By
SRI SWAMI CHIDANANDA
A DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY PUBLICATION
First Edition: 1998
(2,000 copies)
World Wide Web (WWW) Edition : 1999
Website: http://www.divinelifesociety.org/
This WWW reprint is for free distribution
© The Divine Life Trust Society
ISBN 81-7052-144-0
EC62
Published By
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
P.O. Shivanandanagar—249 192
Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttaranchal,
Himalayas, India.
CONTENTS
This book is a compilation from the lectures to the Yoga-Vedanta Forest
Academy students given by Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj, President,
the Divine Life Society. These inspiring discourses provide very valuable
guidance not only to Yoga-Vedanta students, but also to all the sincere
discriminating men.
This inspiring book throws useful light on higher values of spiritual
life and gives guidance for spiritual Sadhana.
We are happy that this very useful book on spiritual Sadhana is released
during the Spiritual Sadhana Week.
May the blessings of God be on all.
—THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
Some Basic Truths Of Life
(Talk given to the students of 23rd Course of YVF Academy, 10-5-1996)
Radiant Divinities! Beloved children of God! Pilgrims on this earth
plane! Seekers!
You have all come here for study. The traditional method of studying
the Indian scriptures takes a minimum period of twelve years, and mind
well, Saturdays and Sundays also working days and there were six hours
of teaching and eight hours of self-study daily. In the first phase,
they taught the Sanskrit language, grammar, nyaya-shastra, logic,
etc. Then they used to teach the preliminary texts, the prakarana
granthas, like Viveka-Chudamani, Tattva-Bodha, Atma-Bodha. Then
only, the prasthana-trayee, the three main treatises, namely,
Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, the principal Upanishads and the Vedanta-Sutras
which is also known as Brahma-Sutras were taught. The normal period
of study required in this traditional ancient gurukula method,
was twelve years; but sometimes it was more, fifteen years or even twenty
years, to study the intricate interpretation of words, their hidden
meaning and significance. The different schools of thoughts may have
different interpretations of the same combination of words. One such
example is the combination tattvam-asi. One school may say it
means ‘thou art That.’ Another school may say it is combined
with the previous word and when separated it should read atattvam-asi,
meaning exactly the opposite. Due to such intricacy of the Sanskrit
language, a full-time study over a very long period is necessary.
Nevertheless, in this short period of teaching here, a brief outline
of the Indian and the Western philosophies and the essence of the Indian
scriptures is given to you here, and you will just get an entry into
the Indian scriptures, so that you can pursue self-study after going
back home. This serves the purpose of sadhakas and jijnasus.
The traditional twelve year study and passing the various examinations
and getting the degrees of shastri and acharya is necessary
for those who want to start their own pathashala or take up the
career of a teacher or become a purohit. That is a totally different
field of study in which is included a thorough knowledge of various
sacraments, rites and rituals covering various ceremonies like naming
the child, thread ceremony, marriage ceremony. This is known as karmakanda.
A purohit is an important member of the Hindu society as no important
ceremony can be taken up without him. In the past this was quite a lucrative
profession and came in the family from generation to generation.
The Object of the Course: The study of the various paths of
Yoga and of Upanishads and Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita provide practical guidance
for Sadhana. In the West, there are theological seminaries for the Christians.
But, for the philosophical study there is a separate department in many
Universities where they teach the thoughts of the ancient philosophers
like Plato and Aristotle as well as modern philosophers like Kant and
Hegel. Like that, in every country there is some system for the study
of both these aspects.
One may ask what is the purpose of all these philosophical texts? Why
such a phenomenon called philosophy came into human social process of
evolution? There are various branches of spiritual literature with relevance
to day to day life. But what is the relevance of the study of philosophy?
The purpose of my elaborating these details in connection with philosophical
study is to ask you, “What is the object of this study of Yoga
and Vedanta? What do all the various Eastern and Western philosophers
seek? What do you expect to obtain by this study? What is the purpose
of the spiritual knowledge?”
All the secular sciences left the phenomenon of man unexplained, left
the origin of man unexplained. So the thinkers who wanted to know about
this, probed into the mystery of man and his origin and thus came into
existence the subject of philosophy.
