Sept 26, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus: beyond virtue and vice, Live on Zoom

Topic: Living Beyond the Opposites of Vice and Virtue

Dear folks o’ Baba,

Darwin Shaw told me that when he read the following discourse from Baba below, he actually had a cosmic experience. In it, Baba reveals one of the central truths of His teaching, the distinction between morality and spirituality. See what thoughts and questions it brings up in you.

When Baba was staying in Satara in January 1955, an incident occurred that gave rise to the following discourse from Baba. Giving the background, Aloba was in charge of two servant boys whose job, among other duties, was to prepare the morning chai for Baba and the men mandali. The routine was that Aloba would wake the boys up at 5 a.m. and the tea should be ready by six o’clock. On this particular morning, when Baba and the mandali came for chai a little after six, it was not ready. The boys had fallen back to sleep! Aloba pitched a fit and was very rough with the boys. His behavior was so harsh that the other mandali found it disturbing. Later in the day, when Aloba and Bhau were walking with Baba to one of the cottages, Baba said to Bhau, “What are you thinking?” Bhau replied that he was thinking of Aloba’s harsh treatment of the servant boys. Baba said pointedly that he should go to some other ashram where he could live a virtuous life, and then gave this discourse:

With me, no one can live what the world considers a moral life. Here, we are concerned with spirituality, not morals. A spiritual life is not ruled nor bound by any principles. The sanskaras of each one are different, and so the behavior and temperament of everyone are different.

In a virtuous life, evil is suppressed and good surfaces; but the evil is still there. The bad sanskaras remain and have to be worked out, if not in this life then in the next or the one after. In the spiritual life, both good and bad sanskaras express themselves, and both get nullified. A spiritual life leads one toward naturalness, whereas a virtuous life, in the guise of humility, inflates the ego and perpetuates it!

A spiritual life, though, is only led under the guidance and orders of the Avatar or Perfect Master, who knows the pulse of everyone and treats everyone according to his particular "malady."

You don't like Aloba's behavior, but his behavior was quite natural and necessary for him. How can you understand that? People of the world act according to moral standards and socially acceptable behavior, but the Avatar or Perfect Master deals with everyone according to his or her sanskaras. Thus spiritual life is totally different and cannot be judged on the basis of morality, ethics or any principle.

Some questions to ask ourselves:

What was your initial reaction to this discourse?

Were you shocked or disturbed or perhaps relieved?

What are the limitations of good or virtue?

Is it possible to be very, very good and yet have little love?

Evelyn Underhill (a favorite writer of the early Western followers of Baba) wrote:

“It seems so much easier in these days to live morally than to live beautifully. Lots of us manage to exist for years without ever sinning against society, but we sin against loveliness every hour of the day."

Where is love in relation to good and bad, virtue and vice?

Does it seem in this quote that Baba is giving license to Aloba’s bad behavior?

Or is He making an issue of Bhau’s judgmental attitude?

What does it mean when Baba says that this process can only happen under the unerring guidance of the Avatar or a Perfect Master?

How is it that in a virtuous life, bad is suppressed and does not get worked on and dealt with? Any examples of how this plays out?

Can self-justifying good and virtuous behavior keep one in denial of their baser impulses and shadow side.

Will Baba's perspective make us less judgmental of others and also of ourselves?

In His love, Jeff

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered!

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