Paramahansa Yogananda's - Vision of India (Part 2 - conclusion)

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Swami Sadasivananda <sadasivananda wrote:

 

 

Paramahansa Yogananda's - VISION OF INDIA (Part 2 - Conclusion) The conclusion of an article written by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1929

 

 

 

Visions of India’s Life-Giving PhilosophyFrom time immemorial, India’s greatest minds have specialized in discovering and understanding the philosophy and mystery of life. One of the oft-disputed questions in philosophy is whether the goal of human life is service or selfishness. Once I had a great controversy with a European who repeatedly and blindly affirmed that the goal of life was service, while I maintained that it was higher selfishness. I asked him again and again for his reasons in believing in “serviceâ€, but instead of satisfying my discrimination, he kept on reiterating, “Service is the goal of life. It is blasphemous to doubt that.†Finding him so dogmatic, I asked him, “Is service the goal of life because the Scriptures have declared it?†“Yes,†he vehemently replied. “Do you believe everything literally in Scripture?†I questioned him. “Do you think Jonah was swallowed by a whale

and came out alive after a few days? How do you account for it?†“No. I do not understand how he could do that,†my friend said. That was just the point. In order to really know the truth contained in Scriptural stories, and in order to understand what is erroneous, or right, literal or metaphorical, in Scriptural writings, one must use his own reason, discrimination and power of intuitional verification developed thru meditation.Scriptures Not Always InfallibleMany people think that what is printed in black and white is right. Above all, most people believe that anything wearing the robe of Scriptural authority is absolutely beyond question. But putting on an outward garb cannot make one infallible. Writers of Scriptures can also make mistakes. In order to know the truth of a doctrine, we must live it and find out if it works or not–give it the acid test of experience. Let us get out into the world and compare

our religious beliefs with the religious experiences of true teachers. Let us be iconoclastic of our own errors that need to be destroyed within us. We must not harbor an undigested mass of theology and thus suffer from chronic theological indigestion.Service a Form of SelfishnessThe law of service to others is secondary to, and born out of the law of self-interest and self-preservation and selfishness. Man never in his sane mind does anything without a reason. All religious doctrines and instructions are based either on blind superstition or on real religious experience. The real reason behind the Scriptural injunctions to “Serve thy fellow-menâ€, and “Love thy neighbor as thyself†is that the law of service to others is to be obeyed by all devotees who would, thru others, expand the limits of their own self.No action is performed without reference to a direct or indirect thought of selfishness. Giving

service is indispensable to receiving service. To serve others by financial, mental, or moral help is to find self-satisfaction. Besides, if any one knew beyond doubt that by service to others, his own soul would be lost, would he serve? If Jesus knew that by sacrificing his life on the altar of ignorance, He would displease God or lose His favor, would He have acted as he did? No, He knew that though he had to lose the body, He was gaining His Father’s favor and His own Soul. Such immortal sons of God and all the martyrs and saints, make a good investment–they spend the little mortal body to gain immortal life.There is nothing worth-while gained without paying a price. Thus even the most self-sacrificing act of service to others can be shown to be done not without any thought of self. It is logical, therefore, to say that the higher selfishness, or the good of the Higher Self, is the motive of life instead of service to others without

thought of self.Must be Given Because ReceivedIn giving service to others, a man knows also that otherwise he cannot rightly receive service from them. If the farmers give up agricultural work, and the business men give up their business of transportation and distribution, then how could even the renunciate maintain himself? Nowadays, with increased population and wealth, even forests are divided off and owned by big landowners, who placard the trees with signs warning the trespasser that he will be prosecuted for coming into another man’s property. So the renunciate cannot logically say, “I will not work or earn my living–I will live on the wild fruits of the forestâ€. Hence, services given and received have reference to the goal of a lower or higher selfishness.Three Kinds–Evil, Good and Sacred SelfishnessWe must, however, clearly distinguish between the three kinds of evil,

good and sacred selfishness. The evil kind is that which actuates a man to seek his own comfort by destroying the comforts of others. To be rich at the cost of others’ loss is sin, and against the interests of the higher individual self of the person who does it. To delight in hurting others’ feelings by carping criticism is evil selfishness. This malignant pleasure is not conducive to any lasting good. True and good selfishness is the kind which makes a man seek his own comfort, prosperity and happiness by also making others more prosperous and happy. Evil selfishness hides its many destructive teeth of suffering beneath the apparently innocent looks of comfort-assurances. Evil selfishness shuts one in a small circle and shuts all humanity out beyond it. Good selfishness takes everybody, including one’s own self, into the circle of brotherhood. Good selfishness brings many harvests–return services from others, self-expansion, divine sympathy,

lasting happiness and self-realization.Good selfishness should be followed by the business man, who, by sincere, honest, wholesome, constructive actions and labors, enables himself to look after his own and his family’s needs. Such a business man is far superior to the business man who thinks and acts only for himself, thinking neither of the ones he serves or of those dependent on him for support. He is then acting against his own best selfish interests, for he will suffer in time. Many misers die, leaving their wealth to relatives who often squander it on wrong self-indulgences. Such selfishness helps neither the giver nor the receiver, in the end.To avoid the pitfalls of evil selfishness, one should first follow and establish himself in the good forms of selfishness, where one thinks of his family and those whom he serves, as part of himself. From that attainment, one can then advance to a practice of the sacred selfishness, (or

unselfishness, as ordinary understanding would term it), where one sees all the universe as himself.Being Sacredly SelfishFeeling the sorrows of others in order to make them free from further suffering, seeking happiness in the joy of others, and constantly trying to remove the wants of bigger and bigger groups of people is being sacredly selfish. The man of sacred selfishness counts all his earthly losses as deliberately brought about by himself for others’ good, and for his own great and ultimate gain. He lives to love his brethren, for he knows they are all children of the one God. His entire selfishness is sacred, for whenever he thinks of himself, he thinks, not of the small body and mind of ordinary understanding, but of the needs of all bodies and minds (within the range of his acquaintance or influence). His “self†then becomes the Self of all. He becomes the mind and feeling of all creatures. So when he

does anything for himself, he can only do that which is good for all. He who considers himself as the one whose body and limbs consists of all humanity and all creatures–certainly finds the Universal, All-Pervading Spirit as Himself.Act Without ExpectationHe does not act with expectation but, with his best judgment and intuition, goes on helping himself as the many, with health, food, work, success and spiritual emancipation.Working with good selfishness and sacred selfishness brings one in touch with God, resting on the altar of all-expanding goodness. One who realizes this, works conscientiously only to please the ever-directing God-peace within.-- Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi web site: http://www.ramanateaching.orgAsk your question in relation to Bhagavan's teachings, meditation and

spirituality at: http://www.ramanateaching.org/faqTo contact Swami Sadasivananda:http://www.ramanateaching.org/contact.html