Question 3

QUESTIONER; THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH ACTION WITHOUT ATTACHMENT AND WHAT YOU CALL THE INACTION OF SANNYAS: IT KILLS INCENTIVE TO WORK. IT IS LIKE OUR PUBLIC SECTOR IN INDUSTRIES; WHILE THERE IS ENOUGH ROOM FOR INCENTIVE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, THERE IS VERY LITTLE IN THE PUBLIC ONE. PLEASE EXPLAIN.

It is possible, if people don't choose rightly between action and inaction, don't choose according to their types.

As I said, there are two types of minds -- male and female. If a person of feminine mind -- who can be a doer without doing -- becomes a sannyasin, he will turn sannyas into inaction. Action without being a doer is not his way. But if a male mind takes sannyas, then action will be his way, and he will know in his depth that he is not a doer, action just happens. If such a mind chooses inaction he will lose incentive and will become dull and lethargic. The problem always arises because of the wrong choice.

Therefore it is very important that everyone should know his type rightly. If someone's choice of action or inaction does not accord with his basic type, he will certainly have difficulties; his life will become dull and lackluster. Only if you don't commit the mistake of choosing the wrong thing for yourself, only if you choose rightly will your action gain vigor and vitality. It will be expansive and rich. There is only one thing that undermines the action of a male mind, and it is the idea of being a doer. If the doer disappears, leaving action free and on its own, then there is no end to its dynamism; you cannot even imagine how explosive it can become. The action of one who has ceased to be a doer gathers its full momentum; it becomes total. The great amount of energy that was spent in being a doer will now be exclusively available to action, making it dynamic and total.

Similarly if a person with a feminine mind, who is not meant for action as we know it, fully accepts his or her inaction, then this inaction will generate in its own way such immense action that you cannot even imagine. Because then his or her whole energy will be together and total. And this summation of energy is explosive. But the ways of a feminine mind will be totally different from those of the masculine mind.

But most of us err on this score; we often choose the opposite. And it is not without its reasons.

In all our life the opposite attracts; man attracts woman and woman attracts man. Always the opposite is attractive. Life is a play of attraction of the opposites; yin attracts yang and vice-versa. This is the way of nature, of biology. Even spiritualism is not unaffected by this rule, although it is a different journey altogether. Spiritualism is a pilgrimage to self-nature, to being oneself. You don't have to seek through spiritualism that which attracts you, that which is your opposite. On the contrary, you seek that which you are; you seek your own pristine nature, your original face.

But ordinarily your life is a search for the opposites.

I have heard... It happened once that the inhabitants of a small island in the sea became lazy and lethargic and ceased all activity. All farms and cottage industries became idle. Men and women ate whatever came to their hands and idled away their time doing nothing. The sage, the spiritual head of the island became worried; people even stopped going to him. He went about shouting that they had become idlers, but no one was prepared to listen to him. Even listening to his wise advice was heavy on them. Slowly life on the island began to shrink and wither away; it came to a standstill, which made the sage really anxious. But he could not figure out any way to help his people.

Ultimately the sage went to a very old man of the island and consulted him about the problem. The old man said, "Now there is only one way to resolve the issue: we have to segregate our women from their men. We should send all our women to a neighboring island, leaving all the men here."

The sage asked, "What will it do?"

The old man answered, "Soon the menfolk will be busy building boats and the women will begin preparations to receive their men. It is now imperative to separate them, to separate the opposites; otherwise they will never return to active life."

And the magic worked.

In youth everyone is so active, and as he grows old all activity begins to ebb. Why? Just for the reason that the youth is packed with feminine and masculine energy, so young men and women become busy building boats and preparing for adventures. With the advent of old age, the fire of life dims considerably. By this time men and women come to know all about each other, and so the pull of the opposites withers away. Too much familiarity breeds indifference.

As it is the natural law of life that the opposite attracts, so it is the natural law of spiritualism that self-nature attracts, not the opposite. Here the similar, the same attracts. Because of this, we find ourselves in trouble when we apply the ordinary law of the world to spiritual discipline. For this very reason, countries where spiritualism grows become lazy and inactive. India is the living example. We wrongly applied the law of matter in choosing our spiritual discipline. People with male minds took paths meant for feminine minds, and those with feminine minds took the opposite paths. The one who was meant to be a Meera turned into a Mahavira and another meant to be a Mahavira turned into a Meera. Naturally we made a mess of everything. It was bound to be so.

