked above him on the scale of humanity, but on all counts, even better.
But the inferior man could not achieve this alone. In his acute awareness of his own weaknesses, in his envy and resentment of the superior man’s quiet individuality and self-assured strength, he simply had to band together and be part of a group. Otherwise he would accomplish nothing and would be terrified by his own inept loneliness. Above all, the herd had to be made up of dull unthinking souls like himself, for it demanded from its members blind acquiescence and unquestioning conformity to its narrow body of ideas. Whoever presumed to think for himself or cast doubt on its shallow doctrines was not only a traitor but also a heretic.
Yet all the while, even as the herd was trying to assert its illusory superiority of the majority and establish a reversal of values, it could not get away from the undeniable historical sense of its own essential inferiority. The members of the herd unconsciously recognized and knew in their hearts the truth of how far down the scale of human enlightenment they really were and so – as a temporary conscious defense mechanism – they compensated for it by putting up a front of native arrogance and braggadocio designed to shield the true inferiority of their character from themselves, even if from no one else.
But their burning resentment and historical awareness of their inferiority coupled to their critical dependence on the ‘intelligent minority’ for their continued existence, still smoulders within their breasts.
Reaffirming this lesson, Alexander van Humbolt perceptively reminds: “Men have arrived at such a high-pitch of civilization that all institutions which act in a way to obstruct or thwart the development of individuals and compress man together in vast uniform-masses (the herd), are now far more hurtful than in earlier ages of the world.”
MASLOW
MASLOW Maslow, a 20th C thinker-psychotherapist offers us an interesting psychological angle into the unconscious causes of the ‘mass man’s’ condition of insecurity, envy and resentment that underlies the perennial historical persecution of the “good man” by the masses around him. Throwing more light on this eternal epic struggle between the ‘Creative Minority’ and the unthinking masses in his book ‘The Farther Reaches of Human Nature’, Maslow said: Certainly we love and admire good men, saints, honest, virtuous and clean men. But could anybody who has looked into the depths of human nature fail to be aware of our mixed and often hostile feelings towards saintly men? Or towards great creators? Or towards our intellectual geniuses? It is not necessary to be a psychotherapist to see this phenomenon – let us call it counter-valuing (shades of Nietzsche). Any reading of history will turn up plenty of examples or perhaps I could even say that any such historical search might fail to turn up a single exception throughout the whole history of mankind. Maslow then goes on to suggest the reasons for the mass man’s visceral sense of resentment and hostility towards the superior individuals amongst them saying: “We surly love and admire all persons who have incarnated the true, the good, the beautiful, the ultimately successful. And yet, they also make us uneasy, anxious, confused, perhaps a little jealous or envious, a little inferior or clumsy. They usually make us loose our aplomb, our self-possession and self-regard…. hostility is then an understandable consequence.”
ARNOLD TOYNBEE
Arnold Toynbee, a 20th C thinker-historian, in his exhaustive work ‘A Study of History’ expounds further this idea of the gulf between the dynamic “creative individual” belonging to a “creative minority” and the general “inert uncreative mass” (herd) characterized by “non-thought”.
Toynbee suggests:” Growing civilizations differ from static societies in virtue of the dynamic movements in their body social of creative individuals and we should add that these creative personalities at their greatest numerical strength, never amount to more than a small minority. In every growing civilization the great majority of the participant individuals are in the same stagnant quiescent condition as the members of a static primitive society. More than that, the great majority of the participants in a growing civilization are, apart from a superimposed veneer of education, men of like passions with primitive mankind. The superior personalities, geniuses, mystics or supermen – call them what you will – are no more than a leaven in the lump of ordinary humanity.”
Toynbee felt that, “All growth originates with creative individuals and their task is two fold; first the achievement of their inspiration or discovery, whatever it may be, and secondly, the conversion of the society to which they belong to this new way of life.” He clarified: “The truth seems to be that the intrinsic uniqueness and individuality of an act of creation is never counteracted to more than a trifling extent by the tendency towards uniformity …so that the creator, when he arises, always finds himself overwhelmingly outnumbered by the inert uncreative mass even when he has the good fortune to enjoy the companionship of a few kindred spirits. … Toynbee continued: “The great new social forces of Democracy and Industrialism have been evoked by a tiny creative minority, and the great mass of humanity still remains substantially on the same intellectual and moral level on which it lay before the titanic new forces began to emerge. … All acts of social creation are the work of either individual creators or, at most, of creative minorities and at each successive advance the great majority of the members of the society are left behind. …. The very fact that the growths of civilizations are the work of creative individuals or creative minorities carries the implication that the uncreative majority will be left behind unless the pioneers can contrive some means of carrying this sluggish rear-guard along with them in their eager advance….”
Toynbee maintained: Growth is the work of creative personalities and creative minorities: they cannot go on moving forward themselves unless they can contrive to carry their fellows with them in their advance; and the uncreative rank and file of mankind, which is always in an overwhelming majority, cannot be transfigured en masse and raised to the stature of their leaders in the twinkling of an eye. That would be in practice impossible; for the inward spiritual grace through which an unillumined soul is fired by communion with a saint is almost as rare as the miracle that has bought the saint himself into the world. The leaders task is to make his fellows his followers; and the only means by which mankind in the mass can be set in motion towards a goal beyond itself is by enlisting the primitive and universal faculty of mimesis.”
Toynbee concludes: “This social situation presents a dilemma. If the creative genius fails to bring about in his milieu the mutation he has achieved within himself, his creativeness will be fatal to him. He will have put himself out of gear with his field of action and in losing the power of action he will lose the will to live – even if his former fellows do not harry him to death, as abnormal members of the swarm or hive or herd or pack are harried to death by the rank and file in the static social-life of gregarious animals or insects. On the other hand, if the genius does succeed in overcoming the inertia or active hostility of his former fellows and does triumphantly transform his social milieu into a new order in harmony with his transfigured self, he thereby makes life intolerable for men and women of common clay unless they can succeed in adapting their own selves, in turn, to the new social milieu that has been imposed on them by the triumphant genius’ masterly creative will.”
Toynbee believed: “These individuals who set going the process of growth in the societies to which they belong are more than mere men. They can work what to men seem miracles because they themselves are superhuman in a literal and no mere metaphorical sense. He felt: “The new specific character of this rare and superhuman soul that breaks the vicious-circle of primitive human social life and resumes the work of creation may be described as ‘Personality’. It is through the inward development of personality that individual human beings are able to perform these creative acts in the outward field of action that cause the growths of human societies.” Therefore, Toynbee states: “…. we see that in the secession of a proletariat (the Creative Minority)…. a new civilization is generated through the transition of a society from a static condition to a dynamic activity. … Mankind is once more on the move.”
Toynbee, like the rest of the exponents of the philosophy of the strong, firmly believed in the vital importance of the process of being exposed to a continuous series of encounters, conflicts and challenges as the critical stimulus in the emergence of an exceptional individual or an extraordinary civilization. He termed these stimulating conditions of encounters and challenges — of grueling struggle, difficulties and hardships faced by creative individuals or evolved civilizations as, “The Virtues of Adversity … The Challenges of the (hostile) Environment, … The Stimulus of Hard Countries, … of Reaching New Ground, … of Blows, … Pressures … Penalizations”, arduous circumstances that he felt were an integral component of the creative process of evolution and the emergence of superior individuals or nations through an inspired historical method of “challenge and response.”
