9. Responses of Memory


Some say the universe was created. Others say that it always existed and is for ever undergoing transformation. Some say it is subject to eternal laws. Others deny even causality. Some say the world is real. Others - that it has no being whatsoever.

The world you can perceive is a very small world indeed. And it is entirely private. Take it to be a dream and be done with it.

Is not the idea of a total world a part of your personal world?

The universe does not come to tell you that you are a part of it. It is you who have invented a totality to contain you as a part. In fact all you know is your own private world, however well you have furnished it with your imaginations and expectations.

Perception, imagination, expectation, anticipation, illusion - all are based on memory. There are hardly any border lines between them. They just merge into each other. All are responses of memory.

My world is just like yours.

I see, I hear, I feel, I think, I speak and act in a world I perceive, just like you. But with you it is all, with me it is nothing.

Knowing the world to be a part of myself, I pay it no more attention than you pay to the food you have eaten. While being prepared and eaten, the food is separate from you and your mind is on it; once swallowed, you become totally unconscious of it. I have eaten up the world and I need not think of it any more.

All these sufferings are man-made and it is within man's power to put an end to them. God helps by facing man with the results of his actions and demanding that the balance should be restored. Karma is the law that works for righteousness; it is the healing hand of God.