By Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
Excerpted from “Struggle and Progress,” Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 7, Ananda Marga Publications.
The above illustration depicts Shri Caetanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1534) performing Nagar kiirtan, devotional chanting and dancing, in the streets of Nabadwip, Bengal. 19th Century painting, Kolkata
Physical clash leads to psychic progress. But is absolute psychic progress possible through physical clash alone? No. Apart from physical clash, psychic clash and attraction of the Great are necessary. The mind that evolves from the solid factor as a result of physical clash gradually takes the form of manomaya kośa. If there is only physical clash, the kośas higher than manomaya kośa cannot be developed. Extreme physical clash can only mature or perfect the lower kośas.
Human beings who live in hostile or uncongenial environments are far more dynamic than those who live in areas where the struggle for existence is minimal. Those who maintain their existence through greater physical clash are said to be engaged in shákta sádhaná. But physical clash alone can only lead to a certain level of psychic progress. To progress beyond that psychic clash is required.
Through study, analysis, verification, listening to scriptural discourses, constant contemplation, and meditation unit minds acquire psychic power from the Cosmic Mind. To produce friction or commotion in othersʼ minds by proper application of these psychic powers is called psychic clash. Those who are mentally inert, who are blindly attached to old worn-out ideas, will no doubt refuse to accept new ideas, but questions will nevertheless arise in their minds. Constant psychic clash will cause their blind attachment for the old to gradually weaken.
When the ancient people were faced with immense obstacles, they would perform sacrificial ceremonies for the propitiation of the gods, for they were not acquainted with the scientific methods to surmount those obstacles. They thought that there was no difference between the smoke produced by burning ghee in fire and the clouds in the sky. They were unaware that the former is composed of unburnt carbon particles of ghee and the latter are basically a combination of hydrogen and oxygen which appears to be blackish under certain circumstances. Even today if people misuse ghee by burning it in a sacrificial fire, they certainly do it out of total ignorance.
If peopleʼs blind attachment to sacrificial rituals and love for outmoded customs are intense, they will not disappear when confronted with logical arguments or shaken by the first jolt caused by psychic clash. But if one can create a suitable environment of constant psychic clash their blind attachments are bound to disappear. Some people believe that the fragrance of the sacrificial smoke purifies the air and kills germs. This is not true. On the contrary, the increase in the amount of carbon particles makes the air more impure. A highly pungent smell is much more effective in destroying germs. Thus, due to the impact of constant psychic clash, people eventually understand the defects of old systems and ideas. Through physical clash the kámamaya and manomaya kośas can be developed, and through psychic clash the higher kośas can be developed.
Those who want to avoid the cultivation of knowledge hardly get any opportunity for psychic clash, and hence the higher kośas of his mind do not get any scope for development. It is through psychic clash that the psychic field gets properly tilled, thereby increasing its fertility. All living beings evolving in the phase of Pratisaiṋcara benefit from this psychic clash.
Both physical clash and psychic clash accelerate psychic progress. The rat which escapes from the trap never makes the mistake of getting caught again; the fish which frees itself from the fishermanʼs hook never bites the bait again. Physical clash develops the kámamaya kośa and, as a consequence, the instinct to survive. A city ox walks confidently along a busy street in Calcutta, but if a village ox were made to walk along the same road, it would become crazy.
Psychic clash enables one to make rapid psychic progress along the path of Pratisaiṋcara and deepen oneʼs thinking capacity. The psychic clash caused when undeveloped minds come in contact with developed minds further accelerates the rate of psychic progress in the flow of Pratisaiṋcara. A monkey is more developed than a dog, having advanced further along the path of Pratisaiṋcara. Yet a pet dog, benefiting from the psychic clash resulting from its contact with human beings, becomes more advanced in knowledge than other dogs, and even other monkeys. A monkey trained by human beings is far more advanced intellectually than a wild monkey. If a monkey becomes intellectually developed its brains cells will have to be kept engaged in more complicated activities to give proper expression to its evolved thinking. This will result in a change in the size of its brain. If its brain outgrows the size of the cranium, it will require the more developed body and brain of a human being. Similarly the dog which makes tremendous psychic progress after being trained by a human being will require a more developed structure to express its increased psychic potentialities. In such circumstances there will be a rapid progress in the phase of Pratisaiṋcara. Such rapid change can also take place in the phase of Saiṋcara through scientific efforts. So you understand that psychic clash is not at all negligible. Rather, with the cultivation of knowledge, microcosms can make galloping progress along the path of Pratisaiṋcara.