Therefore, I envision a scientific discipline for the spiritualism of the future whose basic law will clearly say: no law of biology applies to spiritualism. In biology the opposite attracts; in spiritualism self-nature is the magnet. Spiritualism is not comprised of the attraction of opposites; it is actually one's immersion in self-nature. In the spiritual journey I don't have to reach the other; I have to reach myself.

But our lifelong habits come in the way.

I have heard... When electricity became available, Sigmund Freud had his house electrified. Soon after this he had a visitor from the countryside who had never seen electricity; he was only familiar with lanterns and lamps as instruments of light.

After the night's supper, Freud put his guest in one of the bedrooms and took leave of him for the night. But his guest was immediately faced with a serious problem -- it was a problem caused by electricity.

Since the light in the room was so bright, the man could not sleep. How to extinguish the light was the problem. Because the bulb hung high from the ceiling of the room, he fetched a ladder from somewhere, climbed it and began to try to blow out the light. But he failed, and failed miserably. How can one extinguish an electric light with the breath? He was in a quandary. He looked all around the room, he examined the bulb from every side again and again to find a hole through which he could blow it out. But nothing helped. He felt embarrassed to go to Freud and tell him he did not know how to extinguish the light in his room.

And thus he kept turning and tossing in his bed till his host came to say good morning to him. When Freud asked him why he did not put out the light he said, "Now that you have asked I should tell you of my struggle with your lighting device. I could not get a wink of sleep the whole night as the lamp stubbornly refused to be blown out."

Freud pushed a button saying, "You are a fool; it is so easy."

Now this man had no idea of light controlled by a distant switch. And we cannot blame him for that.

All our life's experience can be summed up in two words; attraction of the opposites. So even when we enter the world of spiritualism -- which is a different dimension altogether -- we carry our old ways with us. We try to blow out the electric light with our breath, and we never think of the switch. This error is centuries old and enduring. For this reason all spiritually advanced communities have become lethargic. Contrarily, sex-oriented communities are active and aggressive, and they are on the march to progress and prosperity. Every dynamic civilization in the world happens to be sex-oriented, and every passive and peaceful civilization is spiritual.

It has been so up to now, but it is not necessary that it should always be the case.

It is true that sex energy is the basic drive to action and dynamism. Wherever sex is freed from its fetters there will be an explosion of action and activity. If we look at nature we will find all activity arises from sex. If flowers bloom in the spring and birds build nests and the air is filled with scent and song, know that sex is behind all these lively activities. The bird is building a nest only to lay its eggs, The cuckoo is calling not to please you, but to invite and entice its sex partner. These are all biological activities.

Man too, is familiar only with biological activity. For this reason buildings in permissive societies, where sex is free, begin to touch the skies; they are nothing but extensions of the birds' nests. Permissive societies are humming with song, music and orchestra they are full of colors and gay costumes. The same calls of the cuckoo and the dance of the peacocks! There is not much difference between the two.

Against this, countries that turn their backs on biological activities and take a different road, and yet by force of habit continue to follow the rule of opposites, become inert and sad and dull. Their houses turn into huts, their songs die and their colors fade out. Their whole life becomes flat and drab, poor and miserable.

As I see, both biology and spiritualism have their own laws. And a right kind of culture, a complete culture can come into being only if both biology and spiritualism are allowed to grow in their own ways. A right kind of culture will not suppress sex. It will accord it its due place in life; it will accept and enjoy sex without inhibition and guilt, it will celebrate sex. Such a culture will be expansive and it will generate immense activity. In the same way spiritualism, if allowed to grow on the basis of its natural laws -- if seekers choose their disciplines rightly, in accord with their types -- will lead to explosive action in the field of religion.

Krishna is in full accord with his own type; he does not deviate from his self-nature. So is Buddha. And Mahavira too. For this reason Krishna's life is crammed with action of a particular style. Not that Buddha lacks in action; his life is filled with a different kind of action. Mahavira keeps moving from one village to another for a full forty years. It is true that he does not take part in war, but he engages himself in a higher kind of war waged on a different level. Buddha does not play a flute, but his discourses resound with a note that is higher than that of the flute. It does not make a difference because Buddha is fully established in his own self-nature. He has found his authentic being at its highest. Krishna has discovered his own sublime reality, his truth, and he is complete and contented.