The Divine View

 I was having a conversation with my friend and she asked me why do you waste your time loving and talking about God and Vedanta to those who do not even have seed in them?

I felt so much compassion in her eyes for me as her intention was indeed pure for me, it was her genuine love and affection for me that made her say that. She felt bad when people did not treat me the way she wants them to treat me . I silently prayed to Lord to lessen her pain . I also understood her sublime message that everyone is not ready for change and there is a truth to this message  and I am yet to learn to choose my words carefully so that it does not disturb the cosmic way of working.

This, however led me to write about the why we do not see the seed of divinity in everyone at all times?

Everyone in this entire universe has come out of the same substratum, some call it God, some called it life, some call it nothingness, some call it consciousness. The seed of divinity is in everyone and as you walk the spiritual path and witness the change within your own mindset, see old vicious patterns getting dissolved and  new habits being developed , virtues that becomes your innate nature over time, you get established in this truth that you are more than your habits and tendencies and the seed of change was always there within you in latent form and if it’s in you, then that latent power is in everyone, not awakened equally though but the very seed of change and all the power is within everyone but why we do not feel this way all the time?

Our view of world entirely depends upon our state of consciousness at that moment, I see myself wearing different glasses at different times depending upon my state of consciousness at a particular moment.

The Front Seat View: 

When the state of consciousness identifies solely with your body, you see only a front seat view. We can compare this view with the view that you get in a movie hall when you are sitting in the front row. You see characters moving, you get the gist of story too but you did not quite enjoy it.

The recent example of this is an outbreak of Coronavirus. When there is a danger to our body or fear of a danger, we normally take the front seat view. This view is very much required for the survival of individual body as well as preservation of other bodies. This view is the basis and foundation of survival, diversity and evolution of matter. There are other examples as well when you take a front seat view. Whenever we identify based on the color of your own body, physical appearance of a particular community, physical location where you lived or grew up , our view of the world will be front seat view.

Second Row Seat View:

When the state of consciousness identifies with your own thought patterns, you see a second row seat view.We can compare this view with the view that you get in a movie hall when you are sitting in the second row. You start getting a better view of the movie , the expression of characters are more clear to you and you start enjoying movie a bit. Your view of world now does not depend upon how someone look and where he was born. It now depends upon what they like and whether that liking is consistent with what you like, but this view is more inclusive as you learn to break the walls of gross matter. This view is the basis of diversity of interests among humanity.

We tend to feel more comfortable with people who eat what we eat, who enjoy doing what we enjoy doing, people with similar interests  and if we get too engrossed in our own view, we tend to dislike others who do not have same taste and thought patterns. The more attached we are to our own tastes and interests, the more we are fixed to this view. The spiritual journey starts when we learn to get past this view.

Middle Row Seat View:

When the state of consciousness identifies with your own thought patterns based on notion of good or bad, you get a middle row seat view. This is a big leap in our journey. This is the dawn of Dharma and we start being human. We are no longer attached to our own likes and dislikes and see the world from based upon intellectual conviction how one should behave and live under different circumstances .The notion of good and bad is the basis of development of intellectual faculty within us and is the prerequisite for anyone who wants to walk the spiritual path. However, when we get too engrossed in our notion of good and bad, and starts judging the outside world based on our own yardstick(our own notion of good and bad)we become fixed to this view.

Much of the suffering of humanity, religious differences comes from this view. Most of the good people suffer from this view and get entangled in their own web of beliefs and ideas of right and wrong. The entire Sadhana is aimed at helping us come out of this view and the biggest obstacle is our own ego but even if we learn to leave this seat for sometime, we get the glimpse of Divine view.

The Divine View:

Words fall short to describe this view. Most of the times, we are stuck with middle seat view and sometimes with second row seat view due to latent impressions of body, mind, and intellect but even a glimpse of this view comes which establishes the faith in our true nature. This is the perfect view to view the world. The top row in the movie hall, where you sit and enjoy the movie in a best way(even the bad ones)! 

When the state of consciousness do not identity with body, mind(thought patterns), intellect(any idea of how world should behave), and you stop caring about your own identity even for a while ( the easiest way is to surrender to the cosmic divine in my opinion), you get this view.

Let’s say someone says that its futile to study scriptures, perform worship and do meditation. Instead, you should go out and serve the humanity all the time and that’s all is needed to reach the divine. The moment it is said, the ego props from somewhere, that little ego identifies with what is right and wrong way to reach the divine and if the view does not concur with your idea, you will explain why the view is wrong ? Now, Imagine there is no taker for what has been said, there is no ego which can identify with that an idea of studying scriptures, performing worship, and meditation, something remarkable and beautiful happens. The entire awareness instead of defending and preserving the idea that little ego carries focuses on the view that someone just shared. You suddenly realize how committed the person is towards humanity and he/she speaks that out of concern he/she has for humanity in general and there is truth to what is been said. You also recognize, however, that the path followed by you is based on the capability and liking of the body, mind, and intellect you possess and is also genuine to reach the goal. You suddenly see the traveller in the other person and in you, and you see the goal as one and you feel no agitation, no urge to explain and feel at peace.

Let’s says someone says it’s foolish to waste your life searching the divine, there is no god that you are looking, there is only one life and we should enjoy to its fullest? The beauty of this view is that once you learn to dissolve ego even a bit and there is no taker to this view, you do not feel hurt, agitated and hence no need to explain anything. You also understand that the body, mind, and intellect of the other person is yet not ready for that search. You would also know that once body, mind, and intellect of other person will mature, the search for divinity will automatically starts for them. You will pray for them and you will at peace. 

You will learn to overlook the mind and intellect complex of others once you get out of your own mind-intellect complex, then you behold the divine everywhere and sing:

Isavasyam Idam Sarvam,

Yat kina Jagatyam Jagat,

(The supreme has pervaded everything and everyone, whatever moves and does not moves here. Everyone is a manifestation of that one seed, one latent awareness which beholds the entire power within himself.

Let us invoke Divine within us so that we all get firmly established in the divine view at all times.

Jai Shree Hari!