Temporal and Spiritual Knowledge
Gajaraj Swamigal: Father, Maha Muni, Great Guru, bowing to
you, I request you to give me a simple explanation for the word knowledge.
Sage Agastya: Father Ganapathy, giver of knowledge Vadivela,
bowing to you, I desire to give a suitable explanation to the question my
disciple is asking me.
I will give a simple explanation to the fantastic question
that you have posed, listen.
It is not easy to give details to the word called Knowledge.
Knowledge is that micro material, created by God that
pervades the entire universe. Knowledge is of several kinds. In that the
greatest is the explanation given by the very source of the Absolute! An
explanation about this was given through Brahma by Maha Brahma for all the
three ages.
As time passed, and as those that lived on earth changed,
different explanations appeared that were relevant to the situation.
As the explanations became many, and those that explained
this varied, and the meaning differed; yet understand that all this knowledge
is like the flowers that have flowered in a tree that has deep roots and hence
cannot be shaken.
While the flowers are many, and yet the tree is one, isn’t
the taste of the fruit from that tree unique?
We call the knowledge that the Vedas expound as temporal
knowledge. The other type of knowledge is spiritual knowledge.
Temporal knowledge is that which is written by man and
written in books. It is the knowledge that one learns by being taught by
others. The explanation is given by the Guru, or book or through what others
say.
Spiritual knowledge is that which is knowledge beyond this.
This type of knowledge is normally not known by reading or by listening. This
type of knowledge emerges by itself from within. There is a connection between
the mind and the soul.
From the depths of the mind, the soul gives the knowledge to
the gross body that surrounds it. In such a case, the knowledge that is given
by the soul, as it comes through the mind of the human, may get mixed up with
the knowledge that he has learnt. I will give you another explanation to this,
listen.
When it rains, water runs like a river and reaches the
ocean. As it proceeds, it collects some material that is not related to it that
is found on its way. In the same way, the temporal knowledge that man has gets
mixed up with the spiritual knowledge when it emerges.
It is only when man keeps his mind pure like milk based on
his actions, does the knowledge that comes through it remain white!
If one wants to gain that pure knowledge through his soul,
then his mind must be pure.
Thinking of the Absolute, when you sit in meditation, and
melting that memory of the Absolute in your heart, when you keep your mind
without any dirt, and reach the state of void, which is when there is a
computability between the mind and the soul.
The soul becomes one
with the Absolute in the yogis, in the paramahamsa’s and those that are pure.
The knowledge that comes then is directly from the supreme. Those that reach
this stage become known as Brahma Gnani’s - knowers of the Absolute.
Even though the first among the Trinity is Brahma, it is
Gnaneshwara who is higher even though he is younger than the Trinity. Those
that seek knowledge may first bow to Muruga and then through their own Gurus,
gain this knowledge.
The knowledge that you are now gaining is like this. Yet,
sometimes, your knowledge, the knowledge that you know, is getting mixed up in
this river. This mixing is not wrong, isn’t it only when one bathes, that the
place becomes cleansed!
Now I will give you some more details on knowledge.
Knowledge is the very basis of Dharma or righteousness. When
one is known as wise, the actions he performs, the words, thoughts, must be
without any taint. Goddess Laxmi who holds the lotus in both hands and stands
on a lotus is also the supreme epitome of knowledge, I declare!
This is also one of the meanings behind the manifestation of
Laxmi, wife of the Lord, as she appears, holding untainted knowledge in her
hands, standing on a big lotus flower.
While the spear of Muruga is known as that which kills
demons, I will give you a new explanation to that. The demon may be considered
as ignorance. It is that sharp spear of Kumara that destroys the demon of
ignorance, I declare!
Even though that which is destroyed is the demon of
ignorance, that demon once destroyed, is also a pure soul, who emerges after
settling all his sins, getting rid of them, and becoming free of the curse.
If you look at demons in all the puranas, you will
understand that they are all great devotees.
That is why the one who has acquired the idea of knowledge,
must first destroy the demon of ignorance that is within him and allow the
lotus of knowledge to bloom in its place. This is liberation.
Science is another branch of knowledge. A person with a
sharp intellect, improving his knowledge, understanding the knowledge that
comes from within him like a flood, gives out new knowledge to the world at
times. We call him a scientist.
There are some differences between a Sage and a scientist. The
knowledge that is given by a scientist may be used by man both for good and for
harm.
An ordinary Sage gives rationality to the world based on his
knowledge. He cleanses the heart of others, and only good happens to others
through him. I will tell you something at this point. The state that you are in
is the state that I have just told you.
The one who is a Sage goes from ignorance to becoming a
scientist and then higher than that.
After doing everything that he can do for others, after
giving the knowledge given by the Guru to others, “This is enough, I will give
my knowledge and intellect to the Absolute,” saying this, intent on the Absolute,
in discipline, forgetting his children, those around him and people of the
world, reaches a higher state of a Sage and that becomes the path to
liberation.
Then addressing Gajaraj Swamigal, Sage Agastya said, Father,
the path that you are walking on now, the actions you are performing, and
thoughts have attained purity. Giving the knowledge that I have given you and
the knowledge that is already in you, only to those that ask for it; forgetting
everything, you will undertake the final journey to reach the Absolute.
