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Cosmic Consciousness by Ali Nomad

IV SELF-NESS AND SELFLESSNESS

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Only one who is capable of self-sacrifice were he called upon, can correctly answer this question, and by what may be termed the very _law of equation_, the sacrifice becomes impossible.

Should any one seek to bargain with himself to pay the price of loss of self, so that he might gain the higher, fuller life, his sacrifice would be in vain because it would not be selflessness, but selfishness--there could be no _sacrifice_, were it a bargain.

Let no one think that this unchanging law of the Cosmos is in the nature of either reward or punishment, or that it was devised by the gods, as a method of initiation--a test of fitness for Nirvana. Even though the test be applied by the gods, it is not of their planning.

It _is_, just as the absolute _is_, and analysis of the way and wherefrom is not possible of contemplation.

If it sometimes appears that Illumined Ones have seemed to infer a loss of identity of the Self, it should be remembered that not only have these reported instances of liberation (cosmic consciousness attained), been vague, but they have necessarily suffered from the impossibility of describing that which is indescribable. We should also remember that translators employ the words in the English language which most nearly express their interpretation of the original meaning.

Words are at best but clumsy symbols.

Perfect bliss is voiceless--inexpressible.

This does not, however, mean that perfect bliss is nothingness. Rather is it _everything-ness_, in that it is all-embracing in its realization. In complete realization of the Cosmos nothing is excluded. Exclusiveness is a concomitant of the state of consciousness pertinent to the personal self, which state is not excluded from the consciousness described as cosmic, _nirvana_ or _mukti_, but on the contrary, is included in it, even as the simple vibrations of the musical scale are included in the great harmonies of Wagner's compositions.

"He who has realized Brahman becomes silent," says Ramakrishna. "Discussions and argumentations exist so long as the realization of The Absolute does not come. If you melt butter in a pan over a fire, how long does it make a noise? So long as there is water in it. When the water is evaporated it ceases to make further noise. The soul of the seeker after Brahman may be compared to fresh butter. Discussions and argumentations of a seeker are like the noise caused during the process of purification by the fire of knowledge. As the water of egotism and worldliness is evaporated and the soul becomes purer, all noise of debates and discussions ceases and absolute silence reigns in the state of _samadhi_."

A better translation of the word "noise" would be "sputtering."

Sound is not necessarily _noise_. The idea conveyed is not intended to be a condition in which the soul becomes anæsthetized as it were, but a state of _knowing_, and the effort and the sputtering of _questioning_ and _searching_ is passed.

The same gospel better expresses the meaning thus:

"The bee buzzes so long as it is outside the lotus, and does not settle down in its heart to drink of the honey. As soon as it tastes of the honey all buzzing is at an end. Similarly all noise of discussion ceases when the soul of the neophyte begins to drink the nectar of Divine Love, at the lotus feet of the Blissful One."

Who will not say that the bee is more satisfied when he has found and drank of the honey than when he is buzzingly seeking it?

Surely it is not necessary to be of one mind, in order that we may be of one heart. Even though we were as "like as two peas in a pod," it is well to note that the two peas are _two_ spheres--nature has made them separate and distinct despite their close resemblance.