Consciousness appears so fluid, so attentive and so awake. When one meets people, one sometimes see a great liveliness and a responsive alertness, which makes one believe that all one has to do is speak a truth to them and they will at once realise it and accordingly change and grow. However, that is not the case. If it were so, everybody would be in higher planes, if not the highest plane by now. The truth is, it can take countless lifetimes for people to transform enough to come to a place where true, freeing growth is possible – and that, too, by virtue of Grace.
The psychic personality shell of the consciousness of each being is woven of numerous desires, feelings, cravings, hates and fears. This shell is like a tennis ball – it feels soft, but the moment one takes the pressure off of it, it resumes its form. It has apparent give or flexibility but no retention. It is filled inside with the air of ego. Inside that tennis ball, somewhere in the vast hollow space of ego defined by this shell, is trapped the glow of the spirit. Just as one can squeeze a tennis ball and indent it for awhile while one holds the pressure there, many people allow that to be done with their ego shells, but just as the tennis ball does, so does their ego resume its old shape very soon afterwards. One of the prime components of this shell is self-righteousness. This is one of the tougher constituents. Self-righteousness never really admits fault in self, it only justifies it – and, therefore, it prohibits any change or growth. Correction is not possible. Such people can be advised, instructed, even chastised any number of times but they do not reform. After they pass over, reform is not any easier. If anything, it is harder if the region acquired is a darker one. After a certain point in the downward descent in one’s consciousness and karma, the Grace which allows assistance in the process of cleansing withdraws and the regions one finds the self in implement correction through consequence rather than reform by understanding through gentle means. One should be very watchful not to let the consciousness degrade, for the more it degrades the harder it is to uplift it. One does not want to enter that phase of the cycle where one learns only through the implementation of full, concrete consequence, i.e., purely karmic correction.
The foolish see their foolishness the least – for that very reason they remain foolish. Self-righteousness is a part of folly. The fool is usually self-righteous. He lays great store by his ideas and judgements and is very defensive of criticism. Criticism only provokes their egos to greater vicious activity rather than evoke their discernment towards reform. Some would say that criticism from just anyone is not acceptable or should not be acceptable. That is true to a certain extent – it is quite likely that many of the people who criticise others are neither wiser nor better than the ones they criticise, perhaps even worse. Yet, that is besides the point. If one is able to see or discover a fault in oneself through light cast by a dung fire, one is not to consider it an impious light. Would anyone not hunt for a snake or scorpion suspected of being in one’s home by the light of a dung fire if that is the only light available at the time? Those who like flatterers or praise but not critics are seeking a mirror which hides every blemish, pimple and scar but shows only that which is admirable about them in an exaggerated manner. More often than not, the praise of the flatterer does not highlight any really commendable quality – frequently the extolled quality does not even exist in the subject.
It is characteristic of a reflective person to see their flaws. The person having a true desire for growth does not wait for anyone to criticise him or her but finds the faults within through self-examination. Such persons give much thought to even a false accusation or criticism in order to ensure that even a trace of it is not present in them. People who do not possess the habit of introspection are very unlikely to respond to criticism or advice given to them, even by very wise people. The truly wise do not wait for results with such people. Out of their goodness they give their advice to them and move on – more as a farmer or a gardener plants a seed which bears fruit someday. That ‘someday’ may be lifetimes later in some cases. However, a reflective person ponders advice given by anyone they deem to be wiser (which is rarely the case with fools, because they deem no one wiser than themselves), and objectively tries to realise the truth of such comments and suggestions. The discourse of enlightened souls is very fruitful in their case and their progress is swift.
Because a fool is self-righteous and unable to see the fault within the self and too egotistical to recognise those superior or wiser to himself, he only deepens his darkness by finding fault in them instead. He never finds a true instructor since he values none nor recognises any. Yes, there are many deluded persons and have been throughout time, who, in their conceit, arrogance and ignorance do mislead and exploit the gullible ones, yet there are true teachers and enlightened souls (albeit of different levels) who are certainly superior to the average fool. It is a dilemma to distinguish between the two. However, this problem is only due to the presence of vice and the lack of earnest desire for truth in those who are misled.
What compromises a seeker most is their longing to unify their spiritual course with their material desires. This creates the trap which allows charlatans to deceive – in reality, it is their own vice which is deceiving them. Different charlatans appeal to different types of people based on the composition of their mundane cravings blending with spiritual aspiration. Were a seeker to set aside all personal and subjective desire of a mundane nature and become an eager seeker after the Supreme Sovereign, his discernment would be so amplified as to be able to immediately see not only the distinction between various fraudulent and deluded spiritual guides and the genuine ones, but also between the statuses of the genuine ones. However, this compromised situation can be removed gradually as a more pure search of truth develops and personal egotistical, sensual wants lose force – in other words, as the seeker becomes more and more concerned with the higher will and harmonising with it, rather than with his own ideas or conceptions of what would be best for him. As this continues, to that degree Supreme Grace makes provision for more appropriate avenues of spiritual evolution, including the manifestation of proper guides for that level of spiritual devotion. Anyone with a pure desire to meet only the Supreme Sovereign will be granted a guide to show him the way to Him. Spiritual guides are in perfect accordance with the karmic, spiritual status of the seeker at a given time. There were those who seemed to be apparently undeserving who connect with the highest guides – but even this is not by random chance or serendipity. There are hidden reasons which cannot be assessed by the ordinary jiva or being. Somewhere in the past incarnations there lies a good reason for it. There is no advantage to an extended discussion concerning such reasons for they are not possible to comprehend by the human intellect grounded in the mundane reality and lacking context to higher laws, logic and processes.
The key to growth lies in a struggle to free the volition and intelligence from the shadows, the pressures, the taints of subjective desires, cravings and prejudices. This frees and empowers the most valuable ally in the journey, i.e., the volition. When volition can act without the influence (or under reduced influence) of these taints, then intelligence, logic, comprehension, common sense are all sharpened. All of these faculties emerge under the single name of a highly discriminating discernment. The rule over action, be it mental, physical or emotional, shifts into the hands of this discernment from the hands of desires and ego. When a fully awakened discernment holds the reins over one’s actions, half the battle is won. The volition acts free from the pull of the lesser self guided by a truly insightful discernment.
It can be said that this struggle with the lesser self is the battle from which most people run away. Even those who desire to fight this duel procrastinate or postpone locking horns with the horned one in them (it being understood that horns are only symbolically used here, without any comment on their reality). This procrastination is itself caused by the influence of the lesser self – therefore, the first effort has to be to overcome this resistance. Once this battle is joined, one soon begins to discover a great new pleasure and satisfaction in it. As its rewards begin to come in, the determination to continue to victory grows steelier. Even from the beginning the fruits are many. Despite the pain of facing the rotten parts of the self and all its wrongdoings, there is a growing sense of lightness and an ever increasing sense and perception of the Higher Hand assisting. The consciousness begins to feel a relief in the expanding sense of His approval, as also of His protection. Those hidden tensions which arose from the falsity and wrongness of one’s thoughts, feelings and actions begin to dissolve. Though temptations may still come one’s way, and occasionally one may even succumb to them, but they bring no joy or enjoyment due to the sharpened awareness of right and wrong. This only further strengthens the recognition of their destructiveness and ripens resolve to do better. A person once awakened to any degree cannot revert to previous lesser ways and yet find any peace, pleasure or comfort in them – but becomes troubled and miserable if he or she engages in them to any extent. As this effort intensifies, Grace increases, many offences and sins are pardoned, many burdens are lifted, and further wise, benevolent and appropriate arrangements for the continuation of the journey are made. That is all.
