Page 148 - Journey to Infinity

thought became so firm that it persisted even after his waking. Now he labour¬ed under the same illusion in the waking state and during sleep. Though he appears to be quite healthy, he never admits it; and he remains unhappy without any reason. This is another example of bondage. Take one more example. A person is under the illusion of ghost. He saw a bare branch of a tree in the dark night and thought it to be a ghost. His thought power told him that the branch is a long-toothed ghost. He became afraid and ran away, fell down and became unconscious. When he regained consciousness and opened his eyes, the illusion of the ghost caught hold of him. He begins to talk at random and to roam here and there like a mad man. He is thus unhappy. When a thought born out of illusion torments a man in this way, he is caught in its bondage and becomes unhappy. This world is a place of illusory thoughts, where thousands of affairs of illusion happen. What else can a man be except being unhappy when caught in the meshes of illusory thoughts? Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, is a thought born of illu¬sion. Grihastha, Vanaprastha, Sanyas — is an illusory thought. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew — is an illusory thought. Religion, tradition, customs, sect (or Path) — all these are illusory thoughts. Men who have been caught in the chains of this bondage are so much worried that they are unable to understand reality. All these bondages are not real; all of them are artificial, illusory, pertaining to thought, and fictitious. This chain goes far beyond, so much so that it exists in the other world even after death.
If one can understand this bondage, and after enjoying pleasures and suffering miseries one feels aversion towards them, or mentally refrains from them, you will find many a man free in this world in the same way as they are bound. Such men begin to persuade and pacify as soon as desires are born. They are called wise men of high approach. They free the persons in bondage by proper means and instructions. Their existence is a matter of fortune. They are called Mumukshu or desirous of emancipation and are highly qualified and the most fit. But those devotees of God who love bondage are very obstinate and stubborn. They do not want to break the bondage, but only want to save themselves from misery. Such is their fitness. The doctors of their diseases are generally propagators of religion, who treat one illusion with another illusion, and have gradually freed many. The third category of men are even worse than these. They know full well that customs and manners, particular religions and traditions are the worst bondage. But they are enemies of all reform. Those who free them are somewhat harsh by nature. They take work with strictness and topple down the faith and beliefs of their disciples. They dig out the roots of illusory ideas with cruelty and oppression. They are good at heart, but when they see no other means, they are compelled to take work with strictness and force.