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By Dr.Satish Kapoor
Human urge is to be with the source of urge. Propensity
is the
seed, devotion, the sapling, divine inspiration, the
plant, spirituality, the flower and realization, the fruit of
effortless effort. Mysticism is the way and the goal. It is a
path without a road. It is an objective without motive. It is a
quest without any meaning. Mysticism is the awareness of oneself
as a part of existence; the awareness of the Supreme Being as
the envelope of existence; the awareness of existence as the
cause of existence itself. Mysticism is a happening. It occurs
without noise. It is a dawn which never sets. It lights up the
being without an instrument. It becomes itself in the process of
becoming.
The mystic eternally is. His timeless existence
transcends human time in such categories as present, past and
future. He knows the Knower which He himself is. He sees the
Seer who is his own Self. The mystic knows not the ways of the
world. He is untainted by hypocrisy, untouched by artificiality
and unconcerned about social norms. He may not know manners and
etiquette but he knows himself. He may be ignorant of the human
laws but understands the laws of existence, being in Divine
consciousness always. He does not please or displease anyone.
Misfortune is his normal fate, poverty his forte and patience
his property. He does not fear nor is the cause of it. He lives
silently and in utter humility, like the fruit-bearing tree with
its branches bent downwards.
In a mystic experience of union with the Divine, God
himself becomes the devotee; destination becomes the path and
speech becomes the deepest silence. Who meets whom? asks Sant
Jnaneshvara (1275-1296), the first saint-prophet of Maharashtra,
in his mystical treatise Amritanubhava (‘Experiencing the
nectar’) : How can the eye be opened when the unity between the
individual Self and the Universal Self is dissolved? The sun
sees everything. But is it possible for him to witness the
beauty of his own rising and setting? If the moon tried to
gather the moonlight then who has gathered what? How can words
describe the Reality when the Supreme Speech itself disappears
and no trace is found of any sound?
The mystic is a witness to the play of the Pure
Intelligence all over the universe and is possessed by the Truth
he has experienced. Nothing can deter him from the path or
disturb his inner poise. He smiles when ordinary mortals curse
their fate and laughs when tortured as the 17th Century mystic,
Sarmad.
Filled with the Light Eternal, the mystic dances in
ecstasy. The melody of the un-struck sound (anahat-nada)
provides rhythm to his movements. He dies to the world of
phenomena and comes to see God in everything and everything in
God. He finds all objects, animate as well as inanimate,
resplendent in His glory. Sant Ekanatha (1533-1599) wrote : ‘I
am the singer as well as the hearer. I am my song. I alone exist
in this world. There is no trace of duality to be met with’
The sense of I and myness burns as incense before a
mystic’s own being. Love breeds in him equanimity and
fellow-feeling and he serves all as he discovers his own self in
others. According to popular tradition, when Lord Vishnu,
assuming the form of a dog, snatched a loaf of bread from Sant
Namadeva (C1270-C1350 CE), he ran after him with the bowl of
ghee shouting ‘Please, do not eat without it’. Before chopping a
tree, Namadeva gave himself a blow with the axe to know how he
felt.
According to ancient Hindu scriptures, the ecstatic
marks of a mystical experience may assume one or more of these
forms – eyelids are half-opened and looks become stationery,
body shivers or perspires, the hair stand on end, throat holds
back feelings, breathing becomes extremely slow or fast, a sense
of levitation comes and the heart is laden with joy.
The tears of a mystic flow with liquid majesty – they
are pearls of spiritual fervour descending from the depth of his
soul. There is poetry in his eyes, music in his words and speech
in his silence. What he utters is scripture. What he does not
utter is truth waiting for discovery. Philosophy comes to him
naturally. His company invokes purity in thought and transforms
a person, as in the case of Narendranath who became Swami
Vivekananda under the influence of Sri Ramakrishna.
