http://wahiduddin.net
When I reflect on the English word ‘sage’ it seems to me that it must come from two different roots, of which one is to be found in Sanskrit, namely ‘swaga’, and the other in Persian, ‘safa’ or ‘saga’. The first root means ‘heaven’, which suggests that the one who tries to become a sage is trying to attain heaven or to become it himself. The other root suggests that a sage is a person who wishes to construct something, one who is constructive. But, of course, there is no such word as ‘sage’ in any eastern language, though they possess a similar word, ‘sant’, which has the same meaning as ‘saint’. Then there is the word ‘sadhana’, which means ‘mastery’; and a Sadhu is one who masters life.
Now there are two different temperaments. There is the one which is always inclined to be contented with things, to accept everything as it comes, willing to live a retired life, resigned to everything that may happen. Indeed we see this temperament more or less in everyone. The other temperament is the one which wishes to master things, which has a desire to master every situation, to master another person, to master an undertaking, to act with will power and courage.
No doubt there is good and evil in both temperaments. The person who is always retired and resigned and contented with everything is not necessarily all good, without any evil in him, nor is the one who controls others and masters circumstances always an ideal person. It is just that there are these two temperaments, and everyone has more or less of the one or of the other.
The Sadhu and the Sant represent these two temperaments. The Sadhu controls and masters things; the Sant is resigned and contented in all situations and under all circumstances in life. He chooses a life of retirement and resignation. If you were to ask me which of the two is superior, I would say that there is neither superior nor inferior. If you work according to your temperament, that is the natural work for you, whereas if you work against your temperament it is like knocking yourself against a rock, and there is no hope of progress. But if you do what you are fitted for, and act accordingly to your temperament, then there will always be progress. The temperament is not a virtue to be displayed; neither is it something to be overcome so that one acts against one’s own nature. The sage recognizes these two temperaments and uses them accordingly, giving them more rein and rendering them more evident to the eye of the seer. He studies how they operate in people’s lives, and no doubt it is very interesting to study the lives of the sages in the East from this point of view; but to a stranger in these countries it is mystifying how their different behaviors can belong to sagehood or saintliness, because in the West people have the idea a sage must be kind, retiring and renouncing, or perhaps even a wonder-worker. So when such qualities are not in evidence it might seem that there is something wrong with the sages! To gain deep understanding of what the saintly life means, and to form a reasonable opinion about the sages in the East, much patience and tolerance are required. People are apt to be disappointed when they judge from appearances.
Hindu sages:
We will first take the sages among the Hindus. This race is naturally sage-like, and a Hindu sage may be a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, a Vaishya, or even a Shudra. There are sages among all castes in India. The idea has been worked out in that country for thousands of years; it is in the people’s blood, and this tendency can be seen even in a child. In my own childhood I derived great pleasure from being in the presence of a sage. At an age when others liked to play ball or play with kites and pigeons I yearned for solitude. It is as if such a desire has been carried on for thousands of years; not only have the sages made their impression on the race, but the race has also been impressed by sagehood itself. The people have the greatest respect for a sage; the greatest admiration, whether they are in business or in a profession, or students, or whatever walk of life they follow. Their greatest joy is to be at the feet of a sage; it is as if one were at the feet of the Deity. So the greatest thing in the world, the highest ideal of life, is some day to be able to become a sage. Not only does the Brahmin feel thus, but also the laborer, the Shudra, has the desire to be released from his toil and obtain a glimpse of that beauty which is hidden in the sage.
There are two kinds of Hindu sages: the Vairagi and the Sant. The one is ascetic, the other is saintly. The life of the Vairagi is very surprising, very extraordinary, and it is a great puzzle to those who meet him. One might be quite afraid of a man who was lying down with ashes rubbed all over his face and body, or perhaps sitting almost in a fire. His very appearance is so strange. He may be living in a graveyard outside the city, and going into the city only to obtain food for himself and his friends who are Vairgis like himself. At other times he goes off into the wilderness and lives there. He spends most of his time in meditation and in striving after mastery of the self.
The path which the Hindus follow is one of the four Yogas, and it is through Hatha Yoga, the path of abstinence, that the Vairagi endeavors to develop his spiritual life. In following this path, practices may be carried out which seem hideous, or at least very strange, to those who do not understand the underlying philosophy or ideal. Whatever he does, the object is to reach the spirit by killing everything that hides the spirit from his sight. One might say that he considers himself to be his own enemy, so he crushes everything that is not spirit, everything that interferes with his spiritual progress. He seeks to kill all that is mortal within himself, realizing that in this way he can attain to a higher and more powerful life.
