Baba says, “You children receive so much knowledge. Therefore, your intellects should be very broad and unlimited.”
In order to become someone with a broad intellect, I first need to become someone who is far-sighted. To be far-sighted means to remember the Father who is from the faraway land. Many say that they remember Sri Krishna but he is a human being of this land. To remember him is not farsighted, explains Baba. Only to remember the Father is. Before coming to the Father, my I was both nearsighted and one with a narrow intellect. The Father gives me the knowledge of the beginning, middle and end of the world cycle. All others have narrow intellects, that is, they simply speak of God; they don’t know Him.
| Broad intellect | Narrow intellect |
| I have no problem seeing myself as a child of the Lord and the Master. | I have trouble getting past the flaws, the mistakes, the failures and seeing myself as the child of God. In other words, I see only as far as these physical eyes can see, I cannot see the original self that lies beyond that. |
| I have all my relationships with the Father according to the time. I experience the different kinds of love – of the Father, of the Teacher during the time, of the Friend, of the Beloved etc. | It’s hard enough to consider myself the child but to think that God is my Teacher, Friend, and Beloved…that is not something my intellect accepts. I always see the Father as the Lord and Master, as the Highest-on-High. Consequently, I have more reverence and fear than love. |
| I have no trouble accepting the truth that God comes and changes human beings into deities. | I believe humans are humans and deities are deities. Humans could never become deities. How could someone like me ever become a deity!? |
| I recognize the Father when He comes in an ordinary body | I cannot accept that God, such an elevated being, would come in an ordinary body. I expect God to come with a lot of splendor and drama. |
| I realize that God wants me to have an intimate relationship with Him, to know Him as He is and to follow His directions that He is giving me, practically. | I don’t believe I can attain God, let alone have a relationship with Him. My intellect believes in rules and rituals. I read the scriptures a certain number of times each day, I observe fasts on certain days, I hold sacrificial fires, go on pilgrimages. I do all this because I believe this is what God expects- a lot of hard work as a way to show my respect for Him. I cannot miss a ritual, or break a law. I always see myself as the lowly sinner, the devotee trying to please but never as the child with rights. |
| I know that God is the Purifier and I also understand how He purifies through giving me the knowledge of who and Whose I am and by teaching me the pilgrimage of remembrance. | I call out to the Father but then I also consider Him omnipresent. Because I don’t understand how God comes and purifies souls, I don’t realize that the Purifier, by definition, cannot be omnipresent. |
| I understand that God resides along with souls in the Brahm element. The Brahm element is a place of residence. I remember God in the home because I know that is where I am going. | I consider the Brahm element itself to be God and remember it. Similarly, Hinduism is not a religion but because people live in Hindustan, they have given the name ‘Hindu’ to the religion. This is a sign of a narrow intellect. |
| I can understand the concept of a cycle, that this is such an unlimited, huge drama and that every soul, including the Supreme Soul, comes at their time to play their part in this drama. I also understand that after one showing ends, the next showing starts and just like a movie, it repeats accurately. | I don’t understand the drama and therefore cannot accept that it repeats. I believe in eternal liberation, that if I follow all the right rituals, I can impress God enough that I can exit the cycle permanently. |
The more of the knowledge I imbibe at this time, the broader my intellect will become and the more I will be able to imbibe; it is a virtuous cycle. When a Surgeon has a broad intellect, he is able to have a lot more medicines in his intellect and the more he earns. It is the same here. “When you have broad intellects“, Baba says, “you rule the world. There, the kingdom is unshakeable and stable.”
The Mother and Father have regard for the children but I don’t have that much regard for myself. “This is why“, Baba says, “so few of you pass.” The key to passing with honor is faith- not just in the Father but in the self and in the drama. I am what the Father says that I am and I can do every single thing that the Father tells me that I can do. Yes, the Father is here, right now and has adopted me as His child, practically. I live with Him. So first, I become farsighted i.e. know the Father and then I have a broad intellect that imbibes His knowledge and follows His directions.
Previously, I had a very narrow perspective- it was about rules and rituals. I also prayed and waited for God to do something for me. Now, my perspective, my vision has broadened. I see a drama and myself as a co-actor along with God in this drama. It is not a one-way thing, I have a two-way relationship with God; I relate to Him, I do things with Him. I become His partner. Yes, on the surface, I don’t look anything like the deity He says that I am but because my perspective has broadened with the knowledge, I realize this is just part of a whole story. I spin the cycle in my intellect and see my various forms throughout. I realize then, there is no one more fortunate than I am.
SHIVA DARSHAN 