Swami Chinmayananda

Symmetry is beauty. Where there is no symmetry, there is ugliness. As in the outer world, so too in out inner personality. If the legs are afflicted with elephantiasis and the chest is not developed… it is ugliness. The chest extremely well developed and the legs too thin and short?... this too is no beauty. Beauty is in symmetry. A fly is beautiful because it is symmetrical. A piece of music is great because the tune is symmetrical.

To cope with modern education and the competitive world outside, intelligence is necessary and, therefore, intellectually, an individual may be highly developed; yet he is an ugly person if there is no corresponding emotional development, i.e. if the head is developed, and the heart is over-shrunk. If the heart is over-developed, the person is a sentimental fool. A person, whom the head and heart are equally developed, is the one the Geeta calls, a Yukta Purusha (integrated person). It is he who carves out a future not only for himself, but also for the country.

How is one to develop his heart? In this world, in this unfortunate world of ours, there is a little chance. In schools and colleges, opportunities seldom occur. In the world outside, if one behaves sentimentally, he is at once kicked by his fellowmen. And in this heavily populated world, competition is naturally high and it is only the intellectuals who can hope to survive. Sentimental fools get crushed.

Now, how are we to develop and maintain the beauty of both head and heart? It is through contemplation. In modern man intellect is so well developed because of need of the day. Communication has improved vastly with advent of the TV, radio etc., and there is no dearth of information. Even our Puranas are no longer secrets to modern children (thanks to comics), and we have to watch our step before we mete them any information on these.

By the time our youngsters are out of college, their intellects are highly developed, but, alas, their hearts are shrunk. They argue thus – why should I love my father and mother? In what way am I related to them? It is only a biological accident that I am the son of so-and-so. Anyone could have been my parent. There is nothing special about mine. It is sheer accident. Let the old ones go, they’ve lived their lives, I’ve nothing to do with them, and I’ve my life to see to. And my country, why should I love it? It has given me nothing but troubles. Thus do youngsters play a purely intellectual game. To love is to be sentimental and there is no place for such a feeling!

In short, no father-loves, no mother-loves, no country-loves. But it is not their fault. They have only their intellects to blame. Hence did the Rishis of your advocate contemplation.

Contemplation is the process by which you lift your mind to feel what you have understood intellectually. In objective sciences you can intellectually appreciate facts – take Newton’s Law of Gravity, for instance. Intellectually you can understand it, but is it possible to feel gravity? Can you physically, actually experiment with it? Don’t try it, it’s dangerous! But in the case of subjective science we talk of the nature of Reality, the cause of creation, etc. and having intellectually understood that I, with my mind, have created my world, you with your mind your world, he his, she hers, we conclude that this entire world, the common field of experience has been created and projected by all our minds put together… think!

Thus the total mind is the creator of this universe. Now take the sad story of our country today. Who created it? It is really unfair to say that she did it or he did it. It is just no possible for one individual to have done it. It has been done by all the six hundred millions – including you and me who are bitterly complaining about it – all our minds together have created this chaos, this situation.

Consider the difference between national health and private health. The latter is what you posses; the former is the state of all the citizens put together. Can national health be improved by merely appointing a Health Minister who is able-bodied and strong, say a wrestler? While his health may be good, that doesn’t alter the state of yours. When we talk of national health, it means yours, mine, his hers – all put together. If all of us improve in health by taking the right exercise, eating wholesome food – the right amount at the right time – everyone’s health improves. Then national health improves.

The idea of God and the creation is explained by the terms Vyashti and Samashti – the microcosm and macrocosm. The total creative explosion which has created the whole universe is nothing but my mind exploding my little world of joys and sorrows and all other’s minds in too doing so the universe.

The question that now arises is, how can I integrate my mind with yours? How did the merger between two minds of two lovers arise? Because, his mind and her mind have been dissolved in an ounce of the solvent called LOVE. How many beings are there in the universe? An infinite number. So, how many ounces of love will be needed to unite them? Infinite love. And as God is infinite Love, he can merge all minds into one.

Now, suppose you argue that the greater part of your mind is filthy, full of negative tendencies, and so is that of all your friends and acquaintances. So the natural conclusion will be to say that the total mind is nothing but total filth! But you have all noticed that when love steps in, all negative tendencies are chastened and only noble emotions arise in the bosom. This is the magic of Love.

Is it possible for me to love everybody, including my enemy number one? Can I gush with love towards everybody and wish nothing but good for all? You can, when you go on practising. You may not have infinite love all at once, but the love potential in you will increase. For a start you will begin loving your dog more than before! Then your ring of love will slowly widen to include your father, mother, country, etc.

This, then, is what contemplation does. For a Sadhaka, Keertans are one of the best means of tuning the mind and trying to feel what he has studied and understood. The mere listening to such divine songs creates the right atmosphere for love to blossom. When thus we try emotionally to lift our minds, the path we are following is called Bhakti.

For him who has developed both head and heart – the Yukta Purusha – to enter realms of meditation and realise the Reality, it becomes effortless.