Unsent Letter #2: Final Understanding

Dear Friend,

I think that the idea "The world is not true," is one of two or three that are most central to Maharaj's teaching, but it is also one of the hardest to understand. In fact, it may be that is is not possible to understand it at all, in the way that Maharaj meant it, until we ourselves have the same realization that he had. Maharaj used to say himself that before realization you cannot understand the holy books and after realization, you don't need them anyway! It is the same thing with Maharaj's own teaching.

Being an aspirant means that one is consistently trying to understand what the Master has said, and understanding does increase, sometimes gradually and sometimes by leaps and bounds, but one does not get that 'final understanding" that puts an end to all the strife and struggle. The final understanding comes when the time is right for it. It is a paradox because, on the one hand, there is nothing that one can do to make it happen, but on the other hand, it never would happen without all of the efforts that one makes along the way. There is a Sufi saying "What we speak about cannot be found by seeking; yet only seekers find it." Anyway, the point I want to make is that realization is the key. If you keep a one-pointed focus on that goal, you are doing everything that you need to do.

After realization, understanding is not an issue. Anything that needs to be understood is understood immediately and without effort. However, this does not mean that it is always possible to express that understanding in words. The ability to use concepts and to arrange them so as to point to spiritual truths is a skill that has to be learnt and which (I hope!) becomes easier with practice. In my case, this is very much a work in progress. So, although I may say that I understand the idea "The world is not true," it remains, for the most part, an intuitive understanding--one that is felt emotionally rather than grasped intellectually.

What usually happens is that the one who is attempting to convey some particular understanding will resort to analogy, but I hesitate to use analogy in this case. All analogies break down at some point, and it is too easy to start forcing one thing to stand for another when it does not really fit. The conclusion that I have come to is that actually it is not possible for one person to convey understanding to another. Another, and probably more radical, conclusion, which follows from the first one, is that it doesn't really matter whether you understand an idea such as "The world is not true" or not. The fact that disciples do become realized without first understanding everything that the Master says proves that. After all, the goal is to realize the Self, not to understand any particular concept, and that realization depends more than anything on a general ripeness or readiness.

You could say that the "final understanding is "final" because it is the understanding that there is nothing that needs to be understood. The desire to understand is really an aspect of bondage. Does this mean that one should give up trying to understand the Master's teaching? No, of course not. One must keep on churning the ideas every day and keep up one's devotion to the Master. Again, this is a deeply paradoxical situation--as an aspirant, one has a longing to merge with a reality that one feels separated from, while all the time one is studying a teaching that tells one that one already is that reality. However, that one-pointed desire for reality is the desire that will end all desires. It is the final stage, the home stretch, so stick with it, and the Self will appear at the appropriate time. "Watch, for you know not when the Master of the house will come."

Be well until we speak again!

A.