The Garden of Eden

Once upon a time, there was a Heaven. There was a big

and beautiful garden in it called the ‘Garden of Eden’. Since
time immemorial two old men had been living in it, the God
and the Devil. God was the master of the place and He had
employed the Devil perhaps as a gardener there. May be
with the passage of time the two old men began to feel a
monotony about the place. So God the Almighty created Adam
as a small pretty boy. The God said to Adam that Adam was
His son and so Adam admired the God and respected Him.
One fine morning when Adam was playing in the Garden,
God–the Father approached him and showed him a tree—
‘The Forbidden Tree’ and advised him never to eat anything
from it. Adam started playing and sporting and making merry
around the whole place and the two old men were very much
delighted to watch him grow.
But soon the poor young boy became very bored in the
company of two seasoned old people. So God-the Almighty
made Adam fall sleep and took one of his ribs from his chest
and created Eve out of it. The two children were same bone
and marrow, so right from the beginning, they had a harmony
between them. They were happy in each other’s company
and the two old men, the God and the Devil, were also happy
to see them grow. The whole place was filled with the mirth
and the laughter of the two children.
One day God approached Eve also and told her that she
too was his daughter as Adam was his son. Eve too respected
God and admired him. But strangely enough God the Father
forgot to instruct her about the Forbidden Tree. One day
also the Devil came to Eve and told her that she was his
beloved daughter and he loved her more than he loved anyone
else. The nice little Eve was very humble and so she replied,
“Yeah uncle, besides God I am your daughter too”. Eve liked
the Devil and Eve liked the God and she developed a kind of
regard for both of them. This is strange but true that although
the Devil had been His timeless companion, God the Almighty
had never cared to instruct him anything about the Forbidden
Tree even upto the last. As it goes even since those days
fathers have been talking about it to their sons only but

6 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 7

never to their daughters and never to their servants either.
So, it happened that incidently one day the Devil came
across the Forbidden Tree, instinctively took a ripe and juicy
fruit from it and tasted it to his hearts’ delight. The effect
was wonderful. The old Devil discovered a kind of
transformation happening to him and thought that he had
become as wise as the God Himself. Not only this the Devil
also understood that the God had been jealous throughout
about anybody becoming wise and so He had concealed this
information even from one who had been so much like him
otherwise. The Devil liked the pretty nice Eve most and so
he went to her straightforward to share his adventure
immediately. He went to see Eve who was busy with watering
some flowers at that time and he transferred all his
understanding to her immediately. He advise Eve to eat a
fruit from the tree herself without any unnecessary lingering
on. Eve took the advice and she liked the fruit very much,
the fruit which looked like a plump and ripe Apple. She had
eaten only half of the fruit when suddenly she felt an urge
for Adam to whom she approached at once. She handed over
the remaining half of the fruit to Adam who was the only one
of her own kind. Adam was very fond of Eve, she was his
closest bosom friend in the Heaven, so he ate readily the
other half of the fruit before he could remember the God’s
advice. The effect upon both of them was again miraculous.
Soon they found a great attraction coming up in them towards
each other. Soon they noticed that God had created them
different. So Adam could see two small apples lurking over
the surface of Eve’s breast and Eve could notice a snake-like
thing hanging from Adam’s abdomen. Soon they began to
feel that they were enough for themselves, they did not need
God’s patronage any more. In fact they were no less wise
than the Father himself after this awakening. So they made
up their mind to say goodbye to the Heaven and see the
World with their own eyes. Now, the God was really scared
of Adam who was following Eve and of Eve who was following
the Devil himself. So He decided to allow them to leave the
Heaven and make the Earth their new abode now. He
understand that it was human to err.
This happened and the Devil smiled and smiled at the
God and was not a villain but a wise being in his own eyes.
Consequently, Abraham happened on the Earth, Moses
8 The Paradise Never Lost
happened on the Earth and fourteen hundred more years
elapsed after the time of Moses too. Mankind went on
multiplying on the Good Earth and went on to plough it.
Man would raise his eyes and his hands towards the sky
and would unceasingly say—
“Dear old God, still you are without a wife and still you
are unmarried. When you grow too old what will happen to
you? It seems you will never learn to sin like us.”
Mankind would continually disobey the God in the
manner of Adam and Eve and the Devil would smile and
smile at the God invariably. This is true that the Devil was
old and tired but the God was equally old and tired too and
so He was not in a position to take any revenge upon the
Devil although He was not very happy with his doings. This
was the time when Jesus happened on the Earth and was
born of a virgin mother. The Earth used to be full of ignorance
and of disobedience before he was born to redeem it. The
Forbidden Tree had been working wonders as usual. So Jesus
decided to obey the God and remain unmarried like God the
father and preach repentance to others who were mistaken.
Naturally God was very happy with Jesus and declared him
his only son and his Christ for all time to come. He gave also
a sword to Jesus which was as invisible as the sword of Don
Quixote. Jesus being a real youngman jumped quickly upon
the Devil, caught him by his long beard and raised the sword
upon him. The Devil became frightened of this only eager
son but somehow he managed to escape from the Heaven
and hid himself under the bottom of the Earth in the form of
a twinkling bright star for quite some time to come.
Nineteen hundred years more elapsed since the time of
raising Jesus to the Heaven till the time of Osho who proved
himself a most worthy master and a leader of mankind. It
was Osho himself who claimed to be in the same tradition
which the Devil had begun so enthusiastically. He narrated
the story of the Forbidden Tree again in a very impressive
manner acknowledging it as the ‘Tree of Knowledge’. Osho
said that it was not the ‘Tree of Ignorance’ but it was the tree
of doubt, of discovery, of Science, of self-transformation, of
meditation and of spiritual awakening.
It is mentioned in the Holy Bible that soon Osho will
have a disciple called ‘The False Prophet’. It is to be
remembered that the Holy Bible is an all time book of
The Paradise Never Lost 9
prophesy and the prophet is but a prophet howsoever false
we may denominate him.
It seems that he will teach as the following—
“The time is gone when people loved for ever”.
“They promised each other to meet again even on the
other side of the river of death”.
“Now a days Love enters from the door and escapes from
the window.”
“So the lover is emancipated and the beloved is
emancipated too.”
“If Love is there, Law need not be.”
“If Law is there, Love need not be.”
“What is marriage? You touch a dead rock with your
vibrating fingers and imagine that it is the touch of a rose
flower.”
Perhaps he will teach some more maxims also.
“I am not a monster, nevertheless a double-tongued
monster with black piercing eyes. I do not say what I mean
and I do not mean what I say”.
“When the doors are flung open, the Paradise is Lost”.
“When the doors are closed together, the Paradise is
regained”.
“A Paradise is nevertheless a Paradise and nobody is a
fool except the Wise.”
Like Buddha, Osho may also designate ‘The Forbidden
Tree’ as the ‘Tree of Knowledge’ or of ‘Self-Transformation’.
It seems that Moses had an implication that ‘Forbidden Tree’
should have been considered the ‘Tree of Ignorance’ only
because the Devil, Adam and Eve all invited misguidance
through it. But all the great masters have held that it did
not initiate misguidance, only it would lead to the ultimate
well-being. Now both the versions are with you and the choice
is yours to which you should agree.
My query is whether these two versions are really different
or they lead to the same truth? If there has been no real
conspiracy between the God and the Devil why did the God
Almighty allow the Devil to prevail even in his own place?
God is said to be omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.
Are the God and the Devil not two faces of the same reality?
The word Devil originates from the Sanskrit word Deva which
means a Deity. Why did the God decide not to take Eve into
his own confidence and not allow her to come close to Devil?
10 The Paradise Never Lost
Why did He create a son who could disobey even a worthy
Father and a daughter who would be humble even before
the Devil? All these great questions are meant inevitably to
attract all those minds which think. The Indian Upanishads
say, ‘Ekohum Bahushyami”. This Sutra means that in the
beginning the Brahma was alone and it decided to manifest
itself into many beings. According to Hindus this was the
original desire the Brahma did conceive. It is very likely to
be true. It seems that the same might have happened to the
God of Moses too. He had been absolutely alone before He
created the Garden of Eden. It seems that quite for some
time He himself used to keep the Garden. But very soon He
must have become bored so He created the Devil to share
this boredom with Him. It seems that for some time to come
they must have managed very well but before long they had
to create Adam and Eve also. Innocently the Devil must have
come across the Forbidden Tree and must have helped the
mankind to grow on Earth. I can see no contradiction between
the Upanishads and the Book of Moses here. So, to me, the
story is simple and the Devil seems to be just another version
of the God Himself.
According to Bible, the Devil is supposed to personify
himself into three important personalities. First is Gautam,
the Buddha about whom it is said, ‘The most Godless person
on the Earth yet the most Godlike’. Also Hindus have said a
very strange thing about Buddha. They admit him as an
incarnation of course but they say that he had come to the
Earth just to misguide people and to ease the overcrowded
Heaven. It is believed that at the time of Buddha’s birth the
Hell was lying absolutely vacant with all apartments in it
sealed and locked while the Heaven had become too much
burdened. So the God had to descend to the Earth in the
form of Gautam, the Buddha to solve this problem of
overpopulation in the Heaven. This hypothesis seems to be
logical because after Buddha India has been facing the
problem of overpopulation every now and then and Indians
can manage to live happily even in a Hell. Secondly, the
Devil manifested himself in the form of Osho who admitted
that he was both a saint and a rascal. It seems logical that
Saint John had depicted Gautam, the Buddha as the First
Beast and Osho as the Second Beast. According to the
revelations soon we expect the false prophet also. May be it
The Paradise Never Lost 11
proves to be a person in particular or the whole disciplehood
of Osho in general. I want to assert without much loss of
factuality that we can consider the whole tradition of Osho
Mystery School as the False Prophet. It is good also to avoid
all unnecessary confrontations.
Here, I want to assert one thing more. I am neither a
perfect holy man nor a perfect unholy man. So the reader is
advised never to believe in the revelations to me. He only
should remain aware of the element of truth in my
statements. He should read this narration critically and
should not dismiss the King Lear’s statement that there is a
method in every madness too.
It was towards the last years of the ninth decade of the
twentieth century, One evening, Osho came to the Buddha
Hall and declared that Jesus was unenlightened. The second
day, he came to the Buddha Hall and declared that J.
Krishnamurty, too, was unenlightened. The third day, he
came to the Buddha Hall and declared that all the audience
were enlightened and it could not be otherwise. The fourth
day, he came and said that none of us but he himself was
enlightened and sometimes he felt very sad for us and even
wept under his blanket out of compassion. The fifth day, he
came and told us that there were no past lives at all. The
sixth day, he confessed that in one of his past lives he used
to be a German and that was why he understood Germans
very well. Now, this had become too much for me, so just
after the discourse, I blurted out—
“Here is a strange master! If everyone of us is enlightened
and there are no past lives either what Osho has been doing
all these years around the globe? If everyone dies and is
liberated, why so much ado about nothing? What is going
on all about and what for?”
One lady disciple of Osho from London who was standing
nearby overheard me and became very uneasy at my remarks.
She retorted in a loud voice, ‘Hey, here is the man. He seems
to be Krishna himself’. By this she referred perhaps to J.
Krishnamurty whom the British call either JK or Krishna
precisely’.
Immediately afterwards this joke spread very fast
everywhere in the Ashram and people continued to call me
Krishna now and then and this practice continued even after
Osho left his body in January 1990. Out of uneasiness and
12 The Paradise Never Lost
disgust I took a short leave from the Ashram and went to
Mahatma Gandhi Road. I decided to establish myself as an
intellectual like J. Krishnamurty. For this purpose, I
purchased some books by J. Krishnamurty from the Christian
Book shop and as a matter of coincidence I also purchased
my first ever book of the Holy Bible. As is habitual with me,
to begin with, I opened the last chapter of the Holy Bible
with the title ‘The Revelations to Saint John’. Nobody has so
far claimed to have understood it and there was a great scope
for originality in it. In this chapter I found the descriptions
of the Devil, the First Beast, the Second Beast and the False
Prophet. It was written that the number of the False Prophet
would be triple six—
“Here lies the wisdom. It is a man’s number and his
number is 666”. Suddenly some divine wit entered my soul
and I said to myself obviously it meant Sex, Sex, Sex. So I
reached the understanding that it could point to none but
Osho’s tradition here. In the Ashram intellect was not a word
for admiration and I had been feeling like a Shylock more
sinned against than sinning. So I composed the following
two rhymes and strangely enough also started to sing them.
The first rhyme was—
Sexy Sexy Sexy angels say to me
I am sexy very sexy yes to me
My cap is sexy, my beard is sexy
My watch is sexy, my robe is sexy
And everything underneath
Sexy piece, oh sexy piece, oh sexy piece!
This song used to be very popular in those days. Also the
second song was very popular which was in the manner of
the second stanza—
What is your file number
What is profile number
What is your smile number
What is your style number
Tripple six dear six, six, six.
Tripple sex dear sex, sex, sex.
Everyone from the West immediately understood point
and everyone of them was really vexed. One young pretty
girl even stood up over her breakfast table and tried to ridicule
me—
“Well, I must understand now as I am the daughter of
The Paradise Never Lost 13
Devil himself. Now I can see the point”.
(This is a strange coincidence, someone told me that her
father had been once the President of USA).
Those days were very remarkable. One Western Swami
came to me while I was changing my robe in the lockers and
whispered—
“Please, be a little soft. You are too hard upon a Western
mind. People may run away from here.” It triggred an alarm
in the Ashram which I could not speculate. I wanted to explain
to them that this narration was not against Osho and so I
decided to write a book explaining everything. Here is the
book !
Now I must come to the point again. What I found out in
the Bible was not a regression. Later on I discovered that
Osho himself had left clues regarding the possibility of this
interpretation in as much as that he said that the path of
meditation was the path of Devil. This book is devoted to
understand for the first time ‘Revelations to Saint John’ in a
right perspective and that is why, I have chosen this title
‘The Paradise Never Lost’. As a matter of consequence it is
going to prove itself a complete handbook on Mysticism
beginning perhaps some five thousand years ago till now.
We will have to go through and correlate the prominent faiths
which prevailed before Christ and after Christ and are
prevailing even now.
In fact, Mysticism has only two paths—the path of Faith
and the path of Doubt. Faith belongs to the God and Doubt
belongs to the Devil and those who begin with doubt
invariably attain to Faith. The path of faith is the path of
universal love, of unwavering trust, of obedience and of
egolessness whereas the path of doubt is the path of effort,
of self-transformation and of meditation. Also, the path of
faith is known as Bhakti and the path of doubt as the path
of Yoga. So even in a spiritual nation like India the basic
traditions have been only two and all deviations have been
insignificant. I attempt to make this point clear now. The
devotees hold that it is almost impossible to attain to the
truth without love, respect and surrender because ego is the
only problem. Love towards any Enlightened Being can do.
This Enlightened Being can be a living master or a master
from the past or a diety or even a symbol. Hindus have three
traditions devoted to the path of love—the Vaishnavas, the
14 The Paradise Never Lost
Shaivas and the Shaktas. Vaishnavas preach devotin towards
Bhagwan Vishnu and his incarnation such as Rama and
Krishna. Shaivas preach devotion towards Lord Shiva and
Shaktas preach devotion towards Enlightened women
Saraswati, Parvati, Durga, Kali etc. These Enlightened women
they call Shaktis. Sikkhism too is a path of devotion, they
direct their prayers towards their Enlightened Gurus and
also towards other Hindu deities like Rama, Krishna etc. In
fact, Sikkhs are not a different religion, they are only a
culture. Christians believe in Jesus Christ just as Hindus
believe in Rama and Krishna. In fact pegs are not important,
only coats are important. For example, Allah is almost
invisible and without a form. Someone would come to Jesus
and say you have healed me. But what Jesus replied was
very significant, he would invariably say, “Your faith has
healed you.” Faith can move mountains irrespective of the
fact in whom it resides. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are
called the Angelic paths and all these are paths of devotion.
According to them and according to the Sufis also, only the
holy angels can lead a seeker to ultimate well-being and
without the help of holy spirits it is not possible to come out
of misery. Michael, Gabriel and Khizra are some of their most
celebrated angels although in Koran the number mentioned
is ninetynine. So the path of devotion, in short, means to
seek the help of those beings who have gone ahead of us.
For this purpose everything like mantra, tantra and yantra
is also useful.
Now it is imperative to come to the concept of God in
particular. To the Jains and the Buddhists, God is just a
principle. According to them, God is the Absolute Law or
Dhamma. The law of cause and effect which is so obvious in
the external world, when applied to human psyche is called
the ‘Law of Karma’ by Mahavir and of ‘Eternal Dhamma’ by
Buddha. Neither Mahavir nor Buddha believes in a
personified God, according to them God exists only in the
form of an existential harmony. To the Hindus also God is
not a person but the centre of all creation and the ultimate
being itself. It is the material and the effective cause of all
that exists. It is also the formal cause and the purpose of all
existence. The Hindu word for God is Brahma which is neither
male nor female but the only conscious substance. He is the
absolute soul into which all the souls dissolve after liberation
The Paradise Never Lost 15
from the cycle of death and rebirth. He is like ‘Nataraj’ – a
dancer and this creation is his dance. We cannot separate
the dancer from the dance because in the absence of dance,
the dancer has no relevance. According to Judaism,
Christianity and Islam God is not a dancer but a creator.
God is only the effective cause of existence but not the
material cause. God is only the form but not the matter or
the substance. This cosmos is his creation and after the act
of creation He is found outside of it and is a being superior
to it and is an invariant. He has not only the absolute powers
of creation but also the absolute power of destruction. The
Hindu Brahma is like a substance but not like a person. The
whole emerges from it, remains in it throughout and falls
back again into it as a wave does in the ocean. There is no
duality between the creator and the creation. For the Hindus
religion has been like an act of love during which the lover
and the beloved become one. All the religions born outside
India are however dualistic in their Meta-physics. All the
religions like Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Bhakti
nevertheless insist upon Faith. Without faith no spiritual
knowledge is possible. Faith and humbleness, obedience and
trust are indispensable. The Upanishads say it is not known
by the argument and the Holy Bible says Faith can move the
mountains.
In my opinion disobedience is the first sin in the story of
Genesis. It is not sex which is the original sin. Some people
might have misinterpreted it like that. Adam and Eve
disobeyed God and that was their first sin that is to say that
doubt towards the God was the original sin. Doubt belonged
to the Devil and they had lost Faith which belonged to the
God. The feeling of sex followed consequently with the
maturity to doubt. The Psychologists hold that it is around
the age of seven that a child begins to doubt and it is again
around the age of seven that a child begins to understand
the distinction between a boy and a girl. First of all Doubt
arises in the Devil’s mind. The Devil conveys it to Eve and
Eve seduces Adam. Doubt was the first act of disobedience
and it was followed by still another act of disobedience. Adam
and Eve decided to foreshake the God and to leave the Heaven.
Moses might have considered this as a downfall but there
are some others who should have considered this the
beginning of maturity. This was the initial point of the
16 The Paradise Never Lost
spiritual growth which will become complete with the regain
of the Paradise. Every child has to loose it so that it can be
regained. Once the doubt arises and the faith is lost, only
the Devil can become the master.
Here we take up ‘The Revelation to Saint John’ again. I
have come across a book ‘Jesus Lived In India’ from Osho’s
library. This book is written by a European philologists Holger
Kersten and Osho has approved of this book. According to
the writer Saint John himself had lived in India. His name
and photograph was found with the predecessors of the Nath
tradition of Yogis. There are also other sources of evidence
to support the hypothesis that Saint John had practiced
yoga in India for quite some time. One can read Miguel
Serrano’s ‘The Serpent of Paradise’ and Nicolas Notovich’s
‘Life of Saint Jesus’. Saint John had come to India some five
hundred years after Buddha’s Nirvana. When Buddha had
begun his ‘Sangh’ all his disciples were ascetic people but
their number was limited only to five hundred till Buddha
left his body. After Ashoka the great Buddhists had become
a prominent faith in India. The time when Saint John came
to India, it seems that perversions like ‘vamachar’ and
‘vazrayan’ had already taken the hold of Buddhist religion.
Vazrayan has been a cult of Buddhists which believed that
the use of meat, wine, fish, gambling and sex was
indispensable for the attainment of spiritual growth.
Naturally Saint John became disgusted with the Buddhist
School and he mentioned Gautam, the Buddha as the first
incarnation of Devil or the First Beast. We can understand
the reason for his disgust and the logic for the number 666.
In fact, the First Beast, the Second Beast and the False
Prophet all represent the same tradition which has its origin
in the Holy Devil himself.
With the advancement of knowledge, the knowledge of
Science, Social Sciences, Jurisprudence, Constitutionalism
and all such disciplines, faith has become more and more
difficult and doubt has become more and more natural. All
the ancient scriptures have been written in such a manner
which does not conform to the pattern of modern thought.
Now the humanity has grown very much intellectually and
the religious books look like comic books of children. How to
have faith? Every intelligent person has to begin with doubt.
In the first place, there is no certainty that God should exist
The Paradise Never Lost 17
as a person or as a being or as a principle. What we know is
our consciousness and the universe surrounding us with
matter, with other living creatures and with time and space.
With the advancement of science man has come to know
that Nature is governed by the ‘Law of Cause and Effect’.
Hindus, Buddhists and Jains have applied this law also into
the psychological, the metaphysical and the spiritual realms.
Hindus call it Rit; Buddhists call it Dhamma and Jains call it
the law of Karma. This law manifesting itself as the law of
Karma in the psychological realm is the reason for births
after this birth. However, the religions originated outside of
India are silent over the question of rebirth. These religions
neither deny the phenomenon nor they confirm it.
In fact, Doubt has a beginning in the Devil himself. He
eats from ‘The tree of knowledge’ and finds himself as wise
as the God Almighty and so the Devil proceeds to guide also
Adam and Eve on this path of wisdom. So to me it is not a
wonder that in the revelations this path of doubt, of
meditation and of transformation is referred to as the path
of the Devil. In his revelations Saint John describes the
masters and the preachers of this path as the ‘kings and
horns’. In contrast to the Devil, some Angels remained
obedient to the God and so their path is referred to as the
Angelic.
Once we come to know the truth of this assertion, many
great masters like Shiva, Patanjali, Buddha, Mahavira,
Gordceff etc. have prescribed this path, before Osho becomes
evident to us. There is no wonder that the word ‘Devil’ should
come from the Sanskrit word ‘Deva’ which means the divine.
In fact, it seems that the office of the Heaven functions in
two wings—‘The office of the God’ and ‘The office of the Devil,
and both these wings are complementary to each other. In
the story of Genesis the conspiracy between the God and
the Devil seems to be obvious. Clearly, it is the Devil who is
the first creature to have eaten the forebidden fruit only then
he could know the effect of it. But the Devil is not cast away
from the Heaven, why? God is said to be omnipresent,
omniscient and omnipotent and the Devil could not even
have come to existence without the permission of the God.
Why did the God allow the Devil to play his trick upon Adam
and Eve too? It seems that God never has had any problems
with the Devil who has been a continuous problem from the
18 The Paradise Never Lost
angels and the mankind. The Devil returns to the Heaven
again and again and the God feels comfortable with the
situation. His passport and visa seem to be permanent. It
seems that the God rather feels incomplete without the Devil.
Right from the beginning there have been two disciplines.
The seers of the Upanishads, Moses, Jesus, Mohammad,
Nanak etc. all taught the path of faith whereas the mystics
like Patanjali, Buddha, Mahavira, Gorakh, Osho etc. all have
preached doubt and meditation. There have also been many
Zen masters and other yogis from India, Tibet, China and
Japan who have contributed to the path of effort now and
then.
The Kathopanishad states—
“The self is not attained by listening to those who know.
Neither it can be attained by listening to and retaining the
scriptures. The self-knowledge comes only to those whom
this existence chooses. This enlightenment is revealed to the
chosen ones without any effort on their part.”
There are others who argue that faith is uncommon.
Everyone cannot have a prayerful state of mind. That is why,
everyone cannot receive enlightenment. Doubt is the natural
state of mind and we have to transform ourselves. These
people would argue that before eating the fruit of knowledge,
Adam and Eve were ignorant like small children. Of course
they lived in a Paradise but they knew nothing about life.
Even animals live in a kind of Paradise but they are not as
conscious as an enlightened person. Jains designate this
state of Adam and Eve as ‘Nigod’ and the Paradise regained
as ‘Mokhsa’. With the eating of the fruit of knowledge they
came to experience the world which Jains call ‘Sansara’. This
is true that through self-transformation Adam and Eve would
some day becomes as wise as the sages and would reclaim
their Paradise again. So we can say that Doubt is the first
step towards Enlightenment and Enlightenment is the
absolute disappearance of any trace of Doubt at all. As a
matter of fact, the Devil acted only as an Enlightened Master
when he instructed Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of
knowledge. Because he knew that in the end they both would
become as wise as the God himself. Jesus was wise even
though he was on the Earth while Adam was ignorant even
while he was in the Heaven. Adam’s Paradise was a fool’s
paradise but when Jesus would regain it, it becomes an abode
The Paradise Never Lost 19
of wise beings. That is the difference. Adam was below mind
while people like Jesus can transcend mind. Birds and
Animals too live in a kind of Paradise because they are below
mind but they will have to loose it and they will have to
regain it. Those who begin with Doubt, end in Faith but all
those who begin with belief, end in confusion because every
belief has doubt hidden underneath. Very worthy people have
belonged to path of Doubt also. Gautam Buddha did not
accept Vedas and other scriptures as authority but he was
no less wise than any of the Upanishadic seers. Bertrand
Russel was right to say that he was most Godless and most
Godlike. People like Patanjali and Buddha; Mahavira and
Gorakh; Shiva and Osho have had rare insight indeed and
only such people could help the multitudes who followed
them. It is rare to be Enlightened but it is a miracle to be an
Enlightened Master.
In my opinion, when we come across the descriptions of
the Devil, of the Beasts, of the False Prophet, of the ‘kings
and the horns’ in ‘Revelations to Saint John’ we should
understand that the reference is towards the great masters
like these. Although the Holy Bible has taken too much liberty
with the words, it should not be taken as a matter of
condemnation. Even the Angels are no match to the Holy
sages the Bible has referred to. It should be considered just
as a matter of difference of opinion regarding the
methodology. None is higher and none is lower. However,
when the Holy Pope points out that the science of meditation
is not in conformity with the Holy Bible, he advances a right
kind of logic, howsoever little he may be knowing about
spiritualism. But the Holy Pope must remember that one
man’s poison is another man’s food and the Pope is not
supposed to know everything.
It seems indispensable here that we should discuss the
metaphor which we call ‘The Day of Judgement’. Both the
Bible and the Koran describe it. It is a great parable and the
meaning is not just literal. In the state of ignorance every
human being is like a corpse and his own material body is
like a tomb enclosing his spirit. This is the meaning when
Jesus says ‘Let the dead bury the dead. Come, follow me’.
Only at the time of self-realisation the real life happens and
the dead is raised from the grave. The dead becomes a ‘dwij’
or a ‘twice born’. This is the meaning of resurrection of the
20 The Paradise Never Lost
dead from the tomb. Before Enlightenment everyone is in an
eternal hell of misery and of ignorance. After Enlightenment
everyone is in a state of eternal bliss. That is why, the Koran
states that both Hell and Heaven are forever. We can
understand it from one more point of view too. Hell is eternal
because it has no beginning but only an end. Heaven is
eternal because it has a beginning but no end. So both are
eternal in time. The Hell spreads from minus infinity to zero,
the Heaven spreads from zero to plus infinity. In both the
cases the span is infinite. When Enlightenment happens to
a person, he immediately recognizes the Enlightenment of
Jesus or Mohammad also. This is but natural, only like can
understand the like. Only a cuckoo understands the language
of another cuckoo. This is the meaning when Jesus or
Mohammad says, “At the Day of Judgement, I will bear your
witness before the God.” Also, every day is the day of
judgement. The day one’s eyes meet the eyes of God it is
Qayamat for him or her. Those who can look in His eyes will
attain to the Eternal Heaven and those who cannot look into
His eyes continue in their eternal Hell. Enlightenment is
beyond time and space, so we can say that it happens
simultaneously to everybody. Because time is not there, so
there is no meaning of before and after in the state of
Enlightenment. Even if two persons do not awake at the
same hour from their dreams of being beggars, they cease to
be beggars simultaneously because in no interval of time
they have really been begging. A prince in excile has always
been a prince, the sooner he remembers it, the better it is.
Enlightenment once happened remains for ever and the literal
meaning of Qayamat is ‘That which remains for ever’ or the
‘everlasting state of being.’
So, Qayamat is a great parable but not a historical event
because it cannot happen in time. The books of Holy Bible
and Holy Koran have narrated it as a metaphor so that only
the wise can understand the meaning. Ignorant people cannot
cheat and assume to be philosophers. It is done to expose all
kind of hypocrisy. Jesus was born twice and Mohammad
was born twice, this is obvious from the parable of the
‘Judgement Day’. Not only this, Bible, just like Hindus
scriptures, mentions two kinds of Enlightenment—‘The First
raising of the Dead’ and ‘The Second raising of the Dead’.
Now, we come to the greatness of people like Buddha
The Paradise Never Lost 21
and Osho. According to Osho, doubt, discovery and self-
transformation is the only obvious way. Doubt is natural, if
we suppress it we can create a belief only; we cannot attain
to Faith because faith is something deeper. Osho calls his
system as Dhyanyoga. Love, Prayer and Faith are states of
mind, we cannot impose them from the outside. Neither we
can practice to be loving or prayerful or faithful. A heart
spontaneously full of love, of gratitude and of bliss towards
existence in all circumstances is a rare phenomenon. The
mind interferes with the heart because the world is too much
with us. Although prayerfulness is a higher state of mind,
everyone cannot be prayerful and everyone cannot be loving
and nothing can be done about it directly. If we do not have
faith, we do not have it and no hypocrisy can help. So what
to do? Everyone has to begin with meditation. Either
meditation succeeds or it fails. If meditation succeeds one
becomes Enlightened as it happened with Mahavira. If the
meditation fails we are thrown to a state of utter helplessness.
This happened with Gautam Buddha. He had understood
the futility of the world by going deep into it. He understood
the futility of his renunciation also because all the methods
and all the disciplines had failed. In this egoless state of
mind Buddha became enlightened. We can understand the
whole happening. This explains to us also Buddha’s emphasis
on desirelessness. In the state of utter helplessness all desires
dropped. With the dropping of all desires all the future
dropped; all the past had already dropped because Buddha
had renounced out of maturity not out of ritual. So all past
became irrelevant and all the future became irrelevant.
Buddha was thrown into timelessness. This timelessness is
our centre and knowing this centre is Enlightenment. Coming
back from the periphery to our centre is enlightenment. It is
returning to the source. Desirelessness is enlightenment.
The desire to become enlightened is the last barrier, Nirvana
is the last nightmare. Desires create hope and hope creates
time. Time belongs to the periphery and timelessness to the
centre. So with dropping of all the desires the time also drops
and suddenly we are at the centre. So Osho has been right
to say that one hundred percent must begin with meditation
but ninetynine percent of them will reach through
egolessness. Being egoless is being prayerful. Without
meditation a few can attain to prayer and so meditation is
22 The Paradise Never Lost
the only way to begin with. Nobody can begin with prayer.
Either we are prayerful or we are not prayerful and nothing
can be done about it. But we cannot stand still forever and
so we have to begin with meditation the moment we
understood the futility of worldly desires.
In fact, meditation is never without effect. It invariably
leads a seeker to a state of mind which is relaxed, authentic,
innocent, loving and grateful. Through catharsis and deep
meditation we always attain to a second childhood and the
Kingdom of God does not seem to be irrelevant. To a meditator
bliss becomes spontaneous and contentedness becomes the
very nature. Once we achieve this innocence of mind we can
become receptive to some Enlightened Being too. This
Enlightened eing can be God himself or some angel or some
Enlightened Master. This receptivity towards an Enlightened
source makes one’s transformation spontaneous. This
receptivity is prayerfulness. Invisible hands can support us
and much energy can flow. Before this innocent and authentic
state of mind this receptivity is not possible. So what I want
to insist is that meditation can make us a medium also and
our iron starts becoming gold from this touch. Even fully
enlightened persons can accept to become mediums because
the human form has its own limitations.
So, even people like Jesus and Mohammad have accepted
to become mediums. There are indications that Jesus was a
medium for the Holy Ghost and Mohammad was a medium
for angel Gabriel. The second Christ is yet to come and he
will become a medium for angel Michael. Our masters of
this life and past lives can render much help once our heart
has become unburdened and open to the existence. And this
can happen only through meditation. Once our fourth, fifth
and sixth chakras have opened, much help can flow and
invisible hands can take care of us. With the opening of the
seventh chakra we begin to receive the Grace of God which
is the ultimate energy because God has no forms and no
limitations. But in each case through meditation we have to
reach a particular state of well-being and of spontaneity.
The Indian seers have said that human beings suffer
from six kinds of perversions—those of lust, anger, vanity,
greed, prejudice and jealousy. If we can get over these, the
grace of God can become available to us. This grace energy
Tulsidas has called ‘Ram Ras Barase’. So with the help of
The Paradise Never Lost 23
Yoga and methods of meditation we have to work upon at
least from the first to the fourth centres, only then prayer
can be meaningful. Before this, prayer is just a ritual and it
can lead nowhere. In fact, prayer is not an act but it is a
state of being. This is another matter that some people are
born prepared through their past lives. So the path of love is
not relevant to each and every human being. We have to go
through much catharsis and through much meditation before
we can become available to bliss or prayerfulness. A man of
prayer simply wonders why others cannot pray. Why everyone
does not get his prayers heard. We know that everyone cannot
become a poet, or a musician or an artist, in the same manner
everyone cannot become a devotee. Talents are inborn that
is acquired in the past lives and similar is the case with
prayerfulness. Everyone is not born a Nanak Saheb or a
Ramakrishna because these people come prepared through
their past lives. For others, these people are no less than
miracle. Exceptions only prove the rule and so everyone has
to begin with meditation. Either the meditation will take care
of us if we belong to the first type or our meditation will lead
us to prayer if we belong to the second type. For some people
both meditation and prayerfulness will occur simultaneously.
In fact, prayer has nothing to do with rituals. It is irrelevant
if one goes to a temple or to a mosque or to a church or
nowhere. Rituals cannot help and rituals cannot harm.
Formalities are formalities and hypocrites are not entertained
in the Kingdom of God.
With the opening of our fourth, fifth and sixth chakras
we may become connected to some Enlightened Beings and
prayer may follow. With the opening of the seventh chakra
we become connected with God himself and the Grace of
God has to follow. The Grace of God is the purest form of
divine energy; Hindus and Sikhs represent it symbolically
as ‘Prasad’. Once our Seventh Chakra opens, the whole
existence becomes a temple. Sufis call it ‘noor-e-illahi’ or
the light of Allah. It is reported that nobody could look in the
face of Mohammad or in the eyes of Vaheguru. The seventh
chakra has immense possibilities, it is said to be a ‘Lotus
With Thosand Petals’ just to approximate a comparison. When
the Seventh Chakra has opened in its fullness, we are
absolutely enlightened. All boundaries disappear, the water
inside the pitcher becomes one with the water outside as
24 The Paradise Never Lost
Kabira has put it.
One more point we need to discuss here. Prayerfulness
is a state of mind, it is not important to whom the prayer is
directed. The prayers may be directed to a master, to
Bhagwan Vishnu, to God–the Father or to Allah or to the
Existence itself. One is prayerful if one is unconditionally in a
loving state of mind towards the whole existence. That is why,
Jesus had said, “Love is God” and also he had said, “I give
you but one commandment–love God with all your strength
and with all your might”. Mohammad too, is great because
he refuses to create any fairy tales around Allah. His Allah is
the most abstract form of a divine being. It is neither like
Bhagwan Vishnu nor like God–the Father, Allah has no wives,
no sons and no relatives close or distant. He never takes a
birth on the Earth. He never descends to the Earth,
howsoever, great the emergency may be. Only the Devil has
to come to the Earth time and again. Allah is both present
and absent. He is like both the Saguna Brahma and the
Nirguna Brahma of Hindus.
Here, it is interesting to note that whenever a seeker
happens to surrender to an Enlightened Being, his
transformation can happen without any effort on his part.
This happened to J.Krishnamurty, his masters had been
working upon him. Once the seeker opens his heart, the
master or any other Enlightened Source whatsoever can help
a lot. That is why, the disciples have praised their masters
so much. The disciples have said, “The master is Brahma,
the master is Vishnu and the master is the Lord Shiv himself.
The master is the ultimate reality visible to the eyes. That is
why, I bow down to the master.”
Hindus believe in numberless enlightened persons.
Christianity and Islam speak of many angels which are above
mankind. These are more divine even than Jesus or
Mohammad, naturally they believe them to be enlightened.
To Mohammad Gabriel is a great help. To Christianity both
Michaelangelo and Gabriel are important and to the Sufis
Khizra is the angel which guides every seeker on the path.
Sufis have gone even to the extent of saying that Khuda
(God), Khudi (Self) and Khudai (creation) are one and the
same reality. Even in the Koran it is written that Allah is
both the observer and the observed. This reminds us of J.
Krishnamurty’s famous statement ‘The observer becomes the
The Paradise Never Lost 25
observed’. To the Hindus every enlightened master is of the
same caliber as the Prophet Mohammad. When an
Enlightened Master becomes fully awakened and is liberated,
his vision is broadened and he becomes as wise as an angel
like Michael or Gabriel. But all angels are forms of God, only
‘Nirguna Brahma’ has no form. The ‘Nirguna Brahma’ or
‘The Param-brahma’ corresponds to the Mohammadan Allah.
Mohammad has said we need to bow down only to Allah.
This shows not only his wisdom but also his self-denial. This
also shows how much he had been against any possibility of
hypocrisy. In all other traditions we come across so many
saints who want to assert themselves. Mohammad said it
was a blasphemy to bow down to any such a hypocrite. We
must learn from everyone who is wise but we must bow down
only to Allah. This was very wise on his part because every
new tradition begins like a revolution but ends up like a
superstition. Soon the hypocrites occupy the places which
lie vacant because the wise men have gone with the winds.
There are two very concrete reasons for which the
humanity should always feel indebted towards Osho too.
First, because Osho has explained very dilligently and very
successfully that all the enlightened persons have had the
same experience but their expressions have been different,
in as much as different religions have used different parables,
terms and symbols for the same experience. The second
reason for which we must feel grateful towards Osho in his
teaching that enlightenment has a beginning but it has no
end. Even after leaving the human form the consciousness
of an Enlightened Being goes on evolving. First of all, there
is self-realisation, we come to know ourselves as
consciousness which is without the framework of space and
time; then at the second stage consciousness becomes cosmic
that is we see the same consciousness pervading everywhere
in every creature. With this second realization we become
one with the whole existence, such a person has been called
a Brahmin. A self-realised person is a dwij (twice born) but
not a Brahmin. Nirvana is the ultimate stage with no identity
left behind but nobody can describe this experience. God is
informal and He is at the highest point of this hierarchy.
Patanjali calls God the original master or the master of all
masters. So there are three stages-self, Brahma and
Parambrahma. God is the Parambrahma and so is the Allah.
26 The Paradise Never Lost
Not only the creation is evolving but along with it the God is
evolving too. Matter is physical energy and Mind is
psychological energy but consciousness transcends every
form of energy because it is the source of all kinds of energy
whatsoever. According to Genesis this original source is the
God.
In the beginning there are only two beings—the God and
the Devil. The God who was called Khuda and the Devil who
was called Nakhuda . God represented Faith and Devil
represented Doubt and there were only two principles. The
Devil means divine and the Devil is the God in disguise. In
fact, he was blessing in disguise. The Forbidden T ree
symbolizes meditation, Science, Technology and Human
Enterprise etc. The Upanishadic term for it has been ‘Avidya’.
God symbolizes Faith and the Upanishadic term for this
principle is ‘Vidya’. Upanishads have asserted that there are
only two priniciples—Vidya and Avidya and both are
indispensable for happiness, to become complete. We all know
that Science and Faith are both indispensable for the
humanity. The problem is that Science and Faith each claims
to be more intrinsic than each other and likewise meditation
and devotion each claims to be more effective than each other.
The War of Armageddon is the war between these two
principles. As a matter of fact, this war cannot have a
beginning and this war cannot have an end. But we must
not forget the God and the Devil have been at ease with each
other and will continue to be so forever. They never fight but
allow their angels and christs to have a tournament. It is a
great fun. Anyway, each of them has a right to the Paradise
and the Paradise is Never Lost. This is another matter that
sometimes the angels of the Lord become dominating and
sometimes the angels of the Devil become dominating but it
makes no difference to the Paradise.
Some intellectuals think that ‘Jehad’ or ‘The War of
Armageddon’ is a war outside. These people are mistaken
because it is a kind of spiritual war only. This spiritual war
has to continue from the beginning to the end because
otherwise is not possible. Sometimes the angels of the Christ
will seem to dominate and sometimes the angels of the Devil
will seem to make a score. But it is a very friendly contest
and it has to do nothing with the bombs and the missiles.
Nobody has a right to defame the Bible or the Kalamepak
The Paradise Never Lost 27
howsoever a warmonger he may be. Jesus and Mohammad
belong to whole of the mankind and no one has a right to
posses them. But spreading of the misunderstanding of the
holy books can prove very dangerous too. There is a danger
that the Islamic extremists can consider the Christian nations
as the armies of the Devil and the vice-versa and this can
result in an onset of the Third World War. I am here to
advocate Jesus, Mohammad and Saint John because I
understand them and it becomes my sacred duty to spread
the truth about them. Only enlightened people can have a
right to challenge my authority and the authority of Osho in
this matter but they will find no purpose for it. All those who
know have always been on the same side and all those who
are ignorant should beware to interfere with them. Even if
the wise people contest between them, the contest is to help
the mankind but not to harm it. So beware and repent lest
the day of great turmoil should take hold of us. Amen!
28 The Paradise Never Lost
The Contemporary Background
Osho began to preach towards the last part of the
twentieth century. Among his predecessors two persons have
been important—Vivekanand and J. Krishnamurty. The style
of J. Krishnamurty is untraditional and it forms a category
by itself. J. Krishnamurty does not acknowledge any of the
traditions, it may be Hinduism or Christianity or Islam. His
expression is more like the western philosophers than like
the spiritual preachers. Between Vivekanand and Osho
almost one century has elapsed and the human knowhow
has changed tremendously since then. Osho had to preach
in a scientific, political, economic and cultural environment
which was very much different from the environment in which
the mystics before him had happened. For example, the
contemporary scene has been different from the times of
Krishna, Buddha, Jesus or Mohammad. Osho is right to say
that although every seer has the same experience but his
expression differs. In brief, in this chapter we will discuss
those major influences which Osho had to assimilate while
expressing himself. These influences include very prominent
systems of our times.
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
First of all, we take Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. The
evolutionists claim that the human body has evolved from a
unicellar creature amoeba through a process of arduous
revolution. He is not one whom God has created in his own
image or one who is to resemble the holy angels; he has no
element of divinity in him. At the most now he can be said to
be a bridge between the animals and the angels, a bridge
between the Earth and the Heaven but deeply rooted for all
practical purposes into the Earth. Man is evolved from animal
and also a part of the animal kingdom.
Medical Science, too, seems to support this theory. The
same drugs are applied to the human system as are applicable
to other animals of the Mammal Family. In fact, we administer
our new productions first of all to animals like rats, rabbits,
monkeys etc. and only when the results are favourable we
apply them on the human volunteers. Except for the
The Paradise Never Lost 29
magnitude the effect is the same. So no intelligent person
can ridicule the theory of evolution today. It seems to have
an element of truth in it. Anyway, it is popularly accepted by
the modern man. Now it seems that man has not come to
conquer the Nature but he has come only to share its gifts,
to the extent that the disturbance in ecological balance can
result in absolute disappearance of the mankind itself from
the surface of the Earth.
It has many practical implications to a spiritual seeker.
For example, the concept of celibacy has become a matter of
ridicule. The Medical Science has established now that the
semen can have no outlet except the sexual one. It cannot
be channelized to follow some alternative route in the body,
all channelization is impossible. Also, the formation of semen
is a biological happening and it is beyond the scope of Human
Will. The formation and secretion of semen in a grown up
man is as natural as menstruation in a woman. In fact, both
these phenomena are counterparts of each other. Howsoever
divine a man may be, he cannot withhold his sexual outlets
as a woman can not stop her process of menstruation. One
process pertains to the sperm and the other pertains to the
ovum. Even ascetics like Buddha and Mahavira are not
supposed to have done it. So all those who claim to be
celibates are obviously hypocrites. All celibacy is absolutely
out of question.
Similarly, food and sleep also are essential needs for the
body. One who practices too long fasting goes into cerebral
comma before he dies. One who plays loose and fast with his
sleep gets his mental processes disturbed. Jains use fasting
and Sufis use sleeplessness as a part of their spiritual
practices respectively but one has to be careful using them.
One has to be careful also in using methods of meditation
like ‘Tratak’. Body has its own systems and spiritualism
cannot be a fight against the body but only against the
perversions of mind. Body is not the enemy, only mind is
the barrier. All the practices like Hathayoga are not only
unnecessary but also damaging too. Kabira has been proved
right that a spiritual seeker should live a spontaneous life.
The School of Psychoanalysis
Secondly, Sigmund Freud came up with his school of
30 The Paradise Never Lost
Psychoanalysis which later on introduced Psychiatry as a
branch of Medical Science. The School of Psychoanalysis
established very diligently that all suppression of the natural
sexual instinct led only to sexual perversions like
Homosexuality, Lesbianism, Dildos, Kleptomania, overeating
etc. Furthermore it is one of the major causes leading to
various kinds of neurosis and psychosis both. It may lead to
Schizophrenia, to depression, to mania, to phobia, to anxiety
states, to insomnia and to many other psychic disorders.
The Psychiatry has established also that the spouses who
live an unhappy married life and the children of such parents
are very much prone to mental sickness. Marriage is more
often unsuccessful than it is otherwise and to psychiatrists
an unhappy wedlock has become a nightmare.
Is there any alternative to the institution of marriage or
not? Just now there seems to be no alternative. However
some revolutionaries like Osho have thought it indispensable
to search for an alternative society. The psychiatrists cannot
approve of a forced wedlock because unhappy family
conditions are the greatest factors contributing to mental
sickness. No intelligent society is in a position to force two
unknown persons behind a wedlock. The divorce is becoming
as easy as possible but people are still away from happiness.
In fact, there are certain observations which put a sign of
interrogation to the institution of marriage itself. By nature,
both man and woman are polygamous and it is a matter of
routine that after a certain time the honeymoon sinks and
the search for a new partner begins and not many can resist
the temptation. The monotony and the monogamy of marriage
can even drive some sensitive people crazy, however it leads
invariably to a loss of interest in life and a hidden state of
suppression. In fact, the monogamy is against our genetic
code and all morality imposed by the society proves to be
skin deep only. The Western societies which are permissive
are more capable of research, invention, discovery and
hardwork compared to the Oriental societies in which taboos
are very common. It is a matter of experience that the Western
people are more social, more generous and more respectful
towards life than the Eastern people with home sickness.
All our morality is seen to lead to gloominess and withdrawal
only.
Now we have to understand Freud’s view about
The Paradise Never Lost 31
renunciation also. Freud has opined that man has two kinds
of intrinsic desires—the Libido and the Mortido. Libido is
the desire to live and Mortido is the desire to die. Libido
dominates in all those people whom we call normal and
Mortido dominates in most of the people who are mentally
sick. Although both these desires are present in every human
being simultaneously but one of them is dominant and the
other is recessive. It is not abnormal that in the old age
Mortido should become the dominant factor or in chronicle
sickness it should become dominant. Here we are reminded
of the birth story of a character Jarasandha of Mahabharata.
We all know the Jain word Nirjara which means decay of
Pudgal (matter). Jara is opposite of Nirjara and so it should
mean attachment to matter. ‘Sandh’ means a tie or a device
to keep together. So Jarasandha means one who is kept
together through attachment to matter. According to Freud
every human being is a Jarasandha. Half of his being is
born of Libido and the other half is born of Mortido. When
both these halves are put together by attachment we come
to life and when both these halves are torn away we die.
These two halves belong to two mothers who are jealous of
each other and so they are always seen to pull us in opposite
directions. Freud has pointed out that all renunciation means
that the Mortido has become dominant over the Libido and
likewise all renunciation is an effort towards gradual suicide.
Consequently, the Western Society today is very much
condemnatory towards any sort of renunciation whatsoever.
According to them no one renounces in a normal state of
mind and even great people like Buddha, Mahavira, Gorakh
etc. have suffered from the will to die. At some point of time
they have decided that now they should move towards death.
So all asceticism and all austerity is unwelcome to a scientific
mind these days. That is why, Osho could never insist upon
renunciation and detachment. We all know that Osho had
been a student of both Philosophy and Psychology while he
was in the university and that he had a tremendous
understanding of modern psychology too. This fact has made
him different even from his contemporary mystics like JK.
He always used to say he could not afford to be stupid because
he had been a thoroughly educated person.
Freud has been very much against suppression too.
Whatever we deny to ourselves comes back again and again
32 The Paradise Never Lost
to our minds and gradually it occupies all the space of minds.
If we have only one broken tooth removed from our mouth
and all the rest of them intact, our tongue again and again
goes to the place from where this only one missing tooth has
gone. Whatever has been denied becomes most attractive to
our minds. I myself have gone through an experiment. For
one month I stopped taking all sugar. I took no sugar even
while drinking tea or coffee or milk. After a few days every
night I started dreaming of sweets. Although in India, we
have really delicious sweets but the sweets which began to
appear in my dreams, I had never even imagined before.
Each night I would find myself standing in a confectioner’s
shop and would see sweets of hundreds of varieties of scores
of sizes and of dozens of colours. Sweets and sweets all around
put in small and large containers would surround me. But
unfortunately before I would begin eating these, my eyes
would open and much dissatisfaction would follow. It seems
that Freud has been right that suppression cannot help
transcendence. Whatever we suppress is bound to slip into
the unconscious territory of mind and nothing can be done
about it. Gradually we become obsessed with it rather than
becoming immune of it. We have to go through an experience
with thorough awareness whenever required only then we
can think of becoming transcendental to it. No one can attain
to peace of mind with a continuous habit of repression.
The Advanced age of Marriage
We have to look at another fact too. The age of marriage
has gone up considerably high in last fifty years or so. Today
we live in a society which is very competitive and complicated.
Before one settles down in life, one finds that the prime of
youth has already gone. It is only between twenty-five and
thirty that a person gets permanent employment and can
look forward to a married life. The days of child marriage
have gone with the winds of changing times. The need for
sex arises as early as the age 15-18 and the sexual energy is
at its peak between 15 and 30 only after which it moves
downwards. The age of sexual maturity is reached at least
10 years before marriage and so it has become very difficult
to avoid pre-marital relations. The human biology does not
justify any lessons of chastity and virginity in this context.
The Paradise Never Lost 33
Either again the society needs to regress back to the practice
of child marriage as was customary only a few generation
back or the society has to allow pre-marital relations. It seems
that social and economic changes have already closed the
possibility of child-marriage and pre-marital relations are
becoming more and more prevalent. Incest and Prostitution
are not permissible by the contemporary Indian society
because the Indian society is not a bold and courageous
society. Osho said he was ahead of time but the society is
changing so fast and so certainly that it seems that he was
only fifty years ahead of his time.
The Woman’s Liberation
There is still one more trend coming up, the fact of
women’s demand for liberation. Only recently women have
become economically independent. Just now we have reached
a point of cultural advancement when a lonely woman can
feel secure (I am not talking about a comprehensive global
situation whatsoever). So today some women decide not to
marry and to have a free life. The Government also have
made appropriate changes in law as much as to the effect
that a child is not considered illegitimate if the mother refuses
to declare the name of the father. In most of the Western
Countries today a woman need not mention the father’s name
as a legal requirement. There are some other women who do
marry but most certainly they decide to defy the sanctity of
the wedlock. They consider adultery and illegitimate
motherhood as a matter of natural right. It is surprising but
true that the recent economic independence of women has
caused a real threat to the very institution of marriage. Man
has been economically independent since time immemorial
but man cannot beget children and so his independence has
never caused a threat to the wedlock. The liberated woman
has become a real threat not only to the institution of
marriage but also to the proper inheritance of personal
property. It is the irony of Nature that to ensure his
fatherhood a man has to honour the institution of marriage
and the ethics connected with it but to become a mother a
woman need not depend on marital ethics. A man can never
bring home another woman’s off-springs but a woman often
intends to impose another man’s issues upon her husband.
34 The Paradise Never Lost
This is obvious cheating because fathers too work hard and
sacrifice their earnings for the welfare of children. The West
has become almost used to it but in India it is a new
development. In a liberated society a man is never certain
about the children. Even the most intelligent and the most
sincere men can remain deprived of the right to beget
biological off-springs. Even a very intelligent person may rear
children which are idiots and a very virtuous man may rear
children which are even criminals. Under such circumstances
has marriage not become only a matter of formality?
When Osho came in touch with the Western people
around 1970 he could see the absurdity of the whole situation
and expressed his unhappiness. It gave his outlook an anti-
marriage tilt. I came across his book ‘The Mustard Seed’
which is a series of discourses on Jesus delivered around
1970; he has pointed out that all deep relationships are
disappearing and this is a matter of great concern. He has
said that in the past marriage used to be a deep commitment
between a man and a woman but now it is not so. In a
liberated society, the husband is nothing more than one of
the many boyfriends and the wife is nothing more than one
of the many girl friends. It seems that Osho gradually became
attuned with the Western culture but he always used to
condemn the institution of marriage and preach that it was
all against spiritual growth.
The Genetic Engineering
Osho was a master who paid much respect to Science.
He could envisage that the approaching age is going to belong
to the genetic engineering. Even today we can hear the
footsteps just nearby. Many times cloaning has been
performed successfully. In a few words Genetic Engineering
means that it is possible to have mutation, permutation,
combination, transformation, elimination etc. of genes taken
from different sources and through processing them to have
a child with details already prescribed. Now it is possible to
decide beforehand all the attributes of a child such as sex,
intelligence, aptitude, temperament, height, weight,
complexion, colour of hair, colour of eyes etc. Also by making
a positive use of genetic engineering we can get rid of all the
genetic diseases for which the heredity has been responsible.
The Paradise Never Lost 35
For this, we have to give up is the conventional insistence
that the sperm should come from the husband and the ovum
should come from the wife. Instead we shall have to use
various sperm banks and ovum banks to give birth to a new
child.
For example, in the future it will be possible to beget a
girl who looks like Aishwarya Roy, plays on sitar like Pandit
Ravi Shankar, writes fictin like Amrita Preetam, be a great
scientist like Einstein, have green eyes like Germans, have
black hair like Indians, and be tall like Dutch people etc.
Genetic Engineering can make all this feasible but for this
happening we will have to deny the right of fatherhood to
man and right of motherhood to woman. It may look in
human and unethical in the beginning but the quality of
production is going to become the most important factor in
this competitive world. With the passage of time no couple
will be left in a position to give birth through an ordinary
process only because it can pertain to their genetics.
The Life of Spiritual Search
Osho had come to understand other reasons also which
went against marriage. As a spiritual guide he could see
that Freedom was indispensable for the spiritual growth of a
seeker. A mind ridden with responsibilities, anxieties and
future scheming cannot rest in the present and cannot
experience timelessness. Infact, the ancient masters like
Patanjali, Buddha, Mahavira, Shankaracharya, Gorakhnath
etc. also understood this necessity for Freedom, that is why,
they made celibacy a pre-requisite for initiation. The reason
was not that they were against sex, the reason was they
were against wastage of time after worldly concerns. But
these days, after the growth of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution,
Psychoanalysis, Psychiatry, Human Anatomy etc. any
insistence on celibacy has become ridiculous. The discovery
of methods of Family Planning has made it possible even for
a spiritual seeker neither to marry nor to suppress the natural
sexual drives. Also, if a seeker is married previously he can
avoid too many children. Osho is reported to have said that
the contraceptive pill was a greater invention even than the
invention of the Atomic Energy. First time in the history of
mankind sex has become delinked from childbirth. Now one
36 The Paradise Never Lost
can have sex, as much as one likes without having the
responsibility to bear children. According to Osho, with the
advancement of Science and Technology more and more
people are going to become fed up with the riches like Buddha
and Mahavira had become and consequently more and more
people are going to become interested in spiritual quest too.
Now, in brief, I may again describe the factors which
made a real impact on Osho’s philosophy regarding the Man
and Woman relationship. These factors are as the following—
Necessity of Freedom for seekers, insistence of modern
psychiatry on non-suppression, anatomical impossibility of
celibacy, the methods of birth-control, Genetic Engineering,
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, the advancing age of marriage,
women’s demand for liberation, the monotonous and
suppressive nature of marriage, growing irresponsible
behaviour of working women towards children and the old
people. Having thorough contemplation of all these factors
Osho had to devise a formula which he did through liberation
from the bondage of marriage. In his opinion love is enough
to keep a man and a woman together, no legal enforcement
is needed.
Osho and his Concept of Freedom
Here one more thing is worth consideration. For Osho
freedom used to be greatest value. Freedom was not a means
but an end in itself. To Osho, security induces a kind of
spiritual sleep whereas insecurity and living from moment
to moment helps the seeker to come out of his spiritual
slumber. That is why, Osho invariable preached that we
should live in insecurity. Osho has said even in a battlefield
many people have attained to self-realisation because the
insecurity had to be greatest there. When it comes to life
and death no one can afford to remain unaware. So Osho
was in favour of both freedom and insecurity which would
result from remaining unmarried. It was his crystal clear
understanding that only freedom in the beginning could lead
to the freedom in the end. What is not present in the seed
cannot be expected to sprout and multiply in the tree.
In Osho’s view only freedom could lead to love, meditation,
companion, prayer and finally to liberation. Liberation is
nothing except absolute freedom and all spiritual search is
The Paradise Never Lost 37
essentially a search for freedom. In this way, we can say
that freedom is the ultimate, the absolute and the supermost
value for a spiritual seeker. Married people usually try to
posses each other and so they hinder each other’s growth.
No surprise that they come to develop a kind of mutual hatred
which becomes their second nature. To a husband a wife is
not a person but a commodity to possess and the vice-versa.
The institution of marriage reduces a person from a divine
being to a mere commodity. That’s why, only Radha could
see the Bhagwan in Krishna but none of his wives could do
it. Radha was just a beloved of Krishna and was never married
to him. But in the temples only Radha and Krishna are
worshipped together not any one of his wives because only
Radha could come spiritually close to Krishna. For the wives
Krishna was just a possession, only for Radha he was divine.
Only love can be divine not a right to possess. So nothing is
so much against the spiritual growth of a seeker than the
imprisonment of a wedlock.
It seems that there are certain guidelines which Osho
has provided for his disciples in particular and not perhaps
for the outside world in general. The younger disciples should
change their love-partners as frequently as possible. No one
should intend to continue with the same partner for more
than a week. A week should be considered enough time to
explore each other. The younger people should try to
understand more and more persons from the opposite sex.
Finally, when they have found a person with whom their
energy and temperament match, they should try to settle
down in life. This stage comes naturally between the ages of
35 and 40 round about. By this age, they should start living
in on the basis of love, not on the basis of marriage. When
they come to a point of perfect understanding and they
become certain there will be no need for them to separate,
they can choose to have children. But the seekers should
always bear in mind that their mission has been meditation,
not skin deep pleasures. Each and every disciple, howsoever
busy, is required to meditate regularly. This was exactly the
pattern, Osho’s disciple used to follow in Osho’s communes.
The goal of life is meditation without fighting the natural
instincts of the body.
Here I admit most humbly that I am not a social reformer
and also that people like Osho are far ahead from the madding
38 The Paradise Never Lost
crowd. Yet the society in which we live is changing too fast
recently. I have been a teacher in Indian universities and
this is my experience that much change has taken place in
last twenty years or so. With the advancing age of marriage,
pre-marital relations have become more frequent than before
and also divorce is not a rare happening recently. We have
reached a point in India where marriage is considered a
matter of agreement and not a matter of social obligation.
All those who considered marriage as a divine ‘Samskara’
have proved themselves to be a class of idiots by themselves.
They ought to be put into a dustbin or into a museum today.
In fact, they have known nothing about the changing facts
of life.
We hear much gossip about Genetic Engineering today.
Before proceeding further there are certain questions to be
raised. The first problem is that every adopting mother and
every adopting father may not feel attachment towards the
child who has been engineered genetically. Even if the law
interferes the child may have to bear a miserable fate. A
society has to take much precautions in such matters. We
must remember too that qualities such as Beauty,
Intelligence, Dexterity, Goodness are all comparative. For
example, if every person is engineered to be beautiful, beauty
will loose all the meaning. No society can be without problems,
however intelligent all its members may become. In fact, we
cannot change the intrinsic nature of life which is dualistic.
May be we do not dare to opt against genetic engineering,
yet we will have to be very careful and attentive. Children
are very innocent and very tender and they cannot defend
themselves. Much love, care, devotion and sacrifice is needed
on the part of the parents to rear a child. We cannot forget
about the common psychology while creating a Utopia like
this. Osho was at the peak of human awareness and there is
no wonder if he was more Utopian than he was practical. We
must respect him very much but before all this existence
have become the same Absolute Self for us too, it is prudent
to remain thoughtful in practical matters like this.
The Political Scenario
By the year 1960 all the Asian and African countries
except South Africa had become independent. Democracy
The Paradise Never Lost 39
became the vogue of the day. It was post World-War situation
and declarations like the Atlantic Charter exhibited great
honour towards Human Rights, Constitutionalism, the Rule
of Law and the Equality before law. At present, onwards,
any expression even in the field of Mysticism does not take
the same form as it did in the past.
The past belonged to Monarchy and Despotism. This
system of government influenced also the spiritual expression
of that time. For example, the Jewish God used to rule with
an iron rod in his hands. For all practical purposes He was a
very angry and revengeful God. He always pleased to send to
the Earth calamities like Famines, Wars, Floods, Slavery,
Epidemics etc. He was ever ready to punish his subjects.
This seems to have been his only task. The God of Hindus
too used to be a sovereign ruler like Lord Rama and Lord
Krishna. He used to be an embodiment not only of kindness
but also of punishment. He would protect the righteous but
ruin the wrong doers. Anyway, the God of Hindus of those
times used to be a symbol for the Supreme Power. The God
of Mohammad has been a Being to fear and to bow down
before. He has been a superior Being and a category by
Himself. Although He has been compassionate and forgiving
too, but not even in his dreams a Mohammadan dare to
condemn his God, howsoever angry may be the feelings
towards Him. The obvious punishment for any kind of
blasphemy has been the sentence for life. Even greatest of
mystics like Al-zia-ul-Mansoor Shamzad etc. were killed for
their so called disobedience towards the concept of God.
Although Jesus was the son of a mere carpenter coming
from an ordinary walk of life, his disciples thought it proper
to depict him as a man of miracles. He was depicted as the
only begotten son of God and his death was described as his
own choice because he wanted to redeem others of their sins,
because through his death he wanted to save the world. Much
glory and myth was fabricated around his personality as
was the style of those days. He is reported to have said,
“When Abraham was not, I was. I am the beginning and the
End. I am the first and the last. I am the alpha and the
omega. I am the bright morning star. Come, follow me.”
In the past, as we discussed earlier, the image of an
enlightened person was portrayed as the image of a king
and a ruler because those were the days of monarchy on
40 The Paradise Never Lost
Earth. With the advent of democracy this style of a divine
being has become outdated. That is why, for last two
thousand years there have been no Gods, no incarnations,
not even sons or nephews of God. Rama, Krishna and Jesus
have been the last of them. For last fourteen hundred years,
the God has not even gathered any courage to send even a
Prophet to the Earth, Mohammad has been the final one.
Why is it so? Because the old order changes giving place to
new and all is good with the world. The political systems on
the Earth have changed and none is now superior and none
is now inferior.
Osho and J. Krishnamurty have been the first among
enlightened persons who have claimed no excellency. They
always have insisted that they are ordinary persons. Osho
has said it time and again that the only extraordinary thing
about him has been his being extraordinary ordinary. He
has been the same human flesh and blood but has been
fulfilled in his ordinariness. He never tried to become
extraordinary but this remaining contented with oneself is
the only extraordinary thing possible. Rajneesh began to call
himself Bhagwan only because today Science too has become
a superstition and out of this superstition people have been
concluding that all talks about Self and Brama are old and
useless principles. He wanted to create an awareness of the
eternal aspects of truth. Jesus has said the same thing that
no one lightens a lamp and puts it under the cot. A lamp
belongs generally to the top of the roof. Jesus has also said
to go to the rooftops and shout because people are in sleep.
Ignorance is collective and ignorance is united and so all the
enlightened forces either from the past or from the present
also have to unite. We have to use every device to fight
ignorance today, this device may be Hinduism or Christianity
or Islam whatsoever. By all means we have to reveal the
Truth. Osho has explained that to him Bhagwan means ‘a
blessed one’. It does not mean God-the creator, God-the
sustainer or God-the annihilator, that is, it does not mean
God of Bhagwadgeeta. Osho said always that everyone was
a Bhagwan once he had come to realize. It is for first time in
the History of Mankind that an enlightent person behaved
himself like a very lively and playful human being. Osho
never demanded any awe from his followers. He said he was
just a good friend of theirs. Yet he was a master most
The Paradise Never Lost 41
honoured and most beloved by all around him. He had almost
three hundred thousand disciples when he left his body and
most of them were ready even to lay down their lives for his
sake. Although Osho always respected everybody’s freedom
and asked everybody to respect the freedom above all, his
disciples nevertheless were very obedient to him.
Krishna said that he was the great and the greatest. All
the existence emerged from him and all the existence again
would disappear into him. One need to do nothing but
worship Krishna and Krishna would serve to each and every
devotee liberation put on a tray of gold. Krishna admitted
himself to be very great but the effect Bhagwadgeeta produced
on Indian minds was just the opposite. The Indian women
dismissed Krishna as an omnipotent Lord depicted by Geeta
and Bhagwat and recreated him as a Playboy of their desire.
They took too much liberty with him; they imagined him
even as their romantic lover. Lord Shiva too was considred
as one of the original trinity. He was as sovereign a lord as
Bhagwan Vishnu himself. But, later on his male organ
became more important than even himself and began to
appear more frequently in the temples than his own idol. In
a way, only Hindus have dared to make a religion in which
even making love to God is permitted. Naturally, Hindus did
not create any fanaticism but the Hindus did not consider it
necessary to take the spiritualism seriously also. Very
advanced philosophies and very celebrated schools of
Enlightenment were reduced just to a formal ritualism. Today
a common Hindu knows nothing of Upanishad, or of Geeta;
to him religion is just a routine ritual. This is very derogatory.
Jesus, too, in the manner of Krishna declared that he
was the only son of God and one not born of sin. All others
were sheep and he was the only shephere to help them. Just
like Krishna he said that people ought only to follow him
and all their sins will be forgiven. Every one who follows him
will be saved. People even fixed their chairs besides the throne
of God-the Father. Everything was fullproof but this
expression became a problem even to Jesus himself. The
Jews crucified him just to examine his claim on his father.
They thought that as he was the only sone of God, so God
was bound to save this son without whom He would become
childless. The Jews wanted to see the God free of charge and
this was the easiest trick they could play upon the God. The
42 The Paradise Never Lost
Jews wanted to see a miracle happen without any loss but
they got frustrated. Even the disciples of Jesus thought they
need not take any effort to save Jesus. God would save Jesus.
So all except Saint John escaped from the scene of
crucifiction. Even Saint Peter denied Jesus three times before
the dawn. Christians say he died on the cross, anyway, they
should know it better. What is obvious to humanity is the
fact that just within a few hundred years when the New
Testament was composed, Christians themselves,
nevertheless, crucified the teachings of Jesus and his
understanding of life. The Jews could crucify his body only
but the early Christians crucified his very spirit. They reduced
him to the status of a conjurer performing his street magic
every now and then. Only Saint John in his Gospel has done
a little justice to him. Gospel according to Saint John is the
only profound Gospel included in the New Testament. This
Gospel according to Saint Thomas also has been discovered
from the dead sea and has a different story to tell. This gospel
has a better description of Jesus and narrates Jesus as a
great master. Everyone is advised to go through Osho’s book
‘The Mustard Seed’ which is a series of talks on Gospel
according to Saint Thomas. The world could not derive much
benefit from the wisdom of Jesus and all the credit goes to
the over-enthusiastic early Christians. Now-a-days people
are very likely to say “who cares about the breads and the
wines!”
Only Mohammad had been wise in his humbleness. He
did not allow his followers to consider him a divine being.
Instead he provided them with a most abstract divine entity
in the form of Allah. That is why, all his followers stood by
him through the thick and the thin, through the life and the
death and through the peace and the strife too. His hiding
himself behind the Allah protected him from all unnecessary
nuisance. All the greatness would belong to Allah and all the
ordinariness to Mohammad. His devotion to Allah was
unprecedented and was admired by all his fellows and friends.
It is not a wonder that Osho had a very good opinion of
Mohammad. He himself was a man like Mohammad as far
as humbleness is concerned. He never claimed to be a special
one and a category by himself. He only asserted that everyone
was responsible for his bondage and everyone could come
out of it. Everyone created his own Heaven and his own Hell
The Paradise Never Lost 43
around himself. He was no one to save others. Osho said he
could only share his understanding of life, of love, of prayer,
of meditation and of benediction with all those who had come
to him. He had come to share not to save.
Osho said it is proper for a disciple to consider his master
superior to himself because a disciple has no vision but it is
foolish for a master to consider his disciples as potential
lower beings. He used to say that enlightenment is everyone’s
choice and no master can force it upon his disciples. Osho
gave a new glory and a new freedom to mankind. He
condemned no one and tried to awaken everyone. He really
lived the statement of Shankaracharya, “A sleeping Devdatta
is as much a Devdatta as an awakened one is”. He used to
say that no one is superior and no one is inferior, people
may sleep and people may get up.
His mission was Meditation, Prayer and Freedom and
his compassion was overflowing bliss and benediction. He
did not even expect thanks from those who received his grace
and love. His love knew no bounds and he was only too
generous to allow it. I can state about Osho, but one maxim,
‘Never Before Never After’. Amen!
44 The Paradise Never Lost
Meditation: The Absolute Freedom
Meditation is being herenow. Meditation is being available
to the present moment. All reality is in the present and all
reality is herenow. But man is not herenow, so there is no
meeting between the two. Man is unceasingly engrossed in
thought and thoughts have only a psychological reality, not
an existential one. All thoughts pertain either to the past or
to the future which has not yet come. As long as man is
absorbed in thoughts, he lives in a dreamstuff of his own.
That is why, this world is said to be Maya. This creates
ignorance and ignorance creates anguish and misery. An
insane person is one who cannot distinguish between his
own dreamstuff and the world outside; his experiences we
describe as illusion, delusion, hallucination and
disorientation. A person becomes mad when he considers
his imagination in the waking state of mind to have objective
reality; this is another matter that in the dreaming state of
mind everyone considers his imagination to be real. In
madness, the same begins to happen in the waking state of
mind also; a subject cannot distinguish between his
imagination and the objective reality outside. So on the one
extreme there is madness and on the opposite extreme there
is meditation. Meditation is the utter silence of mind when
all the involuntary mental processes such as thought,
memory, day-dreaming, apprehension, anxiety, imagination
etc. stop. A normal person is in between the two-madness
and meditation. He is healthier compared to a mad person
but not as healthy as a man of meditation. So this continuous
verbalization has to stop only then one can attain to the
truth. Silence of mind is not the truth but it can become a
sure passage to the ultimate truth. It can become a jumping
board from where we leap into the truth.
Meditation means to live in timelessness. In fact, there
is no past and there is no future either. Past is the creation
of our memory and future is the creation of our imagination.
Present is just a bridge between the past and the future. If
there is no past and there is no future, there cannot be
present also. If both the ends supporting a bridge are unreal,
the bridge cannot be real. So the time is not an existential
The Paradise Never Lost 45
reality but just an apparent reality, that is to say time is
psychological. If all changes cease to occur outside and
mental processes cease to be inside, the time disappears
and this is the state of a perfect Yogi in meditation. Then
what is about space? We always observe space in connection
with objects. If all the objects disappear, the space also
disappears. In deep sleep and dreams the outside objects
almost disappear from our consciousness and we forget where
we are sleeping. So, in brief, thoughts create time and objects
create space. Now again we come to our basic question, what
is meditation? Meditation is an experience in which all
thoughts disappear and all objects disappear but
consciousness remains. So, in meditation there cannot be
any time and there cannot be any space. Rather meditation
is a state of contentless consciousness. A state of
consciousness tithered to no objects physical or mental is
Meditation. In this state of consciousness the observer, the
observed and the observation become one. The mirror
becomes empty with its quality to reflect intact but there is
nothing to be reflected. So meditation is returning to the
source or coming to the centre or self-realisation. The
consciousness releases itself from the periphery, from the
body and the mind and returns back to the centre. So in
meditation all the objects disappear, both physical and
psychological. There is no furniture of the Heaven and the
Earth and no psychological impact of it on the human
consciousness.
This looks like some philosophy, so let me try to simplify
it. If I talk to someone I am not silent. Suppose I stop talking
to others but begin talking to myself without speaking my
thoughts aloud, I am not silent again. This process we call
thinking and thinking too is a monologue. It cannot be said
to be silence of mind. In fact, small children cannot even
differentiate between thinking and speaking. There are
children who cannot read a book without uttering the words
outside and every child when alone talks to himself.
Meditation is utter silence; we do not talk to others and we
do not talk to ourselves either. There is no speech and there
is no thought, this is meditation. That is why, in India a seer
is said to be a ‘muni’ which means one who has attained to
‘maun’ or silence.
Meditation is No Mind. Let us understand it. Mind is a
46 The Paradise Never Lost
flux like a flowing stream of water. Continuously we are giving
energy to our thoughts, emotions, memory, dreams,
apprehensions etc. as psychological processes. We are
creating them voluntarily and involuntarily continuously.
The stream of water which is flowing should be called rivering,
similarly the flux of psychological processes we should call
minding. If there is no minding, there is peace; as long as
the process of minding continues there is no peace. In fact,
peace of mind is a phrase consisting of two contradictory
terms. Either there is peace or there is mindstuff. So ‘absence
of minding’ is a better term. Osho and the Zen monks have
called it no mind. The state in which all the flux of mind
comes to a stop is the state of No Mind. When Jesus uses
the term ‘Peace of Mind’ he uses it knowingly, because it
does not mean ‘absence of mind’ but a state of mind in which
thoughts have become less and less. Is it possible to become
a man of No Mind? All the mystics including Osho and J.K.
both have replied in the affirmative. In Japan they say—
Sitting silently, doing nothing
The spring comes
And the grass grows by itself.
Japanese call it zazen which is the most powerful method
of meditation according to them. Of course, we do not intend
to discuss the methods of meditation here.
Meditation should not be defined as concentration, may
be even people like Patanjali and Vivekanand have done it.
The purpose of meditation should be relaxation whereas all
concentration creates tension in us because it involves
attention. Whosoever has encountered truth has encountered
it in a state of absolute relaxation. T ruth comes
spontaneously as a leaf falls or a flower opens or a breeze
blows but no sound of a footstep is heard. It always comes
as a thief in the darkness of the night. The ultimate experience
can be described as Sat-Chit-Anand that is as a state of
existence, consciousness and bliss. All attention leads us
away from bliss and so it leads us away from the ultimate
experience too. The whole existence is in a state of perpetual
relaxation except the mind of man. There is no doubt that in
the end extreme attention can also lead to relaxation but
this is not advisable since concentration can sometimes even
drive a person crazy. Every method of meditation can lead to
wrong results if it is practiced in a wrong manner. So
The Paradise Never Lost 47
witnessing is the best method which the Japanese call zazen.
Meditation seems to be impossible in the beginning. Some
psychologists agree with David Hume while claiming that
thought is the activity of brain and the absence of thought is
not possible as long as a person is living. But it is not without
experience that all enlightened people down the ages have
been talking about this state of No Mind. It is a matter of
common sense that animals and small children are in a state
of almost thoughtlessness, so why cannot a grown-up person
regain it? It can be verified through scientific instruments
also that an infant is almost in a state of no mind. The society
gradually creates in him the flux of images and of suppressed
emotions and this suppression creates the process of
involuntary minding in the child. Without language no
thought is possible and so thinking in words which we call
verbalization has to occur at a later stage in a human
offspring. In the beginning only images can come to the mind
of a newly born child. Our system of education, too,
strengthens continuous thinking. In fact, the people whom
we call intelligent are people who think too much. That is
why, Maharshi Raman has defined Meditation as a process
of delearning. Now, we come to understand what verbalization
is. When a child, for example, looks at a flower for the first
time, the child is there, the flower is there, the looking is
there but there are no thoughts to interrupt between and
qualify the experience. When a grown up persons looks at a
flower, there are many intermediate thoughts coming to his
mind. For example he may say to himself—this flower
beautiful, this flower is pink in colour, this flower has a very
sweet fragrance, this flower is very fresh and I must not
pluck it etc. This process is called verbalization and it pollutes
or distorts the act of looking. We do not look at the flower
directly but in the presence of the thoughts which interfere.
A meditator has to drop this verbalization happening
continuously. One just has to remain aware during the whole
process and the process drops by itself. In fact, our
unawareness or inalertness creates this process and we have
to break this habit. We should not remain halfhearted in all
that we do. We have to disallow all the interference which
our similar past experiences create. We do not have to fight
with our thoughts, we have just to come more and more to
the present moment. So the first tip for a meditator is that
48 The Paradise Never Lost
he should try to become aware of this process of Verbalisation.
In fact, our half heartedness creates verbalization. If we
do not put our total energy into action, some part of this
energy is used to create verbalization. Verbalization seems
to be a psychological substitute for the lack of attention. So
a very essential tip for a mediator is TOTAL ACTION. When
we eat we should put our total energy into the act of eating;
when we drink we should put our total psychological energy
into the act of drinking; when we look at a picture we should
put our total attention into the act of looking. When our
total psychological energy is put into action, no energy is left
to create interfering thoughts. Gradually, through attention
we can break our habit of verbalization because it is we who
allow the energy to go to verbalization. Our efforts to do away
with verbalization are not without rewards. When
verbalization stops we come into the present and when we
come into the present, bliss follows spontaneously. In fact,
the bliss has always been there. Through nonverbalization
we can avail it.
A meditator should always avoid suppression. We should
learn to express our emotions such as anger, love, hatred,
tears, laughter, jealousy etc totally and unreservedly. If we
suppress, the suppressed energy creates in us involuntary
mental processes. It is not advisable to throw our emotions
on other people because it can create a chain reaction. But
we can express our emotions totally behind a closed door in
our aloneness or in a forest where there is nobody around.
We do not call a person wise who does not clean his house
regularly and does not throw the garbage outside for the
fear of public opinion. The same is true of our emotions. The
more we suppress our emotions, the more perverted and
tension-ridden we become. A meditator should not aim at
becoming a serous-looking gentleman. All seriousness is
disease, let it be cast into golden letters. A wise man should
always behave in a childlike manner.
We all have got some experiences which have a taste of
meditation in them. These experiences can help us to
understand what meditation means. Whenever we fall into
the present moment, we feel the blissfulness of meditation.
Coming sometimes the food is delicious and we become totally
absorbed into the act of eating and there is enjoyment.
Sometimes a song is very sweet, we become totally engrossed
The Paradise Never Lost 49
in singing or listening to it and there is enjoyment. When we
move into sex for the first time with a new partner, we are
absorbed totally into the act and the bliss follows. At least in
the moment of orgasm we all fall to the present moment and
that is why there is so much appeal for sex. The more tense
a society becomes, the more sexual it grows. Because sex
becomes the only method to stop the rustle and bustle of
mind.
To some people, Nature too, has a great appeal. While
they sit with Nature, the mind is silent for the time being.
Wordsworth has reported, ‘Then I cease to be’. This is the
state of utter silence or meditation. When a person, for
example, goes to a beautiful place like Kashmir for the first
time the natural beauty of the place quietens his thoughts
and he comes to like the place. He becomes totally absorbed
while looking at the immense beauty. But to the Kashmiris
who live there and have become habitual of the place, the
place looses all the appeal. They need not remain total in
their seeing.
If a person drives too fast, there may be danger awaiting
ahead and so he cannot afford daydreaming and that is why
some people enjoy fast driving. People who have been very
much in tension, fast driving can become an obsession only
for this reason. To get rid of tension, they may go on
increasing the speed and it may become dangerous. To the
mountaineers mountaineering may induce a state of
thoughtlessness and so they like it. Whenever the life of a
person is at a stake, the train of thoughts stop and that is
why to many people dangers and wars have an appeal too.
When the life itself becomes surrounded by danger, the energy
cannot move into the thoughts, the person happens to fall
to the centre and sometimes he becomes enlightened too.
Akido or Swordfighting is a very good technique for meditation
and it is actually suggested in some Zen monasteries in
Japan. In brief, Sex, Good Music, Good Food and Dangers
are some common experiences known to almost everyone
and similar to meditation.
We can consider meditation from another point of view
too. There are three states of mind known to every normal
human being. Jagriti or the waking state of mind; Swapna
or the dreaming state of mind and Sushupti or the state of
dreamless sleep. In the waking state of mind our
50 The Paradise Never Lost
consciousness is primarily attached to the outside objects.
For example, we are seeing certain things, we are listening
to certain sounds, we are smelling certain odours, we are
feeling cold etc. In the waking state of mind, our
consciousness is primarily engaged in perception. Then we
fall asleep and start dreaming. In the dreaming state of mind
our consciousness is full of images, symbols, emotions,
imaginary objects etc. There is always a kind of conception
in the dreams; primarily our consciousness remains tithered
to conception. Then the dreams are gone and we enter deep
sleep of which there is no memory. We are not conscious of
this state of mind. Neither there is perception nor there is
conception. Meditation is the fourth state of mind called
‘Turiya’. The word Turiya literally means different from the
three. It is like Sushupti with awareness. If one can become
suddenly aware in the state of dreamless sleep it can become
a glimpse of Samadhi. In Sushupti there are no contents
outside or inside but there is no memory either. In Samadhi
too all contents disappear but there is memory or awareness
or consciousness there. That is why Jesus said again and
again to his disciples even the night before the crucification
day, “Do not fall asleep, be aware while I am still here”. There
are no contents of consciousness either in Sushupti or in
Samadhi but what makes difference is our awareness.
Samadhi is an experience while Sushupti is absence of all
experience. My understanding is that every day in Sushupti
we fall back to the state of Nigod for a little while. But this
cannot continue too long since we have become
transcendental to this state already. In Sushupti again we
regress back to the same state when we are matter, minerals,
vegetables, trees etc. In meditation too, we are in the same
state of contentless consciousness but this time we are fully
aware and we become transcendental to the wheel of life
and death which we call Sansara. When this state becomes
eternal we are liberated. There is relaxation either in Nigod
or in meditation and between these two ends there is change
and all change brings tension and all change brings time-
consciousness. In fact, time-consciousness is the world and
time-consciousness is the anguish so much talked about by
the existentialists. Man is a bridge between Nature and God
and he is always in the becoming and all becoming is anxiety.
It seems that in a cycle of daynight we pass through all the
The Paradise Never Lost 51
states of consciousness through which we have evolved upto
now. Existence itself is evolving from matter to perfect
consciousness and we, too, are a wave in this stream of
existence. When meditation becomes permanent, Samadhi
becomes spontaneous and the mind does not arise again
and again, one becomes enlightened. It is said that a fully
enlightened person can know all the past, all the present
and all the future to come. But we should remember that
enlightenment has a beginning but it does not have an end.
However, an enlightened person knows himself as a soul
which is different from our psychosomatics (body-mind) and
is also supposed to know all his past lives too.
How can one attain to Meditation? There are four stages
of meditation – Vaikhari, Madhyama, Pashyanti and Para.
Vaikhari and Madhyama pertain to the waking state of mind,
Pashyanti to the dreaming state of mind and Para to the
dreamless sleep. One has to begin with the waking state of
mind. We must remain total in all our actions; we must
remain in the present while doing all our worldly affairs.
That is while we act we have to avoid daydreaming,
verbalizing, falling a prey to imagination etc. When we eat
we should become the eating; when we walk we should
become the walking, when we take bath we should become
bathing. All our actions should be performed wholeheartedly,
that is to say we should remain mentally present while
performing all our routine actions. This remaining aware
during all our actions is called the first stage Vaikhari. Once
we become able to act with awareness, our awareness can
witness our thoughts and emotions also. In this second stage
of Madhyama we can see our anger before it actually arises
or we can watch our sex energy before it manifests itself into
bodily changes etc. In the third stage gradually our awareness
can penetrate even to the dreaming state of mind. We are
dreaming and then suddenly in the middle of the dream we
become aware of our dreaming and the dreams disappear. A
kind of awareness always associates even to the dreaming
state of mind and we can remember all our dreams. This
third stage is called Pashyanti. In the fourth stage we become
aware even in SUSHUPTI or dreamless sleep and it becomes
a glimpse of Enlightenment. This fourth stage is known as
Para. Beyond these four stages of Meditation is Samadhi.
Samadhi is when Meditation becomes effortless and it
52 The Paradise Never Lost
becomes a part of our being.
In the beginning it is very difficult to become aware
without methods. So one has to begin with the methods.
One hour in the morning and one hour in the evening is
enough to begin with. Only those methods should be used
which have been devised by some Enlightened Master and
should be used under the guidance of those only who have
gone through them personally. The traditional methods or
the methods from the remote past cannot help now. Why?
The civilization has been changing everyday and our mind is
a product of civilization in the main. The pattern of education
also is changing everyday and so our mindflux is changing
too. Man is not as relaxed and non-suppressed as he used
to be in the ancient times. Man is very much tense and
repressed today. So the inactive methods do not help now.
Chaotic methods are necessary which allow a lot of catharsis
until we can attain to silence. Our civilization has trained us
in such a way that we live more and more in the head and
less and less in the heart. We continuously doubt, argue
and disbelieve. This is a part of the scientific temper or
rationalism without which we cannot persist today.
Consequently, methods have become more and more
necessary. Man in the past was spontaneous but modern
civilization has imposed much repression upon him. We have
to suppress almost all our emotions such as anger, sex, tears,
laughter etc. If a person, for example, has to suppress anger
this suppressed energy moves to his astral body and it
becomes a complex there. The same is true about all other
emotions too. Either an energy is expressed as such or it
transfor ms to some other for m or it moves into the
unconscious. No energy can remain static. Before attaining
to the Peace of Mind one has to release all these complexes.
That is why, catharsis is needed and also some methods of
transformation become indispensable. To understand the
methods of meditation, the reader is advised to keep Osho’s
book – “Meditation: The First and Last Freedom”.
However, one can always spare one or half an hour daily
and sit down with closed eyes. With our eyes closed we should
watch our thoughts and emotions without encouraging or
discouraging them. We should become a witness, that is, we
should watch them as we watch the clouds in the sky or the
scenes on a television screen or the unknown people passing
The Paradise Never Lost 53
through the street. We should form no judgment of them, no
interest, no commentary, no encouragement, no
discouragement, no attachment, no contempt etc. That is
why, Jesus has said, “Judge ye not”. Through
disinterestedness we stop giving energy to our thoughts and
the thoughts become less and less and we can experience
the gaps between them. Because our thoughts have
unconscious momentum through life after life, the thoughts
cannot disappear all of a sudden. But witnessing them or
watching them without interest leads towards silence of mind
sure and steady. The seekers are advised to do one cathartic
method in the morning and one passive in the evening
everyday. Gradually, we approach the Kingdom of God and
suddenly one day we find ourselves inside it. There is no
door, there is no knocking and suddenly the Kingdom of
God is there.
One more thing we have to remember. It is as good to
travel hopefully as to reach. Meditation is a bliss from the
beginning to the end because what is not in the seed cannot
exist in the tree too. So begin meditation and enjoy it, more
and more. Remember that meditation is witnessing,
meditation is awareness, meditation is transformation,
meditation is awakening of energy, meditation is relaxation
and meditation is centering. Blessed are those who feel thirsty
for they shall drink from the eternal source of life. The path
is not something different from the destination, the
destination is just the last step of the path. We must consider
meditation not as a means but as an end in itself. Enjoying
more and more of it, going deeper and deeper into it, the
meditation becomes the Enlightenment. It is not a matter of
time but a matter of intensity. It takes time because we need
time to prepare ourselves to go into the deeper waters.
Everyone who wants to meditate is advised to see Osho’s
book ‘Meditation: the first and last freedom’ and to purchase
cassettes for methods of meditation. Amen!
54 The Paradise Never Lost
Prayer : The Art of Ecstacy
To begin with, we have to understand the basic features
of Yoga. According to the Science of Yoga we all have seven
centres. The important among these centres are the first,
the fourth, the sixth and the seventh centres. These are
known respectively as the sex, the heart, the third eye and
the centre of thousand petal lotus flower. The first centre is
said to be mooladhar which means the basic foundation.
This centre connects our being with the Nature or Earth
and our legs belong to this centre. Infinite energy lies dormant
near the first centre, we have to awaken this energy and
make it transcendental. The more and more energy we can
awaken, to higher and higher centres it can reach. This
energy can open all our centres and can make us enlightened.
This is the basic principle of Yoga.
We have to awaken the energy at the first centre and not
waste it as it has to move to higher and higher centres. If the
energy starts awakening, in the beginning more energy can
go to the sex act but we should continue with our practice. A
point comes when the sex act cannot dissipate it, so there is
no need of repression at all. Finally, this energy can open all
our seven centres. With the opening of every centre we go
through a new kind of transformation and we are never the
same again. All ethics and commandments become our very
nature. Finally with the opening of the seventh chakra in its
fullness we become a divine being. The fourth centre or the
heart centre is the centre of all negative and positive emotions.
All negative emotions come from our animal inheritance and
all positive emotions are a matter of evolution. We have
suppressed a lot through life after life and we have much
suppressed energy at the heart centre. This centre remains
closed as long as there are repressions in our personality.
So Catharsis can help a lot in the opening of our heart centre.
Dynamic, Kundalini, The Mystic Rose and No Mind are the
most powerful techniques for Catharsis. Once the heart
centre is opened the negative emotions begin to transform
into the positive emotions; for example, hatred is transformed
into love, anger is transformed into compassion, jealousy is
transformed into regard etc. With the opening of the third
The Paradise Never Lost 55
eye we can encounter a world which is astral and non-
physical. The cosmic eye is known as the third eye also.
With the use of this eye we can see the aura of a person, the
astral body of a person etc. Whenever we fix our eyeballs the
energy starts to move towards the third eye and the vice-
versa. With the opening of the Seventh Centre our being
looses all the boundaries and we experience oneness with
the whole existence. Kabira has described this experience
as, “When the walls of a clay pitcher are broken, the water
which is inside it becomes the same as the water of the river
outside”. This happening is Enlightenment, before this a
seeker is just on the path. Once the seventh centre opens,
we no more identify ourselves with the Physical Body or with
our mind stream. We can to know ourselves as pure
consciousness and remain no more identified with the body
or the mental processes. This identification we call ego and
so Enlightenment is the egolessness.
The circles which have the same centre but different
peripheries are called concentric circles, and man is like many
concentric circles. The outermost circle pertains to action,
the second circle pertains to thought and the third circle
pertains to emotion in us. Finally at the centre we are just a
conscious substance. Primarily this centre is realized as the
Atman (Self). By and by we come to know that this centre is
the centre of the whole cosmos also and as such it can be
ter med as the Brahma . This is the meaning of the
Upanishadic saying that Atman and Brahma are one. There
is a continuous flow of energy from the centre to the periphery
which we call the creation or universe and this outflowing
energy is known as the grace of God. This energy is
impersonal, existential and absolute in its nature.
If we understand life more and more we become more
and more humble and our ego starts melting. What happened
to Gautam Siddhartha? All of a sudden, he came across a
sick person, on old man and a dead one and he understood
the futility of life and the futility of his own ego too. No wise
man can be an egotist. Sometimes mere experience of life
proves enough to induce in us a state of mind which is almost
egoless. Same happened to Gautam Buddha, he was shaken
to his roots all of a sudden and all his investment in ego
disappeared. Whenever we are egoless the grace energy starts
coming to us. This energy can be felt descending from the
56 The Paradise Never Lost
seventh centre by every man of awareness. That is why, there
is a meaning in the Sufi saying, “Before a seeker starts moving
towards God, the God has already travelled the half-way
towards him”. Every humble person can receive the Grace
and can allow it to transform him. This state of mind is
known as Prayer. In Hindu and Sikh congregations, they
distribute some eatables known as Prasad and this eatable
symbolizes the grace energy. The Muslims too raise their
hands towards the sky or spread their garments as they feel
they are receiving some invisible gift. When Jesus says “Blest
are those who are poor at heart, for there shall be the kingdom
of God”, he is referring to Prayer. Thus egolessness is prayer.
It is a state of mind and it has nothing to do with rituals.
Prayer in its purest form has nothing to do with being a
Hindu or a Mohammadan or a Christian whosoever.
The discipline which deals with the descendence of this
grace energy is known as Bhakti or devotion. This grace
energy can be used for the transformation of a seeker and
the master can help this transformation in his way. All energy
is neutral, we can allow it or we can disallow it, we can put
it to a good use or it can go waste. So for a devotee a master
can be a great help. This showering down of energy can take
various routes with various people. Someone can begin to
sing like Nanaka; someone can begin to dance like Meera
and Chaitanya and someone can begin to compose great
poetry like Tulsi and Surdas. Anyway, Bhakti is the path of
music, dance, poetry, art, aesthetics and beauty. The
descending energy can open all our centres including the
heart centre and the third eye and finally it can reach very
roots of our being. If a mystic on this path can manage to
open in fullness his third eye and his heart centre, he can
become a great master like Jesus and Nanaka. A mystic can
also attain to liberation even without working on his heart
centre and the third eye but then he cannot help others. He
can become only a Saint or a Social Reformer. So every master
is a mystic but every mystic is not a master. Great masters
are generally born prepared through their past lives and most
of the times this preparation is accomplished by some mystic
tradition. John-the Baptist was a seer, when he saw Jesus
for the first time he said, “Here comes the Christ. I can see
the sky open and a white dove descending on him”. Jesus
was an energetic person and his energy was the Grace Energy.
The Paradise Never Lost 57
A yogi has to try just the reverse, he tries to take his energy
up from the first to the seventh centre. He tries to awaken
the energy which is lying dormant near the sex centre and
then to raise it up upto the seventh centre. A devotee feels
his energy just the other way round, he finds the grace energy
descending from the seventh centre to the every roots. The
path of Yoga is arduous while the path of prayer is that of
receptivity. A man of prayer has only to learn how to allow
the grace energy to overtake him and how to express its
working through his being. He has just to learn a let-go and
a non-fighting attitude. Generally, no method is necessary
on this path, one has only to allow the energy to work upon
him. In Old Testament prophet Jacob has said, “I wrestled
with God the whole night when he descended on me”. This
attitude is unwanted and finally even Jacob had to surrender
to God. So a devotee has to learn faith and gratefulness and
a surrounding attitude. But he feels more and more bliss
coming to him and so surrender becomes easy gradually.
Osho used to say if you find yourself more and more blissful
everyday you are on the right course, blissfulness is the
criterion. Also, Osho used to say that prayer is the expression
of one’s gratitude towards the Existence. This is the meaning
of thanksgiving in the Holy Bible. In short, the paths of Yoga
and Bhakti are complementary to each other.
Most of the seekers are a mixed type. They can feel both,
the energy ascending upwards and the energy descending
downwards too. My understanding is that everyone must
begin with meditation. For first one year every seeker must
do only the chaotic and cathartic meditations like Dynamic
and Kundalini. Having done these meditations he should do
the groups like ‘The Mystic Rose’ and ‘The NO MIND’. After
this he should go for the silent meditations like NADBRAHMA
and VIPASSANA. So we should always begin with meditations.
When through meditations we have opened our first, second,
third and fourth centres prayer may begin happening. To
some people it happens and to others who are still enjoying
ego-trips it does not happen. We cannot receive energy below
the fourth or the heart centre. Our heart centre is connected
with our hands and if the energy descends on the fourth
centre, our palms will automatically be raised towards the
sky. Jews, Christians and Muslims have known such people
and now it has become a part of ritual to them. Some people
58 The Paradise Never Lost
do receive energy at the heart centre through their hands
raised in prayer. The prayer becomes purer and purer as we
proceed to open our fifth, sixth and seventh centres. My
understanding is that there are more masters in their astral
bodies than the seekers need to have. When we open our
fourth, fifth and sixth centres and much help may follow.
We can receive energy from these masters at the fourth, fifth
and sixth centres but with the opening of the seventh centre
we become connected with God himself. There is a mention
in the Holy Bible and also in the Koran that the Holy Ghost
had helped Jesus and the Angel Gabriel had helped
Mohammed. These are the possibilities at the sixth centre.
Perhaps the second Christ will become a medium for the
Angel Michael as it is mentioned in the Revelations. Sufis
have been talking about Angel Khizra down the ages. All
these angels are like masters in their astral bodies.
During the ancient times man was simple, straight and
unrepressed and prayer was spontaneous and easy. With
the intellectual growth of mankind and growth of complexities
in society prayer has become more and more uncommon. A
man whose inner and outer is the same happens to be the
man whose lower four centres are open and are in a harmony;
only such a man can expect to be prayerful. Hypocrisy,
repression and ego are some of the impediments which can
prevent us from becoming prayerful. With more and more
intellectual growth all the energy moves towards the third or
the mind centre and there is no opening of the Heart. As
such prayer has become rather rare in our times.
Today, almost everyone has to begin with meditation only.
There should be no wonder that the most ancient religions
like Vedanta and Judaism are both religions of prayer.
Upanishads, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Sikkhism all
are traditions devoted to PRAYER in some way or the other.
But with the growth of civilization religions of Meditation
also had to come up to complement prayer. Patanjali, Buddha,
Mahavira, Gorakhnath and Osho will be remembered ever
for their insistence on meditation or on some kind of
discipline. Here is a Christian story: “Once upon a time there
were three rustic and innocent men. They knew nothing
about prayer, so they devised a very simple prayer mentioned
nowhere in the scriptures. Their prayer was: ‘We are three
and you are three so have mercy upon us. Of course,
The Paradise Never Lost 59
Christianity too, believes in a trinity; God the Father, God
the Holy Ghost and God the Son and so this prayer worked.
Even great miracles followed in the presence of these three
uneducated persons. The news reached the Chief Priest also
and so he came to see these three wonderful people. As he
had come he thought it proper to teach them the right prayer
given in the scriptures. Soon these persons forgot the right
prayer because they did not know how to write it. The priest
was returning back so they rushed towards the priest and
in their hurry they even forgot to take a boat and walked on
the river water. The priest, too, was astonished but he
understood the real meaning of prayer and took his advice
back”.
A prayer is heard only if it arises from an innocent heart.
Mischievous people cannot pray and cunning words are not
heard. Prayer is a matter of falling in synchronization with
an Enlightened Being and this need a sincere and sensitive
heart. Perhaps we are all like iceberg in the ocean of existence,
when the ice starts melting oceanic waves begin to touch us
and penetrate us. This is prayer and our ego is the only
barrier. Prayer is an oceanic experience, it is prayer when
our drop begins to feel that it belongs to the ocean. When we
realize that all that surrounds us is a cosmos not a chaos, it
is a system not an accident, we become relaxed, this
relaxation is prayer. So a person with a negative attitude of
life cannot pray. It is prayer when one can see a harmony, a
synchronization, a system and a beauty all around. So prayer
is relaxation and it is on oceanic experience.
Prayer is cosmic orgasm. When two bodies meet and
merge into each other, what follows is a sexual orgasm. It is
ecstatic but momentary, intense but fleeting; we do have a
glimpse of the beyond but this glimpse leaves us very soon.
No meeting is permanent at the physical level; but our
physical body is not the only body. The next three bodies –
ethric, astral and mental – consist of energy only and these
are invisible to the eyes. When too physiques meet and merge
into each other we call it sex; when two egos meet and merge
into each other, the meeting goes a little deeper and this
meeting we call love. Love is an energy orgasm, it happens
at the level of second, third and fourth bodies. That is why,
even without feeling a necessity to touch each other lovers
can go on sitting together even for an eternity. Even if there
60 The Paradise Never Lost
bodies are apart, they feel a kind of meeting and this is the
mystery of love. Lovers meet at a level deeper than the
physical and their love is no less fulfilling than the actual
sexual act. Love is the primary form of mysticism. Keats has
rightly said, “It is better to have loved and lost than not to
have loved at all”. With love the world of mysticism begins
and that is why all our poetry, music, song, dance, art,
literature etc are found obsessed with this experience. Most
of the people stop at the level of sex, few experience love and
fewer experience prayer.
When the experience of being in love is liberated from a
particular object and it becomes a perpetual state of mind, it
becomes prayer. When this whole existence becomes our
beloved, our love becomes prayer and this can happen only
through a right understanding of life. When our being meets
and dissolves into the whole existence, this meeting becomes
prayer and it can endure even forever. This Totality taken
together becomes our beloved; everywhere we can see beauty
and we find ourselves in love with it, this is prayer. Everything
is beautiful, good and divine and all this existence is the
same substance, this state of mind is prayer. Upanishads
have called this state of mind upasana or being near the
divine; so upasana is prayer. When there is sublimation of
sex energy, it becomes love and when there is sublimation of
love it becomes prayer. So it is prayer when we realize this
whole existence as our home and when we realize that we
are here to melt and merge into our eternal beloved. When
two bodies meet, the meeting can only be transitory because
bodies are not without limits; when two lovers meet, the
meeting is followed always by separation because our minds
are everchanging; once this whole existence has become our
beloved no separation is possible; this eternal meeting is
prayer. When we want to merge into the body of a person it
is sex, when we want to merge into the being of another
person it is love and when we want to merge into the total
existence it is prayer.
Love of Nature is prayer. We cannot see the divine which
is an invisible principle, but Nature is the outermost layer of
the divine. One who finds Nature full of inspiration in all its
moods is a man of prayer. As Wordsworth has put it, “Nature
never did betray the heart which loved her”. When our ego
starts disappearing we begin to feel a harmony with Nature;
The Paradise Never Lost 61
we begin to fall in a synchrocity, a rapport and a dialogue
with Nature. This being with Nature is prayer. When we begin
floating with a floating cloud; when we begin blooming with
a blooming flower; when we begin to feel a dance in our
heart with a singing cuckoo; when we begin to feel colourful
with a rainbow, we are sure in a state of prayer. Wordsworth
was right to say –
One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man
Of moral evil and of good
Than all the sages can.
Being near Nature is being in tune with the divine and it
is prayer. The infinite vastness of Nature instructs us what
man has made of man.
Prayer is the path via positiva. Every one has suppressed
a lot of energy at the heart centre. Every civilized person is a
suppressed person. This suppression continues life after life
and much catharsis is needed before we can open our heart
centre and the emancipated energy can move towards the
next chakras. To a devotee or to a man of prayer the Grace
Energy can flow down from the seventh chakra and this
energy can take the form of music, song, dance, poetry, fine
arts etc while it works upon the heart centre and opens it.
Such a person can become even a great musician like Surdas,
a great poet like Tulsidas or a great dancer like Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu. All these are the possibilities of the Grace
energy working at the heart centre. Those who are on the
path of prayer generally follow no methods and this
spontaneous overflow has created a lot to aesthetics. A
meditator on the other hand depends on methods to clean
his heart of suppressions such as dynamic or deep breathing
practices – such people bring nothing to humanity except
the silence of mind which of course is the ultimate language.
These methods are fast and effective and can open the heart
centre too silently. That is why meditation is known as the
path via negativa whereas prayer is known as the path via
positiva. This is true that many yogis like Patanjali, Buddha
and Mahavira have created great systems of philosophy but
all philosophy belongs to the mind centre whereas music,
poetry and arts originate from the heart centre. In fact,
philosophy pertains only to the thought and has nothing to
do with the heart. So it is the state of prayer which contributes
62 The Paradise Never Lost
to beauty and it is the perfection of meditation which
contributes to truth. A poet has commented, “If other great
laureates admire my poems then it is poetry otherwise it is
just an excuse to remember Radha and Krishna”. We cannot
forget however that men of prayer like Surdas, Tulsidas,
Kabira, Meera, Nanaka etc have contributed much to make
life rich.
Now, we come to the practices like chanting on rosary or
mantras etc. Every enlightened person is connected with
the same grace energy which is absolute, impersonal and
invariant. But every enlightened person has a different
personality, a different sequence of past lives, so this absolute
grace energy once being received by a particular enlightened
person manifests itself into different variations. That is every
enlightened being has a specific energy. The energy of Buddha
is not the same as the energy of Krishna and the energy of
Rama is not the same as the energy of Mahavira etc. This we
can understand with the help of an examples. Suppose we
have different containers which differ in colour, shape and
size and we lay them open. The rain water which showers
down this container is the same rain water but it becomes
different after it occupies the different containers having
different solvables. So the grace energy which is available to
every enlightened person is the same but it undergoes
transformation after it has been received. Every enlightened
person is unique as far as his constitution, karma, sanskara
and the infinite chain of past lives are concerned. So the
energy of every enlightened person is unique and have a
unique effect on one who receives it. For example, the wind
which passes through a flute and a clarinet is the same but
the music produced is different. Now, we can ask to ourselves
what is the meaning of initiation by a particular master?
The disciple becomes connected with the master’s energy
and the energy can transform the disciples. This is the only
meaning of initiation. The master’s energy is received at the
sixth or at the lower chakras whereas the grace energy is
received at the seventh chakra and we can received both
these energies simultaneously too. Can a person become
connected to a particular master even without meeting him
physically or even after the master has left his physical body?
Yes, there are certain methods. Some of these methods
include mantra, idol, picture, chanting name etc. When a
The Paradise Never Lost 63
seeker chants Rama-Rama or Ali-Ali he becomes connected
to a unique enlightened energy which is different from all
other enlightened energies including the grace energy.
Different names and mantras generate different energies and
this difference can be perceived if we have opened our third
eye. For example, the mantra ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’
connects a seeker, if he is receptive, to Buddha’s energy
whereas the mantra ‘Hari Om Tatsat’ connects us with the
Vishnu energy and these energies are different. Any person
who meditates can feel the difference which is evident. If
you chant the first mantra it becomes difficult to sing and
dance but if you chant the second mantra it becomes difficult
to sit silently doing nothing. Every mantra has a different
effect. We should choose only that mantra which suits our
spontaneity. Some mantras will make us tense and some
mantra will make us relaxed. We must opt for relaxation but
never for tension. Chanting a wrong mantra can even make
a person mad. We cannot fall in tune with every enlightened
being. If the recital of a mantra creates restlessness in our
being we must stop using it. Then this mantra is not for us
and it does not suit our constitution, it does not suit our
own energy at the lower centres. This energy phenomenon
has nothing to do with the religion we are born in. It is a
great science in itself and only an enlightened person can
prescribe a right mantra to us. Not that all Hindus can use
the same mantra or all Christians or all Mohammadans.
The science is deep and not without dangers. That is why,
the mantras sometimes have no meaning at all but only a
particular pattern of sounds. We call such mantras the seed
mantras. These mantras are more exact and more effective.
For example, the mantra ‘Om tun nun nun’ has no meaning
but it connects us to the Krishna or Shiva energy. Even the
mantras ‘Om Hari Tatsat’, ‘Hari Om Tatsat’ and ‘Om tun
nun nun’ have different effects. The first mantra connects
us to the Nirguna aspect of Brahma, the second mantra
connects us to the Saguna aspect of Brahma and the third
connects us to the celebrating aspect of Braham. So the
monks should use the first, the worldly people should use
the second, and the artists should use the third mantra.
The third mantra is excellent if we want to produce poetry,
song, dance and music. Every genuine mantra has a part
‘om’ or ‘amen’ in it which pertains to the seventh chakra and
64 The Paradise Never Lost
the grace energy and rest of the mantra pertains to the lower
centres.
A sculpture also may represent a particular enlightened
being. Sometimes many interesting metaphors have been
used. For example, we take the idol of Lord Ganesh. Lord
Ganesh never looked like his idol, in fact, no one can do it.
But there is a story behind this image. Shiva means the
‘ultimate welfare’, Trishul means a weapon with three
draggers which represent the three kinds of sufferings –
Adhibhautic, Adhidaivic, Adhyatmic mentioned in the
Upanishads, and chopping the head means disappearance
of ego. Shiva and Parvati both were enlightened persons.
Parvati created a child from the filth of her body. Every human
being is just a filth of his mother’s body unless he becomes
self-realized. In ignorance everyone identifies himself with
the flesh and bone and so everyone is just filthy. So the
description means the child was not born enlightened as
the devas were expecting of him; in fact, he was a great
nuisance in his early childhood. Shiva and other gave no
recognition to the child. Shiva did not even recognize him as
his atmaz (a part of being). Not even this, the story says Lord
Shiva came holding a Trishul in his hands and chopped the
head of the child. This means that the child had to pass
through all the three kinds of sufferings before he accepted
the discipline of his father and became enlightened. Finally,
the child became enlightened having no head at all not even
a physical one; he became so egoless that he was worshipped
before everyone else. His head was replaced by the head of a
baby elephant because elephant was considered the wisest
in those days. All this is symbology but Lord Ganesh accepted
this idol to represent him. Also, there is a more general
meaning of the story. This whole life is Shiva, the welfare
friend. The three kinds of miseries – the physical, the
accidental, the spiritual make the T rishul. Our head
represents our ego and chopped head means egolessness.
The head of the elephant represents a new kind of wisdom
(Pragya). Then this statue becomes a symbol for every human
being in ignorance, through transformation, and finally self-
realized. But this particular statue has a code behind it and
it can be used to become connected to Lord Ganesh only
and to no other being. In fact, every idol has to be a kind of
codework.
The Paradise Never Lost 65
 Similarly Hanumana was an enlightened person but he
belonged to the ‘Vanara’ tribe of aboriginals. In the early
times man was very close to Nature and many tribes were
named after the names of animals such as Vanara (Monkey),
Rikhsa (Bear), Naga (Serpent), Kashyapa (Tortoise) etc. Many
Brahmins still use Kashyapa as their family name but they
are not animals, similarly according to my understanding
Vanaras too were as perfect human beings as the others.
But Hanumana is depicted as a monkey and the meaning is
just symbolic. This too is a kind of codework. There is a
second meaning of this symbol also. Our mind is the monkey
and it is a good servant but a very bad master, so Hanumana
is depicted as a servant in Rama’s court, Rama being a symbol
for the Absolute Self. But this idol will serve only for a possible
approach towards Hanuman and towards no one else. All
the idols in India have been symbolic, these were cast in a
particular way not out of ignorance but to reveal wisdom.
When the foreigners came to India they could not understand
the science behind idolatory. Idolatory has been a great
science with Hindus and idols were used as keys to become
connected with enlightened people. So many people have
used mantras and idols as means of prayer too. But we must
remember that every idol is not a key and every temple is
not a living temple. These are just devices like a wireless set,
a radio or a remote control etc. These symbols work only if
the enlightened persons have made commitments through
them. The statues can look strange because they have strange
truths behind them sometimes.
Christians have used the cross as a symbol and many
people believe that this symbol used to exist even before
Jesus. Some people believe that it is a distant form of Hindu
Swastika. Anyway, it works to become connected with the
angelic tradition. The form of a symbol is not important,
only the commitment behind it is important. Anything can
be used as a device to materialize a particular kind of
commitment. My understanding is that the earlier Hindu
incarnations also were enlightened human beings but they
agreed to have animal symbols such as Matsya (fish), Varah
(pig), Kashyapa (tortoise) and Nrisinha (the lion man). All
these have been spiritual jokes having tremendous meaning
behind them. Rama and Krishna too are symbolic words
meaning respectively ‘the omnipresent’ and ‘the centre of
66 The Paradise Never Lost
the universe’. Of course, Hindus too have been great in their
methods of prayer, howsoever, uncivilized they may have been
considered by the Western people. The priest in every temple
was expected to be a seer, a man of the third eye who could
see the invisible world. Whenever a worshipper could really
receive the grace energy, to confirm this happening, prasad
was given to him. Prasad is the Sanskrit synonymous for
the English word Grace. It was given to those only whose
prayers were heard. To me it is obvious that Western scholars
like Maxmuller could not understand even the alphabets of
Hindu religion. But this I intend to discuss in my later book
‘Discovery of Indian Thought’ in detail. Only a few chance
remarks are relevant here.
Many of the symbols which we call Yantra, Mantra, and
Tantra have been genuine devices to provoke enlightened
beings but little knowledge always has been a dangerous
thing. Hindus had devised numerous forms of prayer. They
used temples, idols, remembrance, chanting, mantra, yantra,
tantra, rosary etc to make their prayers heard. Hence in
prayer we use certain symbols and devices to become
connected with enlightened beings. But this methodology is
the most primary form of prayer and advanced seekers may
not resort to it. Also one thing more should be remembered
here, just a ritual out of habit cannot bring any
transformation.
So, one must always begin with meditation and allow
the prayer to happen. We must also remember that half-
hearted efforts and rituals are good for nothing. A prayer is
heard only when it becomes a question of life and death,
only if it has an intensity and sincerity of heart. Otherwise it
is just ceremonial and brings only prestigiousness. A sincerity
of purpose, an intensity of enquiry and a totality of devotion
is needed to make a prayer worthwhile. Jesus is right to say,
“Love God with all your strength and with all your might”.
Nothing should remain reserved in us, only then the prayer
follows. Then all that we do is prayer and all that we don’t do
is also prayer. Prayer becomes our very being, we become
prayerful in our spontaneity. Amen!
The Paradise Never Lost 67
 What is Mysticism?
Is truth rational? Like all other mystics Osho, too, has
always said that truth is both rational and irrational. By
irrational we do not mean something contrary to reason or
something anti-rational but something which is beyond the
scope of reason. We mean to say that the ultimate truth is
super-rational, it surpasses the preview of rationality. Reason
alone is not enough. In fact, we can divide truth into two
categories – the practical truth and the absolute truth. The
practical truth which is within the scope of reason the
Upanishads have called ‘Avidya’ or ‘Aparavidya’; while the
absolute truth which transcends reason the Upanishads have
designated as ‘Vidya’ or ‘Paravidya’. For example, the ‘Isha’
Upanishad states –
“Those who concern themselves with Avidya alone enter
darkness but those who devote themselves to Vidya only enter
a deeper realm of darkness. It is through Avidya that we
reach the end of life and it is through Vidya that we attain to
eternity. Vidya and Avidya both are indispensable to make
life worthwhile.”
Today we live in an age of scientific temper and all of us
are brought up in this manner. Rationalism is a kind of
keyword today and it is a kind of aspiration we are all
supposed to attain. So our minds are obsessed with
rationalism. I need to explain this point in detail.
For this purpose, we have to examine source of knowledge
to begin with. How do we receive knowledge? We can classify
knowledge into four categories –
1. Perception
2. Conception
3. Aesthetics
4. Intuition
First of all, we take perception.
1. Perception :-
Perception is the knowledge received through our five
senses of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. All the
scientific instruments and apparatus are only extension of
our above five senses. The knowledge of Natural Sciences
68 The Paradise Never Lost
come under this category. Physics, Chemistry, Biology,
Geography, Geology, Medical Science etc. derive their
knowledge primarily and considerably via perception. To
make this point clear we take some examples –
(a) A prism decomposes the sunlight into a spectrum of
seven colours. (We do not seek any logic)
(b) The time taken by a body falling under gravity through
the same distance is independent of its mass (Newton’s Laws
of Motion)
(c) 2H2+O2 = 2H2O
(d) 2Nacl+H2SO4 = Na2SO4+2HCl
(We cannot explain it logically)
(e) Pencillin is an Antibiotics.
(f) Calmpose induces sleep.
(g) The Sun rises in the East.
(h) The Earth has only one Moon.
(There is no logic)
So we see that perception need not always be logical or
rational. Most of the times perception is perception and it is
neither rational nor irrational.
The Validity and Limitations of Perception
Since time eternal man has perceived the sky as blue.
Some religions have even talked about more than one skies
one after another. But now the science has established that
there exists nothing like a sky, it is an empty illusion. It just
appears but has no factual reality about it. This is an example
that what we perceive is not always valid. Everyone of us is
familiar with the perception of a mirage in a desert. There
are other examples when perception has misguided the
mankind invariably. For thousands of years mankind believed
its observation that the Earth was the centre of the Universe;
the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars all appeared to revolve
around the Earth. All early civilizations had based there
calendars believing this fact. In the West, this astronomical
system was called the Ptolemic system. Just a few centuries
back Copernicus came with his new calendar based on the
fact that the Sun did not move around the Earth but vice-
versa was the ease. I have read Bertolt Brecht’s drama ‘The
Life of Galileo’. When Galileo for the first time advocated
The Paradise Never Lost 69
that Copernicus was right, he was ridiculed by the church
authorities. The Cardinals laughed at him and mocked him
and all of them but one who was a Mathematician said,
“Please Galileo take hold of us, because the Earth is revolving
too fast and we are rolling up and down”. This is of course a
genuine perception but we all know today that the Earth
has two kinds of motion, one around its own axis and the
other around the sun and none of us has to hold one’s body
in a place. Scientists have proved that we all are subject to
considerable Atmospheric Pressure but none of us has ever
perceived it. This too indicates the limitation of perception.
Recently, science has come with a certain assertion that there
is no matter and all the material world around us is just an
illusion. In fact, to scientists all the world around us has
disappeared into nothingness. Matter which had ever been
a matter of common experience has become just a dreamstuff
as Shakespeare had already suggested.
‘We are such stuff
As dreams are made of and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep’.
In fact, science has come to realize that matter is
condensed form of energy only and energy is the only reality
surrounding us. All that we perceive is energy. Moreover,
moder n inventions and discoveries in the fields of
telecommunication, television and supercomputers have put
a big question mark on the significance of time and space as
we observe them. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and Extra
Sensory Perception have further changed our traditional
outlook about the absolute validity of time and space today.
Perception has its limitations otherwise too. There are
many branches of knowledge which have very little to do
with perception such as Abstract Algebra, Logic, Western
Philosophy, Music, Telepathy, Clairvoyance etc. I will explain
this rigorously and more exactly when I take up conception,
Aesthetics and Intuition.
2. Conception
Conception is the knowledge derived through intellect. It
comes to us through axioms, categories, a priori ideas,
concepts, reasoning, argument, logic etc. We can illustrate
conception with the help of a few examples to follow.
70 The Paradise Never Lost
(a) Kepler’s Law
The attraction F between two celestial bodies is given by
F = λ M1M2/d2 where λ is constant M1 and M2 are masses
and d is the distance between the bodies. This law was not
derived experimentally but only through Mathematical
Calculations.
(b) The concepts of Abstract Algebra such as Set, Group,
Ring, Module etc.
(c) The concepts of Wester n Philosophy such as
Archetypes, Cave-metaphor, Monad, Pre-existing harmony
etc.
(d) The concepts of Euclidean Geometry such as point,
straightline, Parallelism, Infinity etc. For example, we take
the definition of a point –
“The point is an entity which occupies an infinite
similarlly small space.”
In fact, we can never perceive such a point. Whenever,
we locate a point, we construct a circle with a very small
radius. Suppose the space occupied is E, it can have further
infinite subdivisions viz,
*
That is to say, it always represents a sequence of infinite
concentric circles. The parallel lines are defined to meet at
infinity but this definition is just a Mathematical conclusion
because it has nothing to do with perception.
(e) The Indeterminate Forms of Mathematics form a kind
of conceptual knowledge only. These forms are seven -
*
(f) The concepts of Mechanics such as the Velocity at a
point, the acceleration at a point etc. In fact, a moving particle
can never be located exactly at a point because it is always
moving through. At the most we can perceive it in a
neighbourhood. Yet we have to assign such definitions
without which no Physics is possible.
(g) The concepts of Calculus such as Limit, Differential
Coefficient etc.
Let f(x) = x2-a2/x-a; we say lim f(x) = 2a.
But f(x) = 2a anywhere.
(f) Einstein’s Formula E = mc2 has not been derived
experimentally.
The knowledge of Natural Sciences is primarily based
The Paradise Never Lost 71
upon perception or experimentation whereas the knowledge
of Mathematics and Western Philosophy is exclusively
conceptual. But there does exist a sure correlation between
these two kinds of knowledge. Although, conception has
brought forth only two disciplines which we call Mathematics
and Western Philosophy but no Science can be possible
without them. This is true that the conceptual knowledge is
always rational but it need not have an outside reality. Also,
this kind of knowledge too is not without limitations.
Nevertheless, I cannot forget the observation made by
Dr. N. D. Gautam in this context. He used to say, “This is my
mystery why every human mind thinks in exactly the same
way. Why all of us agree to the same axioms, a priori concepts,
reasonings, logical systems etc?”
This seems that after all even conceptual knowledge is
mysterious. Leibritz, too, must have come across the same
question when he had to assign the concept of pre-existing
harmony. This might have been the reason or otherwise,
anyway, we call the philosophies of Descarte, Leibritz and
Spinoza Rational Philosophies.
3. Aesthetics
We come to a beginningless question – What is Beauty?
We all know the familiar story of Majnu. The king of Majnu’s
place felt a great pity for him. he ordered that all the most
beautiful young women of the kingdom be gathered together
in Majnu’s presence. Then he asked Majnu to select any of
these beauty-queens and dismiss Laila from his mind. What
did Majnu reply? Majnu said none of them was even dust
unto Laila’s feet; to see the beauty of Laila one needs to
borrow the eyes of Majnu. A child looks very beautiful to its
parents but it may look just commonplace to others. So what
I want to assert is that neither beauty is perception nor it is
an intellectual comprehension. There must be some faculty
in us which is different from both, the senses and the
intellect, and through which we realize beauty. Even Kant
had to acknowledge this faculty when he gave it the name
‘the inner sense’. Wordsworth also has named it ‘the inner
eye’. This I most humbly dare to call a distinct source of
knowledge and I denominate it as AESTHETICS.
What is true of beauty is true also of Music, Abstract Art
72 The Paradise Never Lost
and Poetry. A song may sound very pleasant to one ear but
not so remarkable to another. It reminds us of John Keats –
‘Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard
Are sweeter, therefore ye soft pipes play on
Not to the sensual ear, but more endeared
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone’
A poem may have much appeal to one heart but no appeal
at all to another. I have come across many intellectuals who
cannot at all appreciate poetry. The beauty of Nature may
be a benediction to poets like Wordsworth but it may mean
nothing to a Jain philosopher. A painting of Picaso is worth
thousands of dollars to his admirers but it may mean nothing
to most of us. We cannot bring it home even for free. I have
a friend Dr. D. S. Chauhan; when we used to be hostelmates
he told me one day, “Whenever we look at a person we must
see the abstract beauty in him or her. The face and features
are not very significant”. There should be no wonder that
this classfellow of mine became a well-known painter too,
and he has been working in the field of abstract art. In fact,
all the fine arts have become abstract today in search of
beauty which transcends perception. Abstract art is the
search of beauty which our senses and our intellect cannot
comprehend.
So, the statement is meaningful when we say that some
people possess a particular kind of Aesthetic sense whereas
others do not. What I intend to assert is that aesthetics is
not a matter of perception and more than it is a matter of
conception. Although we have to use both perception and
conception in aesthetics, aesthetics is something more,
something specific and something transcendental. We can
look back here to the Upanishads. There is a saying in
Kathopanishad, “Conception is beyond the senses, mind is
beyond the conception, intellect is beyond the mind and
consciousness is far beyond all these”. There is a suggestion
here that we know because we are conscious. In this maxim
four faculties of human existence have been mentioned –
senses, mind, intellect and consciousness. Let me correlate
here. Perception primarily is concerned with the senses,
conception primarily is concerned with the intellectual
comprehension, Aesthetics primarily is concerned with the
appeal to mind and intuition happens only to the
consciousness and is the only form of direct knowledge.
The Paradise Never Lost 73
Intuition I will take up later on. Here I want to make clear
only this point that mind and intellect are not synonymous
in Indian epistemology. Mind contains both heart and
intellect, emotion and reason and is even more
comprehensive. In short, the implication here is that we
perceive through the senses, conceive through the intellect
and have aesthetic knowledge through mind, manas or the
inner sense. There is one more implication here that intellect
is superior to aesthetics and with this implication I do not
agree. More people have reached the ultimate truth through
aesthetics than through the intellect. Aesthetics (manas)
pertains to the path of devotion whereas intellect (buddhi)
pertains to the path of doubt. The first we call the Angelic
tradition and the second we call the path of the beast.
There are limitations also of aesthetics. Aesthetics as a
source of knowledge is neither universal nor absolute nor
ultimate. Yet it is nevertheless a bonafide source of
knowledge. In search of the ultimate truth we cannot depend
on perception or conception or aesthetics or all of these taken
together. We have to look for still another faculty of human
existence which we call INTUITION.
4. Intuition
First of all, I want to explain what is NOT INTUITION. In
Mathematics and Philosophy we come across ‘a-priori
concepts’. Some philosophers like Kant have mistaken these
concepts for intuition; I dare to say that this is not my
meaning of intuition. This misunderstanding prevails because
the Western philosophy identifies human consciousness with
mind which is not the absolute truth; in another words a
Western philosopher is not aware of any faculty other than
the psychosomatics and so intuition is confused to mean
axioms which is not the case. As far as consciousness is
concerned all Western philosophers are almost on the same
platform as of David Hume.
Again, I should make it clear that time and space are not
modes of intuition as Kant has acknowledged them. We never
observe space without objects and we never observe time
without change. So time and space are relational concepts
in our minds. This is true that all the objects of our
observation are in space-time and so we can say that time
74 The Paradise Never Lost
and space are part of our essential framework of mind and
hence I have no objection to description of these as the basic
categories of mind. Kant seems to be right on this point;
time and space may belong to our mental framework rather
than the existence outside. May be time and space originate
from the manner we encounter the outside existence and
neither of these belongs to the thing in itself. But we must
remember that may be time and space are categories of mind
but not of consciousness. Our consciousness is not
characterized either by time or by space; it is transcendental,
absolute and ultimate. Let me make it clear again that time
and space have nothing to do with INTUITION as I want to
define it.
Intuition is direct knowledge, the knowledge which
happens without the mediation of senses, mind and intellect.
In Indian philosophy we numerate ten outer senses, five of
them are senses of action and five of them are senses of
knowing. Besides these ten senses mind, intellect and ego
are said to be three inner senses. Intuition is the knowledge
which happens without the mediation of ten outer senses
and three inner senses. Intuition happens when there is no
time and where there is no space. Someone asked Jesus
what will happen in the kingdom of God and Jesus said,
“Time shall be there no longer”. Let me say both time and
space disappear in the kingdom of God. The Indian seers
have called it ‘Kaivalya’ or “Kewalgyan’ which means literally
‘knowledge only’ and this is exactly what I call intuition. Let
us understand the implications which follow. The process of
knowledge ordinarily has three aspects. First is knower
(gyata); second is known (gyeya) or knowable and third is
knowledge (gyan). We can call them respectively observer,
observed and observation too. Kaivalya means both knower
and knowable disappear only the knowledge is there in its
purity and spontaneity. The mirror has become empty. Kewal
means only and Gyan means knowledge, kaivalya is the more
exact word and it means literally aloneness. In this state,
the observer disappears, the observed also disappears but
the spontaneity to observe remains. It is innate for our
consciousness to know or to be aware, this spontaneous
uncaused awareness is there; it is pure awareness having
no context; it is absolute and unrelated. The object before
the mirror has disappeared, the image inside the mirror has
The Paradise Never Lost 75
disappeared, the mirror is empty but mirror means an entity
which reflects. Let us put it in another way. Intuition happens
when the knower, the known and the knowledge coincide.
The knower knows himself directly without the interference
of senses, mind, intellect, ego, time, space etc. This is
intuition, self-realizations, Pratyakhsa and Self-evident
knowing. J. K. has said time and again, ‘the observer becomes
the observed’ and this is what I call intuition. There is no
time and no space; neither this nor that and this is intuition.
The Hindus call it Self-knowledge; Jesus calls it ‘The
kingdom of God’; Mohammad calls it Qayamat (eternity) and
Yogis have called it ‘Savikalpa Samadhi’ (The solution).
Anyway, I prefer to call it Self-realization which is to me
synonymous with kaivalya or intuition. This knowledge is
absolute, ultimate, invariable and unchangeable. Because
there is no time and no space and nothing is known accept
the knower himself, there cannot be a possibility of doubt.
That is why, Indian seers have always said that truth is self-
evident and needs no outside proofs. It is there irrespective
of all evidence, irrespective of all doubt and irrespective of
all relativity. In fact, intuition is the only valid form of
knowledge.
One more point needs to be made clear here. With the
advancement of science we have come across phenomena
like Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Materialization, Transportation
etc. All these come under the head ESP (Extra Sensory
Perception). Let me add that Extra Sensory Perception is not
intuition. Why? We have to understand these phenomena
exactly. Telepathy means distant mind reading. A telepath
is a person who can know the thoughts of his subject without
any obvious communication in between. Researches are being
made on telepathy in connection with the cosmonauts sent
into remote space and the results are recorded to be positive.
Sometimes even the instrumental devices fail but telepaths
are more successful. A telepath can read the thoughts of the
cosmonauts with almost perfect accuracy. Clairvoyance
means vision from remote. There are people who can see
what is happening in places as remote as even thousands of
kilometers. There are certain people who can produce things
out of thin air; this phenomenon we call Materialization.
Perhaps there are people who can transform the cosmic
energy into matter. Also, there may be people who can move
76 The Paradise Never Lost
things without applying any obvious external forces to them
and this is known as Transportation. These are various forms
of ESP and perhaps some more forms too are possible. This
is not my concern here to consider the validity of these claims.
All I want to say is that ESP, even if it is valid, has nothing to
do with my concept of intuition because ESP always occurs
within the framework of space-time if it ever does.
There is only one suggestion which I want to advance
here and maybe I am the first one to advance it. This
suggestion is that matter and mind are not two. Thought is
also a kind of energy like heat, electricity, light, sound etc
and this energy we can call psychic energy. Science has
proved that energy and matter are interconvertible and so
mind and matter are one. In a way thought, too, is material
and so ESP is not much different from conventional forms of
perception which all of us are familiar with. The science of
Yoga has ever narrated ESP as “Vibhuti’ or ‘Special
Happening’ and has advised the seeker not to indulge in it
lest he should get lost into wilderness from where only a
good sheperd can recover him and this is very rare luck.
This is the meaning of the parable of the lost sheep.
So, Intution is direct knowledge without any mediation
as it is intrinsic to our consciousness. All mediums are bound
to pollute and Kant is right that only through perception
and conception. We can never know the thing-in-itself. If
knowledge has to be absolute, Intuition can be the only valid
source of knowledge. Sufis have been right that reality
(Haquiquat) has a mask on its face and our eyes cannot
unveil it and look every now and then. Mysticism begins
with intuition and a mystic has to be a man of intuition. In
short, perception is concerned primarily with senses;
conception is concerned primarily with intellect (buddhi);
aesthetics is concerned primarily with appeal to mind (manas)
and intuition is concer ned intrinsically with our
consciousness (Atman). The first three are instruments for
practical knowledge (Avidya) whereas the last is inevitable
and spontaneous source of the ultimate truth (Vidya). The
first three make our lives worth living but the last leads us
to the eternal springs of water or to the kingdom of God
which may have many mansions but a unique centre which
is our own consciousness.
The Paradise Never Lost 77
Heisenberg’s Principle
The ultimate small material form is known as an
‘Elemental Particle’ or a quantum. The quantum and energy
are interchangeable. Einstein has described it vide the
formula E = mc2 where E stands for energy, m for the mass
shattered and c for the velocity of light. A quantum behaves
sometimes as a particle and sometimes as a wave and this
behaviour has to be unpredictable. If we observe a quantum
through our apparatus, its behaviour is changed as we
observe it. It behaves like both matter and energy changing
from one form to another in an unpredictable manner. We
should understand, however, that a quantum is not an atom
because an atom can be broken at least into twenty-four
subparticles. Some scientist even claim that this number of
elemental particles has been observed to be even greater than
twenty-four. However, we define a quantum as the ultimate
material form beyond which matter ceases to be and becomes
energy.
Mathematical form of Uncertainty
This is my assertion that there is also a Mathematical
counterpart of Heisenberg’s Principle of Uncertainty. Let us
go into it. There are seven indeter minate for ms in
Mathematics viz.
* formless existence and the second infinity represents the
Out of these only three * are basic. Through division and
logarithm we can reduce * and *. Further, we can reduce
also * which can be said to be the only basic indeterminate
form (or alternatively * is only the basic indeterminate form).
(a) The form 1*
It occurs in the manner lim *.
This form corresponds to the origin of universe. All
universe is one substance manifesting itself in numerous
forms and this process is unending. There is a Sutra in
Upanishads ‘EKO HIM BAHUSHYAMI’ which means in the
beginning there was only one entity generating itself through
itself in an unending sequence of forms. We can ascribe a
mathematical model to this Sutra as lim * 1n. Kathopanishad
has described another version of this process. The ‘brahma’
is like a seed which we can call a soul or a monad too. This
seed is broken and a tree spouts from it begetting many
78 The Paradise Never Lost
seeds again and the universe is unending series of such trees.
To this process also we can give a Mathematical Model. The
universe is like a cyclic group generated by 1 or 1n and is
denoted as the follows:-
*
According to Mathematics the universe can be neither
finite nor infinite but only indeterminate because 1* is an
indeterminate form. That is why the universe is said to be
Maya. Also, we know that for *. That is the universe can
have only one substance, all forms which appear to be
different are essentially one. This is the Non-Dualism of the
Indian philosophy. Mathematically 1, 12, 13, …, 1n, … cannot
be said to be the same (*) and these cannot be said to be
different either. This is Non-Dualism.
Hence this Indeterminate form corresponds to the
Vedantic Hypotheses of Universal Manifestations.
(b) The form *
In Mathematics this form occurs as lim (1/x – 1/y)
There is a sutra in Ishavashyopanishad corresponding
to this Indeterminate Form. The sutra literally is rendered
here in two parts –
“The non-material formless existence is infinite and the
material formless existence is also infinite and the infinite
formal emerges from the infinite formless.” (First Part)
This part corresponds to *. The first infinity reprents the
formal existence. This sutra says that it is possible that the
formal infinity my emerge from the informal infinity.
Mathematically, this means that * is a valid concept. What
is the remainder? According to Mathematics the remainder
is neither zero nor it is infinity but it is indeterminate. This
corresponds to the Vedantic Principle that the Formless
Brahma is infinite and the Formal Brahma is also infinite
and the formal emerges from the formless. Also, like can
emerge from the like and so there is a non-duality between
the formless and the formal. (We can subtract y from x only
if x and y are one substance).
The second part of the sutra is –
“At the time of great dissolution, the Infinite Formal
returns back to the Infinite Formless and the consequent is
again Infinite.”
This corresponds to the sutra * which is true in
The Paradise Never Lost 79
Mathematics also. its behaviour. So the ultimate reality has freedom and
Now to my readers who do not know much about consequently it is neither matter nor energy but
Mathematics, I want to explain the concept * and the reason consciousness; that is to say everything has emerged from a
why it is ideterminate. conscious substance. This is what we call Mysticism.
Let N = 1, 2, 3, 4, ….. (Set of natural numbers)
Then O(N) = ∞ Aristotle’s Dialectic Logic
W = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, . . .} (Set of whole numbers)
Aristotle’s Dialectic Logic provides only two categories
Then O(W) = ∞
‘IS’ and ‘IS NOT’ and both these categories are mutually
Z = {0, ±1, ±2, ±3, . . .} (Set of integers)
exclusive.
O(Z) = ∞
Now, we denote ‘It is A’ by the symbol A
Now W – N = {0}
We denote ‘It is not A’ by the symbol A*
Z – N = {0, -1, -2, -3, . . .}
Then Aristotle’s Logic implies
So, ∞ – ∞ can take arbitrary values, sometimes this and
A ∩ A = Q AUA = U (The universal set)
sometimes that. In fact,
We can state this Dialectic Logic as follows –
∞ = ∞ + x, x = o, 1, 2, 3, etc.
“Either a thing is A (Asti) or it is not A (Nasti) and these
∞ can take arbitrary values. Such an entity is said to be
two categories are exhaustive and mutually exclusive.”
INDETERMINATE.
Now, we come to our enquiry –
The interpretation of Shankaracharya, however, is not
“Is quantum a particle?”
correct that the Infinite Formal emerges out of the Infinite
The answer is that a quantum is a particle and it is not
Formless and what is left behind is again Infinite. According
a particle and it is both and yet unpredictable.
to Mathematics what is left behind is Indeterminate, not
A quantum is both A and A*.
infinite. This is what we call the concept of Maya.
Also here A ∩ A ≠ Q and A ∪ A ≠ ∪
(c) The form ∞/∞
So if we accept the validity of Heisenberg’s Principle, the
This indeterminate form corresponds to Heisenberg’s
Aristotle’s Dialectic Logic fails here in High State Energy
Principle of Uncertainty. We can explain it as the following –
Physics.
The space occupied by the total FORMAL existence or by
What can we do now?
the totality of Quanta is infinite and the number of quanta
We cannot suffice with only two categories “IS’ and “IS
is also infinite. So, the space occupied by a single quantum
NOT’. We have to admit a third one which is ‘IS
is ∞/∞ and this space is indeterminate, mathematically?
UNPREDICTABLE’ and we have to admit that these categories
What are the implications? The ultimate elemental particle
are not mutually exclusive. That is either one of them can
occupies indeterminate space and so sometimes it behaves
hold or two of them can hold together or all the three can
like a particle and sometimes like a wave. By definition it
hold together.
must be a particle but it cannot remain a particle because
the space occupied is indeterminate. This indicates that the
The Sevenfold Jain Logic
matter becomes energy in the limiting case. This can be taken
as a mathematical proof of the Heisenberg’s Principle of This reminds us of the age old doctrine of Syadvad. In
Uncertainty. I leave it to the Nuclear Scientist whether this this logical system we take three categories ‘IS (Asti)’, ‘IS
proof is rigorous or not. NOT (Nasti)’ and ‘Unpredictable (Avaktavyam)’ and these
What are the metaphysical implications of this principle categories do not exclude one others. The behaviour of a
of uncertainty? What is certain is matter and energy and quantum conforms to this logic and it does not conform to
what is uncertain is consciousness and freedom. It is believed Aristotle’s logic. We have to acknowledge the validity of this
that the ultimate particle reacts as we observe it, it changes logic now because Heiserberg’s Principle is an experimental