No words can ever describe the experience he gains. No one else but he himself can possibly understand his experience; it is like a child who has never eaten sugar what the word ‘sweet’ means. Only they can understand the idea of sweet who have experienced sweetness. So a Vairagi is very powerful; to perform a miracle all he has to do is flick his hand. His whole life seems to stand before him as his obedient servant; all who see a Vairagi know that he is the master of life.
Once one is master of self one is master of life. The self is that which makes our life limited, so when we master it we master life, and we become its master in proportion to the degree in which we have attained self-mastery. Such a person is master even of plants and trees, or any living being; he has mastered everything. We cannot easily appreciate this, for it is quite unintelligible until one has oneself developed that mastery in one’s own life. Then it is possible to see how life seems to become obedient in all manner of relationships.
Do we not see, even in our own limited experience, how things go wrong when we have become weak in will or mind in one affair or another? It is not possible to master the conditions of life until we have learned to control ourselves. Once we have mastery over our self everything will go right. It is just the same as when a rider has no strength in his fingers, so that he cannot hold the horse’s reins. His fingers must obey his mind before the horse will obey. This is true of all circumstances in life, and of all the various conditions around us, our relations, our friends. We may complain that no one listens, that our servant does not do what we wish him to do, that our assistants do not carry out our orders. We may blame them when all the time it is ourselves who are to blame because we have not mastered ourselves first. After we have done this they will obey.
The Vairagi learns his lesson mainly through abstinence. Why is this? Because things go wrong through our own weakness; we do not do what we wish to do; we consider ourselves so small that we cannot achieve our own wishes.
There are many wonder-workers among the sages of the Vairagi category. But do not think that they will mount a platform and perform! Anyone who walks on to a stage to show off miracles is false, not real. The real Vairagi aims at his own mastery and is not concerned with doing tricks for the world to see, so no one sees them. The Vairagi’s whole life is a wonder, and yet the world is unaware of it. Not only is he a wonder in himself, but the whole world is a wonder to him, so great is his vision, his power, his inspiration. But his life is a very hard one; it is a great renunciation.
The other kind of sage is the Sant. He also grows through four stages, of which the first is Brahmacharya-shrama or the stage of study. He uses the intellect and he learns about life through both study and practice. This is an intellectual attainment of knowledge. From this he passes on to Grihastha-shrama, the attainment of knowledge through practical experience of the responsibilities of life – responsibility for wife, husband, children, home; the experience of living with neighbors, with enemies; doing one’s duty by them in every way. All this is necessary before he can become a sage.
Next there is Vanaprastha-shrama, in which the aspirant goes beyond serving just his family. His consciousness comes to realize that all he has done for his family so far has been done for himself, for his wife and children. Now he must live for others, for the people of the town, of the country, of the race; he must even do what he can for the whole world. This is the service of humanity, the path of duty.
Finally he arrives at Sanyasa-shrama, which is a life of retirement and solitude. This is the life of retreat. The man who has lived a life of honesty, virtue, goodness, and service is recognized as having done so by his wife and children, and they appreciate that now he should be allowed to follow the life of his own choice. They realize it is time for him to go into retreat. He must go into Sanyasa-shrama; but he does not do this unless his family consents.
Before describing this life I must explain why it is necessary. Why should not one always be in the world? Why the need for retirement at the latter part of life? This retirement is only too necessary. In the first place the man has given up all his life, all his time, all his energy, to the study of worldly things; secondly he has done all this in the interest of his family or perhaps for many people around him. It is right that he should some day have a rest. We ourselves feel justified in resting when Saturday comes, so why should he not have his Sunday after working all his life – a life that has been nothing but continual conflict every moment, proving him to be wise and kind and gentle, true, honest, and virtuous through it all? His patience and virtue have been tested through all the temptations to which he was exposed, through all of life’s difficulties, dangers, humiliations, and responsibilities that had to be faced. This man is surely justified, on reaching the fourth stage of life, in having a little peace, with no more worries or responsibilities of business or profession or even of his family. The world should leave him alone to think and meditate and let his muscles, bones, body, and mind be at rest. All this is natural. So you cannot imagine anyone in the East, and especially in India, not longing from the time he was born for the day when he can become a sage. Whatever may have been his occupation, profession, business, trade or family, he will have been longing for that moment when he could become a Vairagi at last, when he could cast off the load of responsibility that he had carried on his back all those years. He has longed for the time when he can give himself over to thinking about the truth, having now peace and rest and opportunity to communicate with the eternal Being. He has all the time been hoping for his desire to be granted when he may have a rest, with enough time to think of God and live that life wherein one becomes capable of being one with God.
