THE GENERAL SUBJECT of the discourses in this final section of the Bhagavad Gita is the realization of the supreme being of man.
This, the body, O disciple, is called the field; him who knows it, they who know of them call “the knower of the field.”
The term “field” is here used symbolically, as representing the body and the whole of the material or physical world. The body is a very representative part of the world, containing as it does so many of the elements which you find in the rest of the material world.
And do thou also know Me as “the knower of the field” in all the “fields,” O disciple. The knowledge of “the fields,” and “the knower of the field” is deemed by Me as the knowledge (of the truth).
The knowledge stressed here is that of the Knower who dwells in all bodies. It is the Witness-Self. The teacher explains that the Truth, the whole and complete Truth, is the knowledge of both the inner self and the external universe, the latter including the mental and spirit-worlds, because they are not the One Reality. In other words, whoever finds the inner self has found only half the Truth, and not the whole Truth. The inner self is the ray, but it is not the Sun. It is a part, and possesses the same qualities as the whole, but still differs in degree. The whole Truth is found only when you find the Overself.
Mystics and yogis have written and described their ecstasies, but that is not enough, for it is not the whole Truth. They have reached the gate through which they must pass to the Overself.
What you have to do is not only to penetrate into your inner self, by withdrawing in meditation from the world, but also to examine the world once again by the light in yourself. The material world was forsaken because it was a dream which you cast aside in order to turn inward, but coming back to it with the lamp of inner understanding in your hand, you then discover that this world is also divine and real.
It is as much a part of the supreme unity as the inner self, only it appears in a different way. When you discover this, there is henceforth no sense of duality, no divorce between spirit and matter. There is only one Reality in Truth, which cannot be divided into two. The mystic who has penetrated to the inner self but has not gone beyond that stage, sets up this divorce between spirit and matter, and regards the external world as evil. Profounder examination and understanding would have shown him that it is just as much divine as the wonderful inner realm which he has now found within himself. There is no real separation between the two. There is only the One.
Most people who achieve that state of withdrawal turn aside from the external world. They think it should be avoided as evil. This prevents them from having the whole Truth. Nothing must be left out if we are to attain the ultimate Truth. The whole Truth must be embraced, because Truth is the Reality. The Reality is the One, and the One involves the entire universe, and not just the part of it which dwells inside yourself. Religious mysticism can lead you to a very high stage, but it is not enough. When you are able to come back and examine the external world and not be afraid of it, you will find that it exists as part of the one Reality. You see through the illusion and you know what it is.
Thus when you see it in truth, you will have no reason to run away from it. You can live in the world or in the jungle—it makes no difference. The mystic who lives in the jungle is still surrounded by the world. When he comes out of his trance, he is forced to observe this world again before him, so why flee from it? When this understanding comes to you, you can live as normally as others do, but you will find the inspiration to a higher inner life.
The goal is the Truth which embraces everything, including the world. If you achieve knowledge and come back and learn to live in the material world by this higher light, then you create no further destiny and live as unaffected as lotus leaves in the water. You are free, because after all your bondage is not an external thing. It is not because you are living in a great city that you are bound. Bondage to destiny is in the mind. You may bury yourself in jungle or monastery and still be bound, because your mind is binding you. Observe the constant reiteration in the Gita on the need for inspired action, and for indifference to the results of action. The results of your actions are not your worries. Do your best and leave the rest to destiny or the higher power.
Humility, modesty, innocence, patience, uprightness, service of the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control.
Some of the virtues which will aid the seeker to come into this understanding of the Overself are now listed. Remember, however, that no virtue in itself will ever give you understanding. The most it can do is to prepare you. Most essentially you need meditation, or mind-stilling and reflective inquiry. This is a double process that you must carry on at all times during the day. Virtues are helpful to get the right mental state. It is hindered, however, by certain qualities of character which prevent you from obtaining that stillness of mind and that concentrative purpose which you need.