He said: “In the light of mythology we have gained some insight into the nature of challenges and responses. We have come to see that creation is the outcome of an encounter, a challenge, that genesis is a product of interaction. The truth is that in the genesis of civilizations the interplay between challenges and responses is the factor, which counts above all…If certain members of that widespread race created a civilization while the rest remained culturally sterile, the explanation may well be that a creative faculty latent in all alike, was evoked in those particular members and in those only by the presentation of a challenge to which the rest did not happen to be exposed.”
Thus it is clear that the single most critical factor in the evolution of an individual, race or civilization lies in the series of stimulating problems and challenges confronted and conquered by them. For it is this catalyst, which stimulates the “dynamic individual” at the deepest levels of his being, inspiring him to rise above himself and initiate in one grand tour-de-force a creative response that triumphs over all worldly obstacles. He responds creatively to the new life-threatening challenge by an equally dynamic act of inner evolution with effects that not only surpass the core personal problem but also, at the same time, helps advance the social order to its next, more evolved level of stability and harmony.
JOSE ORTEGA Y GASSET
Similarly, the 20th C thinker-philosopher Jose Ortega Y Gasset in his book ‘The Modern Theme’ commented on this historical reality of the conflict between the “strong active individual” and the “collective passive mass”. He suggested that two opposing schools of thought have usually disputed the field of the Philosophy of History. “There has been both a collectivist and also an individualist interpretation of historical reality. For the former, the process of history is in substance the work of widely diffused masses of mankind; for the latter, the makers of history are exclusively individuals. The active creative nature of personality is, in fact, too evident for the collectivist picture of history to be acceptable. Mankind, in the gross, is merely receptive: it is content simply to show either favour or resistance to men of marked enterprising vitality…. The life of outstanding individuals consists precisely in their comprehensive influence on the generality…Humanity, in all the stages of its evolution, has always been a functioning organism in which the more energetic members, whatever form their energies may take, have operated upon the remainder and given them a distinct configuration. So, the generally accepted view was that of a world as divided into two camps: “On the one side stood the great majority, which clung to established ideology; on the other a small minority of spiritual scouts, vigilant souls, who had a glimmering of distant tracts of territory still to be invaded. This minority is doomed never to be properly understood – the gestures which the vision of the new dominions calls forth from it cannot be rightly interpreted by the main body advancing behind and not yet in possession of the heights from which the ‘terra incognita’ is being examined. Hence the minority in the van is in continual danger, both from the new districts it has to conquer and from the rank and file harassing its rear. While it is constructing the new it has to defend itself from the old and wield at the same time, like the renovators of Jerusalem, both the spade and the sword.” This ‘sword’ is to be wielded with compassion in demolishing the old, dilapidated and defunct world-order along with all its obsolete support structures, institutions and traditions which had served their purpose and had now become counter-productive and the ‘spade’ is to reconstruct a fresh, more sophisticated, sustainable and symbiotic New World Order more in resonance with the latest emerging imperatives of ecology-centric living, human personality development and spiritual progress in the coming New Age of Harmony. This is the ‘Sword of Life’ that Krishna, Buddha, Mohammad, Zarathushtra, Christ and other great thinker-revolutionaries and creative individuals are said to have bought among us.
SKYE THOMAS
SKYE THOMASSkye Thomas in his article ‘Don’t Play It Safe’ sheds more light on this persecution of creative individuals by the harrying pack around them, saying: “Most of the world likes to play it safe. They go to their safe jobs, come home to their safe relationships, they drive safe cars, they invest money in safe corporations, they think safe thoughts, and they want nothing more than to feel safe and secure.
But there is another kind too. This other group lives for thrills (challenges). They don’t just occasionally think outside the box, they actually prefer to live outside the box. This is a group who thrives on adventure, change and newness. They love innovative new ideas, they like to explore new things, and push the envelope beyond its capabilities. They are the visionaries who perceive something beyond where we stand today.
This group often does not feel understood nor supported by the mainstream population. They are not rebels, although they are often accused of being rebellious because they do not embrace the status quo. This group is not anti-anything. They do not require group consensus to be who they are. (Whereas the safe players – in all their thoughts, words and deeds – always worry about what the others will think or say of them and so act safely and predictably according to herd expectations.) This group is made up of people like Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Nikola Tesla, Nelson Mandela and others who do not strive to be different nor to go against the mainstream beliefs. They simply are different, they think different, they live different, and they make passionate choices to contribute something meaningful to humanity despite the fact that others oppose them. All of these people stand tall despite the chaos and anger of those surrounding (and questioning) them. “Why can’t you just leave well enough alone? Why do you always have to push people too far? Why can’t you just get along? (Suggesting that they should allow the ‘herd’ to continue in its self-destructive state of slumber; maybe someone ought to have questioned Christ thus.)
Those who would keep things safe and comfortable become frightened and angry at these innovative new thinkers. They torment them, threaten them, mistreat them, ostracise them and create a storm of ugliness to stop these people from simply sharing the gifts of their hearts that they were born to share with humanity. Years later, often after they have long been dead, future generations can look back in hind-sight and see their bravery as admirable. But in the moment, these people are historically treated terribly. These are typically men and women of peace who do not go out with an angry rebellious need to stir up trouble. They fight for higher ideals because in their heart of hearts they truly believe that things could be better.”
So, cheers! Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the outcasts, the abnormals — the exceptions who see things differently. Disagree, glorify or vilify them, but you can’t ignore them because they do change things. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do! We must instead recognize and welcome such misfit ‘creative individuals’ as catalysts of change, as agents of history — believing that every drop of change their evolved intuition brings about will contribute to fulfilling our ocean of need.
THE FOURTH PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
Such ones invariably appear apparently afflicted by an apriori ‘strategic combination’ of personal character flaws, eccentricities, contradictions and inconsistencies best suited to their personality profile, the needs of their situation and milieu and the successful completion of their spiritual mission.
Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. – Martin Luther, Reformer
Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sin, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions. – Mathew Henry
Thomas Merton, a 20th C thinker-Christian-Buddhist mystic, in his book ‘Seeds of Contemplation’ offers us yet another interesting dimension of the mystic personality paradigm. He says, that no doubt saints and mystics have been exasperating people with their own faults and follies, but that “God permits certain men to retain certain defects and imperfections and blind spots and eccentricities even after they have reached a high degree of sanctity. And because of these things their sanctity remains hidden from them and from other men. If the holiness of all saints had always been plainly evident to everybody they would never have been polished and perfected by the trials and persecution and criticism and humiliation and opposition from the people they lived with.” Merton gives us an example, saying, “One of the first signs of a saint may well be the fact that other people do not know what to make of him. In fact, they are not sure whether he is crazy or only proud; but it must at least be pride to be haunted by some individual ideal which nobody but god really understands. And he has inescapable difficulties in applying all the abstract norms of “perfection” to his own life. He cannot seem to make his life fit in with the books. Sometimes his case is so bad that no monastery will keep him. He has to be dismissed, sent back to the world like Benedict Joseph Labre, who wanted to be Trappist and a Carthusian and succeeded in neither. He finally ended up as a tramp. He died in some street in Rome. But, as Merton continues: “And yet the only canonized saint, venerated by the whole Church … is St. Benedict Joseph Labre.”