From: http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_I_19.htm
I have to add…
The context with which he speaks of the Vairagis indicates sainthood, which is also what a Sant is. That being the attainment of the states beyond the mind and duality. However, in what he says here about them, he adds a plus factor that he gives to neither the Sants or Sadhus. Primarily among Sufis, once this point is reached, details stop. Other groupings are somewhat different. Sant Mat, despite being concerned primarily with a Sant, does go further in their listings of states of consciousness up to including a Param Sant which in Eckankar is related to the state that is beyond becoming a High (or 5th) Initiate and equates to that of a 7th Initiate which we call the Spiritual Realization. This is where one has the experience of becoming aware that Soul is literally and individual unit of awareness within that of the ECK or Spirit.
In Eckankar these varying states and levels of awareness and experience continue up to the 12th Initiation which is the first level of Mastership. This is the Vairagi Order as it stands in reality, and there are still several further levels of initiation and Mastership that can be attained. These levels are beyond the level of the Anami in Sant Mat which corresponds to Eckankar's 10th plane initiation which is the first definitive stage of God Realization. Therefore my point is to give further detail above and beyond what Hazrat Inayat Khan gave when he wrote this piece. But it is also notable that he gave this specific term a factor that the other two did not have, implying it to be a much greater state. His experience and understanding with the actual Vairagi was limited in ways that no longer necessarily need to exist. This depends solely upon the individual and the way they decide to view and understand things.
The inner master …
“Evenings and mornings represent “the gates” to your inner universe. Taking care of how you enter and exit these “gates” is your primary responsibility; do not give away this power. Once you master it, life will never be the same again.” – Stanley Jacobs
Definitions of the word Pt 1
From: http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/religious/rg69.htm
Religious Gathekas – Religious Gatheka Number 69
Peculiarity of the Great Masters of Humanity (2)
And then we come to the peculiarity of Shiva. Shiva has given an example of vairagya. Do not think of it as asceticism. Very often people think of it as an asceticism. But it is not so. Asceticism is a crude interpretation of vairagya. The word vairagya comes from tyaga in Sanskrit, tyaga means renouncing. And when it is said vairagya it means success in renouncing. Shiva showed it in his life. For years he did meditations; he stood for hours and for days; he stood on his head; for hours and for days he held his breath in; he went without food for days and months. All those things that one can do in order to master the matter and life he did.
When one hears Shiva's philosophy it is all tyaga, give it up, indifference, independence from all things, from food, water, air, breath, sky, from all things, renounce it, renounce it. And do not be surprised with all that, the best philosophy he gave was to his consort Parvati. She asked him questions, and he answered her gently. Through all his asceticism he never gave a philosophy out, he lived it, and by being an example. It was only sometimes that he opened his mouth, and Parvati took it down what Mahadeva gave. And there is always in the book there was a dialogue between Mahadeva and Parvati, Parvati took it down. That shows again balance. He was an ascetic, but he was not despising all that was beautiful and good. He was not ignorant of the devotion given to him. And it was he who told Parvati, when giving the science of Yogas, never give this science to the unfaithful, give it to the simple ones, give it to the poor ones, give it to good persons, wherever they may be, but never give it to the unfaithful. It is often and often that remark is made.
What is the attitude to the Guru? When in a Chela there is not the right attitude to the Guru, that Chela must not have the secret of life, he does not deserve it. One would think that when the Guru had renounced everything, what would it matter whether the Chela was faithful or not? He knew that what in faithfulness he will receive, that will do him good; what by unfaithfulness he will receive it will burn him; it was for the good of the Chela.
Now we come to the peculiarity of Buddha. Buddha showed the great reason, he began with reason. His parents kept him closed, secluded in a palace until he was a grownup young man, and never allowed him to see the misery of life, he was quite unacquainted with life in the world. He only knew his servants, the royal comforts that he experienced in the palace. And there comes one day when the father says: 'Now he must go out, how long shall we keep him in captivity?' The first day when he goes out he looks around and says, 'What is this?' They said, 'He is a blind man, he cannot see.' 'And what is this?' 'It is a poverty-stricken man, he has no money.' 'What is this?' 'This woman has a large family to look after, it is a great responsibility.' 'What is this?' 'It is age, which has its trials.' 'What is this?' They said, 'they are the heroes who fought, now they have become wounded, now for the whole of life they are in this condition.' He looked at it all and he said, 'Is there no remedy for it?' 'There are remedies, but remedies are limited.' It is this first experience of life that gave him a blow. With that blow his soul was wakened, and he began to think, how can they be relieved of all the different kinds of miseries.
The whole life of Buddha was devoted to find the remedy to relieve humanity. He thought of things, examined different aspects of life, consoled and served people, every moment devoted to find the remedy to relieve humanity whatever way it can be. In this pursuit of relief he found out the same mystery, the mystery which all the great prophets and souls have found, and that mystery was self-realization. That all the religion and meditation and philosophy and wisdom, everything led to one object and that was self-realization. That was the remedy of all remedies, and nothing else. Give the poor money, they will be poorer still.