The first quality is that of humility. This condition places you in the mental attitude of a child who wants to learn. Without humility, you cannot advance on the quest, because that means you do not grasp that there is something beyond your present outlook. It is necessary that you feel humility and realize that there is a higher being toward which you aspire, and that in comparison with it you are as nothing.
After humility, comes the virtue of “non-injury.” You must adopt the attitude of helpfulness and compassion which tends to dissolve the strength of the personal ego. If you begin to practice non-injury, you are beginning to manifest that which will have to be manifested when you come into the realization of the unity of life. Even before attainment, it helps to reflect that you are one with the universal Self.
The virtue of patience is hard to acquire, and some tire when they do not get quick results. They would not tire if they engaged in a pursuit of worldly success which required several years of effort before it could be accomplished. Why then, should they expect to engage on the highest and most important of pursuits, the realization of Overself, without similar patience?
You must be confident that one day the great reward and grand results must come, and that they will come at the right time. The precise time is dictated by destiny. Patience means that one must never desert this quest, even when conditions seem hopeless. You will find that because you stick to the path, help will come to you.
The next virtue is uprightness. That means that if you are looking for Truth, you must live a truthful life, both mentally and materially. Stick to the ideal of uprightness, no matter what temptations come to you. If you want to find Truth, live Truth.
“Service of the teacher” is said to be the next step. Its meaning is that you recognize that the teacher stands for something more than just one man to you. In serving him, you are also serving humanity, because he is serving many others. You take a shortcut to serving mankind through helping him. Win his grace by devoted service and your own development will be more rapid.
Then steadfastness. You have to go through a stage of discipline in order to bring the body and mind to heel. Take smoking, merely as an example. If you can control and regulate your addiction to it, it is just an incidental which may help you gain that mental control which is needed to investigate truth. When you can get your mind under control, then it does not matter whether you smoke or not.
Absence of attachment to objects of the senses.… Unflinching devotion to Me … resort to solitary places.… Constancy in self-knowledge, perception of the end of knowing the truth.
If you are enslaved by external objects, it is difficult for you to direct the mind into that calm state which it needs in order to find Truth. The Truth is subtle, and the mind must not be pulled this way and that. It must be brought to a point and held steady. Then only can it look for Truth, and not be coloured by its desires. That is why absence of attachment is asked, that the mind can be kept free to find the Truth. Not that there is anything wrong in the material objects themselves. Once you have found the Truth, you can return to them. For a time only you have to cut these things off. Only the free mind can find the truth.
“Constancy in self-knowledge, perception of the end of the knowledge of truth.” The knowledge of the self leads to the knowledge of truth. First you have to know yourself, and then you will be led on to the knowledge of the universal self. To know yourself you must practice meditation and self-observation, then ultimately you will come to the consciousness of your inner being. When you have found this light, you must try to understand, by its aid, the universe in which you live. That is knowledge of the One, because everything that is not the one Reality is simply an idea. No matter how wonderful it may seem to us, it is still only an idea and ignorance.
Ignorance means that you confuse the unreal with the real, and that you take sense-impressions, thoughts, opinions, or visions to be the one permanent Reality which is unchanging. There being only one Reality, everything else is ignorance. Knowledge of the Reality is known immediately once and for all. Things which are taught in lectures and in books, belong to the sphere of ignorance. The Reality you will know as one tremendous rebirth, and after that there is nothing more to be known in this sphere. All else is comparative ignorance. Whether spiritualism or occultism, it is still ignorance because it is still in the sphere of the mind-plane. The teacher wants the disciple to seek the highest knowledge. When he knows that, he becomes immortal. Everything else is mortal and therefore illusory. Everything else has a beginning and an end, but the highest Truth has no beginning and no end. When you do find it, you discover that it was always there. It was there in you, and outside of you, and it was you.
That (the Overself) exists enveloping all … unattached, yet supporting all; devoid of qualities.… Without and within (all) being; the unmoving as also the moving.
