Archi Devi Dasi (Ekmekchjan Adelaida) - Aryans and We

In order to return from the material world to the spiritual world, the Aryan literature provides four ways which are called karma-yoga, gyana-yoga, dhyana-yoga and bhakti. The word “yoga” means the union with the Lord. The processes uniting with the Lord are, respectively, actions, mind, intelligence and emotionality (soul). Karma means actions. This is the process when one tries not to control senses but to satisfy them with religious methods, in other words, this way is to unite with the through actions. Alternatively, karma-yoga is called varnashrama-dharma which is the social system regulating behavior of an Aryan. Living in the system of varnashrama-dharma, one finally comes to renouncement. At this level one is based on the knowledge and tries to control desires refusing to communicate with objects of sensual pleasures. This process is called gyana-yoga. When a yogi has attained perfection in renouncement and sitting in one pose he focuses the mind on the Lord it is called the process of dhyana-yoga. But all these processes ultimately do not solve the main problem. Soul gas got an active nature. In the material world this activity is misdirected. By subordinating activities arising from the active nature of the soul to the laws of varnashrama-dharma, one regulates activities but misdirected desires still remain. With the help of gyana-yoga one restrains material desires but then the active nature of soul remains unsatisfied. The active nature of soul is satisfied only with bhakti-yoga. This is the perfect system where both activities and desires attain the right direction through the devotional service to the Lord.

The toughest problem of a human life is the desire to avoid reactions in response to free activities. One wants to behave freely and to be happy. But the material world has got the cause-and-effect structure and there works the law of respective reaction to certain activities. We do not always see how it works because it functions from life to life and appears in the form of destiny. Due to ignorance, one has got the impression that the law in force is: the one who is stronger wins, the one who wins enjoys. The Aryans prove the unfairness of this view by pointing at initially unequal conditions of existence which indicate the cause of their appearance in the past life. We make sinful and saintly deeds which make up the basis of our destiny in the future life. In general, this is the idea of destiny which can be explained only if the reincarnation concept is accepted. Otherwise, we have to accept that either conditions of our life are given to us incidentally (by the blind nature) or God, if He exists, is cruel and inexplicably gives such different starting conditions which doom one to a certain life. Some concepts suggest the idea of reactions for sins of the forefathers which cannot be accepted because it violates the principle of justice: the one who committed sins should suffer.

There is the contradiction between the blissful nature of an eternal soul and endeavors to satisfy it by violence (major or subtle). Ones who behave freely suffer next life from bad living conditions. Those willing to get rid of chains of miseries shall learn to consider other living beings. As mentioned above, for the Aryans the material world is the place of residence for those envious souls who cultivated the desire to enjoy and to rule without God. For these persons, the desire to act independently is practically insuperable. In the spiritual world, living beings naturally subordinate their desires to God’s wishes. Being the perfect Personality, He is capable of giving anyone everything that brings happiness. When actuated by endeavors to act independently, a living being starts the material existence, initially it seems that one will be able to compel to his/her will the Lord’s energy called maya-shakti (as was already mentioned, this energy hides the existence of God). This energy, with any activity which is not connected with God’s will, acts in such a way that we would understand how much we are not able to control God’s energy so that it would give us pleasure. Simultaneously, we get entangled in reactions of our activities which so far do not let us exit the material world.

The soul is blissful and finds no suffering acceptable. In the spiritual world, all desires of the soul are fulfilled but they are not fulfilled in the material world. In the material world, everything deviates from the truth and lacks harmony, is full of anxiety because of the contradiction between the nature of the soul and materia (a temporary body and the subsequent fear, power-hungry living beings and suffering resulting from competitiveness, ignorance and subsequent violence).

The soul is active and therefore it wants to communicate. Various desires are soul’s inherent nature. The spiritual body is eternal and that is why when interacting no living being can harm it. Spiritual communication is harmless for existence and therefore it is blissful. In the material world, the soul gets in a very difficult situation: to reach happiness, it seeks communication but a vulnerable body itself contains the danger of death (or suffering). This contradiction causes the need to divide all living beings into friends and enemies. Everyone who contributes to pleasures of a material body is a friend and those who may be dangerous for its existence are enemies.

Communication takes place on the basis of knowledge. Any communication includes knowledge, communication on the basis of this knowledge and the level of doer. Depending on which laws of nature these three components are, various types of communication appear:

1) communication full of goodness, bringing peace;

2) mixed communication, causing either joy or disappointment;

3) destroying communication, causing suffering.

Respectively, if one cultivates knowledge in goodness, then applying it during communication, such person certainly gets results of goodness. This is the endeavor of any individual, any society. However, the reality is much more difficult. It is the greatest problem to instate one on the platform of goodness (acquiescence). Material consciousness is egocentric and a temporary body is the guarantor of development of greed. Therefore, mostly doers are influenced by the laws of passion or ignorance. Such doer even if given the perfect knowledge or a correct activity will treat all these in accordance with the own performance level, i.e. in accordance with his/her desires. The material communication lacks harmony and this causes the need for patience which is absolutely alien to the soul. Spiritual communication is spontaneous, free and blissful as all spiritual beings are perfect and free from the desire of mutual exploitation. In the material world, these very jivas strive for superiority, hence exploitation. On the other hand, conditioned souls are of the imperfect nature and therefore any communication at first gives them some hope and then brings disappointment. One is given the possibility to rise to goodness just when such person appears to be able to endure this disappointment. Less reasonable persons try to search for another communication hoping to reach happiness. But reasonable persons realize that this problem is initially unsolvable in the material world. They understand that it does not matter (or to be exact it matters very little) with whom to communicate, all objects are imperfect anyway. Less reasonable persons at first think they have met some pleasant communication and then lose their temper because of faults. A wise person knows that everyone has got some faults and tries to rely on advantages (the principle of a bee collecting only nectar from all flowers) looking for good qualities in everyone and being forbearing toward deficiencies. This is the psychological condition which ensures the peaceful existence of all imperfects beings in the material world. But living beings want to enjoy. When consciousness is secular, namely self-centered, and one thinks that he/she lives only once, such person does not understand the reason for enduring. Such people are able to sacrifice everything for the sake of their own pleasure and then society is composed of lonely people where everyone looks for acceptable objects of sense pleasure. Such society is based on the race or competition in the struggle for the greatest sense pleasure. It seems to such person that he/she gets more pleasure when fighting for them. But the experience has shown that both success and defeat do not depend on the amount of effort. They depend on luck. And what is luck if it is not God’s will which is displayed in accordance with our merits?