After that Buddha had to renounce the comfort and the happiness which God had given him, and go out as a physician of the soul to console humanity. The whole of life was passed in it. And those inspired by the glance, by the words, by the presence, by the atmosphere of the Master, they spread it still more, till it became the Message of the world. Today half the world is benefited by it, and the whole world is benefited by it indirectly.
Definitions Pt 2
From: http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_2_9.htm
Volume VIII – The Art of Being
The Privilege of Being Human
Chapter IX
Indifference – Vairagya
The word vairagya comes from the Sanskrit and means indifference. By Sufis it is called fana, and it is shown in the cross, the symbol of the Christian religion.
This indifference comes to every being and is the first step to his annihilation, because not one atom can have its evolution without annihilation. The lower beings, the mineral, vegetable and animal, evolve towards the higher beings, and as man is the highest creation, there is nothing for him to evolve to but this indifference, when it comes, opens a way for him to God from whom he came.
This indifference comes to the child when she realizes that her doll is not so interesting as she had thought and that it would be more interesting to play with other children who at least are alive. So first the child takes the doll and loves it. She carries it about and if the dolly's hand is hurt the child wants some remedy; a bed is needed to put the dolly in and a carriage is needed to take the dolly out. But when the nature of the doll is understood it is thrown away, and the child realizes that to play with children of her own age is better than to play with dolls which never speak.
So it is with us, the children of the world. Our likes and infatuations have a certain limit; when their time has expired the period of indifference commences. When the water of indifference is drunk, then there is no more wish for anything in the world. The nature of the water one drinks in this world is that one's thirst is quenched for a certain time, and then comes again. When the water of divine knowledge is drunk, then thirst never comes again.
This indifference comes when the nature of the world is understood; it is the higher knowledge. Then it is understood that all those objects to which one attached so much importance, which one strove to attain, to achieve, are not important. Before reaching that stage a person attaches too much importance to his joys, to his sorrows. If he is sad the whole world is full of sadness. If he is a little joyful the whole world is full of joy – as if the sun would rise and set according to his joy and sadness.
Indifference, however, must be reached after interest has taken its course; before that moment it is a fault. A person without an interest in life becomes exclusive, he becomes disagreeable. Indifference must come after all experience – interest must end in indifference. Man must not take the endless path of interest: the taste of everything in the world becomes flat. Man must realize that all he seeks in the objects he runs after, that all beauty and strength, are in himself, and he must be content to feel them all in himself. This may be called the kiss of the cross: then man's only principle is love.
Vairagya means satisfaction, the feeling that no desire is to be satisfied any more, that nothing on earth is desired. This is a great moment, and then comes that which is the kingdom of God.
Why is God satisfied with the world whereas even man, when he reaches a certain grade of intelligence, is not satisfied? Or is God not satisfied? There are two sorts of dissatisfaction. The first is felt when a man has so much given in to the external self that the world can give him no more satisfaction. The other comes when the desire for more experience, for more enjoyment ceases. This is called Vairagya, this is indifference. Such a person is not unhappy. He is happier than others. He has only lost his intense interest in the world.
There is a story of a comedian who every day disguised himself in order to fool the king, the Badshah, at whose court he lived. But the king recognized him in all his disguises. The comedian then thought that he would disguise himself as an ascetic. He went to a cave in the mountains and lived there with two disciples, also comedians. He fasted for long periods thinking that in this way he disguised himself well. After forty days people, seeing his disciples, began to speak of the sage living in the mountain. They brought him presents: one hundred, two hundred dirhams. But he refused all saying, 'Take it away. 'The sage does not want money or presents.'
His fame spread more and more. The king heard of him and became anxious to see him. So he went to the cave, but for a long time the disciples would not let him enter. At last he was allowed to come into the presence of the 'sate.' The king said, 'I have been kept waiting very long before I could see you.' The sage replied, 'The dogs of this world are not allowed to enter the house.' The king was very much insulted. He thought, 'This must be a very great person.' He gave him a paper saying, 'This is a parwana for the support of your disciples.' A parwana means a grant of land, but the word has two meanings, it also means moth. The 'sage' said, 'if it is a parwana its place is in the fire.' And he put the paper in the fire which was burning before him.
The king went away and the comedian got up thinking, 'Now I must tell the king how well I have fooled him.' Then a voice came saying, 'Your feigned indifference has brought the king before you. If it had been real indifference, We Ourselves would have come before you.
Thus we arrive at the definition that Vairag means detachment.