80 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 81

truth. Also, because Heisenberg’s Principle relates to Nuclear
physics, Syadvad seems to be true not only as a logical system
but also as a metaphysical doctrine.
Now, we ask our question again?
“Is Quantum a Particle.”
The number of answers is now 3c1 + 3c2 + 3c3 = 7
We get 3c 1 statements by choosing only one of the
categories; we get 3c2 statements by choosing two categories
together and we got 3c3 statements by choosing all the three
categories together.
So we get seven statements –
(1) Syat Asti (somehow it is particle)
(2) Syat Nasti (somehow it is not a particle)
(3) Syat Avaktavyam (Somehow it is indeterminate)
(4) Somehow ‘it is’ and ‘it is not’
(5) Somehow ‘it is’ and ‘it is indeterminate’ too
(6) Somehow ‘it is not’ and ‘it is indeterminate’
(7) Somehow ‘it is’; it is not and it is indeterminate.
This is exactly the Sevenfold Jain Logic but the statements
are put in a different order. It seems that the ancient seers
had arranged them in an order they thought to be convenient.
The ancient system makers have put it according to the
following permutation –
(1 2 3 4 5 6 7,
1 2 4 3 5 6 7)
The Concept of Invisible Triangles
It is said that the early Greek philosophers believed that
mathematical concepts, figures and formulas could represent
the ultimate nature of existence. I do not want to disagree
because many interesting things have come to my mind which
correlate mathematics and philosophy essentially. First of
all, let me state The Concept of Invisible Triangles as the
follows:-
Statement :- The whole existence consists of invisible
triangles, that is, the reality always has three aspects to it.
To begin with I come to Geometry. An object needs at
least three distinct points to it, only then it becomes
conceivable. Let me explain it. Can we conceive a single point?
A point, by definition, is an entity which occupies an
infinitesimally small space, say E. Now, this portion of space
82 The Paradise Never Lost
can further be divided into an infinite number of subportions
such as –
*
That is to say that every point contains an infinite number
of points in it. we can never depict a single point, whenever
we depict a point, it comes out to be a circle with a very
small radius. The radius can both increase and decrease
and yet the point is said to be the same point. So a point is
neither concrete nor a stable structure. If we look at a point
through a microscope, it will appear as a circular disc which
can be made to shrink or to expand and my assertion will
become more evident. So a single point cannot materialize
itself. We all know that the Western Philosophy originates
only from conception as mathematics does. Now, this concept
of a point in Geometry corresponds to the idea of individual
self in philosophy. Neither the point occupies any space in
the limiting situation nor the individual self is supposed to
be spatial.
Suppose, we take two points now and join them to get a
line segment. This line segment again cannot be concrete.
The width of a line segment is negligible (it is not a rod) and
so the area of a line segment is zero and it cannot create any
impression on our senses. Two distinct points only cannot
make an object real because this object will have zero area.
Also, a line segment is not a stable structure because it can
be extended towards both the extremes. Its length can both
increase and decrease so that it is not a definite, stable,
conceivable structure. The line segment is the locus of a
point which moves from infinity on one extreme to infinity
on the other extreme.
*
This is very important. Because this property corresponds
to the concept of time in philosophy. A straight line represents
time which has been beginningless in the past and which
will be unending in the future. If the origin O represents the
present moment, the left portion may represent the past and
the right portion may represent the future. Also, the line
segment corresponds to the idea that our self is eternal and
we have infinite births. A point which represents the self
moves from minus infinity to plus infinity and we have been
always there. No wonder it corresponds to the idea of infinite
sequence of births.
The Paradise Never Lost 83
 * The Blackhole and The Monad
Now, we take three distinct non-collinear points and join
My understanding is that the scientist has already
them. This structure is both stable and concrete. It is stable
stumbled upon the idea of self without knowing it. May be,
because none of the three sides can be extended or decreased
the science so far has failed to correlate it. The nuclear
without making it another structure. Also, it is conceivable,
scientist finds that matter transforms into energy and energy
real and concrete because it has a definite area which can
disappears into nowhere. Conversely, it is observed that from
make an impression upon our senses and our minds. So an
nowhere the energy comes and it transforms itself into
object can materialize itself only if it has at least three distinct
elemental particles. It is a matter of observation that in high
points to it. Every concrete object can be subdivided into
State Energy Physics the law of conservation of energy is
sub-objects and so the universe is reduced ultimately to
not found to hold. Scientists assume that the energy comes
INVISIBLE TRIANGLES. That is why, we need at least a three
from and disappears into a blackhole and maybe exhibits
dimensional space in which it becomes possible to place the
itself again to form anti-matter. My humble observation is
objects. This discussion is very useful when we come to the
that a balckhole can neither be a circle or a sphere because
nuclear physics or to the High State Energy Physics. Is it
neither of these is a stable structure. With the change of
not interesting that actually we all of us live in a space which
energy strata it will have a tendency either to spread or to
is three dimensional?
shrink. A BLACKHOLE CAN BE STABLE ONLY IF IT HAS
Now, we come to the Nuclear Physics itself. When we
RADIUS ZERO. Also Leibnitz could not assume that even
discovered Atom we thought we had reached the ultimate
nature had Monads, but let me assert that every balckhole
particle but soon we discovered it consisted of three
is a Monad of radius zero and every nucleus contains a
subparticles – Proton, Electron and Neutron. Proton has a
blackhole. Why is it that the energy is not conserved? My
positive charge, electron has a negative charge and neutron
humble suggestion is that it is not conserved because of
has a neutral charge. Some scientists now claim that they
Monads present in every nucleus. My understanding is that
have succeeded in breaking atom into as many as 24 or 120
it is imperative that we should assign also some degree of
elemental particles. This seems to be plausible and this
freedom and consciousness to Monads, maybe this is not
number may go even higher. The only fact I want to insist is
found to be very obvious.
that this number will ever be a multiple of three. Why should
However, the scientist will never be able to visualize or
I say this? It is because one-third will have the positive charge;
know directly a blackhole, for the obvious reason that
another one-third the negative charge and rest one-third the
blackhole have radius zero and transcend time and space.
neutral charge. Three particles will always form a sub-group
They are just like the human self, conscious points of zero
and will be discovered having energy connections within this
radius. It seems that the nuclear scientist has discovered
sub-group. In this manner the universe will always be found
Monads everywhere and has made an advancement upon
to consist of invisible triangles, also because an object,
Leibnitz philosophy.
howsoever small, can be materialized only if it has at least
There is a scientific hypothesis that the universe is
three distinct non-collinear points to it. My understanding
expanding. This fact, too, approves of my hypothesis that
is that the nuclear scientists will discover the universe to
change is the rule of existence and every circular or spherical
look like a mathematical model because it cannot be
structure has a tendency either to expand or to shrink. One
otherwise. Howsoever mysterious this may seem but we live
more thing I shall like to suggest here. The universe will go
in a universe which is designed in such a way that our
on expanding upto a particular point of time, then it will
conception and our perception have an inevitable
begin to shrink and finally it will disappear to become a
correspondence to each other.
blackhole of radius zero. Buddha has said that all that is in
spacetime is subject to change, is subject to emergence and

