Something more basic is wrong. Man is split, and the same people who talk about peace are the cause of the split. They have divided man into good and bad, the lower and the higher, the earthly and the divine, the material and the spiritual. They have created a rift inside the human soul, and there is a constant war inside. Everybody is fighting with themselves, and when it becomes too much they start fighting with somebody else.
That's why in times of war, people look happier. Their faces shine with enthusiasm, their step has a dance to it. They are thrilled because at least for a few days they will not need to fight with themselves; they have found a scapegoat outside.
It may be the fascist, it may be the communist, it may be the Mohammedan, it may be the Christian-it doesn't matter, but somebody is there outside. It is an escape from the inner fight; in a very sick way it is relaxing. But one cannot go on warring continuously; sooner or later man has to turn inwards again.
The politician creates war without, and the priest creates war within. This is the longest and the greatest conspiracy against humanity.
My vision of a sannyasin is that of an integrated soul. The
body is respected, not denied; it is loved, praised, one feels grateful for it. Matter is not condemned, it is enjoyed; it is part of our spiritual growth. There is no duality: it is a dialectics of growth. This is how we move on two feet, the bird flies on two wings. Matter and spirit, body and soul, lower and higher, are two wings.
What I am trying to bring here is something utterly new, something that has never existed before on the earth: a man who is at ease with both the worlds, this and that; a man who is as worldly as one can be and as other-worldly as one can be; a man who is a great synthesis; a man who is not schizophrenic, a man who is whole and holy. That's what my sannyas is all about.
FROM THE BOOK: WON'T YOU JOIN THE DANCE?
__________________
That's why in times of war, people look happier. Their faces shine with enthusiasm, their step has a dance to it. They are thrilled because at least for a few days they will not need to fight with themselves; they have found a scapegoat outside.
It may be the fascist, it may be the communist, it may be the Mohammedan, it may be the Christian-it doesn't matter, but somebody is there outside. It is an escape from the inner fight; in a very sick way it is relaxing. But one cannot go on warring continuously; sooner or later man has to turn inwards again.
The politician creates war without, and the priest creates war within. This is the longest and the greatest conspiracy against humanity.
My vision of a sannyasin is that of an integrated soul. The
body is respected, not denied; it is loved, praised, one feels grateful for it. Matter is not condemned, it is enjoyed; it is part of our spiritual growth. There is no duality: it is a dialectics of growth. This is how we move on two feet, the bird flies on two wings. Matter and spirit, body and soul, lower and higher, are two wings.
What I am trying to bring here is something utterly new, something that has never existed before on the earth: a man who is at ease with both the worlds, this and that; a man who is as worldly as one can be and as other-worldly as one can be; a man who is a great synthesis; a man who is not schizophrenic, a man who is whole and holy. That's what my sannyas is all about.
FROM THE BOOK: WON'T YOU JOIN THE DANCE?
__________________
