Darshan of Swami Krishnananda in 1998

by Swami Krishnananda

37. The Seven Planes of Existence

(Darshan given on October 29th, 1998)

Swamiji: He will give you everything. Not only moksha, even a cup of tea. If you want it, it will come. Whatever you need will be given to you – moksha also, of course. The secret is, the thing that will bless you is not even one inch away from you. That is the only one thing. Otherwise, you look up at Vaikuntha, “How far away? After many births I have to take.” No need of fearing like that. That Great Being who is giving this assurance to you is touching your skin itself, so what is the matter? Why are you looking up like that? That is a wrong way of thinking. The thinking is also wrong.

An ashramite: Swamiji, once Swamiji told me, when I asked Swamiji, there are seven planes. Swamiji told me they are under your nose only, like that. How is it?

Swamiji: These seven planes are only pressures of the descending force. They are not separate, like chapatis kept one over the other. One chapati is not connected with another chapati; but this is not like that. This is the whole force descending in different, different pressures.

Ashramite: Here itself.

Swamiji: Yes, there is a material body. Inside that there are atoms, inside that there are electrons, inside that there is magnetic force, inside that, unlimited pressure from space-time. Now, 'inside' means that it is not physical; they are not physically inside. It is only concentration points. We have got five sheaths.

Ashramite: Layers.

Swamiji: They are like layers of water in the ocean. There is ice and liquid water, but demarcation is not there. It is only energy centres manifesting in different degrees. So is the relationship that we have with God also. The so-called externality, the distance that we imagine of God, is only a foolishly created illusion. The whole universe, which is the body of God, is a huge mass of integration, and you should not be outside it. That huge mass of creative intelligence – you are there only, merged into it, and by thought, the whole thing will come. But if even a little doubt is there, the whole thing will crumble. If a little electrical short-circuit is there, the whole light will be off. Only a little bit. That short-circuit should not be there.

Ashramite: At present mental condition Swamiji said that we are a part of that Cosmic Being, so can we pray to that Cosmic Being Himself: “You are in me, within me and around me and I am a part of You. Please give me the awareness of the whole.” Like that can you pray, Swamiji?

Swamiji: The world is not outside you. Do you believe that? You are a part of the world. So how is it outside? Is the hand outside the body?

Ashramite: No, it is part of the body.

Swamiji: Same thing is the connection. But we have an egoistic illness, I should say, which does not permit us to think like that.

[Later on]

The Supreme Being is like the ocean. It can take you inside, which means you will cease to exist afterwards. It is a dangerous exercise from one point of view, and the most blessed thing from another point of view. If the ocean pulls you into its bosom, will it be a pleasant thing? No. But this is what God will do. We have only salty oceans here, but God is like an ocean of nectar, and even if it is an ocean of nectar, would you like to drown yourself in it? It may be a beautiful, tasty, nectarine sea, but would anybody like to efface oneself in that nectar? The nectar is very delicious, very valuable, very covetable, but there is a condition: You should cease to exist. Then you don't want the nectar. Let the nectar be in the pot.

The dearest thing is not nectar; it is not even God. One's own self is the dearest thing, and you have to protect it with great care. If a condition is put that you should not exist when you reach God, you will shudder. You will feel that time has not come for this kind of experience. We consider that to exist as this individual personality is a great joy. We hug it, we caress it, we love it as nothing else can be loved, but it is the worst thing from the point of view of the aim of meditation. Individual consciousness is the worst thing, but we consider it as the best thing.

This mystery can be cleared only if the mind is pure, and no doubt is there: “Will God come, or will He not come? Has He come before anybody, up to this time? Has anybody seen God?” Like that, doubts will come. “So what I am pursuing is a will-o'-the-wisp, a phantasm.” This is the voice of the ego.

Great mystics used to sometimes describe entry into the Absolute as entering into the lion's den. When you enter the den of the lion, what will happen? That happens when you enter God – fear-struck, impossible to imagine. We run away from that because anything that is antagonistic to the well-being of this hard egoistic personality is not welcome. That's why we like praise. We don't like to be condemned. We don't like some bad word about us. We don't like to be criticised because this is all a blow that is given to the ego. He says, “Don't touch me!” Praise, praise, praise, praise: “Oh, nobody is like this! Oh, wonderful man!” Then you will be bloated, like this. The ego will, like a pumpkin, become bloated. Only some words have been uttered; nothing has come to you. “Oh great man, wonderful! See, what a great achievement he has done. Great man.” “He is a useless fellow, good for nothing, a non-entity.” If you go on saying this to some person, he will shrivel and get annoyed. And who is annoyed? This principle called egoism is not Mr. So-and-so or this man who is angry. The ego, which is self-sufficient, as it considers, gets irritated and pounces. That's why wars take place, battles take place, quarrels take place. Quarrels, battles, wars, they are all conflicts of egos. One ego says, “Let me see what is the strength of your ego.”

