Question::
What is meant by “internalizing awareness”? What happens when “awareness” internalizes? How come one finds peace & poise in the due course?
(or)
How does “internalization of awareness” deepens/sharpens one’s perceptive skills?
(or)
How does “internalizing one’s awareness” help one shed conservatism, intolerance, pride & selfishness?
(or)
Why should one be cautious about intellectual detachment, intellectual perspective, intellectual planning– while trying to explore one’s inner self?
(or)
What is the drawback of “intellectual perspective”? Why a ‘clear intuition of the spirit’ is necessary?
(or)
Why is it that our “intellect” is termed LIMITED?
Answer::
(Extracted from Meher Baba’s literature, which is a copyright of Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust(©AMBPPCT), Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, Bharat/India)
As the aspirant advances towards the path, he undergoes a significant change of direction that might be compared to a somersault. He is now more concerned with the ‘inner realities of life’ than with their ‘outward expression’. As the emphasis shifts from the ‘external’ to the ‘internal’ aspects of life, the deepening of consciousness is greatly accelerated.
Now “consciousness” is no longer committed primarily to external incidents or routines, but is directed towards the deeper and truer aspects of ‘being’ that demand greater integrity of ‘thought’ and ‘feeling’.
Caught up within this “deeper awareness of the self” is a concurrent deepening of perception into the workings of the world. A refocusing of consciousness occurs, which is far-reaching. All the avenues through which the individual conducts his search are radically transformed by the “sincerity” and “concentrated purpose” of his effort.
The increasing depths of his “internal understanding” suffuse every aspect of life, giving it new form and meaning and causing him to hasten his exploration with the greatest exhilaration.
“Poise of mind” born of the pilgrim’s new understanding automatically and unwittingly brings about a readjustment of ‘material surroundings’, and he finds himself at peace with the world.
Conservatism, intolerance, pride and selfishness are shed, and everything takes on new meaning and purpose.
Sinner and saint appear to be waves on the surface of the same ocean, differing only in magnitude, each the natural outcome of forces in the universe rooted in time and causation. The saint is seen to have no pride of position, and the sinner no stigma of external degradation. Nobody is utterly lost, and nobody need despair.
The “internalizing”– which is the real basis of entering upon the path, should not be confused with the purely intellectual discovery that there can be an inner life. Nor should ‘the gradual and natural shift from participation in external events to a focusing on inner development’ be confused with the ‘limited intellectual detachment’ some persons achieve. Since such detachment is only intellectual, it brings freedom only in the realm of ‘limited intellect’ and is usually characterized by a sort of dryness of being.
The ‘intellectually detached’ often try to shape the present in the light of knowledge of history, as well as through their insight into the possibilities of the unborn future. At best, such a purely intellectual perspective inevitably remains partial, sketchy, incomplete and in a sense even erroneous.
Further, the intellectually detached are almost never in vital communication with the elements which so largely shape the course of the ‘present’. Therefore their ‘beliefs’, even if transformed into “effort”, rarely produce marked results.
The “limited intellect” is not competent to grasp qualities which are ‘beginningless’ and ‘endless’.
“Intellectual perspective” is workable and even indispensable for ‘planned action’. Yet in the absence of the ‘illuminating wisdom of heart’ and the ‘clear intuition of spirit’, intellectual perspective gives only ‘relative truth’ bearing the ineradicable stamp of uncertainty.
So-called ‘intellectually planned action’ is really the product of weighty ‘subconscious forces’ which have not yet risen to the threshold of consciousness of the planner. Thus, “planning” often leads to many results entirely unanticipated in the so-called “planning”. In other words,
“planning” turns out to be planning mostly in name only, containing only sufficient conscious participation by the planners to satisfy their need to feel that they have a real share in the whole game.
- Intellectual perspective,
- intellectual planning and
- intellectual detachment
therefore should be carefully separated from the robust exploration of the “inner self” and the internalizing of the facts of existence that characterize the individual who has set foot on the path.
– Meher Baba
Source::
Listen Humanity, Pg::155-157
© AMBPPCT, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India/Bharat
