End is in the Beginning

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: Sir, you are neither the first nor the last. Since immemorial times people were breaking into reality. Yet how little it affected our lives! The Ramas and the Krishnas, the Buddhas and the Christs have come and gone and we are as we were; wallowing in sweat and tears. What have the great ones done, whose lives we witnessed? What have you done, Sir, to alleviate the world's thrall?

M: You alone undo the evil you have created. Your own callous selfishness is at the root of it. Put first your own house in order and you will see that your work is done.

Q:The men of wisdom and of love, who came before us, did set themselves right, often at a tremendous cost. What was the outcome? A shooting star, however bright, does not make the night less dark.

M: To judge them and their work you must become one of them. A frog in a well knows nothing about the birds in the sky.

Q: Do you mean to say that between good and evil there is no wall?

M: There is no wall, because there is no good and no evil. In every concrete situation there is only the necessary and the unnecessary. The needful is right, the needless is wrong.

Q: Who decides?

M: The situation decides. Every situation is a challenge which demands the right response. When the response is right, the challenge is met and the problem ceases. If the response is wrong, the challenge is not met and the problem remains unsolved. Your unsolved problems - that is what constitutes your karma. Solve them rightly and be free.

Q: You seem to drive me always back into myself. Is there no objective solution to the world's problems?

M: The world problems were created by numberless people like you, each full of his own desires and fears. Who can free you of your past, personal and social, except yourself? And how will you do it unless you see the urgent need of your being first free of cravings born of Illusion? How can you truly help, as long as you need help yourself?

Q: In what way did the ancient sages help? In what way do you help? A few individuals profit, no doubt; your guidance and example may mean a lot to them; but in what way do you affect humanity, the totality of life and consciousness? You say that you are the world and the world is you; what impact have you made on it?

M: What kind of impact do you expect?

Q: Man is stupid, selfish and cruel.

M: Man is also wise, affectionate and kind.

Q: Why does not goodness prevail?

M: It does - in my real world. In my world even what you call evil is the servant of the good and therefore necessary. It is like boils and fevers that clear the body of impurities. Disease is painful, even dangerous, but if dealt with rightly, it heals.

Q: Or kills.

M: In some cases death is the best cure. A life may be worse than death, which is but rarely an unpleasant experience, whatever the appearances. Therefore, pity the living, never the dead. This problem of things, good and evil in themselves, does not exist in my world. The needful is good and the needless is evil. In your world the pleasant is good and the painful is evil.

Q: What is necessary?

M: To grow is necessary. To outgrow is necessary. To leave behind the good for the sake of the better is necessary.

Q: To what end?

M: The end is in the beginning. You end where you start - in the Absolute.

Q: Why all this trouble then? To come back to where I started?

M: Whose trouble? Which trouble? Do you pity the seed that is to grow and multiply till it becomes a mighty forest? Do you kill an infant to save him from the bother of living? What is wrong with life, even more life? Remove the obstacles to growing and all your personal, social, economic and political problems will just dissolve. The universe is perfect as a whole and the part's striving for perfection is a way of joy. Willingly sacrifice the imperfect to the perfect and there will be no more talk about good and evil.

Q: Yet we are afraid of the better and cling to the worse.

M: This is our stupidity, verging on insanity.