The Overself is motionless. Where can it go? It has nowhere to go, because it fills all space. It is also the moving, because all living creatures are in motion by virtue of borrowed vitality from the Overself. It is also exceedingly subtle, because you cannot hear it, see it, or touch it. It cannot be sensed by any of the five senses; even the intellect cannot grasp it or draw a mental picture of it.
Near and far away is That.
Nothing can be nearer than your self. Yet it is far away, because, strangely enough, nothing seems so hard to find. It seems easier to go to Australia than to find your Overself. The Overself is both near and far away.
Undivided, yet remaining divided as it were in beings; supporter of beings too, is That, the Knowable; devouring, yet generating.
This is not a description of the inner self which you find in meditation. The teacher here is describing the ultimate Self. It is undivided because it is One, yet, strangely, it seems divided because every being and creature and plant has a fragment of that life. But this division of life is only an appearance which does not exist in actuality. It is devouring, because there is death everywhere. But when creatures die, what happens to them? We see the form die and change and turn into dust, but what has become of their life? It has returned to the Overself.
The Light even of lights, That is said to be beyond darkness. Knowledge, the Knowable, the Goal of knowledge.
The Overself is called “the Light even of lights,” because, as I stated before, the primal Light is the root of the universe. It is the root of matter and of life; it is our first manifestation of God. It fills all space, and since space is unbounded, it fills all possible forms. Even that has a finite life in the sense that it appears and disappears. It comes into being with the creation of universes and disappears with the dissolution of universes. It emanates from the one Universal Self. The latter, in the highest sense, is the one God, and all other gods derive their life from That.
In the foregoing passages, the disciple is taught that the whole process of evolution and involution, creation and dissolution, is endless.
He who thus knows Spirit and Matter together with (their) qualities, he is not born again.
Thus, when you know the truth, you have freed yourself from illusion of the personal ego and are liberated. You are not born again because nothing can hold you. You have no strong desires which impel you to rebirth.
Yet others, not knowing thus, worship, having heard from others; they, too, cross beyond death, adhering to what they heard.
It may be that you have not known the truth by personal experience. Yet, if you listen to those who do know it, they will act as a raft which will carry you across the river of illusion and thus you will be led to your own knowledge of truth. The teacher hints that more important than taking part in rites, ceremonies, and prayers is the hearing of truth from competent guides.
He sees, who sees all actions performed by Nature alone and the Self not acting.
After all, the Overself is the Absolute. What has it to do? What can it do? How can it act? That which seems to be carrying on in the world is simply Nature. The Overself does not really act. It seems to act, but it is simply Nature that is acting. Nature is the cosmic mind. It creates all these processes and forms around us. The Overself itself has nothing to act for. It is full and self-sufficient in itself. We must not lose sight of the ultimate truth that the whole of this world is nothing but a mental appearance, because the Overself has nothing to act for on its own behalf. It is itself self-sufficient.
When a man realizes the whole variety of beings as resting in the One, and as an evolution from that (One) alone, then he becomes the Overself.
When you are no longer deceived by the multitude of appearances, when you know it all as a manifestation, then you have pierced the illusion. You become Truth and are liberated. To see that, you must not be satisfied with the everyday viewpoint, but you must search for and find the real. The first great illusion is the cosmic illusion with which Nature presents us. These solid material forms are not so solid and material as they seem. They are ultimately ideas of solidity and materiality existing in your mind. You will find later that these ideas are created by cosmic mind. You must remember always that amid the seeming movement of evolution, the one Self never changes and never loses its nature. However evil a man apparently becomes, that which is divine in him is never touched.
They who, having resorted to this knowledge, have attained to unity with Me, are neither born in the creation, nor disturbed in the dissolution.
