Pratiloma is inadvertence towards following the way of harmony, unity and natural balance. It is caused by a distortion in the mind which neglects or rejects the light of higher intelligence and accepts the ego’s divisive tendencies instead. It conduces to a sort of twisted thinking which, when getting free reign, grows antagonistic to the presence of the divine in all things and strives to eradicate that, placing creations of its own design in operation. The instigation of concepts and activities from this imperfect orientation soon produce modes and methods of living which are colored with greater distortion, burgeoning into obsessive fixations, warped complexes and mental imbalance. Lord Buddha observes: “Long is the night to a sleepless person; long is the distance of a league to a tired person; long is the circle of rebirths to the fool who does not know the Truth.” Further, He states:

“So long as evil deeds do not mature, the fool thinks his deeds to be sweet as honey. But when the evil deeds mature, they bring untold misery.”

Sri Ramakrishna teaches about the imposition of egotism in this regard: “Wisdom and liberation cannot be had as long as egoism persists. Birth and death also do not come to an end for that one given to egoism.” Speaking of the distorted mind, Sri Krishna states: “That which, enveloped in darkness, regards unrighteousness opposed to the natural way of dharma as a desirable thing and views all things in a perverted way, that intellect is tamasic.” Sri Sarada Devi, speaking on the level of the individual, states: “The intelligence of a human being is very subtle. It is like a screw that, if turned slightly in the wrong direction, misthreads. Such a mind experiences mental imbalance.”

Svarupanyathabhava is the state of being other than one’s true nature. Instead of abiding in one’s essence, called Svarupapratistha, one finds many ways of denying It or hiding from It. This reveals a lack of spiritual responsibility and amounts to inherent weakness. One must be bold and stand up to declare the immortality of the Self and the illusion of death. Instead, beings shirk or even shun their true nature out of fear, doubt or laziness. As Sri Ramakrishna often said: “In front of God’s mansion lies a huge stump called ego. One cannot get into the mansion without jumping over this stump.” Further, and about the individual’s willingness to overlook inherent divinity and fixate on finite considerations, He stated: “According to local legend, the snake has a precious jewel lodged in its head, yet it is content to eat a mere frog.” His great disciple, Swami Vivekananda, directly stated this truth in nondual terms: “The Self is all in all. None else exists. And thou art That.” Again, he said, “The real me is none but He, and never, never matter changing.” In the teachings of Lord Buddha, we find it explained in this way: “Few beings ever cross over to the farther shore. The multitudes who remain futilely run to and fro on this selfsame shore.” As Sri Krishna relates:

“A person who denies the Atman is tormented by attachment to the body and its desires and activities, but the man whose mind rests in the Atman does not even know the body as it stands, sits, walks, lies down, eats food or performs any other natural act.”

Such is the predicament of the condition of svarupanyathabhava. It is resisting one’s true nature and failing to abide as the Self.