84 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 85

is subject to disappearance also. May it be so! The father
who lives in the heaven has decided to build a great fire
(perhaps the fire of time) and burn all that ceases to bear
fruit. It seems that He is wiser than us and it seems that He
should know the better. Amen!
86 The Paradise Never Lost
The Great Upanishads
Mystics have been very rare. If we look into the history of
mankind we do not find very many of them mentioned.
Particularly, outside the East, we have very few spiritual
geniuses such as Moses, Socrates, Zarathustra, Jesus, Saint
Francis, Mohammad, Gurdieff etc. It seems that in India,
China and Japan we have known such more people. Yet their
number is not very convincing. Why is it so? There is a saying
in Bhagvadgita –
“Among thousands of persons rarely someone seeks the
truth and even among the seekers rarely someone ever attains
to it.”
The Kathopanishad, too, has reported –
“Wise is he who can attain to the truth, a wonder is he
who can communate it to others and a miracle is he who
can attain to it through someone who knows.”
So should we content ourselves with the assumption that
mystics have to be few and far between? Osho has a different
story to tell. He has said that among millions who achieve
only one becomes a part of history because we do not
recognize the enlightenment of a person, we recognize only
the qualities of leadership in him. For example, the mankind
has remembered Krishna not because of his enlightenment
but only because of his political genius; the mankind has
remembered Buddha not because of his Nirvana but only
because of his great disciplehood; the mankind has
remembered Nanaka not because he was man of truth but
because of his poetry and his tradition etc. We recognize an
enlightened person only if his enlightenment is accompanied
by some other rare worldly endowment and this cannot be
usual because the world cannot remain too much with an
enlightened person. In fact, this is the very meaning of
enlightenment. So according to Osho countless people have
become enlightened but very few of them could create reasons
to make them known. For example, Surdas was a great poet,
Shankaracharya was a great philosopher; Kabira was great
reformer and Meera was a poetess etc. This is a very rare
combination that enlightenment could appear along with
some very great qualities for fame, for the obvious reason
The Paradise Never Lost 87
that meditation makes a person introvert and unconcerned
with the masses. But very rarely such coincidence have
occurred. For example, Surdas was as great an artist as
Shakespeare and as much spiritual as the seers of
Upanishads but we cannot expect such accomplishments
every now and then; Shankaracharya was not only
enlightened but also he was as great a philosopher as Kant
or Nietszche. But such a meeting of the temporal and the
eternal has to be an exception rather than usual. That is
why, there are so few seers known to the history. Most of the
mystics seek, attain to and dissolve into silence. Osho, like
his other companies, always used to assure that everyone
would be enlightened one day and it could not be otherwise.
Enlightenment is our very nature. Few of us can recognize
the peace of a mystic but most of us recognize only the
nuisance which sometimes even a mystic happens to create.
In fact, a spiritual truth is not like a scientific truth.
Everyone has to find it for himself. Everyone has to die to
become resurrected. It is like a flight into the sky, no
footmarks are left behind to be followed. Each time we have
to rediscover the path by ourselves only. Is there any specific
psychology, any specific view of life, any specific conditions
of living, any specific beliefs which may prove helpful towards
enlightenment? For this enquiry we have to go through the
important schools of enlightenment and we have to examine
the ways of living of those people who have attained. This
may provide us some suggestive information, although this
cannot lead us to any decisive conclusion. Every person is
unique in his constitution, disposition and experience of past
lives and so everyone has to break a fresh ice. It is the way of
the white cloud and a flight of the alone towards the alone.
Upanishads are the most ancient statements of the seers
available to humanity. It seems that the age of the
Upanishads was the golden period for enlightenment. The
people of this era were simple and enlightenment was
considered to be spontaneous and inarduous. The
upanishadic seers have not even cared to mention their
names while creating the spiritual scriptures of the highest
order ever. They were egoless people and considered the truth
to be impersonal. They did not consider it proper to intrude
their personalities while expressing truth which was ultimate
and absolute. All the history of mysticism and all the spiritual
88 The Paradise Never Lost
traditions which emerged later on have a definite influence
on them of the Upanishadic narrations of truth. As we go
along our query, we will find that all the important traditions
such as Vedanta, Sankhya, Yoga, Geeta, Buddhism, Jainism
and Christianity etc have inherited considerably from the
Upanishads. We can like to ask ourselves if there is anything
like a history of religious expression as mankind began to
inhabit various countries and continents all over the earth.
All the civilization have been in touch with each other right
from the beginning and it is natural that we should have a
common history of thought. It is true that different traditions
have originated from different enlightened persons and
experience. No thought has been the source of these traditions
but everyone must have learned from his predecessors while
finding his way with the words. This really seems to be the
case. The Upanishadic expression has definitely made
significant impact on all the traditions which sprang up in
the course of time. As we proceed along, we shall be able to
see that all the religious have common spirit and common
essence. This should not seem to be amazing because all
mankind has been one, all our sufferings and problems have
been the same and we have shared our experience of life
throughout the course of history.
The Upanishads not only have been the ancient most
but also the purest expressions of truth. As the Ganges flows
down, its place of origin Gangotri, gathers more and more
mass, yet it remains the same Ganges. The truth has always
remained the same ultimate and absolute, only one needs
the eyes to see it. Or course, right from the beginning we
come across two kinds of systems say Yoga and Bhakti or
prayer and meditation or faith and doubt or whatsoever we
may call them. One path we called the Angelic and the other
we called beastly. We shall understand that the Paradise
has never been lost, sometimes the angles of God have
prevailed and sometimes the angles of Devil have prevailed
but the God and the Devil always have been in perfect
harmony. In fact, it has been the some office functioning in
two wings. We can easily discover the Eternal Testament of
conspiracy prevailing between the God and the Devil always.
It seems that they are helping each other to play their
individual parts of the same game, the game meant for the
ultimate well-being of mankind.
The Paradise Never Lost 89
 The Upanishads are parts of Vedas and the Vedanta
philosophy. The word Veda literally means awareness and
the word Vedanta means the conclusion of Vedas. Vedas
belong exclusively to the Brahman tradition and so do the
Upanishads. In fact, Upanishads are included in the four
Vedas at various places.
Upanishads initially have divided people in two Varnas
only – The Brahmans and the Khatriyas. These two varnas
are described as the two eyes of the person of ‘Brahma’ which
is the ultimate substance. The word varna literally means
complexion or disposition. Brahmans were the people of jnana
(self-realization) and Khatriyas were the people of action.
Literally, the word Brahman means one who has a perfect
knowledge of Brahma whereas Khatriya means the ruler of
a province. Later on due to social, political and economic
conditions a new varna vaishya emerged from the Brahmans
and another new varna shudra emerged from the Khatriyas.
Literally ‘Vaishya’ means ‘of Brahma’ and Shudra means ‘of
small mind’ or simply ‘small’. Untouchability was not
prevalent in ancient Hindus and shudras were not
untouchables. Vaishyas were Brahmans who had to work
for money and shudras were the Khatriyas who lost in war.
Thousands of years after, due to political reasons, some
shudras were forced to become the untouchable sections of
Hindus. There was no Jatipratha or caste system in the
beginning. This has been a later development.
The reasons for upsurge of two varnas were psychological.
There are two types of people, the introvert and the extrovert.
The introvert were concerned more with truth and the
extrovert were concerned more with action. Brahmans were
the introvert type and Khatriyas were the extrovert type.
People of both the types could attain to the truth. The seers
from the first type were known as Brahma-rishis and the
seers from the second type were known as Rajarshis. For
example Janak and Krishna were both Raja-rishis. It seems
that in the times of Upanishads none was lower and none
was higher. The varna was not decided by birth, it was decided
only by the type of personality.
Upanishads are selections from Vedas and there are as
many as 110 Upanishads or even more but 11 of them are
very important. Basically Vedas are poetic not philosophical
in their style, so we can make selections only from there
90 The Paradise Never Lost
where philosophical method has been used. Also, all the
Vedas are symbolic in their expression and so Upanishads
are selections from only where this symbolism is not all
pervading. So the selections have been made in such a way
that even people in the present can comprehend them. The
most important Upanishads are – Ishavasya, Katha, Kena,
Prashna, Mundak, Mandukya, Aitareya, Taittariya,
Shvetashvatar, Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka. Some of
these Upanishads I intend to explain in this book also so
that the reader can become familiar with the spiritual climate
and the philosophical trend prevalent in those days.
Geeta, too, is called the essence of Upanishads and so is
the case with Brahma-Sutra. Geeta is a part of Mahabharata
and Vedvyas has written it, Brahma-Sutra also has been
contributed by the same writer. An alternative name for
Brahma-Sutra is Vedant-Sutra and Badarayan is another
name for Vedvyas himself. Anyway Upanishads, Geeta and
Brahmasutra all the three taken together are said to be
‘Prasthantrayi’ or the ‘progressive-triad. These three form
the essence of Hindu religion and they serve as a bridge
between Vedas and the six schools of Hindu philosophy viz.
Mimansa-Vedanta, Sankhya-Yoga, Nyaya-Vaisheshika. All
these six systems are said to be theist philosophies in as
much as these systems accept Vedas as evidence or as the
declaration of the seers. The Buddhist, the Jain and Charvaka
philosophies do not consider the Vedas as evidence and these
three are known as atheist systems although the first two of
them believe in past lives and in liberation (nirvana). Only
the Charvaka philosophy does not believe in existence of self
after physical death. So Upanishads form the point of
beginning, Geeta and Brahmasutra attempt to explain the
Upanishads and we get these six systems of Hindu philosophy
emerge. All these I will take up in the course of procedure as
per the necessity.
The Ishavasya Upanishad
All the Upanishads are non-dualistic in their faith and
content. The essence is said to be one and it is called Brahma.
Although the word Ishwar which means God comes from
Isha, in this Upanishad Isha is synonymous to Brahma only
because in the very first shloka Isha is said to be both the
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material and the effective cause. Upanishads do not preach
a personal God. This confusion should be completely ruled
out. The very first shloka states that Isha is the all pervading
reality. Whatever exists in this universe is Brahma and
Brahma is the only all pervading reality that exists. In fact,
this reality is not very much different from Spinoza’s
description of substance. The Upanishad begins with the
remark that only one essence pervades all the existence and
we should enjoy it with a spirit of renunciation and of devotion
to Brahma. This implies we should enjoy all the essential
beauties, pleasures and gifts but we should not become
obsessed towards them. The phrase which has become a
maxim with the Hindus included in the first shloka means
‘enjoy the existence with a spirit of devotion to Brahma and
remain unattached’. This is the oriental conception that
attachment brings desires, desires bring bondage, bondage
consolidates ego and ego results in ignorance but we can
remain unattached through our devotion to Braham and
through our love towards all the existence. So while enjoying
the world we should not remain unaware, we should remain
a witness. If we become more and more witnessing we come
to understand that we are not the body and mind and that
we transcend all the mundane. For non-attachment either
love towards the existence is the key or meditativeness is
the key. This maxim instructs us who can enjoy the existence.
Non-attachment leads to self-realization, only a self-realized
person comes home and feels released. This whole existence
becomes his home. Only with such a relaxed state of mind
and such a sensitivity we can enjoy the gifts of existence. To
summerise one can attain to non-attachment either through
devotion or through meditation. This non-attachment leads
to self-realization and only a self-realized person can relish
the beauties of existence. Only one who can remain
unattached is capable of real enjoyment. Real enjoyment
comes through realization and relaxation. Also, the shloka
says that wealth is a fleeting phenomenon, it belongs only to
the existence and it is not wise to puff our ego through
richness. We must avoid to be excessively greedy. In fact,
neither the greedy nor the fearful can enjoy the life. Their
own desires and apprehensions enslave them and all this
existence becomes an imprisonment to them. This seems to
be contradictory but this is truth that only enlightened people
92 The Paradise Never Lost
can enjoy even the physical pleasures. Only those who are
blissful can taste the pleasures too. It is more important to
know the art of enjoyment than to collect the worldly riches
and become crushed under their burden. There is one more
implication to which this maxim indicates. A wise man is
one who loves all other human beings and if a person is
really wise and rich he begins to share his wealth with others.
We all know that Mohammad has been a very good illustration
of this principle. The Koran preaches that it is good for every
believer that he should distribute a portion of his earnings
as a matter of devotion to God. Through wisdom and richness
everyone lear ns to share. This was Gandhi’s basic
understanding behind his principle of trusteeship. A man of
love does not intend to possess but becomes a trustee for
the wealth which belongs to the whole universe. Osho used
to say again and again he only used everything but possessed
nothing. The day money becomes a servant not a master we
do not hesitate to share it. Only as long as money remains
the master we remain enslaved.
Upanishads do not teach escape from life. One should
live in this world and one should perform all his proper duties.
The seers of Upanishads have had the opinion that our body
itself is a miniature universe and as long as we are embodied
we cannot escape from the world. One must perform all the
right actions without fear and greed and wish to live for a
hundred years and must always bear in mind that duties
create no bondage. Right action does not pause a barrier in
the way to liberation.
We have to understand here the concept of NISHKAM
KARMA. Nishkam Karma is the right action and Nishkam
Karma is the unreserved action too. In a given situation there
can be only one right course of action if we keep in view all
the universal obligations. We live in a universe and we are
subject to all the universal forces acting upon us. These forces
can have only one resultant effect, if we act in accordance
with this resultant we are in a tune with the existential
harmony and the universal spirit. If we act disharmoniously
and do not obey the universal spirit we cannot fulfill the
universal purpose. If we can see the right course of action
and we act accordingly, this is Nishkam Karma. Now, we
have to understand what are the reasons which make us go
astray from the right course of action. If we do not become a
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victim to ego and can avoid perversions like Lust, Anger,
Vanity, Greed, Prejudice and Jealously we can minimize the
possibilities for the wrong action. We all know that ego is the
greatest problem which prevents us from doing the needful.
Lust, Anger, Vanity, Greed, Prejudice and Jealousy are said
to be the six perversions of human psyche and ego or vanity
is the supermost of them. If we are guided by ego and any
one of these perversions our action cannot be the right action.
Nishkam Karma is possible only if we remain aware that we
are not misguided by any of the perversions. We must
remember that whenever we go against the stream our ego
is strengthened and whenever we float with the stream our
ego is relaxed. An egotist person always wants to break the
laws and a man of understanding always wants to follow the
laws. While performing Nishkam Karma we are only a
medium for the universal forces, that is to say, our personal
prejudices should not create any barrier in the way of right
action. If an officer behaves in accordance with rules, rules
are the doer and we call it the rule of law but whenever he
breaks the rules he becomes the doer. So ego is the greatest
temptation which persuades us to act against the existential
harmony. We must ponder over the given situation and decide
what should we expect from some other right minded person
in this situation? If given the situation all wise people x, y, z
are expected to behave in the same way as we are doing,
then it is Nishkam Karma. Also, INACTION is not Nishkam
Karma. In brief, Nishkam Karma is right action and we must
follow it unreservedly; we should not run away from the
needful action.
Also, Nishkam Karma is total action and we must
understand what total action is. Whenever we act out of
greed and fear we create a split inside our own being and we
become divided. The action which ensues from this split of
mind is neither total action nor Nishkam Karma. We all know
the story of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth although
killed Duncon out of greed but this action created split in
them and both of them went mad and became split
personalities. There is a story in Hindu scriptures too.
Hundred times death knocked at Yayati’s doors, but Yayati
became afraid of death each time and he sacrificed all his
hundred sons one by one and had to repent later on. Nishkam
Karma never creates split and repentance.
94 The Paradise Never Lost
If action itself is proper, it is performed out of a sense of
duty and if it is imperative we do not expect any reward for
our action. Whenever we act out of wrong motives our only
purpose is to seek some return from the action. There is a
popular saying in India, “Do the good and throw the doer
into the well”. This is Nishkam Karma.
Such a Karma cannot create bondage. Wisdom does not
lie in abstaining from Karma but wisdom does lie in
discriminating the right from the wrong. In brief we must
abstain from being selfish, egotist and perverted, then our
action becomes the right action. Only right action can lead
us to self-realization which should be the aim of life. Those
who do not care for enlightenment, in a way, assassinate
their own beings and such people choose to live in hell
eternally. Bliss, Peace and Fulfillment cannot be their state
of being. Hence again and again Upanishads invest on
Nishkasm Karma as the purpose of human life.
Isha Upanishad is famous also for its invaluable
suggestions regarding knowledge. This Upanishad divides
knowledge into two parts – Practical Knowledge (Avidya) and
The Ultimate Knowledge (Vidya). Avidya makes life worth
living and Vidya leads us to the springs of eternal life. Avidya
is the study of matter; it is the science of nature; all
discoveries and inventions in natural sciences make our
earthly abode comfortable, happy and free of suffering. Vidya
is the science of enlightenment and it leads us to bliss,
fulfillment and immortality. It leads us from all the bondage
of ignorance to absolute liberation. According to this
Upanishad we cannot dispense with either Avidya or Vidya.
It is a blunder to devote to one and neglect the other. Both
the courses of action lead to darkness or misery.
Besides the Epistomological the Upanishad has a
Metaphysical aspect too. All the worldly thing – Matter,
Nature, Human beings, arise and disappear in time and
space. All that arises in time and space is subject to
disappearance and dissolution. Those who run only after
the transient, invite sufferings only. Our own consciousness
or self is eternal, it is not subject to change and it is non-
temporal and non-spatial. Those who run after eternal only
invite suffering too. A balance is needed between the transient
and the Eternal, between this world and the other. Both the
aspects of existence are indispensable and we should devote
The Paradise Never Lost 95
our endeavour to both of them. It seems that the main theme
of this Upanishad is to assert a balance between jnana and
karma, that is between self-realization and worldly duties.
Both are indispensable and imperative. If we neglect any
one of these aspects our well-being cannot be completed.
What prevents us from attainment of truth? The
Upanishad says the face of the truth lies covered by a golden
tray which is our ego. Ego is the only barrier between the
truth and us. One may ask what is the ego? The Vedantic
reply to this is that ego is the false centre in us. We identity
ourselves with the physical body and the processes of mind
and this identification is ego. We identify ourselves with our
bodies, our senses, our intellects and our minds and this is
ego. Until we realize the self in us we should remain aware
that we are not the body or the mind. We must learn to
remain a witness to all our faculties of body, of mind and of
intellect. One day we are bound to come across the real centre
in us which is not the ego. This seems that this Upanishad
made a great impact on Geeta which describes Nishkama
Karma in detail and this should not be considered a wonder
that Gandhi who was a man of action himself liked this
Upanishad very much.
Kenopanishad
The word Kenopanishad is the sum of two words ‘Kena’
and ‘Upanishad’. The word Kena means ‘by whom’ or ‘through
whom’ and the word “Upanishad’ means ‘to sit near’ or ‘to
get together’. This Upanishad is in the form of a dialogue
between the master and the disciple. It begins with a querry
on the part of the disciple. The disciple asks, “what is the
first cause behind the activities of our senses and our minds?
Who motivates the mind, the spirit, the speech, the eye, the
ear etc? Who is beyond all our senses and our minds and yet
the supreme material and efficient cause behind them? Who
is the mind of the mind, spirit of spirit, speech of speech and
who is the supreme truth having known which the wise men
happen to transcend the vicious circle of life and death?”
The master replies, “the answer to all this querry is
‘Braham itself’. He proceeds to explain what this ultimate
substance is which we call Brahma. This is the well-known
style of Upanishads which we call neither this nor that. The
96 The Paradise Never Lost
master has to use a negative terminology. Brahma is not an
idea which we can imagine or assume or conceive, in fact
whatever we can conceive of Brahma has to be far from the
truth. Braham does not have its source in human speech
although he is the effective cause behind all speech. Brahma
is not a subject of our thought although he is the effective
cause behind all thought. Brahma is not a subject of vision
although he is the effective cause behind all our vision.
Brahma does not derive its vitality from our vitality although
he is the effective cause behind all vitality whatsoever.
Brahma is not an entity whom it is possible to worship. All
that we can imagine, all that we can conceive, all that towards
which we can direct our prayers is not Brahma. It is neither
this nor that, yet it is the source of all that exists on the
earth or the heavens.
Kenopanishad states that we cannot find a single human
being who is fully ignorant of Brahma and also we cannot
find a single human being again who can know the Brahma
through and through. How to explain it? The ignorant people
are like fish in the ocean. A fish is never aware of the ocean
although the ocean is its very life. The fish is born in the
ocean and it lives in the ocean and so it cannot conceive of
the ocean as a human being cannot conceive of the
atmospheric pressure around him. A fish cannot conceive of
the ocean as long as it is allowed to remain in the ocean, it
feels the difference only when it is taken out of the ocean
and it dies consequently. It is possible that a fish may leave
the ocean but a human being can never say good bye to
Brahma who is the all pervading principle. Just like this
Brahma is our source of being but we cannot conceive of it
because there is no way that Brahma should leave us. This
is our state in ignorance. Of course when a person becomes
enlightened he realizes Brahma as the centre of his own
being and also as the centre of the cosmos, such a person
we call a Brahman. Yet a part is a part it can never know the
whole till it dissolves into the whole and disappears. As long
as a glacier is there it cannot know the whole of the ocean
and when it disappears, there is no one who can report.
Osho, too, has said again and again enlightenment begins
but never ends. Even the consciousness of an enlightened
person grows every moment. The similar is the message of
Kathopanishad, we are all people of the path, none is fully
The Paradise Never Lost 97
ignorant and none is omniscient. However, this is a very
typical assertion and it is found nowhere else in the
Upanishads.
Freud has written that every human being has two kinds
of desires working in his unconscious, one is libido (desire
to live) and another is mortido (desire to die). In most of us
who are not insane the libido is dominating over the mortido.
Exceptionally a human being becomes self-realized but the
dominance of Libido over Mortido is enough proof that our
theism is deeper rooted than our atheism. That is why,
Kenopanishad has rightly compared our state of ignorance
with a man who knows unconsciously of Brahma but is not
aware of it consciously. This is the difference between
Sushupti and Samadhi. We all attain to Sushupti as a rule
but Samadhi very rarely. It is just like a fish in the ocean
who lives the ocean but is unaware of it consciously. The
Upanishad may have an implication that in Sushupti we all
become one with Brahma but in the waking state of mind
we move apart. In the third part of the Upanishad we have a
very beautiful story narrated. Many aspects of reality have
been personified here. Agni personifies fire, Vayu personifies
air and Indra personifies the clouds and rains. In fact, it is a
usual practice in the Vedic scriptures to personify the various
aspects of Nature as corresponding deities. Here literally Agni
is the god of fire, Vayu is the god of air and Indra is the king
of gods. In this story Brahma himself is personified as a
Yakhsa, a kind of angel and the power behind AUM has been
personified as UMA. Uma is said to be the wife of Shiva who
is the lord of the ultimate welfare. Now, the story— the deities
such as Agni, Vayu, Indra etc. conquered all the demons
which used to bring hardship for the mankind. After this
victory these deities became conceited. We can all understand,
the different aspects of nature help us to invent devices
through which we eradicate our hardships. So Brahma
decided to teach these deities humbleness and propriety.
The Brahma manifested itself in the form of an illuminous
Yakhsa. The deities were amazed as they looked at him. First
of all, they sent Agni to encounter that Yakhsa.
The Yakhsa enquired, “Hello, youngman what can you
do? What is your might?”
Agni replied, “My name is Jatveda, Jat means origin and
Veda means knowledge. I share the existential secret behind
98 The Paradise Never Lost
the origin of the universe. The universe has originated from
me. I can burn everything, should I begin now?”
This reply advanced by Agni is full of wisdom. We all
know today that electric charge too is a form of fire and the
whole universe consists of elemental particles charged with
electricity. It seems that even the Upanishadic seers used to
know how the universe had emerged.
The Yakhsa said, “Hey, wait a minute.”
The Yakhsa produced a straw and asked Agni to burn it.
But Agni could not even touch it and so he felt humiliated
and left.
In fact, Yakhsa was the Brahma and this STRAW
represented self or consciousness of an individual. We all
know that fire cannot burn our self. Next, the deity Vayu
came to see Yakhsa. The Yakhsa asked, “Now, who are you?”
Vayu replied, “My name is mother’s might or Matarishva.”
This answer too is very significant. Vayu means air and
this is a scientific fact that the atmosphere comes into
existence because the temperature is not the same
everywhere on the surface of the earth and it is only because
of the gravity of the earth that we all remain surrounded by
the atmosphere. So the answer of Vayu that the earth was
his mother and he represented his mother’s might was very
scientific.
The Yakhsa enquired, “Hey, handsome! come on. What
can you do?”
Vayu replied, “I can blow soft and I can blow hard. I can
make everything to fly.”
Again the Yakhsa produced a straw but Vayu could not
even touch it. Yakhsa knew it very well that no air could
touch the self.”
Of course, Vayu felt embarrassed and humiliated and
withdrew.
Finally, Indra, the king of deities marched towards Yakhsa
but the Yakhsa disappeared as he saw him. Indra could not
even talk with the Yakhsa. In the place where Yakhsa was
standing he saw Uma now.
We all know that Uma is the wife of Shiva who happens
to be the god of Nirvana (ultimate welfare) and my
understanding is that UMA represents the strength behind
the soundless sound of AUM. This description implies that
first a seeker hears the sound of AUM and then he realizes
The Paradise Never Lost 99
the self or the Brahma. In fact, all the existence including
the deities is born of this sound of AUM.
Indra asked Uma, “Mother, who was the Yakhsa?”
Uma replied, “Of course, he was the Brahma himself.”
There is an alternative implication also. Agni represents
the intellect (buddhi) in us, Vayu represents the flux of mind
(manas) in us and Indra represents the ego in us. All these
three intellect, mind and ego taken together are said to be
‘the inner sense’, in Indian philosophy. The story means that
our self is beyond reach of not only the aspects of nature but
also of our inner senses. Even mind, intellect and ego are
barriers which impede the way to self.
Now, the question remains why Yakhsa disappeared and
Indra saw Uma standing in his place. Let me tell the meaning.
Ego cannot encounter the ultimate truth and so Yakhsa
disappeared but Uma felt compassion for Indra and she
wanted to convey that she was the way. Indra needed to do
meditations and the mantra of AUM was thought to be a
good method of meditation by the seers of the Upanishads.
We shall see that other Upanishads such as Kathopanishad
too have given excessive importance to AUM.
Now, the querry what is AUM and why is this mantra so
important? Even the Bible says that in the beginning there
was the word and the word was with the God. This word is
AUM which the Christian mystics have reported as Amen.
The Zen masters call it the sound of one hand clapping.
Kabira calls it ‘Anahat Nad’ or the sound of no collision.
When a spiritual seeker goes deep in his meditation, just
before he can transcend time and space, he comes across
this sound which is not a result of striking objects. This
sound is a bridge between the formal universe and the
formless substance and many seekers have become aware
of this just before entering Samadhi. This is believed that
this sound of AUM preceeds all the forms of universe and
the formal universe has emerged form it. This is the meaning
which Saint John wanted to convey to us in his gospel. Even
from the point of view of Nuclear Physics there is no
contradiction because sound and electricity are both forms
of energy and can interchange into each other. According to
science all forms have merged from energy, the science
encounters it as electricity and the seekers encounter it as
sound at the border and this should depend upon the
100 The Paradise Never Lost
methods we adopt. The experience of meditation need not be
the same as the metaphysical reality. The important thing is
that all forms emerge from energy and all energy emerge
from consciousness.
Uma is the personification of the power which retains
the mantra AUM and there is no wonder a seeker should
find UMA standing between himself and the cosmic
consciousness (Brahma). In fact, Uma is the doorway opening
towards the ultimate Samadhi and Indra was found to be on
the path. So the story says Indra could have only one glimpse
of this Yakhsa when the Yakhsa disappeared and he
encountered this soundless sound instead. Also, one more
implication is there. Indra is the lord of Thunder and AUM is
the song of silence and Uma stands in between out of
compassion. This symbolism perhaps indicates that our mind
which is too full of noise just now has to become silent, only
then we can find our way to ultimate reality.
Now it will be not out of place here to narrate one more
story about Uma which every Hindu knows without knowing
the meaning of the story.
‘Uma was the wife of Shiva. Her father was an Aryan by
race but Shiva was not an Aryan. It is said he belonged to a
mixed race. Uma’s father had patronized a great yajna which
was a form of prayer to please the deities. Shiva did not
allow Uma to go there but she rushed to her father’s place.
There she felt humiliated, jumped into the yajna-fire and
was consumed.’
This is a kind of parable. Uma is the power retaining
AUM and Shiva is the Lord of welfare. The early Aryans used
the mantra AUM in its purity, they used it only as a seed
mantra and this practice used to lead them to the ultimate
welfare invariably. Later on the Aryans began to perform
yajna even for the worldly purposes. They invented new
mantras which began with AUM but did not end with AUM.
They polluted the purity of this mantra by adding other
meaningful phrases to it and to gain the worldly benefits
there of. Shiva was not allowing Uma to consider these
mantras. In the course of time the Aryans forgot all purity of
method and of purpose and so this mantra lost all the power
to ultimate welfare. Symbolically, Uma was made to jump
into the yajna fire and to become consumed. The mantras
remained but the power behind these mantras did not remain
The Paradise Never Lost 101
and these mantras could not reach Shiva. It seems that Osho
knew the meaning of the story and so he had forbidden the
seekers to chant AUM as a method. He said that this was
the existential sound and we should hear it in its purity only
when we entered into deep meditation. Using it as a method
can be confusing because we are supposed to witness it rather
than pollute the sound.
The Kathopanishad, too, has assigned exclusive
importance to this mantra. There is a saying in
Kathopanishad, “This only word AUM can lead to the
realization of Brahma, this only word AUM can lead to the
ultimate. Those who come to hear AUM alone in their
meditation get all their ends fulfilled. All their prayers come
true.”
The meaning of this Yakhsa story is obvious. Our self
and Brahma are far beyond the power of Nature and its
various aspects. Also, self and Brahma are far beyond the
inner senses viz mind, intellect and ego. The implication of
this story has been reiterated in Geeta again. We find a very
famous shloka in Geeta which means –
“Our self cannot be pierced by weapons, cannot be burnt
into a fire, cannot be moistened by water and cannot be
dried up by air.”
There are definite reasons to believe that Upanishads
have definitely preceeded Geeta, however small the time
period may have elapsed between those scriptures. In fact, if
we devote ourselves to the study of Geeta we can trace back
of its shlokas to have come from the Great Upanishads.
There are five shlokas in Kenopanishad numbered 4, 5,
6, 7 and 8 which are of special significance to the students
of Islam. This is surprising and supports this belief that not
only all Aryan languages have had a common inheritage but
also all religious traditions have had a common background.
It seems that the civilizations have been in touch with each
other even two thousands years ago or fourteen hundred
years ago or at all other times. I shall again like to render
the shlokas 1:4 through 1:8 as the following:-
“Brahma is that which cannot be expressed through
speech but is the effective cause of all speech; Brahma is
that which cannot be conceived through mind but is the
effective cause behind all the flux of mind; Brahma is that
which our eyes cannot see but which is the effective cause
102 The Paradise Never Lost
behind all sight; Brahma is that which our ears cannot hear
but which is the effective cause behind all hearing; Brahma
is that which our spirit cannot inspire but which is the spirit
of all spirits and Brahma is which we cannot worship.”
There is one more question which can arise here, Is this
Upanishad in favour of a personal God? The answer is
definitely negative. Upanishads are poetic in their description.
This Upanishad too has personified many aspects of Nature
such as Agni, Vayu, Indra and Uma but it has no implications
to assert that these aspects of Nature are personal. This
seems that this Upanishad has also personified mind,
intellect and ego which cannot be persons. The Upanishad
in the very beginning explains it in a detail that no one can
conceive of Brahma neither as a person nor as a deity. But
later on the Upanishad personifies him also as a Yakhsa
which is a kind of Angel. This is what we call poetry. The
Upanishad although describes him a Yakhsa but the
Upanishad does not intend to say that Brahma can have a
form. Mohammad also encountered the same difficulty.
Whenever there is an opportunity Mohammad wants to make
it clear that none can conceive of Allah, Allah has no form,
no father, no son, there is no one whom he can resemble.
Yet there are occasions when he has to describe him as a
person. On the one hand Mohammad assigns ninety-nine
names for Allah, on the other hand he has to say immediately
that Allah cannot have any name; his real name cannot be
given. Here in this Upanishad we find a similar situation.
Those who think that the Allah of Koran is a personal God
know nothing of Koran. Mohammad has to say many
contradictory things again and again. He says Allah is both
present and absent; Allah is both the observer and the
observed. If there is one thing very clear in Koran, it is the
fact that Mohammad does not want to assign any form or
figure to Allah. The Allah of Koran is not a personal God and
the same is the case with the Upanishads too. Just like
Upanishads, Koran is also poetry and the understanding of
poetry has to be different from the understanding of those
branches of knowledge which deal with matters of fact as
Geography or Physics.
What can we say about the Christian God? There are
three – God the Father, God the Holy Ghost and God the
Son. Such a God cannot be perfectly personal because he
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has a split personality. But he cannot be said to be impersonal
either. Why? God the Holy Ghost and God the Son each have
a personal form. The first of these two made the virgin Mary
pregnant and the second was the result of this pregnancy
and such activities can be performed only by persons. What
about God the Father? Of course, he is a difficult case but
thanks to existence that he is not the only one. The Jewish
God of the Old Testament is a perfect example of a personal
God. He is the only God of Israel who can tell us all that is
going to happen in the future. Sometimes he is even jealous
and angry and never allows Jews to worship any other God.
He sends to the earth even wars, famines, epidemics, floods
etc. The God of the Old Testament is perfectly personal.
Sometimes he looks like a real father and sometimes he looks
like even another husband of the mother. As far as Hindu
incarnations such as Rama and Krishna are concerned, even
Hindus do not believe that they were really Gods, so we need
not take them seriously here. But the Christian God, God
the father really seems to be personal just like the God of
the Old Testament. This has been a real problem. It seems
that Albert Camu and Nietzsche were not at ease with this
old man, so the first said that he had become ill and the
second said that he even died. The sooner the better because
he has lived more than enough and must have become very
tired of us by now. Amen!
The Kathopanishad
Katha means a difficult one and Upanishad means a
scripture leading to the ultimate reality. The Upanishadic
culture was well-versed with death and resurrection. There
are two kinds of birth described in Upanishads. The first
birth is the birth of our body which we inherit from our
parents. The birth of the body is not our own birth and the
death of the body is not our own death. The second birth is
the birth of self. A self-realized person is one who has
witnessed the mortality of the body and has become reborn
as the self or the consciousness. Such a person is known as
a Dwij (twice born). An enlightened master is one who can
help towards this second birth. Yogyopavita was given by
fully enlightened master only to a person who had become
twice bor n. A Brahman meant a person of cosmic
104 The Paradise Never Lost
consciousness and so only a Brahman could bear witness to
this second birth.
Before we come to the Upanishad, we need to understand
the meaning of three words – A man of ego is a man like
David Hume who identifies himself with the body and the
mental processes. Upanishads describe such a person by
the term ‘Shudra.’ The Upanishads state, “Everyone is born
like a Shudra but some of us attain to self-realization or to
Dwijhood”. A dwij is a man like Jesus who has died as an
ego and has been resurrected as a self. Bible calls this state
of being ‘son of God’. At the time of crucifiction Jesus goes
even higher. A Brahman is still higher, a Brahman is one
who has attained to cosmic consciousness. A Brahman was
supposed to be equivalent to the Angles like Michael and
Gabriel as far as consciousness was concerned. A Brahman
was supposed to be equivalent to Patanjali, Kapil, Kanad,
Vashishtha, Buddha, Osho etc. Every Acharya was supposed
to be a Brahman not by birth but by enlightenment. Jesus
too has said, “I and my father are one. I am in the father and
the father in me”. It seems that Jesus was very close to cosmic
consciousness even before. For a Brahman all the existence
is the formal aspect of Brahma and Brahma is the only
substance that is there. Nanaka has said, “I can see the
whole existence emerging from the same light and so to me
no one is lower and no one is higher”. This is the vision of a
Brahman.
Two more words – Acharya and Yama – are to be
understood. Achara means a karma which can make us
survive through death, these karmas called ‘panchakarma’
are performed even today at the time of a person’s death
although we have forgotten the secrets behind them. (The
word Achara is used for pickle also for the same reason that
it can save a particular eatable from destruction). Acharya
is one who can teach us Acharas or karmas which can make
one transcend the bodily death. In this way, every Acharya
is the lord of death and so in the days of this Upanishad the
words Acharya and Yama were synonymous to each other
for this very reason. In those days every Acharya was called
Yama. A word can have many meanings, Patanjali who
happened afterwards have used in a second sense, as the
first organ of eightfold yoga. This word is used today in a
third sense and this sense is ‘the god of death’ or ‘the god of
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judgment’. According to Patanjali also Yama means discipline
and discipline means Acharya. There is one more possibility;
maybe, Yama had been another name for Patanjali himself
or for his disciples.
At the commencement of the Upanishad the father
Uddalak finds his son Nachiketa with rare devotion and
sincerity of heart and so he says to his son Nachiketa, “I
deliver you unto Yama”. Ordinarily the meaning taken today
is, “I deliver you unto death”. But this is not the implication
of the Upanishad because Nachiketa intends to return back
home after his learning becomes complete. So Yama here
means an Acharya or an enlightened master or most probably
Patanjali himself who taught Yama. Patanjali of course was
the first Yamacharya. We all know that Patanjali was a master
no less renowned than Buddha or Osho, in fact, he was
equally capable.
Now the text of the Upanishad. Uddalak was father of
Nachiketa and he performed a ‘yajna’ by the name ‘Vishajit’
or yajna that can conquer the world. Uddalak as a matter of
course donated all his wealth to Brahmans as a part of this
yajna. He donated also his cows to the Brahmans but some
of these cows were old and useless too. Although Nachiketa
was a small child but he got scared what good this kind of
charity should bring to his father. He felt an apprehension
lest the donation of such cows should lead his father to lower
states of being. So he reminded his father, “To whom you
want to deliver me?”, The son is not a property so three
times the father did not reply. At last he said he would deliver
him unto death. This is symbolic, the father promised to
send him to an Acharya who could teach him the keys to
death. In fact, this Upanishad bas been an Indian counterpart
of the Tibetan book of the dead. Nachiketa reached the
master’s house. The master had gone out, so Nachiketa
waited for the master for three days without accepting any
foodstuff or drinks from the master’s wife. The child looked
as illuminous as a Brahman or as the god of fire and when
the master came back his wife sent him to the child so that
the child could agree to drink some water. The master said
that he could see that the child was very near enlightenment
and no house should have allowed such a guest remaining
hungry and thirsty for three days. It could prove such a sin
which could destroy all the good luck coming to the house.
106 The Paradise Never Lost
The master was very much impressed by the strong will of
the child and asked the child to put any three demands before
him in return. The master wanted to fulfill these demands
because Nachiketa had spent three nights hungry and thirsty
waiting for the master.
As the first demand Nachiketa requested that his father
should have no worries about him and his father should
accept him back home as a son when he returns back from
the master’s house. As the second demand he wanted to
learn ‘Agni-Vidya’ or the Esoteric science which could lead a
dead person to the Heavenly abode. These two demands were
considered ordinary by the Acharya and were granted
immediately. The third request made by Nachiketa is the
central theme of this whole Upanishad because Nachiketa
enquired about self-realization. As the third demand
Nachiketa asked Yama –
“There is a doubt prevailing among mankind as to what
happens to a person after death. Some of them believe that
there is a kind of existence after death and some of us believe
that there is no existence at all after death. As a third demand
I want to learn this science of existence after death. Please
grant my this third request also.”
The Acharya looked at Nachiketa and this time he
hesitated because Nachiketa was only a small child for the
present and this discipline was very arduous. Most of the
mystics even after investing all their lives could not reach
the solution because only an enlightened person could know
the answer. Nachiketa insisted again and finally the Acharya
agreed because he could see that there was an opening in
Nachiketa’s seventh centre already and although a child with
no experience of the world, Nachiketa was not an ordinary
person.
In fact, this Upanishad raises the question which is basic
and fundamental to all religious traditions. What is the fact
of death? Is our existence just physical, are we all just flesh
and blood, are we all just dust unto dust or is there some
substance in us which is immortal and which transcends
the death of the body? Is there something in us which used
to exist even before we came to inhabit this body and which
will continue to exist even after the demise of the body?
The Upanishad is in the form of a dialogue between
Nachiketa and the Acharya and it incorporates great
The Paradise Never Lost 107
philosophy, psychology and outlook of the Hindus of that
period. Isha, Ken and Katha are three most important
Upanishads in as much as these are very much representative
of Vedantic outlook. Although words are important just to
begin with and enlightenment is an experience but the words
bear witness to those mystics who happen to become
enlightened in the future to come. These Upanishads are
the ancient most records of human wisdom. It is possible to
record the words of an enlightened person but it is not
possible to record the experience from which these words
come. Each individual has to go through the same experience
again and after our experience scriptures are found to bear
witness to the experience.
Yama says to Nachiketa, “Those who are ignorant cannot
envisage the other world. They go on wasting their time after
trivialities even upto the last moment of their life collecting
things and riches. They indulge into a false consolation that
there is no existence at all after the death of the body.
Consequently, again and again they fall a trap into the cycle
of death and rebirth.”
This is interesting that all the six systems of Hindu
philosophy, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism believe in
rebirth. The religions born outside of India such as Judaism,
Christianity and Islam do no deny rebirth but do not admit
it too, they remain silent over this question. There are sayings
in Bible which are suggestive of rebirth and the reader can
find them for himself however.
Yama continues to reveal the mysteries of truth to
Nachiketa. We come across a very famous saying about the
nature of truth in this Upanishad. Yama says to Nachiketa,
“Self-realization is a very rare happening and it is almost
impossible to put it into words. That is why, the masses do
not even get an opportunity to listen to the words of one who
has attained to the truth. Even if some of them happen to
listen to the invocation of an enlightened person they do not
realize the truth as their own experience. Wise is one who
has attained to the truth but a miracle is he who can express
the truth experienced by him and a greater miracle is the
disciple who can attain to the truth under the guidance of
an enlightened master”. Again and again the mystics have
to insist upon this nature of truth which cannot be otherwise.
Very few people can become enlightened before death; and
108 The Paradise Never Lost
very few of the enlightened persons can express their
experience. And even those who can speak rarely become
successful as masters. A master is successful only when his
disciples can become enlightened and it is very difficult to
become such a master. That is why, a few mystics have
succeeded to create a tradition. We can take some recent
illustrations to make our point clear. Raman Maharshi was
enlightened but he could not narrate his experience; J.
Krishnamurty was enlightened and he could narrate his
experience also but he could not become a successful master.
Buddha and Osho were enlightened persons who could not
only narrate but could also create a real disciplehood. This
shloka means that people like Raman Maharshi are wise,
people like J. Krishnamurty are miraculous but people like
Buddha and Osho are greater miracles. It is not easy to attain
to the truth, it is very difficult to express it but it is a miracle
to lead others on the right path successfully. Only great
masters like Patanjali, Buddha, Mahavira, Gorakhnath and
Osho have been capable of this miracle. This statement of
Kathopanishad has become a well-known quotation.
Acharya says again, “Nachiketa, the self is a timeless
invisible treasure hidden in the depth of the being of man. It
is a divine principle known only through great discipline and
purity and one who has experienced it transcends not only
misery but also happiness which leads to restlessness.”
Like all other scriptures of Hindu philosophy this
Upanishad too states that truth is beyond dualities. This
world consists of dualities like man and woman, misery and
happiness, life and death, body and mind etc. The truth
transcends both the extremities of a duality, it does not belong
to the either extreme. A enlightened person remains
untouched not only by grief but also by happiness. He is
just blissful and his blissfulness is uncaused and
spontaneous, it does not depend on the outside world. Bliss
is the very nature of self and is not dependent on outside
circumstances with which both happiness and unhappiness
are related. Also, the Upanishads assert that truth is not
something outside of us, something related, something
caused but it happens spontaneously to our own being. Three
aspects are spontaneous to and inseparable from self and
these are Sat (Existence), Chit (Consciousness) and Anand
(Bliss).
The Paradise Never Lost 109
 Again, according to this shloka the science can never
reach the ultimate truth. The science always divides the
existence into two aspects – the observer and the observed.
When we come to the truth of our own being such a division
becomes irrelevant and so self-realization cannot be a
scientific truth. Science is applicable only to the objects which
exist in space-time and not to the self which transcends time
and space. That is the implication of the statement that self
is a timeless invisible treasure hidden in the being of a man.
Kathopanishad has talked in detail about AUM. Upanishads
say whenever a seeker goes deep into the meditation, he
comes across the soundless sound of AUM which is a bridge
between the formal and formless aspects of Brahma.
Christians and Mohammadans have reported it as Amen.
The Zen monks call it the sound of one hand clapping. We
had come to this term in Ken Upanishad also where the
strength of this sound was personified as Uma, the better
half of Shiva, the Lord of the ultimate welfare. Kathopanishad
says –
“All the Vedas teach this sound AUM. All the seekers try
to attain to it and they observe the path of Brahmacharya
just to reach it.”
Brahmacharya literally means conduct like the Brahma.
In my opinion this word literally means Nishkama Karma or
Desireless Action. The Brahma has no desires; all this
creation is just a play of ever-flowing energy. We too must
act like the Brahma, our actions should arise from our
awareness and not from our desires, this is Brahmacharya.
My understanding is that there was no concept of
renunciation in the Upanishadic period and Brahmacharya
meant Nishkama Karma only. Later on when Buddhism and
Jainism became prevalent in India, they interpreted Kama
to mean sex and Nishkama Karma to mean celibacy.
Consequently, some people today interpret Brahmacharya
to mean celibacy which the Western mind thinks to be
impossible. I, too, do not agree with the later interpretation.
This meaning is not necessary because Brahmacharya only
means routine like the Brahma which is non-attached action
or desireless action. Brahmacharya or desireless action
makes us more and more free from the worldly obsession
and can lead us to deeper and deeper meditation. A seeker
can come across this sound of AUM only when he is deep in
110 The Paradise Never Lost
meditation. This sound is said to be the ultimate sound of
creation and one who has come to hear it becomes one with
the process of creation. Remaining at this source whatever a
seeker can think or whatever prayer can arise in his mind
come immediately true in the physical world also. All the
desires and promises of such a person are fulfilled in the
outside world also. There is a meaning when a Christian
mystic says, “I shall pray for you, Amen!”
Kathopanishad states –
“This very word AUM is the Brahma, this very word AUM
is the ultimate. One who has attained to this word get all his
prayers fulfilled in the outside world too.”
Yama while describing self-realization says – “This self
or atman cannot be attained by listening to those who have
reached, nor it can be attained by retaining scriptures in
memory, nor it can be attained by wandering from one master
to another. It is revealed to those only who are chosen. Once
chosen this self reveals itself to him spontaneously.”
This Upanishad is well-known for its assertion that no
one can become self-realized by following any discipline
whatsoever. Self-realization is always spontaneous and it
comes as a gift from the existence. The path of Upanishads
is the path of UPASANA which means living near the divine.
Upasana is a form of prayer. It seems that people in those
times were simple and quiet and they did not depend on any
methods of enlightenment which would come to them
effortlessly. But who are the chosen people? The Upanishad
states –
“The truth cannot come to those who are attached; the
truth cannot come to those who are not pure in their thought
and action; the truth cannot come to those who have no
peace of mind, the truth cannot come to those who nurture
ego and the truth cannot come to those who are vexed with
problems. The truth comes only through intuition.”
The Upanishad opines that truth happens intuitively only
to those who transcend all the troubled states of mind. But
here people like Patanjali; Buddha and Osho may interfere
and ask how we can attain to this peace of mind without
which truth cannot be available? This question is relevant
and the answer is that both the Devil and the Angles have to
help so that Adam can grow; Doubt and Effort are as much
necessary as the Faith in Existence. Both these aspects are
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complementary and not antagonistic as it is revealed in the
end when the Paradise is regained.
After this the Upanishad raises a metaphysical question
– what is the nature of this self? The Upanishad observes –
“Our senses are the outermost. The conception through
sensory perception is beyond the senses. The mind which
comprehends is beyond this conception. Our intellect is
beyond the mind and our consciousness is far far beyond
the intellect too.”
Unlike David Hume, the Upanishad says that our
consciousness cannot be identified with the body or with
the flux of mind. When our mind happens to be at rest, all
our mental processes cease to be, we realize our
consciousness which is apart from the psychosomatics. David
Hume stopped at the periphery he could not reach the centre
of our being which is the self and which transcends both the
body and the mind. In fact, in the very beginning of Yogasutra
Patanjali has defined yoga as the cessation of the processes
of mind. When all the wavering disappears from the surface
of a lake and the lake becomes still, this is the beginning of
yoga and this still lake is the lake of our consciousness.
The Upanishad states, “one must arise, one must practice
awareness, one must seek the enlightened persons and learn
from them. Those who has reached say that the path towards
the truth is very arduous like a sharpened edge of the razor”.
At last the Upanishad says that there can be a path howsoever
arduous it may be.
The Upanishad is non-dualistic in its metaphysics. It is
only through the wavering mind that we see multiplicity in
existence, otherwise there is only one substance here. This
one substance is the Brahma. But when we perceive it
through our senses, mind and intellect, this substance
manifests itself into a multiplicity of things and living beings.
This substance manifests itself in the form of matter,
creatures, time, space and consciousness etc. As long as we
believe in the multiplicity of objects, we cannot jump out of
the vicious cycle of death and rebirth.
The Upanishad asserts that the self transcends all that
is in time and space. Wherethere is atman, neither the sun
shines, nor the moon nor the stars. That is to say even light
cannot reach there. The shining of fire or lightening cannot
illuminate the atman. It is because of the atman that all
112 The Paradise Never Lost
these things are illuminated but it is not because of these
things that the self is illuminated. The self which transcends
all form cannot be known by perception, conception or
comprehension. It can be known through intuition only.
Finally Nachiketa becomes fully enlightened and all his
doubts disappear. He comes home back realized and fulfilled
and his father is immensely happy to understand that death
and the existence after death no more puzzles him. The father
had sent him only to know the secrets of death and the
existence afterwards and his purpose was fulfilled.
Now, we again look to the text of Kathopanishad.
According to Upanishads there are three kinds of suffering –
Physical (Adhibhautic), Karmic (Adhidaivic) and Spiritual
(Adhyatmic). Nachiketa’s three questions pertain respectively
to these three kinds of suffering. The first question relates
to his father and it is Adhibhautic or this worldly. The second
question is Adhidaivic, Nachiketa wants to learn the method
which can help a dead person to enter heaven. This method
has been described as Agnividya, Nachiketa-fire and
Panchakarma in the Upanishad and it pertains to the other
world. Only the third question is spiritual because it relates
to the enlightenment. One more curiosity is relevant here.
What is the non-dualism of Vedanta? Is it a principle different
from Spinoza’s Monism or the principle of one unique God?
Yes, there is difference. As mentioned earlier, the Brahma of
Upanishads is not a personal God, it is more like a principle
or like an ultimate law. Non-dualism literally means ‘there
are not two’. It is not Monism. There are situations when we
cannot say either ‘It is one’ or ‘It is two’. This is non-dualism.
We can explain it by some examples. If we focus the sun
rays through a convex lense it can burn a piece of paper
lying on the ground. We cannot say that the sun which is
shining in the sky and the image which is on the ground are
one but we cannot say these are two either. The wave in a
lake and the water wavering are not one but not two either.
The Lamp and the light of the Lamp are not one but not two
either. The air which is flowing and the touch of the air are
not one but are not two either. Such a relationship is termed
as non-dualism in Vedanta. The Brahma and the Universe
are not one but not two either. The souls of two persons are
not one but not distinct either. The creation and the creator
are not one but not two either. According to Vedanta this
The Paradise Never Lost 113
happening is like the dance and the dancer. That is why, in manifested more prominently in the Moon, the winter solstice,
India we represent the ultimate truth as NATRAJ, the dancing the fortnight of the waning Moon and the Night. It seems the
Brahma. The Brahma is the dancer and this universe is his Upanishad intends to imply that Prana is more prominent
dance and they are related to each other. This relationship where there is action and Rayi is more prominent where
is the non-dualism of the Upanishads and we have to there is inaction. Let it be so for one of the principles has to
understand it only as such. be more active than the other comparatively. The Chinese
has described these principles as ‘the yin’ and ‘the yang’ and
Prashnopanishad one is more active than the other. It is just like the male and
the female counterparts. Prana is described as the effective
Prashna menas enquiry and Upanishad means a
cause and Rayi described as the material cause behind the
scripture near the ultimate reality. In this Upanishad
existence. There is found a chance remark here that the
Pippalad is considered to be a wise seer and six seekers go to
digestive fire within us is a counterpart of the Sun outside
meet him with their querries. These six disciples have been
and it is stronger only as long as the sun shines. This is a
– Sukesh, Satyakarma, Sauryayani, Ashvalayan, Bhargava
matter of common observation and I see no reasons that the
and Kabandhi.
present day science should disagree to it. The Upanishad
The first question is asked by Kabandhi. How are all the
says that substance is source of all creation because
living creatures created? Pippalad replied that in the
substance creates the seed and the seed creates all living
beginning the ‘Lord of all’ creates a pair of ‘Prana’ and ‘Rayi’
things. The word ‘Anna’ has been used here which literally
and from these two all the living beings come to existence.
means ‘Not Nothing’ or substance. ‘Anna’ consists of two
Now, Prana means ‘the spirit’ or ‘the élan vitla’ and Rayi
syllables ‘An’ and ‘Na’ both of which are negative, and so
means the substance. The Sankhya parallel for Prana and
Anna means ‘Not Nothing’ or ‘Really something’ or substance.
Rayi are ‘Purush’ and ‘Prakriti’ respectively and the parallel
‘Na’ is the ‘Vinash’ and ‘Anna’ is the ‘Sambhuti’ or substance.
terms used in Ishvashya Upanishad are ‘Sambhuti’ and
The second question is brought forth by Bhargava. Which
‘Asambhuti’ respectively. The Sankhya ‘Purush’ is an inactive
are the deities that sustain life? Which are the deities which
participant in the process of creation and Prakriti is
make life evident and who of these deities is the most
inanimate. Purush is just a witness and in a way the Sankhya
important one? Pippalad proceeds to enumerate these deities
philosophy fails to explain how the creation should have been
as the following –
initiated. Purush is just a witness throughout, Prakriti is
“These deities are five great elements (Sky, Earth, Air,
the only agent which binds and liberates Purush. To me this
Water, Fire); the five senses of action, the five senses of
is not much conceivable because Prakriti has neither any
perception and the four kinds of manas (cosmic mind, mind,
life nor any purpose. In Sankhya both the principles Purusha
intellect, ego). Everyone of these five great elements and
and Prakriti seem to be inactive and the process of creation
everyone of these fourteen elements of human subsistence
remains rather unexplained. The word ‘Prana’ is a better
claim each to be greater than the others.”
substitute for Purush because it is not an inactive principle
However, we must not forget that the Upanishadic
like Purush, it is vibrating with will throughout. Geeta has
Metaphysics is basically non-dualistic in its implication, it
used ‘Akhsar Brahma’ and ‘Khsar Brahma’ respectively for
has to be so. In fact, all the five aspects of nature and all the
Prana and Rayi. Akhsar Brahma like Prana is indestructible
fourteen components of human subsistence represent one
while Khsar Brahma like Rayi is perishable.
reality from different points of view. Each aspect of the
The Upanishad proceeds further to explain these two
Brahma is personified as a deity and this is done just for the
terms rather poetically. It states that Prana is manifested
sake of convenience and of beauty. There cannot be any
more prominently in the Sun, the summer solstice, the
further essential implication because all the deities are held
fortnight of the increasing Moon and daytime while Rayi is
to be one and the same Brahma. It has nothing to do with

114 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 115
what they call Monism or Henotheism in the West. Let me
say that Maxmuller has no real understanding of the Vedic
scriptures. Sometimes Upanishads are just spontaneous flow
of poetry and poetry is not like cut and dead terms of
Philosophy. A poetic work is to be understood in a poetic
manner.
In Kenopanishad Brahma is the cause and Prana is one
of its manifestations (shloka-8) but Pippalad highlights Prana
to raise it almost to the level of the Brahma, although not
meaning that these two are synonymous. Why do I say this
because the Brahma includes both Prana and Rayi, the
effective and the material cause respectively; while Prana
leaves out Rayi, it only motivates Rayi without including it
in itself. Pippalad comes forward with his assertion that the
supreme among all these deities is Prana. Prana is the vitality,
the life energy, the libido or the spirit. All other organs live
only as long as the spirit resides in them but this spirit itself
is uncaused and it is a-priori. He proceeds further to say
that this very Prana is the reality inside and the reality
outside. The whole Nature, Self, Brahma etc are inhabited
by the same spirit which manifests itself as Prana in human
beings. His Prana seems to be indivisible principle like the
Brahma; Prana is the universal spirit for Pippalad; it is the
one and only active principle in existence; everything except
Rayi seems to be Prana. He further elaborates that Prana is
the purpose, the motive, the intention of all the creation and
Prana is also the creator. Prana is the only effective cause
which is at work in existence, formal and formless both.
Prana seems to be like the Potter and Rayi like the particles
of unbaked clay. In fact, in this Upanishad Prana is described
as the life force within a creature and as the universal spirit
within the creation and it is the only effective cause and the
only active principle in existence whatsoever.
Ashvalayan is the third seeker to express his querries.
He asks the third question which can be analyzed as the
follows.
(a) From where does this Prana originate?
(b) How does this Prana enter our physical bodies?
(c) How does it divide itself to spread all over the bdoy?
(d) How does the Prana skip out of this body?
(e) How does this Prana manifest itself in the outer
universe which extends to infinitude?
116 The Paradise Never Lost
(f) How does it sustain the inner universe consisting of
our senses and our minds?
Pippalad praises Ashvalayan that he has expressed a real
faith in the Brahma and he is asking questions of the ultimate
implications. Pippald says he should answer these questions
which come from a real seeker.
Prana has its origin in the Brahma which is the essential
cause of all that pervades. This Prana resides in the causal
body which is also known as the ‘Prana Body’ or the spirit.
This body leads a living being from one birth to another and
it is tithered to our physical body because of our desires or
our clingings to the world of matter and form. This is the
human bondage.
This Prana divides itself into five nomenclatures. The
Prana which corresponds to the lower organs of excretion
and generation is known as APAN. But the prime part of
Prana corresponds to Mouth, Ear, Eye, Nose and Digestion,
the name of this Prana which motivates the fire of digestion
is ‘SAMAN’. The energy gained from the digestion of food is
distributed equally everywhere, and so this component of
Prana is designated as Saman which literally means equal.
The fire of digestion in us is like the fire of a ‘yajna’ and it
has seven flames manifested into seven senses – two eyes,
two ears, two nostrils and one mouth. We must not forget
Prana in us is an indivisible entity and all this classification
is only for the sake of good expression. ‘Vyan’ is the Prana
which resides in our fibres (nadis). These nadis are located
in the invisible causal body and these are said to be as many
as seventy two crores in number by the yogis. Sushumna is
the most important of these nadis and the Prana which
resides in Sushumna is said to be UDAN. The energy flowing
downwards along Shushumna leads the human beings to
lower and upper forms of life respectively at the time of
rebirth. This depends on our virtues and on our vices, the
good and the bad deeds, committed during the present life.
Thus, this one Prana in us is known by five nomenclatures –
APAN, SAMAN, PRAN, VYAN and UDAN – depending upon
the functions it has to perform.
Prana is the vitality or élan vital as the Japanese call it.
It is also ‘Libido’ or life energy as Freud calls it and this
Upanishad narrates it more poetically than philosophically.
Yet, we can understand it from one more point of view. The
The Paradise Never Lost 117
science of yoga says that we have seven bodies viz. The
Physical, the Astral, the Etheric, the Mental, the Atmic, the
Cosmic and the Nirvanic (Bodiless body). For the sake of
convenience we can state that the physical body consists of
matter while the next three viz. the Astral, the Etheric and
the Mental consist of energy. These three taken together are
known as Prana or causal body. During ordinary death only
the physical body disintegrates and our Prana remains intact
and leads us to the next birth. The Atmic, the Cosmic and
the Nirvanic bodies remain inactive during the process of
death and rebirth, these bodies consist neither of matter
nor of energy. The Atmic body becomes active after self-
realization, the cosmic body becomes active after Brahma-
realization and the Nirvanic body becomes active at the time
of Nirvana. When an enlightened person dies, all his first
four bodes disintegrate, his rebirth becomes impossible. This
we call liberation. Enlightenment has a beginning but it does
not come to an end. A person is said to be enlightened if he
is self-realized, Brahma-realized or has attained the final
Samadhi Nirvana. As far as human existence is concerned,
self-realization is the beginning of enlightenment which
culminates in Nirvana. I have seen yogis who can make their
Prana energy one with the energy of any other human being
or even with the energy of a material object. It can vibrate in
harmony with their breathing and the method is very simple
for them. In fact, the same Prana vibrates in all of us, it is a
non-dual principle like the Brahma. When we sit near an
enlightened person like J. K. or Osho, very soon we fall in
harmony with them. Prana is one and unique; it is the living
principle or the effective cause pervading all the existence.
In fact, Sankhya philosophy has its origin in this Upanishad.
Prana is the Purush of Sankhya and Rayi is the counterpart
of Prakriti there and all the twenty-five substance of Sankhya
have their origin in this Upanishad, we have already come
across twenty of them.
Pippalad proceeds further to carry on this metaphor to
the universe outside. He states that APAN dwells in Earth,
SAMAN dwells in Sky, PRAN dwells in the Sun, VYAN dwells
in the Air and UDAN dwells in Agni. All existence comes
from Agni or electrical energy and Agni represents Cosmic
Agitation. At the time of death all the other forms return
back to the prime PRANA which leads to a new birth
118 The Paradise Never Lost
depending upon the will of the dying one. A seer or a yogi
who can control all the inner and outer manifestations of
Prana transcends death. He comes to realize that he does
not die with the disintegration of the physical body. Such a
yogi who can control his Prana can also transmit his Prana
energy to any one of his worthy disciples who is devoted to
him and the lineage of disciplehood of such a great master
need not disappear. Many disciples can receive the energy of
the master. The mystics have called this phenomenon ‘The
Transmission of the Lamp’. Nanaka continued in this way
through a tradition of ten masters who happened from
Nanaka to Gobind Singh. The tradition of Buddha is still
living in this manner; it still maintains the tradition of
Gautam the Buddha. There are many other great traditions
followed by Yogis, Sufis, Vaishnavas etc. that still preserve
the spirits of their masters who cannot return to the earth
again. The yogis are still connected with Patanjali, Vaishnavas
with Vishnu, Sufis with Khizra and Christians and Islamic
mystics with the angels. A tradition servives only as long as
such a connection remains unsevered. That is why, the
Upanishad states that the lineage (praja) of such a wise one
need not disappear. By now it must have become clear to
the readers’ mind that this Upanishad preceeds both the
schools of Sankhya and Yoga and both the tradition inherit
their metaphysics from this Upanishad due to Pippalad.
Now, Sauryayani comes forward with his fourth querry.
This querry relates to the sleeping states of mind. Sauryayani
asks, “Which are the deities pertaining to the human
existence that sleep during the state of sleep? Which are the
deities that keep on waking even during the state of sleep?
Which one of the deities experiences the dreams? Which one
of the deities experiences pleasure during deep sleep? Finally,
in whom do all these deities reside?”
Pippalad replies using a very beautiful simile. He says,
“Look at the sun. When the sun is rising all its rays spread
all over and when the sun is setting all its rays return back
to the source and become one again in the sun. Similarly,
when a man sleeps all his senses of perception and action
return back to the ultimate deity which is Prana. All
perception, cognition, sensation, comprehension, action etc.
come to a rest and we say that the person is sleeping. Pippalad
proceeds further and compares this state of sleep to a ‘Yajna’.
The Paradise Never Lost 119
The five fires of Prana like the five flames of a yajna remain
waking even during the sleep. APAN is like the root fire, it
keeps alive the systems of excretion and reproduction even
during the sleep. The process of sperm making or ovum
formation still continues, the intensities and kidneys still
remain in function too. VYAN and PRAN are like two flames
raised from the root fire. These help involuntary functions
like heart-beat, blood-circulation etc. The incoming and the
out-going breaths are like two offerings given to the root fire
which help the vitality grow or help the Prana strengthening.
SAMAN is the form of Prana which distributes this vitality
everywhere equally. UDAN is like the desired motive of the
yajna which takes the sleeping one to the state of Sushupti
or dreamless sleep which is as relaxing and revitalizing as
Samadhi. Both in Sushupti and Samadhi we return back to
our centre.
The Vedanta philosophy which is the philosophy
underlying the Upanishads, too, describes four states of
awareness. These states are Jagriti (wakefulness), Swapna
(dreaming). In Jagriti our mind remains occupied mainly with
the outside objects, in Swapna our mind remains occupied
mainly with mental processes, but in Sushupti and Samadhi
both, all the objects of our consciousness disappear. Our
consciousness becomes an empty mirror reflecting nothing.
Sushupti is as blissful and so vigorous as Samadhi with one
difference that is Sushupti we are as unconscious as matter
and in Samadhi we are as conscious as a divine being.
Sushupti is the desired fruit of sleep and it rejuvenates us
for one more day of hustle and bustle. Modern psychology
has established through the instruments that this state of
Sushupti occurs only for a fleeting period of two to ten
minutes every time. But by the psychologists the dreams
too are considered to be indispensable for the normal
functioning of the brain. If the dreams of a sleeping person
are shattered again and again, the person can go even mad.
Some modern psychologists believe that dreams are all the
more important even than Sushupti and it seems to be true
because if we look at our fellow beings they live in dreams
only. Life and dremas are synonymous for most of us.
If we come to the present day terminology, Rayi literally
means the mustard seed. Jesus, too, has used it in the
parable of the mustard seed. According to Pippalad substance
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(Rayi) consists of very small particles. It is the material cause
behind the universe and is bound to be atomic in nature.
Prana represents our conscious, subconscious and
unconscious realms of mind. There is an indication in the
Upanishad, as we have discussed already, that Vyan and
UDAN not only pertain to the cosmic unconscious in us, but
also these aspects of Prana represent the outside universe
as well. Like Freud, also Pippalad holds that APAN or sex-
energy is the root fire in us. It seems that wise people have
always thought alike. As a matter of fact, Pippalad preceeds
Abraham, Buddha and Moses all but his philosophy presents
no contradictions even before the modern scientific thought.
Pippalad proceeds to narrate one more metaphor which
is rather beautiful. As all the birds of celebrity return back
to dwell in the same tree at the hour of sunset, similarly all
the senses of cognition and of action and all the five flames
of Prana reside in the same Absolute Self or the Brahma. All
the five great manifestations (Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Sky)
together with their properties (Smell, Fluidity, Form,
Touchability, Audibility) dwell in the same one Absolute Self.
All the instruments of awareness such as mind, intellect,
emotion, ego and spirit too reside in the same Absolute Self.
The living being or PURUSH is the one who sees, touches,
enjoys, thinks, conceives and this Purush also resides in
the same Absolute Self. Whosoever realizes this living being
which is shadowless, bodiless, colourless, purely
indestructible substance also comes to realize this Absolute
Self or Brahma in a way. Such a wise person who has realized
the Brahma becomes omnipresent and omniscient. Such a
wise person enters the Absolute Self or the kingdom of God
forever. May it be so. Hence this question.
Satyakama is the disciple who raises the fifth question,
“Upto what status a seeker is raised after death who has
realized the soundless sound of AUM during his meditations?”
Pippalad replies that it depends on the depth of
meditation. Pippalad has used two words in his answer which
are significant. One is ‘Abhidhyanam’ and the other is ‘Matra’.
Abhidhyam means Dhyan, Patanjali also has used it as the
seventh step of his yoga discipline, and Matra menas degree.
(For example, we use a word tanmatra in Sankhya which
means ‘a very small degree of that’; smell is said to be the
tanmatra of earth etc). In fact, meditation has three matras
The Paradise Never Lost 121
Vaikhari, Madhyama and Pashyanti. So Pippalad says that
it depends on our depth of meditation to know what will
happen to us after death. A seeker can begin to meditate
with the practice of AUM also. First of all, we produce the
sound of AUM through our mouth or through our nostrils
and become one with this sound. It is better to produce the
sound through the nostrils and become merged into it
artificial means such as cassettes can also be added. So a
sound of AUM is produced, we hear this sound and become
one with it. This is the Vaikhari matra of meditation. In the
second stage we stop to produce this sound by objects and
sit silently awaiting peacefully. One can attain to perfect
silence; this is the Madhyama matra of meditation. Some
day it can happen that a seeker is sitting silently, doing
nothing, just witnessing his thoughts or absence of thoughts
and suddenly the existential sound of AUM is heard. This is
the soundless sound or the sound of one hand clapping or
the Anahad Nad. This stage is said to be the Pashyanti matra
of meditation. One who is just at the Vaikhari stage is again
born as a human being; one who is at the Madhyama stage
of meditation is born as a deity and one who is at the
Pashyanti stage of meditation can become one with the
Absolute Self after his death and need not be reborn. So it
depends how deep our meditation has been. A seeker can
attain to Vaikhari, Madhyama, Pashyanti or Para matras of
meditation through other methods also. The use of the
mantra AUM is not indispensable to attain to the various
states of being after death.
We can understand this happening from a different point
of view too. Yoga has talked about seven bodies. The first
body is physical and it consists of matter and every human
being is aware of it. The second, third and fourth bodies
consist of energy and only a meditator can remain aware of
changes in them. These bodies are known as the etheric, the
astral and the psychic respectively. These taken together
are known as the Prana or the causal body. Self is neither
matter nor energy and so the Self transcends both Rayi and
Prana. The first body which is physical is a manifestation of
Rayi and the causal body is the manifestation of Prana. The
Brahma and the self transcend both of these. So at the
Vaikhari matra of meditation a person gradually becomes
aware of the second (etheric) body. Through this awareness
122 The Paradise Never Lost
the six perversions of Lust, Anger, Vanity, Greed, Prejudice
and Jealousy are gradually transformed to Reproduction,
Compassion, Humility, Generousity, Detachment and
Sympathy respectively. At the second stage Madhyama of
meditation a meditator gradually becomes aware of his astral
body. Through this awareness thoughts and dreams become
less and less and finally both of these disappear; there are
no involuntary thoughts or dreams whatsoever. At the third
matra Pashyanti of meditation a seeker gradually becomes
aware of his psychic body. ESP and psychic powers become
spontaneous to such a seeker. The science of yoga, however,
has advised not to indulge in such powers unnecessarily.
Mohammad had seen Koran at the Pashyanti stage of
meditation. At this third matra of meditation one can hear
the soundless sound of AUM also which is the sound of one
hand clapping. This sound is heard at the border of the fourth
body after which there is no realm of the formal Brahma.
Every method becomes perfect here, methods can lead us
only upto this sound of no collision. After this one enters the
fourth matra Para of meditation and becomes self-realized.
But no methods can lead upto Para which is a spontaneous
happening. Animals are not generally aware even of the
physical body. They live in a state which Freud has called
Id. Human beings are not always aware of their energy bodies
and they live in a state of ego or vanity. So those who have
attained only to Vaikhari come back to human form, those
who attained only upto Madhyama can attain to heaven but
never to liberation. Only after Pashyanti the universe of no
forms begins. So AUM can also help but only upto the fourth
body which is psychic. Beyond that is self-realization and
no one can predict it and no one can force it.
In fact, AUM is the purest from of energy beyond which
there is only consciousness. So a person encounters AUM
only when he has crossed all these three matras of meditation
and all these three energy bodies. Such a person is nearest
to the centre and to the enlightenment. That is why, Pippalad
is right to say that there are both the possibilities for a seeker.
He stands on the borderline so he can return back to the
world of forms or alternatively take a jump into the centre.
He may come back or he may disappear, the last moment of
his death will decide it whether he comes back or not.
However, one more remark is necessary here. Every self-
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realized person need not experience this sound of AUM
because there are many routes unto the Ultimate. Neither
meditation is the only path nor every meditator need to bypass
this sound of AUM. But Pippalad is right on this point that a
seeker who has experienced this sound of one hand clapping
most probably will jump out of the cycle of death and rebirth.
Now, we can take the original words of Pippalad. He says,
“A person who has crossed the first matra of meditation
returns back soon to a human form. But his birth is very
high, faith and meditation become his very nature. He
becomes as pure as the sayings of one Veda (Rigveda). A
seeker who has crossed the second matra of meditation
becomes as pure as the sayings of two Vedas (Rig, Yaju).
Such a person becomes a Deity, is laid to the Moon in his
causal body and after that he returns back to the Earth.
There are many holy spirits which reside on the Moon but
which can neither be seen through physical eyes nor can be
scanned through scientific instruments either. The writer
knows some meditators who are in constant touch with such
spirits through telepathy. A man who has crossed the third
stage of meditation becomes as pure as the sayings of three
Vedas (Rig, Yaju, Sam). It is as easy for such a person to give
up his bondage as it is for a snake to cast off its slough.
Such a person can even realize the Absolute Being.
According to Mimansa an alternative interpretation also
is possible. When a seeker comes to realize the soundless
sound of AUM he understand that all the sounds have
emerged from AUM. In fact all the world of forms is realized
to have emerged from AUM which is the ultimate form of
energy according to the seekers. For such a person Rigveda
becomes the first matra of AUM, Yajurveda becomes the
second matra of AUM and Samveda becomes the third matra
of AUM. Through hearing, contemplating and meditating
upon the sayings of these Vedas, a seeker can attain to the
stages described above. Following one veda he crosses the
first stage of meditation, following two Vedas together he
crosses the second stage of meditation and following all the
three Vedas simultaneously he crosses the third stage of
meditation also.”
I agree with the first interpretation which is according to
the science of yoga because the second interpretation which
is according to Mimansa can help very few people grow.
124 The Paradise Never Lost
However, we have to remember that these three stages of
meditation are not the completion of meditation, there is
also the fourth which is Para. It is not necessary that a person
who has reached even the third stage of meditation should
transcend death, but one who has reached the fourth always
transcends it. Those who have attained to self-realization
stop wavering. Self-realization is Para and it becomes possible
only after a person can remain aware in all his actions, outer
and inner both. That is why, the path of meditation is said
to be arduous. But this is the only general path, although
not the only one. Even the path of meditation belongs to
gradual enlightenment. There are paths leading to sudden
enlightenment too. Our point here is that upto the third
stage of meditation, there is fear of death. Having crossed it
perfectly there is no death at all. It seems, however, there
can be as many methods as there are seekers. This is the
way of the white cloud, no footprints left behind. Some people
may suddenly attain to AUM like Pippalad and can go even
beyond and know that Absolute Principle which transcends
all fear, change and death. Some people may never come to
listen to AUM, yet become enlightened and liberated. So it
depends on many things including also the methods adopted.
The sixth question comes from Sukesha. He wants to
know where the Purush or the Lord of the physical body
resides, the Lord who is said to be the master of the sixteen
talents.
Pippalad replies that the Lord of the physical body dwells
in the body itself and all these sixteen talents seem to dwell
in the Lord. Pur means a city and Purush means one who
dwells in this city. This body of ours is a kind of city and our
self dwells in it. According to Pippalad Purush first of all
created Prana (spirit) and from Prana he created Shraddha
(Faith). After that he created five great manifestations (Sky,
Air, Fire, Water, Earth). Then he created four kinds of minds
(will, intellect, mind, ego); five senses of perception and five
senses of action. After that he created food, sperm, tapa,
mantra, karma and the various words. According to Pippalad
the sixteen talents are – prana, faith, will, intellect, mind
(emotion), ego, five senses of perception and five senses of
action.
This description does not seem to be very much different
from the Sankhya metaphysics. Sankhya enumerates twenty-
The Paradise Never Lost 125
five substances –
Five great manifestations (Sky, Air, Fire, Water, Earth);
Five Tanmatras (Audibility, Touch, Heat, Fluidity, Smell);
Five senses of perception; (Five senses of action); Four kinds
of mind (Mahat, Mind, Intellect, Ego) and Purush. In fact all
these have been included in metaphysics due to Pippalad
except perhaps the five tanmatras which seem to be an after
thought.
Pippalad proceeds further and narrates the process of
dissolution which is the reverse of creation. He says that all
the manifestations and all the sixteen talents disappear into
Purush and become one with it at the time of great
dissolution. As all the rivers flow into the ocean and become
one with the ocean so all the creation disappears into Purush
(The Brahma). The Purush of this Upanishad is the same as
consciousness, Brahma or the Absolute Self. This is implied
although nowhere stated. In reference to an individual this
Purush is the individual self (Atman).
This Upanishad certainly preceeds the Sankhya-Sutra
of Kapil and the Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali. In fact both Sankhya
and yoga owe much to Pippalad for the sake of expression
and terminology. As it is clear from the context the word
Rayi seems to be synonymous to the Jain concept of ‘Bandh’
and the word Prana includes the Sankhya term Mahat in it.
In Sankhya Mahat is the first variation in Prakriti and in
this Upanishad Prana is the first variation of Prakriti. But
Prana is not synonymous to Mahat, because it includes the
individual consciousness also. We cannot substitute one word
for the other, yet prana seems to be a better word than Mahat
or Purush used in Sankhya. This Upanishad does not use
the word Prakriti but all that ensues from Rayi is in fact
Prakriti.
In the end, all the disciples bow-down to Pippalad and
fare him well gratefully and the Upanishad comes to a
conclusion.
Mundakopanishad
‘Mund’ literally means Buddhi or Head and so Mundak
means Bauddhik or Discussion or ‘of the head’. So that
Mundak Upanishad means the Upanishad of discussions.
In fact, as we go along we find three Mundaks or Discussions
126 The Paradise Never Lost
narrated in it. These three discussions have taken place
between Shaunak and Angira.
Shaunak himself was the founder of a big school of
learning. Once he came to Angira who was a great seer.
Shaunak asks Angira–
“What is that knowing which all is known?”
To this question Angira replies that there are two basic
disciplines worth knowing and these two disciplines are –
Paravidya and Aparavidya. This answer is exactly the same
as it had been prescribed in the Ishavasya Upanishad. In
Isha Upanishad the terms used are respectively Vidya and
Avidya. The first is the discipline leading towards the ultimate
truth and the second is the discipline pertaining to the
practical knowledge. Faith is the key to the first discipline
and doubt is the key to the second discipline. Faith brings
us closer to the God and doubt brings us closer to the devil
and both are the same.
Then Angira proceeds to explain what is Aparavidya and
what is Paravidya. According to Angira the knowledge of
Grammar, Poetics, Medicine and even the knowledge of four
Vedas all come under the category of Aparavidya. It seems
that in those days all kinds of knowledge had been collected
in the form of the four Vedas. According to Angira only the
realization of that substance which is changeless and timeless
can be said to be Paravidya and everything else belonged to
Aparavidya. This changeless principle is realized by a seeker
to be beyond vision, birth, varna, form etc. It is devoid of all
that can be known through our five senses of cognition and
our five senses of action. It is the eternal, the omnipresent,
the infinite, very minute, the indestructible Brahma. It is
observed while we observe all the living and non-living things.
This indestructible Brahma brings forth this universe as a
spider begets a web, as the Earth begets medicinal plants or
as the human organism begets heir. As the spider swallows
back its web, all this universe also disappears back into the
Brahma. Brahma is the efficient, the material, the formal,
the original and the essential cause of this creation. It
multiples itself only through its own will. This creation can
be compared with a YAJNA also. First of all, it is said, that
Anna is born. We have to understand this word ‘anna’. It is
a word just like ‘anyah’ or ‘anyatra’. Anna is the sum of two
syllables ‘an’ and ‘na’. ‘An’ as a prefix which means ‘Non’
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and ‘na’ means negativity and so Anna means non-negativity
of substance. It is to be remembered that Anna does not
mean only cereal which is one of the meanings; when we
come to foodstuff cereal is the only substantial food. When
Upanishads state that ‘Anna is Brahma’ it only means that
Brahma is beyond negation or all this existence is Brahma
or all substance is Brahma. In fact, all that exists is said to
be Brahma, existence and Brahma are synonymous to each
other. Anna is synonymous to Sat or substance. Substance
is the word which Spinoza too has used. So ‘Anna is Brahma’
means that Brahma is the only substance.
The Upanishad holds that first of all the substance (Anna)
appears and from this substance we get Prana (Spirit), Mahat
(Cosmic Mind), the universes and Karma (Action). From the
Karma ensues rebirth because our karmas create a chain of
cause and effect which hardly can come to a logical end only
in one birth. According to the Upanishad, this universe of
names, of forms and of substance emerges from Brahma
which is an omnipresent and omniscient principle having
an enlightened Will for creation. That is to say that this
universe of names and forms has an intelligent principle
behind it.
Angira proceeds further to explain that all ritual is
Aparavidya and only self-realization is Paravidya. The rituals
such as yajna, pilgrimage, worship, charity etc can lead a
person utmost upto the heaven. The person enjoys there the
fruits of all his good deeds and when this treasure of good
deeds is exhausted, he falls back again to the earth. Heaven
is not the ultimate achievement and this path is not the
significant one. Those who are wise do not run after heaven
but try to become self-enlightened under the discipline of
one who knows his own being. Without self-realization
everyone is destined to fall back again and again into the
cycle of life and death. The Upanishad holds that it is because
in the stage of ignorance we identify ourselves with ‘the
Embodied Self’ and after self-realization we come to know
our being as ‘the Absolute Self’. The ‘Embodied Self’ is
described by the word ‘Jeevatma’ whereas ‘The Absolute Self’
is denoted by the word ‘Paramatma’ in this Upanishad.
Whereas the scriptures like the Geeta have insisted upon
fourteen manifestations while describing the human
existence, this Upanishad gives importance to seven only.
128 The Paradise Never Lost
Geeta talks about five senses of action, five senses of cognition
and four kinds of mind while this Upanishad gives importance
to only seven of them – five senses of cognition, speech and
mind.
Now, we quote from the Upanishad itself –
“From that divine Brahma seven kinds of Pranas or
vitalities are born. From these seven Pranas the seven senses
of Ear, Nose, Eye, Skin, Tongue, Speech and Mind are
begotten. There are seven kinds of desires which arise
corresponding to each of these seven senses and these seven
desires can be compared to the seven flames of a yajna. Also,
there are seven kinds of contents corresponding to these
seven senses which can be compared to the seven kinds of
offerings given to these seven flames. These seven flames
create the seven kinds of dimensions (mansions) in which
these seven pranas dwell. During the sleep all these seven
kinds of senses are restored back into one ultimate principle
which is the Brahma and which is rooted into us the most
deeply.”
Can we find any parallel elsewhere to this expression?
Yes, in its aphorism 2/4/5 the Brahma-Sutra or the Vedanta
Sutra lays down that there are seven kinds of Pranas. The
yoga-sutra, too, assigns seven chakras and seven bodies and
each of these chakras has a world of its own. Mundak
Upanishad, too, asserts that with the coming forth of each
sense a complete world related to it is born. With the Eye a
world of sight comes into existence, with the Ear a world of
sound comes into existence etc. There is every reason to
believe that the concepts of Vedanta-Sutra and Yoga-Sutra
may have had their inspiration from the Mundakopanishad.
Everywhere in the Indian tradition the number of senses are
mentioned to be seven or ten.
Next, Angira comes forward with one more metaphor. He
says fire is begotten from the Brahma and this fire manifests
itself into the Sun and Moon. The Sun and the Moon beget
the clouds and the clouds shower rains. Rains beget various
kinds of plants, plants beget seeds and seeds beget creatures.
The implication here is that sperm, too, is seed and the food
derived from the plants generates the sperm. This is a kind
of metaphysics which many Upanishads have described and
there is nothing specific about it.
After this we come across one more metaphor for which
The Paradise Never Lost 129
this Upanishad has become well-known. This is the metaphor
of the two birds. The Upanishad states –
“This our body is like a tree on which the two birds
Jeevatma (The Embodied Self) and Paramatma (The Absolute
Self) rest simultaneously. In the state of ignorance we identify
ourselves with the Embodied Self and in the state of
awakening we identify ourselves with the Absolute Self. The
first of these birds tastes both kinds of fruits, sweet and
bitter depending upon the arousal of the past karmas while
the second tastes nothing. It is just an un-involved witness.
It remains aware but does not participate.”
We are reminded here that Jesus too has used this
metaphor in his sayings. He has said, “Two men shall lie in
a bed, one will live and the other will die.” Also, he has said,
“Two women shall sit grinding, one will live and the other
will die”, etc. The sayings of this kind imply that there are
two kinds of principles in us, one of which is temporal while
the other is immortal. Of course, all those who have eyes
have come to see the same truth. Yet, it seems that Mundak
Upanishad has been the origin of all such statements.
The Upanishad now comes forward with a suggestion to
us – “One must speak the truth, live a life of discipline and
should avoid perverted sexual indulgence.” It reminds us of
a Sutra from Kathopanishad too because the Sutra is very
much similar in its implication. The Kathopanishad has said–
“Self-realization cannot happen to a person who does
not bear a good moral character, who does not possess the
peace of mind, and who does not have any restrain over his
senses and his lower appetites. Self-realization, although,
can happen only through INTUITION.”
There is a famous maxim also due to this Upanishad.
This maxim is – only the truth can prevail (Satyameva Jayate).
What is the implication? The word ‘Satya’ or truth has got
two meanings, factuality and the ultimate reality. Here in
this sutra truth means the ultimate realty of self-realization.
This sutra means that ignorance cannot prevail for ever, only
the enlightenment can prevail for ever. Maybe ignorance has
no beginning but it certainly comes to an end. In the
conclusion, only the Brahma-realization can prevail. Satya
here does not mean to abide by the facts, it means
enlightenment or becoming one with the ultimate reality. It
is good to call a spade a spade but it cannot have much to do
130 The Paradise Never Lost
with self-realization, the only principle which can prevail for
ever. So Satya here does not mean being factual.
According to the Upanishad, abiding by the facts, keeping
away from falsehood and refraining from hypocrisy can only
be a help towards enlightenment but it is not the
enlightenment itself. Factuality is good but it is not everything
to be factual. In fact, there are no karma which can cause
the enlightenment, neither there are any rituals nor any
austerities which can lead to it forcibly. According to
Upanishads enlightenment is an intuitive happening but it
happen only to those who have a purity of heart. Jesus has
said, “Only those shall enter the kingdom of God who are
like small children”. Also, the Upanishads are in agreement
with it. The only thing we have to understand is that
childhood is not the kingdom of God.
Angira has preached that everyone gets what he or she
seeks and so a wise man should seek only the Brahma or
the Absolute Self; nothing else is worthwhile. Our desires
are responsible for falling back again and again into the cycle
of life and death. But the Upanishads have not been in favour
of renunciation. The Upanishadic faith can be named as
UPASANA which literally means ‘to live in harmony with
existence’. The Hindus of this era insisted upon a life full of
action and understanding, they did not insist upon
renunciation, discipline or techniques. This insistence upon
methods like meditation, bhakti etc. came in India with the
prevalence of the schools of yoga, Buddhism and Jainism.
Even the Bhakti tradition commenced as a reaction to yoga.
The Upanishadic seers believed that only by going deep into
desires we could understand the futility of desires. When we
come to understand the futility of all desires. When we come
to understand the futility of all desires, all desires drop and
this state of desirelessness becomes a passage for
enlightenment which is intuitive. The state of desirelessness
creates a psychological vacuum in us and the existence never
per mits a vacuum, so enlightenment in the natural
consequence. According to Upanishads only a whole-hearted
indulgence in life can give us the understanding of life. This
understanding of life leads some people to desirelessness
and this desirelessness can lead to enlightenment; not any
karma, not any ritual, not any austerities or any disciple
can result in enlightenment. The Upanishadic message
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invariably has been very brief, “Go deep into life and
understand the nature of desires, this understanding leads
some people to ultimate truth and enlightenment happens
always as a spontaneous gift from the existence.”
According to the Upanishads Brahmacharya is the
ultimate discipline and a man of Brahmacharya can attain
to the truth and the vice-versa. Brahmacharya literally means
‘a routine like the Brahma’ and so it should imply ‘Nishkama
Karma’ or ‘Karma without attachment’. We have to remember
that for the Brahma creation is not a means but only a
spontaneity. All creation is the consequence of overflowing
energy. So Brahmacharya means action which is an end in
itself, action which is spontaneous, and action which has
no purpose outside of itself. This action is overflowing energy,
this action is overflowing existence and this action is
overflowing bliss. According to Upanishads, life has no
purpose other than living. The Brahma of Upanishads is
like Nataraj, a dancer which is lost into the dance, a dancer
which does not exist outside the dance, a dancer for which
the dance has become the total action. Such an action is
Brahmacharya. Brahma literally means the growing reality
and Brahmacharya literally means to expand like the Brahma
or to overflow with energy. Naturally Brahmacharya is not
celibacy. A wise man should act out of bliss for the sake of
bliss; a wise man should act out of wisdom for the sake of
wisdom; a wise man should act out of spontaneity for the
sake of spontaneity. He should act as the flower blossoms,
as the air vibrates, as the river flows and as the Moon shines.
So Brahmacharya means ‘Nishkama Karma’ or ‘Creation for
the sake of creation’. Children play for the sake of playing
not to win a medal, a cuckoo sings for the sake of singing
not to earn a little, and a peacock dances for the sake of
dancing and not to become the National Bird of India.
Similarly the Brahma acts because action is his very nature,
because it is out of bliss that the action follows. Whenever
we associate a purpose to an action, the purpose become
important and the action looses all its grandeur. Such an
action cannot have any beauty in it. So there should be no
purpose and there should be no motive to compel an action,
only then it is Nishkama Karma, only then it is Brahmacharya
or the conduct like the Brahma. This Nishkama Karma is
the essential teaching of all the Upanishads and this is the
132 The Paradise Never Lost
ultimate discipline associated with the attainment of truth.
This seems that the Buddhist and the Jain philosophers
later on interpreted Kama as sex and Nishkama Karma as
celibacy or sexless act and so Brahmacharya was interpreted
to mean celibacy. I should congratulate Freud and his school
of psychoanalysis because the Buddhist and the Jain monks
have been very close to them in their interpretation. Freud
too believed that our sex energy was the basic motive behind
all our actions. But as far as Upanishads are concerned this
interpretation is neither necessary nor true. This
interpretation, in fact, marks the beginning of hypocrisy in
the History of Indian Mysticism too. This implication is
relevant only to people who can sublimate their sexual desire
through yogic practices and through austerities but all such
discipline came into existence afterwards. So whenever we
come across the word Brahmacharya in Upanishads it means
Nishkama Karma only. Upanishads have always been in
favour of a spontaneous life lived in harmony with the
existential order. Cosmic Harmony has been the keyword
for the Upanishadic seers, and this they have called the Rit.
In the days of Upanishads no one was supposed to renounce
the world before the age of fifty and even after this age both
the husband and the wife used to got to the forest together
not alone. Also, many disciples used to live with them to
make their renunciation comfortable, and the whole society
was supposed to support them economically.
Mandukya Upanishad
Mundak means a discussion and Mandukya means
‘worthy of discussion’ or ‘pertaining to discussion’ or ‘that
which follows from a discussion’.
This Upanishad describes in detail the four states of
consciousness; these states are Jagriti (wakefulness), Swapna
(dreamfulness), Sushupti (contentless sleep) and Turiya
(other than the three). The state of wakefulness is the first
quadrant of consciousness. It corresponds to the exterior
Prana or the cosmic spirit which pervades this universe. It
has seven instruments of perception viz. eye, ear, nose,
tongue, skin, speech and mind. These seven instruments
create seven mansions (lokas) of the universe. During the
state of wakefulness nineteen doors of awareness can be
The Paradise Never Lost 133
said to function. These doors consist of five senses of
cognition, five senses of action; five kinds of pranas (Apana,
Samana, Pran, Vyan, Udan) and four kinds of minds (mahat,
buddhi, manas, aham). During wakefulness our awareness
witness the gross aspect of creation which is the objective
outside world. This aspect of consciousness is termeds
VAISHVANAR.
The Second quadrant of consciousness in us is named
as Tejas or Hiranyagarbha. It corresponds to the dreaming
state of mind in us. During this state of mind also we used
the same seven instruments of Perception and the same
nineteen doors of awareness as already mentioned while
discussing wakefulness. In Dreaming state of mind primarily
our consciousness is occupied with the subjective isolated
world of individual experience. This state of consciousness
has been described as Tejas or Hiranyagarbha by the
Upanishad.
The third quadrant of consciousness is named as Pragya
or the original ignorance. Pragya is the sum of two syllables
pra and agya; pra means the original and agya means the
ignorance. This state is the same which the Jain Philosophers
have called Nigod. According to the Jain Philosophy there
are three states of consciousness – Nigod, Sansara and
Mokhsa. According to Mandukya Upanishad the states of
consciousness are four viz. Vaishvanar, Hiranyagarbha,
Pragya and Turiya. But in fact, Jains have only reiterated
this Sutra of Mandukya because Nigod means Pragya, Sansar
includes Vaishvanar and Hiranyagarbh both and Mokhsa is
exactly the same as Turiya. So Sansara is an experience
consisting of both wakefulness and dreaming states of mind
which is understandable. In this way, the Hindu and the
Jain descriptions become the same. One more point is to be
understood here, Sansara includes our life on this Earth as
well as our life after death but not Mokhsa. So Sansara
includes both the Lokas, this and the beyond. According to
Hindus, however, the experience of that world is Vaishvanar
while the experience of that world is Hiranyagarbha primarily.
Pragya proceeds the commencement of the experience of
Sansara, it is the state in which Adam and Eve used to live
while in the Garden of Eden; from the Garden of Eden they
transmigrated to the experience of Sansara. Turiya is the
state Jesus is supposed to attain after he would regain the
134 The Paradise Never Lost
Paradise. So Christianity also has talked of the same three
states of consciousness viz. The Garden of Eden, the Paradise
Lost and the Pradise Regained which refer respectively to
Nigod, Sansara and Kaivalya. In fact, this Paradise Regained
is the highest state of consciousness and this state has been
described also by names like Mokhsa, Kaivalya, Turiya,
Samadhi, Enlightenment, Qayamat etc.
This third state Pragya corresponds in us to Sushupti or
Dreamless Sleep. Although it is the lowest state of
consciousness but it is very refreshing and rejuvenating. In
this state a man is said to have slept like a log (matter). In
this state of mind too, there are no desires, no dreams and
no duality whatsoever. Also in Pragya the Brahma and the
creature become one. Also, we feel a certain kind of well-
being in this state too. Here, too there is a death and a
resurrection. Modern Psychology finds that this state is very
brief and it lasts only from two to ten minutes every night. It
is due to this brief period only that we get a new lease of life
everyday and can work properly during our waking state of
mind. However, the Modern Psychology acknowledges only
the first three states of consciousness which are Wakefulness,
Dreaming and Dreamless Sleep respectively. It knows nothing
of the fourth while the Paradise is Regained. This fourth
state of mind is not a matter of common experience. Even
Jesus has not regained it for ever. We can understand that
every Dick and Henry is not supposed to know it. Jesus is
raised to the Paradise but twice he returns back to the Earth.
Only the third time his conquest becomes lasting. The third
time he becomes like the angels or even greater because he
has been so dear to God the Father.
However, the fourth state of consciousness is Kaivalya
or Liberation. The Upanishads state it is neither this nor
that. In this state of consciousness there are no contents
psychological or worldly. In this state of consciousness there
is no one who knows and there is no one who does not know.
We can neither see, nor use, nor assume, nor describe this
state of consciousness. Our eye or intellect or any other sense
has nothing to do with this state of consciousness. All that
we call Perception or conception is irrelevant here. In this
state of consciousness only Kaivalya or self-realization
remains. All the furniture of the Earth and the Heaven
disappears together with all our mental processes. Here we
The Paradise Never Lost 135
come across the ultimate good and non-duality. This fourth
state of consciousness is the experience of Atman, of Brahma
or of Samadhi. This is the only experience worth having; we
have come home. Here, the beginning and the end, the alpha
and the omega, the first and the last have become one. There
is no time and no space. There is no observer and there is
nothing observed.
This Upanishad uses the symbol AUM to describe the
various states of consciousness. Here we come across a good
piece of poetic imagery. The Upanishad states that the letters
A, U, M can be said to represent the first three states of
consciousness viz. Vaishvanara, Hiranyagarbha and Pragya
respectively. These states are also known as Wakefulness,
Dreaming and Sushupti respectively. This kind of
representation is a matter of poetry and not a matter of
Metaphysics. According to the Upanishads the soundless
sound of AUM is the basic energy from which all the creation
follows. So we can say that the first matra of AUM creates
Wakefulness, the second matra of AUM creates Dreams and
the third matra of AUM creates Dreamless Sleep. The fourth
state Turiya transcends even this sound of AUM. This state
is pure consciousness and no energy. We can describe this
state as being both, a state of zero energy and a state of
infinite energy; a state in which effective energy is zero and
the potential energy is infinite. So more and more energy is
manifested as we move along the states of TURIYA,
VAISHVANARA, HIRANYAGARBHA and PRAGYA respectively,
the last being the state of matter and the first being the
state of the Absolute Self. It seems that the chanting of AUM
is good to induce sleep but it has nothing to do with the
fourth state of pure consciousness, nothing can lead to this
state. This experience of Turiya is uncaused and comes only
as a sudden gift from the existence. Moses seldom goes to
the Mountain, most of the times the Mountain comes to find
Moses. Here we finish this sixth Upanishad.
Some of the other Upanishads are Aitareya, Taithiriya,
Shvetashvatar, Vrihadaranyaka, Chhandogya etc. Besides
these we also should better go through Brahmasutra
(Vedantsutra) and Geeta to comprehend the Upanishadic
philosophy. Not only this, the total number of Upanishads
is more than one hundred. We cannot discuss all of these
here. I intend to discuss these in my book ‘Discovery of Indian
136 The Paradise Never Lost
thought’ later on. In fact, one need to write a separate and
comprehensive volume on the Upanishads alone, which is
out of all question here.
I have briefly described the text and implication of these
six Upanishads so that a reader may have an introduction
idea of the vedic culture and of the influence it did cast on
all the traditions which springed afterwards. Now, we can
analyze and summarize the Upanishadic thought which
became the source for all the future religions. To begin with,
Upasana seems to be the most prevalent form of religion in
the days of the great Upanishads. Upasana meant ‘being
close to the divine existence’ or ‘living in harmony with the
eternal law’. The traditions such as Hinduism, Sankhya,
Yoga, Bhakti, Jainism, Buddhism etc are nowhere mentioned
in the Upanishads. According to Upanishads it is the life
which we want to understand and life pertains to all creatures
Human or otherwise. This experience of life and this
understanding of life was supposed to lead to futility of all
desires and desirelessness was supposed to lead to
enlightenment. It was customary to go on performing one’s
duties without attachment even after enlightenment.
Upanishads are non-dualistic in their metaphysics, both
poetic and philosophical in their expression and with a sense
of brevity and wisdom in their diction. Here we find a
beauteous conspiracy between poetry and philosophy, logic
and music, prose and song, optimism and mysticism etc.
Most of the Upanishads do not mention even the name of
the seers who have contributed. In the Upanishads we have
a philosophy and an insight of the highest order possible.
The Self and the Brahma are not two; the matter and the
mind are not two; the creator and the creation are not two
and even a sleeping devdutta cannot sleep for ever. The
creator is lost in creation as a dancer is lost in dancing yet
he remains a witness and an invariant also. It is the Brahma
which is the effective and the material; the essential and the
formal; the original and the universal cause of existence.
Brahma is the purpose, the intention, the motive and the
goal of all that exists. All existence is only a play of overflowing
energy coming form the Brahma and returning to the same
source in the end. It is not a serious scheming but only a
spontaneows gesture. It is not a chaos but a cosmos and
there is a hidden harmony everywhere. The eternal law is
The Paradise Never Lost 137
called Rit and all existence remains in harmony with it. The
wisdom lies in discerning this eternal law and in living
accordingly. Upasana is the understanding that Brahma is
the only substance manifesting itself as an infinite infinitum
and through the essential law of cause and effect which we
call the Rit or the Satya.
It is to be understood clearly that the Upanishads do not
preach the idea of a personal God or the idea of a God who is
the creator. God is said to exist only as a principle, a
substance or an essence. God is both the effective and
material cause of this existence and yet he remains an
outsider also. There is no hierarchy, nothing is lower and
nothing is superior, Matter, Creatures, Mankind, Deities, Self
and Brahma all are just various aspects of the same reality
which is non-dualistic and indivisible by its very nature.
This very existence is the Brahma and this very world is
Nirvana. All that exists is Brahma and Brahma is the only
substance which exists. Ignorance is the World and
Enlightenment is Nirvana, the World and the Nirvana are
only two points of view towards the same reality. Our vision
changes the whole creation.
There are, however, two kinds of doctrines found in the
Vedanta philosophy. One is known as Brahmaparinamvad
and the other is known as Brahmavivartvad. The word
parinamvad literally means effectivism and it is a kind of
realistic philosophy whereas the word vivartvad literally
means illusionism and it is a kind of idealistic philosophy.
Some Upanishads propagate that Brahma is the cause and
this universe is the effect and the cause and the effect are
both real and distinct. According to them this universe of
matter and form, of space and time, of a multiplicity of living
and non-living beings has an actual emergence from the
Brahma which is the material cause. The Brahma really
undergoes change, variation or deformation to give birth to
this creation. For parinamavadis there is an absolute
existence of this universe of names and forms. They explain
it with an example: milk is the cause and curd is the effect
but the effect is not the same as the cause because the change
is real; we all know that the milk and the curd have different
properties. This is the common view acknowledged by every
scientific mind. Kathopanishad has said that Brahma is like
the seed and this universe is like a tree and the change in
138 The Paradise Never Lost
Brahma is real. It seems that this doctrine of real effect
culminated later on in the Sankhya school of philosophy.
There is another school of Vedant which asserts that the
change or effect in the Brahma is just an illusion. They
prescribe a story to explain themselves. Once upon a time
there was a beautiful palace of mirrors. It had mirrors and
mirrors all around. One day, by mistake, a dog was left alone
in it. The dog saw itself reflected a thousand form and was
confused. Some Hindu scriptures assert that this universe
is like the same palace of mirrors. This doctrine is known as
Vivartvad (reflectionism) and also as Mayavad (illusionism).
The same Kathopanishad quoted above also states –
“Whosoever conceives here a multiplicity of substance
cannot jump out of the cycle of death and rebirth.”
Some people think it suggests the doctrine of Vivartvad.
In Upanishads we come across both these doctrines
simultaneously as if these were complementary to each other.
It seems that both these doctrines are true at the same
time. If we accept time and space to have an absolute
existence, the effect becomes real and parinamvad becomes
the fact. If we accept like vedantis that time and space are
unreal and appear only because we are in a state of spiritual
sleep, Vivartvad becomes the conclusion. Vedantis hold that
a sleeping Devdutta has been as much a Devdutta as an
awakened Devdutta and everying in going to awake up one
day out of this dream of space and time and of name and
form, and retrospectively all change is going to prove an
illusion. We can take one more illustration. Every river is
rushing towards to ocean, is merging into the ocean and is
one with the ocean at the same time; it depends from where
we observe it. So it is said that effectivism and illusionism
become one and the same when we get out of our spiritual
sleep. The beam in the water is really bent and yet really
straight too. Amen!
The Paradise Never Lost 139
 Vedanta, Sankhya and Geeta
There are six traditional systems of Hindu Philosophy.
These systems are Mimansa, Vedanta, Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya
and Vaisheshika. Mimansa concerns itself with the ritual
aspect of Vedas whereas Vedanta is the philosophical aspect
of Vedas and so we can leave Mimansa. Upanishads,
Brahmasutra and Geeta are the basic Vedant scriptures.
Upanishads are contained in the four Vedas and are more
than one hundred in number. Brahma-Sutra or Vedanta-
Sutra was written by Vedvyas to explain the Upanishads
and Geeta by the same writer is said to be the essence of all
the Upanishads. The six Upanishads we have gone through
are important and foremost and we have become familiar by
now with the basic philosophy of Vedanta. These Upanishads
are said to be among those which in their manner and content
are thought to be representative.
Gautam and Kanad are exponents of Nyaya and
Vaisheshika systems respectively. We need not discuss these
systems here. If we understand Sankhya and Yoga, we can
dispense with Nyaya and Vaisheshika which do not differ
essentially from these two systems. It is good for a seeker to
know Sankhya and Yoga which have practical implication
but he need not go into Nyaya and Vaisheshika as these
systems are only theorical in their enquiry.
Strangely enough, in many Upanishads we have the
terms Sankhya and Yoga mentioned. It seems that Kapil and
Patanjali are as ancient as some of the Upanishads are. There
is a possibility that these six schools of philosophy might
have come to emerge simultaneously. Maybe those mystics
who agreed with Vedanta were included in the Upanishads
and those who did not agree began to establish other schools
of Philosophy. Most probably some of the Upanishads were
composed before the birth of Kapil and Patanjali while some
others were written later on. The composition of Vedas and
the propagation of the six systems of philosophy seems to be
a very long and continuous process and today it is very
difficult to assign a chronological order to all of them. Yet we
can say certainly that the four Vedas are more ancient than
the Sankhyasutra of Kapil, The Sankhyasutra is more ancient
140 The Paradise Never Lost
than the Yogasutra of Patanjali and Sankhya-Yoga preceeded
Nyaya Vaisheshika.
In Geeta, we find all the principles of Upanishads and so
it seems to be beyond doubt that the Upanishads are more
ancient than Geeta which is a part of the great epic
Mahabharata. This also seems to be the case that Sankhya-
sutra and Yoga-sutra both have been more ancient than the
Geeta. Everyone knows that the Sankhya system of
philosophy commenced with the Sankhya-sutra by kapil and
continues even till today; similarly the yoga system of
philosophy began with the Yoga-Sutra by patanjali and has
continued ever since then. So a probable chronological order
can be taken as – Vedas, Sankhya-Sutra, Yoga-Surta,
Brahmasutra and then Geeta. In fact, Geeta, attempts to
reconcile the principles of Sankhya and Vedanta both and
this has created a strange situation at many places which
we shall discuss later on. Upanishads, Brahma-sutra and
Geeta are said to be the ‘departure-triad’ as these provide a
bridge between the Vedas and the six schools of theist
philosophies which consider the Vedas as self-evident.
The Sankhya philosophy
Some philosophers hold that Sankhya and Yoga are two
separate disciplines while most of the scholars take them as
complementary systems. Sankhya is said to be the theoretical
aspect and Yoga the practical aspect of the same discipline.
The word Sankhya ensues from the word Sankhya which
has two meanings – number and equal significance (Samyak
Khyati). This name is appropriate because while the
Upanishads accept only one substance which is the Brahma,
Sankhya believes in two substances ‘Purush’ and ‘Prakrit’
both of which are absolute and have equal significance.
Purush is conscious and Prakriti is unconscious; Purush is
the effective cause and Prakriti is the material cause of all
that exists. Sankhya is dualistic in its nature, both Prakriti
and Purush are absolute, independent and ultimate
beginningless substances. According to Sankhya all variation
occurs in Prakriti only while Purush remains an invariant
or a witness throughout. The Purush of Sankhya does not
participate in creation, it is just like a catalytic agent.
According to Sankhya metaphysics, Purush is conscious but
The Paradise Never Lost 141
an inactive principle where as Prakriti is active but inanimate.
The Sankhya philosophy has most probably originated from
the Prashnopanishad but a few remarkable differences are
certainly there. Prana is both conscious and active, it is not
like the Purush of Sankhya. Rayi is unconscious like the
Prakriti of Sankya but it is devoid of all initiative. The Sankhya
Purush and the Rayi of Prashnopanishad take no initiative
in the act of creation. In Prashnopanishad the initiative comes
from Prana while in Sankhya all the variation, from beginning
to the end, occurs in prakrit only. Moreover, Prana and Rayi
are not independent substances but only two aspects of the
same substance Brahma, while in Sankhya the independent
substances are two. Sankhya is a consequence of
Brahmaparinamvad too, but with a difference. All effect
occurs only in Prakriti, the effect is real and is distinct from
the cause, but our self remains unaffected. So both our
bondage and our liberation remain irrelevant as far as Purush
is concerned, the relevance belongs only to the Prakriti. This
idea is different from Vedanta as a whole because the Brahma
of Vedanta has a will for creation. It is because of the Brahma,
which is a conscious principle, that the creation has to follow.
We have to remember the maxim ‘Eko Hum Bahusyami’.
So, according to Sankhya, Purush is the first principle
and it is the only conscious and intelligent principle. The
words : Self, Soul, Spirit and Mind are synonyms to it.
Sankhya does not accept Brahma as a non-dual entity.
Prakriti is the second absolute substance and it means
literally ‘that which preceeds creation’. Prakriti is inanimate,
material and unconscious substance. Ordinarily it means
the same as Nature of Matter. So this philosophy divides the
existence into two basic substances-‘Purush and Prakriti’ or
‘Mind and Matter’ or ‘Spirit and Nature’. Boh these elements
are ultimate and absolute in as much as neither can replace
the other and neither has its origin from the other. There is
no cause and effect relationships between them. Each of
them is without a beginning and without an end. Prakriti
neither originates in the beginning from the Purush nor it
dissolves back into Purush at the time of dissolution. This
doctrine of Sankhya is in disagreement with Vedanta about
the origin of creation. Also, it is in disagreement with Bible
and Koran where Purush is the creator and Prakriti is the
creation. However, we must understand one more point here.
142 The Paradise Never Lost
According to Sankhya, there is only one conscious principle.
The word ‘Purush’ refers to both ‘the Universal Self’ and ‘the
Individual Self’. This depends on the context available whose
meaning is the relevant meaing.
Now, we can ask the question which one of the Vedanta
and Sankhya is more scientific? How many ultimate
substances are there? In the past the West believed in two
ultimate substances viz Mind and Matter. But now the High
State Energy physics has reached a point where Matter has
disappeared. Matter is nothing but a condensed state of
Energy and Energy is nothing but minute Matter. Both can
transform into each other vide the formula E=mc2. Now, we
come to Mind. Our mind consist of thoughts, images,
emotions, concepts, axioms, etc. I want to make a suggestion
here. Thought, too, is a form of energy and this energy we
can call the Psychic Energy. Let us understand it. If we deny
all energy taken by a person in the form of food or liquor the
person cannot think. The person is bound to fall into a
cerebral comma and all his mental processes are bound to
disappear. So, even thought is a kind of energy, the biological
energy is transformed into Psychic Energy. Hence there is
no Matter and there is no Mind. There is only one substance
which the Science calls energy and the religion calls the
consciousness. So there cannot be two substances.
Is energy the ultimate substance? There are many
reasons that the answer should be certainly negative. First
of all, energy has many forms such as Light, Heat, Sound,
Electricity, Magnetism, Thought etc. A substance which is
ultimate should transcend all change and so it cannot have
many forms. That is to say, if a substance E appears to be
E1,E2,E3, . . . etc at different occasions, it is neither E1 nor E2
nor E3 etc, we cannot identify it with any one of the forms
available. My suggestion is that if a substance appears in
many forms, it must transcend all these forms and must be
formless in its spontaneity. Consciousness is the only
formless substance and so energy is not the ultimate
substance but consciousness is the ultimate substance.
Again, we come to the law of conservation of energy. All the
forms of energy can change one into another and so energy
cannot be the ultimate substance. As we make an
advancement upon the Atomic Physics, the law of
Conservation of Energy does not hold. The recent problem
The Paradise Never Lost 143
today is that sometimes the energy becomes more and
sometimes it becomes less. Sometimes the energy emerges
from nowhere and sometimes it disappears into nowhere.
So there must be some source of energy and this source
must be the ultimate substance. The Upanishads have called
this ultimate substance ‘the Brahma’ which is a conscious
principle and which is timeless and nonspatial too. In short,
modern science has reached a stage where the substance
seems to be one and unpredictable. The substance seems to
have freedom ad consciousness both. This is the standpoint
from where the Upanishads have begun. There is a maxim
where science ends, the religion begins.
But to a common man Sankhya seems to be more
plausible than Vedanta, why? Because the dichotomy which
we observe in existence seems to be very basic. We always
divide the existence perceived into two categories— living
and non-living, animate and inanimate, Matter and Mind,
Purush and Prakriti etc. It is not ordinarily conceivable that
this dichotomy emerges from only one basic substance,
energy or Brahma. Sankhya has more commonsense than
Vedanta is supposed to have. That is why, it seems that
Sankhya was propagated. It is easy to understand Sankhya
but it is very difficult to admit the non-duality of Vedanta.
Everyone is not supposed to be a philosopher and so the
need of Sankhya was felt to be imperative. With the non-
dualism of Veadanta a practical mind was in real turmoil.
When we consider Vedanta two objections are really
significant. How can a man and a stone be the same
substances? Even to turn a stone, a person is needed. The
inanimate Nature and living Beings does not seem to be the
same substance. Secondly, this does not seem to be plausible
that all of us should share the same consciousness. How
can I and my neighbour have the same consciousness? This
is not understandable ordinarily. If the neighbour is pricked,
he feels the pain but I do not feel it. It is good to go and
reconcile with the neighbour first but his meat is not only
my meat and his thorns are not my thorns. Sankhya accepted
both these objections to be valid. It accepted that Purush
and Prakriti were different realities. It also accepted the
validity of Brahmaparinamvad. In the beginning there was
only one absolute Self , but when it became embodied, it
could no more be considered to be absolute. A seed multiples
144 The Paradise Never Lost
itself into numerous seeds, after this multiplication there is
no necessity to consider them to be identical. This is the
Sankhya stand-point. It seems that Sankhya emerged as a
practical criticism of Vedanta and remained popular because
of practical considerations and its appeal to commonsense.
It seems that the less a system of philosophy confuses, the
more popular it should become.
Today even Science has philosophical. Matter has
disappeared and energy is everything. Even the law of
conservation of energy cannot be held forever. Time and space
are not absolute but relative to each other. The scientist who
began with a sense of certainty is no more certain on any
point now. A few comments about time and space are not
out of context here. Vedanta has always asserted that the
Brahma is an invariant and so time and space only illusions
having no absolute implications. I remember ‘The time
machine’ of H.G. Wells. In a way, we have succeeded to make
such time machines too. We have cinema, video and audio
recordings, televisions and super computers etc which defy
the sense of change occurred. We can rewind and fast forward
these devices to move in time. We have invented cloaning
just now and we can meet the same person even after he
dies. We have conquered time and space in our own ways. In
the past only the mystics claimed that man could know past
and future both and man could transcend the limitations of
space also. Now it seems, also the scientists have joined with
the philosophers to do away with the barriers paused by
time and space.
Now, we take up the basic features of Sankhya. Prakriti
is the original inanimate principle which exhibits itself as
Nature and Matter. It is responsible for creation and
decreation both as the case may be. Prakriti of Sankhya has
three components: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas which represent
respectively Virtue, Unsteadiness and Ignorance in us. In
the beginning, the conscious substance Purush is not there
and these three components are in equilibrium. Just as the
Purush comes to witness Prakriti, his very presence disturbs
this equilibrium and the process of creation is triggered. In
the end too, these three components reach an equilibrium
again and the great dissolutions follows. Purush is just like
a catalytic agent throughout, it does not participate in the
process of creation, change or dissolution. The consciousness
The Paradise Never Lost 145
of Purush is just a witness throughout; the consciousness is
an invariant, changeless, indestructible principle from the
beginning to the end. Only the Prakriti is responsible for
both bondage and liberation. According to Sankhya the whole
existence is like a universal cinema and the Purush is like
an inside audience watching it sitting still. The existence
can be compared to a three dimensional cinema happening
around the Purush. According to the Sankhya belief a seeker
has just to become aware and has to give up his identification
with the components of Prakriti working inside him and this
witnessing will liberate him. Geeta has stated, “whoever
knows the Purash and the Prakriti in action with all its three
components, although in bondage at present, he cannot be
born again(13/23)”.
The standpoint that consciousness is an inactive principle
is peculiar to Sankhya only. None of the philosophical schools
such as Vedanta, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity or Islam
can agree to this standpoint. Vedanta admits it unreservedly
that the Brahma himself is responsible for all the creation(I
am one and I want to become many). Only the modern Science
may suggest that energy is the only active principle and our
consciousness is just a consequence of energy or the vice-
versa. The Purush of Sankhya is seated surrounded by a
three dimensional movie without even a remote control in
his hands. But the modern Psychology comes to support
Sankhya. For most of the psychologists our psychosomatic
system is just a flux of energy and our consciousness is just
a by-product of our witnessing. For them consciousness is
just relative, it is not an absolute substance. There is no one
who can even hold the remote control in his hands, only the
show is going on.
It seems that even the Sankhya hypothesis about the
Creation and Decreation is self-contradictory. Purush is
conscious but inactive and Prakriti is active but unconscious,
there cannot be a bondage between the two. How can Prakriti
which has no will can bind Purush who is just a witness.
Neither Purush is willing nor Prakriti is willing, so how can
the bondage begin? Purush is beginningless, Prakriti is also
beginningless and so the creation cannot have a beginning
because the Purush has been witnessing Prakriti since ever.
Similarly, the Purush will never disappear, the Prakriti will
never disappear, the witnessing will never disappear and so
146 The Paradise Never Lost
the three components of Prakriti can never attain to an
equilibrium again. So according to Sankhya the creation
cannot have a beginning and the creation cannot have an
end. Even if some equilibrium is attained it can be only
momentary, it is bound to be disturbed again. This
contradiction can be resolved only if we assume that Prakriti
is both unconscious and inactive while Purush is both
conscious and having a will to create in the beginning. The
creation has followed because of the will on the part of the
conscious principle and it will come to an end when this will
is withdrawn. This stand is very much similar to the
proposition advanced by Pippalad in Prashnopanishad. Of
course, there is a difference too. Rayi is not an independent
substance and it is not unconscious but less conscious than
Prana; Prana is not a witness but it is more conscious and
more wiling than Rayi; both Rayi and Prana aspect the same
non-dual substance Brahma. It seems that Sankhya has
commited an error while withdrawing all will from the
conscious principle Purush. Both Purursh and Prakriti could
remain ultimate substances, only the Purush ought to have
some will for creation. We have to admit an initial till to the
Purush who becomes desireless afterwards, only then the
bondage and the creation can have a meaning.
There is a possibility that man was very simple and
innocent to begin with. It was very easy for him to attain to
the peace of mind and Enlightenment in the age of the great
Upanishads. Upanishads have asserted that only Upasana
and understanding of life could lead to spontaneous
Enlightenment. Sankhya goes a step forward and tells us
that spontaneity is not enough ; one has to remain a witness
moment to moment; continuous and undisturbed awareness
is needed to become awakened. Even Sankhya was only a
beginning. The schools of Yoga, Buddhism and Jainism
thought it necessary to devise many techniques which
could help towards Enlightenment. Gradually, it seems that
mankind became more and more burdened and
Enlightenment became more and more of a nightmare. The
search for techniques begin with Yogasutra of Patanjali and
it comes to a full blooming in Vigyan-Bhairava-Tantra which
prescribes one hundred and twelve techniques for
Enlightenment. The path which seemed spontaneous in the
beginning became arduous to include even austerity and
The Paradise Never Lost 147
renunciation. With the passage of time Devil went on Purush Witnessing Prakriti
becoming more and more active and the God more and more (Nature)
tired. When Gautam Buddha and Mahavira entered the
scene, Faith was substituted by effort and innocence by
doubt. In Sankhya only the Prakriti has been held responsible
for bondage. My understanding is that with the passage of
time renunciation became more important and the spiritual
persons began to condemn women for bondage and this Mahat (Cosmic Spirit)
principle even entered Sankhya; however it seems to be a
later development. The Yogis, the Budhhist and the Jain
monks even thought it indispensable to run away from the Five Tanmatras
households. (Smell, Flow, Touch,
Sankhya states that there is a purpose in all this exercise Form, Sound) Antakharan
(Ego, Mind, Intellect)
of creation and dissolution too. Although our cosciousness
is free even before creation and it becomes liberated again
after decreation, but there is a difference. It is held that the Five Great
Purush who has been ignorant before the process of creation Manifestations
(Earth, Eater, Air,
becomes wiser after having the experience of the world. It
Fire, Sky)
seems that Christianity has been influenced greatly by this Fire senses Five senses
idea. The three stages viz. the Garden of Eden, the Paradise of Actions of Perception
Lost, and the Paradise Regional as described in the Genesis
only reiterate the Sankhya ideology. Sankhya holds that we instruments follow Five Senses of Perception and also the
must feel grateful to Nature for this supreme wisdom. Five Senses of Action. This is the famous Sankhya
Wordsworth has been right in his statement: ‘Nature never Metaphysics containing twenty-five elements. We can
did betray the which loved her’. enumerate them again as the below:-
Now, we come to depict the Sankhya cosmology as the (a) Purush (Consciousness)
follow. (b) Mahat (Cosmic Spirit)
It is said that in the beginning there is an equilibrium (c) Antahkaran (Mind, Intellect, Ego)
between the three components (Gunas) of Prakriti. This (d) Five Tanmatras (Smell, Flow, Touch, Form, Sound)
equilibrium is disturbed when Purush and Prakriti come close (e) Five Great Manifestations (Earth, Water, Air, Fire,
to each other (Sankhya does not explain why?) Mahat is the Sky)
first element which is begotten, it can be translated as the (f) Five Senses of Action (Hand, Feet, Speech, Genital,
comic spirit. Mahat is identical neither to the Prana nor to Excretion)
the Rayi of Prashnopanishad. Also, it is different from the (g) Five Senses of Perception (Eye, Ear, Nose, Skin,
Alayvigyan of the Buddhists. It is different from Prana or Tongue)
Rayi because it is not from the beginning but is only a Purush is the first element of Sankhya associated with
consequence. Also, it differs from the Alaybigyan because twenty-four elements which come from Prakriti. It is claimed
here the conscious principle is not active. From this cosmic that in the end, too three components of Prakriti viz. Sattva
spirit ensues Mind, Intellect and Ego which taken together (Virtue), Rajas (Ambition) and Tamas (Ignorance) reach an
constitute Antahkaran which literally means ‘the inner Equilibrium again and all the creation comes to a standstill
instruments’. Also, from the same Mahat ensues Five and dissolves. The purpose behind all the creation is to make
Tanmatras and Five Great Manifestations. From the inner the Purush enlightened, having borne all the consequences