The world moves through tremendous aeons of time going through the cosmic processes of creation and dissolution. In the same manner that individuals are born and die, so do whole systems of universes go through an actual existence of birth and death. But one who has attained supreme knowledge is free of all that. World systems cannot claim him. He is free from the wheel of world evolutions, because they belong to the finite sphere. He has become inwardly infinite. As long as you think only in finite terms, so long must you be born again and again. You must learn to cultivate fourth-dimensional intuition or awareness. By trying, we develop the very faculties which will help us attain realization. The teacher describes the state of those who have come into this knowledge:
He to whom pain and pleasure are alike, who dwells in the Self, to whom a clod of earth and stone and gold are alike, to whom the dear and the undear are alike, who is a man of wisdom, to whom censure and praise are same.
If you live in the Overself, you are detached. If you see this world as it really is, you cannot be deceived by it. Whether the world presents you with painful or pleasant sensations, you know them to be transient. Detachment should be achieved secretly, in the heart. You will place the exact value on money which it needs, but you will not be unduly attached to it. You know that underneath the outer form there is always the divine Self. Whether it be a raging tiger or a beautiful deer, both have divinity within them. You accept them both as expressions of the Overself, hating neither. You remain detached and indifferent, because you do not depend on externals for your happiness. Within that depth which you find in yourself, you contact the peace of the eternal.
People may say what they wish in criticism. They are talking of your personal ego. You will feel too detached from your personal ego to worry. Again, if they flatter your personality, it is the same, because you have learnt not to identify yourself with the personality. Criticisms will mean nothing to you, neither will praise. You may even prefer criticism to praise. The essential thing is to take an impersonal view of yourself.
The same in honour and disgrace, the same toward friends and enemies, abandoning all undertakings—he is said to have crossed beyond Nature.
It is Nature which is responsible for causing humanity to act as it does. When a man has conquered Nature and crossed beyond it by transcending the mind, then he is so detached that whether the world honours him or shames him, he does not lose his peace. Whatever the world gives him cannot rob him of the knowledge of his self. His enemies are as divine as his friends, and he welcomes them with equanimity and detachment. That does not mean that he need be foolish, for he will not give his enemies the same opportunities he gives his friends. But he understands them and feels no hatred.
Those who strive, endued with Yoga, perceive Him dwelling in the self; though striving, those of unrefined self, devoid of wisdom, perceive Him not.
Until you have brought the mind to heel and purified it of all those prejudices and desires which affect its balance, you can never see the Truth, you can never find the Overself. It is so subtle that you must approach it with undivided mind. If anything is pulling your mind this way or that, you cannot find the Truth. To refine the self means to train the mind so that it can enter into this highly concentrated and balanced state which moves directly toward the goal. To refine the self means to free yourself from illusions, to eliminate the false ideas. Mental illusions are the greatest ones. When you have got rid of them, then you can perceive more clearly. Illusion and ignorance dwell in the mind and must go. This, therefore, is the reason why the teacher says that the ascetic who merely practices self-mortification and does not free the mind from illusion, does not find the Truth.
I am seated in the hearts of all.
That is a true statement, because when you find the Overself, its actual abode is in your heart. It is in the heart that we find the atom which is for us a gate whereby we know the cosmic Self.
From Me are memory, knowledge, as well as their loss.
All the mental functions operate only by virtue of the life and light which have been borrowed from the Overself. The mind functions from this borrowed life, taken directly from the divine atom in the heart; otherwise the brain could not work and there would be neither memory nor knowledge. Ultimately, the mental process obtains its functioning power from the divine life.
It is I who am to be known by all the scriptures, I am indeed the author of the scriptures as well as the knower of the scriptures.
Why are all these scriptures written? Primarily not to build churches and mosques, but to guide us to the entrance to the higher path of living. Those great revelations contain an esoteric content also. They were written, in many instances, by the light of the Overself.
Thus, this most Secret Science has been taught by Me, O sinless one; on knowing this, (a man) becomes wise, O Disciple, and all his duties are accomplished.
