During these next few years, decades, can my body evolve?
No.
My body can only age.
To fly like an eagle and to swim like a dolphin,
perhaps it might take millions of years.
But that does not solve the purpose of my life now.
So, physically we cannot evolve.
We can only age.
Everyone,
from very early childhood, has this fundamental question,
“Why am I here?
What is the purpose?
What shall I achieve at the end of my life?
What is after this life?
Is there an afterlife?
Is there God?”
How to answer such questions?
When someone asked my Guruji, “Can you show me God?”
His answer was brilliant, very thoughtful.
He said, “Suppose I showed you God, how will you know that it is God?”
So, answers, verbal answers, are of no use.
Someone says, “Yes, there is God.” How will that satisfy your heart?
No way.
So, one has to experience, one has to be one with that experience.
What is the purpose of life?
Many great saints -
Swami Vivekananda,
Sri Ramana Maharshi,
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
our ancient texts, Ashtavakra Gita,
Vasishtha Samhita, Bhagavad Gita
they all say one common thing,
“The purpose of this life is to evolve.” And what are we trying to evolve?
Is it the physical body?
No.
Ask yourself this question.
During these next few years, decades, can my body evolve?
No.
My body can only age.
To fly like an eagle and to swim like a dolphin,
perhaps it might take millions of years.
But that does not solve the purpose of my life now.
So, physically we cannot evolve.
We can only age.
When we tackle the causal body,
our soul and ask ourselves the question,
“Can the soul evolve?”,
our Shastras, they say, fundamentally, that
the soul cannot evolve because it is perfect in itself.
What can you add to the perfection,
to the immutable entity which is pure?
How much purity can you add?
How much perfection can you add to that?
So, we see that my soul cannot evolve and my gross body cannot evolve.
Then what is there to evolve?
Our subtle body, Sookshma Sharir, which is made up of four things
- Chit, Manas, Buddhi, Ahankar.
Manas, Buddhi and Ahankar - Mind, Intellect and Ego
are part of this Consciousness, Chetna.
And as we evolve,
as this subtle body evolves, the Consciousness evolves.
Consciousness can evolve only if, I say again, only if
the other three bodies evolve
Mind, Intellect and Ego.
If they don’t evolve, your Consciousness can never evolve.
Swami Vivekananda very specifically quotes that the purpose of life
is to make this available Consciousness that we all have,
to allow it to reach a Superconscious state
and allow it to plunge into a Subconscious state,
since this available Consciousness is like a thin film of water
that is sandwiched between two giant oceans.
Imagine a small river sandwiched between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
It will be a pathetic scene.
It is only through meditation that we can rise above
our available Consciousness
and allow it to fly high into the sky of Superconsciousness.
At the same time,
the same meditation can help us to dive deeper
into the ocean of Subconsciousness.