Lalon Shah and the Vision of the Self - Dewan Mohammad Azraf

From the beginning of Muslim dominance in this land, the aspiration arose to guide both the Hindu and Muslim communities in the light of a single ideology. That aspiration took different forms in Ramananda, Kabir, Nanak or Chaitanya Deva. The aspiration of these great souls in the religious world was devoted to establishing a meeting ground of both Hindu and Muslim cultures; in its political expression it appeared in Emperor Akbar's founding of a religion called Din-i-Ilahi, and in its popular scholarly expression, in the massive book Muz'ima-ul-Bahrein by Prince Dara Shikoh.

Dadu (Daud) Bule, Shah Abdul Latif, Lalon, Madan, Hason Raja and Sheikh Bhanu gave this aspiration its popular expression. Indeed, though it never reached beyond the reach of royal thrones nor deep into scholarly circles, the consciousness of unity that took root in the minds of the common people of this land found its living embodiment in the lives of these saints, sages and pir-dervishes.

The humanism that developed in this subcontinent aimed chiefly at establishing as a public truth that Hindus and Muslims alike are the creation of one God, or born of one Allah. At the same time, casting aside the scriptural rituals and all-encompassing doctrines of both religions, it established their core principles. Dadu, Bule, Abdul Latif, Lalon, Madan or Hason Raja showed that aspiration in their lives. Their contention was: truth is greater than the scriptures, and man is greater than the ordinance. Within man himself lies the vessel of all scriptures — that jewel of a man must be sought out.

In the West, the long-flowing tradition of philosophical enquiry aimed chiefly at satisfying the intellect. Plato, true, planned an ideal republic for the realisation of his political doctrine, yet he tried to grasp his incorporeal ideas through thought alone; he did not attempt to feel them through the body, the breath, or life itself.

In the age of the decline of Greek philosophy, when the school of Alexandria's Platonism arose, Greek philosophy for the first time came somewhat into contact with human life; and although some Western thinkers dismissed Neo-Platonism as a degradation of philosophy, in the East this very stream of practice was the true stream of the practice of human life. In the East, philosophy was never at any time taken as an exercise of the mind pursued apart from life. The ancient seers were not satisfied merely to establish the essential truth through intellect or reflection alone; they strove to realise truth profoundly in every field of life.

That is why the fruit of the Buddha's practice may be called Buddhism as much as Buddhist philosophy; likewise Shankara's Vedanta may be called both Vedanta philosophy and Vedanta religion. What they attained through intuition and nididhyasana, they strove to feel in life and gave guidance of conduct as well.

A comparative discussion of Eastern and Western philosophy draws our attention to one more point. In the West, even after accepting experience, intellect or the Veda as the means of knowledge, no importance was attached to the body. To the Platonist, the soul is like a cave-dwelling man, at times only a hint of his past ideas. To Aristotle, the active power of reasoning, or intellect, is the highest stage of humanity; after death this rational faculty attains immortality, yet he gave no indication of where in the body it resides during life. Plotinus called the first step to liberation Katharsis: its task is to purify the soul of the domination of body and senses and set it free — ordinary moral discipline is enough for that. At the second stage, through thought, reason and the discussion of philosophical theory, it becomes possible for the soul to ascend upward. At the third stage, transcending merely human thought, one gains intuition of true being (Nous). Yet all these are stages of preparation. In the last stage the human soul becomes capable of attaining Brahman through trance, rapture and supreme joy; then, rising above thought or reflection in an unconscious state, lost in mystic emotion, it is united with Brahman.

In explaining Plotinus's philosophical theory, in very recent times Dean Inge expressed the opinion that the human soul presents itself at truth's gate through dialectical logic, that intuition is the only means of realising it, and that in Greek philosophy the soul's path to liberation has indeed been indicated — but its relation with trance, rapture or supreme joy in the human body was never determined.

Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, conceived the human body and the human mind as entirely different things. In his view the body operates according to its own principle, and the soul too is governed by its principle; but their connection takes place in a knot of flesh called the pineal gland.

True, the discussions of present-day empiricists, rationalists or intuitionists have examined the relation of body and soul, but they have not discussed any special seat or place of the soul within the body. Yet in the Sufi doctrine of the East, in Vajrayana, Sahajayana, or the religion of the Bauls, various chakras or lataif within this human body have been indicated.

Lalon's life shows the aspiration to synthesise the doctrines and streams of practice of different religions. He knew Islam's cosmology, the Hindus' Brahman doctrine and avatarvad or reincarnation, and the silent Buddhists' doctrine of the body as well. Following his line of thought, one sees he attempted synthesis among them. It is hard to determine which doctrine he took as the basic principle around which he sought to synthesise the others, because his songs are undated and their chronological order cannot be established. Yet studying deeply the songs he composed on various subjects, it seems that at first he accepted Islam's cosmology and then became committed to doctrines such as mayavada and pantheism. He accepted Hazrat Rasul Karim (pbuh), Sri Krishna or Chaitanya Deva as avatars of the various attributes of Allah or Brahman. In the end, in the discussion of the doctrine of the body, he encountered such subtle senses that their awakening reveals the true nature of this world and of the mooladhara itself.