The secret science is the esoteric wisdom, that which distinguishes illusion from reality. The knowledge of metaphysics may be open to all to learn, but the secret path has been kept for a few. Had it been given to the many, it would have unsettled their minds. It has been given only to those who have been ready, and till today has remained a secret. Humanity has changed mentally, however, and that which mankind could not grasp before, they are more ready to grasp now.
In following the Secret Path a man becomes wise. You may possess encyclopaedic knowledge; you may be the leading professor in a university, and not have true wisdom. But when you have become aware of the Overself in your innermost consciousness, then your highest duties are accomplished. You have fulfilled the law of your incarnation.
Ostentation, arrogance, and self-conceit, anger as also insolence, and ignorance, belong to one who is born, O Disciple, for a demoniac lot.
The different kinds of humanity are described by the teacher. He divides them into two orders, the higher and the lower. Gripped by the darkest illusion, the lower types of humanity have none of the divine light which guides the higher, possess inert or violent qualities of character, and are more arrogant than their more spiritual brethren, who are always modest and humble. Depending on the material things entirely as they do, they become braggarts. They are governed by violent passion. They are ignorant as well, because they think that the present life is the only one, and this world the only real world.
The divine nature is deemed for liberation, the demoniac for bondage.
Bondage is the lot to which the lower class of persons is doomed. They will come back for hundreds of births because they are born to suffer. They may have pleasure, but they will have much more pain, because continued reembodiment itself is ultimately a form of suffering.
Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellect, of fierce deeds, rise as the enemies of the world for its destruction.
The term “small intellect” is used with the meaning of small understanding. They take appearances as reality, hence they can be said to be limited in outlook, to have small minds. They are ruined souls, because they are not fulfilling the purpose of incarnation and are making no attempt to do so. There can, therefore, be no real success in life for them. They may have apparent success for a time, but their enterprises will generally end in ruin because that is to be a part of their spiritual education. Nevertheless, they are still used for the purpose of destiny, which works through both creation and dissolution. Destiny uses them as instruments to fulfil destructive purposes.
Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance, holding unwholesome views through delusion, they work with unholy resolve.
This expresses the natural outlook of the materialists. They are deluded, for what they imagine to be real is nothing but a vanishing dream.
Bewildered by many a fancy, entangled in the snare of delusion, addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall into a foul hell.
This describes their inevitable end. That which they seek ultimately betrays them. For they must learn. In the spirit-world or after-death state, they will be tied to the stake and compelled to worship vainly that which they sought so ardently in this life. Thus do they get their education. It is only for a time, however, for there is no everlasting hell.
The food which is stale, tasteless, putrid, and rotten, refuse and impure, is dear to the ignorant.
The teacher discourses on certain material facts of existence which are conducive to the higher spiritual life. He grades the types of food into bad, good, and best.
Such bad food appeals only to the lowest types of humanity. The food we eat builds up the body, and it is a truism that our bodies are nothing other than what we eat. It is also a fact that there is a subtle element, a magnetism, in food which rises and affects the mind. Thus, people who eat coarse and gross food tend to have coarse and gross minds. That is why, whenever possible and when it can be done without too much inconvenience, a non-flesh diet is generally preferred by students of yoga. Nature has supplied us with sufficient food from the vegetable kingdom to maintain our bodies in good health. This is a question which does not matter very much for the masses, but when you are on the path of yoga your mind is subtler, tending toward a higher vibration. In that case, it is helpful but not essential that you eat food which will help this purpose. When you give up meat, you have less to overcome in pacifying the mind. Once you find the truth, however, it does not matter whether you eat meat or not, although you will probably wish to continue on a vegetarian diet for other reasons.
That worship which is practised with the object of gaining good reception, honour and worship, and with hypocrisy, is said to be of this world, to be half-ignorant, unstable, and uncertain.
