Thirty-Eight.
My vast form, known as the world-nature, is divided into five parts—earth, water, fire, air, and ether. These do not truly perish; rather, they transform according to circumstance—as in creation, sustenance, and dissolution. Through this immense body of mine, the subtlest causal form takes shape.
In earth lies the power to hold,
In water lies the power to gather,
In fire lies the power of transformation,
In air lies the power to pervade,
And in ether lies the absence of obstruction.
These change like the seasons. Yet to create one complete living form requires equal harmony between the gross, the subtle, and the causal. In this union alone does a full living body come into being. And from that body unfolds the complete flowering of action, knowledge, devotion, and love. Without the gross body, no living image or manifestation is possible.
Without a living vessel, consciousness cannot be born. Without a living form, there is no way to offer living proof. Man desires living proof in all things. Therefore, without "body," no proof is possible. The scriptures, the Vedas, Vedanta, and the saints all proclaim—the human soul is immortal. But how many will believe that the soul is immortal without man? Is man not the totality of the soul? Then if man dies and the soul lives on—does this not breed doubt?
To prove that the soul is immortal requires no asceticism or worship. If the soul is truly immortal, then as long as the body remains mortal, that immortality cannot be proven. For if an immortal soul manifests in a mortal body, that body too should possess immortality. Thus the real matter is—how to keep the mortal human body alive with the help of the soul. The proof of the soul's immortality will come only when man sees that the mortal body and the soul become one, and both together live eternally.
For the elements of man's gross, subtle, and causal bodies—earth, water, fire, air, and ether—are all immortal. Then why should a body made of these not be immortal? The materials are immortal, yet what is made from them is mortal—this is what demands investigation.
Man desires to see the immortal form of what dies. As long as the subtle, causal, and great-causal do not manifest through the gross body, immortality is impossible. There is no other medium for complete manifestation with complete consciousness save the gross body. Therefore, one day the subtle, the causal, and the great-causal must manifest through this gross body itself. This is the true work of the "Guru."
Thirty-Nine.
When disciples pray to the Guru for liberation, release, and absolute freedom, the Guru offers them certain instructions according to their wishes, and even guides them from darkness to light with his own spiritual power. But the question arises—does darkness thereby vanish from the world? If darkness remains all around, then even if one disciple enters the realm of light, that light remains singular, incomplete.
The Guru's true work is to transform the world's darkness into light. To send a single disciple from darkness to light is not the Guru's task. And the disciple's work is to aid the Guru in this great undertaking.
In truth, light itself cannot even comprehend that darkness exists. Likewise, darkness knows not what light is. Therefore, the question of conflict between light and darkness does not arise. Only man understands what light is and what darkness is. Therefore, the power to transform darkness into light rests in man's hands alone.
As long as light and darkness remain separate, the Guru's work is unfinished. And since consciousness cannot awaken without the gross body, the human body is the only medium. Even to perceive the subtle, the causal, or the great-causal, the human body is necessary. All practice, worship, austerity, and yoga are possible only through the body.
By churning this body, one attains the knowledge and perception of all 8.4 million species of existence.
Therefore, the gross body is the foundation of all action; and the fruits of all action, perception, and experience are fulfilled in this human body alone. Beginning and end of consciousness are both accomplished centered upon the human form.
Forty.
The perception of God, the Divine, the soul, the Supreme Self—the understanding of the complete and the incomplete, the answers to “Who am I?” and “What is the world?”—all of these awaken only through the human body as the center. Whether manifest or formless, everything finds its support in this body. Without this body, there is no way to comprehend their existence.
I am Natural Consciousness—you need no practice or worship to attain me. Though I manifest through the mind, I am not bound by the mind. I am naturally free. The mind takes shelter in me and plays with good and evil, virtue and vice; in the end, it rests again in me. I remain always the same—I lack nothing, therefore I undergo no change. Exception occurs only in those who wish to stand apart, denying me.
My absence is the root of all absence. I am fully expressed in the gross body. To attain me, one must complete one’s actions. I cannot truly be known except through the medium of the living human body. Complete perception of me through the subtle or causal body is impossible—this is my peculiarity. Therefore not all recognize me. I am not bound by knowledge, devotion, or love. I naturally love all—without any condition.
To me, there is no question of sin or merit, no difference between saint and sinner, no distinction between devotee and non-devotee. For behind all such distinctions lies some reason, and wherever there is reason, it shows there is lack. But I am without lack, therefore beyond all reason itself.
Just as humans feel the need for God or the Divine, so too does God or the Divine need humans. Both complement each other. God or the Divine cannot manifest without human consciousness. Human awareness is the sole path of manifestation.
Yet humans are bewildered by the mind. Therefore, though my presence is everywhere, they cannot recognize me. In truth, the mind too seeks me, but it does not know that what it seeks is I myself. The mind desires complete and lasting peace, desires joy—and that eternal joy is none other than I.
All this while, humans have performed intense spiritual practices seeking immortality in mortal bodies, sought refuge in God, the Divine, the soul, and Brahman. But none of them could grant that immortality, for they have no authority to grant it. Immortality exists only in my nature.