Karl Potter, in his book ‘Presuppositions of India’s Philosophies’, informs us about the “psychology of the yogi or man of control” as an individual with tendencies “opposite or in contrast to” that of “the masses” of his time, who is celebrated in various ways within traditional literature. He quotes Professor Van Buitenen who, in his book ‘The Indian Hero as Vidyadhara’ (Man of Knowledge), emphasized that in the fascinating myths and stories of ancient and medieval India, “the ‘ideal type’ of man … is endowed with a particular quality-of-spirit which can perhaps best be explained as ‘presence of mind’. (This quality) … is the articulation of a constant cagey awareness of what is going on, the refusal to permit oneself to be distracted momentarily, the preparedness and collectedness of one’s faculties of discrimination and decision. It is what philosophic psychology calls ‘buddhi’, which comprises both, this wide-awake vigilance and the capacity of immediately and spontaneously acting on what comes within its purview. This faculty (of spontaneity) is the hero’s principal weapon in his struggle for survival.” So as Potter says, “Here we perceive the value placed upon superior awareness, discrimination and the ability to decide and act appropriately in situations where others find themselves at a loss.” For, as Potter continues: “The path of the hero in the struggle (to fulfill his selfless mission) … is frequently a bloody one and is sometimes marked by activities which we might regard as immoral in someone else, but in him these acts are merely the manifestation of a superior spirit and are not to be judged by standards inappropriate to his stature” in the cosmic-scale of things. He maintains: “The injunctions of the Vedas which prescribes morally correct actions do not apply to the true yogi and it is expected and accepted in many circles that the path of the saint may well involve him in external behaviour which in others would be highly inappropriate.” But this ‘inappropriateness’ is not the true perspective and only ‘appears’ so to the mass due to their ignorance of the deeper realms of super-mundane reality. For only such a one, he points out, most approximates “the ideal of complete control and freedom and his ultimate superiority over morality.” Thus Potter concludes that the yogi “embodies the three pillars of civilization – the Hero, the Saint and the Teacher – being at the same time all three. And because of their superior understanding such men are held to be worthy of everyone’s trust and allegiance, even despite the external inconsistencies in their behaviour.”
Karl Potter, in his book ‘Presuppositions of India’s Philosophies’, informs us about the “psychology of the yogi or man of control” as an individual with tendencies “opposite or in contrast to” that of “the masses” of his time, who is celebrated in various ways within traditional literature. He quotes Professor Van Buitenen who, in his book ‘The Indian Hero as Vidyadhara’ (Man of Knowledge), emphasized that in the fascinating myths and stories of ancient and medieval India, “the ‘ideal type’ of man … is endowed with a particular quality-of-spirit which can perhaps best be explained as ‘presence of mind’. (This quality) … is the articulation of a constant cagey awareness of what is going on, the refusal to permit oneself to be distracted momentarily, the preparedness and collectedness of one’s faculties of discrimination and decision. It is what philosophic psychology calls ‘buddhi’, which comprises both, this wide-awake vigilance and the capacity of immediately and spontaneously acting on what comes within its purview. This faculty (of spontaneity) is the hero’s principal weapon in his struggle for survival.” So as Potter says, “Here we perceive the value placed upon superior awareness, discrimination and the ability to decide and act appropriately in situations where others find themselves at a loss.” For, as Potter continues: “The path of the hero in the struggle (to fulfill his selfless mission) … is frequently a bloody one and is sometimes marked by activities which we might regard as immoral in someone else, but in him these acts are merely the manifestation of a superior spirit and are not to be judged by standards inappropriate to his stature” in the cosmic-scale of things. He maintains: “The injunctions of the Vedas which prescribes morally correct actions do not apply to the true yogi and it is expected and accepted in many circles that the path of the saint may well involve him in external behaviour which in others would be highly inappropriate.” But this ‘inappropriateness’ is not the true perspective and only ‘appears’ so to the mass due to their ignorance of the deeper realms of super-mundane reality. For only such a one, he points out, most approximates “the ideal of complete control and freedom and his ultimate superiority over morality.” Thus Potter concludes that the yogi “embodies the three pillars of civilization – the Hero, the Saint and the Teacher – being at the same time all three. And because of their superior understanding such men are held to be worthy of everyone’s trust and allegiance, even despite the external inconsistencies in their behaviour.”
Ramakrishna Para Mahmsa elucidates: “A true devotee who has drunk deep of Divine Love is like a veritable drunkard and, as such, cannot always observe the rules of (mundane) propriety.” This is the mystic state of Divine Madness or God Intoxication beyond the comprehension of the masses. Or, as Divani Shamsi Tahwiz V111, explicates, “The Man of God is beyond infidelity and religion. To the Man of God, right and wrong are alike.”
Sufi Nouri also clarified: “The Sufi is one who does what others do – when it is necessary. He is also one who does what others cannot do – when it is indicated.” For as Idres Shah, in his book ‘The Sufis’ suggests, “The Sufi shows signs of superior perception. He will be able to understand a situation by (an intuitive leap of) inspiration and not formal cerebration. His actions, as a result, may sometimes baffle observers working on the ordinary plane of consciousness but his results will nevertheless be correct. This, as Idres Shah says in his book ‘The Way of the Sufi’, is because, “The Sufi’s objective is towards the perfectioning or completion of the human mind, not the emulation of the herd.”
T.K. Mahadevan in his book on Mahatma Gandhi titled ’Dvija’ projects a similar theme and warns that the uncomprehending people use Mahatma Gandhi’s apparent inconsistencies as a justification to drag him down to their own mean and base level, thus enabling them “to tailor Gandhi to their own size and shape …destined to remain sui generic a mind apart, Gandhi’s interpreters turn him into a member of the common herd.” He then continues: “To understand Gandhi, the normal yardsticks are more than useless. It is because most writers on him have used these yardsticks that he seems such a bundle of contradictions, inconsistencies and paradoxes. He is nothing of the kind. He is a complete whole.” The mass cannot penetrate this shroud of ‘strategic ambiguity’ camouflaging the ‘superior man’ and therefore, in their condition of confusion and fear, they tend to oppose and persecute ‘such a one’ with relish.
William Johnston in his book ‘The Inner Eye of Love’ reinforces this premise of the mystic’s state of complete freedom from all worldly constraints, standards and measures by saying of the mystic’s journey: “His initial call points at the general direction, but it does not enlighten every step of the path. Quite often there will be anguish and fear and uncertainty and conflict like that of Jeremiah: ‘Woe is me, my mother that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land.’ (Jeremiah 15.10) This inner-light leads in the most surprising ways. Prophetical people are quite unpredictable. Often they are socially unacceptable, strident, exaggerated, and apparently unorthodox. Like Jeremiah, they are often ridiculed and put in the stocks. Usually they are put to death, either literally or metaphorically. But the distinctive thing is the quality of their love, which ‘bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.’ (1 Corinthians 13:7) Such (agape) love always bears fruit. Such love always leads to a union which creates something new. But the new creation may be something quite different to what the mystic and his followers expected. His life, like that of Jesus, may end in apparent failure. But when it does, people in another part of the world and perhaps in another era will reap the fruit.”