What is this but making religion a bargain counter with God on the other side of the counter? Those who worship because it is right to worship and not because they are seeking material rewards, represent the higher type.
That austerity which is practised out of a foolish notion, with self-torture … is declared to be ignorant.
Those who practice asceticism in this manner represent the lowest grade of humanity. I have seen such a man in India, rolling his body along the ground, mile after mile, in the hope that he is pleasing God, Who will reward him eventually with some material boon. Such a man is a fool.
The gift that is given at a wrong place or time, to unworthy persons, without respect or with insult, that is declared to be (dictated by) ignorance.
Even such a subject as the giving of gifts must demand our attention. It must be done with intelligence. Do not make a spiritual or intellectual gift to a person who is not ready. If you give instruction to someone who is not ripe for this quest of truth, you are being foolish. Remember the admonition of Jesus, “Cast not thy pearls before swine.” There must be the right time and the right place and the right person; that is the perfect gift. When you give to the unworthy, you are betraying ignorance and are acting foolishly. The highest type of person gives when he knows that it is a duty to give, and not because he is seeking a return. This covers the entire field of gifts, material, intellectual, verbal, and spiritual.
Sages understand renouncement to be the renunciation of interested works; the abandonment of the fruits of all works.
The renunciation of results simply means doing your duty and then remaining unaffected by what happens afterward, whether success or failure, reward or disappointment. You have done your duty and that is enough; after that, accept whatever destiny offers. Such renunciation is an inner giving-up. It is the only real renunciation and the only one that matters.
Practice of worship, gift, and austerity should not be given up; it is quite necessary; (they) are the purifiers of the wise.
Religion has its place. It is necessary, for it purifies the masses and lifts them from a gross materialism to something a little finer. You need not abandon it in order to find the truth. It acts as a purifier, provided that you perform your religious practices without seeking for any rewards. Don’t ask God to give you anything in return for your worship. Do it out of reverence to a higher Power. Do not, for instance, give your local temple a large amount of money, simply because you want God to give you a son for a child. In India parents value male children above female. So the priests are loaded with gifts in the superstitious hope that a male child may be born.
The external forms and customs of a religion were instituted to create habits of internal mental and spiritual states corresponding to the forms. The true aim of those who set the great pendulum of rule and rite swinging was to instil and perpetuate these states in men; not to perpetuate the rules among men for all eternity. For when a rite loses its power over men, then it loses the purpose for which it was instituted.
When one obtains wisdom, one has no longer any doubts. Then the teacher makes the statement:
Verily, it is not possible for an embodied being to abandon actions completely; he who abandons the fruits of actions is verily said to be an abandoner.
It is impossible for anyone who is in the body to give up activity. Even in the jungle, one is still acting with one’s mind. From the highest standpoint of view, mental activity is a subtler form of material activity. Since you cannot get away from it, perform it rightly and wisely but with inward renunciation.
Then the teacher analyzes and grades the different types of action. He explains that if action is foolishly and blindly undertaken without thought about its consequences, that is the lowest and most ignorant type. Going a grade higher, he says, in effect, that if you act because you want certain pleasures or benefits, even though they bring you trouble through your efforts to get them, this is a grade higher. The teacher defines the highest type of action as that which is free from attachment and is, therefore, a form of spiritual activity. To understand Nature is to understand the forces which are driving man to action.
Resorting to a sequestered spot, eating moderately, speech and body and mind subdued, always engaged in meditation and concentration, endued with dispassion.
The mind must be restrained and brought to its own place in the heart. Self-inquiry is an intellectual exercise in the beginning, but one that leads ultimately to the abolishing of intellect’s tyranny. You must learn to say no to your thoughts, to refuse continuance of the very process of thinking itself, to reject the endless upheavals of intellect and find peace.