148 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 149
of his good and evil deeds. Purush is the experiencer, Prakriti truth. Similarly Maharshi Kapil, the exponent of Sankhya
is the school for experience and Enlightenment is the Degree. too, was an Enlightened person and Sankhya has originated
Is not it wonderful? as he tried to communicate his intuitive vision. The truth
attained by intuition is absolute, ultimate, invariant, timeless,
The Role of Bhagavad-Geeta non-spatial and rather inexpressible. Everyone who tries to
express it has to attempt it in his own way. Although the
Bhagavad-Geeta interprets both Sankhya and Vendata
absolute truth to be communicated is the same but every
and tries to find a reconciliation between them. In an attempt
seer has to give birth to a different school of Darshan. It is
to find the harmony between the two, Geeta gives birth to
like pointing towards the same Moon using different fingers.
the concept of a God which is almost personal. For the first
The Moon here can only be indicated but cannot be shown
time in the history of Indian spiritualism we come across
by using words or by creating philosophies about it. To
Ishvarvad in Geeta. Geeta includes the basic concepts of all
understand me, the reader is advised to go through the
the three theist schools of philosophy viz. Vedanta, Sankhya
chapter ‘What is Mysticism?’ beforehand. However, we will
and Yoga which happened to preceed it. It is a part of the
come to know that Vedanta is more poetic while Sankhya is
epic Mahabharata, which is a Purana as far as the diction is
more practical. Their concerns and their emphases are
concerned. So Geeta is said to be a bridge between the four
different. What is a good style in poetry cannot be valid in a
Vedas and the eighteen Puranas. With Puranas Bhaktivad
logical system and the vice-versa.
comes to the mainstream of Indian faith and it is not a wonder
Geeta again was composed by another Enlightened
that the Krishan of Geeta is almost a personal God to be
person Vedvyasa who was a contemporary of Lord Krishna.
worshipped and to be followed. He has been a symbol for
This Vedvyasa himself was a mystic of the same order as the
love and fear both among the Hindus after the propagation
seers of Upanishads or Maharshi Kapil who had expounded
of Geeta.
Sankhya. However it seems that Upanishads and Sankhya-
Now it is quite the time to understand the difference
Sutra both have been more ancient than Bhagavadgeeta.
between the two words – Philosophy and Darshan. Herman
Vedvyasa, however, attempted to explain that both Sankhya
Hesse has been right to point out that Darshan should be
and Vedanta were true doctrines, communicating the same
translated as PHILOSIA not as Philosophy. Philosophy means
intuitive truth and a reconcillation between the two faiths
love of knowledge but Philosia means love of seeing. Western
was needed.
Philosophy is based on reason while the Indian Philosohy is
First of all we take the Sankhya Philosophy contained in
based on the words of the Enlightened people who have
Geeta.It begins as early as the second chapter which is
attained to the ultimate truth through experience. Philosophy
denominated as Sankhya-Yoga. There is a peculiar problem
is conceptual and axiomatic knowledge while Darshan is
before Krishna. Arjuna thinks that war is not the right option.
intuitive. It is said that every enlightened person has the
Just for the sake of a kingdom and a little wealth he should
same experience but the expression cannot be the same, it
not kill his kith and kin. By indulgence in violence, Arjuna
depends. Reason and axiomatic thinking is the source of
feared, he would spoil all his good destiny. This sin could
Western Philosophy while the truth realized through self-
not allow him to attain to salvation or to Heaven or to a
transformation or through intuition is the basis of Darshan.
noble rebirth after his own death. Arjuna thought it was the
Mohammad has called this intuition Elham and Vedas have
right course of action for him not to fight but to become a
called it impersonal. The Upanishads say, “The truth
monk. Krishna did not agree with Arjuna and he wanted to
encountered by all seers is the same but those who know it
make his point prevail. To a man of commonsense Arjuna
try to communicate it in numerous ways.” We have to
appears to be the right person and it needs the philosophical
remember here that the seers of Upanishads were all
genius of a Vedvyas to prove it otherwise. Geeta comes forth
Enlightened Beings and Vedanta was their expression of
out of the discussion which follows between Krishna and

150 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 151
Arjuna. The main teachings of Geeta include the immortality
of the soul, action without the doer, action without
attachment, the dichotomy between the consciousness and
the matter, the role of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas in the
universal drama, Ishvarvad, action dedicated to God,
Bhaktiyoga, Gyanyoga and the state of unwavering wisdom.
Krishna begins with Sankya, describes all the features
of Vedanta and then finally he tries to make a reconciliation
between the two doctrines. This attempt of reconciliation
between Sankhya and Vedanta begets the idea of a personal
god which is introduced here for the first time ever in the
Indian sriptures. Geeta is the first philosophical work in my
opinion to offer something like a personal God and propagate
Bhaktiyoga. We find action without attachment in the
Upanishads too, but before Geeta nowhere we find the idea
of a personal God and action dedicated to Him. It is
understandable that Mahabharata is said to be the first of
the eighteen Puranas. The idea of a personal God seems to
be an altogether new contribution of Geeta and this is the
reason that Geeta became so much popular among the
masses. The ‘Comic Form’ of Krishna is the most popular
concept among the Hindus and it has given to them a sense
of pride and excellence.
We remember that Sankhya had proposed that our
consciousness remains an unattached witness throughout
and it does not participate in the process of creation,
propagation and dissolution. Prakriti is the only substance
which is subject to all change and variation. Consciousness
is ever invariant, changeless and indestructible principle.
This theory of Sankhya has been a great help for Krishna
and Krishna has illustrated it to Arjuna in great detail while
he talks about the immortality of the soul; action without
the doer; action without detachment; the dichotomy between
the consciousness and matter; the role of Sattva, Rajas and
Tamas etc. All this has been the Sankhya part of Geeta.
The first principle Krishna insists upon is the immortality
of the soul. He has tried to persuade Arjuna that nobody is
ever killed. The Shlokas (2/13, 2/16, 2/20, 2/22, 2/27,
2/23, 4/5) are most representative and so I want to render
them here and I want to explain them in a manner which
makes them understandable to all.
“As a person gives up the old garments and wears the
152 The Paradise Never Lost
newones, Similarly a living creature gives up the old physique
and attains to a new one” (2/22)
“Our consciousness is neither born nor it dies, neither it
happens again and again having happened once. It is beyond
birth, timeless and eternal. It cannot be assassinated by
assassinating the physical body. No one is killed and there
is no one who can kill.” (2/20)
“Neither weapons can pierce our consciousness, nor fire
can burn our consciousness, nor water can wet it, nor air
can dry it.” (2/23)
“Even while in this body the childhood is followed by
youth, the youth is followed by the old age. Similarly after
death too this body is followed by another body and an
enlightened person has no doubt as to this course of change
and reincarnation.” (2/13)
“Death is sure to one who lives, similarly a new return of
life is sure to one who is dead. It is so inevitable that one
need not feel grieved for a dying one.” (2/27)
“Both You and I have lived many many lives before this
present one. I can know all of them but you cannot remember
them.” (4/55)
“Neither that which is non-existent can ever come to
existence nor that which exists just now can ever pass out
of existence. A seer ultimately comes to know both the states
of existence and no-existence.” (2/16)
Vedvyas does not imply that violence is always forgivable.
As a matter of ultimate truth no one kills the consciousness
in us but every living being feels pain and pleasure. The
writer of Geeta himself has written –
“ There is only one criterion for an act to be good ro bad.
If it brings happiness to others it is Virtue and if it inflicts
pain upon others it is Vice. This is in nutshell, the whole
teaching imparted by the Eighteen Puranas.”
According to Geeta also most of the times violence is a
sin, only rarely it becomes a duty too. As a rule we must
behave in a way that the happiness is multiplied and the
suffering is contained and Geeta does not inted to defy this
principle. We have to consider the total effect of a war before
we can decide to go for it or to run away from it. The context
between Krishna and Arjuna is very peculiar in its
implications and it is through the compulsion of
circumstances only that Krishna allows violence. Sometimes
The Paradise Never Lost 153
escapism would bring even worse consequences, this is what
Krishna wanted to explain to Arjuna. Neither Krishna nor
Arjuna are warmongers, the war has come to them as an
inevitable course of Duty and it brings no good to run away
from the Duty.
Now, Krishna proceeds to explain that a man of
awareness need not confuse between consciousness and
matter, between Purush and Prakriti. It needs to be explained.
Everyone cannot remain aware of his thoughts, of his
emotions and of his actions. Most of the times we are likely
to behave, in a robot manner, unconsciously and out of habit
only. The awareness can result only from meditations and
great effort. To a very few it can be a matter of spontaneity
but generally it is achieved with arduous effort. We have to
attain to witnessing so that every moment we may remain
aware of the unconscious impulses working inside us of itself.
Only such a remarked awareness can bring detachment. The
unconscious tendencies working inside us are like a river,
we must learn how to stand still and not to let go ourselves
with the flow. Anger, Lust, Greed etc are all perversions
working inside us because all the these arise as instincts
due to our identification with matter. We must always remain
aware how these unconscious tendencies arise, work and
subside in our beings. All that belongs to our unconscious
mind is animal inheritage. Although these are very deep
rooted in our genetic code, we should not loose ourselves
unconsciously to these energies. By becoming aware we can
deny all that is mechanical behavior and awareness is the
key for it. It is attachment to allow the unconscious forces in
us to work and it is detachment not to allow them but to
follow only the right course of action. A detached action is
an action not allowed under the spell of Nature but chosen
consciously. A common man identifies himself with the forces
of Nature working in his being unconsciously and Krishna
points out this to be the cause of all misery. We should learn
to perceive the Prakriti as Prakriti and consciousness as
consciousness and not to confuse between them. Nature is
like a river flowing with a tremendous speed, our
consciousness is like someone who has stepped into this
river and witnessing is the strength of standing still and of
not flowing with the river waters. It is like an animal to become
lost with the flow and it is human to remain something like
154 The Paradise Never Lost
a witness. Only one who can stand still ever can discriminate
between Purush and Prakriti and only such a person is said
to be a ‘Stithapragya’ or ‘one of unwavering wisdom’. Our
identification with unconscious forces of Nature leads us to
a kind of action which Geeta describes as the forbidden
action. The Karma associated with perfect awareness or the
Karma resulting in the presence of witnessing is said to be
the detached action or Nishkam Karma and it does not create
any bondage. Nishkam Karma springs from the situation in
which we act and the incentive lies with the persons who
create such a situation which makes it imperative. Such a
Karma does not arise from our weaknesses like Lust, Anger,
Vanity, Greed, Prejudice and Jealousy. All unconscious forces
are due to Prakriti and all these forces lead to forbidden
Karma only if we are not fully aware. The desire to help
others also is sometimes an unconscious force in us, this
desire leads us to good action with attachment but not to
Nishkam Karma according to Geeta. Benevolence, Sympathy,
Aesthetics, Charity, Bravery etc are sometimes found to be
good unconscious forces working in us. These can lead us to
good action but not to action without attachment because
awareness is the key. Howsoever good an action may be,
attachment always bears fruit – sweet or bitter or mixed;
only witnessing creates no bondage. This is the essential
teaching of Sankhya that we should learn how to become
aware of the unconscious forces which work within us and
create an identification with Nature. For example, when anger
comes, we say, “I am angry.” This is identification. Instead
we should perceive the whole process, “the anger is arising
in me, it is there but I am not the anger”. If we can become
aware as soon as the first ripple of anger comes up we can
become the master of the situation. Then, we may decide to
use it or not to use it, we become the chooser. All negative
forces subside and all positive forces multiply when we
associate awareness to them. Awareness is the key and
through it comes witnessing. Identification with unconscious
forces of Nature is Sin, the effort to disidentify is Virtue and
complete disidentification is Witnessing and the Karma
following from Witnessing is Nishkam Karma.
Now we take up some extracts from the original text:
“One who can perceive the two absolute elements viz
Consciousness and Matter working distinctly in the Universe
The Paradise Never Lost 155
and one who can also perceive that the three aspects of
Prakriti— Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, he would be in agitation
and all action is resulting from this agitation creates no
bondage. Only a man of perfect awareness is able to do it
and such a man remains unattached.” (3/28).
This needs to be explained because Geeta describes
certain terms as definitions. What is ‘Karya’? Five great
mainifestations together with their five characteristics are
known as ‘Karya’. What is ‘Karan’? Five senses of cognition,
five senses of action, and three kinds of minds taken together
are said to be ‘karan’. Literally ‘Karya’ meansa effect and
‘karan’ means instruments. ‘Karya’ and Karan’ taken together
become twenty three elements of Sankhya and are said to
be Gunavibhag or manifestations of the three components
of Prakriti. We must remind overselves that first of all Mahat
comes into being and then these twenty three elements come
into existence because of disturbance in the state of
equilibrium between the components. Again, these three
Gunas act and interact with ‘Karya’ and ‘Karan’ and the
Karmas are manifested. Sankhya states both Gunavibhag
(manifestation of Gunas)and Karmavibhag (manifestation of
Karmas) occur due to agitation in Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.
In short, I explain it again. Purush and Prakriti fall in
vicinity and Mahat or cosmic spirit is born. In Mahat the
three Gunas are found in equilibrium. Then this equilibrium
becomes disturbed because of the presence of Purush, we
call it agitation. Out of this agitation Karya (effects), Karan
(instruments) and Karma (actions) all are begotten. This is
the Sankhya Metaphysics described in Geeta. Our Self has
nothing to do with this process. The Atman remains a witness
throughout. Geeta holds that whosoever can remain aware
through all these happenings understands that he has never
been a doer. We have always been in this existence. Effects
have been begotten and our self has been just a witness;
Instruments have been begotten and our self has been just
a witness; all Karmas have been happening due to agitation
in Gunas and our self has been just a witness. One who can
perceive likewise, finds that he is not a doer. His action is
action without a doer. In brief, Geeta holds the more and
more we become aware, we find that forces of Nature are
working in our being and nobody is a doer. This witnessing.
In unawareness we identify ourselves with ego, mind and
156 The Paradise Never Lost
intellect and we feel that we are the doers, in witnessing we
find that all is happening as a process of Natural
consequences and we are not the doers.
It is obvious to everyone that the breath is coming and
going, the blood is circulating, the thoughts are arising, the
food is being digested, the heart is beating and we are not
the doers. Geeta calls all these involuntary actions by the
name of VI-KARMA and Geeta says obviously all Vikarma is
happening without a doer. The new thing which Geeta insists
is that all the Karmas like Vikarmas are happening without
a doer, we only need some awareness to perceive it. There is
no difference between Karma and Vikaram as for as the doer
is concerned but we are not fully aware, that is why we feel
that we are doing the Karmas but not the Vikarmas. Geeta
states that all action is action without a doer. There is
agitation amidst Gunas and all the Karmas result from this
agitation. We can put it into a different way. All Karmas are
happening because of the law of natural consequence and
nobody need to be a doer. There is an unending chain of
multiple cause and effect in Nature itself and the
consciousness has nothing to do with it.
Why do we feel ourselves to be doers? Geeta states that
we feel it because we cannot remain aware and the witness
is lost again and again. Here one more remark is necessary.
It seems that Geeta is true only in case of an Enlightened
person and not in case of common people. The more and
more aware we become our energy moves more and more
into witnessing and less and less into doing. When our energy
moves perfectly into witnessing and no energy is allowed to
move into doing we cease to be doers and this is the state of
an Enlightened person. All energy moves into witnessing and
no energy moves into doing. In case of an Enlightened person
only the law of natural consequences has to operate. That is
why, Krishna says again and again that Karma happens
only because of Prakriti and our consciousness has nothing
to do with it. But in case of an ordinary man, energy moves
into witnessing and all energy perhaps moves into doing. So
ordinarily Geeta does not seem to be true. It seems that either
we can become a witness or we can become a doer and we
cannot become both a doer and a witness at the same time.
In my opinion, an Enlightened person is never a doer and a
worldly man is never a witness. So Krishna is preaching
The Paradise Never Lost 157
again and again to Arjuna that he should become a witness
and leave everything to the Lord.
Here we can ask one more question to ourselves. What
is the difference between the disciplines of Upanishads,
Sankhya and Yoga? Upanishads prescribe Upasana.
Enlightenment is just a matter of gift from the Existence
and we have to do nothing to become Enlightened. Not even
awareness or witnessing is needed. Enlightenment is just
like opening of a flower in the morning air, it is spontaneous
and it cannot be otherwise. Sankhya takes one step towards
effortfulness. Sankhya opines that to become Enlightened
we have to practice awareness because only by growing in
awareness we can become witnesses. In unawareness it is
natural to identify oneself with matter and create bondage
consequently. In bondage no Enlightenment can happen.
So according to Sankhya practicing awareness is the
indispensable key. Yoga moves still further. It asks how to
become aware? We have to create methods for it. It is not
possible to grow in awareness without practicing methods.
So Yoga becomes a discipline of methods. Obviously, Sankhya
is a midway between Vedanta and Yoga. Let me repeat it to
make is clear. In unawareness Purush becomes invariably
identified with Prakriti and thinks himself to be a doer or
may be Purush becomes a doer factually. In awareness,
Purush breaks this identification with Prakriti and ceases to
be a doer; the law of natural consequences is allowed to
have a freeplay. This is what we have called action without
doer. Yoga says we have to meditate only then we can become
aware. Sankhya says that we have to begin with awareness
to break the bondage with Nature. Upanishads say nothing
is needed, whomsoever the Existence chooses becomes
Enlightened and there is no alternative possible. It seems
that man went on moving from simple systems to complex
disciplines. Upasana is spontaneity, witnessing is an effort
and meditation needs many methods to be devised. Tantra
and Yoga actually worked very hard to devise these methods.
The process which began with Yogasutra of Patanjali had to
continue for thousands of years. Only Upanishds, Sankhya-
Sutra and Yoga-Sutra seem to have preceeded Geeta but not
the rest of the traditions of austerity.
Now we take something from the original text regarding
the concept of action without doer.
158 The Paradise Never Lost
“See that both Prakriti (matter) and Purush
(consciousness) are beginningless and independent
substances but all the three Gunas (aspects) and the agitation
in these Gunas happen in Prakriti only (chapter – 13, Verse
– 19)
“One who is aware of the Nature and of consciousness
within his being and is also aware of all the aspects of Nature
at work, although in the body at present, he cannot be born
again.” (13/23)
“All the ten effects or manifestations and all the thirteen
instruments of human existence and all the Karmas belong
to Prakriti only. In ignorance only the living being is meant
to be subjected to pain and pleasure.” (13/20)
“All this world is under the spell of three components of
nature namely Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. It cannot see the
invariant, changeless and indestructible conscious principle
which we are.” (7/13)
Krishna wants to explain to Arjuna that we are not the
doers. He tries to explain it in many ways. He says that all
the Karmas are happening because the three components of
Nature – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas have lost their equilibrium.
These Gunas or components or aspects of Nature are agitated.
But where is this agitation seen at work? What is the scope
and field of this agitation? Krishna says that all agitation is
taking place either in relation to the effects or in relation to
the instruments. But all these ten effects (Five great
manifestations and their five characteristics) and thirteen
instruments (Five senses of perception, five senses of action,
mind, intellect and ego) are seen to be part of Nature by
those who know the truth and our consciousness is seen to
be beyond these. So all the Karmas are happening within
the scope of Nature only being caused by the three aspects
of Nature there. Our consciousness is irrelevant as far as all
these Karmas are concerned. Our consciousness is just a
witness. It is neither causing any Karma not bearing any
effect of these Karma. So Arjuna, you have to realize that
you are just the witness neither a doer nor a sufferer.
The Paradise Never Lost 159
 “All the Gunas and all the Karmas are at work due to
Nature only and within Nature only. A soul misguided by
ego thinks itself to be a doer.” (3/27)
A few words about ego here. In the state of ignorance a
person identifies himself with body and mind. A person
identifies himself with sense, with mind and intellect, with
the flux of unconscious processes of thought, imagination,
memory, dreaming etc and this is ego. According to Geeta,
all ordinary people like David Hume are under the spell of
ego devoid of the ultimate reality.
“Whosoever perceives that all the Karmas or actions lie
only within the scope of Nature; that there is no activity in
our consciousness; he also perceives that our consciousness
cannot be a doer.” (13/29)
We can understand it from one more point of view. All
the action, change, cause, effect etc lie within the scope of
time-space only. Our consciousness transcends time and
space and so our consciousness cannot cause any action to
happen. All the Karmas have their cause and effect within
the scope of Nature and so our Self which transcends the
Nature cannot be a doer.
“I cannot become attached to karma, nor I have any
clinging to the fruits of Karma. Whosoever understands my
real being cannot create any bondage through Karma.” (4/
14)
Krishna says that all his action is only action without
attachment; all those who understand him can also act
without attachment.
“The Karmas cannot create a bondage to someone who
remain united with the ultimate reality or to someone for
whom all doubts have disappeared or to someone who has
realized himself as a Self.” (4/41)
“Neither the effect of any sin nor the effect of any virtue
can prevail over a being of cosmic consciousness. The vision
of a worldly person is hindred by ignorance and this
160 The Paradise Never Lost
obstruction is responsible for illusions.” (5/15)
A man of cosmic consciousness, ever while in the physical
body, has his consciousness tithered only to the cosmic spirit
or Mahat. In Mahat all the three Gunas–Sattva, Rajas and
Tamas are in equilibrium. There is no agitation of Gunas in
Mahat. Such a person can neither feel himself to be a doer
nor he can have a clinging to the consequences which follow.
“Because our consciousness has no beginning, because
our consciousness has no attributes, because our
consciousness is an invariant or unchangeable; although
residing in the body, neither it can be a doer nor it can be
attached.” (13/31)
In other words, every Karma has a beginning and our
consciousness is beginningless. Every Karma pertains to
some change in attributes and our consciousness has no
attributes. Every Kar ma produces an effect and our
consciousness is unchangeable. So our consciousness cannot
be a doer nor it can have any effect of the Karmas on it.
However, there are certain practical considerations which
demand our attention here. No one has a feeling that he is
responsible for blinking his eyes but everyone feels
responsible for lifting up a stone. If we are not doers at all
why this feeling of being responsible? Why there is ignorance
and rebirth? Why do we fall into the cycle of death and rebirth
because of our Karmic energy? It seems that Sankhya, too,
suffers from a contradiction just as Vedanta does. Vedanta
states that all is one substance (Brahma) but it fails to explain
whether Realism (Parinamvad) or Idealism (Vivartvad) is the
case. Sankhya has accepted Realism (Satkaryavad) but fails
to explain it as we shall find it later on. Sankhya has given
all the emphasis to the fact that the conscious principle does
not participate in the universal drama whatsoever, it only
remains a witness to it.
“The sky is all pervading, it is very minute, invariant and
so there can be no contamination to it. Similarly although
while residing in the body our consciousness is like sky and
so it cannot be contaminated likewise.” (13/32)
The Paradise Never Lost 161
 Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Sky, taken in order, one is
finer than the elements it proceeds. Space is the minutest of
all and consciousness is more minute even than the space
and so it cannot be contaminated. Here we are reminded of
a coincidence that Mahavira uses the same word ‘Kaal’ for
both time and consciousness. Perhaps there is a suggestion
that time is more minute even than the space. Geeta itself
has stated that we come to realize Self through knowing the
true nature of time. It reminds us of the saying of Jesus, “In
the Kingdom of God there shall be no time.”
“The consciousness resides equally in all the living beings.
Whosoever perceives this indestructible principle in
destructible body, only he perceives it rightly.” (13/27)
This verse means that only a self-realized person can
have the right stock of the situation. An ignorant person
cannot have the right view of life. This seems to be true.
“This ultimate consciousness which resides in this body
is a witness a knower, a provider, an experience and it is
more but the absolute Self or Being.” (13/22)
This verse, however, has accepted that we bear the
consequences of Karmas on us because the Sanskrit world
‘Bhokta’ means one who bears the consequences. But even
this verse does not state whether or to we are doers too.
Here we have to stop and think. Sankhyavad is another
name for Sakhsyavad or witnessism. The consciousness
according to Sankhya is an absolute, independent,
changeless and indestructible witness. It does not participate
in the processes of creation, action and dissolution. According
to Sankhya, Prakriti is also an absolute and ultimate principle
having no will. Prakriti is without consciousness, it is
inanimate and so it cannot have any will. Here arises the
problem. Purush is just a witness having no will and Prakriti
is inanimate having no will. In such a situation neither
Purush can be an effective cause nor Prakriti can be an
effective cause. Of course, Prakriti is the material cause but
in absence of an effective cause the process of creation cannot
begin. Upanishads seem to be right when they prescribe a
will to the conscious principle. ‘I am one and I want to become
162 The Paradise Never Lost
many’ because only a conscious principle can have a will.
Sankhya fails to explain the process of creation because in
the beginning we are given two absolute and independent
principles, none of them having any will for change. Is this
possible and is this ethical too? If Purush is just a witness
throughout what is the propriety of Karmic energy, of virtue
and sin, of Heaven and Hell and of a cycle of repeated
rebirths? Sankhya fails to explain all the phenomenal world.
The Purush of Sankhya seems to be just a puppet in the
hands of Prakriti and such a principle cannot be ultimate,
absolute and independent. It seems that to emphasize the
method of witnessing Sankhya has made a drastic
compromise with the Upanishadic truth which is perfect. In
fact, all the later traditions such as Yoga, Bhakti, Buddhism,
Jainism, Christianity, Islam etc have done this. They have
all make compromises in view of some specific purposes. We
can go even a step further to assert that whenever we accept
two independent and ultimate principles such as Prana and
Rayi, Matter and Form, Prakriti and Purush, Nature and
Spirit etc, both of these principles have to be active and eager,
otherwise no relationship between them is possible. If Purush
or the conscious principle is just a witness, no effect upon it
is justified, no bondage is feasible, no Karmic-energy can be
caused, no rebirth is possible and no liberation is possible
too. It is self-contradictory. Also the Prakriti of Sankhya alone
cannot be responsible for creation, howsoever active it may
be; the creation is not possible in absence of will on the part
of an intelligent principle.
It seems that in the initial state of ignorance Purush has
a will, the will which contributes energy to the various
phenomena of Nature. The Manifestations and Instruments
of Nature can be compared to ceiling fans, bulbs, computers
etc and this energy coming from a conscious principle can
act upon them like electric power. It seems that Mahat is
nothing except the willful energy of Purush flowing towards
Prakriti and all else may follow from it. In the beginning we
have to assign this will to the conscious principle and even if
Purush is a witness, it is a willful witness. It can also be said
that a willful witness is nonetheless a doer too. So, in the
beginning, the conscious principle must be a doer and a
participant. It is another matter that at some particular stage
he may choose to withdraw himself from this universal
The Paradise Never Lost 163
drama. May be when his energy is withdrawn from Nature
at work, the bondage existing already starts disappearing
and the new bondage stops becoming. That is why, witnessing
leads the spiritual seekers to liberation. The more and more
we move towards witnessing the more and more our
relationship with Prakriti is withdrawn and liberation
becomes easier. We cannot be both a doer and a witness. It
seems that witnessing is in the end not in the beginning. An
Enlightened person is not a doer and when his witnessing
has become perfect, a moment comes when he cannot remain
related to Prakriti. This is liberation. It can be true for Krishna
that he is not a doer, and all is happening due to past
momentum when he used to be a doer. But this cannot be
true for an ignorant person who is still working towards
bondage and has a definite will. So Arjuna could not
understand this concept of action without doer. It remains
to become just a message to humanity contributed by Krishna
alone.
Sankhya accepts Satkaryavad which is a form of
Parinamvad. According to Sankhya this world is real and
Prakriti has undergone a real effect. Who has caused this
effect? Prakriti is inanimate and it cannot have a will and so
Purush must have the necessary will. In such a case Purush
becomes a doer. The feeling of an ordinary person that he
can choose to act or not to act must be real. Everyone cannot
be like Hamlet who cannot decide to be or not to be and
allow a fatal destiny to take over him. All of us cannot agree
that the Purush of Sankhya should behave like Hamlet
throughout in this universal drama. A person can be assigned
responsibility only if he has been willful and not otherwise.
Only in the case of willfulness bondage, Karmic-energy, the
cycle of life and death can be held to be justified.
I remember a maxim from Sankhya-Sangrah which states
– “The primary liberation happens with self-realization, the
secondary happens by disappearance of all the attachments
and the final happens when all the consequences of our past
Karmas come to end.” If Purush has been just a witness
throughout and never a doer liberation should be
instantaneous. Enlightenment and liberation should occur
in the same moment but this never happens. Even an
enlightened person has to continue living. The fact has been
164 The Paradise Never Lost
that before Enlightenment, Self has been a doer and only
after Enlightenment the doer has ceased to exist. The rest
has followed because of the past momentum of Karmas which
we call Prarabdha. So what is true of Krishna and his
teachings seems hardly to be a universal fact. That is why,
we have to make arduous efforts towards liberation.
Next, Geeta has preached that Virtue belong to Sattva,
Ambition belongs to Rajas, and Ignorance belongs to the
Tamas aspects of Nature. We should take something from
the original text again.
“Satogun creates happiness, Rajogun creates activity and
Tamogun creates ignorance. By obstructing the vision of the
conscious principle tamogun leads to useless fickleness of
senses and of mind.” (14/9)
“Those who dwell in Virtue rise higher, those who dwell
in ambition remain in the middle and those who fall to lower
appetites go lower.” (14/18)
“A wise man is one who does not become uneasy by the
rising of Satogun or Rajogun or Tamogun in his being and
he does not become desirous of them when these tend to
subside.” (14/22)
“A wise man is one who does not become disturbed by
the agitation of Gunas in his own being. He only remains a
detached witness when these aspects of Nature arise and
interact. Those who remain detached do not create a
bondage.” (14/23)
Now we come to the concept of ‘Desireless Action’ or
Nishkama Karma as preached by Geeta. Only an enlightened
person like Krishna is supposed to be beyond desires and
only such person can act without desires out of a sense of
propriety or duty. What can an ordinary person learn from
Geeta? Here are a few tips for him. Every person must
examine his own Karmas regularly. Are his Karmas being
misguided by his won desires or is he doing the most
appropriate Karmas? Are his Karmas being misguided by
perversions like lust, anger, prejudice, vanity, greed, jealousy
etc? Are his Karmas being misguided by his ego? He should
The Paradise Never Lost 165
remain continuously aware and choose only the most right
course of action in a given situation. He should consider
himself just a vehicle for the existential forces and act
likewise. He should not act only to serve his own end but he
should act in such a way which would maximize happiness
and minimize sorrow for all. He should work towards the
maximum good for the maximum people.
Geeta states as one of the most important teachings that
inaction is not possible everyone has to act. Refraining from
action is also a kind of action. Suppose two armies are facing
each other and one of them decides to retreat then this
retreating army is also responsible for evil consequences that
may follow. Through inaction it has helped the dark shadows
which would be cast on history. Alexander came to India,
Chanakya was an enlightened person but he decided to resist
the Greek. This was the right understanding of concept of
Nishkama Karma in that situation. Inaction would have been
proved a sin. Suppose a man renounces the world and
becomes a monk. His inaction will affect his family and his
friends, his wife and his children and inaction will produce
the same result as an evil deed is supposed to produce. So
inaction is an impossibility. The same happened with Hamlet,
through inaction he invited only his death punishment. Geeta
says we have always to choose between wrong and right
actions. A right actions is better than inaction, a desireless
action is better than the right action and Vikarma is better
even than desireless action. In fact, Vikarma is the most
perfect kind of Nishkama Karma.
Now we take some extracts from the text.
“One who perform his dutiful acts without clinging to
the results, he is a seeker and he is a yogi and not one who
has stopped triggering fire in his home for cooking nor one
who has renounced all the action.” (6/1)
“A yogi is one whose wisdom remains unwavering though
both thick and thin, through virture and vice. One should
seek only such form of Yoga because this I say unto you that
Yoga is the excellence in work.” (2/50)
It seems that the path of renunciation was not unknown
166 The Paradise Never Lost
in the days of Geeta. It seems to be as ancient as the Rigveda
itself because the first Jain Teerthankar Adinath is supposed
to have happened at the time of composition of Rigveda, his
name is mentioned in this first veda itself. But Geeta is not
in favour of renunciation of Karmas which Krishna has called
inaction. It is claimed that the twenty second Jain
Teerthankar Neminath was a first cousin of Krishan but
Krishna preferred Karmayoga rather than renunciation.
“As the ignorant people always keep themselves engrossed
in work motivated by their own desires, so the wise people
should also act without desire for the welfare of the masses.”
(3/25)
Generally we think that Nishkama Karma is only the
right action not distorted by ego or by desires. In this verse
we have a new orientation regarding Nishkama Karma that
a man of no desire and of no ego may act to his utmost
ability for the sake of the welfare of the others. Generally
such a Karma is called a Virture, but in the absence of
clinging to the reward for it, also this kind of Karma becomes
the same pure as Nishkama Karma.
Some people do ask whether it is possible to become
desireless. The answer is in the affirmative. How? An
Enlightened person is so blissful, so fulfilled and so grateful
towards the Existence that all the desires become
meaningless. Jesus one day said to his disciples, “Look at
these Lily flowers. Even the King Solomon was not so blissful
while at the height of his wisdom.” An Enlightened person is
like this Lily flower fulfilled in his own being and his bliss
does not come form the outside. An Enlightened has known
himself and is fulfilled through his own being and his bliss
uncaused, so naturally all the desires disappear. In fact,
desires are only mistaken substitutes for enlightenment and
exist only in the state of ignorance. However, we must not
confuse between the needs and the desires. Needs are
necessities of life and have nothing to do with ego trip while
desires are out of ego trip only. Everyone needs bread for his
happiness to become complete but everyone need not become
the President of India to be happy. Everyone has to decide
for himself what is a need for him and what is a desire for
him because people are different. Geeta, however,
The Paradise Never Lost 167
necessitates action even for persons for whom desires have
become irrelevant. Everyone must act, even a person who
has gone beyond all desires.
Krishna has said, “There is nothing in this world which
is worth achieving and which I do not have already achieved.
In fact, there is nothing in this world or in the other world
beyond for which I should aspire and try. Yet, I am always
engrossed in action.” (3/22)
Krishna has said, “An enlightened person is one whose
all desires have dropped from his mind and who is fulfilled
in his Self through his Self only.” (2/55)
As pointed out earlier Brahmacharya means acting
without desires like Brahma invariably does. Creation is the
spontaneous disposition of Brahma and Brahma has no
purpose to fulfil through creating. Creation is not a mean
but it is an end unto itself. It is the expression of overflowing
energy. A spring comes out breaking the stiffness of a rock
but there is no purpose in coming out. This is Nishkama
Karma. All creation springs out of Brahma not for some
specific purpose but just like a play of overflowing energy. It
is a joy and a benediction just to be creative and so for a yogi
Nishkama Karma is its own reward, it has been blissful to
act, it has been just like unburdening and overflowing energy.
All great poets, musicians and artists know that creation is
its own reward. Creation is for the sake of creating.
Enlightened persons like Buddha, Mahaveera and Jesus too
behave like Brahma. They have worked a lot and for no goal
of their own. It has been just a participation in the cosmic
act of creation. This participation is Brahmacharya. To be
creative not out of desires but out of bliss and overflowing
energy is Brahmacharya. Look at Chaitanya and Meera lost
in dance, the dance is there but the dancer has disappeared.
All energy has moved into the dance and this is an act of
Brahmacharya. Buddha and Mahavira had to become
ascetics to work hard for their Enlightenedment. But once
they achieved it they returned back to society and became
absorbed in helping others towards Enlightenment. This is
the desireless action. All the activities of enlightened persons
may seem to happen out of compassion, righteousness,
168 The Paradise Never Lost
aesthetics, welfare of others, duty, execution of cosmic order
but the essential reason has been overflowing energy. A
mystic is too full of love, compassion and bliss that even his
presence becomes infections. He becomes a catalytic agent
and many miracles may happen around him. The energy
which used to get wasted in running after desires is now
expressed in Nishkama Karma because no energy can remain
static. An enlightened person is one who is connected with
an infinite source of energy and all this energy has to move.
This movement is Nishkama Karma. That is why, Hindus
have always said that creation is just a play, a leela. Also,
Freud has moved a little in the direction of Nishkama Karma
when he talked about sublimation. It is not without reason
that Osho has named his auto biography ‘The Sound of
Running Water.’ All his life he has lived from moment to
moment without any purpose. This is Nishkama Karma.
Now the next sholka:
“ The fruits of one’s deeds fall in three categories – sweet,
bitter and mixed. Those who are still attached have to bear
these fruits, but the consequences cannot prevail over them
who have renounced all the attachment to the world.” (18/
22)
There are two kinds of renunciation. One is to renounce
all the Karmas pertaining to desires, that is to renounce all
the Karmas except those which are necessary to fulfil basic
needs only. This is the path which Shankaracharya
advocated. Geeta does not advocate it. Instead, Geeta
advocated that renounce the ego and renounce the clinging
for the reward. Even a scientist can be a Nihkama Yogi
according to Geeta but according to Shankaracharya a yogi
has to be an ascetic. This idea is expressed in the following
verse –
“To renounce all Karmas motivated by worldly desires is
known as Sannyas. But the renunciation of the rewards
which good Karmas should offer is the real renunciation.
(18/2)
It simply means we should not act out of greed and fear
but out of a sense of propriety only and we should not cease
to act for righteousness ever. To make Nishkama Karma
understandable we can say –
“One must never do the evil and one must never refrain
The Paradise Never Lost 169
from doing the good and one must never become eager for
the reward of his good actions.”
There is a proverb in India, “do the good and throw the
reward into the well.” This is Nishkama Karma.
“Self-knowledge is better than the spiritual practices,
spontaneous meditativeness is better than self-knowledge,
renunciation of clinging to fruits of one’s action is better
than meditation because this renunciation leads to perpetual
state of no mind.” (12/12)
There are eight steps in Yoga--Yama, Niyama, Asana,
Pranayam, Pratyahar, Dharna, Dhyan and Samadhi. Out of
these the first six steps from Yama to Dharna are said to be
yogic practices (Abhyas). A self-realised person need not
practice the first six steps of Yoga because he has become
transcendental to them. He should begin straight with
Dhyana or meditation and practice Nishkama Karma, this
will lead him to Samadhi which is the ultimate state of No
Mind. This Sutra is very important because it upholds that
Nishkama Karma is the key between Self-realization and
Liberation. Only a person of Self-realization can attain to
the purity of Nishkam Karma because such a man has known
himself and he cannot live at the centre of ego which is the
false substitute for self-realization. May be Arjna was a self-
realized person and Nishkam Karma would have been
relevant to him. In short, this Sutra means that Yogic
practices can lead to Self-realization, Meditation after self-
realization can lead to Desirelessness and Desirelessenss
can lead to the Ultimate Samadhi.
Similarly, the religious rituals such as worship, fasting,
pilgrimage, charity etc are not relevant to a self-realized
person. In fact, no tradition can be relevant to him. After
self-realization a person cannot think himself to be a Hindu,
a Christian, a Muslim etc. Only meditation becomes relevant
to him and as long as he lives in the world, all his Karma
should become Nishkam Karma. Through Meditation and
Nishkam Karma one day he is bound to attain to Samadhi.
That is why, Meditation is the seventh step and Samadhi is
the eighth step in Patanjali Yoga. In fact, Nishkama Karma
is a state between Meditation and Samadhi. Patanjali neither
170 The Paradise Never Lost
recommends it nor denies it because his path is not
essentially via positive.
Here it is not out of place to repeat the following Sankhya
Sutra—
“The initial liberation happens with self-realization, the
secondary liberation happens with desirelessness and the
final liberation happens when all the Karmic energy is
consumed.”
Liberation follows Samadhi. Sometimes even a few births
may take place between Self-realization and Liberation, but
their number generally remains less than seven. Meditation,
Nishkam Karma, Desirelessness all seem to be appropriate
disciplines between Self-realization and Liberation. It seems
that Arjuna had become transcendental to Self-realization
and Krishna was a being transcendental even to liberation.
So ordinarily Geeta is not understood in the right perspective,
the proper context remains missing.
“Man has only a right to act, the reward of the action is
not his right. It depends. So a wise man is he who neither
longs for the reward nor drops the inclination to act.” (2/47)
We must act for righteousness without being obsessed
about the consequences because good deeds can never bring
evil fruit. Also, we should not give up our committment to
bring forth the maximum good for the maximum people and
should not abstain from proper action. As far as the reward
is concerned we must have faith in the intelligent principle
of this existence that the consequences are not always in
our hands.
Thus, we see that Geeta contains in its teachings all the
salient features of Sankhya but this does not mean that Geeta
undermines Vedanta. Some scholars have opined that Geeta
is a treatise on Sankhya while other schools argue that
Geeta is a book on Vedanta essentially.
To reach any conclusion now we take the Non-dualism
narrated in Geeta.
So a few verses to follow.
The Paradise Never Lost 171
 “An enlightened person who has become one with the
ultimate reality perceives the same substance in all creation
and perceives all the creation in this substance. Because he
perceives the same consciousness everywhere, he loves
everything and everyone equally.” (6/29)
The word used here for creation is the Sanskrit synonym
for ‘becoming’ which includes all the ten effects (Karya) and
all the thirteen instruments (karan) and a wise man is said
to perceive the same consciousness everywhere and
everything within the same consciousness. The
consciousness can be called Self or Brahma. According to
this Sutra Self and Brahma are the same reality. This Sutra
states that even the five great Manifestations of Earth, Water,
Fire, Air and Sky are part of our own consciousness. This
sutra is certainly a statement of Non-dualism.
“A wise man perceives me everywhere and he perceives
everything in me. I do not ever disappear for him and he
does not ever disappear for me.” (6/30)
“One who attains to this state for Brahma-realization
does not become disillusioned again. He remains in this state
upto the end and attains to Brahma nor Nirvana.” (2/72)
“One who dedicates all his Karmas to Brahma and
performs his duties without being attached, he invites no
Karmic energy and remains detached like the leaves of lotus
flower in water.” (5/10)
“This creation is like a yajna. Brahma is the act of offering,
Brahma is the substance being offered, Brahma is the fire
and Brahma is one who is offering it. Brahma is the
destination to be achieved through Brahma-Karma and
Brahma-Samadhi.” (4/24)
It seems that Brahma sutra was written to explain the
Upanishads and Geeta was written after the Upanishadic
age and also after the composition of Brahma sutra. We see
the same Upanishadic culture inherited here.
“There are some who realize their Self through meditation,
172 The Paradise Never Lost
there are some who realize it through spontaneity and there
are others who realize it through Sankhya or through Yoga
or through Nishkama Karma.” (13/24)
“Only the ignorant people argue that Sankhya and
Karmayoga are different, the wise people do not say this.
Even if one of these disciplines is followed well, it is observed
that the same truth is reached.” (5/4)
In an attempt to make a reconciliation between the Non-
Dualism of Vedanta and Dualism of Sankhya, Geeta succeeds
to describe Sankhya in its purity but it explains Vedanta in
such a way that Krishna begins to look like both the
upanishadic Brahma and a Personal God too. For the first
time in Indian scriptures we come across a doctrine with a
concept very much similar to the concept of a Personal God.
This I would like to call Ishwarvad. So Geeta converts the
Bramhavad of the Upanishads into a kind of Ishwarvad of
the Puranas. Geeta is a part of the epic Mahabharata and
Mahabharata is of course one of the Purunas. The substance
Brahma of the Upanishads becomes a person and an
incarnation for the first time in the teachings of Geeta.
“You are the ultimate Brahma, you are the ultimate
abode, you are the sacred, absolute, eternal, divine birthless
infinite original God.” (10/12)
Krishna says –
“There are no manifestations or creatures who can dwell
in my being, see the glory of my yoga. My being is the source
of all Becomings, it sustains all these becomings yet it
transcends all of them.” (9/5)
‘Becoming’ includes all the five great manifestations of
Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Sky; all their five characterics and all
the thirteen instruments of human existence too. Krishna
says that he is the source of all these becoming and yet he
transcends all of them too. The Krishna of Geeta is not only
Purush but he has become Purushottama and Adideva.
Brahma is said to be the effective and material cause of all
the five great Manifestations and living creatures in the
Upanishads but this shloka (9/5) besides many others,
asserts, that the Being of Krishna is something even beyond
Brahma itself.
“I am the Father of this creation and also its mother. It is
The Paradise Never Lost 173
I who rears up this creation and I am the Grandfather as
well. I am the soundless sound of AUM which is the only
substance worth knowing and also I am the three Vedas Rig,
Sama and Yaju which originate from this sound.” (9/17)
“I am the ultimate destiny, providence, Lord, witness,
abode, shelter, and welfare friend of this creation. All creation
and dissolution happen within my being and I preserve the
indestructible seed of the next creation too.” (9/7)
So the substance Brahma of the Upanishads has become
God the Father and God the Creator for the first time here.
Of course, some Upanishads like Kena etc have also
personified Brahma and AUM etc but this has been only an
imperfect tendency there and not meant to be the case really.
“Whenever there is decline of Virtue and an upsurge of
Vice, I create my own being.” (4/7)
“To protect the righteous and to eliminate the sinners,
to make the ultimate law prevail again, it will be possible for
me to come again and again in every age.” (4/8)
“There are four Varnas, I create them all according to
aptitude and action. Although I create them all, yet I remain
a changeless doer or an invariant witness throughout.” (4/
13)
“I know all the creatures who lived in the past, I know all
the creatures living at present and I also know all the
creatures who shall be born in the future, but none of them
is supposed to know me.” (7/26)
“It is possible to fall again into the cycle of life and death
even after attaining to Brahma-realization but those who
attain to me can never have rebirth.” (8/16)
“The God (ISHWAR) resides in the heart of every living
being and He makes every creature ride the machine of the
body and makes it wander in ignorance. Such is the power
of His Maya.” (18/61)
As far as the device of personification is concerned, it is
not used in Geeta to begin with. Some Upanishads before
Geeta also have personified the various aspects of Nature
such as Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Moon, Sun, Jupiter etc. But
Upanishads have not personified the ultimate substance
Brahma to represent it as a person which Geeta calls Ishwar.
Geeta for the first time, personifies the ultimate reality into
the embodiment of Krishna and also states that he is born
again and again and he is an incarnation of God. This is a
174 The Paradise Never Lost
point of intrinsic deviation in Hinduism which converts it
from a superior religion into an inferior religion. Goswami
Tulsidas completed this process of deviation by writing his
poetic work MANAS and today even a Hindu ordinarily does
not understand what it means to be a Hindu. To understand
Hinduism one has to assimilate at least Upanishads,
Sankhyasutra, Yogasutra and the six systems of Indian
philosophy in his being. Otherwise the essence of Hinduism
is never known. Upanishads, Brahmasutra and Geeta are
said to compose the triad of departure from Vedas to Puranas
but in fact this departure triad is the rear essence of
Hinduism. One can avoid reading the Vedas and the Puranas
but must never fail to read Upanishads, Brahmasutra,
Sanskhyasutra, Yogasutra, Geeta and the six theist system
of Indian philosophy because they represent real Hinduism.
However, this seems that Geeta is at the beginnings of
Bhaktiyoga in Indian tradition. Geeta seems to be the first
or may be the only philosophical work which justifies Bhakti
on philosophical grounds. Geeta not only represents Krishna
as the Person of God but also advocates that it is sufficient
only to surrender to him. It is not without reason that the
Krishna of Geeta reminds us now and then of the Jesus of
New Testament.
“Become one with my will, become a devotee to me,
become a worshipper to me and bow down to me. Whosoever
gives his soul to me attains to my infinite being.” (9/34)
“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer
to the yajna fire, whatever you donate, whatever austerities
you bear, you should surrender all those to me.” (9/27)
Hindus have misused this Sutra very much. They have
forgotten that God resides in his glory only in the beings of
innocent persons and man is the most advanced embodiment
of Brahma. In India people die of hunger and of disease;
children are not given the opportunity of education;
orphanages have no money to make the both ends meet but
it is not thought a religious duty to support them. Instead
the religious minded people go to temples and denote there
in secrecy millions and millions of rupees in the name of the
deities made of stone. This is just an abuse of money. In
temples like Tirupati, Nathadwara etc every day we come
across people who have been very cruel towards their fellow
human beings but seem to be very large hearted here. This
The Paradise Never Lost 175
is a misinterpretation of the religion but this has become
the practice of the day. What kind of Brahmavad is this?
“Give up all other faiths and come for protection to me. I
will redeem you of all your sins and liberate you from bondage.
You need not feel anxious for that.” (18/66)
“A Brahma-realized blissful soul neither worries nor
desires. Such a mystic perceives the same substance in every
being and attains to my ultimate devotion.” (18/54)
The Christianity can be characterized only by one shloka
18/66. It seems that in Geeta, Hindus created a platform
common with the typical spirit of Christianity. After Geeta,
Krishna became a God in person for the Hindus just as Jesus
has been God-the Son for the Christians. Both have become
embodiments of Personal God forever. There seems to be
truth in the claim that the word Christ comes from Krishna.
It is possible that the Sanskrit word Krishna had to travel to
Bengal to become Christo and it had to travel further to
Jarusalem to become Christ.
“Whsoever serves me through unwavering devotion or
Bhaktiyoga, he transcends all the three aspects of Prakriti
and becomes capable of Cosmic Consciousness.” (14/26)
Thus, it must have become clear by now that Geeta begins
with Sankhyayoga and Nishkam Karamyoga, it explains them
and brings about a harmony between them. In other words
Geeta explains Nishkam Karma on the philosophical grounds
provided by Sankhya. Then, it tries to combine both the
philosophies of Vedanta and Sankhya strangely enough. I
want to assert something which may look original to many
people. Neither Sankhya nor Vedanta nor Nishkam Karma
is the contribution of Geeta to the Indian tradition. It is
obvious that all the three sutras Brahmasutra, Sankhyasutra
and Yogasutra had come into being well before Geeta, Geeta
has actually mentioned all these three books. Sankhyasutra
was writeen by Kapil, Yogasutra by Patanjali and
Brahmasutra by Vedvyas. It is believed that Vedvyas was
the author of Mahabharata and eighteen Puranas too. In
Indian tradition two methods have been used to narrate the
spiritual truths – the samas style and the Vyas style. In
Samas style every thing is written very briefly and very
exactly, in fact everything is written in a Sutra form. All the
three books Brahmasutra, Sankhyasutra and Yogasutra have
used this style only. In contrast to it, Puranas explain truth
176 The Paradise Never Lost
in great details. This diction is called the Vyas Paddhati. Ved
means knowledge and Vyas means to explain in detail. So
Vedyas seems to be the school of those Brahmins who used
to narrate the spriritual knowledge in detail and not in a
Sutra form. So my understanding is that Vedvyas was not a
single person but it was a school of Brahmins which believed
in using Vyas Paddhati to express the knowledge or veda.
All these three sutras were written before the Puranas and
then a need was felt to change the diction when it came to
the writings of Puranas. So it seems logical that Vedavyas
was not a person but a school of Brahmins which began
working after the revelation of Upanishads, Sankhyasutra
and Yogasutra. So we again come to our point that with
Geeta and Puranas, a new kind of expression begins, which
was unknown before and which proved very useful for the
Bhakti tradition. In fact, Geeta is the first philosophical
scripture which personifies the substance Brahma of
Upanishads into the person of Krishna. For the first time it
brings forth an idea which is very much similar to the idea
of a Personal God. This has been the original contribution of
Geeta and not the Nishkam Karma as generally people hold,
because many Upanishads before Geeta have talked enough
about Nishkam Karma. Now, the Jewish God is the most
perfect example of a personal God. But Krishna of Geeta,
Jesus of Bible and Allah of Koran also sometimes seem to
intend to compete with it. Only the Brahma of Upanishads
has been a pure substance, even a material as well as an
effective cause. Not only this, it is for the first time that
Geeta comes forward with a kind of Bhaktiyoga which is its
own invention. Of course this idea is much elaborated in the
Puranas which were to succeed Geeta.
In fact, essentially we find many kinds of Yogas mentioned
in Geeta – Karmayoga, Gyanyoga, Dhyanyoga, Sankhyayoga
and Bhaktiyoga. Out of these Gyanyoga and Karmayoga have
been always a part of Vedantic tradition, Dhyanyoga has
been adopted from Yogasutra of Patanjali, Sankhyayoga has
been taken from Sankhyasutra of Kapil, only the Bhaktiyoga
is a new cult here to be propagated. Only the Bhaktiyoga is
a new cult here to be propagated. It seems to be an original
beginning in Geeta. The Bhaktisutras devoted one each to
Narad and Shadilya are most probably later writings because
their subject matter has been taken from the Puranas.
The Paradise Never Lost 177
 There is no wonder Upanishads, Brahmasutra and Geeta
are said to form ‘the departure triad.’ Geeta indeed is a bridge
between Vedas and other philosophies including Puranas.
As a matter of fact, we find no traces of philosophies like
Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Buddhism, Jainism etc in Geeta. Only
Mimansa, Vedanta, Sankhya and Yoga have been mentioned
in Geeta in their seed form. So it seems that Brahmasutra,
Sankhyasutra and Yogasutra were all the three composed
before Geeta and all the rest schools of philosophies have
evolved later on. Although Geeta itself is a philosophical work
of the highest order, it inherits much form Upanishads,
Sankhya and Yoga. It begins where philosophies have
concluded but goes much further. Geeta can be held solely
responsible for the beginning of a great tradition of Krishna
devotees in India. This is the tradition which has included
great mystics like Surdas, Chaitanya, Meera and the rest.
We should indeed feel grateful to Vedvyas, the person who
authored Geeta. Geeta is a part of the epic Mahabharata,
and both Ramayana and Mahabharata are indispensable
jewels embedded in the crown of Indian culture. Amen!
The Yogasutra of Patanjali
Mimansa prescribes a three fold path for a seeker Shravan
(Listening), Manan (Contemplation) and Nididhyasan
(Dharana). These three steps are included in Gyanayoga or
union through knowledge. Very few people like Ashtavakra,
Janaka and J. krishnamurty have advocated the path of
Gyanayoga because very few people can reach through it.
Upanishads talk about both Karmayoga (Desireless Action)
and Gyanyoga (union through Knwoledge). Karmayoga means
union through action. Rama and Krishna are good examples
of Karmayogis. The faith of the Upanishadic period is termed
as Upasana and it gives equal importance to Karma and
Gyana both. However, it is natural that the terms like
Sankhya and Dhyana are to be found nowhere in the
Upanishads. It seems that Sankhya originated as a criticism
of Vedanta and it is almost as ancient as Vedanta itself.
However, the Sankhya-Sutra by Kapil Muni is the first
authentic work with the school of Sankhya. Sankhya insists
on pure, detached witnessing and Sankhya can also be
termed as ‘Sakhsivad’ or witnessism. There is no mention of
178 The Paradise Never Lost
any methods of meditation in Sankhya. Kapil and J.K. are
typical to have expressed that it is enough to be a witness.
The term Dhyanyoga as a system of methods of
meditation appears for the first time in the Yogasutra of
Patanjali. Patanjali seems to be the first authority on
medtiation. However, he was followed by Tantra, Buddha,
Mahaveera, Gorakhnath, Osho etc, the great masters who
contributed considerably to the methods of medtiation.
‘Vigyan-Bhairava-Tantra’ is a book of dialogue between Shiva
and Parvati and this book includes one hundred and twelve
keys towards meditation and seems to be a significant
advancement upon the Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali.
Geeta has mentioned five kinds of Yogas-Gyanayoga,
Karmayoga, Sankhyayoga, Dhyanyoga and Bhaktiyoga. As
mentioned earlier, Gyana and Karma come from the
Upanishads, Sankhya form the Sutra of Kapil and Dhyana
from Yogasutra of Patanjali. It seems that all these schools
must have preceeded Geeta. It is possible that Geeta is the
first scripture to have introduced the concept of Bhakti. It is
claimed that the epic Ramayana due to Valmiki is more
ancient than Mahakharata but Rama of Valmiki is not a
God and Valmiki has not been an Acharya of Bhakti like
Tulsidas. Except Geeta two Bhakti-Sutras expounded by
Narada and Shanditya are also important writings. But their
styles and subject-matter indicate them to be writings later
than the eighteen Puranas. Narada was not a historical
character, he was a deity but Shandilya was a real person.
Some Brahmins still claim to hail from Shandilya and
Shandilya is one of important lineages among the present
day Brahmins.
Today, when we use the term Yoga we may include Gyana,
Karma, Shankhya and Dhyana traditions in it. Only Bhakti
is lift out. Now Yoga and Bhakti are mutually exclusive of
each other and generally Hinduism consists of three paths-
Karma, Bhakti and Yoga. According to Patanjali, Yoga means
a path of Meditation and Effort. Yogasutra just begins with
the discipline of mediation and describes it in brief only. We
do not find many methods of meditation in Yogasutra. So
Yogasutra is the beginning of the work which was later on
enhanced by other yogis and tantrics. Vaigyan Bhairava
Tantra for example contain as many as one hundred and
twelve techniques of meditation. Those who want to devote
The Paradise Never Lost 179
pretty good time are advised also to go through the two series
of discourse named ‘The Alpha and the Omega’ and another
‘The Book of Secrets’. The discourses were delivered by Osho
in Pune. My task here is to interpret the original text of
Pantanjali in brief only as they say that Brevity is the soul of
Wisdom.
"Now the beginning of the Discipline of Yoga."
(Chapter 1, Sutra 1)
Yoga is certainly a rigorous discipline. Yama, Niyama,
Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara and Dharana are rigorous
and arduous regular practices prescribed by Patanjali.
Patanjali has defined each one of them as he proceeds further.
Perhaps Yogasutra is the first spiritual scripture in the Indian
tradition which preaches a system of discipline. The people
of the Upanishadic age believed in Upasana and Upasana is
not a discipline but a spontaneity, a celebration and a
festivity. Sankhyasutra followed the Upanishads and it
believes in pure witnessing. Although witnessing needs
constant awareness, watchfulness and assiduity it is neither
a system nor a discipline. The eightfold yoga due to Patanjali
has been certainly a discipline for the first time.
It seems that upanishadic people lived very close to Nature
and life used to be simple and relaxed in those ancient days.
Self-realisation was thought to be as easy and effortless as
sleep or blinking of the eyes and no need to devise any
techniques were ever felt. We cannot understand this today
because in a modern society even sleep needs drugs and
devices for its inducement. In those days things were just
the opposite. It was enough to understand life and the futility
of desire to become awakened. That is why, Upanishads have
go only one message, “Live life in its totality and go deep into
it. The Upanishads although incomparable in their greatness
through all the history of mankind need not prescribe any
methods for enlightenment. Even have to remain aware
continuously of our actions, thoughts and emotions and this
is the only technique Sankhya advocated.
So, it was left for Patanjali only to initiate a science of
Enlightenment and he was great enough to create it. He can
be placed among only the greatest masters like Buddha,
Mahavira, Gorakh or Osho. At the same time perhaps he
was the greatest possible. Yoga is a discipline in another
180 The Paradise Never Lost
way too. There has been a continuous chain of Yogis,
enlightened persons of course, down from Patanjali to even
the present day. Since the time of Patanjali Yogis have always
existed in India. There has been an unbroken lineage in the
form of master and disciple tradition. So Yoga has certainly
been a living current and a perpetual discipline. The word
discipline has a common root with the word disciple and so
yoga has been a discipline.
Yoga is a discipline in a third way too. Most of the Yogis
renounce the world and live like ascetics. Even those who do
not renounce follow a system of austere, strict and controlled
life-style. So yoga is not a simple matter, according to Patanjali
it is a system of self-discipline.
Yoga is the elimination of modifications of mind, that
is elimination of unconscious tendencies of intellect and
of emotion (1/2)
This is a negative definition of Yoga. The positive definition
can be stated as – “Yoga is the union with the ultimate reality.”
In fact, the word means literally union. This definition of
Yoga to begin with indicates that Yoga is a negative path, or
a ‘nivrithi marga’ as the Hindus have put it. Yoga asserts
that we have to eliminate all those faculties in us which
prevent us from realization of the truth. That is why, Yoga is
a path via negativa. Following Yoga too, we become one with
the ultimate reality and so yoga leads to the same result to
which the path of love also does. In fact, there is no
contradiction between the negative and the positive
definitions of Yoga.
Chitta means intellect and heart, thought and emotion,
and it is a continuous flux as David Hume discovered it.
Vritti means drift or tendency or modification and so chittvritti
means ever changing modifications of mind. Yoga is the
elimination of these chittvrities which have become
involuntary and which never come to gap even for a fraction
of a second ordinarily. If we look at our being, Man can be
described as a series of four concentric circles. At the
outermost periphery we have Karma or action, at the last
but one periphery we have thought, at the periphery next to
it we have emotion and at the centre of the being is the
witness centre is innermost and can be considered a circle
of radius zero and so our being can be symbolized through
four concentric circles of action, thought, emotion and the
The Paradise Never Lost 181
witness. That is on introspection inside our being we come
across respectively action, thought, emotion and witnessing.
In Sanskrit, Manas is said to be the instrument for emotion
and Buddhi is said to be the seat for intellect and Chitta is
both Manas and Buddhi or heart and intellect combined.
We cannot attain to witnessing because our mind,
intellect and emotion are always in a continuous flow and
are never at rest. One thought is going and the other is coming
and there seems to be no gap between them. We always have
an overlapping sequence of continuous thoughts in our
minds. In fact the word mind is not proper, it should be
replaced by minding, similarly as the word river should be
replaced by rivering. What we call mind is a perpetual and a
continuous ever changing process never static. It is a process
not a state. With this continuous process of minding we can
never remain in the present, we are always moving. Heraclitus
has said we cannot step into the same river twice. Our mind,
too, is like rivering, we cannot step even once in the same
water, the water is ever changing. Our mind is ever chattering
to us and with this chattering mind no one can come across
the present moment.
Now , it is understandable that reality should be always
here and now. The truth is existential and it is not
psychological and so it should always remain in the present.
We are never in the present and the truth is always in the
present so there cannot be any meeting between the two.
Hence we have to eliminate the vritties of the mind, only
then we can fall upon the existential truth.
Ordinarily, David Hume is right. Whenever we introspect,
we find a continuous chain of thoughts, emotions, concepts,
recollections, memories, images etc and no permanent
substance like Self is to be realized. Is it possible to eliminate
the mask of thought and emotion which hinders the
consciousness? The science of Yoga asserts that this is very
much possible. For example, a child has no knowledge of
language and so a child cannot think, no verbalization is
possible for a newly born human baby. Only a few images
can float in the mind of an infant and his mind is almost
without thought and verbalization. All verbalization seems
to be a matter of habit only. So Yoga claims that all the drift
of mind is a matter of habit and with growing awareness we
can drop this habit. Both J. Krishnamurty and Osho have
182 The Paradise Never Lost
been in agreement that mind can be dropped forever. In fact,
our schooling and our education is mostly responsible for
verbalization or continuous thinking. We have developed this
habit intentionally and so the reverse should be possible.
That is why, Maharshi Raman used to say that meditation
is de-learning and so the reverse should be possible. That is
why, Maharshi Ramain used to say that meditation is de-
learning. Jesus has used the phrase ‘Peace of Mind’ for
meditation which should mean absence of mind or No Mind
exactly.
However, this is clear from this Sutra that Yoga talks in
terms of removal, elimination, negation etc and so Yoga is
going to be a path via negativa. Indians call it Nivritti Marg
which literally means path via elimination of modifications
of mind. Nivritti literally means elimination of vritties, of
thought and emotion.
One word of caution is indispensable here. We are not
supposed to resist our thinking because this can prove
dangerous. Only indirectly we can do something about
thinking. That is why, methods are needed to attain to peace
of mind.
When there are no modifications of mind, the witness
attains to itself (Chapter – 1, Sutra – 3)
Our consciousness is like lake of water. Actions, thoughts
and emotions are like the ripples and the waves. Waves and
ripples are not distinct substance from water. It is the water
which is wavering and rippling and it is the consciousness
which is manifesting itself in various mental processes. When
the waves and the ripples disappear, the water of the lake
becomes still. When the process of minding stops we become
pure witnesses. Wavering consciousness is mind and
cessation of mental processes is the witness. What is healthy
to be wavering or to be still? Yoga says both are healthy but
wavering should not occur involuntarily. A healthy person
can both shake his neck and stop it from shaking. But the
neck of an old and unhealthy person goes on nodding by
itself.
We all know that it is easy to drop all the actions and
withdraw our perception from the outside objects. We can
sit with our eyes closed in a silent or a soundproof room.
Thoughts and emotions shall still be coming and so the
mental processes form the only barrier. If thoughts and
The Paradise Never Lost 183
emotions also stop, we attain to contentless consciousness
or to purity of witness. This purity of witness is Kaivalya.
The knower, the known and the process of knowing has
become one in this state. There is no time and there is no
space because space cannot exist without objects and time
cannot exist without change. The consciousness remains in
its spontaneity; this conscious, has no content; this
consciousness is not tithered to any objects; this
consciousness is nonspatial and non-temporal. This is self-
realization or Satori or No Mind. The surface of the mirror
has become empty, there is nothing being reflected and the
quality of reflecting has turned to itself. The witness has
attained to its purity and this purity is its essential being.
Thought and emotion together is denominated as mind.
This process of minding in which the consciousness has
become the modification of thought or of emotion seems to
be involuntary. Meditation is the elimination of minding or a
state of No Mind. But the state of No Mind is not the state of
no consciousness according to Yoga. When there is No Mind,
there is meditation. When there is No Mind, no perception
of outside objects, no space, and no time, there is Kaivalya
or self-realization. No Mind can become a permanent state
of consciousness but space and time may not disappear for
ever. However, No Mind is Samadhi and all problems
disappear in this state. Literally Samadhi means the state of
Samadhan or solution.
A Zen master was dying. His disciple asked him, “What
is the answer?”
He opened his eyes for the last time and said, “But what
is the question?”
When all the questions disappear, we attain to Samadhi.
Howsoever contradictory this may appear but no one has
ever reached the truth through mind. Reason cannot lead to
the ultimate truth which is a matter of experience or a state
of being only.
In the absence of Kaivalya, the seer identifies itself
with the modifications of Mind (1/4)
When the consciousness is not contentless, the witness
identifies itself with the drift of mind, the stillness of the
lake begins to express itself in the form of a wave. Someone
insults me and I slap him, what has happened? First of all,
some upsurge of energy occurred. I felt uneasy and agitated.
184 The Paradise Never Lost
Then, I recognized it as the emotion of anger. A desire came
up, an intention followed and I slapped the person who had
insulted me. If I would have not been identified with anger, I
could have watched the whole process without reacting. But
the watcher is lost. I feel myself angry and I slap. There has
been hardly a gap between me and the anger.
Instantaneously, I have become the anger and I have become
the action of slapping. After the action I may have become
aware and repented. Anger is the present moditfication of
mind and I become identified with it or one with it. What is
true of anger may be true of other drifts of mind as well. This
is the meaning of this Sutra. The witness becomes the
perception and the witness becomes the action. This is
identification and a spiritual person has to break this
unconscious identification. This is possible by becoming more
and more aware and by bringing our consciousness again
and again into the present moment.
This Sutra can be used as a method of meditation also.
Mahaveer has called it Samayika. Suppose we have to know
a flower, then we should become the flower itself. If our mind
is still, there is no verbalization and we are in the present,
as we look at the flower we become the flower itself. Our
being becomes one with the being of a flower. This is
Samayika. Suppose our chattering mind is not there and we
listen to a piece of music, then we become the music itself.
That is why, mediators have been very great musicians. No
Mind is the key, once the barrier of mind is gone, we become
what we perceive. J.K. has said it again and again that the
observer becomes the observed. This is the meaning of the
Sutra.
There are five kinds for modifications of mind,
complicated and uncomplicated (1/5)
Generally, we do not analyze our mind stuff. While we
introspect we find memory, anticipation, hope, fear, emotion,
concept, recollection, thought, image etc. All is flux and all
is confusion. Freud was the first scientist in the West who
tried a little to penetrate the involuntary process of mind.
He has really tried to penetrate the subconscious and the
unconscious territories of mind. But the approach of
psychoanalysis has been usually pathological only. It has
nothing to do with the so called normal people. Only some
great masters in the East have worked on normal psychology
The Paradise Never Lost 185
before Freud. These masters are Patanjali, Buddha,
Mahaveera, Jesus etc. Osho used to say that Psychology
should cover three aspects – Abnormal Psychology, Normal
Psychology and the Psychology of the Enlightened. Much
work has been going on pertaining to Abnormal Psychology
in the West. Some spiritual teachers like Patanjali, Buddha,
Jesus etc. have tried to make a system out of Normal
Psychology also but none has yet worked with the third
Psychology so far because the Enlightened persons have been
few and far between. Yet, Osho has contributed considerably
to this Psychology for the first time, of course in his own
way.
So, Patanjali proceeds further to analyze the workings of
so called Normal human mind. He beings with this Sutra
and states that there are five modifications of mind, some of
them seem to be complicated and others not complicated. In
the next Sutra, he comes forward with these five
modifications.
These Modifications are Right Knowledge,
Indiscrimination, Verbal Delusion, Sleep and Memory (1/
6)
In the Next Sutras Patanjali himself has defined these
modifications.
Right knowledge consists of Perception, Inference and
Verbal Authority (1/7)
Direct perception is said to be a source of Authentic
Knowledge. We have five senses of Perception and the
Knowledge through them is said to be direct. ‘Pratyaksha’ is
the Sankrit word used in this sutra which literally means
‘before the eyes’. But we have to include all the five senses
because eye is not the only sense of perception. Other senses
are Ear, Nose, Tongue and Skin. The knowledge derived
through all these five senses is said to be direct perception
and this sutra accepts it as Right Knowledge. But we must
allow a word of precaution here. Such kind of knowledge is
valid only in the field of Practical knowledge or ‘avidya’ as
the Upanishads have put it. It cannot lead to the ultimate
knowledge or Vidya. Upanishads and all other awakened
seers of India agree with Kant that through Perception and
Conception we can never know the ‘Thing in itself’ and so
Intuition is the only valid form of knowledge when we come
to the ultimate reality or Vidya. Hindu have called this ‘Thing
186 The Paradise Never Lost
In Itself’ Brahma or Self which is both the effective and the
material cause of this existence.
This Sutra accepts Anuman or inference as the second
source of valid knowledge. Inference is based on Perception
followed by invariant association.
Perception : — It is raining outside.
Invariant Association : — No rains can fall without clouds.
Inference : — There are clouds outside.
Without seeing the clouds we derive the conclusion. Such
kind of knowledge is said to be Inference. I see a newly born
baby suddenly as I enter the hospital ward. There can be no
baby without delivery and so the hospital has recently
enrolled a new case of delivery. This is inference. One more
example from Mathematics,
x > y, x2 = y2 , x = 5 so y = -5 This is inference.
Indian Darshan is different from Western Philosophy
because all the theist systems of Indian Philosophy accept
Verbal authority as a valid source of knowledge whereas the
Western systems deny it. The Western systems are all based
on logic only. Herman Hesse is right to observe that Darshan
should be translated as Philosia (love of seeing) and not as
Philosophy (love of knowledge). Verbal authority is the
statement of a Self-realized or an Enlightened person and
Indian Philosophy accepts it as the most valid form of
knowledge. The six systems of Hindu Philosophy viz.
Mimansa, Vedanta, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya and Yoga
all accept the authority of the Vedas; The Buddhist accept
the authority of Buddhas and Jains accept the authority of
their Teerthankars as valid source of knowledge. Patanjali,
too, accepts Verbal authority. He says in this sutra that valid
knowledge has three sources –
Direct Perception, Inference and Verbal Authority
(Agama).
Viparyaya (Indiscrimination) is false knowledge not
established in the given thing (Chapter 1, Sutra 8).
Where both the things are real and alike, the inability to
discriminate between them is Viparyaya or indiscrimination.
We see a solution of lime in water and deduce it is milk. We
see artificial jewellery and deduce this is real Gold. We see a
cuckoo and deduce it is crow. Indiscrimination is not same
as illusion. When we see a snake in the rope it is illusion but
not indiscrimination because rope is a real object while snake
The Paradise Never Lost 187
is not really there. Seeing a mirage in a desert is not
indiscrimination as the water seen is not real. Both the things
confused should be real, then it is indiscrimination.
A knowledge following from words having no objective
reality is VIKALPA or Verbal Delusion. (Chapter 1, Sutra
9)
A word is heard or read and we do not know the thing it
refer to but we imagine this object, such a knowledge is called
Vikalpa or Verbal Delusion. For example, we read he Bible
or some other scripture and create an idea of God in our
minds, this is Verbal Delusion. Someone reads the drama
‘Antony and Cleopatra and makes an image of Cleopatra in
his mind which resembles some film actress like Elizabeth
Taylor, then this is an example of Verbal Delusion. A person
has never seen a white peacock, he reads about white peacock
and makes an image in his mind on the basis of his familiarity
with ordinary peacock, then this imagination is a Verbal
Delusion. A person has not seen Daffodils, he reads the poem
‘Daffodils’ and comes to create an image of it, then this
approximation is Verbal Delusion. Thus, we see that
Indiscrimination and Verbal Delusion both belong to Normal
Psychology. These are different from Illusion, Delusion,
Hallucination and Disorientation which occur with
psychoses. Patanjali has nothing to do with the abnormal
states of mind, he is not concerned with them like Freud.
Sleep is a Modification of Mind which embraces Non-
existent Images (Chapter-1, Sutra-10)
This Sutra describes ‘Sleep with Dream’ or the ‘Dreaming
State of Mind’. Dreams consist of non-existent images (Abhav
Pratyaya). Sleep is the modification of mind which is full of
such dreams. Hence this sutra. It seems that Patanjali does
not think it proper to describe ‘Sushupti’ or dreamless sleep
as a modification of mind. The dreamless state of mind consist
of no images at all, all the processes of mind disappear in a
dreamless sleep and so it cannot be described as a
modification of mind or as a Vritti. Sleep without dreams is
also contentless like Samadhi. In Samadhi we are aware and
in dreamless sleep we are unaware. But both of these are
without drifts of mind. So Patanjali is right not to include
Sushupti or Dreamless Sleep in modification of mind. We
can describe Sushupti as “Pratyaya abhava alambana
Sushupti” but not as “Abhava pratyaya alambana”. Pratyaya
188 The Paradise Never Lost
abhava alambana means dreamless sleep without any of the
images. Samadhi, too, is not included by Patanjali in
modifications of mind because Samadhi is NO MIND. In fact
Samadhi should be described as ‘pratyaya abhava
consciousness.’ These Sutras, however, are relevant for those
who know Sanskrit.
Memory is when perceived subjects come back to
mind as impressions (Chapter-1, Sutra – 11)
Both memory and dream depend on impressions coming
from past experiences. But in memory the impression belongs
to and is in accordance with a subject really perceived as
such while in a dream impression may arise inconsistently
and from a subject never as such perceived or imagined.
Memory is both linguistic and conceptual while dreams may
consist of images only. Memory is logical but dreams are
illogical. Memory and imagination belong to waking state of
mind while the dreams come from the subconscious territory
of mind. Obviously, the language of the subconscious is
different from that of the conscious mind.
Chittvritis eliminated through practice and
detachment. (Chatper – 1, Sutra – 12).
Attachment or Ashrava creates Vritties of mind.
Attachment is the source of energy which keeps Vritties alive.
Habit is only a source of unconscious energy to keep the
Vritties vital. What are the reasons for attachment?
Incomplete experience of life, unawareness, unfulfilled needs,
unexpressed emotions, suppressed instincts, habitual
patterns of behaviou etc. are bound to create attachment. In
my view, complete and wholesome experience of life is
necessary for Vairagya or detachment. Even after Vairagya
(detachment) abhyas (practice) is needed to break the
habitual patterns which create the modifications of mind.
Total action, too, facilitates the elimination of Vritties.
Man lives in a society where he has to suppress even
some of the basic instincts of life. Sex, anger, hatred, jealousy,
tears, laughter are some of the basic human instincts at
which the society does not always feel easy. Freud has said
that all our civilization is founded upon sexual suppression
and he is right. No society, civilization or culture can arise if
the sex energy is expressed in an unrestrained manner. What
The Paradise Never Lost 189
to do with such basic instincts and emotions? If we suppress
these instincts, the suppressed energy creates the
unconscious mind with more and more ripples at work
involuntarily below the conscious level. Suppression is very
much responsible for the mess our minds have become. We
have to take an example. Suppose I go to the office and my
boss insult me. Anger comes up immediately as a response.
It is a natural reaction which comes up from our animal
inheritage. Every animal feels angry if we violate its space. If
an animal ceases to be angry he cannot defend itself against
threats to life. Every animal has to follow the instinct to
continue living. No animal can afford to become a witness or
to become a mediator; an instant reaction is inevitable to
save its life. So anger is natural in us. Because we have all
evolved from animalhood, unconscious forces like instincts,
emotions, needs etc. are natural in us. So we say that it is
natural that anger should have arisen. The best thing would
have been its total expression then and there and absolute
freedom from that energy. Every animal boss is wise enough
to permit it but a human boss can hardly do it. So I try to
ignore my anger and I smile, and I have to smile more as I
honour people like Dale Carnegie too. The energy cannot
remain static and so it moves into the unconscious mind
and creates disturbances there until it is released fully. There
is a very beautiful phenomenon regarding suppressions
which every meditator come across, the energy of suppression
is released just if we have switched on a tape recorder. We
can exactly re-live it if we stop disturbing the energy patterns.
Now, it is understandable that something is to be done
so that the energy is not suppressed. Awareness is the first
technique. If we can become aware just at the onset of anger
and can watch thoroughly the unconscious working of this
energy inside us, the energy changes its from and no
suppression takes place. If this is not possible at the moment
because our attention has been distracted, we should sit
silently in a corner afterwards and remember this happening
again and watch how the anger worked inside us. By and
by, the energy is transformed and the anger is eliminated. It
disappears from our unconscious mind too. The energy
returns back to its source and the suppression is unwound.
It cannot produce any effect afterwards. This is true for all
unconscious energies within us. Whenever we have the first
190 The Paradise Never Lost
opportunity, we should go again into the suppressed
experience, meditate and undo the suppression. With growing
awareness all unconscious forces cease to set on
mechanically.
The second technique is to find some alternative way of
expression. There is a certain kind of behaviour which the
society permits and there is a certain kind which the society
cannot. I cannot slap my boss but I can take a pillow and
write his name on it with full designation and qualifications
and beat it to the full contentment of my heart or I can take
a photograph and express my anger. This experiment I can
repeat most religiously whenever I feel angry towards the
person. Some people can write even poetry or draw a painting
to express themselves. Literature, Music and Fine Arts are
very good susbstitues to release forbidden responses. I can
close my fists as tight as possible and open them and can
repeat this process till the anger is gone. There is no wonder
that people who play games like Foot-ball, Hockey, Cricket
etc have no problems with their aggressiveness. It is not
without reason that housewives are very much fond of fulling
legs. In Japan they teach the children if someone insults
them, the children should not be in a hurry to respond.
Instead, they should immediately start running around the
house and find the anger has disappear. After that if any
response is needed, that will be proper in magnitude and
intention, If we start learning such techniques right from
the childhood, our unconscious habit patterns are bound to
disintegrate. There is no surprise that Japanese people are
wonderful meditators. However, we must remember that
meditation is the best remedy. They energy can move in action
or in transformation or in witnessing without suppression.
If we witness the anger, the energy moves into witnessing
and there is no suppression because witnessing, too, needs
energy. So witnessing is a substitute for the consequent
unconscious reaction. If the energy is transformed into
another action immediately, no suppression is allowed either.
So we can choose and avoid suppression by doing whatever
is possible in a particular situation.
The technique of awareness or witnessing applies to all
unconscious perversions such as jealousy, hatred, scorn,
sorrow etc. We cannot transform a need, howsoever aware
we may become. A need is a need. Hunger is a need, sleep is
The Paradise Never Lost 191
a need and sometimes sex is a need too. If we observe an
unconscious energy generally it disappears. If it does not
disappear, then it is a need and we have to express it.
Inspite of our best precautions, suppressions are bound
to happen in a society like ours. We live in a sick society with
perverted people. To release these suppressions we should
use techniques of meditiation which include steps of
catharsis. Cartharsis mean RECHAN OR NIRJARA. Osho has
prescribed medition like Dynamic, NO MIND and ‘The Mystic
Rose’ for this purpose. We must go through them time and
again.
Suppressions do create Vritties and dreams in our minds.
We are here and now doing something, some suppressed
energy springs up from the unconscious to the conscious
mind and becomes a drift of mind. The unconscious and the
subconscious always interfere. The effort of the science of
Yoga is to illuminate in us all that is dark and unconscious.
The cosmic unconscious becomes the cosmic consciousness
in us on illumination and this we call Enlightenment.
Enlightenment can be both sudden and gradual and it
depends.
Moreover, we have to discriminate between needs and
desires. We should not fight with needs but fulfil them.
Everyone needs to have food, sleep, sex, clothes, housing,
education, providence for the old age, medicine etc. Naturally,
everyone has to earn a little money to fulfil his basic needs.
All initiation is a mistake. Our body is a part of the Universe
and as long as we live in the body we cannot renounce the
world. I have come across many monks while travelling. They
do not have enough money even to eat occasionally. Even if
their shoes are torn, it becomes a great management to
purchase a new pair. How can these people attain to peace
of mind? We should always avoid the extremes and should
adopt the right livelihood. We should go for a profession such
that we earn to suffice our needs and devote some time for
our meditations also. Those who renounce have to fight
continually with basic needs like food and sex and all their
life is wasted in this meaningless fight. They become more
miserable than even the ordinary people. Patanjali has
nowhere said that renunciation is a must. In his time, the
seers used to live with their wives, children and many
disciples and they used to be very rich. The Kings and the
192 The Paradise Never Lost
citizens used to patronize their Ashrams where their children
used to share the living. Now that patronage has disappeared
and no renunciation should happen. Renunciation is a sure
but gradual recourse towards suicide. It was thought wise
to renounce only after the age of fifty after having enough
experience of life.
Now, we come as to nature of desires. Everyone has to
possess a little money and it is a need. But there are some
who want to collect all the money the world can offer. They
want to become richer in comparison to others; it becomes
an ego problem for them; then it is a desire and a greed.
Everyone needs a comfortable house to live in as a matter of
need. But there are some who want to have the best house
in the city and make a distinction through it. There are some
who waste a lot of human resources raising building in which
seldom someone comes to live. This is a matter of desire. It
is a need to have a beloved but it is a desire to raise a Taj
Mahal. Sex is a need but some people want to flirt all the
women around until they have to pretend to be get a
headache, this is having desire. A desire is generally an ego
problem. It is a false substitute for self-knowledge and
fulfillment through bliss. Most of us feel that life is useless
and we want to create some meaning in it through desires.
Someone thinks that to prove himself worthy he has to
become a multimillionare; someone thinks that to prove
himself worthy he has to become a President; someone thinks
to prove himself worthy he has to become a filmstar etc. We
all want to leave our footprints on the sand of time and we
choose some desire for this purpose. Then turmoil of mind
is the natural consequence and we must remain prepared
for it. In fact, everyone feels a kind of emptiness in his being
and he wants to fill it through some desire. Desire is a false
substitute for wisdom that can follow self-realization only.
Desires can become perverted also. Everyone needs to be
secure but there are some who want to dominate and exploit
others to prove their own worth, then it is a perversion.
Everyone needs to have some acquaintances and friends but
there are some people who want to be admired universally,
then it is a perversion. Such people have a certain inferiority
complex and they want to overcome it through others. Food
is a need, but for some people it becomes a prestige symbol
to dine in a five-star hotel. Then it is a perversion of a
The Paradise Never Lost 193
biological need.
If we go inside us we can easily discriminate what is a
need and what is a desire. Not one else can give us catalogues
to look in. Needs are to be fulfilled immediately and regularly
but desires are to be understood and dropped. Our ambitions
should not become means to fufil our egoes because ego is a
false substitute for self-knowledge and no false substitute
can ever fulfil us. No one can embrace a shadow and no one
can fill a bottomless pit. A yogi and a worldly person are
striving for the same end; both are seeking the true meaning
of life but a worldly person out of ignorance persues a wrong
track. This track we may call richness, power, fame, romance
or whatsoever.
Everyone should make a list of preferences in life. What
do we expect from life? The list can differ in order but cannot
be very comprehensive: richness, romance, children, power,
fame, good health, long life and what else? The only sincere
advice about desires is that we should go deep into one of
them which is our aptitude. By going deep into a desire, we
can understand the intrinsic nature of all the desires. This
is bound to happen, why? Even if we succeed, no desire can
fulfil us. We cannot find a person more disappointed than
one who has succeeded in his ambition. A person, for
example, has tried to become a politician. One day he becomes
the Prime Minister of India, but suddenly he finds that he
has wasted all his life. The West has succeeded in Science
and Technology and the West is talking only about anguish
and boredom recently, this is not without a reason. When
we have achieved all that can be achieved in the external
world, suddenly our frustration becomes total. What to do
now? Everyone is seeking bliss, peace, love, freedom,
immortality etc which come form Self-knowledge only. Desires
are only mistaken substitutes and desires can never lead to
these precious things of Beauty. Suddenly, we feel utter
hopelessness in the end.
Gradually, we begin to see the point. We are always in
the middle of the queue. There are always some who are
below us and some who are above us. No one can become at
the same time the richest, the wisest, the most gifted, the
most beautiful, the healthiest, the most famous and the like
in the world. Everyone has both plus and minus aspects
and so comparison with others can lead no where. The
194 The Paradise Never Lost
moment we drop comparing ourselves with others, we come
to understand the futility of desires. So, desires are to be
understood not to be suppressed. Everyone who has tried
his best one day understands that in the first place he can
never become number one in the world and secondly
comparison with others never leads to bliss. In fact, the desire
to humiliate others is just a perversion and it never leads to
happiness normally. When we have become powerful also
we understand that it is ugly to have a wish to dominate
others. When we become rich, we understand also that money
alone cannot bring contentment. Fame is said to be the last
infirmity of the noble mind, but every famous man finds
himself sad and lonely. Suddenly he starts to see that the
flowers of Lily have always been more glorious than even the
King Soloman himself. In fact, desires can never create a
meaning in life, only transcendence can do it. But to
understand this we have to go deep into at least one of the
desires and not to dismiss it. Our problem is that we are
finite and temporal and the reality around us is infinite and
unfathomable and we do not know how to correlate with it.
We live in a world where we feel ourselves to be strangers
and we want to discover our place here. We need to dissolve
into the ultimate and become one with it, only then the bliss
follows and also the meaningfulness. We are unhappy
because we feel irrelevant in relation to the existence. We
need to come home and desires take us more and more astray.
We have to understand desires to keep restrained the turmoil
of mind.
Besides, we must learn to be total and whole hearted in
all our actions because total action never leads to suppression
and our mind need not return back to the incomplete
experience again and again. Suppose we are attracted towards
a flower and suddenly a guest arrives and we do not see the
flower totally. Now this flower will appear in our memory,
our poems, our dreams etc. An incomplete experience always
haunts us. Meditation makes us more aware and awareness
leads to more and more total action. A person of perfect
awareness need not repeat an experience. once in enough.
We have to go through the same experience again and again
because we have not been total through it. Incompleteness
of experience creates clinging or attachment. Completeness
of experience brings detachment. So we must learn to be
The Paradise Never Lost 195
total in our actions, even through ordinary actions like eating,
making love, expressing anger, walking, seeing sights etc. A
total action never creates drifts of mind. That is why, children
look so beautiful and relaxed. They can live the present
because they have been total in their actions without being
proud or ashamed of themselves. We can jump totally outside
of a temptation if we have been totally inside it. There is a
saying in Japan, “When an archer becomes perfect he throws
away the bow.” Children can even break away their toys
because they have been total while playing with them. Totality
is the key. ‘Play while you play and read while you read’ has
always been a good maxim.
To summarize, we must not suppress our instincts and
needs, only we should become more and more aware of them.
We should not suppress our emotions but express them fully
as and when it is possible to express. A wise man always
throws away the garbage and does not care what neighbours
will think about the untidiness of the house. We should make
a list of our preferences in life and go deep into one of the
desires according to the best aptitude. We must go after it
whole heartedly and devotedly. One day an understanding
may dawn upon us that ignorance is the problem not
excellence in comparison to other human beings. Now, we
shall like to begin with meditation, a thirst for the unknown
is bound to arise in a mature person. In the beginning only
cathartic meditations such as Dynamic, NO MIND, The Mystic
rose etc are advisable. Two years after having gone through
them we can choose the silent meditations like Nadabrahma,
Vipasana etc. With growing awareness we shall be able to
see the further course of action.
Vairagya happens only after we have understood the
futility of the worldly desires, needs are not to be fought
with. Even after detachment much practice is needed to break
the beaten tracks or the habit patterns. This is what Raman
Maharshi has called deconditioning of the mind. Habit is
said to be the second nature. Great patience and arduous
practice are needed to overcome the habitual drifts of mind.
This Sutra reminds us of a saying of Geeta –
“Remaining aware in ordinary activities like eating and
walking, remaining aware in dreams and sleep, remaining
aware in all the activities and through all the states of mind,
this difficult yoga comes to completion.”
196 The Paradise Never Lost
Sutras (1/13, 1/14, 1/15, 1/16) define Practice and
Detachment:
Effort to remain established in the state of NO MIND
is practice. Practice becomes firmly grounded by
perpetual and constant effort with great dedication.
Remaining detached in all the subjects of perception is
Vairagya. Self-realization leads to detachment with the
three components of Prakriti viz. Sattva, Rajas and
Tamas.
As we discussed in Sankhya Metaphysics everything
emerges from the three components of Prakriti and all the
universe is created through agitation and unequilibrium in
the three aspect of Nature which we all Sattva, Rajas and
Tamas. In the beginning these aspects are supposed to be in
equilibrium and this equilibrium is disturbed because of the
proximity of the conscious principle which has been
denominated as Purush or Self. Then, all the twenty-four
elements of Nature emerge. Self is the only substance not
created by these three aspects of Nature, so one who realizes
this Self transcends all the attachment with the ingredients
of Nature viz Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and the universe
manifested by them. Witnessing is the key towards this
transcendence.
If we combine the above four sutras together we get the
aphormism (12/12) of Geeta which states, “Self-realisation
is better than practice, Meditation should follow Self-
realisation, Desirelessness is the consequence of Meditation
and Desirelessness leads to absolute peace of mind or
liberation.” Even a Self-realized person has to meditate, only
then detachment can become his spontaneity, why? A beam
always looks bent inside the water, even if we have taken it
out and known it to be straight. Yoga becomes complete only
when one can remain fully aware even in the state of
dreamless sleep or Sushupti. That is why, Jesus says to his
disciples even until he leaves them – “ The time has come
that I should leave you. Do not fall asleep.” This was one of
his methods. Sushupti becomes Samadhi if one becomes
aware even in it.
Followed by reasoning, thought, bliss and ‘Am’ ness
The Paradise Never Lost 197
the Samprajnat Samadhi happens (1/17)
This is a Sutra about seedless Samadhi. Sampragyat
means through right course of wisdom. In ignorance some
people think that they can reach the ultimate principle
through reason, logic or intellect. This is the stage of
reasoning. In the West philosophers tried to reach the
ultimate truth through reasoning for many centuries. After
Kant they understood that reason cannot lead to it. Every
person begins with reasoning but soon he understands that
the intellect cannot help. Even when this dependence on
reasoning is gone, thought still remains as a matter of
unconscious habit. If we choose to meditate, thoughts become
less and less frequent and we begin to see the gap between
two thoughts. One thought is gone and another has not yet
come and we feel blissful in between. Gradually, this gap
becomes more and more prolonged and bliss follows
perpetually and involuntarily. Bliss is not to be confused
with happiness. Whereas happiness depends on some outside
excuse bliss is our very nature. It comes to us without any
reason at all. Bliss is the shadow of meditation and bliss is
the consequence of silence of mind. Tulsidas has called it
the nector from Rama and devotees have called it Prasad or
gift from the existence. The more and more peace of mind
leads to more and more intensity of blissfulness and this
bliss is independent of everything else. After bliss the self-
realisation follows. That is the implication of the Sutra. When
reasoning disappears, the thought remains as a shadow.
When thought disappears bliss follows. When this bliss
becomes overwhelming Self-realizaion happens. With Self-
realization the ego disappears because we have known
ourselves as consciousness and remain no more identified
with the body and the mind, with the psychosomatics. At
this stage we feel that every living creature has a different
consciousness or Self. Some religions like Jainism stop at
this stage. They do not try to express the beyond because
the expression becomes mysticism. But Patanjali has been
right to point out that a kind of ignorance still prevails. This
ignorance he calls Asmita or Beingness or ‘Am’ ness. I
disappears with Self-realization and ‘Am’ ness disappears
with the Cosmic Consciousness which Yogasutra has named
the Samprajnat Yoga or the Seedless Samadhi. So there are
198 The Paradise Never Lost
the consequent stages – Reasoning, thought, bliss, 'Amness'
and Samprajnat Samadhi or Cosmic consciousness in the
last. This Cosmic consciousness we call Enlightenment.
There is another kind of Samadhi attained before
practice in which all the mental activity disappears but
unmanifested impressions remain. (Chapter 1, Sutra-18)
Such a Samadhi is known as Asamprajnat or Seedful
Samadhi. Asamprajnat or Asampragyat literally means not
through right course of wisdom. The right course of
meditation has not been followed, but one attains to Self-
realization spontaneously. All of a sudden, time and space
disappears, all the furniture of the Heavens and Earth
disappears, all the thoughts, images and mental processes
disappear and it is there. This is the experience of Kaivalya
in which the knower, the knowledge and the known become
one. I have called only this experience as intuition and only
valid form of knowledge. But this state may not remain
forever. Both possibilties are there, sometimes it may remain
forever as the Upanishads claim and sometimes it may not
remain forever. Mind may come back after such kind of
Samadhi because it is not preceeded by proper Abhyas or
yogic practice. The reasons for Asamprajnat Samadhi may
lie in the past lives of the seeker. The seeker now should
begin with practice or meditation under the guidance of an
enlightened master who can lead him to the Samprajnat
Samadhi. Zen Buddhism calls this experience Satori and
Hindus call it Self-realization. This experience can happen
many times before the state of NO MIND or thoughtlessness
becomes a spontaneity. So according to Patanjali, Seedless
Samadhi can happen only through the discipline of Yoga,
otherwise it is seedful and mind comes back again.
Those who have become disidentified with body but
still contain seeds of mindfulness in their causal body
also are reborn (1/19)
In Sutra (1/19) ‘Videha’ means Self-realised person who
has no identification with the physical body and Prakriti
means Avyakta or Mahat aspect of Nature. A Self-realized
person who has attained to Asampragyat Yoga but not to
The Paradise Never Lost 199
Sampragyat Yoga may become one with the Mahat aspect of
Nature after he leaves the physical body. If seeds of
Samskaras still prevail in mind, even such a person has to
come back. The word ‘Mahat’ means the same as Karmic
energy or Prarabdh or Avyakta. It also means Prana as
described in the Prashnopanishad. Sometimes such a person
is not born immediately but may remain in the state of seedful
Samadhi even for centuries after leaving the physical body.
The Sutra literally means, “Even those are born who have
dis-identified themselves with the physical body and who
become dissolved into the Mahat aspect of Nature after their
death”. Obviously the reason is the Karmic energy which
Patanjali calls seedfulness.
The term used in Geeta for such Yogis is ‘Yogabhrashta’.
In verse (6/41) Geeta states that such a yogi may live almost
eternally in a heavenly abode and then may be reborn to
sacred and glorious parents when the right time comes. In
verse (6/42) Geeta states that such Yogis may be born even
immediately if enlightened parents are available but such a
birth is very rare among human beings . Verse (6/43) is still
more important. It states that such a Yogabhrastha attains
spontaneously to Amprapyagya Samadhi in the next life and
then he tries to attain to the Seedless Samadhi as a
consequence of further effort. Nothing is lost spiritually by
change of physical bodies. It is a continuity; a rest and a
movement.
Now, we take up the next sutra:
To some others the Yoga can happen also through
Faith, Sublimation, Awareness, Thoughtlessness and
Intuition. (1/20)
In the beginning the seeker needs faith in the master
and in the method. When practiced with determination the
energy is awakened and it moves towards the higher chakras.
He can feel this upward movement of energy actually. This
upward movement of energy leads to more and more
awareness. The awareness leads to deep meditation,
thoughtlessness and Samadhi. It is only through intuition
that one becomes enlightened. Even the method can be
dropped if Faith and Devotion are total. If one is surrendered
200 The Paradise Never Lost
to the master, he need not meditate. Love and Faith make
us receptive and surrender means receptivity. His surrender
leads him to faith, sublimation, awareness, thoughtlessness,
intuition or Enlightenment finally. Surrender to any
Enlightened being, a living master or otherwise can lead to
Enlightenment. This is termed as transmission of the Lamp.
So what is the implication of the Sutra in brief? Faith leads
to upward movement of energy or sublimation. Sublimation
leads to awareness, awarelessness leads to thoughtlessness
and thoughtlessness leads to Intuition. Intuition happens
when time and space have disappeared. This path can be
followed by Yogis and devotees both. A disciple who has faith
in his master can also reach.
Success is immediate for the intensely determined.
(1/21)
This Sutra has many implications. Enlightenment is not
a matter of time but a matter of preparedness. If a person
has understood the world perfectly well, if he has reached
the point where all the worldly desires have become futile,
he can immediately fall back upon his centre even without
method, practice and master. His experience of the world
becomes emancipation. This has happened to many people
like Ashtavakra, Janaka etc. There are some persons for
whom ignorance becomes intolerable and the thirst for the
truth becomes the question of life and death, such persons
can attain immediately to Enlightenment. This Sutra admits
of sudden methods of Enlightenment too. If one is prepared
such a method can help, otherwise the mediator withholds
himself. In fact, time is needed to give up all the clingings to
the world. Methods of meditation make us more and more
sensitive and aware, this sensitivity helps us to understand
our desires and only gradually we become prepared to give
up all the clingings. Enlightenment is gradual only because
we are not prepared to drop our desires immediately. We
continue to be ignorant only as long as we have investment
in ignorance. Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise
and it takes time to understand that ignorance can never
lead to bliss. Meditation gives us a taste of the beyond and a
comparison arises. All the worldly pleasures begin to look
insignificant as we grow in meditation. It takes time to
The Paradise Never Lost 201
compare and choose between the worldly ambitions and
devotion to meditation. Finally, meditation wins and we stop
saving ourselves for our designs in the world and
Enlightenment happens. So Enlightenment depends upon
our readiness for it and it takes time before we allow it to
happen. Our worldly desires interfere with our total devotion
of time and energy for meditation. One day we become ready
and the guest arrives.
Practice depends on our will being mild, medium or
intense (1/22)
Meditation happens when we really stop hindering it.
Even if consciously we choose to meditate, from our
unconscious mind we go on creating barriers. We are always
afraid of being transformed to some unknown states of
consciousness; everyone is not expected to have enough
courage for it from the beginning. There is a beautiful story
about Jacob in the Old Testament. God came to see Jacob
but Jacob strangely enough stood up against the God and
began to wrestle with him. Their fight continued the whole
night. Neither God would give up nor Jacob would yield. In
the morning Jacob fell flat on his back almost finished. The
God had proved too much for him. This is the story of every
spiritual seeker. We want to meditate but at the same time
we want to save our ego also. For some people even spiritual
seeking is an ego trip. Ego means identification with body
and mind and it is the false centre in us. Meditation cannot
happen unless we agree to dissolve this false centre. The
false has to go so that the real may come. If Jacob allows
God, he cannot remain the master of the situation, so on
having the very first sight of God Jacob is shaken to his
roots and he begins to fight to protect himself as an ego.
This is the reason for fight but finally every seeker has to
surrender. How much time is taken depends on our anguish
being mild, medium or extreme. Yoga can happen only when
we are fully disillusioned with the world. When meditation
begins to happen, it begins to possess us and we have to
give up all our preferences. T ime is needed not for
Enlightenment but for becoming prepared to allow it.
Enlightenment can happen also through Love of God
202 The Paradise Never Lost
(1/23)
Jesus has said, “I give you but one commandment, Love
God with all your strength and with all your might”. One
who loves God loves his creation too and for him Beauty and
Truth both become one. Such a person can never do anything
wrong because his love and his aesthetic sense cannot allow
it. Love can lead a person only to good actions and love is its
own reward. Such a person becomes a spontaneous Karma
– Yogi. He becomes capable of being good to others without
expecting anything in return.
Geeta seems only to interpret this Sutra of Patanjali vide
verses 9/34, 9/27, 18/66, 18/54, 5/10, etc. Geeta states,
“Become one with the mind of God, become devoted to God,
become prayerful only to God and bow down only to God.
Whosoever devotes himself totally to God, becomes one with
God’s being”. (9/34)
Also it states –
“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you
contribute to rituals, whatever you spare for donations and
whatever asceticism you follow, you should devote to me.”
(9/27)
“Give up all other disciplines and follow me only. I will
redeem you of all your sins and free you from all the bondage.
You need not worry on that account.” (18/66)
“Whosoever can see me everywhere and in every being
attains to my ultimate compassion. Such a blissful person
becomes dissolved with my own being, he can neither have
any desires nor any anxieties because he becomes infinitely
fulfilled through me.” (18/54)
“One who devotes all his actions to me and performs
them with a sense of duty without any clingings to the world
yields no karmic energy. He lives in this world unattached
as a lotus flower lives in the water.” (5/10).
All these sayings may remind us very well of the teachings
of the Bible too. The Sutra (9/27) seems to be responsible
for the teaching of thanksgiving to the God. Also the Sutra
The Paradise Never Lost 203
(18/66) carries the total intrinsic spirit of Christianity.
This Sutra of Patanjali has used two words ‘Ishwar’ which
means the Almighty and ‘pranidhan’ which means ‘to have
investment in’. So literally this sutra means, “One can attain
to Yoga also through investment of his being in God.”
The verse (9/34) of Geeta seems to be just a repetition of
this Sutra of Patanjali and we can consider this Sutra of
Patanjali as the commencement of Bhaktiyoga in the Indian
tradition.
Ishwar is Supreme Self untouched by anguish, action,
fruits of action and purpose of creation (1/24)
Sankhya is the Metaphysical aspect of Yoga. According
to Sankhya Purush is the ultimate substance but when it
comes in proximity to Nature, bondage is created. So Sankhya
states that the ‘Embodied Self’ is not the ‘Absolute Self’. The
Self resides in all the living creatures, yet it remains an
outsider too. This ‘Absolute Self’ transcendental to Prakriti
is Ishwar and as such he is supreme. When is touch with
Prakriti the Embodied Self becomes subjected to anguish,
attachment leading to karm, fruits of karma and falls into
the cycle of death and rebirth. The Absolute Self transcends
all the romance with Nature. It transcends the longing for
creation too which is just a spontaneous outcome. This
Absolute Self is called Ishwar here. He is the Almighty and
the Supreme Ruler. His presence is enough and effective
cause to run this universal drama. He remains untouched,
changeless, invariant and indestructible. The creation follows
but it is not his karma. Prakriti is the only principle subjected
to cause and effect. Also, there is no purpose behind the
creation, all creation is over flowing energy. Anguish means
uphappiness caused by being in existence. God is bliss, God
is consciousness and God is the ultimate substance and so
no anguish can ever touch him. All actions take place in
Nature and it is Nature alone which bears effect too and so
Ishwar transcends all karma and its effect. Sankhya is
realistic in its Metaphysics, it states that the effect is real
just like the cause it. But all effect is within the realm of
Prakriti and Purush remains transcendental to it. So the
204 The Paradise Never Lost
transcendental reality according to Sankhya is Pure
Consciousness, Absolute Self or Ishwar himself.
Sankhya has no faith in Non-dualism. Both Yoga and
Sankhya consider Prakriti to be an ultimate principle like
Purush. Consequently, human bondage is real, it is not only
an illusion or Maya. Nor it is a matter of forgetfulness only.
That is why, arduous effort is needed to shake off the
bondage. As a seed is manifested into numerous seeds, so
Self is manifested into infinite number of Embodied Selves.
The Absolute Self is one ultimate principle but this ‘Embodied
Self’ is not an ultimate principle. As Sankhya is realistic, it
is closer to Buddhism and Jainism both than Vedant.
However, we have to remember that ‘The Absolute Self’ or
Ishwar of Yoga is not a Personal God. It is not God the creator,
just remaining present, it acts through non-action if ever.
'Absolute Self’ is the seed to Infinite Omniscience (1/
25) or In Absolute Self lies infinite seeds of Omniscience.
What hinders our consciousness from Omniscience is
our attachment to matter. The less and less attached we
become, the more and more we should know. When all the
attachment to matter drops, we become absolute
consciousness and the Omniscience follows. It is intrinsic to
the consciousness. Attachment to matter is like drug
addiction, it narrows down our consciousness. When we
become fed up with our addiction to Prakriti we begin to
drop our attachments and this leads to Omniscience.
The Absolute Self has nothing to do with Prakriti and so
it is like a seed containing Omniscience. Upanishads state it
the creation and it is like a tree. It is a device so that by
sprouting of only one seed, we can get numerous seeds.
Repeating this process, infinite seeds of omniscience are
possible. Every seed so begotten can become Omniscient like
the original one in the state of liberation when it foreshakes
all addiction to Prakriti. In Sankhya, the original seed has
no will to multiply, but the Brahma of Upanishads has a
definite will too, “Eko Hum Bahushyami.”
God is the master of masters not intersected by time
(Chaper – 1, Sutra – 26)
The Paradise Never Lost 205