Johnston continues: “Consequently, there is no blue-print to tell us what the mystic in action will do. He might do anything. But on the other hand he will have his charisma, which he must faithfully follow. …At the beginning there are guidelines and rules, which are always helpful and valuable, but, at the summit, St John of the Cross can write, ‘Here there is no longer any way because for the just man there is no law, he is a law unto himself’. The just man is following his deepest spiritual instincts, which tell him of the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He is beyond the law.” All the ways are now open to him. … So Johnston advises: “And we must have our ears to the ground to listen for the true prophets, to recognize them, to follow their guidance and not kill them. This is the great challenge of our day.”
THE FIFTH PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
Such ones invariably appear incognito, camouflaged in a cosmic condition of ‘Strategic Ambiguity’ – veiled under a tactical cover or shroud of apparent imperfection — in order to keep their true nature and sanctity ‘hidden’. This stratagem of remaining hidden under a cosmic cloak of ‘strategic ambiguity’ allows them to keep their true state of being unknown to the masses, to keep their true nature hidden from the people, thus enabling them to operate freely in ‘secret’ – unhindered by fruitless interference from the people and undistracted by the mundane chase of ‘this worldly’ treasures and goals – in hot-pursuit of the completion of their Sacred Mission on Mother Earth.
The Sufi Munaquib-El-Aifin says of the true seeker, “Ever knowing as they hide they seek. Appearing other than they are to the ordinary man; in inward light they roam –making miracles come to pass. Yet they are really known to none.” Therefore, the Mystic always appears hidden to the masses, centered in a cosmic state of ‘strategic ambiguity’ that reflects back to the observers their own particular mental predispositions, thus appearing different to different people.
So Sufi Mirza Khan sang: “To the sinful and vicious, I may appear to be evil. But to the good –beneficial am I.” Saudin the Sufi explained: “The Sufi is the ‘complete man’ when he says, ‘among roses be a rose; among thorns be a thorn’.” For as Idres Shah suggests: “The Sufi seems to the unregenerate man to change but to those with inner-perception, he remains the same, because his essential personality is (hidden) within and not, without.” So he can cheerfully tell the bully: “With gentlemen I can be double gentleman and with thugs I am double thug.”
Sufi Rumi offers other examples in ‘Why the Dervish (mystic) hides himself’. Answering his son’s question, “How and why is the mystic hidden? Is there something within himself, which he conceals? The Master replies, “It might be done in any way. Some write love poems and people think they mean ordinary love. The mystic hides his true position on the ‘way’ by adopting a profession; some as artists and writers, some as traders, builders, and other outer activities.”
This, as Idres Shah explains in ‘The Sufis’, being done for the sake of defense against the underdeveloped people. Thus, some may seem to act in a manner of which society might disapprove, but they do so only in order to create the proper conditions – a cosmic cover of strategic ambiguity – enabling them to operate freely in the context of their situational truth-reality towards the fulfillment of their preordained mission. As Shah points out, “For such a devise may well be adopted by the follower of the way to gain isolation, peace and other creative conditions when he would otherwise be hindered by the world.” Hence did Prophet Mohammad affirm: “God has hidden the men of greatest knowledge.”
Therefore, the mystic’s aim is to remain unknown, camouflaged in a state of cosmic ambiguity and strategic uncertainty, he essentially appears as both, a wise man to the discerning and a fool to the unregenerate. Were Christ, Gandhi, King opportunists and rebels as claimed by the Establishment-Herd Axis or were they, as history shows, the saviours and redeemers of an oppressed people? Neither of the viewpoints per se is absolutely true, for the mystic is neither part but whole, transcendentally situated in a unitive ‘no-mind’ state of being beyond the finite world of duality, relativity and particularity, beyond perception by the senses and comprehension by the mind. For even when some type of individuals may outwardly appear weird or useless or imperfect or stupid to us, this cosmic cover of ‘strategic ambiguity’ actually serves a higher purpose, as a shell, a covering or camouflage of ‘apparent uselessness’, created to befuddle the unregenerate mind from recognizing the fact that there truly lies hidden within the husk — the pure seed of the future. (‘Sufi’ implies a spiritually ‘refined’ person hidden under a ‘coarse’ outer covering; suf = wool i.e. woolen cloak — a coarse covering.) Thus as Aristotle reminds us: “No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.” This state of ambiguity served as a strategic cover to keep the people baffled, disabling them from getting a fix on to their true nature and purpose in life.
This idea of ‘strategic uselessness’ is well explained by Taoist philosophers. Chuang Tzu (c. 500 BCE) elucidates: “The cinnamon tree is edible, so it is cut down. The lacquer tree is useful, so it is slashed. Everyone knows the usefulness of the useful, but no one knows the usefulness of the useless.” As an example, Chuang Tzu compares a hunchback to a vast tree, which by reason of its ‘state of uselessness’ had uniquely grown to a great old age and had seen and experienced the full spectrum of life, thus attaining wisdom and fulfilling its destiny, “…only by virtue of appearing to be of no interest for human purposes and useless for petty human exploitation because its leaves are inedible and its branches twisted, dry and pithy – useless even as firewood.”
Thus, as Chuang Tzu suggests, the ‘obviously’ useful, straight and strong trees that trumpet their strengths are the first to be carefully targeted for cutting down either for lumber, furniture, fodder or fuel for another man’s fire. Similarly, the ‘obviously’ talented, skilled and useful persons — driven by the vanity of their egos in the vain pursuit of the pleasures of power, wealth, fame, success etc– are the first to be spotted, co-opted, exploited and swiftly consumed – like wood by fire — by their societies either as “first servants” (Toynbee) to perform some petty societal functions or vainly conscripted as artists, professionals, soldiers etc to fulfill some parochial national purpose or personal need. Chuang Tzu emphasized that all ‘obviously’ useful, healthy, talented and formally upright humans usually find themselves vainly co-opted, consumed and destroyed by their society or state to serve its own petty agendas and parochial ends. So, Chuang Tzu recommends: “Therefore the Sage, remaining hidden under the guise of uselessness, gets by with the perfect appearance of imperfection.” Exemplifying this state of ‘strategic ambiguity’ Jesus advised his disciples: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.”
John Hick, in his book ‘Philosophy of Religion’ further expounds on this theme, of: “God as deus absconditus — the hidden God – who comes to men in the incognito of an incarnation to preserve freedom in relation to himself.” Hick quotes Blaise Pascal (‘Pensees Blaise Pascal’ tr. W. F. Trotter) who expressed this thought with great clarity: “It was not then right that He should appear in a manner manifestly divine and completely capable of convincing all men; but it was also not right that He should come in so hidden a manner that He could not be known by those who should sincerely seek Him. He has willed Himself quite recognizable to those and thus is willing to appear openly to those who seek Him with all their heart and to be hidden from those who flee from Him with all their heart. He so regulates the knowledge of Himself that He has given signs of Himself, visible to those who seek Him and not to those who seek Him not. There is enough light for those who only desire to see and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition.” One of the Logia, ‘Sayings of the Lord’ clarifies: “Jesus sayeth, ‘I stood in the midst of this world and in the flesh was I seen by them and I found all men drunken and none found I athirst among them and my soul grieveth over the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts.” Similarly, Lord Krishna says in the Gita: “I am not manifest to all veiled by magic illusion (maya); this deluded world knows me not as the unborn and immutable.” (Ch V11: 25)
Patmore offers us an insight into the raison d’être of why the highest truths manifest themselves through the paradox of reversals – camouflaged in a state of oppositeness. “If the central cores of light, beauty, love, reason, power and order could – as perhaps they can — be presented in (direct) form to the human faculties, man would discern in them (their opposites) mere blackness, monstrosity, fatuity, weakness, terror and chaos. Therefore the hideousness of some of the images worshipped by those amongst the ancients, who best understood the Gods, was not without its meaning.” For as the Gospel of St. John pronounced:” This is the verdict. Light has come into the world but men loved darkness instead of Light because their deeds are evil.” A closed mind can never discern truth for it only sees and does what it wants to see and do and it wants to see and do only what suits it best – the profane, gross and base.
