We continue now with the guiding principles of the Maharshi.
ETHICAL
- “There is no need for endless reading…There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.” – I am torn here. On the one hand, at least the first half of this quote seems reasonable; it appears impossible to experience tranquility from study alone (though I am not sure even of that); while a discipline such as yoga or meditation appears more apposite.
On the other, I worry the second part may express an anti-intellectualism not unlike that of some early Christians who balked at Greek philosophy as flawed, unnecessary, or obsolete – arguing revelation superseded human reason and the intellectual heritage of antiquity. Like Aquinas, I disagree – truth (even mystical truth) should be compatible with human reason. Philosophy, science, and literature also offer myriad benefits to the meaningful life not possible from scipture and spiritual discipline alone. There is also an implicit contradiction here: if all one has learned is to be forgotten, then the teachings of the Maharshi must also be forgotten. - “Desirelessness is wisdom.” – This seems to be a near universal principle of the great philosophers and mystics. Of course the skeptic or deconstructionist need only point out that the desire for happiness (see last post) and for wisdom (or enlightenment) undermine the adage. Nonetheless, taken somewhat less literally, the mastery of passion and desire is an essential quality of the sage.
- “Both desire and hatred should be eschewed…behave with humility.” – Here the Maharshi has moved beyond the inner virtues of desirelessness and wisdom above to the external virtues of self-control, forgiveness of others, and modesty in conduct. Westerners are reminded of Christian teachings, but in fact, all enduring communities invariably come to expect this of their members.
- “Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity ‘I’. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).” – This point is quite deep. The price for the gift of human intelligence and self-consciousness is
hyperbolic self-preservation (the egoity ‘I’ – (a great term, don’t you think?) – which leads to the evils of selfishness and disregard or harm of others. Egoism, in the largest sense, is the most salient cause of evil in our world. If one can overcome the distorted instinct underpinning the egoity ‘I’, virtue fills the void, and as the Maharshi teaches: ethics is an attribute and pervasion of the divine. I see this principle as the Maharshi’s version of the Golden Rule.
(third continuation next post)
