THE AVERAGE MAN GIVES THE APPEARANCE OF BALANCE

 
Those aspirants who get launched on the mast line, find themselves propelled by an irresistible impulsion in the form of a yearning to realize God as the Divine Beloved. The psychic journey of masts is a mysterious flight from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge, from a sense of isolation and frustration to the experience of fulfillment, through a complete merging in the Divine Beloved. Even in the initial stages, those who are on the path of masts get intoxicated by glimpses of God as the Beloved. As the mast advances on the inner planes he gets more and more God-intoxicated, and his yearning to be united with the Divine Beloved becomes so acute and irresistible that it gradually takes him beyond the domain of the mind.

During the process of transcending the mind, the mental make-up of the mast is subjected to so much disturbance and upheaval, that he is unable to use his mind in the ordinary way. To all appearances he is like a madman. The way in which he sits, talks, or eats, and his general demeanour, are so far removed from what is most current in the world, that common people very often take him to be insane. The mast invites upon himself a tumultuous overturning of the ingredients of his ego-mind. These far-reaching and wide-spreading psychic disturbances upset all his normal expressions; and those who have no direct insight into the working of his mind may mistake him for one who is stark mad.

Compared with the ordinary man of the world, the mast may seem to have less balance of mind; but it is important to remember that the average man himself has not really any balance of mind. The average man of the world has only an appearance of balance, because he can often effect a provisional adjustment between the warring elements in his mind. The adjustment of conflicting tendencies that he succeeds in achieving for some time, is based upon a working compromise between them. This working compromise enables the average man to bring his outward behaviour into conformity with the established conventions of society; and because he fits into the average pattern of responses and reactions, he gives the appearance of balance.

The working balance of compromise that the average man is able to strike between the conflicting sanskaric inclinations of his psyche is dictated by the exigencies of the situation. It is not determined by a careful evaluation of conflicting tendencies. The result is that the balance is only temporary, and is accompanied by a sense of partial frustration. The average mind is like a house that is divided against itself, and has in it a constant sense of insecurity and unsteadiness.

The mast is seeking a higher and a more lasting balance of mind that would be secured based upon true values. He has taken in his own hands the task of intelligent psychic readjustment and new experimentation. This task is very different from the theoretical manipulation of ideas. It involves the courage to face oneself with unfailing honesty of purpose. It involves also the necessary intense ardour for bringing about the practical over-hauling of the contents of the mind.

The spiritual yearning for lasting Truth brings about in masts a complete unsettlement of the working balance of compromise that is characteristic of the average man of the world.