Jesus, with a view to keeping the ‘basic goodness’ of one’s nature camouflaged and concealed from the masses, repeatedly advised his followers to maintain their true pious thoughts, holy words and good actions a secret — hidden from the masses — unlike the hypocrites who liked to make a false outer-show of their ‘holiness’ only to impress other men. Saying: “And when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corner of the streets that they be seen of men. … But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathens do; for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. …But thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. … Be not ye therefore like unto them for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. …Therefore when thou doest thy alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the in the streets, that they may have the vainglory of men. …Take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them. …But when thou doest alms, let not thy left-hand know what thy right-hand doeth. That thine alms may be in secret and thy Father that seeth in secret, Himself shall reward thee openly…. So when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. … But when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret.”
Thus Lao Tzu, (Ch 77), asserted: “Hence though the Holy Man knows himself he makes no display; although he loves himself he seeks no reputation. On this account he rejects one while clinging to the other. Hence the Holy Man acts without priding himself on his actions, completes his work without lingering on it; he has no desire to display his superiority.” Also saying, “The devoted person knows no vanity. He does not permit his light to shine forth but instead conceals his lines. … . He must avoid laying claim to the completed work. This is the Way of the earth, the Way of the wife, the Way of one who serves; it is the Way of the earth to (produce all things yet) makes no display of its completed work but rather to bring everything to completion silently and secretly.”
So, as Lao Tzu opined: “When the Superior Man gets his opportunity, he mounts aloft but when the time is against him, he lets himself be carried by the force of circumstances…” or as the I Ching suggests, “Thus the Superior Man: when he stands alone is unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world is undaunted.”
Confucius too pointed out: “The I Ching says, ‘to feel the radiant power of the Dragon in your heart and yet to lie low’. This means a person who has the character of a Dragon (Sage) but remains concealed. He does not change (himself) to suit the outside world; he seeks to make no name for himself. He withdraws from the world, yet is not upset about it. If lucky, he carries out his principles: if unlucky, he withdraws with them. Verily he cannot be uprooted; he is a hidden Dragon.”
To get a flavour of this esoteric condition of remaining concealed from the gaze of the masses — its reason, meaning and purpose – take a bite from the samplings of a few selected ‘Sayings’.
The saying goes, ‘the fish should not be taken from the deep pool; the sharp weapons of state should not be shown to men’. The Sage is the sharp weapon of the world, and therefore he should not be where the world can see him. – Chuang Tzu 10
Skilled warriors of old were subtle / mysteriously powerful / so deep they were unknowable.
Tao Te Ching
True heroism is in the concealment and not in the display of one’s deeds. – Anupam Kher
My teacher was without peer in the world, but even his relatives never knew it because he never showed it. Po Kung-i (strongest man in kingdom)
It is easy to appear spectacular, but the Master tries to be as unspectacular as possible. – Eugen Herrigel – Zen in the Art of Archery
Ars est celare artem. (True art lies in concealing the art). – Latin Maxim
To know how to hide one’s ability is great skill. – Rochefoucauld
The chief aims of (Lao Tzu’s) studies being how to keep himself concealed and unknown. – Ssu-ma Ch’ien
The chief aim of the ‘superior man’ is to do good and remain concealed. – Ssu-ma Ch’ien
If thou wilt know or learn anything-profitable, desire to be unknown and to be little esteemed. – Thomas a Kempis
Though himself unable to forget the world, the Sage is able to let the world forget him. – Su-Cheh
The true teacher will have no disciples. – Amos Allot
The greatest praise hath been to live unknown. – Charles Churchill
Good doers leave no tracks. – Lao Tzu, ch. 27. (604 BCE)
He (Lao Tzu) was a ‘superior man’ who liked to keep himself unknown. – Shih Chi
To feel the radiant power of the Dragon in your heart and yet lie low. – I Ching
A ‘sajjan’ or a good man is like a coconut –hard and rough on the exterior but full of sweetness and goodness inside. – Sanskrit Sloka
A good merchant though he hath treasures carefully stored, appears as if he were poor. Just so the ‘superior man’, though his virtue be complete, is yet to outward seeming, stupid. – Lao Tzu. (To Confucius)
Hence the Holy Man wears coarse garments, but carries a Jewel in his bosom. – Lao Tzu, ch. 70
Although (seemingly) inert he (the sage) is ever alert and ready for any emergency. – Lao Tzu
Lao TzuThus the sage gets by with the perfect appearance of imperfection. – Lao Tzu
The superior man though his virtue be complete is yet to outward seeming stupid. – Lao Tzu
If one is able and strong, then one should disguise oneself to appear inept and weak. – Sun Tzu, Samurai
Thus does the ‘superior man’ live with the great mass. He veils his light and yet shines. – I Ching
Be wise but play the fool. – Chinese Aphorism
The advantage of being clever is that it is easy to play the fool. The opposite is much more difficult. – Kurt Tuchoisky
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves be ye therefore, as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. – Jesus Christ
The Kingdom of God will be established when the strong are willing to be weak; when the radiant are satisfied though clouded; when the meritorious though unknown are contented. – C.P. Medhurst
The ‘I’ casts off the illusion of ‘I’ and yet remains as ‘I’. Such is the paradox of Self-realization. – Sri Ramana Maharishi
The God-realized man is God Himself in human form. Ignorant souls cannot recognize Divinity in the ‘man’ in whom the Universal Spirit is realized and attained.– Swami Ramdas
If a man be before his time, though he stands in the midst of the sun, he will appear to his contemporaries as one dwelling in darkness. The ‘Wisdom of God’ has always been a mystery and because the ‘princes of this world’ do not understand it they have in all ages ‘crucified the Lord of Glory’. – St Paul, 1Corr.11, 7, 7-8
The devoted person knows no vanity. He does not permit his light to shine forth but instead conceals his lines. So must a man be when entering the services of a king. He must avoid laying claim to the completed work. This is the Way of the earth, the Way of the wife, the Way of one who serves; it is the Way of the earth to (produce all things yet) make no display of its completed work but rather to bring everything to completion silently and secretly. – Lao Tzu
Hence though the Holy Man knows himself he makes no display; although he loves himself he seeks no reputation. On this account he rejects one while clinging to the other. Hence the Holy Man acts without priding himself on his actions, completes his work without lingering on it; he has no desire to display his superiority. – Lao Tzu, Ch 77
The greatest attainment is as though incomplete, yet its use remains unimpaired. The greatest fullness seems empty, yet its utility cannot be exhausted. The greatest uprightness seems as crookedness, the greatest cleverness seems as clumsiness, the greatest eloquence seems as reticence. – Lao Tzu
To do good, hold no rank and leave no trace (of your real self) is the mark of a true man. – Sarosh
In the shadow of the mountain/Like the water that trickles/ Through the moss-covered rocks/Thus do I live/Quiet, unnoticed/ But free of impurity. – ‘Ryokan Poems’ Collection
THE SIXTH PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
Such ones inevitably undergo a historically-driven process of ‘Withdrawal and Return’ — a phase in the wilderness — which allows them a period of solitude, indispensable to the final stages of soul-ripening preceding their return to the marketplace of suffering with their newly mandated Spiritual Mission and Message.
