Since we are born in human body & we use this very body as a temple to offer our worships, as a boat to cross this ocean of maya, we are obligated to address to the physical wants & needs of the body. Further also as we are born in a society, which helps us at every step we take towards ‘freedom’, we are also under compulsion to stay under the rules of this society.
In changing times, the wants & needs of the body have changed from a minimal few to a lot. In olden days, basic requirements meant food (enough to provide energy), few clothings & a shelter. But as the time wheel turns these basic needs have changed their forms to a modern vesion – Today basic requirements include good food (for taste & not for energy); clothes – for fashion & not for covering; Shelter – for all the luxuries & comforts. Today a man is judged as success or failure based on how much bodily pleasure, he can achieve.
The society also has changed its course instead of being a catalyst to your God Realisation, people around you are busy making the path more difficult. Some people see leaving all the material world & sitting in a cave to meditate as a convenient way out. But I don’t agree to this line of thought. For me, a place where I can sit in soltitude & close my eyes is my cave. Also I strongly believe that until you understand this delusion of ‘Maya’ completely you will not be able to free yourself from it.
That means until you have experienced this state of helpless pleasure, you will not enjoy the ultimate pleasure. Also one of the four purushartha’s is ‘Kaam’ which says enjoy whatever you do & do things you enjoy. However you must be always aware that while fulfilling your desires (kaam), the righteousness (dharma) must not be harmed. The human mind proposes a thousand desires in every moment & fulfilling all of them might not be possible for all, due to the life we are living in. However we can still indulge in material activities & fulfill a lot of our desires. Most of the people do this & spend their entire lives in such pleasure.
Indulging in material affairs however can take you away from the ultimate goal ‘Moksha’. The failure in acquiring material comfort is as distracting as the success in doing so. The whim of fulfilling desires can cause heavy damage to a person & also to society. Thus most of the spiritual leaders & preachers, tell us to stay away from the pleasure world. But what if we wish to continue on our path of realisation without indulging in dualistic material world & still wish to fulfill our desires – is there a way out ?
Here comes a phenomena termed as ‘Universal Consciousness’. We must understand that life is two fold – Internal & External. Externally we might be living different lives, we are having different experiences, finding different obstacles, enjoying different pleasures, but internally we are all connected in one consciousness. ‘Krishna Consciousness’ ‘Christ Consciousness’ ‘Prana’ all the concepts point to this inter-linking. Every individual understands & knows this connectivity to some extent. What happens when a relative or a close friend experiences some material pleasure, sheer news of their happiness pleases us. How? Do we ourselves experience the pleasure? No, we don’t. But we have realised the inter-connection of consciousness with that relative or friend. We feel his happiness or sadness as our own. This is a part of Universal Consciousness.
Another example of this Universal Consciousness can be observed in the life of social workers. Lots of people feel for small children, for down trodden, even for animals to that extent. This feeling makes them spend their entire lives in working to help the ones they feel for. What is this feeling? It is nothing but Universal Consciousness. Experiencing the problems, the agony, the pain faced by many without physically experiencing it. Mother Terresa was not a down trodden sick person, but she still felt the pain suffered by the man she saw on streets of Calcutta. Baba Amte was not suffering from leprosy, but experienced the problems faced by people suffering from this disease. Members of PETA are not animals, but are still aware of their pain & strive to help animals.
Now, if the Universal Consciousness can make you feel pain experienced by others, can’t it make you feel pleasure enjoyed by others? In the sixth stanza of ‘Nirvanshataka’ Adi Shankarcharya says
Ahm Nirvikalpo, Nirakara Rupo,
Vibhutwach Sarvatra, Sarvendriyanam …
The translation of this stanza is ‘ I am without form or face or shape, I pervade everywhere, I exist in all my sense organs.’ Considering the broader meaning of this says that I exist in each & every sense organ of all the universe. That means I can see, hear, feel whatever an individual or group sees, hears or feels anywhere in the universe. Only thing required here is to connect to the Universal Consciousness. The technology of Internet works on this very concept. Your computer does not have all the information but once connected, it has all the information which exists in all computers of the world. In case you don’t connect to internet but just to office network, then only the information in your office computers is available through your PC ( friends or relatives ).
Now the big question which arises is – How do we connect to this Universal Consciousness? Well in some cases you are blessed, while in some your good deeds from past assist you in this process. And for current stage, the answer is Sadhana. Sadhana is nothing but a continuous effort for uplift of life, to understand this interlinking. Once you learn this art of connecting to the universal consciousness all the physical pleasures are at your feet, that too without the risk of indulging in ‘Maya’ More about Universal Consciousness in coming articles.