Time is irrelevant is relation to the being of God. In fact
time and space are both psychological and the God
transcends all matter and all psychology, so that time and
space cannot intersect God. The God can be assigned neither
a beginning, nor an end, nor a duration. In fact, all chronology
is irrelevant to God. Kant has been right to say that space
and time both belong to the frame-work of mind, he has
called them 'categories'. But philosophers cannot
acknowledge a conscious principle which transcends body
and mind both, because there is no way to prove it logically.
The God has never been a conclusion reached logically. He
has always been a matter of experience only. It is not right
to say that the God is infinite in space and time both. In
fact, the existence of God transcends both space and time.
This is the meaning of the statement of Patanjali that the
God has no intersection with time. But this concept is not
easy to understand and so the religions have to make
compromises. The Bible says, “He is the beginning and the
end. He is the alpha and the omega” etc. But this statement
is not complete because the God is a transcendental Being
too. So Patanjali is more careful when he says that time has
nothing to do with the being of God.
Patanjali says that God is the master of all the masters
who have happened in the past. What should this mean?
God is the master of all masters because he is the timeless
source of all Enlightenment. Osho has said that
Enlightenment has a beginning but not an end. In other
words, an Enlightened Being becomes one with the God when
the process of Enlightenment comes to a conclusion and
this conclusion can never be reached while in a human form.
The God is the ultimate formless form. Every master grows
and grows in consciousness and the God remains still
unattained. All the chain of cause and effect has beginning
in him and also the culmination and yet the God remains
transcendental too. He is wiser than the wisest, He is more
Enlightened than the most Enlightened Beings. In him
wisdom, purity, absoluteness, omniscience and transdence
can know no bounds. After Nirvana every awakened soul
disappears into him. All that has emerged shall return back
to the source again. He is the source of all creation, all action,
all dissolution and yet he is not a doer, his very presence is
206 The Paradise Never Lost
enough effective cause. He is greater than even the gratest
of the masterd. There is one more implication of this Sutra.
Because the God is the source of all Enlightenment,
Enlightened people have always been here and they will
always remain here and so there is hope for every seeker. We
need not make a haste so that all our efforts are wasted. We
have infinite time ahead and there is no reason to become
hopeless.
We represent Him by AUM or the Soundless Sound
(1/27)
Hindus call this sound ‘AUM’ or the soundless sound
and Christians call it Amen. The Zen term for this sound is,
‘The Sound of one hand clapping.’ Generally, two objects
need to strike only then the sound energy is produced. This
sound is existential not produced by collision of objects. A
seeker comes across it in his meditation just before he enters
the formless and timeless principle. This sound is the bridge
between the formal and the formless, between energy and
consciousness. Hindus believe that ‘AUM” was the first form
of energy and all the world was created out of this energy.
The Vedic scriptures state that ‘AUM’ is the basic form of
energy from which other energy-forms and all kinds of matter
came into being. That is why, we can represent the Absolute
Self by the symbol ‘AUM’ only because beyond it there is no
time and no space, no matter and no energy.
The Bible too holds—
“In the beginning was the word and the word was the
God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by him; and without him was not anything made
that was made.” (John 1:1, 1:2, 1:3)
The chanting of ‘AUM’ may reveal its meaning (1/28)
Or
The chanting of ‘AUM’ may reveal the meaning of the
ultimate substance.
Patanjali has given no meaning of ‘AUM’. He says it is
just a symbol for the absolute. In this Sutra he says that we
need to go deep into meditation by chanting AUM, only then
we can come to know the meaning of this symbol. He has
The Paradise Never Lost 207
been very scientific because experience is the only validity
for that which is beyond language. In deep meditation, the
mediators have reported to listen to this sound, beyond which
the world of matter and energy, of concept and form, of time
and space disappear. Only the consciousness remains in its
purity. It is better to go deep into meditation and hear this
sound. It is a kind of seed mantra, such a mantra cannot
lead to image or thought because it has no meaningful
association with it. Such a mantra may lead to the ultimate
reality without any attributes assigned to it. That is the reason
that Patanjali has recommended this mantra. In fact, there
have been mystics including Patanjali who believe that
chanting of this mantra may lead to the corresponding
existential sound itself.
However, Osho has disagreed with Patanjali and opined
that AUM should not be used for a technique because this
can be confusing too. We can become confused whether it is
our own utterances, our memory or really the existential
sound has emerged. We may hear it only instantaneously
and may go beyond, so no certainty can be claimed. So Osho
says we should go deep into meditation using other
techniques and let this sound occur by itself in its purity.
Our chattering of this mantra can pollute the sound and our
reporting can be biased. Already Hindus report it as AUM,
Christians and Mohammadans report it as Amen or Yamen.
Only experience can be authentic.
There can be one more reason for recommendation of
this technique for meditation. This technique like a Zen Koan
can stop thinking because it is absolutely absurd to chant it
repeatedly. This is true for every seed mantra like AUM. It is
not a meaningful word like Rama or Krishna. One of the
Sankhya Sutra says, “Meditation is consciousness without
content” and a seed mantra can be helpful to transcend mind
as such.
The chanting of AUM may lead to the unique conscious
principle and to overcoming of obstacles (Chapter – 1,
Sutra – 29)
When we become centred at the sixth chakra or the third
eye we come across this existential sound of AUM. Nanaka
has call it ‘ajapa jap’ and Kabira has called it ‘Anahat Nad’.
208 The Paradise Never Lost
Literally ‘ajapa jap’ means soundless chanting and ‘Anahat
Nad’ means the sound of no collision. Centred at the sixth
chakra Nanaka has reported, “All existence has emerged
form one energy, so nobody is lower and nobody is higher.”
Patanjali states that the reverse too is possible. If we go on
chanting this mantra, we can become centred at the third
eye and may even succeed to open it. Once our third eye is
opened we begin to see that all existence, is one energy.
When our attention or awareness becomes centred at the
third eye, the drift of mind is not possible, and so all obstacles
which hinder meditation are gone. While centred at the third
eye it is very difficult to think or desire. If some desire arises
in our mind while our awareness is centred at the sixth
chakra, the existential energy immediately moves to fulfil
this desire. This is another implication of the Sutra. Third-
eye meditation is the mediation to enhance our will-power.
This technique can lead to one more consequence also.
If we go on chanting in such a way that all our energy moves
into chanting, a gap is created in which the mind may
disappear. The energy which was moving to create the
mindstuff now moves into chanting only. If time and space
also happen to disappear in the gap, we attain to self-
realization. What are the obstactes to Sefl-realization? The
images and the verbalization are the stream of obstacles.
Chanting of the mantra can lead to thoughtlessness because
all the mind energy can move into chanting. However, one
thing more is to be understood, thoughts can obstruct
Enlightenment but thoughtlessness is not Enlightenment.
It is a happening and nothing can be done directly about it.
We can only remove all the obstacles and remain established
in the gap. We can open the lid and wait till the goose is out.
Perhaps our mind-stuff is the lid and spacetime is the goose.
So we can only wait. Thoughtlessness can only help
Enlightenment, it cannot create Enlightenment because it
is the causeless cause and the effectless affect. However
according to Patanjali, this technique may lead to the unique
conscious principle which is our own Self only, our mindstuff
being the obstacle to be removed.
This Sutra uses the word ‘Pratyak Chetan’ which has
two implications. Literally it means ‘towards the unique
conscious principle’ but it is a name for the third eye also.
This method can be used to open the third eye too. It is the
The Paradise Never Lost 209
same conclusion to which Kathopanishad vide sutras (1/2/
15) and (1/2/16) indicates. Kathopanishad holds that a
seeker practices the path of desireless action to attain to the
sound of AUM and one who has attained to this sound of
AUM gets all his wishes fulfilled. However, in my opinion
nothing should be done directly with the opening of the third
eye before one’s ego drops because this faculty can be abused
otherwise.
Disease, Mental Laziness, Doubt, Lack of Enthusiasm,
Lethargy, Clinging to Sensuality, False Perception, Non-
Attained Practice and No-Permanence are the nine drifts
of mind and the nine obstacles (1/30)
This Sutra enumerates nine obstacles to Self-realization
which are as the follows.
I. Lack of ease and relaxation in the body or the mind
is disease. All our senses and our mental functions should
work properly. The word ‘Disease’ includes both physical
psychological ailments.
II. Styan (Mental Laziness) is lack of progress in the
method. We should try a method at least for twenty one days.
If it helps towards peace and happiness we should continue
it, otherwise we should drop it. Every method cannot suit.
III. The lack of faith in oneself or the method is doubt.
This, too is an obstacle because lukewarm efforts cannot
do. A water is still a water ever at the ninetyninth degree;
only one hundred degree is the remedy.
IV. Irregularity in meditation and in way of living is due
to lack of enthusiasm. This defeats the very purpose of
seeking. Meditation is not something to be pursued by fits
and starts only. Of course we have to begin with a method,
but we have to spread our awareness through all the states
of mind, only then one can attain. So it is an all time
Endeavour.
V. When our lower appetites become too demanding,
we become lethargic towards meditation. Catharsis and Non-
suppression is to be allowed. We must go for Gibberish and
follow cupid. We should not deny ourselves proper sleep,
hunger, sex etc. This can only lead to Lethargy.
VI. If we are too much attached to the world and have no
time to stand and stare, techniques alone cannot help much.
210 The Paradise Never Lost
We cannot contain our meditation within one hour only, it is
bound to affect all our daily routine. No one lightens the
lamp to keep it under the cot, this is not simply possible. We
cannot serve two masters together – Desire and Meditation.
We have to choose one, clinging to sensuality means clinging
to desires. The best thing we can do is to allow complete
experience of the world before we begin to meditate. Osho
had three hundred thousand disciples already initiated before
he left his body and he had been working upon them for
twenty-five years before departing. He was a very competent
master, but most of his disciples kept themselves busy with
serving both the Zorba and the Buddha aspects of life.
Naturally they missed. Osho was a very wise master
unprecedented in the whole history of mankind but most of
the disciples could not attain. It happened only because the
world had been too much with them. This is the meaning of
this Sutra due to Patanjali. Perpetual clinging to sensuality
was their mistake. If someone really meditates greed
disappears, anger disappears, sexuality disappears, ambition
disappears and the like. A seeker has to allow all this
transformation to happen. If we don’t want to allow it we
have to stop meditating. We have to choose between the two,
this world and the beyond, and we cannot postpone our
decision for the too long.
VII. If we do not understand what is good for us and what
is derogatory for us but assume to the contrary, it is False
Perception. If we are not mature enough to understand that
life is a suffering, the paths of glory lead only to suffering,
then our perception of the world is inadequate. We are seeing
a golden necklace instead of a poisonous snake. Such a
misunderstanding of life cannot allow Yoga.
VIII. Inability to remain established in the gap is Non-
attained practice. Without practice all Enlightenment is
unexpected. We cannot expect it, we have done nothing
worthwhile for it.
IX. Non-permanence occurs when the gap between the
thoughts is momentary. By and by we have to become more
and more silent and less and less thinking. Our chattering
mind has to stop for longer intervals, only then the meditation
can lead to Enlightenment.
All these Sutras can be replaced by one suggestion only.
The Paradise Never Lost 211
We have to seek totality either in this world or in the other
world. Totality in action and totality in silence is the key. So
remain total where you can be.
Grief, Mental Distress, Infirmless of Posture, Irregular
Inhaling and Irregular Exhaling accompany a wavering
mind (Chapter-1, Sutra-31)
Patanjali states that there are five symptoms which
indicate that practice has not yet become spontaneous.
Practice means the ability to remain established in the gap.
Grief is the first feature. There are three kinds of grieves viz.
Physcial (Adhibhautic), Incidental (Adhidaivik) and Anguish
(Adhyatmik). To a meditator none of these should have a
relevance; his peace and bliss should remain undisturbed
through them but in absence of the attainment of right
practice all these disturbances can prevail. Mental distress
means perverted states of mind like ego, greed, jealousy,
anger, prejudice, lust etc. All these should disappear with
right practice. If our mind is not peaceful our body cannot
remain unwavering either. The more anxious and tension-
ridden we are in mind, the more restless our body feels. If
we cannot sit firmly in a posture, make too many unnecessary
movements, then this too indicates the lack of practice. It is
good to move once in a while if a mosquito bites or if any
suitable excuse arises but too frequent movements are a
sure indication that practice is lacking. Every Buddha need
not be a Gautam Buddha, but every Buddha has full
command over his body and no Buddha ever feels restless.
We all know that states of mind like anxiety, hypertension,
unhappiness, grief, distress etc. make our breathing irregular.
With every state of mind the pattern of breathing becomes
different accordingly. That is why, Patanjali may say that
involuntary inhalation and involuntary exhalation during
proper Pranayams are the next symptoms of imperfect
practice. During Pranayam none of these should happen all
of a sudden. Neither unconscious inhalation nor unconscious
exhalation should occur during the regular practice of
Pranayams. During all other techniques of meditation too
breathing is supposed to remain regular and rhythmic.
Irregular breathing is a sure indication that the mind is going
too much astray and we need to be more aware and
212 The Paradise Never Lost
practicing.
To remove all these distraction of mind, one must
practice that one tattva regularly. (Chaper-1, Sutra-32)
Tattva literally means thatness or beyondness. According
to yoga this beyondness is nothing but the Absolute Self.
This Absolute Self is neither this nor that, it is beyond time
and space. As explained earlier this self is experienced only
through intuition. There are no actions, no perceptions, no
conception, no energy, not time and no space in that
experience. There is consciousness in its purity containing
only itself. So, how can we practice this Absolute Self? We
can become less and less haunted by thoughts and emotions,
but we cannot do anything directly about time and space.
For this we have to devise methods. Yogasutra seems to be
at the beginning of the Yoga traditions and Patanjali is
perhaps the first master to initiate this tradition. Yogasutra
is not a book of methods. For this purpose it is better to go
through ‘Vigyan-Bhairava-Tantra.’ This book contains one
hundred and twelve methods of meditation. Osho has
delivered a series on discourses on it and these discourses
have been compiled in the series ‘The Book of secreets’ vol I
to V. Whenever an Enlightened master happens, many more
new techniques come through him and no book can be
exhaustive for this reason.
Now, we take the first method, this is my own method.
“Whatever comes before your eyes, living or non-living
conceive that I am this reality. Everything is a manifestation
of my own being. I myself am this tree, this animal, this
man, this woman etc. All these are part of my own
consciousness. It is I myself living as all the creatures and
as all the objects of Nature. Conceive oneness, feel oneness
and live oneness. No one is the other here, I myself am this
all reality. Look at your neighbour and think it is I who has
become the neighbour. Look at your beloved and assume it
is I who has become this beloved. Look at your child and
think it is I who has become this child. Look at the tree and
think I am treeing in this tree. Look at the flower and think
I am flowering in this flower. Whatever comes to your
perception, assume that it is I who has become this object.
It is better to choose a new place where every person is a
The Paradise Never Lost 213
stranger. Continue this technique for several days and
resume it whenever you can. This technique can lead even
to Self realization. Jesus is right to say, “Love is God; Love
your enemy; Love your neighbour as thyself.” If we are full of
hatred or jealousy or any other negative emotion, we can not
try this technique. Instead we have to try some cathartic
methods to begin with.
Now the second method. This method is due to Sankhya.
Every day we must spare at least one hour and sit in a silent
room. We must close our eyes and become witness to all our
mental processes. We should watch our thoughts and
emotions with detachment. We should watch our thoughts
as we watch the strangers passing in the street, the clouds
floating in the sky or the characters on the screen of a cinema.
All this universe of sight, sound, thought is a drama and we
are spectators and we are not interested in understanding it
either. By and by, the energy which moves in the mindstuff
starts moving in witnessing or awareness and the
thoughtlessness follows. This silence of mind is meditation
but not Self-realization. We have to wait for it.
There is a third technique related to this Sutra. This
technique was used by Ramakrishna who was the master of
Vivekananda. Take a picture or an idol of anyone your love,
a photograph is still better. Put all your attention to it with
love and relaxation. Close you eyes and feel the image it
creates in your mind. Practice it till all other subjects are
eliminated from the mind. This method can usually create
tension in mind. I agree with Osho that it is not advisable.
The first reason being the tension and the second being the
elimination of this last object from the mind. Even if we
succeed to concentrate on one object, the final state of
removing it becomes very difficult. However, the devotees
have interpreted this Sutra of Patanjali only along this
pattern. They have advised to concentrate on one image only.
There can be a fourth method too which is easier than
the third. It is a very good method. We must close our eyes
and put all our attention at the point between our eyebrows.
Very soon our eyeballs stop moving and we find ourselves
concentrated upon the third eye. We can continue it even for
hours and there is no harm. This last method is better than
the third.
There can be many more advanced methods for which
214 The Paradise Never Lost
the reader is advised to go through Osho’s book, “Meditation:
The First and Last Freedom.”
Practicing friendship towards the happy, compassion
towards the unhappy, gladness towards the good and
indifference towards the evil may pacify the wavering
mind (Chapter – 1, Sutra – 33)
What attitude is proper towards persons and objects?
This sutra guides us about our attitudes. When we come
across a person who is happy and fulfilled, two kinds of
reactions are possible. Some people become jealous, jealousy
is a negative feeling and it only strengthens our ego which is
the greatest problem spiritually. If jealousy is there, it burns
all the bridges. It is the green-eyed monster which first mocks
the meat it feeds upon. Whenever jealousy arises we must
close our eyes and meditate till jealousy disappears.
Gradually it will cease to be an unconscious and involuntary
reaction. Jealousy is not a healthy reaction. When we come
across a person who seems to be fulfilled and festive, it is
natural to feel friendly towards him. By feeling friendly our
ego dissolves and we become participants in his happiness
and the happiness multiplies day per day until it can become
our spontaneity.
When we see someone unhappy it is mature to feel
compassionate. This person is also a part of our being. If
one man becomes unhappy, the waves of sadness can spread
all around and so we must try to make him happy as early
as possible. We must help him to come out of his unhappiness
because all emotions are infectious, they spread a certain
kind of milieu all around. Some persons may feel a certain
kind of contentment when they see someone else in despair.
This is a negative feeling and we have to meditate on it. All
negativity is a sign of unawareness and meditator has to
eliminate all unconscious habitual grooves in him. This is
the very purpose of meditation.
Whenever we find a good person it is proper to encourage
his goodness. We must express our gladness on seeing such
a person. If we honour goodness, we begin to be more and
more good ourselves. We must be thankful to the existence
that it has created such nice people who are really the salt
of the Earth and who really make life worth living. Only a
The Paradise Never Lost 215
good person can be beautiful and it is natural to feel happy
and secure in his company. Every good person creates in us
a sense of security and worthiness and good people are
precious to us. Only a good person can stand with us through
thick and thin because every person cannot be sincere. We
cannot rely upon a person who is not good. It is a real
achievement to find good friends in life and it is a pity not to
have friends. A man is known by the company he keeps.
Constant company with good people makes us good in
character while prolonged co-existence with evil people is
bound to create evil in us too. Good begets good and Evil
begets evil. If we have to discover the right course in life and
reach the right destination we must always permit only good
company. That is why, for devotees the greatest aspiration
has been Satsang or the company of those who have attained
Truth. Just being near a man of illumination is enough to
create a longing for truth even in our own being. That is
why, in India the company of an Enlightened master has
been considered a matter of greatest luck.
What to do when we have to deal with an evil person? We
cannot encourage evil and so we cannot allow gladness as a
reaction. We should remain indifferent and unrelated to such
a person. It is not good to become offended and angry with
such a person. Why? Because the Indian mystic hold that
goodness cannot exist without evil and beauty cannot exist
without ugliness. Whenever we deny negativity we dishonour
the possibility of positivity too. We have to allow both the
aspects without being uneasy. It will be clear by one example.
Suppose I am a man, it is natural to feel happy on seeing
women. But I should not feel offended when I come across
men too. It is because of these men only that such beautiful
women are there. The day men disappear from the Earth
also women will have to go. So it is proper to feel happy on
seeing good people but it is not proper to become offended
with people who are immature. However, it is perfectly proper
to remain indifferent and not to go gay which, too, becomes
a kind of perversion only. Similarly, Yogasutra states that it
is proper to like beauty but it is unwise to become disgusted
at ugliness. It is proper to like small children but it is not
wise to frown at the old age because children cannot exist
without being old. Mystics say that duality is the very nature
of life. Only by accepting both the aspects, we can become
216 The Paradise Never Lost
able to transcend the both and attain to the beyond which is
the One substance or the Absolute Self. One should remain
indifferent towards but not opposed to negativity. Indifference
is needled because it is not wise to become related to
negativity. If we become glad we become related and if we
become disgusted then too we become related. Better not to
relate at all. We can transcend the good only through
appreciation and we can transcend the evil only through
indifference and a seeker need to become transcendental
every way.
Also it can happen by throwing Prana out and restraining
it there (Chapter – 1, Sutra – 34)
To stop the mind from wavering breathing practices also
are very useful. We used them also in Osho’s techniques
such as Dynamic, Nadabrahma and Vipasana. One technique
is prescribed here in this Sutra. This technique is known as
Rechak or Cathartic Pranayama. Pranayama literally means
a gap in the breathing routine.
If we throw all the breath out and hold it there as long as
possible, this is called the Rechak Pranayama or Vidharna.
It helps suppressions to come out and thence silence of mind
to happen. If we fill the breath inside as much as possible
and hold it there, this is called ‘Poorak Pranayama’. It
hammers at our first chakra and helps the upward movement
of energy and the awakening of the Kundalini stream.
Sometimes during the breathing the breath stops
spontaneously while inhaling or exhaling. Such a Pranayama
is called a ‘Kumbhak’ Pranayam.
Even after Patanjali much work has been done by the
Yogis regarding Pranayama. These Yogis claim that in our
causal body there are three main currents of Prana or the
life energy. First of these currents is called Idala, the second
is called Pingala and the third is called Sushumna. Pingala,
according to them lies on the right side of the spinal column,
Idala lies on the left side and Sushumna which is an empty
channel lies in the middle. Pingala and Idala according to
them are the currents working in every man and it is due to
these currents that we are performing all the functions of
ordinary life. Sushumna is present in all of us as a possibility
but it is active only in a Yogi.
The Paradise Never Lost 217
 With the practice of Pranayama, Sushumna may start
functioning in us and new faculties in us may begin to
operate. With the awakening of Sushumna we become aware
of newer and newer existential dimensions.
Pranayama may bring more subjects and wavering in
the beginning; but in the last it prolongs the gap between
two thoughts (Chapter – 1, Sutra – 35).
In the beginning, when we start with any breathing
techniques such as the Dynamic, Nadabrahma or
Pranayama, more energy starts flowing into emotions. More
energy starts moving towards the periphery. This is good so
that the catharsis can happen. Deep breathing helps
catharsis and we become able to release all our repressions.
We may start singing, dancing, shouting, jumping, laughing,
etc as our suppressions are triggered off. This happens in
second and third stages of the Dynamic meditation also.
Because in the first stage of the Dynamic we have used a
technique similar to the Bhastrika Pranayama, catharsis has
to follow in the second and the third stages consequently.
Once this catharsis is complete the silence of mind comes
spontaneously. Osho understood the workings of this Sutra
as is obvious from the technique used in the Dynamic
Meditation.
So in the beginning more subjects come to our
consciousness but in the end Pranayama strengthens our
practice to remain prolonged in the gap between two
thoughts. Pranayama also strengthens our perception and
our Dharana alternatively. It depends upon the method we
use. Pranayama helps both concentration and silence,
depending on the method used. We can go for an experiment
to understand what Pranayama is. First we should practice
a little Pranayama, allow some days for agitation of mind
and then choose one of the senses such as tongue, ear, nose
etc and concentrate on it. After a few days we feel new tastes,
new sounds, new smells coming to us. It improves our
perception. Pranayama also means that we can spread our
life energy farther and farther around so that ultimately this
whole existence becomes one with our vitality or Prana.
Pranayama may ultimately help towards contentless
consciousness or Samadhi too. It really strengthens Dharana
and also the interval between mind streams. That is the
218 The Paradise Never Lost
meaning of this Sutra. However, any technique which leads
to agitation and catharsis induces silence finally. Pranayama
or Vidharna is only one of these techniques. The other
techniques for example being NO MIND, the Mystic Rose,
Gibberish etc.
Also Concentration on a radiant light may lead beyond
all sorrow. (Chapter – 1, Sutra – 36)
This Sutra has two implications. If we take this Sutra as
consequent to the preceeding two sutras viz. 1/34 and 1/35
it leads to the first implication. This implication is, “Vidharna
is that which leads beyond sorrow and then to light.” What
should this mean? It means that restraining of breath outside
or Rechak Pranayama leads beyond all sorrow and then it
leads finally to Enlightenment. Agitation is the first state of
mind to follow, then our repressions are released. If the
catharsis is allowed in the toto gap between two thoughts is
prolonged and ultimately it leads to the cessation of all misery
and thereby to Enlightenment. What we can do on our part
is that we should allow catharsis without restraint and then
sit silently and meditate. First the gap between the thoughts
is prolonged i.e. the practice is strengthened, and then finally
the Enlightenment may follow.
The tantrics have taken it as an independent Sutra. Then
this Sutra means ‘Light leads to Elimination of Sorrow’ and
we get a new technique named the Gourishankar Meditation.
In brief. It can be outlined as the follows.
“In the first stage we practice Pranayama or some deep
breathing technique. In the second stage we concentrate on
a source of radiant light. These two stages can lead beyond
sorrow because all the energy moves towards the third eye.
In the third stage we allow our bodies to sway of itself keeping
into a comfortable sitting posture. In the final stage we lie
down in a relaxed way and allow the energy to work.”
This method is very powerful and should not be practiced
alone. The reader is however advised to go through Osho’s
book – 'Meditation : The First and Last Freedom' for details.
By meditation on one who has transcended all
attachment (1/37)
The Paradise Never Lost 219