The ancient Chinese oracle ‘I Ching’ (c. 500 BCE) explains this phenomenon in a veiled way, saying: “After a point of time comes the ‘turning point’. The powerful light that has been banished, returns. There is movement but it is not bought about by force. …the movement is natural, arising spontaneously. For this reason the transformation of the ‘old’ becomes easy. The ‘old’ is discarded and the ‘new’ is introduced. Both measures accord with the time, therefore no harm results.”
THE SEVENTH PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
Such ones invariably manifest themselves at a Time Of Troubles — of civil strife, social ferment and civilization collapse — to help cushion the crumbling civilization to a soft landing and guide it towards a more evolved, symbiotic and sustainable state of sufficiency, security and harmony in the coming New Age. They inevitably play the ‘catalytic role’ of alchemizing a static civilization into a dynamic one ‘on-the-move’ once again.
Whenever the Law declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth. I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil and to re-establish the Law. – Gita 4.7-8
At times of great ferment and turbulence when humanity is engulfed in widespread strife and violence, in oppression and injustice, in death and destruction there arises in people a deeply felt soul-yearning for a world of everlasting peace, justice and security. At such times the people look out for the appearance of a ‘Promised One’ who will lift them out of the quagmire of their times into a New Age of Harmony and Peace. Hinduism ardently awaits the return of ‘Kalki’ in the last era, Christianity fervently look forward to the ‘second coming’, Hebrews devoutly predict the emergence of a ‘Messiah’, Zoroastrianism keenly anticipates the of the advent of the ‘Saoshyant’, Islam zealously expects the arrival of the ‘Mahadi’…and so on, as the ‘Awaited Saviour’ who will usher in a golden era of everlasting bounty, peace and security. The promise of all divine religions will come to fruition when only with the emergence of the ‘Ideal Man’ – the worthy heir to all the prophets of the past.
To get an idea of the decadent ambience symptomatic of such an age-change phase of a civilization-under-collapse, ponder on the few selected ‘Sayings’ rendered hereunder.
The Iron Age is a sword, /The kings are butchers. /Dharma has taken flight; /In the Dark Night of Deceit, /The Moon of Truth has been clouded over. – Guru Nanak
This incarnation of Vishnu is to appear at the end of Kali or the Iron Age, seated on a white horse, with a drawn sword blazing like a comet, for the final destruction of the wicked and the restoration of purity. – Hindu Scripture
Men have degraded into beasts / And the Castle of Behram Ghor / Has become the haunt of foxes and jackals. – Omar Khayyam, Persian Poet
In misery and pleasure, the whole world is stuck /All their doings directed by the assertions of egotism. – Guru Nanak
Today, violence is the rhetoric of the age. – Jose Ortega Y Gasset, Spanish Philosopher
We are dancing on a volcano. – Narcisse Salvandy
In the name of religion one tortures, persecutes, builds pyres. In the guise of ideology one massacres, tortures and kills. In the name of love of one’s country or ones race, one hates other countries and massacres them. There is nothing in common between the means and the end. – Eugene Ionesco
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed / And everywhere the Ceremony of Innocence is drowned: / The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity. – W. B. Yeats, Poet
The argument at Prabhasa degenerated into a brawl, and soon the Yadavs were destroying each other. Krishna watched the carnage; He had become the Destroyer of Worlds. – Mahabharata
The New Order will not put an end to history. It will not be as an utopia; harmless and placid. Indeed, conflict is more likely now that the Cold War has ended and the Market has triumphed… For inequality will cleave the New World Order as surely as the Berlin Wall once divided the east and the west. – Jacques Attali
Make of us the hero-worshippers we aspire to become. May we fight successfully the Great Battle of the Future that is to be born, against the past that seeks to endure; so that new things may manifest and we may be made-ready to receive them. – Mother (Shrutinanandan)
For they have sown the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind; if it hath no stalk, the bud shall yield no meal; if it so yields, the strong shall swallow it up. – Hosea 8:7
As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Romans, I seem to see the River Tiber foam with much blood. – Enoch Powell
Perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves; covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient, ungrateful, truce-breakers, false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. – II Timothy 3
Our earth is degenerate in these latter days: bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching. – Assyrian Clay Tablet, 2800 BCE
Property alone will confer rank, wealth will be the only source of devotion, passion will be the sole bond of union between sexes, falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation, and women will be the objects merely of sensual gratification. Earth will be venerated only for its mineral treasures; dishonesty will be the universal means of subsistence… menace and presumption will be the subterfuge of learning, liberality will be devotion, simple ablutions will be purification, mutual assent will be marriage, fine clothes will be dignity. – Vishnu Purana
One nation pastures on another; / One sows the grains, which another harvests. / Philosophy teaches that bread is to be pilfered from the hands of the weak / And his soul dispatched from his body. / Extortion of one’s fellowman is the law of the New Civilization / And it conceals itself behind the veil of commerce. – Muhammad Iqbal
THE EIGHTH PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
Such ones invariably believe that God resides within man, that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be found innate in man, that Happiness is fundamentally a State-of-Mind and a way of life.
To get a glimmer of this potent and prolific life-changing idea, scan through the few selected ‘Sayings’ rendered hereunder.
