6 - Discourses on Tantra Volume Two

Chapter 1 Sádhaná (4)

The Course of Physical and Psychic Development (2)

With the development of the mind, the physical structure becomes more complex. It can be put in another way: the physical structure grows in complexity in order to serve as a proper vehicle for the expression of a developed mind. When the psychic activities are channelized in different directions or engaged in combatting various obstacles, the brain, the medium of the mind, is bound to become more complex.

Similarly, undeveloped human beings can make rapid psychic progress due to natural clashes or due to contact with great personalities. The greater the application of psychic energy to a unit being, the more its physical stuff is transformed into mind-stuff. This helps it attain greater psychic expansion, and consequently the greater reflection of Cosmic Consciousness on the unit mental plate.

Unit beings have attained a human body after evolving from the stage of animality through structures of ever-increasing complexity. So human beings have imbibed experiences from animal lives and not from divine lives.

Humans’ psychic development keeps pace with the growing complexity of their physical bodies. Moreover, various new diseases come into existence as destructive forces of that complex physical body.

In human society there are many people whose mentality is somewhere between that of forest primates and that of humans. Some have just evolved from animal life to that point, in the process of pratisaiṋcara; while others have reverted to that point from a more developed human level, due to their mean thoughts. If they continue to allow mean thoughts to dominate their minds, they will degenerate to the even cruder stage of inert matter, becoming bricks, stone or wood. Just as animals have no scope to elevate their thoughts or practise spirituality, similarly human beings who make their minds animal-like through animalistic thinking are unable to pursue spiritual practices. Even after receiving spiritual initiation or receiving an education, they behave like ignorant fools. But those who are by mentality undeveloped human beings, but not animals, will if they receive initiation carry on spiritual practices, and will if they receive education behave like intelligent people.

Spiritual initiation and education will bring about mental development in those who have degenerated to the level of animality, but it will be next to impossible for them to develop spiritually. We must pay more attention to those people who are undeveloped but who have not entirely lost their human sense. If we fail to elevate them, our social system will be futile – all our education, culture and civilization will be futile.

All beings are made of the same consciousness. So although we may find ourselves at different stages of psychic elevation, a Bráhmańa and a Kśatriya, an Indian and an Englishman, a sweeper and a scavenger, a Zulu and a Maori, and even a tiny ant, are all linked by the bonds of fraternity. If we remember this fact, if we work for the well-being of all, then undeveloped human beings will be able to develop their spiritual potentiality when they come in contact with us. Even cows, dogs, tigers and bears who come in close contact with us will develop psychic wealth and gradually acquire spiritual treasures.

In the most developed minds, an infinite thirst becomes awakened. By attaining the supreme rank of Brahma – bliss personified – that infinite thirst can be quenched. The sustained effort to attain that blissful state is called dharma sádhaná. But if human beings do not find the proper way to satisfy their thirst, they go astray. That is, those who do not follow the spiritual path may perform harmful actions at any time. Even those whom society respects as intelligent or learned may, in reality, be no better than “polished satans”, or what the scriptures call “demons”. Our modern society is full of such people. They talk about universalism like parrots. They have no defined ideology in their individual and collective lives, and merely dedicate themselves to the deception of the human race as they strive to serve their petty self-interests by any means, fair or foul. We cannot expect any beneficial contribution from them.