The Realization of God

A lecture given by Phiroz Mehta before H. M. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands at Appeldoorn on 29^th January 1954

In the Christian communion service, the blessing begins with these words:

May the Peace of God which passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God.

Many centuries before Jesus, a Hindu prayer for peace ran thus:

May there be peace in Heaven… May there be peace on earth… May there be peace in Brahman, the Supreme… May there be peace in all… May that peace, real peace, be in me.

Who is the man who seeks the Peace of God? Surely, he who is the devotee, the lover of God, and he who is the wise man possessed of insight; and, above all, he who suffers with loving clear-sightedness, refusing to push aside or flee from the sorrow which lies at the heart of all sin, the sorrow which is the food of all who sow the seed of repeated death. And is it possible to escape the fact that the action, feeling and speech-thought of the multitudes is a grim holocaust to the Lord of Death, that it effectively shuts the Gates of Immortality, and that it enthrones tumult and banishes the Peace of God?

For look! The world around us is afflicted with wars and strikes, insecurity and misery. We see gigantic greeds and hellish hatreds between man and man. Our fellow humans sicken with anxiety and fear, or else are tormented by neurosis and frustration. In our own individual selves there is heartbreak and disillusionment, and there is the evil which we vainly try to keep secret. Everywhere sorrow eats away the heart of men and women lonely in the midst of huddled millions. We are poor in the midst of plenty; we are slaves pretending to be free men; we are fools stranded in the desert of knowledge. And all this is in spite of our conquest of nature and control over matter, our developing social justice, our growing humane and liberal outlook and behaviour.

We cannot deny some progress, for in the twentieth century we do see certain peoples whose way of life is the outcome of an evolutionary development through several centuries. This way of life displays the stability of a long respected and faithfully preserved tradition, as well as a degree of flexibility which allows for accommodation to the change which is necessitated by growth and by the passage of time. One may discern here a distinctive outlook on life, and significantly it is an outlook which is unstained by a forcibly imposed rigid ideology. But, by contrast, in this selfsame twentieth century, we have also witnessed the ravages wrought by the devilish imposition of the crude ideologies of half-witted megalomaniacs. In other words, we have seen the rule of the sword and the subsequent destruction of him who stoops to wield compulsive power, a destruction which unhappily involves millions in a senseless agony. We have seen evil strength destroy itself suicidally. How tragically foreboding then is the fact that man, the victim of his own sinful ignorance, still places his trust in power unredeemed by wise love!

Most of the learned ones of the world lay great stress on political or economic or social or other conditions as the causes of the world malaise. The vast masses of the world, prone to shirk certain responsibilities, look to others, to those in power, to produce the millennium for them. Schemes and plans are made, great organizations spring up and vast activities are afoot all over the world, all in the name of welfare, of happiness and of peace. And yet, peace is an exile, happiness is a fever and welfare is largely a reduction to comfortable animalhood and mechanical efficiency.

But if a wise man were to emphasize the fact that each person is himself the root cause of the world malaise, he is regarded with disfavour. If a truthful man were to declare that the main responsibility for peace lies fairly and squarely on the shoulders of each and every one of us in the world, he is left deserted. And yet, St. Paul wrote:

Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Galatians VI.7 & 8

Jesus declared:

Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.

Matthew V. 18

And the Buddhist Dhammapada unequivocally taught:

By oneself alone is evil done, by oneself is one defiled; by oneself is evil avoided, by oneself is one purified; purity and impurity depend on oneself; no one can purify another.

165 or XII. 9

Each man, then, sows the seed and sustains the dark tangle of evil in the world, because evil is within himself; each man likewise sows the seed and nourishes the fair flower of good in the world by his own deliberate action. Since I myself am the doer of evil, it is necessary for me to see and to acknowledge that the devil confronts me each time I look into a mirror. The devil's domicile is not restricted but is universal, is not confined to the other fellow but is right within myself. If, however, this were the whole truth, there could be no possibility of salvation or peace. There is another factor: God. And God, also, is in me. I, the human person, am the battleground of the opposing tensions, the evil, symbolized by the devil, and the good which is the manifestation of God. The disquiet and turmoil produced within myself by these opposing tensions inevitably produce disquiet and evil in the world; and, simultaneously, the world condition inevitably affects me.

My world and I largely reflect each other. The world and I are not two unrelated entities but, together, constitute a continuously interacting, living whole. The world and I are responsible not only to each other but also for each other. Therefore, in reality, there is no problem whatsoever, whether I should devote myself to self-purification, for the sake of what is quite wrongly called my selfish, personal salvation, or whether I should work for great causes or for established institutions. Further, there is no problem whatsoever of reconciling religion and the good life with science and philosophy and the practical, worldly life. For in very truth there is only the Whole. My self-purification inevitably means that my environment is being changed for the better; my clarifying vision inevitably means that my fellows are helped to see the truth; my increasingly efficient and beautiful performance of all my worldly activities, provided such activities are not evil in themselves, inevitably means that my salvation is nearer at hand.

Thus I preserve my touch with Reality. I do not chase an attractive refinement, cloaking it under the name of an ideal, for that only binds me to limited selfhood; nor do I attempt to impose ideals on others, for that only drags them into my own net; nor do I frantically try to convert the world or save the unbeliever, for such action is but a remarkable demonstration of my own egoism and my lust for spiritual merit. But I must freely offer all I am to all the world, and freely share all I have with whosoever is willing to accept it. Thus I maintain my touch with Reality.

Now the problem which faces me, as indeed it faces every single person in the world, is that, having recognized the devil in me, what do I do with him? If I suppress him here, he springs out more triumphantly there. If I repress him, I suffer from neuroses and psychoses. If I give him free rein or pamper him, he runs riot. If I acknowledge defeat, I suffer the tortures of hell. If I constantly fight him, I make him stronger by such exercise and my own task more difficult. What, then, can I do with the devil?

I can transform him.

Again, this problem faces me: what do I do with God within me? Each time God within me is defeated, I am mortally wounded and, whether I acknowledge it or not, I am a miserable sinner. This is the secret evil which I vainly try to hide, as said earlier in this talk. Each time God shines out in me, I am happy and peaceful — but only temporarily, for there is something within which again obscures the light of God. And so, ordinarily, God in me remains a babe. What can I do with God within me?

I can make God in me grow to full stature.

Continued in part 2 and part 3

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