A devotee, Vimal Kumar Khera, wrote to Brahm Bodhi with deep reverence, recalling an earlier promise that, when time permitted, further light would be shed upon “Spiritual Technology” and “Psychological Engineering.” He now sought that guidance.
“Respected Brahm Bodhi Ji, my humble pranam to you. Your guidance fills the mind with immense joy. You had yourself said that, when time permitted, you would shed further light on this subject. Prabhu Ji, please find some time — otherwise time itself will one day take us away! Kindly illuminate us with the light of your knowledge and bless us with your guidance.”
“Hari Sharanam, Khera Ji!” Brahm Bodhi replied, and then took up the subject.
He recalled that in an earlier answer, while discussing these very terms, he had said that it is entirely appropriate to employ techniques or “technology” drawn from psychology for spiritual progress, because ultimately it is the mind that has to be trained and mastered. When the mind is mastered, our perception begins to change, insight into the true nature of reality begins to dawn, and the way opens toward the realization of God.
The seeker had now expressed a wish to understand the very tools of Psychological Engineering employed by Bhagavad Dharma.
The Gita as a science of the mind
If one reads the Bhagavad Gita carefully, Brahm Bodhi observed, a very substantial part of it deals with the science of the mind — what we today call psychology. The Gita certainly explains the nature of the Atman, but the Atman itself is akarta, the non-doer. It performs no action for its own liberation. In a sense, it remains imprisoned within the cage of Maya.
This entire divine lila is a cosmic drama in which the jivatman — an individual manifestation of the same Supreme Reality — comes under the veil of Maya and forgets its true nature.
What is this veil, this cage?
It may be understood as the sukshma sharira, the subtle body, also called the linga sharira. Among its principal constituents are manas (mind), buddhi (intellect), and ahamkara (the sense of “I”). All three play an extremely important role in the spiritual journey, and all three fall within the domain of psychology.
Here, ahamkara does not mean pride or arrogance. Pride can certainly be one expression of ahamkara, but its fundamental meaning here is the “I-sense” — the experience of oneself as a separate individual entity.
“I am Varuna,” “I am Indra,” “I am Shiva,” “I am Brahma”; or, at the human level, “I am rich,” “I am poor,” “I am powerful,” “I am weak and helpless.” Behind all these statements operates the same “I-sense.”
It is this “I-sense” that makes one experience oneself as separate from another. In broad terms, it may be described as the apparent individualization of the one indivisible Supreme Self.
Without this “I,” it is difficult even to conceive of the empirical world and individual existence. Yet this very “I” also becomes one of the principal elements in the alloy from which the cage of Maya is formed.
This background is necessary, Brahm Bodhi explained, because it is this “I” that makes one deity appear separate from another, one human being from another, and one living being from another — although, from the spiritual standpoint, the same Supreme Reality dwells within them all.
The role of “Spiritual Technology”
What, then, is the role of “Spiritual Technology” here? Its task is gradually to reduce the dominance of this “I.” Its purpose is to begin loosening, within a matter of weeks, the rigidity of such notions as “I am the master and this person is my servant,” or “I am wealthy and powerful, while that beggar sitting by the roadside is someone entirely separate from me.”
This does not mean that one must become a beggar and sit by the roadside. What is necessary is that one’s vision should mature to the point of recognizing that the same Supreme Being dwells within that beggar — that the Atman within him is of the same Divine Reality as the Atman dwelling within oneself. One then begins to experience the underlying oneness between oneself and the other.
The Bhagavad Gita repeatedly teaches precisely this vision. Bhagavan Krishna says:
“सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि। ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शनः॥”
The one established in Yoga sees the Self abiding in all beings and all beings abiding in the Self, beholding the same Reality everywhere.
Again:
“आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन। सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं स योगी परमो मतः॥”
One who, taking oneself as the measure, sees all beings as equal — regarding their happiness and suffering as one’s own — is considered the highest yogi.
The Gita makes another very clear declaration:
“यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति। तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि स च मे न प्रणश्यति॥”
One who sees the Lord everywhere and sees everything in the Lord never loses sight of Him, nor does the Lord ever lose sight of that person.
We read these verses, Brahm Bodhi noted, but allowing their truth to penetrate deeply into the mind is difficult. Even after reflecting upon them, it can take a very long time to understand this truth fully, accept it inwardly, assimilate it, and finally make it a part of our very nature.
Merely reading the Gita, the Ramayana, or the Bhagavata repeatedly does not immediately dissolve the deeply ingrained sense of separateness that has accumulated within the mind over a very long period. For that, systematic practice — which we may call sadhana — is necessary.
It is precisely here that the usefulness of “Spiritual Technology,” “Psychological Engineering,” or Manovaigyanik Abhiyantran becomes apparent.
The analogy of the tunnel
Brahm Bodhi illustrated this with an analogy. Suppose one has to cross a high and inaccessible mountain, beyond which lies a divine world, and to reach it a tunnel must be carved through the mountain.
If one tries to cut through the mountain using only a hammer and chisel, it may take thousands of days. Modern technology, however — using massive drilling machines, controlled blasting, and other sophisticated equipment — can accomplish the same task in a fraction of that time. The mountain remains the same. The destination remains the same. What has changed is the effectiveness of the tools.
The human mind is such a formidable mountain. Our samskaras, ahamkara, attachments and aversions (raga-dvesha), fears, desires, and long-established patterns of thought are the hard rocks of this mountain. Merely listening to spiritual discourses does not break these rocks.
For this purpose, meditation, self-observation, the systematic cultivation of particular attitudes and emotions, repetition, transformation of perspective, and other effective methods understood through psychology can be employed in an organized manner.
Such transformation cannot ordinarily be achieved in a short period through any one simple method — such as mantra-japa or nama-japa alone — although these practices certainly have their own definite spiritual benefits.
What this does and does not mean
This systematic application of psychological methods for accelerating spiritual transformation is what, in Bhagavad Dharma, is called “Spiritual Technology” and “Psychological Engineering” (Manovaigyanik Abhiyantran).
This does not mean that some modern psychological technique can automatically bestow moksha. It means that the process of mastering and transforming the mind can be made more systematic, conscious, and effective.
A mental veil that might take an extremely long time to remove through irregular or unsystematic efforts can be worked upon far more effectively when useful psychological techniques are combined with proper spiritual sadhana. In this way, a seeker can substantially accelerate spiritual progress.
A tunnelling machine does not create the world that lies beyond the mountain; it merely opens a passage through which that world can be reached more quickly. In exactly the same way, psychological techniques do not create God or the Atman — they are already there. These techniques merely help remove the psychological barriers and mental obstructions that prevent us from perceiving the Reality that already exists.
Brahm Bodhi acknowledged that he had still not fully answered the seeker’s original question — but that this background was necessary in order to understand the answer properly, and that in this discussion he had tried to lay that foundation.
In the next discussion, he said, the subject would be carried one step further: how this “Spiritual Technology” or “Psychological Engineering” of Bhagavad Dharma can actually be applied in spiritual practice, and what specific tools and techniques it uses to accelerate spiritual progress.