Cosmic Consciousness Is Well Within Reach

Jun 1, 2004, 12.00am IST

Anil K Rajvanshi.
 
Does an enlightened indivi-dual need to remain caged in the body? Why not get liberated from the physical? For seven days, the Buddha grappled with this dilemma. In the end, he decided that there was nothing personal about enlightenment — the knowledge should be shared with all for the benefit of humankind. He spent the next 50 years doing just that and all those who listened to him benefited greatly.



It is necessary for all of us to discover truth but once we find it, it should be shared freely with others. This will not only provide more insight, but also foster peace and happiness. The desire to share our discoveries with the world is normally fuelled by greed for either fame or money. Very few are selfless enough to share their discoveries freely for common benefit. Even philanthropists are guided by the desire to become famous. It probably comes from internal insecurity. The desire to be loved and adored by other humans is the basic desire since it reinforces the work, direction and path of an individual. When a person feels secure he becomes very humble and the desire to get fame, name or money goes away or is greatly reduced. Then his desire to tell the truth comes from pure selflessness. Even those in search of the ultimate truth are initially not averse to fame — but later, this greed for fame gets subsumed by the greater urge for truth-realisation.

However, as long as greed does not dominate, it is a necessary engine of development, for producing inventions and finding the truth. The best way to keep greed in check is to cultivate from early on the habit of deep thought. This will help remove psychological knots and create all-round happiness.

We expect our children to compete with others in every sphere of activity. This competitive spirit also creates insecurities which turn counterproductive in the long run. A relaxed brain, which is free of greed, can create many more inventions. However, it is very difficult to remove the greed from the human system and this trait will remain as long as humans exist. It should therefore be curbed and channelled for greater human cause.

The most important thing which can help us is personal evolution. Knowledge has to be obtained first; only then it can be shared. Individual evolution also includes fulfilment of personal needs so that we can think of higher things. Every one of us is free to move to the higher or highest category. We can become better human beings by evolving beyond the limitation of a particular species. Spiritua-lity gives us a certain perspective that helps shift the focus more towards mental peace. Once each individual evolves to higher consciousness levels, the multiplier effect will take place.

Chance could thrust us into active public life and if our personal needs and emotions have not been resolved, they can create dangerous situations for everyone. This is normally the case with very greedy, ambitious and insecure leaders both in political and economic fields. History is replete with personalities like Hitler, who, because of their insecurity, created havoc because they had tremendous resources and powers at their disposal.

Personal or individual evolution — an ongoing process to higher and higher levels — enables one to contribute positively to the entire community. A simple way to achieve this is to work diligently and conscientiously. This will automatically reduce the greed and corruption quotient, and enlarge the space for truly evolved living.