Thought is the only boundary which separates us from
other beings. Th Buddhist word ‘anatta’ means egolessness
and egolessness means silence of mind or disappearance of
the mindstuff. This method can be practiced when we begin
to remain established in the gap between two thoughts. In
the state of anatta we become like one whom we remember,
love, admire and respect because the boundary which creates
the separation is not always there. Again and Again, we must
bring to our memory the image of a person who has gone
beyond all the attachments and imperfections. Just the
memory and we begin to become transformed in the same
direction. However, this technique can help only after we
start feeling thoughtlessness, an empty space is needed. The
technique is useless for a person who is too full of the mind
stuff.
Whom should we remember? The master is the best
choice. If no master is there we should choose some
Enlightened person whom we really love. Someone may
meditate on Krishna, someone on Jesus, Someone on Kabira,
Someone on Nanaka whomsoever one likes. We become like
the person on whom we meditate. We must bring our
awareness again and again to some picture, some idol, or
image of such a persons. A photograph can serve still better.
We can both perceive and conceive it. For example we can
stick a photograph of Osho outside and create his image
before the inner eye too. So that whenever we open our eyes
we can see the photograph and then recreate the image
inside.
However, this is the beginning and not the end. When
the meditation will become complete we shall know it because
the truth is self-evident. It is not a continuity but a quantum
jump.
Samadhi can also happen by remaining AWARE in
Dreams and Dreamless Sleep (Chapter – 1, Sutra – 38)
The Sufis and early Christians and perhaps the Essenes
too, have used this Sutra.
“One who can remain aware during eating and walking,
one who can remain aware during all activities and one who
can remain aware even during dreams and dreamless sleep
220 The Paradise Never Lost
attains to this arduous Yoga.” (Geeta)
It is almost impossible to become aware in sleep to begin
with. We have to start with Vipassana. We must sit silently
with closed eyes in a chair or on the floor with our legs
crossed. For one hour we have to witness our breath only. It
goes inside and stops for a moment inside then it goes out
and stops for a moment outside and then comes back. We
must observe this whole process with awareness. We have
nothing to altar with the breathing pattern. It is not a
breathing technique but technique for awareness.
When this mediation has gone deep we must add walk to
it. We should walk and remain aware. After this we should
try to remain aware of all our actions during other waking
states of mind also such as eating, bathing, making love etc.
When we have grown in awareness during the day, we should
try to remain aware upto the moment when the sleep takes
us over. By and by, the awareness penetrates our dreams
and deep sleep too. When we begin to become aware of our
dreams the dreams are shattered. The day we become aware
in our dreamless sleep too, it becomes Kaivalya or the
experience of Self-realization. We have come home.
There is one more tip too. The moment we find our eyes
opened in the morning, we should sit silently and close our
eyes again. We should try to remember to state of mind just
before awaking. At first we remember nothing. After a few
days, we begin to remember a few traces of the last sequence
of dreams. Gradually this may help us to remain aware during
the dreams and sleep also. Jesus, too, used to give this
technique to his disciples for awareness. He would say,
“Remain aware, do not fall asleep.” There is a hint in the
New Testament also regarding the use of this technique.
By Meditation on a subject which appeals to one (1/
39)
We can choose anything or any person as the subject to
meditate upon. Suppose we choose a rose-flower as the
subject. We should place a fully blossomed flower in a flower
stand. We should mediate on the flower without any language
coming in between. There should remain nothing between
the flower and the consciousness. The eye may be kept both
opened or closed. But we should have in our mind only the
The Paradise Never Lost 221
flower and nothing else. Gradually, the drift of mind becomes
less and less and the mind becomes more and more silent.
One day we attain.
One can choose, as a subject, also a person whom one
loves or respects. An idol, picture or photograph also can be
used. Even a false master can lead if our mediation is true.
By constant Mediation on a subject from the Atomic
to the Infinite one can attain (1/40)
Thoughtlessness is the point, it does not matter whether
the subject is small or large. We can become one with the
atomic and we can become one with the universal once there
is no wavering of mind which obstructs this oneness.
Thoughts are the only obstruction between the observer and
the observed. There is nothing more unreal than thoughts
but thoughts do prevail and do hinder. Continuously in our
minds there is a flux of images, concepts, thoughts and
words. This we call verbalization and this separates us from
the rest of existence. To put it in a simple manner, we are
always lost in a world of our own thoughts and never come
across the absolute reality. The guest is always here now
and we are never here and never now. Either we are lost in
dreaming or day dreaming and this is a matter of continuous
habit. Although this looks impossible but we can drop this
verbalization by instant awareness of it. Our education and
civilization too have been very much responsible for this habit
of verbalization. With effort and with repeated awareness it
is possible to withhold this wavering of mind.
Whenever we see a thing, we must become the act of
seeing without allowing any commentary to run in our minds.
For example when we watch a rose we should only watch it,
we need not say to ourselves how pink, how big, how fresh,
better than ever or any such thing whatsoever. A rose knows
no language and it only disturbs the harmony between our
consciousness and the being of the rose. Except man nothing
lives in words. The moment there are no thoughts between
the rose and us, the quality of perception has changed. In
fact, the rose is one end and our consciousness is on the
other end and the same stream of existence flows in between.
We only conceive something to be a rose and someone to be
a watcher, but this conception is not an existential reality, it
222 The Paradise Never Lost
only belongs to our mind stuff. If we can remain without
words, the observer becomes the observed. For example, when
we look at a woman, we must not say how beautiful, how
young, how sweet or any such thing to us. A woman is an
existential entity beyond all the words and we have to allow
her presence beyond all descriptions to reach our
consciousness. We must become all eyes and the quality of
perception changes. Small children look like this, they do
not create any boundaries, even their eyes do not move. One
has to become a small child again. When the verbalization is
no more, we become the subject of our perception, it may be
atomic or infinite. This is the meaning of the Sutra.
Some tantrics have interpreted this Sutra in a different
manner too. It seems that they have derived the ‘Tratak
Meditation’ from this Sutra only. By looking at any object,
howsoever small or large it may be, without letting the eyelids
fall, all energy moves to the third eye and the thought
disappears. Our being becomes one with the being of the
object. I remember the story of an Englishman who met a
yogi. While departing from him the Englishman asked how
he could contact him again. The Yogi gave him his own
photograph and asked the Englishman to fix his eyes on the
photograph whenever he wanted the Yogi to visit him. The
method worked. Yogananda has reported this episode in his
autobiography. Osho, too, recommended the same technique
to remain in touch with him, his Mala bears his own
photograph. This is a great device Osho has said.
The Yogi whose vritties have become dissipated
becomes like a crystal and reflects either the knower or
the knowing or the knowable whatever it becomes one
with (Chapter – 1, Sutra – 41)
When the modifications of mind disappear; that is when
the mind stops wavering; that is when there are no emotions,
thoughts and actions, our consciousness becomes like a
crystal. If it becomes one with the knower this in Self-
realization. All the space and time disappears and Kaivalya
is attained. By disappearance of the knower and the known
both only the knowing remains. Hindu narration for this
experience is Self-realisation and the Buddhist word is Satori
or NO MIND. This is a pure happening and nothing can be
The Paradise Never Lost 223
done about it directly. While this crystal consciousness
becomes one with the knowable object which exists in space
and time outside the experience is thoughtless awareness or
Anatta. It seems that the Buddhist philosophers who
happened after Buddha have used Anatta only in this sense.
Buddha has used it to mean the state of Nirvana which
transcends Being Non-being both. Both become irrelevant
in Nirvana.
Word or Meaning or Interpretation being associated
the Meditation is known as Mediation with reasoning
present (1/42)
When we meditate we close our eyes, so all the objects
disappear from our sight but most of the times we do not
close our ears. This Sutra describes three different stages of
meditation. These stages are – with Word or with Meaning or
with Interpretation. Let me explain it with one example. A
person is meditating near a school and the schoolbell begins
to ring. Sound is released from the source, it strikes the ear
membrane of the meditator and he understands the sound
but no thought arises in his mind. Here perception is followed
by conception without verbalization. This is the first kind of
meditation. Now, suppose that the thought too arises in the
mind of the meditator -- ‘The school bell is ringing’. Then the
meditator has given a meaning to the sound and this is the
second kind of meditation. Of course, it is lower than the
first. But the mind can waver still further. A logic arises in
the mind of the meditator. ‘So it is not a Sunday’ then this is
Interpretation. This is the third kind of meditation--the lowest
and the most superficial. If anyone of these states – word or
Meaning or Interpretation is present, it is not pure meditation
as yet. It is meditation with reasoning. We have not reached
the seventh stage of Yoga which is pure meditation or Satori.
Such a meditation as described here is designated by the
word Samapatti. We have to understand this word. Apatti
means incidence and hence Samapatti means to become co-
incidental with or to become identified with. This is a form
of ‘Dharana’ which is the sixth stage of Yoga. Most of the
Sutra in this chapter narrate different modes of Dharana
only. Many of the Yogis give significance only to three stages
– Dharana, Dhyan and Samadhi. These stages taken together
224 The Paradise Never Lost
are known as ‘Sanyam’ and such a yoga is known as
Rajayoga. The first five stages constitute Kriyayoga and the
last three constitute Rajayoga. Osho has called his yoga the
Dhyanyoga and it gives insistence mainly to Rajayoga
retaining the essence of Kriyayoga too.
While there are no associations from memory, no
forms come to mind, no meaning associated to the sound,
it is Meditation without Reasoning (1/43)
This also is a form of Dharana, the name given is
‘Nirvitarka Samapatti’ or meditation without reasoning. We
have to take the above example again. The meditator is
meditating near a school and the school bell is ringing. The
sound released is energy. It strikes the ear membrane of the
meditator. This is pure hearing and is involuntary. But at
this stage of meditation no comprehension follows. There is
perception but no comprehension. The word bell does not
come to the mind, the form of the bell does not come to the
mind, the image of bell does not come to the mind, no
meaning comes to the mind such as the sound is mild,
pleasant, unpleasant etc. That is at this stage neither word
nor from nor attribute comes to the mind. This is pure
listening, yet we are within the framework of space and time.
The meditation is not yet complete. Still the sound is the
content of consciousness and we have not experienced the
contentless consciousness even as yet. So it is Dharana,
remaining established in the gap is also Dharana, because
perception is still there. Many of us may think that perception
is not possible without comprehension but this Sutra states
that this is possible. In fact, many times we see with unseeing
eyes and many times we hear without listening. Listening
means to comprehend what we have heard. In a foreign land
we hear but we do not listen. We hear the birds but we do
not listen to them. This is the difference between these two
Sutras (1/42) and (1/43)
Dharana can be divided also into three other
categories --With Thought, Without Thought and
Comprehension of Finer Contents (1/44)
In the beginning there are only thoughts and thoughts,
The Paradise Never Lost 225
overlapping streams of thought, just a chaos. Gradually, as
we become more and more aware, the thoughts begin to
disappear. We begin to see the gaps in between. One thought
has gone, another has not yet come, there is an intermittent
gap. With mediation we become aware of the gaps. Gradually
the gaps become prolonged and the thoughts become few
and far between. When the mediation becomes deeper and
deeper, thoughts disappear altogether. So Dharana can be
with thoughts and without thoughts too. Even after the
thoughts disappear, the Sutra, states, the comprehension
of finer contents may still persist. We have to understand
the word ‘finer contents’. We have five sense of perception
viz Eye, Ear, Mouth, Nose and Skin. Five contents pertaining
to them are respectively--Form, Sound, Taste, Smell and
Touch. These are the contents pertaining to the five senses
of perception. Even when these are eliminated, their memory,
vibrations and energy patterns follow. These are the finer
contents and are perceived by ‘tanmatras’ or inner senses
according to Sankhya Metaphysics. These inner senses
belong to our causal body which consists of energy only. The
Sutra states even when thoughts disappear, the
comprehension of the finer contents may still persist. This
persistence is involuntary. But this comprehension still
obstructs pure meditation or Dhyana. Even now we have
not reached the seventh stage of Yoga.
Finer Contents remain till tithering to Prakriti
persists. (1/45)
Awareness of finer contents is awareness of energy and
awareness of energy persists till awareness of time and space
is there. The ‘Mahat tattva’ of Sankhya becomes the same as
the spacetime of Einstein and this is the last barrier
preventing Enlightenment. This is the last tithering or the
last content of consciousness. With the disappearance of
Mahat or spacetime we transcend Prakriti, only the
consciousness remains. There are three aspects of Prakriti-
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. While these are in equilibrium
only spacetime comes into being. When this equilibrium is
disturbed, all the universal Manifestations take place. These
Manifestations are – three kinds of minds (ego, mind, intellect)
five tanmatras, five great manifestations, five characteristics,
226 The Paradise Never Lost
five senses of perception and five senses of action. Mahat is
called Avyakta or unmanifested and the rest twenty three
ingredients are called the Vyakta or manifested aspects of
Prakriti. We can say that Vyakta means matter and Avyakta
means pure formless energy. First of all the matter
disappears, then energy and spacetime disappear and only
after this the experience of contentless consciousness follows.
That is to say that thoughtless awareness of space-time is
Anatta, this is not an ordinary state of being because all the
three kinds of minds have disappeared. But when Avyakta
or spacetime also disappears, this is Self-realisation. All
tithering to Prakriti is goine. This is the seventh stage of
Yoga.
Even now this is Seedful Samadhi. (1/46)
When all the thoughts have disappeared, all the emotions
have disappeared, space and time have disappeared we are
left with contentless consciousness. According to Sankhya
in such a state all awareness tithered to Prakriti is gone,
only Purush is left alone. First the matter disappears, then
thought and energy disappear, finally space and time
disappear and what remains consequently is contentless
consciousness. In this state both the knower and the known
disappear, only the knowing remains. Jains have called this
‘Kevalgyan’ or Kaivalya’. According to Hindus it is Self
realization because the one substance experienced is Self.
According to Yoga, this is the seventh stage of Dhyana.
According to Patanjali, this experience may not be the
final experience because many times modifications of mind
come back with the coming back of spacetime. Even in the
final stage spacetime does not disappear forever, only the
modifications of mind disappear forever. When Vritties come
back, such an experience is known as Seedful Samadhi or
Asamprajnat Samadhi.
Even this is not completion of Yoga. It is just like taking
a high jump into the air and coming back to the surface of
Earth again. We leave the touch with the earth in the
meanwhile but have not gone beyond the gravitation.
Samadhi is like the escape velocity, there is no more
gravitational attraction. This is the difference. What Zen calls
Satori Osho has nomenclatured False Samadhi because again
The Paradise Never Lost 227
we are on the Earth. False Samadhi does not mean that the
experience in inauthentic, it only means the experience is
not final. As the seventh stage of Yoga it is valid because it is
the perfection of meditation, but as the eighth stage of Yoga
it is not valid. Much more remains to be attained. At one
place Osho has admitted that even a man of first Satori can
be called a Buddha.
Perfection of Thoughtlessness leads to the Self-
realization or Grace of God (1/47).
This Sutra had two implications. With the opening of the
Seventh Chakra a very pure energy starts coming down, this
energy is known as Prasad or Grace of God. Prayer is the
only means being available to such an energy.
Thoughtlessness is a consequence of this grace energy,
gradually the thoughts begin to disappear. This is the first
implication. Thoughtlessness and grace of God come
simultaneously as the Seventh Chakra opens more and more.
Thoughtlessness may lead to Self-realization and this is
the second implication. Self-realization is a gift from the
existence because nothing can be done directly to attain it.
It is a happening. We can become almost thoughtless through
arduous efforts towards awareness but Self-realization is
not within our might. That is why, the Sutra says that Self-
realization is grace of God. Zen has devised many sudden
methods which should lead upto Satori. Once we experience
this, we do not again fall into the trap of ignorance. That is
why, Zen has attached utmost importance to this experience
only. In a way one becomes awakened after the experience
of Satori. Zen word for Self-realization is Satori and for
Samadhi it is Nirvana. So Satori is the seventh stage of Yoga
and Nirvana is the eighth. After the eighth nothing has to be
done, the discipline of Yoga has come to the completion.
Dhyana is like the lightening and Samadhi is like the
electricity but the lightening is not per manent. So
thoughtlessness can lead to both Self-realization and the
coming down of the Grace Energy. This is the meaning of
the Sutra.
The Experience is called, filled with the Ultimate
Truth. (1/48)
228 The Paradise Never Lost
When we have attained to the Seventh stage of Yoga, we
have attained to a truth which is Self-evident. Doubts cannot
persist now. The opinion of others become irrelevant. Now
we know the truth in our own right. Mansoor used to say
rightly, “Analahaque" I am the Truth. After this experience
one can say I know the truth is my own right.
Wisdom can follow only after Self-realizaiton. Before Self-
realization we live at a false centre, the ego or the thought.
Doubt is the natural state of mind. Everyone thinks perhaps
the other knows more and we are not sure where to place
ourselves. We depend upon the opinion of others through
richness, fame, recognition, results etc. We are identified
with the body and the other faculties of mind. We think
ourselves to be finite and mortal. We are always unfulfilled
and live in comparison. Also the others are in the dark doing
the vice-versa. With this false centre and a confused mind,
our view of the world cannot be truthful. We begin to know
the real meaning of life only after Self-Enlightenment.
When we have known ourselves as consciousness
transcendental to space and time both, for the first times we
have known something which is beyond doubt. Why? Because
all doubt and illusion is matter of thought and thought can
exist in space and time only. Thought too is a kind of energy
and it pertains to Nature not to consciousness. Even if the
whole world disagrees with a self-realized person he knows
what the truth is and can laugh at the whole world or can
feel compassionate for it. That is why, Jesus could say those
who did not know were to be forgiven. In a way people were
not responsible but their state of ignorance was responsible
for their sins. Jesus could understand the people around
him but the people could not understand him and it was not
their fault either.
For the first time when we have known ourselves a new
understanding dawns upon us. We want to understand the
life again in this new light received. Life may still look
beautiful and attractive. With the new outlook we want to
examine the world again. We again examine the Nature and
people around us and their relationship with us. Now none
of them is transient and mortal. Now none of them is dust
unto dust. Now none of them is the flesh and the bone only.
Now none of them is a helpless creature in human bondage.
The Paradise Never Lost 229
Now all existence is divine and beautiful. This is the new
Earth and the new Heaven Jesus had promised to us. But
ultimately all this is bound to lead to a state of desirelessness.
Why?
Inside we are blissful and we are fulfilled for no reason
at all. Outside we are surrounded by ignorant and immature
people who cannot understand. Continuously such people
are making the surroundings perverted, they are creating a
madhouse around their own being and around everybody
else. Also, desires cannot substitutes bliss. The most desires
can lead to pleasure and happiness. Bliss is oceanic and
pleasure is like a drop in the ocean. An ignorant person has
nothing to compare with because pleasure is all he can know
but to a Self-realized person the comparison is always there.
Each moment he knows the difference. The fragrance of a
flower is falling each moment into a mire. So we come to
know the futility of all the worldly longings. We want only to
take care of needs and devote the remaining time to
meditation only. The bliss which the meditation can bring,
no worldly kingdom can promise. That is why, Jesus used to
say my kingdom is within me, it has nothing to do with the
outside.
There is still one more aspect to it. We have lived for
many-many lives in this world of form and change and the
momentum is there. An electric fan is running. We go and
put off the switch. The supply of power is stopped, still it
takes some time to stop. This we call the momentum or the
karmic energy. All the impressions or seeds are due to this
karmic energy henceforth. A few more births are possible
because of the samskaras of the past life. That is why, the
Samadhi is said to be seedful, the samskaras being the seeds.
When the right season comes and the climate is eager these
seeds can sprout again. When even this karmic-energy
disappears one needs a very strong will to come back. This
shore is left behind as a matter of course. This is liberation.
Anyway, the Sutra is right to state that full of wisdom or
prajna, our mind becomes after the experience of timeless
consciousness. We can call such a person a Bodhisattva or
an awakened one too. Now the Gold has become more obvious
inspite of the insignificant impurities present. It is an
ornamental Gold, of course not one hundred percent pure,
but it is still useful.
230 The Paradise Never Lost
The subjects of Perception, Inference and Intuition
are different now because a new meaning has arisen
(Chapter 1, Sutra -49).
The concept of a New Earth and a New Heaven promised
by Jesus corresponds to this Sutra of Patanjali exactly. Maybe
the Jewish and the Indian civilizations have always been in
touch with each other. The Greeks had come in touch with
India even before Jesus. The Greek traveller Magasthenes
has given a detailed account about India of Mauryan period
just after the era of Alexander the Great. My understanding
is that never knowledge has remained divided into airtight
compartments. Patanjali has been scientific in his expression
and Jesus has been poetic but this can depend on the people
around. Koran and Bible saved great truths by creating fiction
around them. This was necessary to save them from
disappearing altogether. The principles about which the
Enlightened Indian masters have spoken in a philosophical
way, have been described as parables in these two books.
But a sure correlation can be held to prevail.
Now this Sutra: Prajna or wisdom is the consequence of
intuition and before Self-realisation no intuition is possible.
So after attaining to this stage of meditation, three forms of
knowledge given in this Sutra become available. Shrut means
knowledge through Perception, Anuman means knowledge
through Inference and Prajna means knowledge through
Intuition. As far as practical knowledge is concerned, even
an Enlightened person has to use perception and inference.
But now the existence he knows through them is a new and
different existence for him. Osho has said it again and again
the change in vision is change in creation too. This Sutra
means the same. All over Perception and Inference which
used to create bondage before creates no attachment now.
The rod used to look bent inside the water. A Self-realized
person is like one who has taken it out and now he knows
forever and forever that the rod is straight. Perception and
Inference cannot mislead him now. Kant has said we cannot
know the thing in itself but the Enlightened Person is like
one who has known it. However he may live in the world but
the ignorance cannot prevail over him. Now he is like a sandal
The Paradise Never Lost 231
tree, a dwelling for snakes, but unpolluted by the poison. He
can use Perception and Inference for practical knowledge
yet he always remains centered. No one has been encentric
once the centre is known. We have seen the idols of Shiva
with many snakes around it but all his being remains an
incarnation of the ultimate good. This world is like snakes
and the Self is like Shiva rooted always in the ultimate good.
Now one becomes transcendental and the mundane cannot
confuse him again.
The Understanding following Self-realization prevents
new karmic energy or bondage. (1/50)
We have known ourselves and so we cannot exist as egos
any more. Ego is the identification with the body and the
mind. Once we have known ourselves as consciousness, this
identification has to go. Ego is a false assumption due to
ignorance only. It is because of ego that we think ourselves
to be doers and we create bondage. There is no karmic
bondage for a Self-realized person. All that is wrong is done
because of Ego and because of perversions of Lust, Anger,
Vanity, Greed, Prejudice and Jealousy. After Self-realization
a man becomes a witness only and with this awareness he
cannot do anything wrong. Whatever good he happens to do
to others, he does it with a sense of duty, with an
understanding that it is not wise to expect return from people
who are ignorant. Such a person looks all the attachment in
the consequences of his needful actions. When one acts with
awareness knowing it perfectly well that he is not an Ego,
new seeds of Karma cannot be begotten, now seeds need the
climate of ignorance which now is not there. Now, we exist
in the world because of the pre-existing seeds only which
have been deep rooted in our unconscious mind due to the
past when we used to be ignorant. Gradually, the effect of
these seeds also is eliminated and we move towards the
ultimate Samadhi.
The Pre-existing seeds having finished spruting, the
Seedless Samadhi follows. (1/51)
In the state of unawareness perversions of Lust, Anger,
Vanity, Greed, Prejudice and Jealousy prevail over us, these
232 The Paradise Never Lost
all are unconscious forces due to our animal inheritence. In
ignorance we live at the false centre of ego which means the
identification with the body and the mind. The bondage is
created because of ego and perversions being there. After
Self-realization the reasons for this bondage are eradicated.
A Self-realized person continues in the human from only as
long as the momentum of the past karmas prevail after which
he is liberated. There is a Sankhya Sutra and again we should
remember it -- “The primary liberation happens with Self-
realization. The secondary liberation happens with
desirelessness and the final liberation happens when all
karmic bondage coming from our past lives has finished
having borne effects”. Now we have come home.
Osho has said that Enlightenment has a beginning
but not an End. Accordingly, he has talked about three stages
of enlightenment: Self-Samadhi, Cosmic Samadhi, and
Nirvana -- all of which are Seedless according to Patanjali.
Samadhi is one, it only grows gradually. After Atma-Samadhi
nothing is to be done and so why to continue the gossip of
the discipline of yoga. Just like that Mahaveera, Patanjali
too has thought it to be unnecessary. After Samadhi Gosper
alright but not the gossip.
All the Sutras upto now have been taken from the
first chapter without selection. But there are four chapters
and almost two hundreds Sutras in all. It can become
uninteresting to take all of them here. So from the next
chapters I shall have to make selections. Those who want to
go in detail are advised to read ‘The Alpha and the Omega’
volumes one to five compiled from Osho’s discourses. This
will be enough for them without seeking further resources. I
have tried to avoid all that has not been my experience. Also,
I have confined myself to the original text only.
There are eight constituents of Patanjali’s discipline
of Yoga. These are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama,
Pratyahara, Dharana,Dhyana and Samadhi. Osho is right
to say that all of these are to be practised simultaneously.
The deeper and deeper we attain to Meditation, the better
and better our performance should become. Now, we define
these terms in Patanjali’s own terminology from Yogasutra
itself.
There are eight Constituents viz. Yama, Niyama, Asana,
Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.
The Paradise Never Lost 233
(2/29)
There are five Yamas viz. Nonviolence, T ruth, Non-
stealing, Desireless Action and Non-possessiveness. (2/30)
The word Yama means restraint of passion. According to
Patanjali, there are five Yamas enlisted above. Non-violence
is the first of them. No one should be hurt by our action,
speech or thought. This is the beginning of Non-violence. It
is defined better in Ishavasya Upanishad, “We should perceive
everyone in our own being and our own being in everyone”.
According to Yoga the Absolute Self is the one conscious
substance effective in all the living creatures. While we are
identified with our psychosomatics this is ego. At this stage
we think that every person is physical and everyone is
different from the other. With such an assumption in mind,
our very presence has vibrations of violence towards others.
A man of cosmic consciousness comes to realize that everyone
has the same consciousness everyone is an aspect of the
same being. Then the existence becomes an organic unity
and the above Sutra of Ishavasya becomes the spontaneous
disposition. Only at this stage we do not feel to have a
presence separate from the others. This being one with all is
non-violence. We have to be nonviolent not only through
action, speech and thought but also through our presence.
Osho also has expressed his agreement with the statement
of the Upanishad.
However, Patanjali has used a term which is negative.
My understanding is that non-violence is not enough. If
everyone has to choose between violence and non-violence
only, the world will be a very insecure and indifferent place.
Jesus has used a better word. Jesus has said, “Love your
neighbour as thyself; Love even your enemy because Love is
God”. Is it not a better way of living and is it not a way
conducive of better climate?
Truth (satya) is the second Yama. Truth here does
not mean the ultimate truth because no one can speak it.
Vide this Sutra speaking the truth means abiding by the
facts. One should narrate only what is factual and should
not invent lies about oneself and others. Telling lies can be
confusing. Also lies lead to hypocrisy and hypocrites can
never become enlightened. Jesus, too, has been very much
against hypocrisy. Jesus used to say the kingdom of God
234 The Paradise Never Lost
was for those only who were authentic like small children.
God does not like people who are unauthentic. In fact,
Mahaveera and Buddha have attached typical importance
to Non-violence and Jesus has attached typical importance
to authenticity. Christians even believe in confessing their
sins before a priest. The point is not whether confession
brings forgiveness to the confessors or not, the point is that
confession is against hypocrisy. God does not like those who
do not have a clean conscience. So truth is the same Yama
as Non-hypocrisy but with broader implication.
The third Yama is Asteya or Non–stealing. It seems
that in ancient India too stealing was very usual, otherwise
it is not even worth mentioning as a Yama. Today Non-stealing
is forcible by law and it is not a matter of Yoga. Stealing is a
crime. Stealing does not include trade or exchange or
donation, it means forcible depriving according to Patanjali.
The fourth Yama is Brahmacharya. As I have
explained before too it does not mean celibacy. Brahma is
the divinity and charya means conduct. So, acting in the
manner of the divine principle is Brahmacharya. How does
the divine principle act? The creation occurs without any
purpose to be fulfilled through it and the creator remains
unaffected by the act of creation. The creation is an end in
itself and not a means. It is like the playing of small children.
So Brahmacharya means Nishkama Karma or Desireless
Action. It seems that later on the meaning of Kama was
narrowed down to sex only and so Nishkama Kama was
translated as ‘sexless behaviour’ or celibacy but this is not
the real meaning of the word because celibacy is biologically
impossible. Buddha attained, Mahaveera attained, Patanjali
attained and even after their Enlightenment they lived a very
active life helping others selflessly. This is Brahmacharya,
the action without desires, just the expression of an
overflowing energy. On the contrary, Brahma literally means
that which is expanding or that which is a creative principle
and so Brahmacharya means a life of creativity. It has nothing
to do with celibacy. One has to be creative like a poet, a
musician, a dancer, an artist etc. We now have a good
knowledge of human physiology which cannot permit any
celibacy. So there has been a misinterpretation of the term
with hypocrisy entering the spiritual life in India.
The Fifth Yama is ‘Aparigraha’ or non-possessiveness.
The Paradise Never Lost 235
We must try to possess less and less and not more and more.
Possessions should not become related to ego fulfillment.
We have to remember that the world should not be too much
with us. Particularly to a spiritual seeker, money is a good
servant but a worst possible master. This is the implication
according to Patanjali. Osho, however, used to say all
possessions belong to the Existence, we should use them
without being possessive of them. This is another
interpretation of the Sutra.
Purification, Contentment, Asceticism, Self-Study and
Faith in God are the five Niyamas. (2/32)
The word Niyama literally means a principle or a law.
Buddha calls it Dhamma and Moses calls it commandment.
So according to Patanjali also there are ten commandments,
five Yamas and five Niyamas, taken together constitute them.
Now, we come to the first Niyama which is
purification. Cleanliness is said to be next only to Godliness.
We must be clean in our body, mind, heart and spirit. We
must be clean in our deeds and in our conscience. We must
earn only through a profession which is moral and lawful.
We must not have a negative philosophy of life but our life
must be devoted to Beauty, Love and Universal Harmony.
We should allow little acts of kindness and of love to become
our spontaneity.
Contentment is the second Niyama. We should not
yearn for wealth if attained by immoral and unlawful means.
Geeta states there are three perversions which invariably
lead us to Hell. These are Greed, Lasciviousness or Lust and
Anger. Jesus too has said, “ A camel can enter the eye of a
needle but a rich man can never enter the kingdom of God”.
It happened. Listening to the above Sutra again and
again, one day a camel really entered the eye of the needle
and it reached the Kingdom of God. (We have to understand
this happening. The Kingdom of God transcends all space
and time and so everyone has to pass through the eye of the
needle, only then one can enter it. In fact, this is the only
entrance possible). But as the camel entered he really saw
Jesus there. He was standing to bear his witness. The same
Jesus who was the son of a carpenter in Israel and who
used to borrow money from his mother and who never cared
236 The Paradise Never Lost
to earn anything had become the Crown Prince in the
Kingdom and had grown immensely rich. So the camel
wondered and wondered till one day when he could not resist
and asked Jesus,” Now that you are very rich, on what
grounds do you continue in the Kingdom of God? It is not
meant for rich people like you”.
The question was not out of place but what Jesus replied
seems to be really significant. Jesus said,” Of course I am
very rich but the wealth possesses me not, rather I may
possess it. This I say unto you dear Camel that wealth is
just a servant unto me and it masters me not. Any day, I can
throw it away as a tree throws away its leaves”. The Camel
understood the point well before Osho happened on the
Earth. Even if a person is rich but not attached to richness;
a person is rich but he is humble, it is not a problem. A
person, who is rich but understands it every moment that
ricness is just a means not an end unto itself, can also see
the eye of a needle, he need not miss it.
On the contrary, if a person is contented but unhappy,
this contentment is of no use. This happened to the whole of
India that people began to deceive themselves. In India people
who are poor and unhappy , unsuccessful and revengeful,
jealous and destructive come across any day and may preach
that the contentment is the real thing. It is not good to be
materialistic. This Sutra, however, does not include such
people. Contentment must follow gratefully with the true
understanding of life, only then it is worthwhile.
Asceticism or Mortification or Tapa means remaining
undisturbed through duality this life inevitably brings forth.
Life is a duality as a matter of fact. Everyone has to pass
through the thick and the thin, through happiness and
unhappiness, through good and bad times both. When there
are good times we become overwhelmed with joy and when
there are bad times we become depressed with sorrow.
Remaining a witness in both the states without loosing one’s
poise is Tapa. Literally, the word ‘tapa’ means that which
creates heat. India is a very hot country of the times and so
heat is considered to be unwelcome here. But the life is full
of heat and it can spare none, this understanding is Tapa.
How to remain a witness, one may ask. We must begin with
good times. When times are good, we must watch our
reactions and remain aware if some vanity is entering our
The Paradise Never Lost 237
mind. We must not create haughtiness through our good
times. If we have remained aware during the good times, we
can continue to remain aware in the bad times also. Then
things may happen and may pass into non-happening and
we remain untouched knowing perfectly well that nothing is
permanent here. This is Tapa.
But like other concepts, this concept too is
misunderstood. Yogis burn a fire perpetually and sit in front
of it, this is not tapa. Also ,tapa is not suppression as almost
every Indian misinterpret it. In India, we respect only those
persons who torture themselves. We respect only those who
deprive themselves of all the pleasures of life. We do not
respect people who are simple and natural. Hypocrisy and
Self-denial is respected. This is not Tapa and this can lead
us utmost to perfect extinction.
Mimansa provides us with three Sutras--Hearing,
Contemplating and Practising. Patanjali has included these
here under the Niyamas of Self-study and Devotion to God.
Self-study means to educate oneself and to introspect. There
is a Sutra in the Kathopanishad, “ Arise, Beware and Learn
from those who have been seeking. The path of the Truth
like is like the Razor’s Edge. We have to learn to walk on it
from those who have attained”. There is a possibility that
Patanjali has inherited this Niyama from the Kathopanishad
itself. We must continuously examine our choices,
preferences, and decisions. We must examine our thoughts
and actions regularly and eliminate all that is unconscious
and unwise. It is very difficult to reach without the guidance
of a genuine master. Self-study also includes the search for
an Enlightened master and to meditate in his guidance.
Literally, Self-study means understanding one’s own being
and a master can help us immensely to understand our state
of ignorance. In fact, yoga should be practised only under
the guidance of a competent master.
Faith in God is a help too. Some people can believe in
God but some cannot. But we must have a faith invariably
in the universal order, Cosmic harmony and the poetic justice.
We must believe that there is some kind of ultimate law
operating in this universe. It is a cosmos not a chaos. Even
scientists believe in invariability of the Natural laws such as
the law of cause and effect, the law of natural consequences,
the law of gravitation etc. Faith helps but even if there is no
238 The Paradise Never Lost
faith in the beginning, we must start devoting ourselves to
methods of meditation. Our meditation will lead us to inner
transformation and this transformation will lead us to faith.
To Patanjali himself, God helps as a device but He is not the
only kind of device. It is good to have faith in God but it is
natural not to have it. So we must begin from where we are.
We must wait for the Faith to arise in us rather than entering
into the shoes of the hypocrites. Our meditation will lead us
to the Faith in the master and the Faith in the master will
lead us to Faith in God or Faith in Enlightenment, whatsoever
we may call it.
Posture (Asana) is that which is firm and comfortable.
(2/46)
Some people insist on the Lotus Posture and some on
Siddhasana etc but no posture should be forced. Posture
should be such that we can sit comfortably for quite a long
time. Even sitting on chair can be a good posture for many.
We must always keep in mind that Enlightenment happens
only in perfect relaxation and not in stress, physical or
psychological.
According to Osho there have been eighty-four yogic
postures in record and eighty-four persons have become
Enlightened in each one of them. In deep meditation our
psychosomatic energy should be left free to find the posture
suitable to our individual system. We must not force the
posture from the outside. We may start meditation in a
standing or sitting posture and allow the body to express its
energy in a suitable manner. Buddha became Enlightened
in the Lotus posture while Mahaveera became Enlightened
in a very queer posture, the cow-milking posture. So it
depends from person to person. Patanjali asserts that there
are only two criteria associated with the suitability of the
posture and these criteria are comfort and firmless. So it
depends from person to person which posture is to be chosen.
The Gap between inhalation and exhalation or vice-
versa is a Pranayama. (2/49)
The breath is going in, it goes deep inside, then there is
a gap. After it, it starts going out, when it is all out, again
The Paradise Never Lost 239
there is a gap. After this again the breath starts moving in,
so hence and so forth. To stay in either of these gaps or to
become aware of them is Pranayama. Prana is the vitality
we get from the existence and breath is just a vehicle for it.
The Pranayama can take many forms. If we throw
the full breath out and prolong the gap created to the
maximum, the Pranayama is known as Rechak or Vidharna.
This form of Pranayama is good for catharsis as it triggers
our unconscious mind and helps the throwing out of all our
suppressions. When we take the full breath inside and
prolong the gap as long as possible, the Pranayama is said
to be ‘poorak’. It helps the awakening of the energy dormant
at the first centre and its upper movement towards the upper
centres. It can help the hammering of the Kundalini too. We
must practise Rechak and Poorak both alternately. In the
beginning only five to ten Pranayamas are advisable. We can
add to it one Pranayama daily. However, the number of
Pranayamas in no case should exceed 80 at a time and 320
during the whole day. Too many Pranayamas to begin with
or a rapid increase in their number may lead to Insomania
and to other disturbances of mind. Some people are seen
even to go crazy by overpractising Pranayama because it is
not a joke to practise them. We should use the left and all
the right nostrils alternately. When the breath is moving
inside we should close the left nostril and when the breath
is coming out we should close the right nostril and not vice-
versa. We have to repeat this process till we have finished
our number for the sitting.
There is one more form of Pranayama called the
Kumbhak. When both the gaps inside and outside are
prolonged, the Pranayama is known as the Kumbhak. Even
when we do not prolong the gap but become only aware of
them, the Pranayama is known as the Kumbhak. ‘Vipasana’
meditation also is related to breathing. We have to keep our
breathing natural and remain aware. The breath is going
inside, we have to observe it going inside. Then, there is a
gap inside. We have to observe this gap too. Now, the breath
starts moving outside, we have to observe it as it moves
outside. Again it stops for a while outside, we have to observe
the outside gap too and so on. We have to remain aware
during the whole course of breathing but we do not have to
alter the breath any way. Vipasana can be said to be the
240 The Paradise Never Lost
fourth kind of Pranayam. Most probably this method has
originated from Sutra [2/51] due to Patanjali.
There is still one more kind of Pranayama known as the
Bhastrika form. This form has been used in the first stage of
the Dynamic Meditation and it is very good for throwing away
the suppressions. One should stand up and throw the breath
outside as fast as possible and as vigorously as possible
through both nostrils simultaneously. The emphasis should
be given to the outgoing breathing. Inhalation will happen of
itself. We should do it for ten minutes only. The complete
method is to be practised as it is given in the book-
‘Meditation'. The First and Last Freedom’. In fact Bhastrika
is a form of the Rechak Pranayama only but in a very special
manner and so it is a very powerful device for Catharsis.
Osho has used it on the Dynamic Meditation knowingly.
So Pranayama can take various forms, but we must
practise it only under competent guidance. Yoga is a pure
science and one needs to have a scientific attitude towards
it. It has nothing to do with being an Indian or a Hindu. It is
a Science like Physics and Chemistry. Yoga is neither Indian
nor Oriental nor Western. In fact, Yoga is the science of inner
transformation devoted to the whole of the humanity.
Every soul has a unique rhythm of breathing. A yogi
can induce his own rhythm into another person and thus
can influence his psychosomatics, too. Otherwise a yogi can
choose to fall into the rhythm of another person and can
penetrate deep intohis unconscious mind and know it.
Breathing can be a means for energy transfer also. A yogi
can make even a stone to fall into his own breathing pattern
and make the stone receive his vibrations. By controlling
the breathing patterns we can regulate our states of mind
too and every meditator has to learn it. In brief, Prana is one
existential life energy which flows through everyone and the
breath is a medium for Prana. Pranayama means to agitate
this life energy and this energy can be used for awakening of
the Kundalini and opening of the seven chakras. So breathing
constitutes an important aspect of Yoga techniques devised
to meet various ends. Hence the Sutra.
Pratyahara is Withdrawing the senses from their
outside contents. (2/54)
The Paradise Never Lost 241
 Our consciousness is tithered to the external subjects
through the senses. We see through our eyes, listen through
our ears and smell through our nostrils etc. If we withdraw
from all our actions and also withdraw all our senses from
the material of perception, our tithering to the External World
is gone. We are left with the modifications of mind only which
are inside. This is the first step towards meditation. We call
it Pratyahara or Withdrawal.
Dharana is holding the mind within a particular
portion of space inner or outer. (3/1)
Literally, Dharana means retention or concentration. This
Sutra can have many interpretations. The interpretation
according to Patanjali which is traditionally accepted is only
one of the interpretations possible. According to Patanjali,
we should choose a small idol or a small symbol such as a
cross or a crystal or an illuminated small lamp for Dharana.
If our love or devotion too has an association with the object
it will produce better results, otherwise any object which is
sizable and convenient can be taken. Suppose we choose a
small lamp with a low power green bulb for Dharana. We
must illuminate this bulb in a perfectly dark room. Sitting
in a firm and comfortable posture we must focus all our
attention on bulb without fighting with other distractions of
mind. Gradually our attention upon the bulb becomes more
and more prolonged and other distractions become less and
less frequent. This holding our mind within a particular
portion of space is Dharana. After a few minutes not more
than fifteen we should close our eyes and bring this object
again and again to our memory. This also we can practice
upto next fifteen minutes. Now, we should lie down and watch
our mind a long as possible. We can complete this meditation
in one hour. Alternately, we can take a very small idol of a
deity we love, we can take a very small photograph or a symbol
such as cross or a crystal too. This interpretation of Sutra is
most general but this is not the only interpretation.
When we practise methods prescribed by Osho, by
and by we become aware of the gaps between thoughts or to
put it in another way, thoughts become less and less and
gaps become more and more obvious. Remaining established
in these gaps is also a form of Dharana or Abhyas. In Rechak
242 The Paradise Never Lost
Pranayama we throw the full breath out and hold it as long
as possible. This creates an interval of thoughtlessness.
Remaining established in this interval is another form of
Dharana. The Yogasutra has called it Vidharana or Dharana
of a special kind.
Now, the Science of Yoga talks about seven Chakras. The
first is the Sex centre, the third is Hara, the fourth is Heart
and the sixth is the Third Eye. We can choose one of them
for awareness. To concentrate upon any one of them
particularly on the Third Eye is Dharana. We must close our
eyes and concentrate upon the point between the two
eyebrows. When we find this point of attention our eyelids
stop moving left and right. We can continue this attention
as long as possible. This is also a form of Dharana. In the
second stage, we can lie down, drop all the effort and watch
our mind. After the awakening of Kundalini we have to
concentrate upon a particular Chakra to open it. This, too,
is a form of Dharana.
Osho has used Dhrana in many of his methods in an
implicit manner too. In Kundalini and Nadabrahma, Dharana
is used in the third and the second stages repeatedly by
listening to the music only. In Gourishankar meditation we
choose a lamp as the object of Dharana. For Tratak we can
use the locket in the Rosary for Dharana too. So Dharana
can have numerous forms but awareness is to be kept
confined to a particular object or a particular portion of space
only.
The State of Consciousness when only one image
persists continually is Dhyana. (3/2)
According to Patanjali we have to begin with retention of
and concentration upon one object only. If the object chosen
is interesting enough Dharana becomes easy. For a long time,
other thoughts, emotions, ideas, concepts, images, also
continue to float in our minds. Gradually, all other thoughts
and emotions are supposed to disappear from the mind. If
this becomes possible for a considerable span of time, we
have attained to Dhyana according to this Sutra. why? If all
other thoughts disappear and only one object remains
persistent in mind as happened with Ramakrishna, someday
even this one object is bound to disappear from the
The Paradise Never Lost 243
consciousness effortlessly because this state of mind cannot
continue forever. We effortlessly attain to a state of contentless
consciousness. The last barrier cannot persist eternally
because this is against human psychology.
However, Osho has not given any such definition of
Dhyana or Meditation. Osho has given the same definition
as mentioned in Sankhyasutra. This definition is ‘Nirvishya
Chetanam Dhyana’ or Meditation is contentless
consciousness. In the end, both these definitions become
one but methods to attain to meditation can be different. If
we follow Patanjali first we should concentrate on some
particular object perfectly outside. Then, we expect that all
other thoughts should disappear from our minds gradually.
In fact, this method is practical only for Tratak when we do
not allow our eyes to blink. This becomes a powerful method
here to open the Third Eye. But everybody cannot find Tratak
to be suitable. In my opinion and also according to Osho we
cannot expect this definition as the general definition of
Meditation. Why? Because most of the times this kind of
technique only creates tension, insomnia and various kinds
of other psychological problems. We cannot advise this
process of Meditation to everyone. People are already tension-
ridden and they seek Yoga for relaxation not for more
uneasiness. Secondly, it is very difficult that all the images
except one should disappear from the mind. This seems to
be an improbable possibility and in any case extremely
arduous.
I agree with Osho that there can be other versions of
Dhyana also. For example, we can use witnessing as
meditation too. We can sit silently and close our eyes and
become aware of our thoughts. There is no wonder that this
practice is called Zazen in Japan which literally means
Dhyana. In fact, the Sanskrit word Dhyana become Chyana
in China and than Zen in Japan. Zazen means sitting for
meditation for a long time. So Zazen is also a form of Dhyana,
perhaps it is more practical and promising. They say, 'sitting
silently' doing nothing 'the spring comes and the grass grows
by itself'. There seems to be a valid logic for it. Thoughts are
involuntary, the energy is moving to create thoughts as a
matter of unawareness. This is the habitual state of mind
and we call it verbalization. What happens when we become
aware of these thoughts or we begin to witness them? The
244 The Paradise Never Lost
same energy which used to move to create thoughts will move
is witnessing now.Gradually the thoughts should disappear
on witnessing. The mind also needs energy to continue
flowing, this energy we can divert into witnessing instead.
Of course, this can take some time because verbalization is
a deep rooted habit in us. But it seems to be plausible to all.
While discussing Sankya I had made one assertion
which I want to repeat here again. Either we can remain a
doer or a witness, we cannot be both simultaneously.
Thoughts and emotions are mental activities; when one
begins to become witness to them, these are bound to
disappear. The more and more witnessing arises, the less
and less thoughts can move and finally when witnessing
becomes perfect we should attain to a state of No Mind.
When all the contents, inner and outer disappear, this is
Dhyana as defined by the Sankhya-Sutra which states
Meditation is contentless consciousness.
There is a state of Consciousness where all meanings
and forms disappear. When this becomes spontaneous
we attain to Samadhi. (3/2)
In the state of perfect meditation there are no thoughts,
no emotions, no time and no space and this is a happening.
There should be no contents at all, not even awareness of
space and time for the meditation to become perfect. This
state I have called Kaivalya and Intuition too. Now, thoughts
can disappear forever but time and space cannot disappear
forever when we can return to the human form. If the mind
comes back Patanjali has called it Asamprajanat Samadhi
but this Sutra does not include it here. In fact, Osho has
called it meditation only and it is not valid as Samadhi .If
the mind comes back, the verbalization also comes back and
meanings and forms still remain. When all the thoughts
disappear forever, all the verbalization disappears forever,
the mind does not come back with the return of space time.
It is Samadhi and this thoughtlessness must be there
effortlessly as a matter of spontaneity. This is the eight stage
of Patanjali Yoga designated as Samprajnat Samadhi earlier.
Now, we conclude the Yogasutra. Amen!
So far we have discussed three systems of theist
Hindu philosophy viz. Vedanta, Sankhya, and Yoga. Vedanta
The Paradise Never Lost 245
is the philosophical aspect of Vedas while Mimansa is
basically ritualistic and so we can leave Mimansa. Nyaya
and Vaisheshika do not intrinsically differ from Sakhya and
so we need not to discuss them here. In the next chapter we
intend to have a view of Buddhist philosophy which although
does not accept the authority of Vedas but believe in
immortality and liberal too and holds Buddha as the valid
source of timeless truth and so forms a part of spiritual
systems nonetheless. In fact: there are only two disciplines
in Indian tradition as such. First is the Brahman tradition
and second is the Shraman tradition. Brahman tradition
insists on Faith and not on techniques. Upanishads, Geeta
and Sankhya belong to this group essentially. Just like
Christians and Islam, these form a good harmony with the
Angelic belief. The path of a Prayer has had many forms in
India such as Upasana, Nishkama Karma, Aradhana,
Prarthana, Bhakti etc. On the contrary ‘Shraman Tradition’
insists on meditation and arduous effort towards
Enlightenment. Although this path is described as the path
of the Beast in the Bible, it includes great disciplines like
Yoga, Jainism and Buddhism as in obvious.
As we proceed further, we shall find that Jainism
and Buddhism do not intrinsically differ from Yoga while
Christianity, Sufis and Islam do not intrinsically differ from
the Upanishads. All that is different has been a matter of
expression and emphasis only. Osho is right to observe that
this earth has been one abode and the religion has been as
much a Science as Physics or Biology or whatever.
Spiritualism is concerned with the mankind as a whole and
all of us share same problems. All of us live more or less the
same life and all of us want to comprehend it too. Spiritualism
is the ultimate transfor mation and the ultimate
understanding. The seed should come to flower and become
overfilled with the beauty and fragrance, this has been the
purpose of all the religious traditions. So, may it happen!
To conclude with, here is a poem which I composed
and which I mean to be relevant.
I may walk along whatever way
Wherever my steps may lead to me
On either side I write but love
On cloud,
On Leaf and every Tree.
246 The Paradise Never Lost
For Love is enough Diversion
For Love is enough Passion
For Love is enough Insight
For Love is enough Intuition.
The path of Love should lead
Invariably to the Beloved one
Whom not much I have seen
Ought to be the real Heaven.
Because I ask unto thee
Is not my love real intense?
Is not my love real sweet?
How can then I forever miss?
All mysticism ought to be like a love affair. In fact,
Philosophy consists of two syllables, Phil and Sophia. Phil
means love and Sophia means knowledge, so even Philosophy
means love of knowledge. We all have to love this Existence
and ourselves too. We all have to discover our place in this
world and there are only two possible methods, one of Love
and the other of Enquiry. Love comes from the God and
Enquiry comes from the Devil and they are participants in
one conspiracy we call creation. Both of them are helping
the humanity in their own manners eternally. Amen!
The Buddhist school of Mystery
It seems that somewhere between Patanjali and Buddha
a long era of Mythology entered Indian Spiritual Thought.
Mahaveera and Buddha had to react against this Mythology
and Ritualism prevalent when they happened. It is a common
belief that just after Upanishads, Sakhya-Sutra and Yoga-
Sutra the period of epics and Puranas has followed. First of
all Valmiki came with his Ramayana and then Vedvyasa
contributed the second great epic we call Mahabharata. Geeta
is a part of Mahabharata which marks the beginning of the
age of Eighteen Puranas. Rama is considered to be the
S eventh incarnation, Krishna is considered to be the Eighth
and Buddha is considered to be the Ninth of the Hindu
incarnations.
Also, there are some linguistic proofs available
regarding the Indian History before Gautama Buddha. In
Buddha’s time three dialects were available in India viz.
The Paradise Never Lost 247
Prakrit, Apabhransa and Pali. Mahaveera had chosen Prakrit
in the Pali dialect. From the Philological point of view these
three languages lie al
ost at the middle point between the two great epics and
the present day Hindi. Obviously these three dialects have
emerged from the Vedic Sanskrit and Dingal, Pingal, Hindi
etc too have emerged from them. The evolution of languages
is a long and continuous process and it takes time to evolve.
The problem is that Indians did not write any History because
they used to live in eternity. Indians never have had the
time-consciousness and so no Social Sciences could evolve
in India. They have never attached any importance to History
or even Economics, Political and Social thought as a matter
of course. So there are no records available regarding the
times preceding Gautama Buddha. But the West has kept
some records which are generally used by the historians.
We all know that Moses happened almost fourteen
centuries before Jesus and Abram almost nineteen centuries
before Jesus. This word Abram is very interesting. It consists
of two syllables Ab and Ram. Ab is a prefix like Shri or Mr
and so this word literally means Mr. Ram in Hebrew. These
days Abram is also spelt as Abraham or Ibrahim but the
original form mentioned in the Old Testament has been
Abram. This indicates that the great epic Ramayana was
written well before Abraham, because we have to permit
sometime to this story to reach from India to Jerusalem.
Rama must have been very popular for quite some time in
India before Abram was born in Israel and was named after
him. It is just like we give some children the name Yisu or
Isha in India. Hindus claim that Rama was a historical person
who happened some 35 centuries before Jesus. The Maharaja
of Jaipur believes himself to be a descendent of Rama and
the family has recorded all the generation from Rama to the
present day and their estimation too is the same. So Rama
might have happened some sixteen centuries before Abram
but the geologists do not yet approve of it, they have obtained
no proofs as yet. However, we have no concept of a Personal
God in the days of Upanishads, Sankhya-Sutra and Yoga-
Sutra. Brahma was not a person but the ultimate substance,
conscious and eternal. He was considered both the efficient
and the material cause of all that exists. Later on Puranas
prevailed in India and in place of one substance a trinity
248 The Paradise Never Lost
was formed Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. However, for quite
a long time they used to be the three aspects of the same
entity. Later on somewhere the concept of ‘Personal God’
entered the Hindu mythology and Vishnu became almost
this Personal God. Rama and Krishna were considered to be
the incarnation of this Personal God Vishnu. Of course,
Hindus formed a trinity but they did not contradict their
concept of Non-dualism. All those three were neither the
same nor different. This is the Non-duality of Hindu as I
have explained before. The souls of two persons are neither
two nor the same, the relationship between them is called
Non-duality. Some more time elapsed and each one of these
decided to raise their own separate families too. Brahma got
married and his daughter Saraswati was considered to be
the Goddess of learning; Shiva got married, he had a wife by
the name of Parvati and also two sons Kartikeya and
Ganesha. The monkey God Hanuman was considered his
incarnation. Vishnu too got married and his wife Laxmi took
all the charge of exchequer and was called the Goddess of
Wealth. Still all the three Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh were
depected as three faces of the same Idol Trinity and this did
not contradict the idea of Non-dualism ever.
I have already explained the concept of Invisible
Triangles in an earlier chapter titled ‘What is Mysticism?’.
This concept has prevailed in Hindu Mythology also but not
in Hindu Philosophy. We came to the first vertex of this
triangle. This is Brahma and He is most abstract. Hindus
say that just after creation Brahma disappeared, He is not a
part of formal existence as He transcends all the forms. The
human mind cannot conceive of Him. We cannot find any
Idol, any mantra or sound to represent Him. That is why,
Hindus do not make any temples of Brahma; they cannot
worship him because they cannot conceive of him.
Interestingly, this correspond to the Mohammadan narration
of Allah and sometimes the Christian concept of God too.
The second vertex of this triangle Hindus have called
Vishnu. Hindus say that Parashurama (the Rama with an
axe), Rama and Krishna have been mediums or incarnations
of him. ( we must remember that both Parashurama and
Rama had come together to celebrate the marriage ceremony
of Sita). Vishnu represents the ‘Personal God’ in the Hindu
Mythology. Literally this word ‘Vishnu’ means ‘ the Mighty
The Paradise Never Lost 249
and the One’. Interestingly the Arabic word ‘Il Gabar’ also For beauty is important on the path of devotion just as Truth
means the same. If we translate from Sanskrit to Arabic, is important for philosophers and the ultimate good is
‘Vishnu’ shall have the translation ‘Il Gabar’; Il means one important for the social reformers or saints. So there seems
and Mohammad became a prophet. ‘Il Gabar’ or ‘Gabar Il’ to be a basic reason for this original trinity, it is psychological.
was the power behind Mohammad and that is the reason
Islam is said to be Angelic in its source. So Rama, Krishna The Three Sects of Hindu Religion.
and Gabar means mighty. Islam belives that the angel 'Il
To summarize again, the Hindus of the Upanishadic era
Gabar' came to Mohammad and embraced him and
believed that Brahma was the only ultimate reality. In
Mohammed had the same power behind them. This word ‘Il
Upanishads, Sankhya and Yoga no idea of a Personal God
Gabar’ became ‘Gabar Il’ and then Gabriel in Israel. Gabriel
was entertained. But after this age, it seems that the Hindus
is the Biblical Angel who helped Jesus. So, maybe Rama,
almost personified Brahma in the form of Bhagwan Vishnu
Krishna, Jesus and Mohammad were helped by the same
and Bhagwan Vishnu came to be the ‘Formal Brahma’. They
one Angel. Hindus have called their medium incarnation,
asserted that Rama and Krishna were incarnations of
Christians have called the son of God and Mohammadans
Bhagwan Vishnu and the Hindus began to worship all the
have called the Prophet. It seems that only the words are
three of them. This was the beginning of the Bhakti tradition
different. This has been the second Vertex. There is a
in Hindus. Hindus began to direct their prayers to Bhagwan
possibility that the ancestors of all these three traditions
Vishnu in the same manner as Christians pray to God or
used to live in the same place in the past and they noticed
Mohammadans pray to Allah which literally means the
the same power helping them. This power which was named
Supreme Being. This is the VAISHNAVA sect of Hindus and
‘Vishnu’ in Sanskrit was translated as ‘Il Gabar’ in Arabic
it is the first of such three sects.
and ‘Gabriel’ in Hebrew. All the three words have the same
Later on the hypothesis of the Original Trinity had to
meaning ‘Almighty’ as the English people call it.
evolve further. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva all were thought
The third vertex is Mahesh and Hindus depict it as the
to be without beginning and without end. Brahma was
‘God of Welfare--Shiva’ with the Moon on his forehead. Saint
conceived to be God the Creator, he creates and then after
John in his revelations has mentioned him as Michael who
the creation he disappears. In other words, He represents
shall help the second Christ. The Bible mentions only two
the Formless Brahma of the Upanishads. Vishnu was
angels by name and these are Gabriel and Michael, God of
considered as God the Executive. His task is to protect,
course is beyond. In Koran too, Michael is one of the ninety-
sustain and make providence for creation. All the ten
nine name of Allah and he is supposed to be the Angel from
incarnations of Hindu are incarnations of Vishnu alone. In
the Moon. So Michael seems to form the third vertex.
Geeta Vishnu has promised to appear again and again within
All philologists agree that Hindus, Christians and
and without India, whenever the need would arise. Shiva
Mohammadans have descended from the same race of Aryans
was conceived to be God the dissolver. He will decompose
and their ancestors in the past used to live at the same place.
the whole existence in the end for the good of all existing
There is every logic to believe that the basic features of
souls. Brahma will create the Universe again and again they
Hinduism, Christianity and Islam might have originated at
will work shift wise. All this is hypothesis, the meaning is
the time when the ancestors used to live in the same place.
not literal but symbolic only. All the Puranas are allegoric
This also seems the case that Brahma represents Satyam or
and symbolic in thier style.
the pure truth; Mahesh represents Shivam or the ultimate
As it happened, Hindus created three sects within their
good and Vishnu represents the Sundaram or beauty aspect
concept of Brahmavada. Those who worshipped Vishnu
of existence. No wonder that Bhakti, Christianity and Islam
created the Vaishnav sect and only this sect really
which are the paths of devotion have attached utmost
predominated with the passage of time. Those who
importance to Vishnu who is the symbol for ultimate Beauty.

