Great Revolution – In Gita Verse 18.43 Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the natural qualities of work for the kṣatriyas.
Krishna says to have the quality of Kshatriya one has to be courageous.
One who is a seeker needs to have courage to say that ‘I don’t know’.
The truth cannot be said because you can say only things which have been really known, known totally, known perfectly. Then you can express it. Truth is never known totally. You feel it, you live it, you have great experiences of it, great visions; great mysteries open, but each mystery brings you to another mystery. As each door opens you see that a thousand and one doors are still there unopened. Each door brings you to new doors. So how can you express it?
A man of knowing will say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t know them all, I know only a little bit. I know only myself’. But that is enough, that is more than enough. That is the highest one can aspire to.
The man of knowledge goes on claiming that he knows everything – hence he proves his ignorance.
Only an ignorant person says that he knows; the knower always says that he does not know. That is the sign, the indication, of real knowing.
One more thing. When you know something you divide reality into the knower, the known and the knowledge. The reality immediately becomes divided into three things. That’s the meaning of the symbol of the trinity in Christianity. If you know, God becomes three. The moment you know, God becomes three. The one is no longer one. Knowledge divides. That is the meaning of the concept of the Hindi trimurti – God has three faces. The moment you know, he has three faces. Knowledge divides.
And now physicists say that they have come to know the fundamental of life, the fundamental of existence – electricity. Again they find it is divided into three: the electron, the neutron and the proton. It seems that three is very basic. It seems that if you dissolve into reality there is one but the moment you turn it over and look at it, it immediately turns into three. Certainly, because then you are separate, that which you know is separate, and between the two is knowledge – the knower, the known and the knowledge.
So knowledge divides – and that which divides cannot lead you to ultimate truth. Knowing unites.
In knowing, one does not know who is the knower, who is the known and what is knowledge. That’s why knowing. A man becomes a mystic: knowing, a man becomes one with reality; knowing, one loses all distinctions, differences, boundaries, definitions; knowing, one becomes in-defined – as in-defined as reality itself.
Tao says that any activity done with full awareness becomes a meditation. Activity is not the real thing – how you do it, what consciousness you bring to it, is. You can pray in a very earthly way and then it becomes mundane – you know it. If you go to the temples and listen to people’s prayers, you will know it. Their prayers are not real prayers. Somebody is asking for a lottery ticket; somebody is asking that his wife who is ill should be made well again; somebody is saying that his son has failed, next time God should please take care, somebody is saying that his daughter has become very grown-up and it is difficult to find a boy for her – help me. These are the prayers. They are very mundane activities. Very ordinary. Why do you call them prayers? What is sacred about them?
Nothing seems to be sacred about them. You may be sitting in a temple but that doesn’t make much difference.
If your prayer can be profane then ordinary activities can be sacred. That is a Taoist contribution to the world. They say that activity is not the real thing, it is the consciousness you bring to it that is.
Krishna says have courage so that each activity can be turned into meditation. Even these murderous arts of archery can be turned into non-violent arts. This is a great revolution.
Tags: Great Revolution
