| The Three
Bodies
Man is engaged in ceaseless search for happiness; but, he is
incapable of defining what exactly is the essential component
of happiness. So, he flits from one objective gain to another,
ever discontented with himself, ever bothered by disappointment.
He tries to possess, to accumulate, to acquire more and more
of external junk, which clouds his vision and dulls his appetite
for gains of lasting value. When can a man say, I am fully
happy; I need no more? What is the nature of joy or comfort
that external objects can give? Man does not pause to inquire.
He is unaware that he himself is the embodiment of the highest
and the most lasting happiness or bliss or Ananda. That flaw
has led him into disaster and disease.
 There
are three stages of wisdom correlated to those three bodies:
Jnana, Su?Jnana and Vijnana. Knowledge that is gained by the
analysis?of the objective world and the similarities of the
behaviour of its components is Jnana. When this knowledge
is further studied and practised to subserve the best interests
of the individual and society, it becomes Su-Jnana, or beneficial
wisdom. The intentions and urges that arise from the purified
consciousness saturated with the Divine qualities emanating
from the sage is Vijnana, the Highest Wisdom. It is to be
noted that the word Vijnana is often misused to indicate mere
jnana, or co-ordinated information, analysed information about
sense perceptions arising out of contact with the material
objective world. Bharatiya Culture uses the word for the Supreme
Wisdom, which denotes the seer, the saint.
Once the intelligence is purified
and dedicated to spiritual effort, there should be no slipping
back, whatever the obstacle, whatever the temptation. Hanuman,
charged with the mission of discovering the place where Ravana
had confined Sita, decided that he should take a leap over
the sea towards Lanka to search for her in that island fortress.
While he was propelled across the miles by the Name of Ram
that he carried in his heart and on his tongue, a mountain
immersed at the bottom of the sea felt a strong urge to do
him some little service, for, he was the Instrument of God,
and engaged in an exhausting adventure! Its name was Mynaka.
It rose above the waters and called upon Hanuman to rest awhile
on its crest, and refresh himself with the fruits upon the
trees that grew thereon. Hanuman declined to delay his landing
in Lanka; he was engaged in a Divine Mission, which brooked
no rest, no delay, no dallying. He turned a deaf ear to the
requests of Mynaka, and sped forward to fulfill the command
of the Lord.
The whole duty of man is to engage
himself in good acts with the gross body, scatter good thoughts
and good influences around him with his subtle body, and earn
self?realisation and Bliss through his causal body.
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Baba: Discourse: 23-11-72
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