250 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 251
worshipped Lord Shiva(Nataraj) created the Shaiva sect.
Those who maintained their loyalty unto the last towards
the mother Goddess Parvati created the ‘Shakta Sect’. We
must remember that Mother Parvati who was also known as
Shakti was the Enlightened wife of Lord Shiva and they used
to live in the same house. According common Hindu belief
even Vishnu and Shiva have been historical persons who
happened before the times of Rama but Brahma has never
lived upon the Earth. Shaktas believed that Parvati was the
personification of Cosmic Energy which they call Shakti. It
seems that Tantra had originated initially among the
worshippers of Shakti but later on it was initially among the
worshippers of Shakti but later on it was adopted by the
sects of Vaishnava and Shaiva also.
Here one more comment should not be out of place. Before
the Shaktas began to worship Parvati and other Goddess
like Durga, Kali etc the Vaishnavas had not assigned any
importance to the female counterparts of Bhagwan Vishnu,
Rama and Krishna any way. The Vaishnavas continued to
follow only the path of Bhakti and Nishkama Karma as it
was described in Geeta. Also the Vaishnava sect did not rely
on meditation as a rule. Shaktas wrote ‘Devi Bhagwat’ which
seems to be the first Hindu scripture to bestow glory upon
the eight holy mothers. Vaishnavas felt very inferior in this
respect and so they decided to create fiction around their
goddesses Laxmi, Seeta, and Radha and associated them as
the female counterparts to Vishnu, Rama and Krishna
respectively. Now it became customary to place also these
holy mothers beside the male deities in the Hindu temples.
Now we cannot imagine Vishnu without Laxmi, Rama without
Seeta and Krishna without Radha in the Hindu temples
without bothering much about their privacy. No other religion
except Hinduism thought it necessary to personify wealth
and worship it but the Vaishnavs conceived Laxmi as the
‘Goddess of Wealth’ and made her the wife of Vishnu who
was their Supreme God. It is difficult to claim that Laxmi
and Radha ever have been historical characters but we cannot
say it certainly about Seeta. Neither in Mahabharata nor in
Bhagvata the writer have mentioned Radha who seems to be
a later discovery. Interestingly the name is symbolical too.
Literally, Krishna means that which attracts or centre of
attraction. Ordinarily, the energy flows in us from the centre
252 The Paradise Never Lost
to the periphery. This flow we call outward or downward
and such energy we call Dhara. When the direction of energy
is reverted it should be called Radha and so Radha is the
energy which moves from the periphery towards the centre.
So literally, Krishna is the centre of Being and Radha is the
energy leading to this centre. So Hindus are supposed to
flatter Radha who can manage their meeting with Krishna.
This word Radha is also included in Aradhana which means
the same, the energy flowing upwards or inwards. Similarly
Vishnu was considered to be ‘Ishvar’ and Laxmi is called
‘Aishvarya’ or the energy leading to Bhagwan Vishnu. All
this seems to be a matter of allegory only, neither Laxmi nor
Radha must have been real persons. Vaishnavas had to install
them so that they could compete with Shaktas having eight
mother goddesses after Parvati. Of course, Parvati still is
called ‘the Original Shakti’ by the Hindus and even Seeta
and Laxmi used to worship her. The scriptures state that
Durga, Kali, Katyani etc. all the eight Devis emerged from
the dead body of Parvati after her death. Only Radha seems
to be a real match to Parvati, she must have been too
rebellious for any domination. In fact, nobody could supercede
Radha who was so great in her love for Krishna that she
belittled even the institution of marriage. Krishna had many
wives and Radha never married Krishna but she became
more respectable than any one of his wives. Later on,
Christians too strengthened this trend considerably. The
Mother of Jesus is worshipped as the Holy Mother. Only
Islam has refrained from such personification but not exactly
the Sufis. However, we are talking about the three sects of
Hinduism here.
The Schools of Tantra.
It seems that after Patanjali’s Yoga sutra the tantrics
really made unforgettable contribution to the field of
Meditation. The word ‘tantric’ here includes all the three kinds
of tantrics belonging to the three sects of Vaishnava, Shaiva
and Shakta. These tantric devised numerous methods which
could lead to the Super conscious invariably. ‘Vigyan-
Bhairava-Tantra’ is one of such books given by these tantrics
belonging to the above three sects. This book is written in
the form of dialogue between Shiva and Parvati and compiles
The Paradise Never Lost 253
the techniques for meditation. It is written in Sanakrit and
it is a precious advancement upon Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.
The Yoga Sutra is the first book devoted to Yoga, it is brief
and includes only a few techniques for meditation. But
Vigyan-Bhairava-Tantra is comprehensive and contains as
many as 112 methods of Meditation. This book is
indispensable, complete and exhaustive in its way but it is
written in a Sutra form and does not contain enough details.
(So the reader is advised to go through Osho’s series of
discourses titled ‘The Book of Secrets Vol-I to V for this
purpose). In fact, if we take Sankhya Sutra, Yoga Sutra and
this book together nothing essential is left out in the field of
Meditation. Even the Buddhist and Jain Enlightened masters
could not add much to the techniques already prescribed in
this book. It contains almost each and every method of
meditation devised by the Indian tradition.
However, when the Buddhist religion reached Japan and
transformed itself in the form of Zen there, many more
methods were invented. For Zen Buddhists even ordinary
activities like eating, walking, swimming, fighting etc could
be methods for meditation. Zen people were both soldiers
and saints and they found very powerful methods even
through archery and sword-fighting. Zen has been very
innovative in the field of meditation, they have used almost
every activity for the purpose of meditation. But we cannot
undermine the contribution of Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakta
tantrics to the science of inner transformation which they
have made so wilfully. But Tantra did not have only positive
aspects due to them. While Vedanta and Sankhya were
balanced in their views of life, Yoga and Tantra were
unbalanced. The Upanishadic Mystics were seers not seekers.
Truth had come to them as a gift from existence and they
were grateful for this gift. As a consequence and thank giving
they were celebrating and composing poetic verses. They had
to practise no meditation and lived a life of spontaneity.
Sankhya added only witnessing to Upasana and Nishkama
Karma laid down by the Upanishads. Even Patanjali was a
seer and he had attained without seeking. He was the first
one to create a discipline of seekers, that is why, Yoga sutra
is an original but initial writing. Yogis had to leave the world
and to seek for Enlightenment and so they had to teach
repression. Tantrics, Jains and Buddhas also had to seek.
254 The Paradise Never Lost
Siddhas mean Enlightened seekers belonging to the schools
of Tantra or Jainism while Buddha mean those belonging to
Buddhist tradition. Neither a Siddha nor a Buddha is a seer
like the Upanishadic mystics. Their path was the path of
effort and so a natural and ordinary life could not help.
Anyway, Yogis began to teach repression as a part of
their usual discipline. The Tantrics revolted against the Yogis
and preached Supra-morality and over indulgence. Tantra
preached from Sex to Super consciousness and asserted that
to become enlightened it was inevitable to make love at least
to seven women from seven different castes. Naturally, only
then the seven chakras of the Kundalini could open. Worst
came to worse, the Tantra resorted even to violence and
sacrifices. The Sutra ‘Vaidiki Hinsa Hinsa na bhavati’
corresponds only to this period and it means that sacrifice
to satisfy Vedic deities is not violence. The Tantrics became
drowned in their passion for meat, wine, sex, gambling and
fish. These were called five makars or perversions by the
others who disagreed with them.
This was the time when Mahaveera and Buddha were
born and they rebelled against the Tantrics. Even Vaishnavas
could not tolerate the Shaiva and the Shakta tantrics, this
is to be understood. The Vaishnava Brahmans played very
good jokes with the Tantrics. They began to depict Shiva
and Parvati as the phallic symbols in the temples prevalent
even to this day. Perhaps they wanted to remind that sex
was the only divine act for the Shakta tantrics. Not only
this, Lord Ganesha who was the son of both Shiva and Parvati
was depicted in Semi-human form. He got his head chopped
off by his own father and had to carry the trunk of a baby
elephant for all the time to come. This too was a great joke.
Lord Hanuman was considered as an incarnation of Lord
Shiva and the Vaishnava Brahmans did not even spare him.
He was assigned a full monkey form with even a tail hanging
down from his back. It seems that the Vaishnavas did not
spare anyone from the Shiva family. This shows the scorn
towards tantrics on the part of the Vaishnavas who both
worshipped and ridiculed at the same time. They worshipped
because they could understand the Enlightenment of Shiva,
Parvati, Ganesha and Hanuman and ridiculed to discourage
the Tantric practices. The Vaishnava Brahmans thought it
their duty to reform the Shaiva and Shakta tantrics who
The Paradise Never Lost 255
indulged in violence and immorality. Even the idol of
Hanuman was everyday imbued with red to remind of the
blood-shed by the tantrics. Finally, the Shaivas and the
Shaktas disappeared from the mainstream of the Hindu life
but the worships and the jokes still continue. Even Kabira
has said, “I would rather welcome even a Vaishnava
untouchable but would not see even the face of a Shakta
Brahman”. Obviously, the Shaiva and Shakta Tantrics
invoked great defamation well before the rise of Jain and
Buddhist traditions in India.
But scorn was only one aspect of the coin. Attempts
were made towards reconciliation between the three sects
also. A story was fabricated that Brahma was born from the
mouth of Vishnu and Shiva was born from his naval just
before the creation could follow. It was preached that Brahma,
Vishnu and Mahesh were not three but one entity. The only
Hindu Trinity temple was raised to suggest this idea but
Brahmans opposed the idea because Brahma should not be
conceived. So this temple remained only one of its kind. Rama
was made to worship both Shiva and Shakti. He worshipped
Shiva in temple of Rameshwaram and he worshipped Shakti
for nine days before he could defeat Ravana. There is no
exaggeration in the statement that ever since the beginning
Hindus have been equally respectful towards Vishnu and
Shiva both. But a joke is a joke and it prevailed because it
revealed great wisdom too.
This was the background against which Buddha and
Mahaveera began to preach. Jainism and Buddhism emerged
essentially as a rebellion against immorality, violence and
sacrifices prevalent among some sects of Hindus of that
period. This too was a kind of renaissance. Mahaveera was
the first to preach and he denied the very concept of
Brahmavad, Buddha came next and he denied even the
concept of Atman as a permanent substance. We can
understand the reasons for their teachings, the background
was responsible for it. Both Buddha and Mahaveera were
trying to eradicate the evils arising from ritual and
superstition. Both of them had to preach the path of
meditation without permitting any ritual and myth. This is
a historical irony that later on even Buddhism became
perverted and sects like Vajrayana and Sahajyana were
created within the Buddhist tradition. These sects like
256 The Paradise Never Lost
tantrics again denied cultural morality. Even Sex was used
as a method of meditation by the Tantrics before Buddha
and by some Buddhist tradition again long after Buddha.
Exactly, this was the time when Saint John had come to
India. Buddhists had become perverted and immoral by that
time using even sex as a method for transcendence. After
this visit Saint John wrote his Revelations and depicted
Gautama Buddha as the First Beast. It seems that he became
disgusted with the Buddhists and as a reaction he joined a
tradition of Yogis in which Gorakhnath was initiated later
on. However, the first Shankaracharya had to eradicate the
leftist tradition from India which were prevalent in his time.
It seems that History repeats itself and time moves round
and round in circles.
Now, I come to the concept of celibacy which creates
great embarrassment when we discuss Indian Philosophy.
Neither in Yoga Sutra nor in Vigyan-Bhairava-Tantra celibacy
is mentioned anywhere. As I have pointed out earlier, it seems
that before the prevalence of Jain and Buddhist traditions
in India Brahma was an expanding divine principle and
Brahmacharya meant a routine like Brahma. So
Brahmacharya implied Nishkama Karma and a creative life.
Neither Patanjali nor the Tantrics had condemned sex before.
Anyway, Hindus used to renounce the world only after the
age of fifty when no one has any craziness for sex.
If a person happens to visit the Indian temples, he finds
Vishnu with his wife Laxmi, Rama with his wife Seeta and
Krishna with his beloved Radha. Ganesha is in the baby
form sitting usually in the company of his worthy parents of
course unmarried yet. Only Hanuman is found alone but
this causes no concern at all because he is depicted in a
monkey form and monkeys are not human beings, they have
absolute freedom in everyway. Any moment he can take a
jump and can go wherever he wants to go. But when a visitor
for the first time happens to visit a Jain or a Buddhist temple
he becomes concerned because he finds Mahaveera or
Buddha sitting there all alone. When the doors close and
night falls what will they do? When sickness and old age
comes who will take care of them? Everyone understands it
since the beginning of the human existence that celibacy is
impossible and that is why Brahmacharya cannot mean
celibacy. This interpretation has advanced by the Buddhist
The Paradise Never Lost 257
and the Jain philosophers who narrowed down Kama to mean
sex only whereas Kama actually means all the worldly
aspirations and sex can be only a need.
In any case, the Hindus used to preach renunciation
only after the age of fifty which is not much of a problem.
When a man has attained the age of fifty, women cease to
take interest in him and so even celibacy is no problem.
Except for a few exception, even in a forest, Hindu seers and
seekers used to live with their wives and many disciples who
were just like their family members. It was only after
Mahaveera and Buddha that celibacy and monkhood
sprouted as an organized institution. Thousands and
thousands monks began to roam all over the Indian
subcontinent. Shankaracharya’s ten cults of Hindu monks
only multiplied, this number to a considerable extent to
become a multitude. One can even consider it the
commencement of an organized irrationality in Indian
spiritual life.
Buddha and His Teachings
Now we come to Gautama the Buddha who has the
greatest among these three Enlightened masters viz. Buddha,
Mahaveera and Shankaracharya. It is not easy to understand
him because his renunciation seems to be unnatural, his
celibacy seems to be unnatural, his anattavad seems to be
out of place and his Shunyavad seems to be illogical again.
We will have to discuss his preaching and his tradition too.
Before that here is a small poem of mine composed to
express the common amazement:
An Indian seer raised the cry
His voice filled all of the sky
Across the Asia, China, Tibet, Japan
But the earth he came to deny.
Everyone was sure mesmorized
Everyone had his best to try
We need new Heaven and Earth
Since it is our place of Birth.
A man who has no faith in him
Nor Music nor even poetry
258 The Paradise Never Lost
Nor beauty nor even thanks giving
Must be but very strange seer!.
Some might have become Lotus flowers
Most of them Mango and Papaya
Colour, Lustre, Fragrance and Youth
Beauty is the earthly Truth.
His Oak tree can though never fall
Because it is humble and tall
Moving always towards the sky
On the Earth the least of try!.
One can say here that all renunciation is a mistake
because all renunciation is impossibility. As long as we are
in the body, we are in the world. Body is the miniature
universe. What can we renounce? Can we renounce our
hunger, our thirst, our sickness, our tenderness for weather
and our advancing age etc? Just as we attempt to solve these
problems we become a part of the world. A monk can only
try to shift his burden on others, but this makes him
dependent generally on people who earn a lot through
immoral means. It makes him a participant into a negative
kind of karmic energy also. It seems that dropping our
attachment to the world is the only possible renunciation,
all other forms of renunciation seem to be just hypocritical.
Freud is right to observe whatever aspect of life we deny
becomes the most attractive one to us. Life is an opportunity
to learn and all those who escape away from it may miss the
right course of schooling. The only way to transcend life is to
understand it. If we have all our teeth intact except one tooth
which just has been pulled out, our tongue moves again and
again only to that empty space and no where else. All
renunciation of this sort may be called hypocritical and the
Buddhist and the Jains promulgated it in India for the first
time as an organized movement which became a marked
tradition later on. My understanding is that even renunciation
is likely to create a certain kind of bondage because giving
liberates and taking binds. Hindus are right to say ‘always
keep your palms turned downwards’. Kabira has been very
categorized to say those who deceive others create a bondage
but those who allow others to deceive them are liberated.
The Paradise Never Lost 259
 Life is very contradictory. Before Buddha and Mahaveera
the Hindu thought was straight forward and clear and the
things were less complicated. The Hindus used to believe
that one should always refrain from doing the wrong; one
should always be eager to do the right and should throw the
return into the nearest well. We can detach ourselves always
from the consequences of our virtuous acts but we cannot
avoid the punishments which should ensue the evil ones.
One should always promote the good and should forget all
his acts of kindness and of love, it was the Hindu Philosophy
of Nishkama Karma.
Now, we come to the concept of celibacy. A man
cannot withhold his sexual outlets any more than a woman
can stop her menstrual cycles. The first carries the sperm
and second carries the ovum and both are essential
counterparts. It is impossible to fight one’s Biology. It is as
stupid as fighting hunger or fighting sleep. In the childhood
the hormones have not yet become active and with the old
age the hormones disappear. It is natural that the hormones
should sprout and spring while there is youth and it should
have nothing to do with morality. Once the youth is gone,
our biology is bound to change. Celibacy in the youth is the
ambition of a fool and the effort of an idiot. It is just like a
self-willed blindness or choosing to break one’s own knees.
Buddha renounced at the age of 34 and Mahaveera even
before. Every scientific mind comes to interfere with the
authenticity of such a renunciation. That is why, the Western
mind cannot hold them in a too high esteem. Naturally, the
mystics like Rama, Krishna, Mohammad, Nanaka, Kabira
etc look more reasonable to us in this regard. We cannot
deny the fact that this kind of institutional renunciation may
lead the future generations also to misguidance and
superstition. A child who has to respect hypocrisy right form
the beginning cannot have a scientific temper and become
self-confident. That is why, the East could not keep its pace
with the remaining world. For last twenty-five centuries the
East has been supposed to respect hypocrisy whereas the
West has been very rational in its approach. Naturally, the
East could not grow in science and reason as the West could
do.
Buddha is reported to say that there is nothing like a
permanent Self. Even this belief seems to contradict itself.
260 The Paradise Never Lost
We have to understand it. The Buddhist philosophers have
not stating the same as people like David Hume. David Hume
confused the Self with the mental activity but Buddha had
not confused it with the mental activity at all. Buddha said
that Self could witness the mental activity and so the Self
was rather inchanging in relation to mental activity. But
Buddha said that evne self was not absolutely without
change. The Buddhist compares the human consciousness
with the flame of a clay lamp. Every moment the oil which
burn is changing, every moment the wick is burning and
changing but the flame is also changing. The flame is never
a static phenomenon but it is always a continuum. But there
is a contradiction in it. Let us analyze the whole situation.
Buddha said there is existence after death. There is to follow
either Heaven or Hell or rebirth. There has been an infinite
sequence of past lives through which our consciousness had
to pass. Not only this, it is also possible to revive the past life
memories. Now the question arises if there is no unchanging
Self or Substance who remembers these past lives. Who
remains an invariable witness to all this sequence of changing
bodies. If a substance appears sometime as A1,sometimes A2
etc, that is if a substance assumes the changing forms
A1,A2,A3,…….An, An+1,………… it cannot be identical with anyone of
these forms but should be transcendental and a-priori to all
these forms. Hindus say that our consciousness has
witnessed all these forms and this witness is the Self. Without
such a Self the memory of past lives cannot come. The Hindus
argue that the train seems to be moving only because there
is a platform which is not moving and this unmoving platform
is the Self. In response to this the Buddhists argue that
neither the train nor the platform is static, both are moving
but the train is moving faster than the platform. Both the
universal manifestations and human consciousness are
changing but the first is changing faster than the later. It
seems to be a good logic only till we examine it thoroughly,
otherwise it contains the fallacy of infinite regression. How?
The universe is changing in relation to human consciousness,
but the question arises in relation to what this human
consciousness is changing? A change is possible only in
relation to some relatively unchanging witness; otherwise
the change cannot be conceived. If A1 is changing in relation
to A2, A2 is changing in relation to A3; in general if An is
The Paradise Never Lost 261
changing in relation to An+1 for all n then we get sequence.
A1,A2,A3,....An, An+1,……. Which must converge to some limit
point which cannot change. Ultimately, we get a substance
which is unchanging, otherwise the change cannot be
conceived. Who conceives the change? In absence of a
permanent substance all this change becomes meaningless.
So the Buddhist logic is crooked one, it is called Vitanda.
Vitanda is a logic which is deliberately crooked.
Ultimately, we have to conceive permanent substance.
Hindus have called it Brahma, Spinoza designates it as
Substances and Sartre as Essence. The Existentialists have
said that the Essence must preceed existence and so this
Essence becomes the permanent principle according to the
Existentialists. Anyway, the Hindus seem to be right that
the Self and Brahma form Non-dualism. In as much as,
neither the wave is identical with the ocean, nor the wave is
distinct from the ocean. Neither we can say that there is one
permanent substance nor we can say there are two but
anyway the human consciousness has to be an unchanging
principle.
The same experience which the Hindus have called self-
realization, the Buddhist have expressed as No-Self
realization. So it seems that the concept of anattavad is also
a matter of Vitandavad. The term has been used just to
contradict the prevalent Hindu belief but it leads nowhere.
In short, there is an infinite sequence of rebirths, there is a
substance which undergoes all these births and can also
remember them. Hindus call this substance to be the Self
and Buddhist have called it Anatta but this has to be a
permanent, unchanging and conscious substance. It seems
that the Buddhist resorted to this hypocrisy because they
needed to contradict Hinduism which they wanted to reform.
Mahaveera was the first to preach and he denied the concept
of Brahmavad, then Buddha began to preach and he had to
deny the concept of Self also. But the reasons seem to be
different from being philosophical. Both of them had to deny
the tradition which had become perverted ritual.
Now, we have to investigate who has been responsible
for this concept of anattavad. The Buddhists say that
Gautama Buddha never replied such metaphysical questions.
He had a list of eleven questions which he would not reply
and this list included the existence of Self and existence of
262 The Paradise Never Lost
Brahma also. Buddha used to say that he is a physician and
not a philosopher. There were people in those days whose
only profession was to argue and Buddha wanted to avoid
them. So he prepared a list of eleven questions and would
announce beforehand that no one was supposed to raise
there questions. My understanding is that no Buddhist
mystic has been responsible for this concept of anattavad,
infact, they have been very silent people. The Buddhist
philosophers have done it to contradict the prevalent theist
philosophical systems. It is the Buddhist philosopher who
has been searching through a dark room a Black cat which
is not there. This search has been Anattavad.
Now, we come to the Buddhist Shunyavad or the state of
NO MIND. Thoughtlessness cannot be the only criterion for
Enlightenment. Everyone is without thoughts before one
learns language and every creature except man is thoughtless
too. All animals and infants are thoughtless but not
Enlightened. Some people even claim that an empty mind is
Devil’s workshop. Hindus and Jains have a different
description of Enlightenment which cannot be said to be
untrue either. It is not the state of NO MIND which is
important but the realization which is important. They say
that to begin with one becomes self-realized, then one comes
to remember the past lives ad finally one even comes to know
the future, these are the various stages of Enlightenment.
Hindus and Jains do not speak in terms of thoughtlessness.
The cessation of all thoughts is not an achievement in itself,
thoughtlessness itself is not Enlightenment.
Moreover, it is very unscientific to fight one’s own thinking
mind, this can lead even to madness. It is unpsychological
to attach much importance to the thoughts. No one can ever
practise to be thoughtlessness; it may come indirectly to
some. To some thoughtlessness may follow as a shadow of
Enlightenment. Similarly, desirelessness is not a cause of
Enlightenment but a consequence of it. If we illuminate a
lamp the darkness is gone but the vice-versa is not the case,
we cannot remove the darkness by fighting with it. We have
to be positive in our attitudes, absolute negativity is against
human psychology. So it is not good to talk in negative terms
always.
In fact, there are many mansions to the Father’s House
and there are many paths leading there. The way of a mystic
The Paradise Never Lost 263
is the way of a white cloud. The way of a mystic is the way of
a flying bird. No foot-marks are left behind. It seems that
before Buddha the Hindus did not insist on empty-
mindedness but on the experience of Self-realization only.
Negativity is not the question but realization is the question.
Dropping out of thought and emotion is not the real question,
but awakening from the ignorance is the real question.
Buddha has refrained from using all the positive terms which
the Upanishads have used and that is why his view of life
seems to be negative which is not expected of an Enlightened
person like him. Absolute negativity is not likely to lead to
Enlightenment but to madness probably.
Buddha asserts that life is a suffering and desires are
the reasons for the suffering. Nirvana is the only state without
suffering and Nirvana means total extinction or non-
existence. So which are the implications? All the existence
is meaningless. As long as one exists, there must be suffering.
According to the Buddhists, it is suffering not essence which
preceeds existence and comes to an end only with the
existence itself. With such a view of life no science, no political
systems, no economic reforms, no social well-being etc can
have any meaning. No constitutionalism, no Rule of Law, no
Jurisprudence, no Criminal and Civil Procedure Codes, no
observation of human rights, no democracy etc need to evolve.
With such a view of life all life should be considered
meaningless. But the last twenty-five centuries after Gautama
Buddha have proved it otherwise; we can create some
meaning in life. Of course , the East could not create this
meaning because of a misconceived kind of philosophy but
the West has certainly managed it.
Even Science needs a great faith in life. If we get up
tomorrow and find that the Sun has arisen in the West, then
we get up the day after tomorrow and find that the Sun has
arisen in the North and so on and so forth; no science can
be possible. A scientist has a firm belief that science is capable
of making the mankind happy, comfortable and painless,
only then the scientist can have a zeal for his work. But
Buddha gives no importance to life or even to existence itself
and the science too cannot progress with such a negative
view of life. There is no wonder that the East has never taken
much interest in Science and human well-being.
On the other hand, Jesus has given much importance
264 The Paradise Never Lost
even to very small things of life. He cares even to turn water
into wine and feed the hungry crowd with whatsoever few
pieces of bread he has got. He and his apostles wander all
over the land of Israel and cure people of all kinds of diseases
such as blindness, leprosy, paralysis, etc and believe it to be
their sacred duty. The Bible has attached importance to all
the aspects of life, that is why, the West could progress in
technology and medicine but the East did not care to
accomplish all this. The West had before it the ideal of Jesus
and so the West looked forward to make all the miracles
described in the Gospels come true through the discipline of
Science. Science has actually made feasible what the Bible
considered to be miracles. The East had before it the image
of ascetics like Mahaveera, Buddha, Shankaracharya etc and
the East always vibrated with their preaching and this has
made all the difference which is obvious. What had Buddha
preached? He taught that suffering was the beginning and
the end; suffering was the alpha and the omega and suffering
was the first fact of life and also the last as well. No wonder
the East remained still and freezed like the statue of Gautama
Buddha and much water went on flowing down all the rivers
of the Earth. In fact, our pessimistic outlook towards life
has been the only significant factor for our backwardness in
the fields of Science and Social Science both.
This is to be underlined that not only science but all the
social, political and economic thoughts have evolved out of
an endeavour to make the mankind happier. The East
condemned all the desires and so the East withheld all the
impetus to progress too. But the West could move towards
considerable advancement only because the Bible has
nowhere condemned life. In the beginning till the medieval
history the West too was primitive and backward. Even the
institutions like slavery and traffic in human beings used to
prevail there. But now the West has reached the state of
perfect Rule of Law. The East is still lagging behind in regards
of democratic values and human rights. In the East either
there is no democracy at all or there is pseudo-democracy
instead. All the fight in the world in this century has been
between the democratic and the undemocratic forces and
the East is not even yet really civilized. In respect of the
exercise of human rights and sense of human dignity, the
East has still got many reservations.
The Paradise Never Lost 265
 All the credit goes to the West for the recent progress we
have made. The humanity had begun with small city states
and monarchy whereas now we have well-defined
constitutions and rule of law. We have separation of powers
and independent judiciary to enforce the constitution. In the
past might was the only right; now right also has become
might. We have well-defined civil and criminal procedure
codes and a very judicious system of pleadings. The humanity
had begun with hunting and harvesting; the barter system
was the only mode of marketing in the primitive societies.
Now these has given way to very highly industrialized societies
with a system of refined economy and banking which is very
advanced and ensure security. We have made remarkable
progress also in the fields of Medicine and Surgery and have
succeeded in eradicating almost each and every disease and
disorder. Now it has become very difficult to assert in the
Buddhist manner that birth is suffering, disease is suffering,
the old age is suffering and finally the death is suffering too.
Man can live now comfortably and he can avoid all
unnecessary pain with the advancement of Science. But all
this change has come through the West for one very simple
reason that the West has always loved life and has honoured
all legitimate and reasonable desires. It could not come
through the East because the East has always condemned
desires and has preached contentment instead leading only
to idleness. The consequences which have followed are very
alarming and it seems that condemnation of worldly life has
been unfortunate. We all know that the Buddhist outlook of
life has been much negative and the consequences have been
disastrous.
Let us now enlist all the things which make life worth
living. We need science and technology, a little music, a little
sense of aesthetics that is Art, Drama, Literature etc. All
these things make life worth while and all these things spring
from desires. If desires are condemned all the faculties of
human knowledge, all the aspects of civilization and culture,
all that is beautiful and worthwhile become condemned
consequently. That is why, the Hindus could see this
negativity and its consequences not before very long but they
could not help the dark shadows which this negativity would
cast on the Indian History in particular and on the Asian
History in general. In fact Chanakya was the last Indian
266 The Paradise Never Lost
thinker who had a balanced view of life. After that the
philosophies of Mahaveera and Buddha prevailed all over
the Indian subcontinent with their negativity and Indians
became weak. We could not resist the outsider aggressors
such as Shakas, Hunas, Kushanas etc who intruded India
successfully just after the fall of the strength brought forth
by the early Mauryan Empire. However, India assimilated
these people and these races became a part of the same
Hindu culture. But India continued in its negativity and the
great Indian teacher Shankaracharya only strengthened this
approach through his Mayavada until Islam came to India
and India was enslaved. We should remember that
Shankaracharya was almost a contemporary of Mohammad,
he preached only escapism when the country needed
prudence inevitably.
The Jain and Buddhist monks spread all over the country
preaching that it was violence even to dig wells and make
water reservoirs; it was violence even to enforce law and order;
it was violence even to defend one’s own country; it was
violence even to carry out researches in Surgery and
Medicine; and it was violence even to defend someone who is
innocent and victimized. According to them, all the emperors
who restrained the enemies, all the generals and soldiers
who fought the intruders and all the police forces who kept
the law and order were bound to go straight to the Hell.
Nothing could save them from falling into an inferno because
of the violence they would incur. This was the philosophy
being taught everywhere between the reigns of Asoka and
Harshavardhana but India still remained culturally protected
only because of its quality of cultural harmony. Then the
great Shankaracharya came with his supreme doctrine that
all the life was an illusion. It was expected of every man of
wisdom to renounce the world and get dissolved into the
ultimate reality which was Brahma. All this negativity had
to prevail from two centuries before Christ to the end of the
twelfth century A.D. This is a matter of investigation how
much role we can assign to such philosophy when finally
India was subjugated by Islam which was a new force in
those days. The great and strong nation which was India
finally scattered like a pack of cards.
I want to make my point clear. When Alexander invaded
India, India had been a strong nation. It was the strongest
The Paradise Never Lost 267
in the world. Alexander had fought only with a border state
King Parvateshwar and his soldiers lost their hearts. They
became frightened and refused to move ahead. They declared
that it was just suicidal to cross the Indus River which is
now in Pakistan. So Alexander returned back even without
touching the boundaries of Pataliputra Empire. He could
not dare to cross the boundaries of the central Empire. After
his death, his successor Selucus Nicator tried again and was
defeated by Chandragupta Maurya even before he could cross
the Indus River. His spies told him that Chanakya wanted
the Mauryan armies to pursue the Greeks and kill them
while retreating back. So Selucus immediately signed a treaty
with Chandragupta Maurya, gave his excessively beautiful
daughter in marriage to him along with the four provinces of
Afghanistan. This treaty was very much humiliating for
Selucus but he saved his army from being massacred through
it. Chanakya was a wise man and he helped the Empire to
grow stronger and stronger. It was growing more and more
in strength until Asoka decided to adopt the Buddhist religion
and become Asoka the Great. Chanakya, of course, was a
wise man but unfortunately he was the last Brahman thinker
who could prevail over the political scenario. In fact,
Chanakya himself was a spiritual person of the same calibre
as Mahaveera and Buddha but he was prudent in his view of
practical life. Chandragupta could really build a very strong
empire under the guidance of Chanakya. The empire
continued to remain steel strong till the battle of Kalinga
fought by Asoka the great who was the grandsonof
Chandragupta Maurya. Ashoka swinged from extreme of
cruelty in his early rule to another extreme of repentance
afterwards. He unnecessarily attacked the peaceful republic
of Kalinga inhabited by innocent Buddist people who were
by no means any nuisance to the strong Mauryan Empire.
They could not stand to the calamity and were butchered
like petty animals. The Empire proved too strong for them.
This brought Asoka to his much talked about remorse. He
adopted the Buddhist religion and this was a point of
significant turn in the Indian History. The Brahman religion
lost its hold; the Buddhist and Jain monks succeeded to
acquire all the state-patronage.
Asoka the great dissolved even his army, renounced all
the instruments of war and took a vow never to fight again.
268 The Paradise Never Lost
It is a surprise that the Empire remained integrated, the
reason seems to have been his past reputation of
ruthlessness. After Asoka it became customary for all the
Indian rulers to adopt either the Buddhist or the Jain religion
and neglect all military science and strategic researches.
Europe and Arab continued to invent new kinds of weaponary
and strategic instruments and India continued to condemn
the violence. Indians neglected all improvement, innovation,
invention and discovery in the field of armaments. The other
world was the only affair which kept the Indians busy. Even
the three greatest emperors who happened after Asoka
refused to patronize the Hindu religion. Kanishka adopted
the Buddhist faith, Pulkesin Second adopted Jainism and
Harshavardhana became a Buddhist too. There were the
three greatest emperors after Asoka who ruled India. This
shows how much importance this nation had given to Jain
and Buddhist faiths. Both these religions remained
predominant at least for one thousand years when
Shankaracharya was born. Shankaracharya succeeded to
undermine both Buddhism and Jainism in India.
Just 78 years after Jesus the Shaka calendar commenced
in India. It seems that after Asoka India had lost its resistance
against the outside invaders. First of all the Shaka race came
to India and India could not resist them. They settled in
India and began here a new calendar of their own. This
infiltration has been continuing even since the fall of Mauryan
Empire after Asoka. The Shaka race was followed by Hunas
and Kushanas. Fortunately, all these races merged into the
mainstream and we can hardly distinguish them today from
the Aryans. Although certain hints are still left but these
hints do not make much difference. For example, Kayasthas
are not a part of the four Hindu Varna’s because they came
to India afterwards. There is a sub caste of Kayasthas by the
name of Saxena which means ‘the army of Shakas or
Shaksena’. The Punjabi word for now is ‘Huna’ which they
speak again and again. This shows that Hunas which came
after Shakas got settled mostly in the provinces of Sindh
and Punjab which are the border states close to the Khaibar
Pass through which all the infiltration has taken place. There
is a caste among the Hindus, very brave and courageous,
and this caste is known as Jat. This word Jat is a derivative
of ‘Jati’ which means a new tribe which has entered. This
The Paradise Never Lost 269
tribe is the last to come and is known as Kushana after the
Hindu-Kush Mountain. So a few hints have been left, but
this does not matter now because all these tribes have merged
into the Aryan main stream of India. I do not want to
discriminate between my worthy countryman at all, the only
thing which I need to assert is that by committing ourselves
to Non-violence we cannot expect the whole world to adopt
nonviolence.
The Buddhist and Jain religions brought non-violence
to India and Shankaracharya brought Mayavad to this
country. It is surprising to note how much the Indians had
become detached from the world. Mahmood of Gazani invaded
India twenty-five times between 1001 AD and 1025 AD. He
travelled from the Khaibar Pass to the seashores of Gujarat,
thousands of miles into India and thousands of miles back,
and he repeated it twenty-five times but no one cared to
organize any resistance against him. The country was almost
in a state of political and strategic comma. Can we compare
it to the period of History when Alexander the Great had
invaded India? Mahmood of Gazani was no match to
Alexander the Great, but the Indian youth had stopped to
enter the Army and the police by this time lest violence should
lead them to the Hell. Chanakya himself was an Enlightened
person but he was worldly wise too. Brahmans managed to
keep the reigns of this country till Asoka converted himself
to Buddhism. After that nonviolence and Mayavad prevailed
as the only philosophies of life in India. As a consequence,
India lost all its resistance. It is not a wonder that by the
time Mahmood of Gazani came to India, the nation had
become almost a corpse and nothing could stir it to life. A
nation which condemns the worldly life takes no pains to
defend itself. Life was just an illusion, this way or that way,
who cared? Ultimately, this nation of great empires collapsed
like sand. In 1192 AD in the second battle of Panipat
Mahmood Gori defeated Prithviraj Chauhan who was the
last Hindu ruler of Delhi. For the next seven and half
centuries until the year 1947 Delhi was ruled by people who
came from outside of India.
Indians had forgotten that those who escape from violence
cannot abstain from it. They get wars imposed upon them
and downfall becomes inevitable. Only a very strong nation,
always ready to fight, can live in peace. Life is full of
270 The Paradise Never Lost
contradiction, and aggressions is the best attitude for defence.
When India was strong politically, the whole Indian society
was spiritual. When India became defeated only a few
individuals could remain spiritual. A defeated society cannot
have freedom and self-respect. It gets lost into darkness
outside and inside both. That is why, Hindus have to go in
the past to feel their glory. The glory does not belong to the
present. It is not that I am against those who came from
outside because they had good reasons to come but Indians
are responsible themselves for their miserable plight. Life is
like the art of an acrobat, he has to keep a balance on the
rope and has to prevent himself from tilting more towards
either side. Otherwise, the acrobat is bound to fall and break
his bones. The same happiness to India around the year
1000 AD. For this mainly two reasons seem to be responsible,
the negative outlook of the Indians and the rise of Islam
among the tribals of Arab. Islam was much life-asserting in
its disposition.
Before Mahaveera, Buddha and Shankaracharya
renunciation was not an organized movement. Hindus
preached renunciation to be proper only after attaining the
age of and seldom before. After these three great spiritual
teachers, the monks have not been few and far between in
India. The monks really constitute now a great army with
different battalions. This army which we can call the great
Indian spiritual Army is supposed to claim the Kingdom of
God and no one else. All those who admit violence like Krishna
are bound to go to Hell. Even Krishna himself, with all his
beautiful girlfriends, has been discerned in the Seventh Hell,
lowest one, by some omnicient Jain Acharyas. The Jain
Acharyys have seen him there with their third eyes. So beware
lestone should loose the Paradise for the sake of this transient
world!
Even the Buddhist religion itself realized its underlying
weakness when it reached Japan in the form of Zen. The
Zen masters for the first time included even fighting as a
part of meditation. The Zen people are balanced in their
approach for they combine in their personalities Saints and
Soldiers both. For the first time in Japan the Buddhist religion
became a part of life and not something outside of it. A
meditator is expected to behave like an active and sincere
citizen too. Zen believes that very world is Nirvana. Zen is
The Paradise Never Lost 271
different from the spirit of Buddhism which remained
prevalent while in India. So this has been the course of affairs.
The Renunciation of Gautama Buddha
The question should come to every intelligent mind why
Buddha had renounced. We have three parables in this
connection. The first parable is in the form of prophecies
made by astrologers at the time of Buddha’s birth.
The Parable of Prophecy
Buddha was born under the sign of Cancer in the Zodiac.
Only the fourth house and tenth house have planets in them.
In the fourth we have the sign of Libra and only one planet
Moon is situated there. All the rest of six planets are situated
in the tenth house under the sign of Aries. The fourth house
is the house of Mother and of Happiness. One planet Moon
is situated there and all the rest six planets are aspecting it.
All the seven planets are connected with this House. It is a
very peculiar situation for the students of Astrology. All we
know is the fact that Buddha’s mother died while giving birth
to him and all his teaching were pessimistic. He is at the
pinnacle of those teachers who teach that all happiness is
illusion and suffering is the only true fact of life.
The tenth house again is peculiarly inhabited. Six planets
are situated in it and the seventh planet Moon is fully
aspecting it. The tenth House denotes Kingdom, Power and
Action. Because of this rare combination the astrologers
predicted either Siddhartha would become a very great
emperor having all the Earth under his wheels or he would
become a celebrated monk worshipped everywhere. All we
know is that he turned out to be both an emperor and a
monk at the same time. He was a monk with the glory of an
Emperor and he was an Emperor with the sacredness of a
holy monk. His religious Kingdom surpassed even the
boundaries of India and he converted the whole of Asia.
Besides these congregations Mars is aspecting the first
and the fifth houses which indicates that both Buddha and
his son Rahul had great warriors before they renounced.
They were the men of greatest courage possible. The Saturn
is aspecting the Seventh and the Twelfth houses also which
led Buddha to renunciation. We all know that the Seventh
272 The Paradise Never Lost
House denotes the married life and the twelfth house denotes
loss of riches. Saturn had a negative affect on them because
Saturn denotes separation. Anyway, vide the horoscope or
not, Buddha’s renunciation is an amazing historical fact.
Saturn situated in the tenth house separated him from his
Kingdom too. All this must have taken place in the great
period of Saturn. If the great period of Mars would have
preceded the great period of Saturn he would have become
an Emperor instead of a monk. On the prima facie both the
possibilities seemed to be there, but the great period of Saturn
did precede the great period of Mars and Buddha renounced.
The prediction was not wrong because we can take it as a
parable too. Buddha is the only person in all the history of
mankind who was both a monk and an emperor having an
enormous religious empire.
The Parable of Birth.
The second parable concerns the time of Buddha’s birth.
His mother is standing under a tree. Gautama Buddha leaves
the womb and stands up on his feet and walks four steps
ahead. He takes the first step ahead and declares ‘Life is
suffering’. He takes the second step ahead and declares ‘We
suffer because of our desires’. He takes the third step and
declares ‘there is a state beyond suffering’. Then he takes
the final step and declares ‘there is a path leading to cessation
of suffering’. Suddenly, he realizes that he is only an infant
just now. So he lies down on the ground on his back and
starts crying loudly with tears flowing down his cheeks. This
story cannot be merely factual but is an indication of all
Buddha’s life. It is symbolic because perhaps Hindus believe
that it was too early for Buddha to renounce and too early to
judge the life as a whole. The Hindus, we all know, approve
of renunciation only after the age of fifty.
The Parable of Disillusionment.
The third parable describes the evening before Buddha
left the palace. The story states the prince was visiting his
kingdom riding in his chariot accompanied by the charioteer.
That evening for the first time he came across a sick person.
Then he saw an old man for the first time. Next he saw a
corpse being carried for cremation. Lastly he saw a monk
The Paradise Never Lost 273
wearing ochre clothes. The story says that all these people
he saw for the first time. He became disillusioned and the
very next morning he renounced his palace to search the
truth.
Obviously, this story is only a parable; it is indicative.
Buddha was a man of great intelligence and enquiry. He had
renounced after the age of 35. It is impossible that he had
not come across such incidents before. Of course, he might
have considered the implications for the first time. For the
first time he encountered them the way one should encounter.
It is impossible that he himself should have never become
sick even till the age of 35. It is impossible that he should
have never seen an old relative before; even his father must
have been past youth by that time. It is impossible that he
remained unaware of the fact of death, even his own mother
had died. All of us see a sick or an old person but we do not
judge them. It needs the sensitivity of Gautam to be
disillusioned. Jesus is right to say, “People have eyes but
they do not see, people have ears but they do not listen”.
This parable means exactly the same. Most of us are
insensitive towards the facts of life. We see them but we do
not learn from them. That evening for the first time Gautama
considered them and understood what to do. So, this story
is true because it is a parable which indicates in a significant
manner.
Inspite of these three parables the question still remains
what circumstances led Buddha to renounce. There are
certain clues per chance that Buddha did not have very
amicable family surroundings. His own cousin Devdutta was
jealous of him and was continuously trying to kill him and
Buddha did not want to pay him back in the same coin
because he respected Devdutta’s mother Gautami very much.
Even after Buddha had renounced, this is a historical fact
that Devdutta tried to kill him again. Also, there are clues
that his father and his wife could never understand him. All
this was there as a background. Although, we can understand
that the monk he saw was not an ordinary monk but his
would be master Adar Kalam himself. Buddha saw him and
understood immediately that he must have attained the truth.
My understanding is that Buddha and Mahaveera both had
to renounce because they were not common men. Their
princehood stood as definite barrier to their spiritual growth.
274 The Paradise Never Lost
It is possible for an ordinary man to remain in the house
and seek the truth remaining there as was usual for the
Brahmans in those days. We all know that uneasy lies the
head that has to wear a crown. Mahaveera and Buddha could
not keep both the boats tied together because the boats were
sailing in opposite directions. Politics and Spiritualism are
diametrically apposite to each other because politics needs
extrovert energy while all spiritualism should make a person
introvert. So they decided to leave the politics and seek the
true meaning of life. Their yoke was not easy and so they
had to throw it away. It is not without reason that nonviolence
and youthful renunciation came to India through people who
were not Brahmans but princes. For the Brahmans, life must
have been simple and balanced but it must have been a
burden and all time occupation for the rulers and the
administrators. Brahmans were wise because they did not
choose politics and they did not choose business and could
devote themselves to spiritualism even without renouncing
their domestics. Those who have gone to one extreme will
shift to another extreme just like the pendulum of a clock.
Life is like that. So Buddha could not seek the truth and
remain in the palace at the same time.
Every coin has got two sides and there are arguments
even in favour of renunciation. Buddha said the world was
like a house in flames, only one needs the eyes to see it. If
one can just see the facts, one has to take the jump
immediately. The life is short and the path is long and those
who are wise cannot waste their time after trivialities. Nothing
is worthwhile except Nirvana and no one can predict what is
going on to happen the next moment. This moment is the
only right moment. We should never postpone because even
a single postponement can prove a matter of many births.
This is the first argument advanced in favour of renunciation.
The second argument is the fact that the people around us
are not centered but perverted. Even animals are natural
and spontaneous but Man is eccentric. Indian seers have
observed that there are six kinds of perversions from which
the mankind suffers. These perversions are Lust, Anger
Vanity, Greed, Prejudice and Jealousy. The whole society is
a madhouse and it is very difficult to attain to the ‘Peace of
Mind ‘amidst this madding crowd. Of course, giving up the
world brings physical problems to the seeker but remaining
The Paradise Never Lost 275
in the society makes the peace of mind almost impossible.
The people around us push and pull from all the sides and
try their best to make one as crazy as they are themselves.
No coming home is possible if we are bound to continue in
such a society. There is a Sufi story. A young man is running
too hard and too fast and there is another guy following
closely behind him.
The Sufi asks, “You look like the son of Mariam, am I
correct?”
The guy says, “Yes, I am the same person”.
The Sufi enquires, “Are you one who cured many persons
of their disabilities? Are you one can who cured them of
leprosy, blindness, paralysis etc? Are you one who revived
even the dead?”
The Young man says, “Of course I am that person”. The
Sufi asks, “Then what makes you so frightened and run like
Hell?”
Jesus says, “A fool is after me. It is possible even to make
the Earth and Heaven move, but it is impossible to make a
fool understand. Soon he will be reaching here. Come and
follow me”.
What is true of Socrates, Jesus or Monsoor is in a way
the truth in general. Every wise and sincere man in society
stands on a cross but on most of the occasions this cross is
invisible. Every wise man has to suffer for the sins committed
by others who are immature and stupid. Hence the need for
renunciation arises. Even the most advanced societies have
been against spiritual growth. Spiritual persons have been
rare and few and we have not succeeded even till today to
create a society which can make one whole and healthy.
This is the second argument.
Also there is a third argument. The renunciation helps
to go deeper in meditation. A single person can never go as
deep into the mysteries of existence as a school of mystics
can go collectively. Those who have devised methods to
remember their past lives, those who have devised the
methods to open the third eye, those who have devised keys
to prolong the life etc have all lived in Monasteries. The Yoga
School of Patanjali, the School of Buddhist and Jain Mystics
and the Schools of Tantra, all those who have devised the
new keys lived in organized institutions. A single person
cannot go very deep and return back for communication. All
276 The Paradise Never Lost
the keys are lost when seekers live alone. Recently, we had
Ramakrishna with us. It became very difficult to save his
body. We need monasteries to meet such situations. A single
person who goes very deep looses contact with his physical
body and cannot come back to share his experience. That is
why, in India the emperors used to provide state patronage
to the schools of mystics. Mysticism is also a kind of Science,
maybe, the most inner and the most important one.
Now, the fourth argument. There are certain methods
such as the rising of Kundalini which make a man reluctant
towards sex. Such a person looses all craziness for sex and
looses the passion for a married life. An ashram becomes
the best place to live for him. That is why, Hindus have
recommended only Bhakti and Karma yoga for worldly people
and meditation only for the yogis. Meditation is not always a
path via positiva. Even Osho did not advise his disciples to
marry because he wanted them finally to transcend sex. For
such seekers marriage becomes a contradiction. This is the
fourth argument in favour of renunciation.
The fifth argument lies in our social structure. Our
marriage system and the caste system are not judicious.
The marriage is accomplished between two unknown persons
and only a miracle can make them harmonious. Once a
person gets entangled into marriage Sannyas is the only
respectable way out of it. Indians have never respected a
person who comes from a lower caste, howsoever wise he
might have been. But once a person wise he might have
been. But once a person enters into Sannyas no one can
cares for his past background which becomes unknown.
Sannyasins have been beyond the caste system. Sometimes
such a person has to take sannyas so that he can help others
and preach them.
There can be many more arguments, but arguments are
only arguments. Renunciation is a happening whenever it
happens and to whomsoever it happens. Sometimes it
becomes difficult for a wise man to find even a few persons
who can understand him and who can cooperate with him.
The loftier a peak is, the more isolated it becomes. Sometimes
a wise man finds himself all alone and so he decides to give
up his surroundings and become the part of a larger world,
this is renunciation. If a person cannot relate to his
surroundings and finds himself wasting his time, he has to
The Paradise Never Lost 277
seek people who are like-minded. This is renunciation. For a
sannyasin this whole world is his family, he renounces
because his surroundings have become too narrow and too
suffocating for him. When the milk gets stirred, the cream
comes floating to the surface and cannot mix up again. This
is what we call renunciation. So every wise man should be
understood by thoroughly analyzing the context in which he
has happened. It is important to attain and once a person
has attained, it is of little significance which way he has
travelled. Renunciation is not escapism. Escapism is a
reaction against the past while renunciation is a journey
into the unknown mysteries of beyond.
The Four Noble Truths of Gautam Buddha.
The teachings of Gautam Buddha include mainly the four
noble truths, the eightfold path, the twelvefold chain of cause
and effect, non-existence of Self and the principle of ever
changing reality. Also his teachings include the Law of Karma,
the absolute laws in the field of human psychology and the
Doctrine of Nirvana. He also preached life after death, rebirth
but not the existence of Personal God or any God whatsoever.
The four noble truths or Aryasattyas are the following:
a) Life is Suffering.
b) There is Ccause of Suffering.
c) There is Cessation of Suffering.
d) There is a path which leads to the Cessation of
Suffering.
Life is Suffering
Buddha has said that birth is painful, decay is painful,
disease is painful, meeting with the unpleasant is painful,
separation from the pleasant is painful and all craving with
remains unsatisfied is painful. In brief, all the five aggregates
(panchaskandhas) are the instruments for suffering. These
aggregates are- Body, Feeling, Perception, Will and Reason.
The evanescence of all things of human life is a source of
melancholy to which we are subjected. Buddha has said that
the water which is there in the seven great oceans is less
than which has flown from the eyes of the living beings.
Now, we have to examine the fact of suffering. We can
divide our sufferings into three kinds-physical, psychological,
278 The Paradise Never Lost
and spiritual. The first skandha or aggregate is the body.
Neither birth, nor disease, nor the old age, nor death is
supposed inevitably to bring suffering in present times.
Thanks to the medical science that we have overcome almost
all these problems. But the things must have been very much
different twenty-five centuries ago. There was no remedy even
for an aching tooth in Buddha’s times. It would go on hurting
and hurting for years until it could fall out. Everyone of us
comes across animals who become disabled in road accidents
and have to suffer ever afterwards. The same was the fate of
mankind too in those days of the past. There was no surgery,
no anaesthesia, no pain killers, no sleep inducents, nothing
of the sort to help. Everyone had to bear all the pain and
there was no way to avoid it. Naturally, everyone had to pass
through experiences which were worse than the physical
death. The sources of suffering were too many such as
poverty, unemployment, hunger, weather, disease, accident,
fight, blows, injuries, wounds, fractures, disabilities,
blindness, deafness, paralysis, leprosy etc and the cures were
almost negligible. Life was really a misery in absence of
Medicine, Surgery, Science and Technology. We cannot even
imagine the hardships which prevailed in those days. Buddha
was only too right in his insistence on suffering and that is
why, it was none a point of dispute in his time. It was true
beyond doubt.
Now a days, there are reasons to disagree with
Buddha in this regard, because we have found means to
overrule Nature. Medical Science has reduced our physical
suffering to a great extent. Also, the techology has provided
us with numerous devices of pleasures, enjoyment, recreation
and joy. Both the youth and the old age have their charms
now. The earth has become a cosmic village. Different
weathers, climates, geographies, and travelling have become
rich sources of learning and enjoyment. Man has become
prosperous, mighty, comfortable and confident. Nature is
no more only a suffering. Now it has got to offer pleasure
and pain both. But this was not the milieu in Buddha’s time,
however inconvincing and pessimistic his teachings may
seem today. But this is true only about the physical well-
being and the conquest over Nature. There are other aspects
too which will be discussed later on.
However, the approach towards physical suffering is
The Paradise Never Lost 279
different when we compare Buddha with Jesus. Jesus in his
Gospels has narrated to heal people of all kinds of diseases
such as Leprosy, Paralysis, Blindness and the like. We cannot
conceive of Buddha doing this, he looks very much detached
from this way of the world. Jesus even weeps at the death of
his friend Lazarus till he revives him back to life. A similar
incident is reported to have occurred in the presence of
Buddha also. One day a widow comes to Buddha with the
corpse of her only son and asks Buddha to shower his
compassion upon the dead child. Buddha says it is possible
for him to revive the child, the woman only needs to fetch a
handful of rice from a house where death has never visited.
The woman wanders from house to house but finally she
understands the inevitable fact of death and requests Buddha
to initiate her into the order of the Buddhist Sangha. Jesus
condescends to make us heal and hearty, he respects even
our worldly existence but Buddha seems to insist on
understanding and transcendence only. Which approach has
been better? I do not want to suggest that the approach of
Buddha has been better than the approach of Jesus like
every one else, in fact, I think it otherwise. The attitudes of
Buddha and Jesus have since then dominated the East and
the West respectively and the East could not progress in
Science and Technology. Every old man from the East always
brings home too enormous a fish of Mysticism which
invariably consumes his worldly life. I am in favour of the
West and reason is simple to explain. There are only two
possibilities, just for the sake of explanation, either we have
only one life or there is an infinite sequence of rebirths. If
the first alternative holds, Science and Medicine become more
important for human well-being. Even if the second
alternative is true we have enough time ahead to grow
spiritually and there is no need at all to neglect this world. It
is better to live a hundred lives without pain than to live
only the half of them in suffering and discomfort before the
liberation is attained. The liberation has to follow one day
and so why to spoil the whole drama this world is, it is
beautiful to relish it befoer one manages to disappear behind
the curtain. Each of us can wait for few more births, but we
cannot afford to neglect Science and worldly wisdom. Even
for an Enlightened person both Science and Spiritualism
should be complementary and complimented. So to me Jesus
280 The Paradise Never Lost
seems more reasonable and practical than Buddha. Both
VIDYA and AVIDYA should command our attention.
So we return to the fact of suffering again. Suffering is
not only physical and psychological and spiritual too.
Suffering comes not only in the form of painfulness but it
comes also in the forms of misery, anguish, and ignorance.
Buddha calls these the aggregates of Perception, Feeling,
Reasoning and Will. What is perception? We see other living
creatures in suffering every day. We see someone or else
passing through the plights of poverty, famine, flood,
epidemics, accidents, crimes, death, war etc and we become
sacred and feel insecure also for ourselves and our future
generations to come. Now-a-days with advancement in
Information Technology we have to witness suffering
widespread. The whole of the animal and the bird universes
seem to suffer continuously before our minds. Buddha comes
across a sick man, an old man, a dead body and a monk and
the next morning he leaves his palace. This is Perception.
Even if we are secure just now the possibility of insecurity
haunts us each moment of our lives. This is perception and
is a kind of psychological suffering. Moreover, the modern
man has invented altogether new methods to make himself
anxious. Our many recent generations have been living under
the threat of an atomic total destruction and no immunity
can be promised. The ecological imbalances, the widening of
the ozone layer opening, apprehended shortage of essentials
like water, oxygen etc have only enhanced our psychological
feeling of uneasiness even in the recent times.
Next we come to feeling or emotion. Man is an
imperfect being and he has many imperfections such as Lust,
Anger, Vanity, Greed, Prejudice, Jealousy etc. Yet everyone
has to live in relationships and man has to create a society.
Sartre is right to observe that the other is Hell, and the irony
of the situation is that we cannot live alone either. Although
the advancement of technology has eradicated almost all our
physical problems but this has made us more sensitive too
and now we suffer all the more in human relationships. Our
Literature, music, drama etc all depict this tension and
conflict residing in our beings. Whatever social, economic
and political systems we may evolve, none can be completely
devoid of violence, inequality, and injustice inherently. As a
matter of consequence the world becomes a place where we
The Paradise Never Lost 281
sit together and hear each other groan. Because man himself
is imperfect all the systems and institutions devired by him
are bound to be imperfect too. There is no way out of the
psychological misery which our dependence on others brings
to us. This misery Buddha has called due to the skandha of
Emotion or Feeling.
Reason makes us a thinking being and we all feel a
burden of mystery hanging heavy on our hearts. No animals
think and no birds think, they continue to live in a state of
perpetual relaxation but man is perpetually brooding and
trying to comprehend. Every person feels himself like a bird
in a cage. We have to live a life about which we know nothing
and we find ourselves surrounded by a universe which
appears to be unknown. The problems of space, time and
infinity seem hardly to have a solution. Yet man has an inborn
spirit of enquiry and curiosity which only creates an inevitable
anguish in him. Existentialism is one of the latest
philosophical stands but all the existentialists are vexed with
problems of anguish, boredom and meaninglessness. Life
seems to be meaningless and accidental on this planet Earth.
With prosperity, scientific advancement and leasure the
meaninglessness of life has became only too obvious and
knocking. A poor man is always busy to make the both ends
meet but a rich and idle man suddenly falls into a bottomless
pit of meaninglessness. The West attached much importance
to conceptual thinking and for centuries altogether the West
believed that it could reach the absolute truth through reason
but it failed miserably. All philosophical exercise has led only
to Agnosticism, the conclusion that we cannot know. Reason
makes us aware only of our ignorance and this helplessness
only adds to the state of suffering. Also, it should become
conceivable by every intelligent person. IF THERE IS
ENQUIRY, THERE MUST BE A SOLUTION TOO. Because
the existence is not sadistic. But how to realize the truth
becomes the point. The absence of truth combined with the
spirit of enquiry is anguish. Reason can lead to anguish and
nowhere else. So Buddha is right-Reason is suffering.
What is will? Man is finite and he opens his eyes upon a
universe which is infinite and inconceivable. Man wants to
have his way through this unpredictable and stubborn
universe and this intention we call human will. This will is
bound to create a feeling of happiness sooner or later. With
282 The Paradise Never Lost
all the advancement of Science, man is still as helpless as
ever. Every parent knows that he is helpless and every
boasting lover knows it too. Even a child demands more than
we are capable of giving. Not only the mundane and the
ordinary but even the wisest and the rulers are helpless here.
Alexander the Great was returning from India to Greece. He
promised his physicians all the empire if only they could
save his life for a few months to come. He wanted to reveal
some secrets to his mother who was in Greece at that time
before he would became silent forever. But none of the
physician could manage it and he died of Malaria. Alexander
was a world conqueror but he died with a feeling of utter
helplessness in his heart. Everyone here has to meet his
waterloo one day. All our will leads us ultimately to a sense
of being defeated. That is why, Geeta says we have right to
act but we have no right to consequences which follow
existentially. Neither Hitler nor Mussolini nor the nuclear
scientists could envisage the final scene of the Second World
War. The future always remain unpredictable, it is always
beyond the scope of human speculations. J.Krishnamurty
again and again insists on choiceless awareness. We must
try to grow more and more in awareness but must not impose
our choice, it should come out of awareness only. Our
obsession for the results always leads to despair. Even those
who begin with immense will and effort towards the search
of the ultimate truth have to become just a witness in the
end. The grass grows by itself.
Buddha made every possible effort to attain to the truth.
He went to every teacher he could know and practised all
possible disciplines prescribed. Even his masters became
embarrassed by his sincerity of purpose, but all was in a
vain. Ultimately Buddha himself understood the points and
all his efforts dropped. In the state of that utter helplessness
he achieved the truth. What had happened? All that we call
our Will creates a certain future ahead and by investing into
the future so created we miss the present moment
continuously. Buddha had known already the futility of the
external world and by perpetual and arduous effort for six
years, he also realized the futility of all the effort to transcend
it. So this world was gone and the other world was gone too.
No hope was left for him anywhere. So all the future
disappeared, Buddha became relaxed in his being and fell
The Paradise Never Lost 283
into the timelessness. This timelessness is the truth. When the Upanishads too with a similar implication there. By
both past and future disappear, the present also disappears understanding the essential nature of life and the futility of
because the present is just a bridge between the two. We all desires we can go beyond ignorance. Awareness and
become one with the truth which is not in time and not in meditation are essential for understanding the futility of our
space, we become available to this timelessness. So Buddha desires. Buddha’s path is the path of continuous awareness
used to say that Nirvana was the last nightmare, it was the or wakefulness, Buddha has used the word ‘Samyak-smriti’
last desire and the last excuse to go astray. In fact, as the to mean this only. With great effort we learn to live in the
Geeta has asserted, Will is the only barrier and Will is the present moment, this we describe as awareness. If we go
primary source of all suffering. But we need to understand into our desires with the perfect awareness we can
the futility of our Will, only then it can disappear. understand them. Only by understanding our desires, we
can transcend ignorance which is the root cause of all the
The Cause of Suffering suffering. Awareness, witnessing, meditativeness,
thoughtlessness, living in the present moment, mindfulness
The cause of suffering is physical form. Buddha insists
are all synonyms on the path of Buddha. Regarding the
that our coming to the world is not just coincidental. There
nature of ignorance Buddha is in agreement with the
is a long chain of cause and effect behind it. This principle
Upanishads but unlike the Upanishad he does not believe in
he calls Pratitya-Samutpada which means given this; this
the grace of God to help transcending this ignorance. He
should follow. It is a principle of dependent origin. In brief,
prescribes method, effort and meditation. According to
desires are the cause that we are in the world. Because we
Buddha, meditation is the only means towards cessation of
are attached to the physical objects and other living creatures
this cycle of cause and effect. As long as we live in the
we are here and we are suffering consequently. It is a theory
unawareness or in a state of semi-wakefulness this cycle of
of causation consisting of twelve factors relating to three
causation move on involuntarily of its own accord. Through
lives- the past, the present and the future. This principle is
awareness only we can break this wheel of twelve factors.
known as the doctrine of DVADAS NIDAN or as the principle
Ignorance if not transcended, in a state of unawareness,
of twelve causations. These twelve factors are enumerated
creates Sanskaras which are unconscious foceswithin us.
as the follows.
According to Buddha, all the perversions like Lust, Anger,
Those due to the past lives
Greed, Vanity, Prejudice and Jealousy are all unconscious
1. AVIDYA (IGNORANCE)
and involuntary drifts our minds. If we meditate upon them
2. Sanskaras (tendencies)
and remain continuously watchful of them, the dead patterns
Those due to present life:
cannot prevail. For example, we take Anger. In the beginning
3. Vigyana (mindstuff)
we can perceive it just as an energy coming up, then it
4. Namarupa (ego, individuality)
becomes an emotion, after that a thought and lastly an action.
5. Shadayatana (the six universes of senses)
Generally one becomes aware of his anger only when the
6. Sparsh (contact)
action is over. Through meditation we can become so sensitive
7. Vedana (experience or knowing)
that we can watch it from of an unconscious energy; if so
8. Trishna (desire or carrying)
the anger cannot prevail over us. We become the master and
9. Upadana (clinging)
we can choose to use it or discard it. The same is true of all
10. Bhava (becoming)
the unconscious tendencies or the Sanskaras. All these we
Those of future life:
inherit from our animal past and awareness is the key to
11. Jati (rebirth)
transcend them. These Sanskaras arise from subconscious
12. Jaramaran (decay and death)
and the unconscious realms of our minds if we say using
Avidya is the same term which has been described in
the modern psychological terms. If we watch the animal

284 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 285
world, anger, fear etc. are instinctive and inevitable of the
survival of the creatures. No animal can afford to witness
them and become aware of them. An animal has to act
instantaneously, only then it can save its life. So there is
logic when Buddha too, like the Upanishads asserts that
our ignorance has no beginning but it can have an end.
According to the people like Buddha and Osho meditation
has been the first and last freedom.
Sanskaras are the beaten tracks which beget the mind
stuff or Vigyanas. Thus the stream of memory, apprehension,
hope, dream, imagination, conception, thought etc. are all
manifestations of Vigyanas, according to Buddha. The mind
stuff separates us from the rest of the world, we become one
with it and the gap is lost. We all feel a gap between body
and consciousness but we do not feel this gap with our mind
stuff generally. We become the mind stuff itself just as David
Hume has put it.
Vigyanas create the false identities in us which Buddha
calls the Namarupa or ego. It creates a false individuality
and a false centre in us. All of us feel we are body and mind
and we do not feel the witnessing consciousness. This is
forgetfulness or unawareness according to Buddha. The
witness should not be lost but we should remain centered
upon it. The more of witness is there, the less of mind stuff
is arising and the vice-versa.
Namarupa is followed by the six provinces of the senses.
According to Buddha these senses are Eye, Nose, Ear,
Tongue, Skin, and Mind. Sada means six and Ayatana means
province or world. Each sense creates its own world of
experience. That is why, we feel intense compassion for
someone who is blind or deaf or dumb. He seems to have
lost some part of life. These six senses make our contact
with the external world possible, because of the sense we
can interact with the external world and this interaction with
the external world brings forth Vedana or knowing. We
indulge into the world and have a certain experience and
this experience we call Vedana. Our past experience creates
longing for repetition; this longing is known as Trishna or
desire. Literally, the word Trishna means thirst or yearning.
Desire creates clinging to the object which creates experience
and this clinging Buddha calls Upadana. For example, we
taste a mango and find it sweet, this experience is Vedana.
286 The Paradise Never Lost
Then, we want to eat it again and again, this insistence is
desire (Trishna). Also, we miss it when the weather is gone,
this is clinging or Upadana. Some people may even create
poetry, songs or dreams about mangoes then this clinging
becomes too obvious to us. Even a yogi has Vedana, this is
but in the nature of things but he does not create desire and
clinging because he knows better. This is what Osho has
called living in the present.
Clinging is responsible for Bhava or becoming. Bhava is
followed by Jati or rebirth and Jati is followed again by decay
and death or Jaramaran. So logically through awareness we
can transcend clinging or upadana which is the psychological
attachment to the objects of Nature and in this manner we
can jump out of the wheel of death and rebirth. If we can
create bliss through meditation, there cannot be any clinging
because there can be no emptiness in our being. If we feel
fulfilled spiritually there cannot be any clinging and if there
is no clinging, there can be no Bhava and there can be no
Jati. Bhava again creates our causal bodies and Jati again
gives us physical forms and we again fall into the wheel of
Sansara or life-death.
As far as the theorical elaborations are concerned,
we find little difference between Buddha and the Hindu
thought before him. But Buddha believes that both the energy
methods and awareness techniques are indispensable. He
gave many methods to his disciples, Vipasana being the most
universal among them. For one hours at least each seeker
has to sit down in a silent place in a comfortable posture
with his eyes closed. He should become aware of the outgoing
breath. When all the breath has gone out, again a gap is
created outside. Now the seeker should remain aware of this
breath. The breath is going inside, he should remain watching
it. When the belly becomes full, the incoming breath stops
for a while, the seeker should remain watching this gap too.
After a gap the breath starts going out, the seeker should
now remain aware of this gap too. So on and so forth. Nothing
is to be done with the breath but only with awareness. After
Vipasana we should learn to associate this awareness with
other activities too. We are walking and we should remain
aware of our walking; we are eating and we should remain
aware of our eating; we are taking bath and we should remain
aware of whole course etc. We must go through every activity
The Paradise Never Lost 287
as if we are going through it for the first time. Gradually, we
should practise this awareness while in action, emotion,
thought, dream etc. Buddha has called this awareness
Samyak Smriti or right wakefulness. With awareness all life
should become a love-affair, and we should go through every
experience as we go through love at first sight. The same
intensity, the same attention should accompany all that we
do. This is meditation and it is the only medicine which leads
beyond suffering. Krishna has termed it total action and
Buddha has termed it Samyaksmriti. Only the words are
different but the meaning is the same. But Buddha insists
on techniques and this should make all the difference. The
awareness will result in the cessation of the above chain of
causations which Buddha called Pratityasamutpada. These
twelve factors will disappear in the same orders as described
above.
There has to be a simple logic of unawareness too.
Why do we all live like robots and machines? We inherit it
from our past animal lives. With an animal all the instincts
are unconscious and involuntary. Sex or Lust is involuntary
so that the species may survive. Anger is involuntary and
fear too is involuntary lest the animal should lose its life.
The animal is part of Nature but a human being has to
transcend the Nature. Gradually, he has to make every
tendency in him conscious. He has to illuminate all that is
hidden in the subconscious and unconscious. This is how
he can break the bondage and attain to Niravana. Man is
only the bridge between the Beast and the Angel and no one
can make a bridge his home. According to Buddha, arduous
efforts and methods are needed for this pilgrimage.
The tate Beyond Suffering.
Buddha is not a pessimist. He insists on darkness
because he knows beyond that there is light too. He insists
on suffering because he knows that beyond it there is light
too. He insists on suffering because he knows that immense
peace and bliss is possible. He does not offer false
consolations, false illusions, false compromises because he
knows that real is possible and nothing is there like the real.
A real flower is a real flower and a genuine fragrance is a
genuine fragrance and nothing can substitute it. Because it
288 The Paradise Never Lost
is possible to attain to the third noble truth, Buddha makes
us aware of the first two. He makes us conscious of our
thirst because he knows the way which leads to the spring
of eternal water. This is not pessimism. Only he wants to
spread the news about the treasure which is hidden within.
But to find that treasure we have to remove all the garbage
which hinders the way to it. So Buddha says that suffering
is not our destiny, suffering is not our ultimate fate and
suffering is not the indispensable lot. Here he differs from
the existentialists who believe there is no way out.
By destroying the cause also the effect is ruled out. By
destroying Avidya(ignorance) we can destroy all the twelve
factors we should follow and we can jump out of wheel of
Jati-Jara-Maran. Buddha from his enlightenment realized
that there was a state where all the suffering would come to
an end. This state of no suffering he calls Nirvana. Buddha
used to say that it was possible to attain Nirvana but it is
not possible to describe it. Buddha’s remained silent all his
life and never responded to the question, “What is Nirvana?”
He only said that in this state there is absolute extinction of
all suffering and ignorance. For one who attains to Nirvana
there is no rebirth, no decay and no death. All the five
aggregates(Skandhas) no more prevail over him. Upanishads
have used both positive and negative terms regarding the
spiritual experience. Some Upanishads have described it as
Neti-Neti (Neither this nor that) while some others have used
some positive terms like Sat(existence), Chit(consciousness),
Anand (bliss)also. Buddha never preferred positive terms.
He described it only as a state beyond suffering. There are
good reasons even in favour of this approach too. We cannot
assert without negating. Whenever we say that something is
A, we also say it is not “the compliment of A”. All our
statements about the truth also creates boundaries around
the truth and truth is absolute. That is why, Buddha
preferred silence. There were eleven terms which he would
not describe. That which cannot be said must not be said.
Even we should not say this is inexpressible. This is the
attitude of Buddha and this is scientific too. Secondly, if
Buddha would have said there was peace or bliss in the
state of Nirvana, this statement itself would have created a
desire to attain to Nirvana and he did not want Nirvana to
become the last nightmare as he used to put it. Absolute
The Paradise Never Lost 289
relaxation is necessary and all conception of Nirvana and all Action, Thought and Emotion. When we have succeeded to
longing for Nirvana is a hindrance. So Buddha said that remain fully aware in the waking state of mind, our awareness
there will be no suffering. Also he said “There are things penetrates into our dreams or into the state of Swapna. When
which I cannot say to you but which I can show it to you”. we become aware in our dreams the dreams disappear
There are things which can be said and there are things gradually. So the thoughts should disappear during the day
which can only be experienced. This was his attitude. He and dreams should vanish during the night. When this can
remained silent not because he could not attain but because become spontaneous, one day our awareness penetrates into
nothing could be said about the Ultimate Truth. Whatever is even the dreamless sleep or Sushupti. Awareness or Sushupti
said can only mislead and so it is better to remain silent. is Enlightenment. When we can remain spontaneously aware
in the dreamless sleep also, the right attainment or Samadhi
The path Towards the Cessation of Suffering. follows. The perpetual state of Dhyana or Samyak Smriti is
called Samadhi.
Buddha calls his path the middle path because on the
We have to bear this essential fact in mind that meditation
one hand it is different path from Mahaveera and on the
is the underlying current which illumines all the eight organs
other hand it is different from the path of the Hindu Tantra.
of the path described above. Every seeker has to adopt a few
Neither we have to torture our self exceedingly nor we have
techniques to begin with and then his awareness should
to become lost in the pleasures of the flesh. We have to create
spread through all the states of mind: Wakefulness, Dreams,
a situation in which we can become aware. Although Osho
and Dreamless Sleep. Dreamless Sleep with awareness is
has prescribed no renunciation or outward discipline to his
called Turiya or the state other than three. Turiya is Samadhi.
disciples but Buddha had initiated them into an order of
When the seeker becomes perfectly aware then all the eight
monks. Buddha’s discipline is known as Eightfold Path and
ingredients of the path can be followed spontaneously,
it is comparable with the Eightfold Yoga of Patanjali. This
otherwise it is impossible to follow them.
path is comprehensive way of living and it consists of Eight
We can also use the terms given by the Moder n
organs which are to be practised simultaneously and not
Psychology. Jagriti means Conscious mind, Dream means
one by one because they are complimentary factors of the
Subconscious mind, Sushupti means Unconscious mind and
same discipline. These organs can be put as the follows:
Turiya means the Super-conscious mind. We have to practice
1. Right Knowledge
witnessing through all these states of mind for the Right
2. Right Will
Attainment. All the eight ingredients described above are
3. Right Speech
natural consequences of meditation and we cannot force them
4. Right Conduct
upon seeker. These ingredients become mastered only
5. Right Mode of Livelihood
through awareness and not through suppression. Only
6. Right Effort
meditation can lead us to Right Knowledge, Right Will, Right
7. Right Awareness
Speech, Right Conduct, Right Effort etc. It seems that the
8. Right Attainment
later Buddhist philosophers, who were unenlightened people,
The seventh step is Dhyana and the eight step is Samadhi
forgot to associate with the practice of the path and no one
as prescribed correspondingly by Patanjali Yoga. The rest of
can follow it without the transcendence only meditation can
the steps mentioned by Patanjali under the heads Yama and
bring.
Niyama.
After all this discussion, we can understand this easily
It is through meditation only that one can realize
that Buddha’s teachings of Dhamma are in continuity with
Buddha’s Eightfold Path, no factor can impose forcibly from
the teachings imparted by Upanishads, Sankhya and Yoga.
the outside. First we have to practice awareness or waking
All these three have had impact on the Buddhist tradition
state of mind or Jagriti. The waking state of mind consists of
which does not differ from them intrinsically. Like the

290 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 291
Upanishads, Buddha also state that ignorance is the root Osho and his assertion that all the enlightened persons have
cause of all our problems and enlightenment or Samadhi is had the same experience and have attempted to elucidate
the only remedy possible. Of course, Buddha has used the the same truth, the difference is only a difference of apparent
word Nirvana for enlightenment but Nirvana is not a new expression. Otherwise, the essence is the same.
word coined by Buddha. In fact, we have all the three words
Atman, Brahma and Nirvana used in Upanishads and Geeta. Buddha and Nature of Substance
Even one of the Upanishads has been nomenclature by the
It seems quite plausible that although Buddha preached
title “The Nirvana Upanishads”.
No-self(anatta) and Nirvana, he never cared to develop any
Whereas Upanishads, Sankhya and Yoga have tried to
theory about substance, any principle of Metaphysics and
offer statements even about the ultimate truth, Buddha has
any philosophy regarding the phenomenal world. The word
preferred to remain silent about the ultimate experience of
‘anatta’ literally means No-self but self traditionally has got
Enlightenment. His approach has been different. Buddha
two meanings–Atman and ego. Buddha used the word anatta
does not call his Enlightenment Self-realization, Brahma-
to mean no-self or no-ego. Buddha used ‘Atta’ or ‘asmita’ in
Samadhi etc; he calls it Nirvana and remains silent over the
the same sense as Hindus before him used the words ego or
details. On the contrary, Patanjali has attempted to describe
Namarupa. It seems that the Buddhist thinkers who
Enlightenment in most exact manner. The Buddhist principle
happened after Gautama Buddha are responsible for the
of dependent origination or Pratityasamutpada is not apart
denial of Atman. Buddha himself did not like to philosophize,
from the Sankhya Metaphysics. Sankhya states that Prakriti
he is reported to have said, “This world is on fire, for those
and Purush came together and their proximity is followed
who are burning actually in fire, it is the time to come out,
by the formation of five senses of knowledge(ear, eye, nose,
we need only to make them aware of the fire”. He used to say
tongue, skin) and three kinds of minds (emotion, intellect,
that he was a healer not a philosopher. There are obvious
ego) etc. It is easy to derive the Buddhist principle of
reasons to believe that Buddha himself had not left any clear
dependent origination from the above description of Sankhya
account of the world of becoming but essentially the Buddhist
meta physics. In fact, Buddha has made only an advancement
philosophers had represented the universe as continuous
upon the Sankhya Metaphysics. Also, the Buddhist Eightfold
flow which is Nisatta (nonentity) and Nijjiva (lifeless). It is a
Path is on lines parallel with the Eightfold Yoga of Patanjali;
well-known fact that Buddha avoided all metaphysical
in as much as the last two ingredients Right Awareness and
discussions, in fact he had formed eleven questions which
Right Attainment are the same as Dhyana and Samadhi of
he would not reply.
the Patanjali Yoga. All other six ingredients described by
The Upanishads held that all which is within the frame
Buddha are included in Yama and Niyama of Patanjali Yoga.
work of space-time is subject to change but the ultimate
There is no wonder that Hindus felt Buddha to be just
reality transcends space and time and it is absolute and
a part of their own tradition, howsoever revolutionary he
unchangeable. All change is meaningful only if there is a
might have been. Hindus even accepted him as their ninth
centre existence which itself is changeless and all the change
incarnation. The last is yet to come and perhaps Buddha
can be attributed to occur in reference to this unchangeable
will prove to be bridge between the eighth and the tenth
centre only. The Upanishadia view is that this centre in
because Buddha has only complimented not contradicted
relation to an individual is realized as an Atman and in
the Hindu tradition. Shankaracharya later on uprooted the
relation to the cosmos it is experienced as the Brahma and
Buddhists from India and tried to preach Vedanta but it is
these are not two.
no wonder that the wise people recognized him as a Buddhist
But the Buddhist view of existence has been different.
in disguise. In fact, Buddha’s teachings do not differ from
All that is in existence is subject to a continuous change
the principles included in Vedas, Sankhya and Yoga
relative to one another and the existence has no invariable
philosophies. Here it will not be out of place to remember

292 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 293
centre. There is no substance which can be said to be the
centre of the cyclone, the centre is non-existent. All that
exists is subject to change and that which is not subject to
change does not exist. In other words, there is no being (atta)
but only the becoming (bhava). According to the Buddhist
philosophers ceaseless change is the only unchanging
principle.
As I have established in the beginning of this chapter
anattavad is self-contradictory and hence it is invalid too.
Buddhists have really walked half the way towards negativity
while the communists have travelled all the way to negativity.
There is a danger that all the nations like China which have
Buddhist faith prevailing may fall victim to communism. It
is not just by chance that the communist thinkers like Rahul
Sanskrityayan admire the Buddhist philosophy too.
We can put it into another way also. Hindus believe
when we pass through the Bardo of ordinary death our
physical bodies disintegrate but we find our consciousness
still confined within casual bodies, each individual having a
different one, and these casual bodies lead each of us to
Heaven or Hell or the next births. The Buddhists too, are in
agreement this far. In fact, they have worked a lot on the
Bardo between the previous death and the next birth. Every
one should go through ‘The Tibettan Book of the Dead’ in
this respect. The Hindus further argue when also this casual
body disintegrates one’s consciousness is liberated and it
transcends all time and all space. On the other hand, the
Buddhists opine when the casual body too disintegrates, no
substance is left behind, the consequence is non-entity. There
is no consciousness transcendental to the casual body which
itself is subject to tremendous change. The Buddhist
emancipation or acquittal is non-existence. As long as we
exist there is the fact of suffering and when the suffering
disappears our consciousness too disappears. So for the
Buddhists experience and sufferings are synonyms. My
assertion is that the later Buddhist philosophers could not
understand Buddha properly on this point; because we find
a contradiction in the Buddhist thought here. Buddhists
believe that Buddha attained to the Supreme Nirvana at the
time of his physical death. Yet the disciples of Buddha
believed that Buddha promised to help all the seekers on his
path even after he would leave the physical body. They still
294 The Paradise Never Lost
go on worshipping him. This is not understandable, how
can one help having become a non-entity? Not only this,
there is a congregation of 500 Buddhist seekers who believe
that once in a year they can communicate with the Being of
Gautama Buddha himself. It is the commitment of Buddha
which he goes on fulfilling even now.
It seems that it is not possible to describe the state of
Nirvana and disciples of Buddha could not understand this
happening. May be Nirvana is experience when both entity
and non-entity, existence and non-existence, substance and
extinction become irrelevant. Moreover, again we have to
remember that Buddha had no investment in words but only
in silence. Buddha’s all emphasis used to centre upon
meditation and not upon argument. Many words are
synonyms to meditation in the Indian tradition such as
Dhyana, witnessing mindfulness, awareness, wakefulness
etc; but Buddha preferred the word Samyak-Smriti which
literally means “Bodh” or awareness. According Gautama
Buddha, a Buddha is the person who has attained to the
perfection of Bodh or awareness. So awareness is the keyword
on the path of Buddha and only through awareness not
through reason we can come to experience the state of
Nirvana. Buddha did not want to describe this state because
all the words could mislead. Consequently, the Buddhist
philosophers have confused the humanity a lot in regards of
Nirvana.
Maybe because of his negative terminology, non-
acceptance of worldly life, disobedience and rebellion against
the past etc, the holy Bible has referred to Buddha as the
Tree of Knowledge or the Devil or the First Beast. Buddha
attained to enlightenment under a tree with the name
“Bodhivrikhsa” which literally means the tree of knowledge.
It seems that Osho has been called the Second Beast. There
is no condemnation in it; it only says that Saint John
considers faith to be higher than effort. Saint John came to
India almost 500 years after Gautama Buddha and it is
obvious that he did not like the tradition in the form he saw
it at that time in India. Perhaps the Buddhist had turned to
Vamachara or to sexual perversions in the name of Tantra
at that time. The Buddhists have had many Tantric traditions
such as Sahajyana and Vajrayana which did not respect
morality in sexual matters. This seems to be one of the
The Paradise Never Lost 295
reasons he described his path beastly as opposed to the
angelic traditions. The second reason is that Buddha believed
that man could transform himself from a Beast to an Angel
without the need of any faith in God. That is why, Buddha
has been described as “most godless although most godlike”.
In his revelations Saint john has also foreseen the coming
of the False Prophet and the Second Christ too. This gives
the humanity a new lease of life and of hope. May it be so.
Amen!
296 The Paradise Never Lost
Jesus and His New Testament
It happened, when Jesus was still only a small child of
ten years the god came to see him and to talk to him. so they
conversed with each other as the follows:
God- I am the only Jealous God of Jews
The God of Abraham, the God of Moses
The only God of Israel Ever
Life is no more a bed of roses
Jesus- Because you to come to see me, Sir
Should I open but one Champaign?
God- Sometime else let it be so
Just now I am on a different campaign
I come to send wars, famines, epidemics, drought
Just now it cannot suit me dear.
Jesus- Sir, first to be delivered a planty of Akharot
For children to eat during the Drought.
God- Why do people sin again and again?
Jesus- Who wants to miss every train?
God- So from sins should they never refrain?
Jesus- Till Corollaries excel the philosophy main.
God- Then I have to appear again and again
Wars, epidemics and no more rain
Until they forever from sins refrain
For I am the only Jealous God
Jesus- Sir, here is Jesus and his sword.
The God became really scared because he did not want
to fight his only small son and so he disappeared from his
presence. He straightforward reached the Paradise, raised a
new apartment and disguised himself behind a new apparel.
Jesus decided to persue the Jewish God upto the Heaven
with his sword still drawn In his hands. Just as he entered
the front gate, he saw somebody clad in blak clothes sitting
in front of a new apartment. He was covering his forehead
and his eyes under a Felt hat.
Jesus- Where is the only Jealous God of Israel
He does not allow us even a smile.
God- I don’t know him I am Devil himself.
Jesus- For thousand years he locked behind Self.
The Paradise Never Lost 297
 He pushed the guy at point of his sword into a room and
locked the door which was like the door of a Self for next
thousand of years to come. The young Jesus thought that it
was necessary so that the prophesy might come true because
he already knew what Saint John was going to predict. The
Jewish God who could see all the things to come, had already
raised a very comfortable well furnished, attached, air-
conditioned apartment with a long window having blind glass.
He could see everyone outside but no one could see him
behind this window. So the God did not mind the event at
all. Instead, he liked his new situation very much; he felt
himself comfortable there like an Indian Prime Minister. There
were too many people on the Earth to bother him even at his
advanced age. He decided to become a willing partner to the
conspiracy. In fact, Jesus had really helped him like a worthy
not envisage a better solution of his problem of being
bothered. So the God, in a good humour immediately went
to the bathroom and took a very comprehensive bath with
the soap Glory. Then he came back to the main room and
spread himself luxuriously on a couch with his eyes closed.
Since time immemorial he had not got such relaxation and
so he slumbered.
But just then, incidently Nietzsche entered the
Paradise Gates. He had come walking on his feet all the long
way to present his credentials to the God himself. By chance,
one of the window pan was lying open, so Nietzsche managed
to look through it. For quite some time afterwards the God
neither moved nor he made a single gesture. He kept on
lying still on the couch in a very strange manner. So Nietzsche
thought the God had died before he could manage to reach
the Paradise. Just then he happened to see Jesus who was
loitering in the front corridors with a naked sword drawn in
his right hand.
He immediately approached Jesus and reported-“Hey,
do you know He has died?” Jesus thought Nietzsche was
talking about the Devil whom he had pushed inside a room
and had locked it. Jesus became immediately happy.
Jesus admitted, “ I have done it myself and I have done
it all alone and it is such a great news. Isn’t it so.?”
Nietzsche disliked Jesus very much now.
“In a way”, Nietzsche thought, “Jesus has spoiled all my
chances to become a Prophet in my own right. Now I cannot
298 The Paradise Never Lost
claim that I have seen the God and I have talked with him
and the God has proclaimed me his prophet.”
So Nietzsche said plainly to Jesus that he did not like
him and rushed to farthest corner of the Paradise. Salamaan
Russedi could not understand the ontoward situation but it
is not his fault because the situation had become all the
more complicated after this. The God overheard the
conversation which was taking place between Jesus and
Nietzsche and he was very much glad. He could see a new
device in it. He shut the window pan so that no one could
see him now but he himself could choose to slip out from the
big window any moment it would be necessary. He could
help everyone he wanted to help and he could threaten
everyone he wanted to threaten and people would find him
no where, not even in the Heaven. Some of them might even
spread humour that God had died already. He could still
continue to be the supreme ruler and the “One Almighty
God” without being any more. This situation suited him
extremely well. He could be both present and absent. He
decided that now it was not necessary for him to choose
between to be or not to be. He planned to continue this game
as long as he thought it fit and so felt thankful towards both
the guys who had been so nice to him.
Nietzsche was at an absolute loss. The God had died
and he could not like Jesus any more; how could he continue
to be a good Christian? He could not like Mother Marry now
because she could not teach Jesus good manners. What kind
of Holy Mother she had been, thought Nietzsche. Jesus too
was puzzled himself because only two persons had been
present at the spot when the Devil had breathed his last.
The Paradise stood regained forever and forever. Such a big
happening and the God was nowhere to be seen, Jesus had
already searched every nook and corner of the Paradise but
he could not see the God. No Angel was believing Jesus,
they smiled as if it was a joke. He himself could not continue
very long in the heaven because so many churches on the
earth were calling him back. Jesus knew that Nietzsche would
never bear the witness to this great event because he was
feeling very jealous of him. Jesus could see it just on the
face of Nietzsche. They had been, by chance, not even one
angel present at the spot, either of the God or of the Devil,
who would narrate the episode to the God who was bound to
The Paradise Never Lost 299
come back sooner or later. Who should convey it to God that
Jesus had done it and done it all alone? There is every
probability that the God might conclude that the death was
a natural one otherwise no one could defeat the Devil ever.
How should this deadlock be broken?
But the God has always been great, the God of Noah, the
God of Moses, the God of Jesus, the God of Mohammad, he
God of Israel, the god of Gentile, the God of Indians, the only
great God no more jealous because later on the God had
understood that he was the only God possible ever and that
all jealousy irrelevant. See the glory of God, the glory did
ensue. Just when all these incidents occur, there was to be
found one more witness in the Paradise. This witness with
his own eyes had seen all that had happened and with his
own ears had heard all that had been spoken. No one kills
and no one is killed as the wise Indians have put it. I myself
have been this witness. All this happened partly 23 years
before crucifixion of the Lord in Jerusalem and partly many
centuries afterwards but nothing before that let me swear.
Because of time –duration no one could feel the gap, neither
Jesus nor Nietzsche included. No one keeps time in heaven
but those who live on the earth should better know about
the time that elapsed. As soon as Lord Jesus and poor
Nietzsche both disappeared from the proximity of god’s new
apartment, the god opened one of the window pans and saw
me standing behind the apartment idly. He gestured me to
come near and talked to me also. He was the same all time
Lord, let me swear, the God of Noah, the god of Abram, the
God of Moses, the God of Jews, who converse with me. He
was the eternally living God, I can promise, because I had
seen him many times before too. He asked me to keep the
secret till 1400 years after the time of Mohammad and then
to disclose it to the whole of mankind. The God told me that
he wanted Mohammad to have a chance before this revolution
could be make. The God wanted to talk to Mohammad when
the prophet should be reaching the Paradise at the hour
which was destined for him. Let me say, it happened exactly
in the same manner. When the Mohammad reached Paradise,
just like Nietzsche he opened the front gates with a big bang-
bang. He searched every nook and corner and the only living
god was no where to be seen. Then, as a matter of co-
incidence, he reached behind the new apartment just in the
300 The Paradise Never Lost
front of the long window and stood there a while, God was
the first to see through the blind window glasses and
unfetched one of the window pans. Mohammad could have
a glimpse of Him now and could hear his voice before he
descended to the Earth again with his credentials. God the
Almighty act in this manner because he wanted Mohammad
to spread the news in this particular context only. The
Prophet taught, “the God is both present and absent; the
God is both observer and observed; the God is beauty hidden
behind a mask on his face.”
So Mohammad taught exactly in the same manner as
the god had instructed him. All that the god had told me
came true exactly in the manner described and it came true
at the right hour prescribed.
It seems that the God wanted to enjoy the situation for
complete 2000 years to follow. Now the time has come that
I should release the truth. So I am writing this book most
humbly in the manner and at the hour the god had made
imperative upon me. Nevertheless, the god did not want me
to become a Prophet and so this book is not a book of
prophesy, rather it narrates all that happened in the past.
Its narrate only the scenes allowed by the only one great god
who refused to make me a prophet- No one has ever been
like him and no one shall ever be like him. Let none of us
disappear from his sight and let him never his appear from
our being. Let it be ever so! What had been the meaning
behind this game I wondered. Perhaps the god wanted to
make it clear to me that even the greatest of us were just
children before the god. The father and the some decided to
have a game between them and it was not for me to disclose
it before the right time should come.
So, in the meanwhile, I was supposed to look after the
Tree of Knowledge as the usual part of my duty. When I
went to see it once, the tree became a wonderful man with a
beautiful block turban, a long shining beard, and colored
glasses and behind him the masses. I saw an angel from the
East standing close to me and I asked this angel who he
was. The Angel told me “He will be greater than many, more
precious than the entire penny, the Heaven and the Earth
should hold together if any. He will be a miracle with no
comparison, pound rise but not penny foolish and you will
meet him on the earth just before he leaves. He will say
The Paradise Never Lost 301
Nivedano, I am a death and resurrection too. People will shout
Osho, Osho what to do, should we beat drum now?
Then, I was another mighty angel approaching me from
the East with a letter from the God. This letter contained
only two stanzas which I could not comprehend at that time.
The first was-
If ever I meet you on the way
Then even a sword raise you may
With the sword you can have a fight
Not to offend me but to delight
The wise man radiates bewitching smile
Broader than ever daylight!
The second stanza contained-
Where is the Bow and the White Horse
Behind it the Angelic force
Wars invisible but victories sure
Not a Don Quixote to ensure
He may endure yet once more!
Then the God had written, “Do you understand the
meaning? A bridegroom comes with his bride elsewhere and
he comes too soon. Let a thousand flowers bloom when a
Mystery school gives him room. Amen!”
The letter, I could see clearly, was signed by the sovereign
God himself and was duly marked with his own seal, bearing
dispatch numbers, of course, from the recently raised new
office where he dwells. I thought perhaps the meaning would
become clear in the future destined for the happenings. So,
I bowed down to the angel and thanked him.
No one should be allowed to temper with the sanctity of
this book which God the Almighty bestowed upon me, so
that to be revealed exactly in the same manner as prescribed
and at the same hour as made necessary. Nothing should be
added to this narration and nothing should be extracted from
it for the sake of God who knows all our intentions. Amen!
In fact, while the form of Christianity hailed from the
Jewish tradition, its vitality and spirit came from the Indian
mystics. This was the only contradiction which Jesus and
his early disciples could not resolve. Many people believe
that Jesus had his first Satori at the age of ten, then the
disappeared for Hemis Gumpa in Ladakh where he lived upto
302 The Paradise Never Lost
the age of thirty. At the age of thirty again he had the second
Satori, after which he retured to Jarusalem for his ministry.
The Jews could not understand Jesus who did not seem to
belong to their tradition intrinsically. He spoke a very different
kind of language with very different kind of implications.
There are many teaching in the New Testament which do
not seem to be consequent to the old one. There is an
unbridgeable gap between Jesus and the twenty-four
prophets who had announced him. My task in this chapter
will be appraisal of the Bible to discover whether or not the
Indian tradition has served as a background to Christianity.
For this purpose, I shall be taking mainly the text of three
chapters viz.. The Genesis, the Gospel according to St. John
and the Revelations.
Before we begin with the Bible and the Gospels one piece
of gossip in worthwhile. This gossip relates to the unknown
years of the life of Jesus. During the last hundred years or
so many Western scholars have attempted to learn the
oriental dialects like Pali, Prakrit, and Apabhransa. All these
three dialects have emerged from Sanskrit and people used
to speak them commonly in India during the times of Buddha
and Mahaveera. Bhddha used to deliver his sermons in Pali
and the disciples of Buddha too followed him in the matter
of dialects. Consequently, no one can read the original
Buddhist texts without learning Pali. Some Western scholars
who wanted to study Buddhism had to learn these three
dialects. But, a strange consequence followed. In Hemis
Gumpa these scholars came across some hand-written
manuscripts in Pali which described the life of Jesus between
ten and thirty and also his past life as Bhikku Vimalkirti. Of
course, they were amazed and they amazed the whole world
in the coming years with their writings in European
languages. It is a matter of fact that Christianity has little
knowledge where Jesus had been between the age of ten
and thirty. Only two incidents are narrated which belonged
to his childhood. The first incident pertains to the
circumstances of his birth and to the description of the three
wise men who had come from the East to proclaim the child.
The hand-written manuscripts have recorded that these three
wise men were three Buddhist Monks who had gone to see
the newly born Jesus from the Monastry of Hemis Gumpa.
The second incident mentioned in the Bible pertains to the
The Paradise Never Lost 303
time when Jesus was only seven years old. Except for these his crucifixion. In this chapter, however, I am concerned only
two incidents nothing is known about Jesus before he with those sayings of the Bible which remind us of the Indian
becomes thirty. At the age of thirty he suddenly appears in Mysticism. Whether the Indian tradition has really influenced
Jarusalem, John the Baptist announces him to be the long Christianity, we want to investigate in this chapter.
awaited Christ and his ministry begins. Unfortunately, within
three years he happens to be crucified. Both the Bible and THE GENESIS
the Koran have clues that he did not die on the cross but
It is believed that Genesis was written some twelve
was resurrected on the third day. It is mentioned in the New
centuries before Jesus Christ. Hindus consider their tradition
Testament itself that all his disciples met him and dined
to be even more ancient and there may be good reasons for
with him after his resurrection and even Thomas believed
the validity of this belief. However, as we go through Genesis
him. It is recorded that he talked to all his eleven apostles
we can trace many principles which are similar to and which
and converted St. Paul to Christianity himself. Soon,
seem to be connected with the Indian tradition. It seems
afterwards he disappeared from Jarusalem again and there
that even before Jesus Christ the Jews had been in touch
is no information in the Bible where he should have gone.
with the Indian philosophical system. The writer of the book
The Bible says he ascended to the Heaven. But, when these
‘Jesus lived in India’ has pointed out that even Moses had
scholars were skipping through the Buddhist handwritten
come to Kashmir searching the lost twelfth tribe of the Jews
manuscripts of Hemis Gumpa, they came to know a new
which he thought had reached and settled in Kashmir. It is
story again. After his resurrection again Jesus came to
a historical fact that in the year 1250 B.C. Moses freed the
Ladakh and Kashmir were he lived to become an old man of
Israelites enslaved by the king of Egypt. He had freed all the
hundred and two years.
twelve tribes of the Jews, one of which lost the right track
At least three books deserve to be mentioned here. The
and eventually reached Kashmir and settled down there.
First book “Life of Saint Jesus” was written by Russian
Later on Moses himself came to Kashmir wandering in search
traveller Nicholas Notovich who happened to visit Hemis
of this lost tribe of the Jews. In fact, there is a tomb in
Gumpa in the year 1887 A.D. The writer holds that Jesus
Kashmir and it is said that this tomb accommodates the
during his stay in India lived at least in three places. He
dead body of Moses. Some people believe that Moses spent
spent most of the time in Hemis Gumpa but dwelled at
his last years in Kashmir and had died there too. The Jewish
Pahalgam and Ish-muquam also. Pahalgam Literally means
word for Kashmir is Kashir which literally means equivalent
the village of the sheperd and only Jesus in known as good
to Syria and is reported to be as beautiful as Heaven itself.
sheperd. Ishamuquam literally means the place of rest of
Now, we come to some sayings of Genesis.
Jesus. The second book titled “The Serpent of Paradise” was
“ So God created Man in his own image, in the image
written by Miguel Serrano. Miguel Serrano again came across
of God. He created him; male and female created he
the same manuscripts independently having known nothing
them”(Genesis 1: 27)
about the former book. The third book has the title, “Jesus
Genesis preaches the idea of a Personal God who
lived In india”. The writer Holger Kersten claims that he has
resembles man. Upanishads, Sankhya and Yoga have never
gone through a handwritten manuscript describing the past
prescribed a personal God, neither the Buddhist and Jain
life of Jesus Christ. The writer holds that in his immediate
philosophies which evolved in India long after. Also
past life, Jesus was a celebrated disciple of Buddha and his
Mohammad has insisted again and again in Koran that we
name was Bhikhu Vimal Kirti. To ascertain all these facts
cannot conceive of God as being formal. But Genesis in a
every one is advised to go through these three books and to
definite manner asserts that God preceeds all the process of
visit Hemis Gumpa in person. All I want to suggest here is
creation. He is the effective cause of creation but not the
that we cannot dismiss the possibility that Jesus had lived
material cause and He looks like a human being. He is not
in India between the ages of ten and thirty and again after