THE GODHEAD/TRUTH LIES WITHIN MAN
Those who run to other gods, having forgotten the God residing within the cave of his own heart, are like those people who run after pebbles, having thrown away the Diamond in their hands ….God is within everybody. They are really unfortunate who go to the external Vishnu having neglected the internal one. – Yoga Vasishta
This is true knowledge, to seek the ‘self’ as the true end of wisdom, always. To seek anything else is ignorance. – Gita
God is within you and you discover Him when you discover your inner ‘self’. – Maharaj Charan Singh
The Supreme Lord is seated in everyone’s heart and directs the wanderings of all entities. – Gita 15.15
For I am seated in the hearts of all. – Gita 18.61
We were born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in each and everyone. – Nelson Mandela
Every soul is partially divine and it is your job to make it manifest itself. – Vivekananda
Let a man consider himself as if the Holy One dwells within him. – Talmud
Every one in his ‘true nature’ is Buddha. – Zen Wisdom
Behold the Kingdom of God is within you. – St Luke, Bible
Seek not outside yourself; heaven is within. – Mary Lou Cook
Mary Lou CookThe source of all happiness is within man. – Zarathushtra
Happiness is a state-of-mind. – English Proverb
True happiness comes from within. – Gandhi
The only way out is in. – Meher Baba
Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie / which we ascribe to Heaven. – Shakespeare
No temples can still the personal griefs and strifes in the breasts of its visitors. – Margaret Fuller
Worship me through meditation in the Temple of the Heart. – Srimad Bhagavatam
The true monk carries his Monastery within him. – Tibetan Proverb
When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere. – F. Rochefoucauld
A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. – G. Moore
Men alas, will not seek for the root of truth. It is within ourselves. If they sought it in the right place, they would find it. – Su Cheh
Not knowing how near the Truth is, people seek it far away – what a pity. – Hakuin’s ‘Song of Meditation’
If that which thou seekest, thou findest not within thee, then thou wilt never find it outside of thee. – Alipili
Oh man, the Jewel is in your bosom; why look for it everywhere else? – Zen Poem
The truth is that you are always and ever united with the Lord. But you must knowthis. – Svetasvara Upanishad
To perceive the Way to Heaven, one need not even have to step out of the doorway. – Taoism
When I feel too tired to continue my work, there is an inexhaustible reservoir of strength to which I can turn for refreshment – the power of God within me. – Miraben
What you seek is often closer to you than you think. Inner peace lies within your own heart. – Mataji Devi
He who knows not the Supreme Soul that dwells within him, sees not the essence of all things, he has wasted his life — precious as the Chintamani Jewel. – Narsi Mehta
The master said: ‘what the superior man seeks is within himself, what the mean man seeks is in others’. – Confucius, Analects 15.20
A person who worships God as exterior to himself does not know him, he is like an animal (pet) belonging to the Gods. – Upanishads
Honour yourself, worship yourself, meditate on yourself. God dwells within you. – Swami Muktananda
They, who know the Great in man, know the Supreme Being himself. – Atharva Veda
You can have it all / But when you do don’t let it fall, / For sooner or later you will realize / That the externals do not matter at all. / The only answer lies within, / The only way out — is in. – Indian Folk Song
When I see through men, I find in them the Divine Incarnation. – Baul Tribal Song
There is surely a piece of divinity within us, something that was before the elements, and knows no homage unto the sun. – Sir Thomas Browne
Your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which ye have of God: therefore glorify the God in your body. – St Paul, 1Corinthians
If thou art at peace with the effulgent Divine Controller who dwells in you heart, then where is the necessity for you to go to the Ganges or Kurukshetra? – Manu Samhita
He, who does not know that Indestructible Being of the Rig Veda, that highest ether-like Self within wherein all the gods reside, of what use is the Rig Veda to him? Only those who know ‘It’ rest content. – Svetasvatara Upanishad
One need not scale the heights of heaven, nor traverse the highways of the world to find Ahura Mazda (God). With purity of intent and selflessness of action, one can find Him in one’s own spirit. – Zarathushtra
The path to the source of your and the world’s being is not without. You have to go within yourself. – Swami Ramdas
The Great Soul who is within us all, who is beyond age and death and sorrow, beyond hunger and thirst, he who is true in thought and action, Him, we must seek; Him, we must know. – Gita
Organized religion is the prop of a man who has not found his God within. – Saheed Bhagat Singh
THE NINTH PILLAR ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
Such ones invariably know that the Force of the Universe, the power to control their destiny, is located within man.
To get a flavour of this marvellous clout you carry within yourself, without even becoming aware of it for many a lifetime, chew through the few selected ‘Sayings’ rendered hereunder.
THE POWER IS WITHIN
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. – R. W. Emerson
You alone can make or break yourself. – Vedas
Every man is the architect of his own fortune. – Appius Claudius Caecus
Work out your own religion; work out your own salvation. – Vivekananda
Be a lamp unto yourselves; seek refuge in yourselves. – Buddha
Perfection and imperfection are peculiarly one’s own duty. No one can purify another. – Buddha
It is up to each and every one of us to work out his or her own Salvation or Damnation. – Zarathushtra
You are the Master of your own fate. – Zarathushtra
Do not depend on anyone else for your happiness… For man has to make himself a ‘person’ through his own efforts. – Zarathushtra
For man alone is the Master of the cycles of pain and pleasure; through the power of wisdom and strength of self-control (kshathram), they are ever at his command. – Zarathushtra, Gatha 34.7
O’ tis how we act, that makes our life / we can make it heaven, we can make it hell / For in the clay of which we are made / Neither light nor darkness dwells. – Mohammad Iqbal, Poet
You have within you the ability to create all that you desire to be, to have, and to experience. You are the power. You have the power. You are powerful. – Gemmia Vanzant
He who knows the power of his spirit, why and for what’s sake would he exert himself? – Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad
The human nervous system is so complex that a person can make himself happy or miserable, regardless of what is happening outside himself, simply by changing his consciousness. – T. Cairns, Psychologist
The mind, in addition to medicine, has the powers to turn the immune system around. – Jonas Salk, Doctor
Your mind alone is the cycles of births and deaths. – Sri Ramana Maharishi
The suffering of each depends, not upon the factual happenings, but upon the texture of each ones mind. – Swami Chinmayananda
For man is man and master of his fate. – Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet
The greatest discovery of any generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their state of mind. – Albert Schweitzer
Moksa is not stored anywhere in the heavens, in earth or the netherlands. Moksa is an attitude of mind and resides in the mind itself. – Yoga Vasishta 7-12.30
The path to the source of your and the world’s being is not without. You have to go within yourself. – Swami Ramdas
The happiness of solitude is not found in retreats. It may be had even in busy centres. Happiness is not to be sought in solitude or busy centres. It is in the self. – Sri Ramana Maharishi
Entrapped in the net of false hopes, all men are lost in the forest of life; like scent-maddened deer running hither and thither in (outer) quest of the fragrant musk (which lies within). – Yoga Vasishta. 1.26.41
The Great Soul who is within us all, who is beyond age and death and sorrow, beyond hunger and thirst, he who is true in thought and action, Him, we must seek; Him, we must know. – Gita
GitaDestiny is according to thought. What you think, that you are. – Yoga Vasishta
We are responsible for what we are and what we wish to be…. we have the power to make ourselves. – Vivekananda
Not knowing how near the Truth is, people seek it far away – what a pity. – Hakuin’s ‘Song of Meditation’
Those who run to other gods, having forgotten the God residing within the cave of his own heart, are like those people who run after pebbles, having thrown away the Diamond in their hands ….God is within everybody. They are really unfortunate who go to the external Vishnu having neglected the internal one. – Yoga Vasishta
Man is Muktadar Ka Sikandar (Master of His Destiny). – Sarosh
He who is happy within, who rejoices within and is illumined within; that person attains absolute freedom or Moksa. – Gita V.24
THE TENTH PILLAR – ‘MYSTIC PERSONALITY’ PARADIGM
Such ones invariably recognize that the only Royal Road to Mastery over the Universe inescapably lies in man’s awakening, development and exercise of his core faculty of Self-Control.
To get a whiff of the incredible energies unleashed by the Power of Self-Control and what the world’s great men felt and said about this grand force dormant within all men, take a sniff of the few selected ‘Sayings’ rendered hereunder.
