Harvard University; Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Paine Hall
9 January 1974

With your kind permission, I wish to say that this is my fourth visit to Harvard
University. In 1969 I spoke on The Vedanta Philosophy; in 1971, on The Upanishads:
The Crown of India’s Soul; last year, on The Glowing Consciousness of Vedic
Truth; and now, my fourth talk will be on Realisation, Revelation and Perfection.
Since I am a spiritual seeker, a seeker of the highest Transcendental Truth, the
subject of today’s talk is one with which my heart and soul are intimately
familiar.
Realisation, revelation and perfection. The animal in us has realised that
destruction is perfection. The human in us has realised that separation or
partition is perfection. The divine in us has realised that the transformation of
our human nature is perfection. The Supreme in us has realised that the
manifestation of our inner divinity and reality is perfection.
Destruction is power. Separation or partition is power. Transformation is
power. Manifestation is power. Destruction-power is the animal revelation.
Separation-power is the human revelation. Transformation-power is the divine
revelation. And manifestation-power is the supreme revelation.
As we advance in our spiritual life, we come to realise that destruction-power
is abominable and separation-power is deplorable, but that transformation-power
is admirable and manifestation-power, the divine manifestation-power, is most
adorable.
A sincere and genuine seeker goes deep within and discovers the truth that
animal life is sheer futility; that human life, if it does not aspire, is stark stupidity;
that divine life is immediate necessity; and that spiritual life is deathless and
birthless Immortality.
For God-realisation, we need aspiration-cry.
For God-revelation, we need dedication-smile.
For God-manifestation, we need patience-wisdom.
Aspiration is a perfect stranger to rejection. It accepts everything within and
without. Then, the things that have to be transformed, it transforms on the
strength of its climbing cry.
Dedication is a perfect stranger to calculation. When a sincere seeker dedicates
himself to the right cause, to the inner Goal, he forgets how to calculate. He goes
far beyond the domain of calculation. His dedication is soulful giving, unconditional
giving, self-giving, of what he has and what he is.
Patience is a perfect stranger to imperfection. When aspiration and dedication
loom large in our spiritual life, patience, our third friend, plays its role most
satisfactorily. Patience and God’s infinite Compassion play together and dance
together. At that time, we see that our teeming imperfections are ready to be
transformed into perfect Perfection.
Realising God is like climbing up a tree. Revealing God is like climbing up and
down the tree time and again at God’s choice Hour. Manifesting God is offering
the fruits of the tree to the world at large.
Love, always love. When we love soulfully, realisation does not and cannot
remain a far cry. Serve, always serve. When we serve and serve devotedly, revelation
cannot remain a far cry. And when we unconditionally become the Transcendental
Truth and Reality, God-manifestation does not and cannot remain a far
cry.
Sri Krishna realised God, the Absolute Supreme. After he had realised the
Lord Supreme, he became God the Eternal Lover and God the Eternal Beloved.
The Christ realised God, the Transcendental Father. On the strength of his
supreme realisation, he declared, “I and my Father are one.” The Christ became
the universal brother. We, too, if we are humble and sincere seekers, can realise
God the Supreme Pilot. After realising God the Supreme Pilot, we can become
universal servers of Truth and Light.
Realisation tells us who God is. Revelation tells us what we can do for God.
Manifestation and perfection tell us what God does for us and what we do for
God.
Who is God? God is our inner cry and our outer smile. He cries with us and
for us on earth. He smiles with us and at us in Heaven. God is at once our heart’s
Eternal Lover and our soul’s Supreme Beloved.
What can we do for God? We can do one thing, and that is to establish the
Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a chimerical mist.
It is a reality within us trying to come to the fore and reveal and manifest itself
on earth.
What does God do for us? What God does for us is simple, spontaneous,
illumining and fulfilling. He liberates us from our teeming imperfections with His
unconditional and transcendental Compassion. And what do we do for God?
What we do for God is equally simple, spontaneous, illumining and fulfilling. On
the strength of our heart’s constant, inner mounting cry, we try to make Him
smile, smile with joy at His Creation vast.