PART ONE MESSAGE TO THE WORLD
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Have you ever thought about the purpose behind creation? Creation is the manifestation of something which is not already in existence. This universe was not in existence in the primordial stage when only the original Source existed. We may call this primary Source ‘God’ or ‘Supreme Consciousness’ or ‘Pure Emptiness’. The primordial Source then manifested creation; but for what purpose? Was it just for the sake of doing something or was it a purposeful act? The Rishis1 of the ancient Vedas2 proclaim that creation is purposeful: its purpose is for all created beings to attain perfect divinity. Therefore life, being an integral part of creation, has a purpose.
The process of evolution Creation entails evolution. This world was not created in the form we see now, but is the result of a slow but steady process of evolution. Each individual entity of creation exists at a particular stage of evolution, while also harbouring a deep urge to grow to the next, higher, level of creation. Rocks and minerals lie at the bottom of the process of evolution and man stands at the top. The deep urge to move up the chain of evolution is an intrinsic quality of each and every entity of creation. 1
Rishis: sages who composed the Vedas.
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Vedas: the most ancient Indian scriptures.
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That impulse is the will of God, manifesting in the deepest core of every creature. That urge, reflecting the will of God, manifests as activity because only through actions can evolution progress. Man might appear to be the final product of evolution. Some modern scientific theories hold this view, but it cannot be correct because it can be seen that man lives in a state of unrest: he too is searching for something more, something higher. The only logical conclusion is that evolution has not ended with man; the current human level is only a stage in the process.
The resting point Actions end in inaction; work ends in rest; day ends in night. What, then, could be the final end of the activities, internal and external, of each entity of creation? For example in a rock there is no outward movement; but internally, that is not the case. I need not explain further because you know about the movements of atoms and their inner particles. In the realm of living beings we see activity internally as well as externally. Now you may say of living beings that death is the resting point. But that is not correct; death is followed by birth and the process is repeated again and again. So there must exist a higher point of 8
rest; that higher point is called God. Hence all activities in each and every entity of creation are directed towards God.
Perfect divinity You may be surprised, however, when I state that reaching God is not the end of the journey. Of course reaching God is the first stage; but then you have to come back and live in the world, imbued with the presence and the glories of God. That is the beginning of a new life; a life of eternal bliss, enjoyment and contentment. You attain immortality! This is the full flowering of life. We may call it the attainment of perfect divinity, and this, in truth, is the aim and purpose of life. Each entity of creation moves towards divine fulfilment and therein lies the majesty of creation. Man has to live a life directed towards the achievement of his life mission. He has no other option; it is the law of Nature. If man lives by any other way, his life will be one of tribulation and suffering. Everyone exalts human life and it is right to do so for man is the noblest being in creation. The nobility of human beings resides in their potential to attain perfect divinity. Other entities of creation have still to travel a great distance to attain perfection, but man has already covered these earlier stages of evolution and is now mature enough to realise the ultimate aim of life. 9
The divine will The first hymn in the Rig Veda praises God as the Creator of the universe. It states that the Divine has always wanted the welfare of all creation, and inspired the world to be always dynamic. The Divine is not a detached observer far off on a hilltop, but actively participates in the wellbeing of the world. In fact the Divine guides the universe and shows the way. In that respect we are fortunate, for the Divine cannot lead us down the wrong path. The Divine knows the beginning as well as the end and knows what is most suitable for us; nobody can ever improve upon it. That is why the Rishis of the Rig Veda affirm that, since the dawn of time, the Divine has wished for the welfare of all creation; that wish is the aim and purpose of creation. The Divine is compassionate. God supports and nourishes our life, and shows us the way to fulfil it. The glories of the Divine are unlimited.
The glory of love The Divine is the embodiment of love. The Vedas declare that love is the very substance used by the Divine to create the world. The whole of creation exists in love. Even modern science acknowledges that the galaxies are maintained by the force of attraction. The smallest entity, 10
even a molecule or an atom, exists because of that force. Successive generations perpetuate themselves due to the attraction between the opposite sexes. Our families, societies and nations could not survive and remain united unless the energy of attraction, which is nothing but love, held them together. Can you imagine a world without love? Who would want to live in such a world and for what reason? Without love there is no life, no happiness, no friendship. The Rishis recognised this truth long ago and hence they boldly stated that love was the very substance used for the creation of the universe. The Divine Itself is an embodiment of love; it cannot be otherwise.