SELF-CONTROL
(RESTRICTED TO SINGLE SENTENCE STATEMENTS)
O’ Krishna, the mind is ever restless and turbulent, strong and unyielding. I consider it more difficult to subdue than the win. – Gita 6.34
The highest yoga is the control of the mind. – Gita 11.16
The control of the mind is said to bring the highest rewards this universe has to offer. – Mahabharata
Of all the manifestations of power, restraint impresses men the most. – Thucydides
Conquer the mind. For victory over the self is victory over the world. – Guru Gobind
Conquer the self and you can conquer the world. – Guru Nanak
With the conquest of my mind I have conquered the whole world. – Adi Grunt Japuji
Self-conquest is the greatest of all victories. – Buddha
Though one should conquer a million men on the battlefield, yet he indeed is the noblest victor who has conquered himself. – The Dhammapada, 103
A king who can control the urges of his senses will be able to conquer all adversaries and adversities. – Vedas
To overcome others is power; to overcome yourself, is to know the way. – Zen
He who has overcome himself, who else can slay him? – Buddha
Valour is the conquests of one’s own self. – Gita 11.13
There is no refuge other than the conquest of the mind. – Yoga Vasishta
To win over others, a man must first overcome himself. – Oyama, Samurai
None other in this world can vanquish him, who has vanquished himself. – Sun Tzu, Samurai-Sage-Statesman
Behold the man who hath attained mastery over his self; all other men worship him. – Thiru Valluver
Behold the man whose firm will controlleth his five senses, even as the goading hook controlleth the elephant: he indeed, is a seed fit for the Fields of Heaven. – Thiru Valluver
He who conquers others is strong. He who conquers himself is mighty. – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 33
The true ‘mujahid’ is the one who strives against himself. – Ibn Haibban
While living I conquered the battle of life when I conquered my mind. – Sufi Beyazid
He that ruleth his spirit is far greater than the lord of an empire. – Scriptures
The real hero is one who has subjugated his own mind. – Swami Sivananda
There is no greater victory in the life of a human being than victory over the mind. – Swami Ramdas
Resolve to gain victory over yourself, that haply the whole earth may be freed and sanctified from its servitude. – Baha‘u’llah
There is no refuge other than the conquest of the mind. – Yoga Vasishta
You should control the self, you should restrain the mind. Natural restraint, cheerfully accepted, is the source of all happiness and tranquillity. – Lord Mahavira
… where self-control is the friend of the Conscience. – Zarathushtra
When emotions are uncontrolled by the intellect, sentiment smothers Judgment. – Zarathushtra
For man alone is the Master of the cycles of pain and pleasure; through the power of wisdom and strength of self-control (Kshathram), they are ever at his command. – Zarathushtra, Gatha 34.7
Give me pain, ever so much, for in it I shall find nothing but ecstasy through the strength of self-control, which is the blessing of the Conscience. – Zarathushtra, Gatha 33.13
The first and best victory is to conquer self. – Plato
Before governing others learn to govern yourself. – Confucius
It is right that the king should first govern himself before seeking to govern his subjects. – Maxims of Ali
He who is unable to rule over himself can never really succeed in ruling over others. – Gandhi
He that would govern others first should be the master of himself. – P. Massinger
The only royal road to power is to become one’s own master; the mastery of whatever else follows. – Coomaraswamy
I cannot always control what goes on outside, but I can always control what goes on inside. – Wayne Dyer
I count him braver who overcomes his desires, than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self. – Aristotle
The anger of the prudent never shows. – Burmese Proverb
Postpone today’s anger until tomorrow. – Filipino Saying
If you kick a stone in anger you will hurt your own foot. – Korean Proverb
Control your emotion or it will control you. – Chinese Adage
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh the city. – Proverbs, 16.32
None other can govern him, who governs himself by his Self. – Sutra
The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life. – Samurai Maxim
Your mind is your friend; your mind is your enemy. It is up to you how you channelize it. – Swami Sukhobodhananda
Whatever harms a foe may do to a foe or a hater to a hater. An ill-directed mind can do one still greater harm. – Buddha
By Self do you censure yourself. By Self do you examine yourself. Self-guarded and mindful, O’ Bhikkhu, you will live happily. – Buddha, Dhammapada
Self, indeed, is the protector of self. Self, indeed, is one’s refuge. Control therefore, your own self as a merchant controls a noble steed. – Buddha, Dhammapada
One’s self indeed, is one’s own saviour, for what other saviour could there be? with one’s self well-controlled, one obtains a saviour difficult to find. – Buddha, Dhammapada 160
The control of the mind leads to mastery of all conditions and situations, both internal and external. – R. Calais, Psychologist
Man’s control of nature external is called civilization. His control of nature internal is called culture. – Swami Chinmayananda
It is far easier to conquer others than to conquer one’s self because the former can be attained by recourse to outside means, while the latter can be achieved only with one’s own mind. – Gandhi
The brave and wise man who intends to overcome his foes, must first of all try to subdue the internal enemies of his own heart and mind and the members of his own body. – Yoga Vasishta
Self is the only self’s protector, master, lord. Who other can be such? If ye control and discipline thy self, ye gain a friend such as ye can never find anywhere outside thyself. – Buddha, Dhammapada
The man who has practiced control over his self cannot be acted on by anything else outside him. There is no more bondage for him. His mind has become free. Such a man alone is fit to live well in this world. – Swami Vivekananda
All the gods are under the sway of the mind, but the mind never comes under the rule of any power. Even the yogis know the mind to be a terrible god, stronger than the strongest. Only he, therefore, who can bring the mind under his control, is the God of gods. – Gita
Block the passages, / Shut the doors, / Let all sharpness be blunted, /All tangles united, / All glare tempered, /All dust smoothed. / This is called ‘mysterious levelling’. – Tao Te Ching
Therefore, like Andrew Marvell, we may well ask: “Who can foretell for what great cause, this darling of the gods was born?” to which a Persian Mystic gave answer: “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.”
This is the grand process of the outward movement — the unfoldment, materialization and evolution of the world-life till it reaches its peak-state of being — and the inward reversal, the return journey home – through the eventual involution and dissolution of the universe-world-life back into its (unmanifest, unqualified, undifferentiated, unalloyed) ‘Original State’ once it has attained its Divine Purpose – a cosmic journey from the Godhead-to Matter-to Man-back to Godhood, if you will.
‘Nature’ is the fountainhead, the stage and the sink — spewing out, sustaining and swallowing up all things. Next to appear on the World Stage is the ‘Life Force’ – from the simplest forms to the most complex, followed by the appearance of the chief protagonist in the Grand Cosmic Drama – ‘Man’, in whom the magnificent sunrise of ‘Consciousness’ — life aware-of-itself — spontaneously manifests, finally culminating, (after many a grueling, soul-churning test of inner and outer ordeals), in the majestic emergence of the Cream State of Consciousness – the ‘Awakened Conscience’. The whole Cosmos along with its pantheon of gods applauds every time – rare as it is – a blessed person attains this Supreme State of Individuality – the very raison d’être of this grandiose Drama of Creation.
Thus the Gayatri Mantra chants: “The highest manifestation of the Creator is the Conscience of man.”
WORK-IN-PROGRESS. THIS WORK IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE-CORRECTION-DEVELOPMENT
Nom De Guerre: Soldat Inconnu. 1976