In the beginning, this meditation is very unpalatable. If you simply wool-gather and sleep, thinking that you are meditating, then there is no problem: “Let us sit for one hour and go away.” But if you make it a very serious matter and try to abolish your individuality, there is great fear: “What is the purpose of doing anything when I am trying to dissolve myself in some unknown thing?” Myself – the word 'myself' is very important. “Me, you want to take away. You take away me.” Nothing worse can be conceived in this world. “Oh, I see. You want me to become non-existent.” Who can tolerate that? Let any human being think over this matter. Would you like to be non-existent? You will not sleep by even this thought. Nobody can tolerate this word. And if you try to brave it – “Let me see. I will go into the lion's den” – then there will be a terrible clash between yourself, whatever you are, and that which is in the den.

There was a great mystic, a Greek mystic called Plotinus. He wrote a book called Enneads. He writes in his autobiography that he has entered the den three times in his life, and he gives some description of what he felt, what he saw, in such rapturous words that you will start shivering, trembling, by the description. There is a chapter: The Vision of the One. What does it mean? You seek everything for the sake of obtaining everything. If you want to obtain everything, you must lose everything. Lose what? Only God can give a clear answer. We cannot simply keep quiet with this problem.

A person was crossing a flooded river. He had a trunk on his head with some jewellery and gold, and in one hand he was holding his wife, and with the other hand he was holding his son, a small child. He thought he would cross. Then the water became very strong. He was shuddering. All was going. The whole thing will go. He thought in his mind, “I will throw this trunk down. Let it go. I will earn money afterwards if I am alive.” Then afterwards, very difficult it became, so he pushed the son into the water. “What is there? I can have more children afterwards,” he thought. Then it became still worse, and he pushed the wife also. “I can marry another lady afterwards.” Then what remains afterwards? The great me.

Actually, we have no love for husband or wife, or children or gold. When the test comes, we will throw everything for the sake of the breath that you have to maintain. The greatest thing in the world is breathing. If you cannot breathe, then what is the good of property? The whole thing will go in one second. This is a little humorous story. It is not true that you are loving your family. When the test period comes, you will kick the family and save yourself. And yourself – now, who is that 'yourself'? This is a mysterious, unintelligible demon, you should call it. This mysterious ego is a devilish entry into our real soul, wanting to swallow us completely. Great fear! If you think of God as the only existence – the only being, nothing external, only one, no space, no time, nobody exists, sole being, sole being, sole being – if you go on contemplating, fear will overtake you. It will shake you. “Oh, what are you thinking?” Somebody speaks like that: “Oh, what are you thinking?” Christ heard this voice. “What are you doing here?” This voice was heard by Buddha: “Hey foolish man, what are you thinking?” The ego says, “What are you thinking against me? Beware.”

It will have various techniques of terrifying you so that you may not achieve what you want. Touching God may look like touching fire or touching dynamite or touching a thunderbolt. It is a fire and a thunderbolt to you, but by itself it is not a thunderbolt. 'You' means, who is this you? This very, very dear ego – me, me, me, me. Go on saying 'me, me, me, me', and all that. The whole lifetime you do only this. Your opponent is yourself only. You have no enemy except yourself. So much love. You hug yourself, like this.

But this problem will not arise if you know what you are going to get with this discipline. Unimaginable joy. Waves of eternity will dash on you, millions and millions and millions times more than the bliss of the greatest joy that you can think in this world. At least tell yourself, “Oh I see, oh I see. Wonderful! I am going to get it. Then I will make some sacrifice.”

These are all certain instructions to the children that we are by the great teachers of the Upanishads. You will never do anything unless you are tempted by greater joys that are yet to come – millions and millions and millions of times the joy that you can think of as an emperor of this earth. Imagine you are the emperor of the whole earth. You will burst with joy. But that is the least thing that you can conceive. Hundredfold, hundredfold, hundredfold, hundredfold, hundredfold, hundredfold. It goes on, the Upanishad says, until it reaches the topmost level. How many hundreds? Hundreds multiplied by hundreds twenty times, so what is the extent of joy? The brain will think, “I can't make out any sense.”

Then there is the last one, which is the thing that strikes terror and fear, and pours immortality upon you. It strikes terror and then pours immortality. Both things it does simultaneously. You must be prepared to pass through all these stages if you want to make this life worthwhile; otherwise, you cut jokes and go here and there. You go to this Guru, that Guru, this temple, that temple. This will not cut ice. If you have to get everything, you must lose everything that is connected to yourself. Study the Upanishads. How happy, how happy you will be even by studying! Hari Om!