Pioneers of the human race The Rishis were extraordinary beings. Their entire lives were dedicated to finding answers to the great questions of existence. They were the pioneers of the human race. The Rishis had acquired extraordinary powers of understanding and their minds were as clear and as pure as crystal. Through this purity, Reality revealed Itself in their visions and became codified as the Vedas. The Vedas are the ancient treasure of humanity and continue to remain highly significant for us today. Later, great Masters like Buddha and Jesus Christ spread the message of love and right living among people. They
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too were guiding humanity along the lines of Vedic knowledge. Now Tathﾄ》a also gives you the same message, the message of love. Remember always that love is everything. May your life be rooted deep in the soil of love; may it grow in the sky of love; and may it flower as everlasting love! Love is the beginning, love is the middle and love is the end. There is no virtue higher than love. But looking around the world today, you could despair, for love has become a very rare commodity. Of hatred there is no shortage; it is easily available. But love is very difficult to find and this is a most unfortunate situation.
Look around you Throughout the world, human beings are deeply dissatisfied. They suffer from one problem or another: sorrow, loss, death and disease shadow their lives day in and day out. Apart from human beings, all other creatures in the world live quite happily. Look around you, see how a butterfly enjoys every moment; birds sing in delight; animals caper quite happily. They enjoy life. What then happened to man and why is he so sad? Can you blame the Divine for the suffering of humanity, or is it not rather of our own making? 12
Let us once again consider other creatures. They do not worry about the future; no bird or animal ever thinks to store food for the morrow. They do not make bank deposits or join insurance schemes; they do not build compound walls around the earth; they do not care to join any political party. They never go to schools or colleges to learn about life, and yet Existence takes care of them and nourishes them. They live, rejoice and die in the heart of Existence; their lives are so carefree.
Quality of life Man is proud of his superior position in Existence, but it is absolutely imperative to consider whether our life is also superior in quality. Love, kindness, openness, selflessness, harmony and joy are the higher qualities of human kind, but such qualities are sadly lacking in our lives. Instead, we manifest such traits as hatred, jealousy and possessiveness. It may be true that man has succeeded in the exploration of the outer world – modern scientific achievements are quite astonishing – but these are not the criteria by which to measure man’s true success. Whether we have found real happiness is the fundamental question. It is foolish to think that science can solve all the problems that humanity faces. We invent medicine for one disease while ten other diseases break out for which 13
there is no effective remedy. So far medical science has failed to find real cures for cancer, heart attacks, AIDS and many chronic diseases. In fact, more and more people are becoming ill every day. Though science has developed, the death rate has not been substantially reduced and vast numbers die in accidents, natural calamities, wars, terrorist attacks and so on. Paradoxically many of our achievements produce unintended counter effects. We have invented highly sophisticated weapons of war and many thousands of nuclear weapons are stored all over the world. These war materials are a sword of Damocles hanging over our very survival: an unbalanced head of state or the leader of a terrorist group could completely destroy human civilization throughout the world within seconds! One individual wants to dominate another; the husband wants to dominate his wife and the wife wants to dominate her husband – and the result is the collapse of the family. This desire to dominate others has assumed alarming proportions in all walks of life; religions, political parties, governments and other institutions are all guilty of this tendency. As a result, the world has fallen into terrible turbulence: wars are raging; terrorist groups are murdering innocent people; our individual, family,
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social and national life is collapsing. What greatness can we claim to have achieved so far?
The power of Nature Don’t think that Nature will remain as a passive spectator forever: one day or other, Nature will react. In fact, Nature has already started to show warning signs in the form of natural calamities such as tsunamis. Don’t think the recent tsunami3 happened accidentally. No, it is a signal from Nature. You cannot imagine the power of Mother Nature. Man and his achievements are nothing before Her. Beware of Her power! It is high time to wake up and recognise our mistakes. The Masters have declared that man is the dearest child of Mother Nature. That is absolutely correct; but then why is Mother Nature growling at us now? Nature is like a mother who does not want to see her children go astray. So She warns us, but to no avail. Then She applies a little pressure, but still to no avail. Now She has decided to pinch us hard. The tsunami is a wake-up call from Mother Nature – don’t you understand? Do not continue to test Her patience; I implore you not to take that terrible risk.
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This is a reference to the devastating tsunami of 2004.
