Guru - Thanantana Dhamma

Prayer and meditation

The great poet Rabindranath Tagore, in the last days of his life, composed a poem that could cause trouble. The poem is as follows.

“The Lord has sent messengers to this kind and compassionate world in every age. Those messengers have told us to be tolerant of all. They have told us to love all. They have told us to destroy the poison of anger within us. Those messengers are worthy of worship. They are people who should not be forgotten. But in times of trouble like these, we only pay homage to them from outside the door, which is useless and useless.”

“I see violence and deceit lurking in the shadows of the night, beating and killing the helpless. I see it. The voice of justice cries out in silence, helpless, because of the crimes of the powerful who cannot respond. I see it. I see a young child running around like a madman. How much suffering must that child have endured, hitting his head with a stone in vain?

"Today my voice is silent. I have fallen asleep to the sound of the flute. On the night of the full moon, I dreamt of my life in prison in a dream of suffering. That

With tears in his eyes, he asked the Buddha, "Do you tolerate people who poison your air and extinguish your light? Do you have compassion, Your Majesty?"

"How would you answer the poet, Your Majesty..."

***

The great poet Rabindranath Tagore never got rid of the concept of Issara. In that concept lies the entire destiny of humanity. The cry of Vedas Nietzsche, who proclaimed that Issara has come to an end, did not seem to enter Rabindranath Tagore's mind. Issara has long since passed away. Humanity has achieved freedom.

Nietzsche himself is a poet of the same type as Rabindranath Tagore. Nietzsche himself is also entangled in the difficult problems of life, like Rabindranath Tagore. But the way of fighting these two great men is different. Rabindranath Tagore is a man who clings to the old line. Nietzsche is a man who is making a new path in the rock. As usual, he feels the consequences of doing so. There is no danger for the man who walks on the drawn line. But for the man who invents a new path, there is danger.

Rabindranath had an old and decaying idea in his mind that had been around for centuries. According to this idea, the Supreme Being is a person. He is the creator of laws and rules. Without his will, not even a leaf moves. When he tells it to go, everything goes. When he tells it to stop, everything stops. He is the person who created the world. He is the person who will one day destroy the world. Rabindranath's mind could never escape this idea. That is why the flames of passion are rising in his inner being. There is no revolution. The flames of passion have died out and only cold ashes remain. It is not true that the flames have died out. They are only ashes. How can we call those ashes ornaments?

Rabindranath's prayer is a prayer that is useless and useless. Because the being he prays to is not a person who is nowhere. It is no different from praying to the sky, which is nothing. Even if he listens to the prayer and does it perfectly, there is no benefit. Whom are you talking to? Are you talking to yourself? Praying to is not beneficial. Praying to is not beneficial. Of the two, prayer and meditation, only meditation can be beneficial.

The word “created world” is not correct. Because the word “created world” itself carries the wrong idea of ​​“creator”. The word “sarisati” which means “creating the world” is not a true word. The word “prakrati” which means “nature” is correct. The word “prakrati” which means “nature” is used. The meaning of the word “sarisati” is called the created things. If there is a created thing, there must be a creator. If there is a creator, there must be a person who maintains it. If so, a whole series of problems will arise.

Buddha and Mahavira use the literal word “parakara” for nature. Try to break that word down. The whole meaning of the word “parakara” is “before making, or before making.” It is something that is never made or created. There is no creator behind that thing. What is before every maker is what is called “parakara”. What is before every making is what is called “parakara”. The nature called “parakara” is not just material matter. In that material matter there is also consciousness. In fact, matter is the sleeping state of consciousness. Therefore, the problem is to awaken the sleeping state within oneself. There is no need to pray to anyone.

We must consider the essence as a being. We must not consider it as a person. We must consider the essence as a fragrance. We must not consider it as a flower. If we consider it like this, all the problems of Rabindranath Tagore will change. These problems are not the problems of Rabindranath Tagore alone. They are problems that have been asked for centuries. These problems are composed by Rabindranath Tagore in beautiful words.