One may conclude theoretically that a highly evolved monkey and the most backward human are almost similar. An underdeveloped human being will make rapid progress after coming in contact with more advanced human beings. The same applies to cows, horses, dogs and monkeys. After coming in contact with evolved human beings they get the scope to be reborn as human beings.
Animals lack a brain developed enough to contain a greater intelligence, and thus do not have the capacity to perform spiritual practice. This is not to say that animals are not entitled to spiritual practice. On the contrary, had their bodies and brains been more developed, they would have certainly had the opportunity to perform spiritual practice. The characteristics of a physical structure are determined by the nature of the brain. So by looking at the physical structure of a living being one can have a rough idea about the degree of its intellect or intelligence.
As some psychic propensities have a tendency to flow towards matter, even evolved human beings can be transformed into inert matter if they fall prey to those psychic propensities. Hence all human beings should carefully avoid bad company. Due to mean psychic ideation the human mind may imbibe animal tendencies or may even degenerate to a stage cruder than that. Once the mind degenerates to the inertness of stone, the physical body will also be converted into stone. In Indian mythology there is a beautiful story illustrating this point. Due to her mean thoughts Ahalya was turned into inert stone. However, by the grace of Parama Puruśa, Supreme Consciousness, she was later reconverted into a human being.
When the mind evolves in a physical structure, it becomes responsible for the maintenance of that structure. That initial state of mind, the kámamaya kośa, is only concerned about the needs of the physical body. Thereafter, in the flow of Pratisaiṋcara, oneʼs unit mind comes in contact with other unit minds which leads to psychic clash. In this way the hopes and aspirations, the pains and pleasures of ones own mind becomes interrelated to and interdependent on other minds. This mutual relationship is a kind of psychic clash. And even greater psychic clash occurs when people try to derive mutual benefit through rational intellectual pursuit. Therefore in our society the cultivation of knowledge is an indispensable necessity. Those who avoid good company (satsauṋga), study of good books (svadhyaya), uplifting discourses and healthy analyses cannot develop any kośa (layer of mind) higher than kámamaya kośa. Animals dominated by the kámamaya kośa find pleasure in snatching away morsels of food from others mouths, and in depriving others of their right to live, because they look upon this world with a narrow body-centered outlook.
With the development of higher kośas through the process of psychic clash the existential feelings of human beings do not remain confined to their physical bodies alone but spread to those around them. Initially they think about the welfare of the members of their own families, but with the gradual evolution of their minds, they see themselves as members of a global society and become actively engaged in promoting the well-being of all. This gradual process of evolution leads the unit mind towards the Macrocosmic mind.
The ensconsement in the Macrocosmic stance is not possible through morality alone. “I will speak the truth, I will not harm anyone” – This simple morality alone cannot take human beings very far along the path of progress. So-called moralists can all too easily degrade themselves under the nefarious influence of evil company. The only way to advance is to follow the path of vigorous spiritual practice. To repeat high-sounding words of morality like a parrot, while cherishing narrow sentiments within oneʼs mind, will not take one far.
The vanity expressed by the so-called civilized human beings of today is extremely dangerous. These people hide the cruder propensities of the mind under the cloak of sweet words and decent behaviour. They are more harmful to the well-being of the human race than the so-called uncivilized humans, because they are hypocrites. The defects of the uncivilized humans pale into insignificance before their abominable hypocrisy. The uncivilized humans of the past may have killed twelve people at most in the battles they fought with bows, arrows, sticks and spears, but the so-called civilized human beings of today kill millions of unarmed, innocent people indiscriminately with their dreadful and lethal weapons. Human society of today is being exploited by the so-called civilized people. Such people should not make themselves look ridiculous by claiming otherwise.
All entities must advance along the path of progress. This evolution will lead to the expansion of the psychic arena and, ultimately, liberation. This struggle for liberation is the struggle against those forces which attempt to thwart oneʼs psychic expansion. These are oneʼs enemies. Through meditation and contemplation one must surrender oneself at the altar of the Almighty, merging oneʼs finite identity into the Infinite. Only by surrendering oneʼs mind to the vast Macrocosm and becoming one with the Supreme Consciousness can one attain final salvation. The struggle for salvation is the struggle against those forces which strive to prevent oneʼs total self surrender to the Supreme.
Published in Neohumanist Review, Issue 5, September 2025, pp 32-34.