Desires, greed and selfishness cause havoc in the world

Desires are the cause of our existence in this world. If we want to escape from this mundane existence, the only alternative is to remove the desires from our mind! In a Tamil song, a saint has sung that one should not even desire for God! This assertion may seem ridiculous since the aim of human life is to reach god! Here the saint means the form of god which we cherish in our memory. It is written in many scriptures that God is formless! When we are attached to a particular form of god, it will act as an obstruction when we reach the highest step of evolution, say at the threshold of God’s kingdom! At this juncture, I remember an episode that happened in the life of great saint, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa! Sri Ramakrishna experimented with many types of worship like devotion and discrimination. Once, a famous preceptor came to Ramakrishna with the aim of teaching him ‘non-dual Advaita philosophy!

Primarily Ramakrishna was a devotee of famous Kali (the mother goddess enshrined in a temple of Calcutta at the banks of Ganga) He used to talk with the idol of Kali, feed it at intervals, bath it with water, dress it and decorate it and he will consider himself as a little child of Kali. His emotion at times will be so high; he will lose his bodily feelings and remain like a statue! The preceptor was intent to teach Ramakrishna the principle of all pervading Self which is bereft of any form and which is the source of all creation! Ramakrishna had a childlike tendency and hence he could progress rapidly as per his preceptor’s guidance and he reached the step prior to highest attainment! He was asked to concentrate on the center of the highbrow where an important ‘chakra’ rests. But whenever he concentrated on the point, he saw his mother goddess Kali! He could not go beyond that state! Immediately, his preceptor took a broken glass and made a prick with it at the center of the eyebrow! Even then Ramakrishna envisioned the mother but with discrimination, he tore that form away! Instantly he reached the highest in yoga, which is “one with Brahman”. There was no separate identity of his form. This example clearly proves that one should go beyond the name and form in order to merge with the Divine!

Everyone can understand this philosophy by watching the rivers rushing to the ocean! As long as they are rivers, there is separate name, form and taste of the water! Once the rivers merge in the sea, they acquire the form and taste of ocean and we cannot identify the particular river which merged in the sea! God, while creating the illusory universe has enabled man to look around and learn the great lessons offered by nature, plants, trees, birds and animals! The plants offer themselves as food to the cattle; the trees give shade to one and all. It gives shade to the very axe man who cut the tree! The trees are the home for many birds and insects! It offers freely flowers, fruits and other parts which are food to many varieties of animals including the monkeys! Birds eat the ripe fruits, squirrels enjoy tasty fruits and the birds are main cause for propagation of the seeds in far off places! This is how nature maintains itself continuously! Ants and bees are fine examples for hard work and co-operation! They have no intelligence but the instincts prompt them to follow “Q” system and discipline. An ant can carry many times its own weight. Even big pieces of carcass are intelligently taken to the ant hill. Look at the honey bee! It travels many miles to gather honey! The honey is not consumed by the bee. It is taken to the honeycomb for storage! But look at the distraught behavior of mankind! Though possessed with highest intelligence and discrimination, he mostly behaves in beastly manner! He is very selfish, greedy, and spoils the very environment in which he lives.

Without any forethought, he stockpiles atomic weapons that could destroy the earth many times! The leaders are so greedy and power mongers; they loot the very citizens of their country and deprive them of basic amenities. Most of the families of political leaders are hoarding wealth, gold and properties in different destinations which are difficult to probe! Where is Truth? Where is Righteousness and where is ‘Equality” advocated by the political fraternity? Almost all leaders have self-serving agenda! Hence it is not freak accidents anymore anywhere! It is the result of human greed and selfishness! Fortunately amid the black sheep in society, there are certain noble souls who pray for the welfare of the entire world! Otherwise, the world would have faced utter destruction long ago, soon after the world wars!

The main reasons for poverty, pestilence and war are the greed of few leaders and their selfish attitude! If one leader is honest and perfect, he is booed down by the corrupt politicians! If one is not able to root out corruption in public places, he is not fit to become leader! A bold leader alone can take drastic steps to clean the system of all corruption! There is a proverb that in a country of nude people, the man who wears an undergarment is a fool of the first order! There is also a proverb, “when in Rome, be like a Roman!

I would like to stress that oil and water cannot mix together! We need to mix oil with oil and water with water! But in a glass of pure milk, if you add water, it will yet remain as milk, albeit to a lesser thickness! But a swan will consume only pure milk leaving the water behind! It is the distinction of Swan! Hence Sri Ramakrishna was honored with the title “Ramakrishna Paramahamsa”, the supreme swan which drinks pure milk. Hence the perfect devotee of mother Kali has become a perfect non-dual monist! Hence while living in this world, we need to discard the untruth and take the truth and live peacefully relying on the single self which pervades the entire cosmos!