That Allah alone is the sole maker and mover, the creator of this world — Lalon's famous song below stands as its proof:

Here Lalon accepted Allah as the sovereign power of this world and the hereafter — that is, as the Ilahi.

Nor did he stop at acknowledging Him merely as the all-powerful, sovereign force; like a humble devotee he begged mercy of Him:

Yet in the course of his thought the conception of Allah, the creator of this universe, developed into pantheism. The creator no longer remained two separate entities apart from each other; they merged into one:

Though, like the pantheist Sufis, Lalon saw the form of one Allah in all beings, by naming Ram and Kala alongside Rahim and Karim he left a clear imprint of the doctrine of avatars too. Synthesising the Muslim doctrine of prophethood with avatarvad, he described Hazrat Muhammad as the manifestation of the attributes of Allah Himself:

This line of thought is not new in Lalon's meditations. No conception of Allah's “species” is possible for man; He is beyond the reach of the human mind. Yet the history of Islam holds instances of union with His many attributes: Mansur Hallaj's “Anal Haq”, Bayazid's “Subhani”, Ibnul-Fakir's “Anhiya” — instances of becoming one with those divine attributes.

A group of Muslim sages holds the prophets to be the finest expressions of one or another attribute of Allah. One of their songs runs:

Prophet Yusuf is held to be the most beautiful in the Islamic world and Prophet Musa the most powerful. In the view of that circle of sages, they were nothing but the complete expression of two attributes of Allah. Lalon, however, raised Rasul Karim far above, as the giver of shade to the heaven, the mortal world and the netherworld of the three worlds, and did not stop even there; he took pride in the prophet as the manifestation of the form of Allah Himself.

Here Lalon made no distinction between the “Nur-e-Mohammadi” and the individual Muhammad. In the view of one group of Sufis the Nur-e-Mohammadi lies at the root of the world's origin, yet he is not exactly the individual Muhammad.

Likewise, in describing the glory of Sri Krishna he said:

That this very Krishna appeared as Gaurachandra of Nadiya, of this Lalon has no doubt:

As expressions of the countless attributes of the beginningless Brahman, who is the form of Allah the creator, prophets and avatars keep appearing in this world. Within such appearances lies the play of Maya. Enchanted by that very Maya, man loses the knowledge of his true form. He falls into the illusion that his body is the real form. Not grasping the truth that within his very body he is formless, he searches for himself here and there and perishes.

At this point it becomes clear from Lalon's songs that at times he yearned for the search of the self, and elsewhere expressed faith in the vision of the self. Believing that the essence of man dwells within his own body, he addressed himself and said:

Besides the songs of seeking, other songs describe the form of the man of the heart:

Though Lalon could not fully know that jewel of a man, he had a clear idea of his essential nature:

If there is no difference between the soul and the supreme soul, in what part of the human body does that supreme soul dwell? Lalon answered:

Lalon conceived the supreme soul as the unknown bird, and conceived it in many other ways and forms too. In all those conceptions the reflections of Vaishnava doctrine and the various moods of the Sahajiya faith can easily be discovered.

Yet what is especially noteworthy here is that Lalon was not prepared to dissolve into that unknown bird. He was eager to maintain a dual distinction between himself and the supreme soul he worshipped. One song reveals this attitude most vividly.

A similar popular tradition attaches to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Deva too: he is said to have remarked, “I do not want to become sugar; I want to eat it.” This dualism finds expression in many of Lalon Shah's songs. For Lalon Shah, therefore, the creator of this world or the supreme Brahman, even dwelling in the human body, remains a little apart from man. Only when man, through practice, realises that man of the heart will his human birth be meaningful and successful.

Although Lalon swung between this conflict of dualism and non-dualism, it can nonetheless be said without doubt — all his life he was a seeker of truth. With an open and expansive mind he advanced into the field of knowledge. Therein lies his true identity. The fully developed ideal of knowledge resides in the human body at all times as the prime mover or the great attractor. How far the seekers of knowledge have advanced in His presence is not the chief question; whether he was faithful to that stream of practice is what the philosophical world should treasure. Because Lalon advanced unswervingly along the path of truth, he will assuredly be worthy of the reverence of truth-seeking people in every age.

References:

1. A short History of Muslim Rule of India : Dr. Ishwari Prosad
2. The Din-i-Ilahi of the Religion of Akbar : Makham Lal Roy Chawdhury
3. Mujma-ul-Bahrein : Prince Dara Shikoh
4. History of Philosophy : Frank Thiiy
5. Humanism in the East and the
6. The Republic : Sylvan Leor Plato
7. Philosophy of Plotimust : Dean Inge
8. History of Philosophy : Welery Thilly
9. Lalon Shah O Lalon Gitika (Lalon Shah and Lalon's Songs) : Muhammad Abu Talib.
10. Lalon Shaher Punyabhumi (The Holy Land of Lalon Shah) : Harishpur: Khondkar Riazul Haq.
11. Bhabsangeet : Khondkar Rafiuddin.
12. Haramani : Muhammad Mansuruddin.
13. Banglar Baul O Baulgan (The Bauls of Bengal and their Songs) : Dr. Upendranath Bhattacharya.
14. Lalon Parichiti (Introducing Lalon) : Muhammad Abu Talib.