304 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 305
like the Upanishadic Brahma who is neither male nor female
but even linguistically has a third gender. In fact, Sanskrit
is the only language which has got there genders. Where
should this idea have come from? Here I have a suggestion
which is relevant. The Puramas of Hindus particularly the
Vishnu Purana gives a similar theory about creation. Here,
it is interesting to note that the word Purana literally means
an ancient scripture. Most of the Hindus believe all their
Eighteen Puranas were written by the seer Vedvyasa who
was a contemporary of Krishna and was born some three
thousand years before Jesus Chirst. According to Vishnu
Purana, Vishnu was a personal God who looked like a man
and preceeded all the creation. All the creation has emerged
from Vishnu. First of all, Brahma and Shiva ensued from
his being and Brahma created the whole universe. Brahma,
Vishnu and Mahesh or Shiva are said to form the original
trinity and this trinity preceeded the act of creation. All Indian
philosphicals schools except the Puranas have disdained the
idea of creation. Puranas are not considered philosophical
in India. According to Upanishads, Sankhya, Yoga, Buddhism
and Jainism, the creation has no beginning or end. In Geeta,
for the first time, we come across certain clues about creation
and dissolution and it is interesting to note that Krishna is
considered to be an incarnation of Vishnu which literally
means Almighty. Krishna is by no means a being inferior to
Vishnu. In fact, the book ‘Vishnu-Shahasra-Nama’ which
contains one thousand names of Vishnu also includes all
the names of Krishna. This suggests that Vishnu-Purana
was written after Geeta. Rama and Buddha too are considered
incarnations of Vishnu but the this book does not contain a
single name relating to their personalities. This may suggest
that Ramayana was written after both Geeta and Vishnu
Purana. All the Hindu scriptures prior to Geeta consider the
existence to be without beginning and end. Geeta for the
first time has talked about creation and dissolution and
Personal God too. Interestingly, both Geeta and Vishnu
Purana are in conformity with the book of Genesis written
by Moses. It seems that Genesis and Puranas adhere to the
path of devotion and concepts like Personal God, Creation
and Dissolution are intrinsic to this path only.
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
306 The Paradise Never Lost
ground; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life
and man became a living soul”. (Genesis 2:7)
Once we accept the fact of creation at least two ultimate
causes are needed- the material cause and the effective cause.
According to the Genesis, Matter is the material cause and
God is the effective cause. Our bodies have come from the
matter and life has come from God. The tradition which
uphold two ultimate principles are said to be dualistic in
their Metaphysics. The Dualistic traditions in India are mainly
Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya and Vaishshika. Jains and Buddhist
also believe that our consciousness is different from matter
although these traditions are not exactly dualistic.
Upanishads are non-dualistic and Buddhist philosophers
deny the possibility of any permanent substance whatsoever.
The description of Genesis reminds us particularly of Prashna
Upanishad and of Sankhya Philosophy too. Prashna
Upanishada is the only Upanishad which takes a step towards
dualism remaining essentially non-dualistic. It asserts that
although Brahma is the only ultimate substance but
everywhere it is found to have two aspects: Rayi (Substance)
and Prana (Spirit or Breath). Sankhya develops this concept
further and hold that the ultimate substances are two-Prakriti
(Matter) and Purush (Consciousness); Prakriti being the
material cause and Purush being the effective cause. The
Sankhya concepts of Prakriti is very much similar to the
matter of Genesis and the Sankhya concept of Purush can
be said to have much in common with the Biblical idea of
life. Like Sankhya and Genesis, Jain philosophers too believe
that the world is real. Sankhya states that the process of
creation begins due to the presence of Purush who is not an
active participant in creation. Prakriti is there and Purush
is there and because of their closeness the creation emerges.
According to Jains, the ignorance has no beginning and
because of ignorance the attachment with Pudgal (Karmic
Stuff) has no beginning too. Although the living beings during
the course of world have invariably two aspects- the material
and the spiritual but no one has created them. The world
has no beginning and the world has no end either. Sankhya
and Jain descriptions seem to be similar only with one
important difference. Whrereas the Jain philosophers assert
that the souls are infinite, some of the Sankhya philosophers
do not deny that ultimately consciousness is one. Genesis
The Paradise Never Lost 307
seems to be in harmony with the prashna Upanishad and
Sankhya particularly. But, like the Genesis all the traditions
of Sankhya, Nyaya and Jainism hold that this world is real.
“And out of ground made the Lord God to grow every
tree that is pleasant to sight and good for food; the tree
of life also in the midst of ground, and the tree of
knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9)
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shall not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17)
Genesis on the one hand differs from Vedanta but on the
other hand it differs from Sankhya also. Prakriti is not
independent and ultimate substance in Genesis, it depends
on God’s will. Out of void the Lord God creates this world, so
in a way this world originates like a thought in God’s mind.
But once created it becomes real. This is a stand which can
neither be said idealism nor realism; in fact, it is the source
of both. Sankhya is purely real but Genesis is not so. This
question of Realism versus Idealism become more
complicated as we look at Vedanta and Buddhism for
comparision. These systems we have already discussed.
This saying (2:9) implies that essentially Man is vegetarian
by nature and is supposed to eat only the fruits from trees.
Adam and Eve lived only on the fruits which grew plentifully
in the Garden of Eden. Now-a-days the biologists too agree
that man is vegetarian by nature. We have very long intestines
which are necessary only to digest the vegetarian food. The
animals who live on meat have very small intestines. It is
obvious from the Genesis that Nature created man to eat
only the vegetarian food but later on man became perverted
and began to consume meat. However, we cannot deny the
fact that he might have done this only under the compulsion
of circumstances but it is not his nature. Genesis seems to
have the implication that god wanted Adam and Eve to live
on vegetarian diet only.
There were numerous trees in the Garden of Eden but
two of them seem to have been special. Let us consider, why?
The first was the tree of Eternal Life and as I understand it
only angel were supposed to eat from it. By eating from it
one would transcend death and become Enlightened. An
Enlightened person who had eaten from this tree could not
become a human being. Even the Devil did not suggest Adam
308 The Paradise Never Lost
and Eve to eat straight forward from this tree because in
that case they could never experience the pains and pleasures
of human existence and their experience would have been
ultimate but incomplete. To begin with Adam and Eve were
in a prehuman existence, they were not like the rest of
mankind. Although, this status had been unique but to
understand them we have to understand animals, birds and
small children. If we observe very small children they do not
know what is good and what is bad. They live in a state of
blissful ignorance or in a Fool’s Paradise. Very small children
even kill insects, eat nasty things, beat even their own parents
but we do not find them disgusting because they are not
aware of good and evil. They follow their instincts only. This
state in Jain philosophy is called Nigoda which is prior to
sansara or the worldly life. The world was not with them and
the world had not begun for them.
The second was the “Tree of Knowledge” and was denied
to them for this was the tree for Mankind to eat from. God
did not want Adam and Eve to become a part of mankind yet
simply because the human existence invariably has its own
problems. God did not want that Adam and Eve should invite
unnecessry problems and disaffection from him but the Devil
wanted it because he thought the time had come for it. In
short, the Tree of Eternal Life was meant for the angels and
the Tree of Knowledge was meant for human beings, Adam
and Eve lived in a perpetual state of prehuman existence
and so both these trees were denied to them by the God. The
Devil was good master, he wanted them first to become
human and lead the Zorba aspect of life and then to become
Enlightened and so the Devil introduced to them “The Tree
of Knowledge” but not “The Tree of Eternal Life” to begin
with. The Devil wanted them to loose the Fool’s Paradise
and regain the Paradise like the wise human beings and
then eat from the “Tree of Eternal Life”. It happened exactly
the same way. The moment Adam and Eve ate from the Tree
of Knowledge, they transcended Nigoda and entered Sansara
which is the human world. They expelled themselves from
the Garden of Eden, thought themselves wiser than the God
and decided to inhabit the earth. Before eating from the Tree
of Knowledge they were contented with the body along, now
they become mind also. This was the beginning of a life full
of cares whereas before this they were free of them all. The
The Paradise Never Lost 309
God has warned Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of
Knowledge lest they should loose their pre-human existence
and fall to the Earth. Sometimes this process of trans-
migration becomes painful too. All children who leave their
homes for the first time encounter this experience. Modern
psychologists hold when an infant comes to the first breath
of life, the experience, is like a trauma to him. Adam and
Eve in their Fool’s Paradise were as relaxed as a child is in
its mother’s womb but they had to come out. In fact, the
“Tree of Knowledge” symbolizes the borderline between
childhood and maturity whereas the Tree of Life symbolizes
the borderline between human ignorance and enlightenment.
All of us cross the first borderline but a few of us cross the
second too. To cross the first we disobey God the Father but
to cross the second we have to disobey even the Devil who
has been our guide and friend throughout. Once we cross
the second we regain the Paradise or the vice-versa, in fact,
both the happenings are simultaneous.
“The Adam said, this is now bone of my bone, and
flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman, because she
was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23)
When a father symbolizes security and providence for
the son, he looks like a God to the son but when he asks the
son to leave the house with his wife the same father looks
like Devil. Yet every son wants to grow up and to marry and
to live in freedom. Why? We have to co-relate this saying:
Adam began to feel bored in Heaven and requested the God
to create a companion for him. It is said that when Adam felt
asleep God took a rib out of Adam’s body and created Eve
from this rib. The statement means that man and woman
are very close to each other, they are complementary aspects
of the same entity, they are one flesh and bone and cannot
afford to live alone. Greeks have said that for a man, woman
is the better half and the vice-versa. In fact, they are part of
one complete whole. Without each other neither they feel
whole and hearty nor they can create. For the propagation
of the species they have to become one again. Also, in the
Indian tradition a woman is known as Addhangini which
literally mans “The half of the body”. Man is thought to be
incomplete without his woman counterpart. Indians respect
the ultimate reality was Ardhanareeshwar which has the
right half of a man and the left half of a woman. In all the
310 The Paradise Never Lost
Hindu rituals like Yagya, pilgrimage, charity etc. the
participation of wife along with her husband is thought to
be inevitable. When Rama was performing the Ashwamedha
yagya he was asked by his master Vashistha to remarry.
Rama refused to remarry, but he had to agree to have a
statue of Sita cast in gold by his left side. Even then,
incidently, he could not become a conqueror and was defeated
by his own sons. His Yagya could not bear proper fruits.
Even a man of the status of Rama was not excused. This
shows the Hindu way of thinking which is not any different
from the spirit of Genesis too. Just like the teaching of
Genesis in Indian traditions too a single man or a single
woman is thought to be refraining from righteousness. It is
thought to be social, moral and religious duty to marry and
to pro-create. Everywhere men and women leave their parents
to cohabitate, because naturally it is the way of all flesh.
Man and woman taken together make complete being.
And the woman said to the serpent: We may eat of
the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said
you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you
die. ( Genesis 3:2, 3:3)
Our mind is the serpent and our mind is the Devil. There
is a popular saying “Empty Mind is the Devil’s workshop”.
When children grow up, at a particular stage of growth, Doubt
comes naturally. At about seven years of age, every child
starts disbelieving its parents and begins to say no to
everything. This stage comes much earlier than the stage of
sexual urge. At about seven years of age every child begins
to see the world with his own eyes. Why did the serpent
approach Eve before it approaches Adam? It is because girls
become mature earlier and girls are less arrogant too. It is
very difficult to make a boy follow, his natural tendency is to
resist all instructions. Anyway, the serpent approached Jesus
also and provoked him to examine the truth of his prayers.
The serpent said if Jesus was the son of God he should be
able to turn stones into bread and water into wine. But,
Jesus understood immediately that he could not serve the
two masters Faith and Doubt and his way was the way of
Faith. Also, this story indicates that the serpent symbolizes
Doubt and Doubt is the original sin not sexuality.
All the animals, the birds and small children are below
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reason and so they live in a kind of Paradise. This is a pre-
human state of mind and both Adam and Eve belonged to
this state of mind. Angels are beyond reason or mind, they
have transcended mind. So Angels too can live in the Paradise
because Faith is necessary to belong to the Paradise. Children
have Faith and angels too have Faith but grown up people
live in Doubt. The mankind begins to trust mind and so it
comes out of the Paradise. In fact, Doubt shatters the
Paradise.
But Doubt is useful too. Doubt creates all science and
technology; all social, economic and political systems; all
law and order in society. The Tree of Knowledge is the tree of
enquiry, of science and also of worldly wisdom. So, it should
be clear that doubt is the original sin and not sex as some
people have misinterpreted. Of course, disobedience has to
follow doubt and expels us from the Paradise. Even animals
and birds indulge in sex, they too have to propagate their
species but they are not expelled from the Paradise because
they do not disobey the god. It is because of doubt and is
disbelief that Adam and Eve find themselves disharmonious
with the God and choose to see the world with their own
eyes.
The story has much psychological implication. Whatever
is forbidden becomes more attractive. Moses seems to know
this rule just like Freud does. There were almost uncountable
number of trees in the Garden of Eden and only two of them
were denied and it should not have been any problem. But
this created a doubt in the minds of Adam and Eve about
the intentions of God. Not only the God had denied the tree
to them also he alarmed them that they would die the moment
they touched the tree. Everyday the birds would come, sit
on the tree and eat the fruit, the animals would come to sit
in the shadow and eat the leaves and none of them died.
Naturally, a moment comes when they began to think what
the matter should have been. So, finally they decided to defy
the God. There seems to be a conspiracy here on the part of
the God himself. The omniscient God and that too the most
calculative God of the Jews must have known the
consequences already.
There must have been one more reason. Animals did not
look like the God, birds did not look like the God. Only Adam,
Eve and the Devil looked like the God. Devil came to them
312 The Paradise Never Lost
and told them that God was jealous of Adam and Eve because
only they could become like him by eating fruit of the Tree of
Knowledge. So naturally, they believed the Devil. Men
understand pride better and women understand jealousy
better because every little girl feels jealous of boys who have
got something which she lacks. So Devil approached Eve
first who could understand what jealousy was. She decided
to disobey the God and eat the forbidden fruit. Soon, the
little girl discovered that the fruit was good and she was not
dying, instead she was feeling better than before. She gave
the fruit also to Adam who too ate it forgetting what the God
had told him. All parents tell lies to their children but soon
the children discover the lies as lies. A Stage comes when
they loose all faith not only in their parents but in every
grown up person. This is the Paradise Lost. Now enquiry
becomes the only approach towards existence and enquiry
is the path of the Devil.
A parable can have many implications. Some
psychologists have given one more interpretation to it.
According to them the serpent and the forbidden fruit are
both phallic symbols ; the serpent represents the male sexual
organ while the forbidden fruit represents a feminine breast.
When children grow up; they began to discover the bodies of
each other. This interpretation is not out of place but I do
not agree with the suggestion that sex is the original sin.
There are reasons why should we disagree to this hypothesis.
Sexual orgasm is not possible before the age of sixteen. Before
the age sex is not an urge but a curiosity only, so enquiry is
the original sin not sex. At around sixteen only both boys
and girls can have orgasm and begin to long for privacy but
enquiry begins even at an earlier stage which comes around
seven years and so enquiry is the original sin again. Even
animals and birds have sex but they are not expelled from
the Paradise rather they always continue to live in a Fool’s
Paradise. Hence, sex cannot be the original sin. In fact, the
god symbolizes Love and Faith in us while the Devil
symbolizes Doubt and Struggle intrinsic to human nature.
Both doubt and faith are indispensable. We are reminded of
the fact that Isha Upanishads calls them Avidya and Vidya
respectively. Doubt has its problems but doubt has its
rewards too and that is why, the Devil recommends the Fruit
of Knowledge to Eve and Adam.
The Paradise Never Lost 313
 In the sweat of the thy face shall thou eat bread till
thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken
for dust thou art and unto dust shall thou return. (Genesis
3:19).
Existentialists have been right— absolute freedom leads
ultimately to death. We cannot choose security and freedom
both at the same time. Adam and Eve were secure before
they exercised their freedom to disobey God and eat from
the Tree of Knowledge. This is the point of deviation where
man become different from rest of animal world. Man chooses
to be free irrespective of the consequences freedom should
bring forth. This is how the whole human civilization has to
come to develop, man chooses to transcend Nature and does
not remain contended with the limitations of Nature. So Adam
and Eve likewise opted in favour of freedom and freedom
should incur its own responsibility, freedom should cause
the inherent insecurity. The Tree of Knowledge symbolizes
science and technology too. God the father understood that
now with growing intelligence Adam and Eve will engage in
new adventures everyday. They will like to cultivate the Land
and harvest the crop in the time to come. Now the earth will
be more suitable to them. In a way, the story of Genesis is
also the story of evolution of mankind from the rest of the
animals. God the father understood that soon the freedom
of Adam and Eve will become his own freedom too. Soon
they will like to grow into enormous population. So he decided
to arrange another place for them where they could be creative
and growing into wisdom. The God was scared also. Now
they both will have to leave him and face many difficulties.
Now they will have to work hard to make both the ends meet.
Like all the creatures on earth they will have to die and fall
unto dust because no one can live on earth forever. This has
to be understood, God himself is helpless here. The Heaven
is beyond the scope of time and space and so Adam and Eve
could be immortal there but every place except Heaven is
within the framework of time and space. Change is the rule
on the earth as changelessness is the attribute of Heaven.
So no one can Eve on earth and be immortal. A child has to
grow to youth, youth has to give way to old age and old age
should culminate into death and disappearance. Even the
God could do nothing about it. It is not without reason that
the Hindi word ‘kala’ means time and death both. Moreover,
314 The Paradise Never Lost
no animal on the earth can anticipate its death but every
human being can anticipate it and become sad with the
growing years. Why a human being invariably becomes sad
at the thought of his death? Because man is learning new
things everyday; man is experimenting and creating everyday.
Suddenly the death comes and puts an end to all his future
growth. Life seems too short to a human being because always
much remains to be discovered. Consequently death is a
sad gloomy fact regarding mankind. All others live in a
perpetual state of no curiosity and so no other animal creates
any future. To summarize, mankind tries to fight with Nature,
it tries to conquer the Nature and shape a desired future for
itself. Although this is disobedience on the part of mankind
towards the God but it has its rewards too. Of course, it may
invite problems which even the God cannot undo but
ultimately it makes us also comparable to God himself. As
the Upanishads have put it both Avidya and Vidya, Doubt
and Faith are indispensable to lead us to the ultimate good.
“And the Lord God said, behold the man has become
as one of us to know good and evil and now lest he put
forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life and eat
and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth
from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he
was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the
east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword
which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of
life”. (Genesis 3:22, 3:23, 3:24)
It said that Rama became Enlightened at a very early
age and he wanted to renounce the world without
experiencing it. His master the seer Vashishtha who was an
old mystic was wiser than even Rama. He interfered and
ordered Rama to enter the world and do not to renounce it
otherwise Rama would have to come again and would not
become liberated. We have to understand the reason because
this situation has something in common with the situation
in which we find Adam and God here.
The Jain seers have done excellent work regarding the
description of various stages of spiritual growth. They have
enumerated 14 such stages which they call the stages of
qualitative growth. The first stage is Mithyatva which literally
The Paradise Never Lost 315
means the stage of false perception or false understanding.
At this stage a person is unable to avoid the evil and follow
the good. He is like an animal but with the potential of
unmanifestated wisdom which an animal lacks. His seed is
yet intact, it has not been broken and it cannot sprout. Before
eating the fruit of Knowledge Adam and Eve stood at this
first stage of growth but they were potentially different from
the other beasts of the Garden because they could grow.
When they disobeyed the God and tasted the fruit of
Knowledge, they showed a readiness to cross the first stage
of qualitative growth. They reached the second stage
Granthibhed where they could discriminate between the evil
and the good. God became sacred lest they should eat the
fruit from the tree of Eternal Life also and become like angels.
why? It is because he understood that they could go even
beyond the angels and become liberated. But this could not
be possible without experiencing life in all its aspects
particularly without the knowledge of the life on Earth, the
angels could never know what misery the life could bring
and so they never cared for liberation. Without the knowledge
of the world non-attachment is not perfect and without
perfect non-attachment liberation cannot follow. So God
decided that at first they should fall to the Earth, experience
the worldly life, come back and then eat the fruit of Eternal
Life. Only then liberation or extinction could be possible.
Otherwise they would stick to the stage of an Angel eternally.
This is the 13th stage of growth where a person becomes
omniscient but sticks still to a form. He does not become
informal which is the 14th stage of growth and the last one.
So it was out of compassion the God expelled Adam and Eve
to inhabit the Earth. This is interesting that Rama too was
forced by his master to enter the world and Rama did attain
to 14th stage of qualitative growth. Rama was liberated and
he was the only Hindu Incarnation who could attain to
liberation. Even Krishna and Buddha could not do it. The
Indian traditions believe that both Krishna and Buddha are
supposed to take one more birth on the Earth which means
they are still at the 13th stage of qualitative growth. Of course,
this going to be good for the humanity but also this is going
to indicate that their non-attachment was not perfect. They
still had some compassion to help others, which too is a
kind of ignorance. The Jain seers have called it Teerthankar
316 The Paradise Never Lost
bandh or master-bondage. However, the thirteenth stage of
growth is known as cosmic consciousness too and here one
becomes like God himself. The Hindu Gods Vishnu, Shiva
etc are still at the thirteenth stage of growth having a form.
But a human being can go even higher whrere he becomes
extinct.
Not only this, God decided also to guard the tree of Eternal
Life. For this purpose, he created a flaming sword which
turned every way and also he employed cherubims there.
We have to understand these two words. The flaming sword
is the fear of loosing oneself. Every spriritual seeker has to
pass through it before he can become twice born or Self-
realised. Resurrection or second birth is for those only who
are ready to pass through this fear. Only those can be
resurrected who transcend this fear. The sword is made of
the same fire which Moses had encountered at the Mount
Sinai. The fire was set on a tree there, it looked like ordinary
fire but it did not burn. Moses could transcend the fear so
much so that he could have a glimpse only. This description
implies that nobody can eat the fruit of Eternal Life without
transcending this fear. Also, one has to pass through the
stage of CHERUBIM which is in between. Such angels are
Self-realized like Moses, Jesus and Mohammad but they are
not omniscient. It is obvious that the God wanted the
mankind to go even higher. Only then they could become
the spiritual beings of the of the highest order or they could
become one with the God as the Hindus say it. So it is not
out of jealousy but out of compassion that God drives both
Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. All the cherubims
and Angels in the Jewish and Christian Mythology have wings
because they are still on the way. Wings are depicted to
indicate that even they have some destination to reach. Only
the God is the ultimate reality and He is both present and
absent. Only the God is one fulfilled in his own being. There
is a possibility that “The Tree of Knowledge” is the Bodhi-
vriksha of Buddhist religion and ‘The Tree of Eternal Life’ is
the Brahma of Hindus and Genesis has been written after
Buddha. “Enoch walked with God and he was not; for
God took him” (Genesis 5:24)
“Noah was a just man and prerfect in his generations
and Noah walked with God”(Genesis 6:9)
In the Jewish tradition three stages of Enlightenment
The Paradise Never Lost 317
have been given- The limpse of God, Walking with the God
and Disappearance into God. Enoch and Noah are the ancient
most seers described in the Holy Bible. Enoch had the highest
form of Enlightement. He was not only walked with the God;
he disappeared in the God’s being too. It seems that Osho
rightly said that all the mystics have had the same experience
but their expressions have been different. Hinduism, Judaism
Christianity, Sufis etc are not different as religions but they
use different terms, myths and symbols for expression. The
difference is not substantial but superficial only. Each
tradition has its own symbology and own manner to narrate.
According to Hindus the attainment of Enoch and Noah can
be described as Seedless Samadhi. Enoch attained to Nirvana
also. The Upanishads have said that the whole existence is
non-duality and after liberation the individual self become
one with the Cosmic Self or Brahma. Buddha said that after
Nirvana there is no being or there is disappearance. Anyway,
one can conclude that moses understood the concepts of
Enlightenment, Liberation and Nirvana which had been
prevalent in Indian thought since time eternal. Maybe those
who think that Moses came to Kashmir and we have his
tomb in Kashmir have some validity regarding their belief.
This state of disappearance and being taken by God is
described by Indian Yogis as Samadhi, Liberation, Nirvana
etc. So it seems logical to believe that Moses was a wise man
himself. He is reported to have a glimpse at mount Sinai but
it seems that he considered Enoch and Noah greater than
himself.
“Whoso Sheddeth man’s blood; by man shall his blood
be shed; for in the image of god made he man”(Genesis
9:6).
This is an important Sutra from Moses. We have to take
into account because it has many implications. Moses says
that man has been created in the image of God. We are
reminded of the Upanishads which state that Atman is the
Brahma or Man and God are not substantially different. This
is a common saying in India that self is the God or Atman is
Paramatman. Anyway, there can be no difference of opinion
regarding the assertions that man is the ultimately superior
creature and his life is most precious. Man is an end unto
himself and he cannot be used for alien means. No one has
a right to kill innocent person, this is absolutely against the
318 The Paradise Never Lost
divine order. According to Moses murder is such a heinous
crime that the punishment can be nothing sort of the death
sentence.
This reminds us of many things. In the first place, it
reminds us of the “Law of Karma, which is basic to all the
systems of Indian Philosophy. Hindus have talked about
many births because in one lifetime we cannot dissipate all
our Karmic energy. ‘Whatever we sow, so shall we reap’ is
the law of Karma. Secondly, it reminds us of the “Law of
Cause and Effect “in Physical Sciences. It reminds us of
Newton’s Laws of Motion. Newton’s second law can be stated
as “The effective force is always equal to the external force
applied”. Newton’s third law states that “Every action has
an equal and opposite reaction”. Moses has purported the
same, the cause and the effect should be equal.
The Hindus and Jains have always held that
consequences of Karma are inevitable. In Hindu Puranas
even the original Trinity— Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are
not immune of the Karmas accomplished by them. Again
and again even the almighty Bhagwan Vishnu is cursed by
some seer and he has to bear the fruits of his deeds. The
Law of Karma, according to the Hindus, governs all the
existence and none can transcend it. Even the Indian God
himself is not beyond the Law of Karma. The Law of Karma
is ultimate and it is as inevitable and binding as the law of
cause and effect in Physical Sciences.
Forgiveness is not possible according to Hindus, Jains
and Buddhists. Likewise the Jewish God has no idea of
forgiveness too. (But there is one way to escape and this way
is repentance but repentance is also Karma which is also
positive). Forgiveness has entered religion only with Jesus
and Mohammad and repentance is the key to forgiveness.
As we find in the Old Testament, the God of Jews is not the
God who intends to forgive, only the God of Jesus and the
God of Mohammad are too eager to forgive.
Also Hindus, have not denied the importance of
repentance. In Hindu Puranas repentance is very effective.
Prayer and repentance are like positive Karmas or virtues
which do help. Both the view seem to be right. The Law of
Karma must ordinarily hold like the Law of Cause and Effect
but we cannot forget that human consciousness is not matter
and repentance can be radical too. Jesus has said again and
The Paradise Never Lost 319
again repent for the Day of Judgment is near. We must it not. (John 1: 4, 1:15)
remember that if there is any God, he ought to be reformative This reminds us of Sankhya Metaphysics. Life consists
but not a sadist. The purpose of all ethical order is fulfilled of two principles viz. Matter and Consciousness. The Sankhya
through complete reformation. That is why, the capital words for these principles are Prakriti and Purush
punishment is not undisputed in the modern civilized world. respectively. As discussed earlier in Yogasutra, we all know
that just at the border of Samadhi, we come across the
The Gospel According to Saint John soundless sound of AUM which Zen calls the sound of one
hand clapping. It is encountered at the borderline between
In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with
matter and consciousness or between thought and
God, and the word was God. All things were made by him;
consciousness because it is the most minute form of matter.
and without him was not anything made that was
In fact, according to all the religions AUM or Amen is the
made.[John 1:1, 1:2, 1:3].
basic form of energy from which all the universe emerges.
Beyond it lies only formless consciousness, Self is the only
The word referred here by Saint John is known as the
principle which transcends it. According to Sankhya, Purush
soundless sound of AUM in the Indian tradition. According
remains throughout a witness only and all life springs from
to the Upanishads AUM represents Brahma which is both
the unequilibrium among the three ingredients, of Prakriti
the effective and the material cause of all creation. The
which are Satva, Rajas and Tamas. The Purush of Sankhya
Kathopanishad in its verses (1/2/15) and (1/2/16) has stated
has no will to create life, only because of its proximity to
as the following-
Prakriti all the creatures are begotten. Even after creation
“The substance which all the Vedas admit, the substance
Purush remains the ultimate, independent and invariant
which all the mystics narrate, to attain which substance
substance even unto the last. Of course, consciousness
Nishkama Karma is accomplished, in brief, can be said to be
belongs to Purush only but life is generated through agitation
this soundless sound of AUM. AUM is the Brahma, AUM is
among the ingredients of Prakriti and this sound of one hand
the ultimate substance and one who can attain to this sound
clapping is the most basic manifestation of this agitation, so
of AUM gets all his Will materialized”
it is logical to say that life belongs to this cosmic energy of
AUM essentially. But matter is not the only substance of
In Geeta (9:17) Krishna says to Arjuna-
life, consciousness too is inevitable and this consciousness
“I am the father of this creation, I am the mother the foster
is called here Light of Men. It is more intrinsic to life if not
mother, and the grandfather of this creation. I am the sacred
synonymous to it because consciousness is the principle
sound of AUM and also the Vedas which ensue from it”
which makes us experience life. Our consciousness is
responsible for all our feelings of pleasure and pain. Although
The Yogasutra of Patanjali states-
all forms and instruments come from matter, we cannot
“We represent the ultimate substance by AUM or the
conceive of life without consciousness. However, when matter
soundless sound. The chanting of AUM may reveal the meaning
and consciousness come together, bondage is created and
of the ultimate substance. The chanting of AUM may lead to
this beginningless bondage is called ignorance or darkness
the unique conscious principle and to the overcoming of all the
here. Because of ignorance, every living creature forgets his
obstacles” (Yogasutra 1/27, 1/28, 1/29)
very being which is consciousness. One becomes identified
However, to understand clearly the implications of these
with psychosomatics and because of this identification living
sayings one is advised to go again through Yogasutra (1:27,
creatures cannot comprehend themselves as the ultimate,
1:28, 1:29) of this book.
absolute, independent conscious principle. The darkness
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. The
ceases to comprehend the light.
light shineth in darkness and the dardkness comprehends
We are reminded here when matter and consciousness

320 The Paradise Never Lost The Paradise Never Lost 321
come together Mahat or Cosmic Prana is the first
manifestation to spring off. Mahat can also be described in
particular context as spacetime or Avyakta. AUM is only one
of the experiences when we transcend gross aspects of Nature
and come across Mahat. After Mahat the three kinds of minds
viz. emotion, intellect and ego are born and then five senses
of perception and five senses of action follow. This is how,
life emerges from the basic form of energy which is the sound
of AUM or the word as nomenclatured here. On the universal
scenario, Mahat begets the five characteristics of Smell, Flow,
Touch, Form and Sound which in turn beget the five great
manifestations of Earth, Water Air, Fire and Sky respectively.
Clearly, this statement is in harmony with the Sankhya
Metaphysics because it is asserted that life begins with and
is rooted in ignorance.
That was the true light, which lighten everyman that
cometh into the world, He was in the world and the world
and the world was made by him, and the world know him
not. (John 1:9, 1:10)
This reminds us of Upanishads and Geeta both. God is
the true light which illumines every person who comes to
the world. It is the same opinion which the Upanishads have
expressed that Brahma is both the effective and the material
cause of universe. This statement implies that human
consciousness in the same as the consciousness of God,
Atman is Brahma.
Geeta states-
“God resides equally in a the living creatures. One who
can see the immortal principle residing in the mortal body is
the only true seer” (Geeta 13/27)
“He is the witness, he is the counsel, he is the providence
and he is the bearer. The ultimate conscious principle which
resides in the body is none but God himself” (Geeta 13/22)
The Ishavasyopanishad states-
“All that pervades in this universe is inhabited by God
himself and we should enjoy the world with a spirit of
detachment.” (1/1)
In the second maxim it is stated that Jesus came to the
world as a formal God; God has been both the material and
the effective cause of this world but even than the wrold
could not recognize him as such.
Again, it reminds us of the theory of Incarnation of Geeta.
322 The Paradise Never Lost
Krishna has said-
“This world being misguided by the three ingredients of
Nature which do not comprehend me as the ultimate and
invariant principle”. (Geeta 7/13)
“Whenever there is a decline of virue and rise of evil, I
create myself to appear on this earth. This I do Arjuna, to
redeem the righteous and to punish the wrong doers and to
promote religiousness in this world”. (Geeta 4/7 and 4/8)
And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the father, full of grace and truth. John bare witness of
him, and cried, saying, this was he of whom I spoke, he
that cometh after me is preferred before me : for he was
before me. (John 1:14, 1:15)
The first part of the passage ‘And the word was made
flesh and dwelt among us’ corresponds to the Sankhya
Metaphysics. The Word or the sound of Amen is an aspect of
Mahat or the cosmic Prana which begets all the forms. As
described earlier, it begets the three kinds of minds (mind
ego, intellect), five senses of perception and five senses of
action. Even the form of Jesus has to come through this
process because as long as he dwells with us he has to be
one of us. Jesus is said to be ‘the only begotten of the father,
full of grace and truth.’ Every man is begotten of the Father
but in ignorance he finds himself to be a part of the physical
world only, he thinks himself to be temporal and perishable
till he knows nothing of timelessness. In such ignorance, a
man cannot conceive himself as a son of God. Among the
people whom Jesus was preaching in Judea, in the days of
King Herod, he was the only one who was Enlightened and
that is why he used to say that he was the only son of God
around there. He was not talking about the seers of
Upanidads Patanjali, Krishna, Buddha etc because the Jews
were not concerned about them in that context. Also, he
was not talking about Enoch, Noah, Jacob, Moses etc who
were not his contemporaries. He was talking about a
particular section of population only, who used to live in
Israel in his own time. All that he wanted to convey was that
no one else except him was Enlightened around there. But
Jesus was misunderstood and John the Baptist was
misunderstood too. Gurdieff used to say that every human
The Paradise Never Lost 323
being does not have a soul, one has to create it with arduous
effort and discipline. Certainly, it is a wise saying because
unless we become Self-realized there is no meaning in the
statement that we too have got a soul. To know the self is to
create the Self and to be it ever afterwards. Jesus was using
the same idiom as was usual with Gurdieff too. Jesus is said
to be full of grace and truth because he was the only one
there connected with the omniscient and holy Angels. He
was the only medium for God in those times. Perhaps Gabriel
is the formal God for the Christians and Jesus was the only
medium for Gabriel. Perhaps John the Bapatist himself was
a wise man but he was not chosen to be a medium.
It is well-known that all the twenty-four prophets who
came between Moses and Jesus announced that the greater
was yet to come and they were not worthy even to untie his
sandals. Although John the Baptist was a mystic himself,
he said that he was not the Messiah but Jesus was the
Messiah. He was not the saviour only Jesus was the saviour.
He said Jesus would be considered greater than him because
Jesus was before him. This statement has to be understood.
Everyone knows that Jesus was younger than John the
Baptist and in time Jesus had come after him. John the
Baptist was already an old man when he first saw Jesus.
What should this statement imply? It implies that our
consciousness is a timeless principle. Once a person becomes
Enlightened he knows that time is irrelevant to wisdom. John
the Baptist meant to say that Jesus was younger but wiser
than him. When Abram was not Jesus was. Our
consciousness, in fact, has no beginning and no end and
what is true of Jesus is the truth of every other
Enlighlightened person too.
Here we are reminded of Patanjali who has stated —
“God is the master of all the masters who have happened
in the past because he is not intersected by time.” (Yogasutra
1:26)
Krishna has said to Arjuna—
“Our consciousness is never born and it never dies, nor it
happens again and again having happened once. In fact it is
birthless, timeless, eternal, ancient most and it does not
disappear with the disappearance of physical form.” (Geeta
324 The Paradise Never Lost
2/20)
“Both Consciousness and Matter are without beginning;
all the three ingredients of Nature and all the six perversions
are relevant to Matter only.” (Geeta 13/19)
“Our consciousness is the invariant God itself because it
transcends all beginning and it transcends all the three
ingredients of Nature.” (Geeta 13/31)
“I know and I can perceive all the living creatures from the
past, present and future but none of them can perceive me.”
(Geeta 7/26).
And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for
grace. For the law was given by Moses, but Grance and Truth
came by Jesus Christ (John 1:16, 1:17)
An egoless person becomes a medium for God himself
for ego is the only barrier. Grace is the energy of God showeres
each moment upon an egoless person and this energy can
be experienced by all those who come near such a person.
Zen people call it the transmission of the lamp. This is called
Satsang in India, this word literally means ‘being near a
person who has attained to the truth’. Christians too have a
trinity which they call God the Father, God the Holy Ghost
and God the Son. Everyone of them is a full-fledged God in
his own right. In fact, the Christians consider them three
aspects of the same ultimate reality.
Here, we are reminded of the Ishavashyopanishad –
“That formless Brahma is infinite and this formal Brahma
is infinite too, it is possible to have infinite from infinite, and
what is left behind is also infinite.” (Ishavashya)
According to this Sutra, both the Father and the Son are
too full of grace which is infinite, and the more it is showered
upon others, the more full it becomes.
Also, the same Ishavashyopanishad states –
“All this world is full with the grace of God, but only those
can receive it who are ready to give up their egos, this
experience is so blissful that one need not feel greedy for others’
wealth.” (1/1)
The Paradise Never Lost 325
 Krishna has said in Geeta –
“Whosoever can see me everywhere and see all this
existence in my being, I do not disappear form him and he
does not disappear from my grace.” (Geeta 6/30)
The Swhetashwatar Upanishad has to say –
“We should divide the space occupied by the point of a
hair into hundred parts and then conceive of the one hundredth
portion of one part, our consciousness occupies only this much
space but our energy spreads upto infinite infinitum.” (5/9)
This means that everyone can become one with God and
everyone can become too full.
There are two kinds of disciplines, outer and inner. Moses
was a man like Patanjali who gave us the following ten
commandments –
1. Worship no God but one God.
2. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it.
3. Do not swear in God’s name for evil purposes.
4. Sunday should be a holiday.
5. Respect your parents.
6. Do not commit murder.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not accuse anyone falsely.
10. Do not desire other’s possessions.
Likewise Yogasutra says –
“There are five Yamas viz. Non-violence, Truth, Non-
stealing, Self-restraint in sexual matters, Non-possessiveness
and also there are five Niyamas viz Purification, Contentment,
Asceticism, Self-study and Faith in God.” (2/31 ; 2/32)
But masters like Osho, Jesus, Krishna did not believe in
outer disciplines, they had the opinion that all the discipline
should come from within, that is from our growing awareness
only. Osho said that meditation was the first and the last
freedom because only meditation could lead to Enlighten-
ment and liberation. Jesus had said, “I give you but one
commandment, love God with all your strength and with all
your might.”
It is claimed here that the law was given by Moses on the
326 The Paradise Never Lost
form of ten commandments but Grace and Truth came by
Jesus Christ. While Moses was a man of discipline Jesus
taught repentance, confession and forgiveness. That is why,
Jesus is remembered for bringing down Grace to humanity.
He camme so that all our sins could be forgiven through
him. Christians believe that God sent his son to the Earth
so that the humanity could be redeemed of its sins. Again
and again Jesus has said that we should follow him, so that
we would be saved through him, his compassion was great.
This reminds us of Krishna. Krishna has said to Arjuna–
“You should give up all other disciplines and have Faith in
me. I will redeem you of all yours sins and lead you to
liberation. You need not worry for the future.” (Geeta 18/66)
“One who attains to non-dual love for me and does not
waver from it even unto the last, attains to the ultimate truth
and liberation.” (Geeta 2/72).
No one hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten
son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared
him. (John 1:18)
No one has seen God at any time. We all live in a world of
space time. All our knowledge ordinarily comes through our
sense and our mind, this we call knowledge through
Perception and Conception. God is not any entity which we
can encounter through perception or conception. He is not
spatial and temporal and so no one can see Him as such. All
those who have known God have known Him through
intuition only.
There is a saying in Kenopanishad –
“No one can see the Brahma through eyes for it is because
of Brahma that the eyes can see ; no one can conceive of the
Brahma through mind for it is because of Him that the mind
can conceive.” (Ken 1/5, 1/6)
The same Upanishad states again —-
“It you assume that you have realized Brahma fully, you
might have realized only a part of Him, because even after the
realization of one’s own Self and realization of the Brahma
which resides in all the deities this claim remains unfulfilled.”
(Ken 2/1)
The Paradise Never Lost 327
 The only begotten son which is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared him. How? Self-realization is the only
intuitive proof for the existence of God and this proof is self-
evident and beyond doubt. It we conceive of the God to be an
ocean, self-realization is like touching this ocean at a shore.
Only after such experience one can go beyond doubt. That is
to say, that a master or a messiah or a prophet is the only
visible evidence that the God should exist. The master (Guru)
is the only form of God which can be perceived through the
senses and the mind.
There is a famous saying in India —-
“Master is Brahma, master is Vishnu and master is the
great deity Shiva because master is the only form of
transcendental Brahma visible to the eyes, and so we must
pay our unreserved respect to the master.” (Traditional)
This saying people repeat everyday in India as a shloka
of prayer.
Krishna has said to Arjuna –
“The light which resides in the Sun to illumine the whole
of the world and the light which resides in the Moon and the
light which resides in every source of radiance, all come from
my own being.” (Geeta 15/12)
Arjuna has said to Krishna –
“You are the ultimate Brahma, you are the ultimate abode,
you are the sacred eternal conscious principle and you are
the divine birthless infinite original God.” (Geeta 10/12)
And they asked him what then? Are thou Elias?
And he saith I am not. Are thou that Prophet?
[John 1: 21]
When a person like Jesus is born, all those who are
interested in Mysticism begin to investigate about him. Just
after his birth, three wise men had come to see him from the
Buddhist Monastery of Hemis Gumpa in Ladakh. There is a
hearsay that Jesus had been taken to this Monastery at the
age of ten and he spent his next twenty years there. John
the Baptist saw him for the first time when he was thirty
and he could see that Jesus was connected with the energy
of God. John announced that Jesus was the long awaited
Christ. This news was spreaded all over the province of Judea
when some priests known as Pharisees became interested
328 The Paradise Never Lost
in him. They came to John the Baptist to examine the claim
that Jesus was the Christ. They asked John the Baptist who
he was. Was he the incarnation of Elias who had happened
in the ancient times? This statement certainly refers to the
acceptance of the fact of rebirth in the Bible. It is believed
that rebirth was a clearly accepted fact by the New Testament
even up to the middle ages. Because of some historical
reasons such references were eliminated from the text of the
Bible. Only this saying has been overlooked and has remained
there. John the Baptist replied that he was not Elias but the
voice of Esaias or Isaiah. Then they asked him whether he
was the long awaited Messiah or the Prophet? Jews were
accepting them both to happen in future since the days of
Moses. He replied that he was neither the Messiah nor the
Prophet but Jesus was the Messiah. His task was to spread
the news only and help those who has been waiting for the
Messiah.
And John bare record saying, I saw the spirit
descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon
him. [John 1: 32]
John could see that the Grace Energy was descending
on Jesus and was ever remaining on him. He could
understand that Jesus was a medium for Grace Energy.
Jesus was connected with the ultimate energy through his
fourth body which is receptive in case of a man. Hindus call
this energy Prasad and only an egoless and desireless person
can receive it; all future orientation and desires become
barrier to it. A person who is full of grace and acts according
to the God’s wishes only is said to be a Nishkam Karmayogi
in India and John the Baptist could see that Jesus was such
a person beyond all detachments. Such a person can also
connect others with this energy and this initiation is
nomenclatured as Baptism here. Christians have described
God as having three aspects – God the Father who is the
infinite source of Grace, God the Holy Ghost which means
the Grace itself and God the Son who is a medium for this
Grace. An ordinary person can only see the son of God who
makes this energy descend on Earth but a mystics like John
the Baptist can also see this energy descending and he has
symbolized it as a dove.
The Paradise Never Lost 329
 It reminds us of the Hindu doctrine of Non-dualism. We
can explain it with the help of an example. We have the Sun
which shines in the sky and also we have sunrays which
being focused through a convex lense make a miniature Sun
and can even burn a piece of paper. Neither we can say that
the sun above and the sunrays on the Earth are one entity
nor we can say these are two. This relationship is described
as Non-dualism by Hindus. The God, the Grace of God and
the medium upon whom this Grace descends are not distinct
from a particular point of view. That is why, the Christians
hold them to form a trinity representing God. They are there,
yet they represent the same entity. This has come to the
Jewish tradition being influenced by the Hindu philosophy
of Non-dualism. We cannot discern this kind of belief in the
teachings of the prophets who happened before Jesus and
that is why Jesus is considered to be the greatest among
them. For example, John the Baptist was an Enlightened
person himself and he used to initiate people by Baptism
with water but he was not a medium as Jesus was and that
is why he used to say that one comes after me would be
preferred before me.
Is God the son the same as God the Father?
The Ishavasyopanishad has said-
“The Brahma moves and the Brahma does not move;
the Brahma is far and the Brahma is near; The Brahma is
the innermost of all that exists and the Brahma
transcends all this existence too.” [Isha ½]
So the Son is in the Father and the Father is beyond too.
Geeta states –
“God is like the space which resides in everything that
exists but which remains unattached to all that should exist.”
[Geeta 13/32]
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which
is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto
thee, ye must be born again. [John 3:6, 3:7]
It is said in India, “Everyone is born as a Shudra but
some of them realize the ultimate truth and become
Brahmans.” As long we identify ourselves with outer and
inner instruments we remain Shudras. According to Sankhya
330 The Paradise Never Lost
the five senses of perception and the five senses of action
are said to be the outer instruments and the three kinds of
minds viz emotion, intellect and ego are said to be the inner
instruments and identification with them is beginningless
ignorance. Jesus has called it flesh. The first birth is the
birth of the body and this birth is given by our parents. In
ignorance everyone of us is a Shudra which literally means
‘a petty one’ or everyone is a Kayastha which literally meas
‘one attached to the physical body.’ When one becomes self-
realized he is born as consciousness and this birth is his
second birth. Such a person is known as ‘a dwij’ or ‘a twice
born.’ A self-realized person does not consider himself to be
body, mind or ego. He knows himself as a conscious principle
which is beyond space and time. This self-realization is
designated by Jesus ‘as having eternal life or simply’ as
‘having life.’ Such a person knows that he will never perish
because consciousness is neither born nor it ever dies. A
Brahman is still higher. One who has realized himself as
having cosmic consciousness is called a Brahman. Such a
person experiences that his own Self is the same as the centre
of the whole cosmos. They say in India, only by becoming
one with the Brahma one can become a Brahman. Jesus
has said it time and again, “I am in the Father and the Father
is in me.” This is just like the Hindu theory of Brahmavad or
of Nondualism. The Jews could not understand the meaning
of such statements and this was one of the reasons that
Jesus was crucified. According to the terminology used by
Jesus to identify oneself with the psychosomatics is being
born as flesh and to know oneself as consciousness is being
born again as a spirit. Everyone has to be born again to
attain to the truth which Jesus calls the Kingdom of God.
Krishna has said __
“As long as a person lives in the body he comes across
the various states of childhood, youth and old age. Similarly a
wise man is not illusioned by death, he knows that our
consciousness transcends the state of death too. [Geeta 2/
13]
“God the Almight resides equally without discrimination
in all the creatures who live; One who can see the eternal
spirit residing in temporal flesh is the only one who sees” [Geeta
13/27]
The Paradise Never Lost 331
 The Kathopanishad states –
“A man of an immature vision cannot see the eternal
principle and he considers wealth to be everything. Such a
person cannot see the transcendental world and again and
again he falls a victim to physical death” [1/2 /6]
The Shvetashvatar Upanishad holds –
“One ultimate and absolute God resides in every creature.
This God is omnipresent and is the inner self of every living
being. He is the Lord of all Karma; he is the ultimate abode;
he is the witness, the consciousness and also the only formless
reality too”. [6/11]
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but have everlasting life [John 3:16]
There are only two paths leading to spiritual growth—
Faith and Meditation or Devotion and Yoga. Jesus represents
The path of Faith. The Christians created a myth around
the being of Jesus Christ depicting him as the only son of
God who descended to the Earth in a human form. God sent
him so that people could have faith. Although God the father
and the holy angels are considered greater beings than Jesus
but it is very difficult to conceive of and believe in them.
Faith is the key and faith is the alchemy; it hardly matters
in whom one can have faith. Jesus himself says again and
again, “Thy faith has healed thee”. Jesus has a unique place
in the angelic tradition because his Gospels succeeded to
create faith in multitudes of mankind down the ages. Even
those who could hardly believe in a formless God or in
unearthly angels could seek salvation through Jesus. Geeta
has done a similar task in India around the glory of Krishna.
The word has become Christo in Bengali language and Christ
in Hebrew and there seems to be a logic that Jesus is called
Christ too. Again and again, when we go through the New
Testament we are reminded of the sayings of Geeta. There
are numerous reference in Geeta similar to this maxim here
taken from the Bible.
Krishna has said —-
“It is possible to return back from all the realms from this
332 The Paradise Never Lost
Earth to the Seventh Heaven but those who attain to me need
not be born again” [Geeta 8/16]
“One who can see me everywhere and one who can see
the whole existence in me, I do not perish from him and he
does not perish from my Grace” [Geeta 6/30]
“Giving up all other disciplines, one must come to my Faith
only. I will redeem you from all your sins and you need not
worry for them” [Geeta 18/66]
“One who can attain to devotion for me becomes one with
the ultimate self and can see this self residing equally in every
creative, Such a fulfilled devotee neither becomes anxious nor
he has to desire” [Geeta 18/54]
Shankaracharya has said –
“In this world again and again one has to take birth and
die; again and again one has to fall into mother’s womb. In
this world where salvation seems to be almost impossible,
the transcendence can happen only through faith in Krishna.”
[Bhajagovindam]
The Kathopanishad has stated –
“Brahma is an invisible, intricate, innermost principle
residing in the cave of the emptiness of human heart and this
Brahma is eternal. This Brahma can be attained either through
spiritual practices and yoga or through faith. One who can
have faith transcends all vanity and all grief through this faith”
[1/2/12]
As we have to create many methods on the path of Yoga,
similarly we have to create many myths and concoct many
parables on the paths of devotion too. Hindu Puranas have
created myths. The Bible has created myths and Koran too
has created myths. The Mythology does not appeal to a
scientific mind and so the insistence on mythology becomes
less and less as we proceed more and more from the remote
past to the present day. All the Eighteen Puranas of Hindus
have employed mythology and symbolism as method, the
Bible uses both myths and parables while in Koran parables
and metaphors are the frequent devices used. After Puranas
The Paradise Never Lost 333
in recent context Hindus evolved their six systems of
philosophy which are purely logical in their expression and
are completely devoid of mythology and symbolism. However,
Sankhyasutra and Yogasutra, although are very ancient
writings, but the masters on the path of meditation have
always refrained from creating mythology and using symbols
and metaphors.
For every one that doeth evil hateth light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his
deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in
God. [John 3:20, 3:21]
Every wrong-doer becomes a hypocrite lest people should
know him and condemn him. Every good person wants to
lay his heart open because he has nothing to hide. All good
actions come from the God and they lead us towards the
ultimate good. What Geeta calls Nishkama Karmas are here
designated as actions wrought in God. Jesus has been very
much against hypocrisy and in the whole history of mankind
we cannot find another mystic so much opposed to hypocrisy
as Jesus has been. The reason seems to be simple; all
hypocrisy leads ultimately to vice whereas all transparency
leads to virtue inevitably.
These sayings remind us of the description of three
ingredients of Nature in Geeta. We all remember the Sankhya
Metaphysics that Nature has three ingredients viz. Sattva,
Rajas and Tamas and all the creation follows from
disturbance of equilibrium among them. Sattva represents
light, virtue and transcendence; Rajas represents activity,
ambition and restlessness whereas Tamas represents
darkness, ignorance and vice. Now, we come to the original
statements of Geeta also as regards correlation.
Krishna has said—
“Sattva begets gratification, Rajas begets action and by
obstructing knowledge Tamas leads to useless efforts” [Geeta
14/9]
“Those dwelling in Sattva become transcendental; those
334 The Paradise Never Lost
dwelling in Rajas remain in the middle and those dwelling in
Tamas, by engaging themselves in vice, invariably fall down.”
[Geeta 14/18]
“Sattva creates light, Rajas creates activity and Tamas
creates prejudice. A wise man is one who does not become
antagonistic when these appear and does not wait for them
when these disappear from his mind” [Geeta 14/22]
“A wise man is one who remains a witness when all these
three ingredients arise in his being and do not waver with
them. He knows that of course the ingredients have to act and
consequently he remains unattached without being disturbed”
[Geeta 14/23]
Jesus answered and said unto her, whosever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again; But whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but
the water that I shall give him shall in him a well of
water sprining up into everlasting life. [John 4:13, 4:14]
Jesus is talking in terms of parables. He was thirsty when
he saw a Samaritan woman who was drawing drinking water
from Jacob’s well. Jesus asked for some water to drink and
the woman was hesitating because the Jews of those days
would not accept eatables from the Samaritans whom they
considered to be disbelievers. The woman was feeling uneasy
also because in those days it was not customary for men to
talk to woman who did not belong to their folks. Jesus said
the water she would give could be just an ordinary water
because again and again he would have to drink it as it
could not quench the thirst for too long. Jesus said, he would
give her the divine water of Grace in return and she would
never feel thirsty again. It seems that the woman was not an
ordinary woman. She was egoless and receptive and Jesus
could initiate her into his fold. Jesus wanted to connect her
with the grace of God so that her bliss might become
everlasting; he wanted to baptize her with the Holy Spirit as
the early Christians would narrate it. This bliss would
increase more and more everyday and would lead her to
salvation. The water he wanted to give to her would not be
ordinary but it would be the water derived from God himself.
The Paradise Never Lost 335
 In India, this happening is known as the transmission of
the lamp. The energy of a master may jump on a disciple
who is receptive and the disciple may become a part of the
master’s being. This is the real meaning of initiation and of
a master disciple relationship. It seems that the woman was
capable of receiving from the master. Even a master of the
highest order cannot say this to too many disciples. Here we
are reminded of a well-known statement advanced in Prashna
Upanishad.
The Prashnopanishad has said –
“The disciplehood of a master who knows the mystery of
vital spirit (and has attained to the eternal principle) never
comes to end. His lineage continues for ever” [Prashnopanihad
3/11].
What Prashnopanishad nomenclatures as Prana, Jesus
has called the same entity being Holy Spirit. It should become
clear by now that the three elements Nirguna Brahma, Prana
and Saguna Brahma of Upanishad have become God the
Father, Holy Ghost and God the Son respectively in the New
Testament.
Krishna has said –
“One who is like-minded, one who is devoted, one who
asks for me only, one who has reverence for me alone and
one who can yield to me exclusively, becomes the same as
my own Being” [Geeta 9/34]
“Even those Enlightened Beings who have attained to
Cosmic Consciousness may sometimes return back to Earth,
but one who has attained to me can never be born again”
[Geeta 8/16]
God is a spirit; and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth [John 4:24]
The God represents Spirit and Truth only and God is a
spirit without form. An angel is a spirit with form but without
a physical body and an Enlightened person is a spirit with a
physical body. So God is a spirit without form, an angel is a
God without a physical body and an Enlightened person like
jesus is a God with a physical body. In India, every Brahman
336 The Paradise Never Lost
was considered to be God living upon this Earth. How ever
the angelic tradition including Moses, Jesus and Mohammad
has insisted upon the fact that we cannot conceive of God
who is above all. We cannot make any image or picture or
idol of him. That is why, the Jewish, the Christian and the
Islamic tradition have been against Idolatry. Jesus said that
he was the only begotten son of God but even this statement
of Jesus was considered to be a blasphemy and he was
crucified consequently. According to the Hindus the God is
both formal and formless, the formal God is known as Saguna
Brahma and the formless God is known as Nirguna Brahma
in India. The Angelic insistence that we cannot conceive of
God is only one half of the truth according to the Hindus.
However, such a view is not unknown for the Indians.
The idea that God is a spirit without form or God is a
holy spirit corresponds to the Metaphysics advanced by
Prashnopanishad and Sankhya. The Christian concept of
Holy spirit is the same entity as the Prana of
Prashnopanishad and Mahat of Sankhya. All these three
substances are formless, omnipresent and effective cause
behind all creation. Yoga calls it Avyakta or formless Brahma
but it is the same substance as Mahat of Sankhya. The view
that no one can conceive God is nothing unknown to the
Hindu tradition. Of Course, Hindus call this God to be
Nirguna Brahma. Similar views have been emphasized in
Shvetashvatar and Ken Upanishads very categorically.
The Shvetashvatar Upanishad has stated –
“We cannot hold the God either form the head or from an
oblique position or from the middle; there cannot be any image
of him who is great in his glory.”
[Shvetashvatar 4/19]
The Ken Upanishad has held –
“Brahma is that which the speech cannot describe because
all speech originated due to him; Brahma is that which the
mind cannot conceive because all mind originated due to him;
Brahma is that which the eye cannot see because all vision
originated due to him; Brahma is that which the ear cannot
hear because all hearing originated due to him and Brahma is
that which the spirit cannot inspire because all inspiration
originated due to him. In fact, Brahma is that which transcends
The Paradise Never Lost 337
all the senses and the mind and Brahma is not that which
you worship.” [Kenopanishad 1:4 through 1:8]
They that worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth only. Because we cannot create any image or idol or
symbol to represent him. He is pure formless spirit and he is
pure wordless truth. Such a worship becomes a state of mind
only and it is through bliss and thanks—giving that this
worship can be accomplished.
Chanakya has said – “The God resides neither in wood
nor in clay nor in idol. The God resides in spirit only and so
only devotion is important” [Chanakya Neeti — 8/12]
Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh
harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look
on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he
that reapeth receiveth wages; and gathereth fruit unto life
eternal : that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may
rejoice together. [John 4:35, 4:36]
In these sayings one can see the acceptance of two basic
principles of Indian Philosophy. The first principle is the
doctrine of rebirth and the second principle is the principle
of continuous change. According to the law of Karma, every
action begets proportionate results. We cannot bear the
consequences of all our actions in one life-time and so we
are born time and again. Even Buddha, in his doctrine of
twelve-causations has explained this fact. At the same time,
Buddhist philosophers have held that also the doer is
changing continuously himself. Buddhist thinkers hold that
as we sow so shall we reap but who reaps is not the same
person who has sown, the doer himself has changed.
Heraclitus has said that none can step into the same river
twice. Likewise some Buddhist thinkers have advanced that
no one can meet the same person twice. So according to the
doctrine of dependent origination a person is born again and
again but in each life he is a changed person. Jesus here
has acknowledged and combined both these opinions
together.
Jesus says that we need not wait, the fields are white
already to harvest. What should this mean? The
consequences of our actions surpass even the fact of death,
338 The Paradise Never Lost
there remains a continuity even afterwards. We are never
immune, not for a single moment, from the cycle of cause
and effect. In fact, this very cycle is called Sansara or the
wheel of creation. The sweet fruits of our good karmas are a
part of the karmic wind and hold us even after death. There
is a continuity and we need not wait. The results of all our
spiritual practices, meditations, prayers, virtues, good
actions, generosities. kindness etc appear in a continuity
and are never lost by change of form.
And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit
unto life eternal. It happens more often than not that a person
makes efforts in some previous life but he attains in some
other life, his efforts are never wasted. It is very difficult to
become awakened in one lifetime, we have to make efforts
through several lives and then suddenly in some life we come
to fulfillment. There has been ever a continuity, although
the memory has not been prevailing in the conscious mind.
Spiritualism is a matter of continuous growth and perpetual
evolution of consciousness through many of the lives and
then follows the quantum leap which we call Enlightenment
or Eternal life. But all our efforts and virtues have contributed
to it continuously and nothing has been wasted. In our being,
both the persons are there, one who has begun this process
in some past life and one who has become Enlightened now,
and both these persons are blessed through Enlightenment.
That is why, Jesus had said, “That both he that soweth and
he that reapeth may rejoice together.”
Here we have to assert one more aspect of the truth. In
the next birth, the person is the same and yet he is not the
same, because he has changed. The body has changed, the
mind has changed, the energy has changed yet the person
is governed by a continuous chain of cause and effect. Jesus
has accepted both the facts that there is rebirth till salvation
and also that the person reborn is a changed person.
Moreover, we differ only in our psychosomatics; but the
quality of consciousness does not vary form birth to birth;
we share the same consciousness. The light of the lamp is
the same, only the shape, size and substance vary. This seems
to be one of the reasons why people like Moses, Jesus,
Mohammad etc did not think it necessary to raise the issue
of rebirth.
Here we are reminded also of that context of Geeta where
The Paradise Never Lost 339
Krishna has described Yogabhrastas. Yogabhrastas are
seekers who could not complete their aim of being united
with the God in their previous life.
Krishna says –
“Among thousands of human being rarely someone makes
efforts towards Enlightenment and even among those seekers
rarely someone attains in one lifetime.” [Geeta 7:3]
“A person attains to the same state of mind in the next
birth which as prevailed throughout in the previous life and
which has also prevailed at the moment of leaving the previous
body.” [Geeta 8:6]
“Even a seeker who has not attained is either lifted up to
Heaven to dwell there almost for an eternity or he is reborn in
the house of sacred and glorious people when the time is ripe.”
[Geeta 6:41]
“Sometimes a seeker is born immediately to the house of
Yogis after the previous death without ascending to Heaven.
But this kind of birth is more rare an achievement.” [Geeta
6:42]
“In his next birth the seeker spontaneously attains to the
same stage of advancement which he had reached in his
previous life and afterwards he tries again for Enlightenment.”
[Geeta 6:43]
So it seems that here Jesus has combined both the views
expressed by Geeta and by the Buddhist philosophers in
these sayings.
Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear his voice. And shall come
forth; that they have done good, unto the resurrection of life;
and that they have done evil, unto the resurrection of
damnation. [John 5:28; 5:29]
Jesus and Mohammad have created the same parable
using the metaphor of grave. We have only to understand
the meaning of a few symbols employed here. Every ordinary
340 The Paradise Never Lost
person is a tomb or a grave; the physique itself is our grave
and we are all dead beings as long as we identify ourselves
with the dead stuff and not with the living consciousness in
us. Resurrection implies the second birth or self-realisation.
A person who has been resurrected is called a ‘Dwija’ or
twice born in India; the syllable ‘Dwi’ means twice and ‘ja’
means born. What should happen after resurrection? There
are only two possibilities. If we have already dissipated all
the negative karmic energy we attain to a formless eternal
life. We transcend the cycle of birth and death and are
liberated. This phenomenon has been called salvation by
Jesus. The second possibility arises when still we are left
with some negative karmic energy. After having selfrealisation
again we return to mind, the beam again becomes bent in
the water, the mind stuff being the water. In such a
circumstance, a few more births have to follow till all this
negative energy is dissipated. Jesus says blessed are those
who attain to salvation after resurrection but condemned
are those who again fall to spiritual sleep, why? Because of
existence of negative karma energy such a seeker generally
has to pass through unhappy experiences in the next lives.
Because he is still tithered to the borderline, he cannot feel
fulfilled even after transcendence of ignorance. All his next
births are endowed with spontaneous self-realisation but
not with Samadhi. Once we have had a glimpse of Samadhi,
nothing less than Samadhi seems to be worthwhile and it
becomes very difficult to wait for it. Here again we are
reminded of a famous Sankhya maxim –
“The initial liberation happens with self-realization, the
second liberation happens when all the desires are gone and
the third liberation happens when all the karmic energy is
dissipated”
Krishan has said –
“There are three kinds of consequences brought forth by
our actions – bitter, sweet and mixed. All these consequences
can prevail only over those who are attached but not over those
who are unattached in their beings” [Geeta 18/22]
“There are three doors to Hell which of certain narrow down
human consciousness and these doors are Lust, Anger and
Greed and so one has to beware of them” [Geeta 16/21]
The Paradise Never Lost 341
 “As a person gives up the old apparel and puts on a new
one, in the life manner, the self gives up an old form and
assumes a new one” [Geeta 2/22]
I can of mine own self do nothing : As I hear I judge :
and my judgment is just ; because I seek not mine own
will, but the will of the Father which has sent me. [John
5:30]
Jesus is very much life Krishna and there seems to be
profound justification for the claim that the word Christ has
originated from the original form Krishna. Jesus stated here
that his action is ‘action without doer’ or Nishkama karma.
When ego ceases to be the motive and devotion to God
becomes the purpose, such a Karma becomes Nishkama
Karma. Jesus holds here that he is like a perfect mirror
having no prejudices or perversions or ego of his own. He
reflects absolutely well all that happens to come before him.
This is the very exact implication of Desireless Action as
described in Geeta too.
Krishna has said –
“To protect the Good and to eradicate the Evil and to uphold
the absolute law, I will be possible again and again in every
age to come” [Geeta 4/8]
“Neither I get attached to action nor I have any longing for
the consequences. One who can perceive me like this can
override the perpetual cycle of cause and effect.” [Geeta 4/14]
“In all the three realms of Heaven, Earth and Hell there is
nothing which I can desire (because my fulfillment is total).
Whatever is worth having, already I have it, yet I do not refrain
from proper action (which is my duty). [Geeta 3/22]
“As an ignorant person acts passionately guided by
unfulfilled desires, in the same manner, an Enlightened person
too must act, being motivated by the welfare of others” [Geeta
3/25]
“According to their past actions and aptitudes, I create all
the four Varnas. Although all this creation comes through me,
I remain the same invariant non-doer, who fulfils the will of
existence only.” [Geeta 4/13]
342 The Paradise Never Lost
He was a burning and a shining light; and ye were
willing to rejoice in his light. [John 5:35]
Jesus says that God is the original source of light and
Jesus himself is enlightened from the same light. As
discussed earlier, God is a spirit without form. He is said to
be omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and no one is
supposed to conceive of Him. The problem arises how one
can represent Him. It is not possible to make a material
image or picture or idol of Him and so one has to represent
Him as a form of energy. All the religions have chosen from
two forms of energy, either the sound or the light. Hindus
represent him as AUM, Christians as Amen and
Mohammadans as Yamen but it remains the same form of
energy which Zen calls the sound of one hand clapping. Light
also has been used to represent the God. Moses said that he
encountered the God in the form of a flame set on a bush
but it did not burn the bush; of course, Moses had to go up
to the Mount Sinai to see it. The same Moses reported that
the God put a flaming sword which turned every way of the
Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. The Koran also promises
that on the day of Great Judgment the dead shall arise from
their graves and shall be able to see a glimpse of the Lord
who will appear on the form of a light. This is interesting
that even this description has its parallel in the Indian
traditions also.
The Kath and Shvetashvatar Upanishads state –
“The Brahma cannot he seen in the light of the Sun or the
Moon or the stars or lightening or fire. But to the contrary it is
because of His Light that all these objects shine and it is
because of His illumination that everything is revealed” [Kath
2/3/15; Shveta 6/14]
Krishna has said –
“It may be Light or Activity or Ignorance, a wise man is
one who does not become anguished when these upsurge and
does not yearn for them when these subside” [Geeta 14/22]
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood,
dwelleth in me, and I in him [John 6:56]
The Paradise Never Lost 343
 The Indian tradition has given utmost importance to the
master and disciple relationship. The disciple has to seek a
master who is really Enlightened; he has to take iniation
from the master and to live near him all his life. This is
called Satsang in India. Gradually, their beings meet and
merge into each other and the disciple is transformed to the
status of the master. The master is said to be the touchstone.
He can convert the iron into the gold just with his touch.
But every disciple is not seen to reach. For example Gautam
the Buddha was a master of the highest enlightenment
possible and he had only five hundred disciples till the time
of his death. All these disciples used to live with him day in
and day out but not all could become awakened. A very deep,
profound and non-dual relationship is needed to exist, just
the way Jesus has put it here. A skin deep intimacy cannot
do, they have to become the same flesh and blood. This can
happen only if the disciple can open his heart to the master
and trust is needed for it. Ego can be the only possible barrier
on the part of the disciple and hypocrisy on the part of the
master. Unless people can have faith in the master, he cannot
help. Nothing is possible without totality on the part of the
disciple. Again, we are reminded of Geeta here.
Krishna has said –
“You should become like-minded with me, you should
become devoted to me, you should pray to me and you should
feel respect for me. Once you happen to surrender your self to
me you can attain to the same consciousness as mine.” [Geeta
9/34]
“Whatever you act, whatever you eat, whatever you offer
to the Yajna fire, whatever you donate, whatever disciplines
you practice, assign all these to my Being” [Geeta 9/27]
“One who gives up all attachment and performs all his
duties for the sake of God, he remains untouched by
consequent sins like the petals of a lotus flower in water.”
[Geeta 5/10]
Chanakya has said –
“As Fish, Tortoise and Sparrow rear up their offsprings,
also a master rears up his disciples through seeing, attending
344 The Paradise Never Lost
and touching them.” [Chanakya Neeti–4/3]
And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this
world, that they which see not might see; and that they
which see might be made blind. [John 9:39]
Many people claim to have attained to the ultimate truth
but rarely someone happens to know it. The reverse also
can be possible. Most of the mystics who have the truth
revealed to them prefer to remain silent over the experience.
How to judge the authentic from the hypocrite and how to
make them to do the right thing? Only a man of the caliber
of Jesus is supposed to do it because Enlightenment is one
thing and expression is another. Every master is essentially
a mystics but every mystic cannot be a master. It is very
arduous to know the truth but it is almost impossible to find
a way with the words. There are people who have eyes but
who cannot see the truth, there are people who have ears
but who cannot listen because truth is not a matter of this
world rather it is interitive. We are reminded of a well-known
saying of Kathopanishad here –
“There are many who do not get the opportunity to hear
the words of an Enlightened person. Also, there are many who
come across a real master but who cannot attain to the truth
themselves. In fact, it needs great ability to know the truth but
it is almost a miracle to convey it. Moreover a person who can
attain being guided by a seer is a miracle himself” [Katha 1/
2/7]
Now, this saying of Jesus has a definite trace in Geeta
too –
“A seeker gets awakened into a realm where all the
ignorant worldly people see Night and such a seer finds only
darkness in this world where ordinarily people seek light.”
[Geeta 2/69]
“ Rarely someone devoted himself to the search of the
ultimate truth and even among those who have made a real
effort for it, rarely someone can attain.” [Geeta 7/3]
There is one more saying in the Kathopanishad which is
very much relevant there –
“In the realm of Enlightenment neither the Sun shines, nor
the Moon, nor the stars, nor the lightening and nor this ordinary
fire. For by knowing the ultimate substance all is revealed
The Paradise Never Lost 345
because everything is illuminated by that one ultimate
illumination we call Brahma.” [Katha 2/3/15]
Mundak Upanishad has to say –
“Presently even in ignorance some people assume
themselves to be wise. Such people fall to even deeper states
of vice like those blind people being led by other blind ones.”
[Munadak 1/2/8]
I and my father are one. The Father is in me and I in
him. [John 10:30, 10:38]
This is the well-known Vedantic assertion that Atman is
the Brahma, but Jesus has put it in a most beautiful manner.
Because Non-dualism is where neither the entities can be
said to be identical nor different. Here we are reminded by
the story of the fish-incarnation as told in the Puranas. Manu
who has been the forefather of all the human race according
to Hindu Mythology see a very meager fish in an ocean. Out
of compassion, he raises this fish into his own palm and
manages to bring it to his palace. Immediately, he orders for
a golden container full of water and with a sense of immense
pride places this small fish into it. Overnight the fish outgrows
and he has to shift it to a pond. The fish again grows bigger
than the pond and he has to shift it to a lake nearby. The
fish again grows bigger the very next morning and so Manu
has to shift it to a river. One morning during the walk he
finds that the fish has becomes broader even than the river
and so he takes it back to the ocean. Very soon the fish
becomes too huge even for the ocean and Manu has to
apologize. This story represents the Upanishadic sutra that
Atman and Brahma are the same and the same is true of
Jesus and God. According to the Upanishads the creator
gets lost into the creation as the dancer gets lost into the
dance, we cannot separate them. Brahma is both the effective
and the material cause. This doctrine had been absolutely
unknown to the angelic tradition before Jesus entered the
scenario. Even Mohammad who happened after Jesus had
to remain prudent for his pains. It has been due to this
metaphysical contradiction that Jesus was crucified just like.
Mansoor was assassinated. In fact, only the traditions evolved
in India have been in agreement with Jesus. Now, this onenss
is always a matter of experience and not a matter of
346 The Paradise Never Lost
philosophizing. But none of the mystics born before Jesus,
however great they might have been could gather the courage
to admit this truth. Neither Enoch nor Noah nor Jacob nor
Moses were so authentic. It had been left for Jesus alone to
narrate this experience. It is like an existential love affair
where the beloved and the lover get lost into each other;
neither of them remains but the existence of love. That is
why, Jesus seemed to be so much different from his tradition
that the jews of his time could not understand it. They could
not accept him as the long awaited Messiah. He seemed to
be so much disconnected from the lineage, that even John
the Baptist who had announced him, had to send his people
to make him beware of his claims. Jesus seemed to belong
so much so to the Indian tradition that later on his disciples
chose to use the word Christ for him. Obviously, the word
Christ comes from the root Krishna. In fact, the statements
of Jesus invariably remind us of the teachings given by the
Upanishads and the Geeta.
The Ishavasya Upanishad has said –
“All this universe in whatsoever existence is the abode of
one absolute reality which we call Isha or God and so we
must experience it with a spirit of Non-attachment.” [Isha 1/1]
The same Isha Upanishad has to bring forth the following
maxim too—
“When we realize that all the manifestations and creatures
have emerged from our own self only; we transcend all
attachment and grief because we can see the same self
everywhere.”
The Kathopanishad has said –
“Brahma experienced as AUM is the only reality, it is the
only ultimate substance. One who has attained to this Brahma
gets all his desires fulfilled.” [Katha 1/2/16]
The Shvetashvatar Upanishad has to say –
“Only one God resides as the innermost soul of all the
creatures. This God is omnipresent living in all the beings as
the only conscious principle. This God is the Lord of all action,
this God is the source of all life, this God is the witness, this
god is the consciousness and this God in the only non-dual
The Paradise Never Lost 347
absolute substance without attributes.” [Shveta 6/11]
Now, we come to Bhagwat-Geeta having many statements
similar to this saying.
“Because the consciousness has no beginning, because
the consciousness belongs to no attributes, because the
consciousness is invariable although residing in the physical
body, it must transcend all the sequence of cause and effect.”
[Geeta 13/31]
“This absolute God resides equally in all the living
creatures. One who can see this imperishable consciousness
in the perishable body is the only one who can se.” [Geeta
13/27]
This ultimate consciousness which resides in the human
body is said to be the absolute God himself. It is the witness,
the knower, the effective cause and it is the experiencer. This
consciousness itself is said to be the great God.” [Geeta 13/
22].
“A yogi can see his own Self residing in all the becomings
and he can see all the becomings emerging from his Self. Such
a man of vision transcends all the variations arising from time
and space.” [Geeta 6/29]
“One who can see my own consciousness everywhere and
one who can see all living creatures in my consciousness, I
never disappear from him and he never disappears from me.”
[Geeta 6/30]
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the
life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live: And whosoever liveth and beliveth in me
shall never die. [John 11:25, 11:26]
The identification with body-mind is called ego.
Enlightenment is the death of Ego. As psychosomatics we
die and as consciousness we are reborn. This self or
consciousness is transcendental to space time. Jesus has
called the experience of realization as resurrection or eternal
life or life simply. The death is the death of Ego and the life
348 The Paradise Never Lost
is the realization of our being as an eternal principle. For
the first time we become disidentified with our senses and
mind, with time and space and with the experience of the
phenomenal world of change. There can be two paths leading
to self realization; one of them is Meditation and the other is
Faith. Jesus has prescribed Faith. Even a dead or ignorant
person can attain to life eternal through Faith in Jesus.
Wherever Jesus uses the word dead it implies the
identification with Ego and wherever he uses the word life it
implies self-realization.
This reminds us again of Geeta.
Krishna says to Arjuna—
“Become like-minded with me, become devoted to me, ask
only from me and remain respectful to me. By devoting one’s
Self to my Being, one attains to the same consciousness as
mine.” [Geeta 9/27]
“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer
to the sacred fire, whatever you give in charity, whatever
austerities you choose to go through, devote them all to my
Being” [Geeta 9/27]
“Give up all the disciplines and rest in the devotion of me.
I shall redeem you of all your sins and you need not worry for
that sake” [Geeta 18/66]
“One who has attained to my ultimate devotion and can
see all the living creatures in my Being; such a devotee becomes
one with my cosmic consciousness; attains to the ultimate bliss
and transcends all cares and desires this mundane world
should being.” [Geeta 18/54]
Patanjali has said in Yogasutra –
“God is the master of all the masters who have happened
in the past and who has never occurred in time himself. So
also through devotion to God one can attain to Enlightenment.”
[Yogasutra 1/23, 1/26]
He that loveth his life shall lose it and he that hateth this
life in the world shall keep it unto life eternal. [John 12:25]
The Paradise Never Lost 349
 Life is a continuous evolution from the ordinary to the
divine. Ordinarily, the world is too much with us and we
have hardly any time to stand and stare and in a state of
such case it is impossible to seek what we call Beauty or
Truth. A certain degree of anguish or boredom or detachment
is need to move beyond. As long as the worldly desires are
our only concern we only vegetate and our journey towards
the beyond cannot begin. From the desires one has to grow
into love and form the love one has to grow into prayer which
is unconditional and unbound love. Desires are like the seeds,
Prayer is like the flowering and bliss is like the fragrance
which fulfills our being. The seed needs to get soiled and it
has to break only then it can sprout. One day the fragrance
becomes a pure essence. When this overflowing fragrance
rises upto the sky, the bliss has to reciprocate. One who is
ready to offer one’s unconditional love towards the whole
existence becomes capable of receiving the uninterrupted
bliss from above. The Heaven has to open ad shower it upon
him till the Earth and the Sky become one existence. So this
is the path via positiva, the path of poetry, beauty, song and
dance. Jesus has been talking of this path of love when a
bird has to open its wings and has to fly unto eternity.
But this saying may remind us of Gautam the Buddha
too. Buddha has said that life is a misery and all worldly
desires lead to ultimate frustration. Of course, there is
cessation of misery and a path leading to this cessation but
a little gap from the desires is needed even to begin with. So
either we have to understand the futility of all desires, we
have to gather courage to create a vacuum in us and remain
in it or we have to grow into a longing for the Moon. Being
satisfied with the ordinary cannot help.
Geeta has stated –
“All this world while under the spell of the three aspects
of Nature and clingings to the emotions cannot know the
ultimate substance which transcends change and variation.”
[Geeta 7/13]
“When a wise man gives up all his worldly desires and
begins to live a life of non-attachment, a life of non-clinging, a
life of non-ego, then he attains to the ultimate peace.” [Geeta
2/71]
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This ultimate peace is termed as eternal life by Jesus.
This verse is intrinsically the same as the above saying of
Jesus.
“When a wise man gives up all the worldly desires
belonging to the mind and becomes fulfilled in his own Being
through his Being, he attains to the highest state of unwavering
enlightenment.” [Geeta 2/55]
“One who can remain unmoved through despair and one
who can remain unclinging through happiness that is one who
does not escape from the difficulties and does not long for the
repetition of happiness; one who transcends all attachment,
fear and anger attains to unwavering wisdom.” Geeta 2/56]
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever
believeth on me should not abide in darkness. [John
12:46]
I am the way, the truth and the life, no one cometh
unto the father but by me. [John 14 : 6]
Jesus has said nobody lightens a lamp and puts it under
a cot; rather one has to reach the house top and shout from
there. One has to spread the news for those who can hear.
When an unlighted lamp comes near a lighted lamp, the
flame from the light may take a jump and become transmitted
too. That is the whole meaning of master and disciple
relationship. Jesus says he is like the light sent forth into
the world, so that also those who are in darkness my receive
the grace of God. Gradually, through love and devotion for
the son their own beings may also become illuminated. Of
course, in the beginning every disciple has to see things in
the light of his master until he becomes a light himself. Jesus
was an instrument through which the heavenly grace could
descend to the Earth but he could make his disciples a source
of light themselves gradually.
Here again we are reminded of Krishna. Krishna has said
to Arjuna –
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 “I am the father of this existence, the mother, the
providence, and also the Father of the Father. I am everything
worth knowing such as the soundless sound of AUM and the
three Vedas viz. Rig, Sama and Yaju emerging from this
timeless sound.” [Geeta 9/17]
“I am the movement, the fulfilment, the Lord, the witness,
the abode, the resort and the well-being of this existence. I am
the source of all becoming, I am the consequence of the great
dissolution and I carry the understructable seeds of the next
creation too.” [Geeta 9/18]
“One who can unite one’s own being with my
consciousness becomes the same Being as me.” [Geeta 9/34]
The statements of Krishna and Jesus are so much similar
that the teachings of Jesus really justify the title Christ for
him. In the Revelations Jesus has allowed the same wings
and flights to his words. He has said –
“I am the Beginning and the End. I am the first and the
last. I am the Alpha and the Omega. When Abraham was not
I was.” [Revelations]
This saying reminds us of Geeta 9/17, Geeta 9/18 etc
where Krishna calls himself the Father of the Father.
“I am the bright morning star”. [Revelations]
By bright mor ning star Jesus implies a being of
unwavering wisdom. This statement reminds of Geeta 2/55,
Geeta 2/56 and Geeta 2/71 etc. The polar star is the bright
morning star which does not variate from its place.
In my father’s house are many mansions, if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go you
know and the way ye know. [John 14:2, 14:3, 14:4]
What the Hindu have called Self-realization or
Enlightenment Jesus calls it the Kingdom of God. According
to the Hindus, an Enlightened person, after leaving his
physical body, is either liberated or he attains to seedful
Samadhi and returns back when the time is ripe. This, too
is a kind of timebound liberation. Jesus is using the word
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‘my father’s house’ for this seedful Samadhi. He means to
say that he will enter the state of seedfull Samadhi after
leaving his body and come back when his time comes. The
Father’s house has got many mansions, how? One man’s
Enlightenment does not prevent others from attaining to it.
On the reverse, it helps many others to become Enlightened
in their own right. Also Jesus knows that ultimately everyone
has to become Enlightened. On the path of love there are no
disciplines, methods or techniques. Love towards the master
is the only way. This love gradually leads to Faith, Trust,
Devotion, Bliss and Enlightenment. But for a true disciple
the master is the only gate through which he can enter the
Kingdom of God. So, sometimes the master has to promise a
second coming to help his disciples. These sayings are a
promise on the part of Jesus that he will come again. On the
path of devotion the master is the only hope for the disciple.
Even Adi Shankaracharya had to say finally –
“One has to be born again and again; one has to die again
and again; one has to fall into the mother’s womb time and
again. In fact, it is almost impossible to get out of the wheel of
life and death without your help. O Lord Krishna, have
compassion on us! [Bhajgovindam]
Krishna has to assure Arjuna –
“Give up all other disciplines and come to devotion for me.
Of certain, I will redeem you of all your sins and liberate you.
You need not worry for thy sake.” [Geeta 18/66]
“And whatsoever you may ask in my name, that will I do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything
in my name, I will do it.” [John 14:13, 14:14]
These sayings of Jesus indicate that even the twelve
apostles are not ordinary people. Jesus has assured them
that all their prayers will be heard. Whatever they will ask in
the name of Jesus Christ shall be given to them. Jesus says
that this should glorify the father in the son. This statement
indicates that the happening will be existential and will not
be exerting upon Jesus himself. Certainly, we find a clue for
this saying in the Indian tradition also. Krishna has said
that he is the sacred sound AUM which is the source of
ultimate truth. What is true of Krishna must be true of every
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Enlightened master also. There is a Sutra in Kathopanishad
which tells us whosoever can hear the sound of AUM in deep
meditation get all his thoughts materialized. Combining these
two saying we get the desired method. A disciple must
meditate on his master, when the meditation becomes deep
and the sound of AUM is encountered, he must ask his master
what he needs and this will happen in the phenomenal world
outside.
Krishna has said –
“I am the father of this creation. I am the mother, the
providence and the father of the father also. I am the sacred
sound of AUM to be known and all the three Vedas viz Rig,
Sama and Yaju ensue from this sound only.” [Geeta 9/17].
Kathopanishad provides—
“This soundless sound of AUM is the Brahma, this
soundless sound of AUM is the ultimate reality. One who is
his deep meditation can hear this sound, gets all his desires
come true.” [Katha 1/2/16]
So here is a key.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and
ordained you. That ye shall go and bring forth fruit; and that
your fruit should remain. [John 15:16]
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. [John
17:2]
No disciple can be greater than his master. The master
can understand the disciple but no disciple can understand
the master through and through, because the master had
been far ahead of him. Howsoever strange it may sound but
it is the master who chooses the disciple and not the vice-
versa. Jesus, too, had to gather his people and make them
into an order.
The first part of the saying John [15:16] reminds us of
the Kathopanishad.
The Kathopanishad states –
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“The self or the truth cannot be attained by listening to
others, nor it can be attained by retaining the scriptures into
memory nor it can be attained through the words spoken by
the seers. Whomsoever the Self chooses only he can attain
because the Self reveals itself to the person chosen.” [Katha
1/2/23]
Also, the order created by an Enlightened person like
Jesus is a living order and so the Gospel has to spread upto
every corner of the Earth and the tradition has to survive.
There is a maxim from the Prashnopanishad which explains
the second part of the saying [John 15:16] and the next saying
[John17:2] very well. This saying from the Prashnopanishad
is very popular among the Indian scholars and it states –
“The disciplehood created by an Enlightened Master who
knows the secret of Prana which is the élan vital can never
come to an end and has to continue forever.” [Prashna 3/11]
It seems that there prevails a sure correlation between
the ancient Indian schools of Mysticism and Christianity.
While the outer from of Christianity hails from Judaism, its
substance belongs also to the traditions created by the
numberless ancient Indian seers. In fact, the Paradise has
never been lost. Sometimes it has been dominated by the
angels of the God and sometimes by the angels of the Devil
too. But as we have understood it, the God and the Devil
have been the two aspects of the same Ultimate Reality. The
God has been great in every way. Even so, Amen!
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