The Overself is so subtle that one cannot reach it by the ordinary intellect, which is always dealing with concrete things, with pictures and forms. That intellect is too coarse, it cannot grasp the abstract. It has to be grasped by something finer than the mind which we use in ordinary everyday life. What is that finer mind? It is something which you will find through meditation. A delicate sensitivity develops in time when the mind is withdrawn from its out-going tendencies, and instead of incessantly paying attention to the outside world, you practice turning the mind in upon itself. That develops the spiritual sensitivity.
Becoming the Overself, or serene self, he neither grieves nor desires, treating all beings alike; he attains supreme devotion to Me.
The sage cannot help treating all alike, for he sees everything in the Overself. He does not differentiate at heart between those he likes and those he dislikes. Such division has now become meaningless to him.
By Devotion he knows Me in truth, what and who I am; then knowing Me in truth, he forthwith enters into Me.
It is not enough to say that we believe in God; we must know Him in consciousness. That is what we have to find, this highest knowledge. You know that the entire world, whether material, mental, or spiritual, is nothing but a play of mind. Its appearance is the result of the interworking of our own mind and of the cosmic mind. Do not forget that mind is still an illusion. You may have wonderful experiences in this mind world, but they are not real in the true sense. To know God, you must become like God, and this is a state of consciousness which you cannot ever lose once you attain it.
Doing continually all actions whatsoever, taking refuge in Me—by My Grace he reaches the eternal undecaying Abode.
Henceforth, you are free and nothing can bind you. No one can dictate as to what your actions shall be. You do what the Christ-Self dictates, not what the world dictates. Your life ought not to be an apology for itself, but an assertion; not a continual request for favours, but a bequest of them. But you can do this only when you have found yourself.
Fixing thy heart in Me, thou shalt, by My Grace, cross over all difficulties; but if from egotism thou wilt not hear (Me), thou shalt perish.
The final message of grace comes at the end of the book. It is true that without grace there is no entry. You may strive and weep, but unless the grace falls on you, you cannot enter into the gate of Heaven. It is there to draw you inward deeper and deeper into yourself, and your work is to relax and to let it bear you, draw you within. That means that you have very little to do, in the beginner’s sense, but what you do must be done rightly and intelligently. You must understand what is being done. Remember that this stage is like sinking internally. Don’t try to cling to something on the way, whether vision or experience. We have so many conceptions about yoga, which are all right where they belong, but they don’t belong to this path. Do not cling to them. Keep your mind flexible. How and when grace shall come depends partly upon your personal destiny and partly upon God or the human instrument (teacher) He uses. The final advice which the teacher gives the disciple is not to worry. He tells him to free himself of all his ego-burden and give it up:
Mentally resigning all deeds to Me, regarding Me as the Supreme, resorting to mental concentration, do thou ever fix thy heart in Me.
The message behind these words is identical with that of Jesus when he said: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest.” If you do this and devote yourself to the highest, the grace will come. It may not come at the moment you wish, but eventually the reward will come, for the Overself wants your joining with it fully as much as you do. Then you will conquer all difficulties, one by one. The gist of the lesson is to fix your heart on the highest and on nothing else.
In this manner the illumined man moves through the street of life. The scenes change and portray now sorrow, now pleasure, but he remains the calm witness through it all. The vicissitudes of fortune may overwhelm another man but leave him unperturbed, for he draws deep strength from the soul.
Abandoning all righteous deeds (duties), seek Me as thy sole Refuge; I will liberate thee from all sins; do thou not grieve.
Here is a definite promise of the grace. If you will seek for Him in your heart and in your mental concentrations; if you are resolute, if you will devote yourself to the quest day after day, year after year, the hour will surely come when grace will be bestowed on you. In most cases, this grace is received through a teacher.
Thus has wisdom, more secret than all that is secret, been declared to thee by Me; reflect thou over it all and act as thou pleasest.
You can see by this verse that the genuine teacher never interferes with the free will of the disciple. If we make a wrong judgment, then the suffering resulting as a consequence will educate us. The true teacher does not try to impose his will on his disciple, but gives him the freedom to act without hindrance.