The medieval saints of Maharashtra, notably
Nivrittinatha, Jnaneshvara, Sopandeva, Muktabai, Visoba Khechar,
Namadeva, Chokhamela, Narahari, Sena, Samvata, Gora, Kanhopatra,
Ekanatha and Tukarama were mystics of the highest order. They
saw god as one would perceive the world of phenomena. They
stressed the efficacy of God’s name, professed love and
brotherhood, worshipped Viṭ̣ṭhala, the presiding deity of
Pandharpur whom they identified with Lord Krishna, and poured
out mystical verses (abhangas) in torrents.
Janabai, the female attendant of Namadeva was so madly
in love with the image of Viṭ̣ṭhala that she called him
scornfully as ‘Vithya’, ‘Vithya’ when he did not respond to the
calls of her heart.
Of God my meat and drink I make,
God is the bed on which I lie,
God is whatever I give or take,
God’s constant fellowship have I,
For God is here and God is there,
No place that is empty of him.
Gora, the eldest among 14th – 15th Century Maharashtra
saints claimed to have danced on mud with the Lord. Kanhopatra
(C. 15th Century), the dancing damsel of Mangalvedha (district
Solapur) thought that she was eternally wedded to god
Viṭ̣ṭhala and refused the overtures of the Muslim King of
Bidar. She left her mortal coil as one would leave one’s
belongings.
Mystical insights transcend the orbit of the mind and
cannot be a matter of ratiocination. When Chokha, the pariah
saint claimed that God had visited his house and took meals;
when Sena, the barber- saint, challenged to show God in a mirror
even to a cynic and a sceptic; when Samvata, the gardener-
saint, saw God all around him, even in chilly and garlic; when
Janabai caught him picking up dust while she was cleaning the
floor in Namdeva’s house or when Tukaram experienced the miracle
of a wonderful crop after the grain-field he was guarding had
been eaten up by a flock of birds, they were speaking from a
supramental state which far from being hallucinatory, denoted an
experience surpassing the sensory level of perception. In such a
supreme state, one may see without eyes, hear without ears, talk
without words, walk without feet and die while living. Says Sant
Tukaram, the greatest mystic saint of Maharashtra,
Before my eyes my dead self lies;
O, bliss beyond compare!
Joy fills the worlds and I rejoice,
The soul of all things there.
My selfish bonds are loosed, and now
I reach forth far and free.
Gone is the soil of birth and death
The petty sense of ‘Me’.
Suggested Further Reading
About the Author: : Dr.Satish Kapoor is a
Punjab University gold medalist and record
holder in history from Punjab University, Chandigarh, a
former British Council Scholar at School of Oriental and
African Studies, University of London, an Associate editor
of the 18-volume Encyclopedia of Hinduism(a project of
India Heritage Research Foundation) to be released in
2010, and a contributor to Encyclopedia of
Sikhism(Punjabi University, Patiala) and Encyclopedia of
Indian Art and Culture(Harman Publications). His
publications entitled, CULTURAL CONTACT AND FUSION; SWAMI
VIVEKANANDA IN THE WEST and THE KHALSA;
SUBSTRATUM,SUBSTANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE have been
applauded for in-depth research and new insights.
Besides
, he has contributed twelve chapters to published
books, some of them by GND University, Amritsar and Punjabi
University, Patiala. He has also published about 400
articles, book reviews etc. to newspapers, periodicals and
research journals and broadcast /telecast more than 200
talks/features/documentaries. For nearly three years he
did a daily column SPIRITUAL NUGGETS for THE
TRIBUNE,CHANDIGARH.
Dr. Satish Kapoor was a PG Lecturer in History and Director, Centre for
Historical Studies at Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar
before being elevated to the post of Principal in 2005.
After serving the institution till 2008, he joined as
Secretary, Dayananda Institutions, Solapur(Maharashtra)
which comes under the umbrella of DAV College Management
Trust ,New Delhi.
On 5th April 2009,he was bestowed with Shahid Rajpal DAV
Literary Award by sh T.N.Chaturvedi,former Governor of
Karnataka. The award is given for original research in
arts, science, literature, indology ,Vedic studies etc. He
was honored for his research on the subject; HINDUISM
;1000 YEARS ;IMAGES,IMPACT AND PERSPECTIVES.
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