METAPHYSICAL INTROSPECTION

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

59. METAPHYSICAL INTROSPECTION
Where else will you seek for God except here and now? Somewhere else, some other time is
all bhranti (delusion). There is no some other time. There is only eternity where there is no time.
That is the only truth, the only reality.
Now and then, here and there are created by your mind, which is maya, the net in which you
are caught. Instead of being ever aware of the ever-present, omnipresent Divinity, we focus on time
which says that God is not here, you have to strive for Him.
This is because we talk glibly of the Upanishads; we never study the Upanishads. Who
studies even the first Upanishad, the Isavasya Upanishad—the smallest, easiest and simplest one?
That one Upanishad is enough to know that you are constantly living in the presence of the Divine.
It is near; It is far. It is within; It is without; It is everywhere. It is the one and only fact.

To reveal this one great truth, our ancestors not only declared: “isavasyamidam sarvam yat
kincha jagatyam jagat (All this whatsoever in this universe that moves or moves not is indwelt by
the Lord),” but they also proclaimed: “sarvam vishnu mayam jagat (All this is pervaded by
Vishnu)” and “sarvam khalvidam brahma (All this is verily Brahman).”
They wanted to remove from our mind this peculiar mental delusion that we have to go in
search of God in some remote forest or mountain cave. If you go there, you will just find that all you
get are all the hundreds of memories, imaginations, fantasies and thoughts that you have in your
mind.
You do not have to move from place to place to go to God. Gurudev said: “Why do you
search in vain outside? Be silent and know that within you is the IAMGod.” He is always saying: “I
AM. O man, why go hither and thither? I AM. Listen, I AM.” That is what God is constantly saying,
but we turn a deaf ear because we are busy listening to the clamour of this world and its powerful
mayaic attractions.
God is calling, but this truth is cast aside. And the wonder and the pity is that it is not cast
aside by atheists, agnostics, people of delusion or those steeped in worldliness, but it is ignored by
serious sadhakas, devotees of God, spiritual seekers and aspirants. You put a distance between
yourselves and the ever-present God unthinkingly, because maya will not allow you to think
properly—with keen discrimination, with keen self-analysis.
You never take a look at yourself. You don’t dwell upon yourself to find out the state of your
interior, the state of your consciousness, with what vision, with what bhava you are living each day,
each hour. Introspection is not just to find out your faults and correct them. Introspection is also
meant to know yourself, your inner metaphysical content, your spiritual content. If we do that, then
we will be able to know what is to be done.
Each one has to find out for oneself why one refuses to acknowledge the ever-present Truth,
why one refuses to see. Then alone one can correct this defective vision. Sometimes it is an
unwillingness. Sometimes it may be due to the consequences that would arise out of such a
perception. It may be uncomfortable, inconvenient. Sometimes it is not that. There is earnest and
sincere desire to perceive, but old habits die hard. It is difficult to uproot certain habitual ways of
perceiving things. Or, the circumstances, the environment, the atmosphere, the surroundings in
which one lives pushes one into a wrong perception or into persisting in a wrong perception. Wrong
perception is already there. We are born with wrong perception, and we are fed and grow up with
wrong perceptions. Therefore, one has to work at it very diligently and keep on working at it until
they are eradicated.
Therefore, we should be keenly observing and analysing at each step. We should also take
recourse to satsanga and diligent daily study of the scriptures. We should try to keep the company
of such people in whom there is this type of awakening, this type of right perception, who are also
similarly plodding along this path, who are spiritual people. All these are helpful processes for
succeeding in eradicating this wrong perception, this wrong approach which blinds us to the
self-evident truth which is central to the great Vedic vision and experience.

Thus we should strive to progress in spiritual life, ever moving closer and closer to this
grand vision of the ever-present Reality. Then we begin to open up a new phase as we literally begin
to live, move and have our being in God. We live in God and God lives in us. We and He are more
closely related than anything else and anybody else.
This great truth should become the basis of your living, your sadhana, your spiritual life and
your ongoing, constant, prevailing consciousness. That is the fruit of sadhana and svadhyaya. That
is the ultimate reward one gets from one’s entire spiritual life. It is meant to create this inner state, to
bring about this orientation—when the sadhaka becomes God-centred, when the sadhaka dwells in
constant light.
All sadhana is aimed at creating this transformation in consciousness. Therefore, do this
and try to experience and make into fact the last line of Gurudev’s Universal Prayer: “Let us abide
in Thee for ever and ever.” Then and then alone this line will hold some meaning for us.
And to this end you should earnestly and sincerely strive to be aware that it is His presence
that fills all creation. Be aware that each moment you should try to live in that all-pervading,
omnipresent Divinity. That is divine life. That is the inner core of spiritual living. That is the inner
core of all sadhana, yoga, devotion and spiritual knowledge.