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PART TWO AUTOBIOGRAPHY
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The Indian tradition holds dear the notion that during times of crisis, the Divine incarnates on Earth to save us. The Bhagavad Gītā asserts that during such periods of crisis, the Divine comes to Earth to destroy darkness and re-establish Dharma. At this point some explanation might be useful to avoid confusion. Ultimately, God and the world are not different. The world is the manifest aspect of God and God is the unmanifest aspect of the world. God is present everywhere. There is nothing but God. An individual soul dwells in a physical body. At the heart of each individual soul, God is present as a witness. Hence the Divine has already incarnated in each and every entity of creation. The question could arise: “If God is already fully present in all entities throughout creation, how can it be said that God periodically incarnates on Earth?” Nature is our real Master and the Divine speaks and guides us through the movements of Nature. But since our minds have been warped by wrong thinking, we can no longer hear the voice of Nature clearly. Thus in certain situations, the Divine has to manifest through some vehicle to show us the way of Truth and Dharma. Such incarnations of God have been immensely beneficial for the transformation of the world and the elevation of all beings. ‘Incarnation’ refers to the descent of the Divine on Earth. Sometimes, during a period of emer59
gency, the Divine suddenly appears in order to deal with the crisis, and then disappears. Suppose on your way home in some remote place, you came upon a drowning child calling for help. What would you do? Immediately you would rush in to save the child. In the same way, during times of serious crisis, God helps people in need. Sometimes God descends through a highly evolved soul to perform a particular mission. God may even come to cause destruction. He may elect to descend through good or bad people according to time and circumstance; God’s roles are many.
The mission of TathÄ ta Now let us consider another very important and extraordinary role that the Divine sometimes plays. This role pertains to evolution and the transformation of creatures. Every entity of creation stands at a certain level of evolution. To accelerate the process of evolution, God sometimes makes some special arrangements: in order to help His creatures, God comes to live amongst them. Among humans, God comes to live as a human; among trees as a tree; among animals as an animal. By living with them, God offers His presence to them and thereby nourishes all categories of creatures. Can you imagine God living on this Earth as a tree in a forest or as a bird in the vast sky? I know it is difficult to grasp, but it is the
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truth. Children, I tell you this with authority, from my own experience. Since the beginning of creation, this has been my work. I have come to this Earth so many times to nourish her creatures. Sometimes I lived with trees as a tree, sometimes with animals as an animal; in very many forms and ways, I came to Earth with the mission of supporting the growth of her creatures. That is why I can bear witness before you with authority. This time, I come with a different assignment: I come in a human body at a most critical stage. It is the time of darkness, the Kāliyuga, a time of utmost urgency. Responding to the call of Time, God’s light has appeared in a mortal human body. Now you are communicating with that reflection.
The heritage of my place of birth Tathāta was born to an ordinary family in a remote village situated in the state of Kerala in southern India. The name of the village is Chozhiyakkadu, in Palakkad district. My father was a farmer. There was nothing special about that village at the time. The inhabitants were poor, uncultured and narrow-minded and had no idea about the higher possibilities of life. Occasionally, for pleasure and enjoyment, they would commit wicked deeds. They 61
had no understanding or sympathy for anyone seeking Truth or Dharma. They led a hard life and were in thrall to their sometimes inordinate desires. To the ordinary observer, that place would not appear at all suitable for a divine birth. However, though the village seemed ordinary, its history was not, and the birth of Tathﾄ》a there was no accident. That village was blessed with a miraculous past; its history had been rich and glorious. Long ago, great Rishis, ascetics, saints and Masters had dwelled there. A sacred river flowed towards the north. Great spiritual centres and temples adorned the area and the primordial Force manifested there in all Its glory. In the course of time, however, tamasic5 forces prevailed and misfortune descended upon the area which began to decline on all levels. Gradually all auspiciousness waned. Seekers of truth and ascetics abandoned the place while temples and spiritual centres declined and perished. Then invaders pillaged and destroyed this rich inheritance. All excellence was lost and the land remained deserted for ages. More recently, poor, uncultured villagers who knew nothing of its former rich tradition settled in the area. Later, Time wished to restore the lost glories of this land and for that reason, Time ordained my birth at Chozhiyakkadu. 5
Tamasic: dark, negative.
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Śrī Tathāta at 35 years old Photograph: ashram collection, 1977
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Śrī Tathāta at the banks of the Ganges in Gangotri (Himalaya) Photograph: ashram collection 64
Śrī Tathāta on a sacred hill near Varishtapuri Photograph: ashram collection
Śrī Tathāta teaching in Kollur in 2007 Photograph: ashram collection 65
Śrī Tathāta in Sarnath Photograph: ashram collection 66
Śrī Tathāta in Varishtapuri in 2007 Photograph: Shrima Diffusions
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