RIDDLE OF LIFE

Suppose you are on the top of a hill and view at a distance, shooting up from the edge of a cliff, the branches of a tree. They appear to you to be suspended and growing in the air. You wonder at the sight. You question yourself as to how a tree could grow and appear in the air without a prop to stand upon. You do not stop at that. You proceed towards the strange sight with great eagerness to solve the mystery. You approach the very brink of the cliff where the branches were seen. Now you peep down and what do you behold? You find that the branches belong to a tall tree having its root far down at the base of a deep precipice. Now your wonder has ceased. You have discovered the root of the illusive appearance and everything is clear to you. Your riddle is solved. So it is with life. For you it proves to be a perplexing riddle, so long as you have not seen the Source of it. The appearances delude you and you are asking yourself: “Where did I come from? Who am I? Whence is this universe?” You cudgel your brains with these questions, and strive hard with all the powers of your thought to find a solution for them. If you merely stand where you are and think and discuss within yourself however much you may, still you are far away from the solution. With zeal and earnestness, you must walk the distance that takes you to the place wherefrom you can get the vision of your Source.

The path to the Source of your and world’s being is not without. You have to go within yourself. You must go past your senses, mind and intellect; you must traverse beyond all your ideas and ideals; you must transcend all limits, conditions and tastes, and then alone will you have the fullest vision and realisation of your Immortal Root. This immortal root is also the root of all that exists — the visible and invisible worlds, and all beings and creatures in them. Now you realise that out of one common Existence has evolved the variety of manifestations observed all around you. Your perplexity is totally extinct. The knotty problems of your life are solved once for all. You know that you are one with all lives — one with the entire universe. Infinity is your true existence. Eternal bliss is your real nature. Birth, change and death are passing and playful events in your Cosmic Life and Spirit. Your life, in tune with the infinite God, has now reached the haven where everlasting felicity and peace dwells. In one word, you have realised your Supreme Godhead.