If the Creator is the creator of this world, where is the need to create a compassionate world? The first thing that is needed is to create a compassionate world. First, create compassionate people. Then create those wicked, violent, cruel, unjust, wicked, and immoral people. Then send mahatmas to reform those people. Is that right? First, create a patient. Make him a fool from birth. Then send a doctor. If he does not listen to the doctor, he will be angry with the patient. He will punish him. He will send him to hell. If he listens to the doctor's instructions, he will be happy with those patients and reward them in heaven.

If we accept the idea that Issara is a person, then the things I am saying now will seem to be beneficial. Issara sent the Mahatma. First, he created the world. He gave everyone bad qualities. He gave them passion. He gave them sensual pleasure. He gave them anger. He gave them hatred. He gave them enmity. He gave them greed. He gave them these things from the moment they were born. If they were given like that, then isn't it the responsibility of the person who gave them? Where is the fault of the people?

Evil is not created by one's own hands. It is not oneself who creates evil. It is not oneself who creates one's life. It is not oneself who creates the passions hidden in one's life. It is not oneself who brings life. Who gives one passions? Mahatmas and saints advise us to give up passions. The Buddha created the world and the Mahatmas instruct us to give up the world. If the world is to be given up, why is the world still being created? If the Mahatmas are sent, where is the Buddha's need to create the world? If we do not create, we are finished. Without a flute, does it not sound? Once we accept the concept of the Buddha, problems will arise.

That is why Buddha and Mahavira rejected the concept of issara. They rejected it about two thousand five hundred years ago. They clearly said that there is no issara. That is why issara is tolerant, there is no problem of reward. You will get the result of your actions. If you do good, you will get the result. If you do bad, you will get the result. There is no one to give. If you put your hand in the fire, it will not burn. If you touch a flower, the fragrance of the flower will remain on your hand. That is the law of nature. If you walk with restraint, you will not fall. Your arms and legs will not be broken. If you walk drunk, if you walk carelessly, if you lose your mind, where will you stand without falling? Your arms and legs will be broken.

(Mahatmas and saints say that we should tolerate everyone. Should we tolerate violent people and those who kill and torture? Should we tolerate Taylan, Genghis Khan, Nadir Shah? Should we show them love and kindness? So Rabindranath is right in asking the question. What kind of question is it?

"Does the Lord Himself tolerate and forgive those who extinguish our light and poison our air?"

That's the question. But before asking the question of why the Buddha tolerated those people,

The question we must ask is, "Why did you create those people, Your Majesty?"

If an artist paints a dirty picture, who is responsible? Is it the fault of the painting because it is dirty? Or is it the fault of the artist? If a sculptor makes an ugly picture, who is responsible? Is the picture responsible? Should the picture be punished, handcuffed, or put in prison? Or is the sculptor responsible? If there is evil in this world, if there are people in this world who extinguish the light of life, if there is oppression and violence in this world, who is responsible? Who asks such questions?

Rabindranath Tagore did not ask the fundamental question.

Rabindranath only composed prayers. The Nobel Prize-winning "Gita Jaali" is a collection of poems that collectively express prayers. If Rabindranath had been on the side of meditation, he would not have written poems like "Gita Jaali" and would not have won the Nobel Prize. But he achieved a certain success in life.

But for Rabindranath, a revolution is needed. What kind of revolution? We must not look outside, but turn inward. We must awaken our sleeping consciousness. When we do this, we will not find any kind of sage, any kind of mahatma, any kind of scripture. All scriptures are invented by people. The words in the scriptures are the slogans of people.

In the inner realm, there is a zero that transcends the level of people, that transcends the slumber of people. That zero is a world of awakening where even the hundreds of thousands of suns in the inner realm have faded. It is a fragrance that is received once and received every time. It cannot be measured by time. It does not die or disappear.

Once you have that, your whole life will change. Then, even if you fight against injustice in this world, your fight will not be in vain. If you have peace and quiet within yourself, there will be a revolution in your surroundings. There will be peace in your heart. There will be a revolution in your surroundings. There will be an indescribable peace in your inner being and a revolution in your surroundings. Then you will no longer accept slavery. Whether it is political slavery, economic slavery, or psychological slavery, you will no longer accept slavery of any kind. You will remove the curtain of all slavery. If the taste of freedom and peace enters your inner being, you will spread that taste of freedom and peace outside.

Then we will be able to create a new world. We have not yet created a new world.