Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on Shankara et al (part 1)

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Preface to MMY's translation of BhagavadGita Chapter's 1-6

 

The Vedas are the lighthouse of eternal wisdom leading man to salvation and

inspiring him to supreme accomplishment.

 

The omnipresence of eternal Being, unmanifested and absolute; Its status as

That, even in the manifested diversity of action; and the possibility of the

realization of Being by any man in terms of himself - these are the great truths

of the perennial philosophy of the Vedas.

 

The Vedas reveal the unchanging Unity of life which underlies the evident

multiplicity of creation, for Reality is both manifest and unmanifest, and That

alone is. 'I am That, thou art That and all this is That', is the Truth; and

this is the kernel of the Vedic Teaching, which the Rishis extol as teaching

'worthy of hearing, contemplating and realizing'.

 

The truth of Vedic Wisdom is by its very nature independent of time and can

therefore never be lost. When, however, man's vision becomes one sided and he is

caught by the binding influence of the phenomenal world to the exclusion of the

absolute phase of Reality, when he is thus confined within the ever-changing

phases of existence, his life loses stability and he begins to suffer. When

suffering grows, the invincible force of Nature moves to set man's vision right

and establish a way of life which will again fulfil the high purpose of his

existence. The long history of the world records many such periods in which the

ideal pattern of life is first forgotten and then restored to man.

 

Veda Vyasa, the sage of enlightened vision and greatest among the historians of

antiquity, records the growth of unrighteousness in the families of those who

ruled the people about five thousand years ago. It was then that Lord Krishna

came to remind man of the true values of life and living. He restored that

direct contact with the transcendental Being which alone can give fullness to

every aspect of life. He brought to light absolute Being as the basic Reality of

life and established It as the foundation of all thinking, which in turn is the

basis of all doing. This philosophy of Being, thinking and doing is the true

philosophy of the integrated life. It not only helps the doer to gain success in

his undertaking, but, at the same time, sets him free from the bondage of

action, bringing fulfilment at every level. Such is the teaching of eternal

Truth, given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita.

 

Gradually this teaching came to be forgotten, so that two thousand years later

even the principle of Being as the absolute Reality, the source and basis of all

creation, was overshadowed by misguided beliefs which glorified only the

relative aspects of life. "The long lapse of time", says Lord Krishna, "is the

reason for such a loss of wisdom".

 

When the philosophy of the integrated life restored by Lord Krishna was lost

from view, the idea grew that everything which life can offer is present on the

obvious levels of existence, and that it would therefore be useless to aspire to

anything that might lie deeper than external appearances. Society became

dominated by this superficial outlook, insight into Reality was lost, the right

sense of values forgotten and the stability of life destroyed. Tension,

confusion, superstition, unhappiness and fear prevailed.

 

Lord Buddha came to remedy this situation. Finding the field of action

distorted, He came with a message of right action. Speaking from His level of

consciousness established in Being, in eternal freedom (Nirvana), Lord Buddha

taught the philosophy of action in freedom. He advocated meditation in order to

purify the field of thought through direct contact with Being and bring about

the state of right action in society. Lord Buddha's message was complete because

He incorporated the fields of Being, thinking, and doing in His theme of

revival. But because his followers failed to correlate these different fields of

life in a systematic manner through the practice of Transcendental Meditation,

realization of Being as the basis of a good life became obscured. The whole

structure of Lord Buddha's teaching not only became distorted but was also

turned upside down. The effect was mistaken for the cause. Right action came to

be regarded as a means to gain Nirvana, whereas right action is in fact the

result of this state of consciousness in freedom.

 

/continued

 

 

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