Hear thou again My word supreme, the most secret of all; because thou art My firm friend, therefore will I tell thee what is good.
This is the highest teaching which the teacher can give the disciple, because it is the Truth, and there is nothing higher. The teacher senses the devotion and confidence which the disciple brings to him, then the pupil gradually becomes dear to him and the Truth is imparted to him.
This (which has been taught) to thee is never to be taught to one who is devoid of austerities nor to one who is not devoted, nor to one who does not do service, nor to one who speaks ill of Me.
The teaching which he has given is not to be broadcast to the world. There are certain people who should not have it—those who are complete and utter materialists and yield to every desire are not ready for it. In any case, they could not grasp it, for they want something that will please their desires. The mind cannot grasp such subtle teaching until it has been purified to some extent. People who are not seeking for truth should not be given this teaching. Neither should it be given to one who has not expressed the desire to hear the teaching. We choke our best thoughts by offering them where they are not desired. It is better to let them live by keeping them to ourselves and reserving them only for the ready. Those who do not wish to get learning from the teacher should be left alone. This teaching must never be forced. Those who do not see any use in spiritual life and perhaps speak ill of it, should not be taught the doctrine. Otherwise time will be wasted and contempt is brought upon it. Anyway, the truth is imperishable because it is written, not in the pages of ephemeral books, but in the deepest heart of man. Therefore, the gods wait with unflickering patience for their mortal kindred to come into its recognition, for they know that no act of man can wipe out this ageless unseen scripture. The gods wait and watch while men quail and women weep, for it is the universal fiat that none may enter Truth’s abode save by his own free will.
On the other hand, read the other phase of this:
He who with supreme devotion to Me will teach this Supreme Secret to My devotees, shall doubtless come to Me.
If you find people devoted to the truth, who are seeking for it, and ripe to understand it, then you may teach it to them, for it is your duty. If you do that, you will be rewarded, for:
Nor is there any among men who does dearer service to Me than he; nor shall there be another on earth dearer to Me than he.
It is the greatest gift you can give anyone. If you give this bread of spiritual truth to those who hunger, what greater service can you render them? In that fashion, you are fulfilling and helping to fulfil the purpose of material incarnation. When conditions are ripe, then reveal the truth, thereby earning for yourself a good destiny.
Has it been heard by thee, O disciple, with an attentive mind? Has the delusion of ignorance been destroyed, O Seeker for truth?
The truth given in these verses is not an obvious one. It is so subtle that unless you concentrate, you may miss it. The disciple replies:
Destroyed is delusion, and I have gained recognition through Thy Grace, O Teacher. I am firm, with doubts gone. I will do Thy word.
The Bhagavad Gita is one of the few scriptures in the world which definitely and purposely explain the principles and practices of the gospel of inspired action.
Now the disciple has a basis for life, for it is based on reality. He stands firm, for he feels no more doubt. When you are reborn into supreme Truth, all possibility of doubt disappears. The reason for this is that doubt arises in the intellect and can come only to the man who is living in the intellect. But for the one who enters into transcendent Reality, there can be no more doubts. This is the final beatitude which awaits man; that he shall at last arrive at the possession of himself; all else are but ports of call and not the final harbour.
Finally, the teacher utters a blessing:
Wherever there is a Divine Teacher, wherever there is a human disciple, there prosperity, peace, and other blessings will be established.
How can you know when you have found the goal? Do you experience a sudden illumination? You cannot really get sudden illumination. What you can get is a sudden cessation of ignorance; a sudden falling away of egoism; a sudden dropping off of all false ideas and errors. When they fall away, then you are conscious of what was always within you. The divine Light is always there; it is there even at this very moment. It is not something new which you have got to gain or attain. It is something which you, as mind, are obscuring yourself. It is for you to stand out of your own light.
The final lesson is that Divinity is everywhere. Everywhere God can be found, and God is good.