Ordinary perception allows us to see only the separateness. It takes extraordinary perception to see oneness.
If a drop of water falls on a hot surface, it will instantaneously evaporate. Similarly, if you come into intimate contact with people who are hot with anger, jealousy, hatred, and the negative feelings of lust and greed, you and your peace of mind will vaporise. That is the effect of samsarga, association.
The effect your companions will have on your persona is comparable to the effect your food has on your person. You attend all those parties marked by excessive eating and drinking without bothering what kind of people the other party makers are. You may be as pure as a dew drop, but their samsarga is enough to pollute you. This is called the adhama samsarga, friendship with the base-minded. Of course, the opposite is also true.
Imagine the same dew drop on the petal of a lotus flower. The dew drop will glitter like a shining diamond as the rays of the morning sun fall on it against the lotus petal. The lustre of the lotus too increases in the play of light on the dew drop and the lake surface.
So, if you have contact with people of more refined tastes and sensibilities, both you and they will gain in many aspects of life. This is madhyam samsarga, middle-level association. It is only middle level because the stay of the dew drop on the lotus leaf is quite unstable.
A small gust of wind that passes along the lake surface is enough to shake the leaf, causing the dew drop to fall into the water and lose itself completely. When you listen to a discourse, you feel empowered, and complement the speaker on her powerful message.
You then go home, determined to live a new life, and to impart your new-found enthusiasm for higher things of life to your entire family. As you step inside your house, your wife greets you with an argumentative shout, “Where have you been gallivanting all this time when your children were driving me nuts?”
The gust of wind has shaken the lotus leaf and plops the dew drop into the water below. You don’t even know which way your enthusiasm went out of you. The benefits of association with middle-level intellects don’t last very long. Cultivating madhyama samsarga is, therefore, not a wise strategy in the long run.
The most desirable type of association is uttam samsarga, association with the excellent. An uttam pursha, illustrious person, is one who shows highly evolved tastes and immense strength of character under all conditions.
Think of the water drop as if it had been trapped inside an oyster. The water drop would get inexplicably transmuted into the most lustrous object, a pearl. If you are in touch with the right people for the right period of time, you will experience a similar transformation.
Nothing in the external environment, no amount of marine pollution, for example, is going to affect the purity of the pearl. The company of the excellent similarly has a protective, elevating effect on you.
For details of Swamiji’s ongoing online workshops on Spiritual Warrior 5 days WhatsApp Boot Camp and many more, contact: 9513560104/ 9513560108
COMMENTS