What is the subject, scope and area of study of philosophy? It is two-fold:
1) It is a study of man. What is the phenomenon of life? What exactly
is he constituted of? What is his origin? What is his ultimate destination?
2) It is a study of the universe in which he lives. What is the nature
of the universe?
Philosophy seeks to understand the phenomenon of life. So it has to
have a minimum of two dimensions: the beings who live the life and the
universe in which they live. Thus, man and the world become the two
minimum reducible unavoidable subjects. A deeper study of these two
factors leads to the study of a third factor: the origin of the man
and the world. What is the origin of the universe? From where this world,
sun, moon, planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae and all that have come?
Who governs the phenomena of various natural cycles like day and night,
different seasons and the phenomenon of rains which is just sufficient
to support and sustain the life? What is the origin of man? There must
be some source. So a third factor enters in the philosophical analysis
and study. This third factor, the unknown source or origin of man and
the universe, becomes an important part of the philosophical thought.
One may justifiably ask, “What do I gain by studying this unknown
factor?” It must have some practical utility, some valid value.
Otherwise, it would have been a for the time-being subject and disappeared
soon. But it has persisted for a very long time and is growing and expanding,
it is being enhanced and augmented generations after generations. This
means that it must have some intrinsic and intriguing value in it.
Suppose you start with a pragmatic and logical approach and come to
a certain conclusion that this must be the origin and source of the
universe. In fact, most of the conclusions of the Western philosophical
thought are derived in this way. They show tremendous speculative heights
and a very very amazing great depth and details, incisive analysis,
reasoning, logic and wisdom. They theorised their conclusions. They
did not accept the previous conclusions and often disproved them by
logical arguments and reasoning. They have a quest of perfection and
always try to improve upon the existing theories. In this way, great
philosophical systems have been evolved in the Western world by great
scholars, thinkers and philosophers.
The Role of Saints: The Eastern philosophy is developed in a
totally different manner. Our entire philosophical system is based upon
and has been derived from the already existing knowledge which is found
to be existing from ancient times, beyond the known history of humanity.
God only knows when it originated. Its time is not traceable.
All our philosophical systems that are existing now have originated
from the in-depth study of that Knowledge which was already existing.
Our ancient seers and sages had already presented us certain conclusions
about the basic philosophical questions and processes and sealed it
ultimately with the seal of indisputable authenticity and genuineness
of Aparokshanubhuti, their direct personal Experience of the
Truth. In other words, the proof and validation of their conclusions
was not the logical reasoning, analysis and arguments but this personal
Experience. That is the uniqueness of our philosophical system.
In all the countries, in all the races, in all the cultures of the
world we observe a unique phenomenon. Quite apart from the philosophers
and scholars, there is a separate, unique and distinct category of people,
the saints. Every race has produced some saints. Many of these saints
were not very highly educated; some of them had even never gone to school,
they were illiterate. Yet the world remembers them. Even in the modern
world of science and high technology many people study their lives and
teachings, and draw inspiration from them though they were neither philosophers
nor worldly people. Even after thousands of years their lives and teachings
have remained a source of inspiration.
In the beginning came the worship and sacraments, the karmakanda.
They realised, “This is not enough. Even if we worship daily,
even if we perform all the sacrifices and oblations, all the yajnas
and yagas and all the samskaras, we can never be free
from sorrow and grief, pain and sufferings, old age and ailment, tension
and anxiety, fear and fright, fights and quarrels, diseases and death.
We have no lasting peace of mind. So we must find out something higher,
something which is beyond this and which will really free us. We must
find out the state which is dvandvatita and trigunatita, transcending
the pairs of opposites and the three gunas. We must find the
state beyond sorrow, the state of eternal peace. Let us contemplate
on That only.”
Ultimately, in some wonderful moment in the history of India, in the
history of mankind, some of these intrepid and gallant seekers, explorers
of the unknown and unseen realm, came to experience the Ultimate Truth,
the Supreme Reality. They had the direct Experience. They shouted in
wonder and amazement, shouted in joy, “Ah! This is That! This is
the Light of lights! This is the Reality, the Truth!”
Aparokshanubhuti: What does the direct Experience mean? All
the knowledge a human individual gathers in this material world is through
the perception of senses. If you have a good hearing faculty you gather
knowledge through all kinds of sounds; you can distinguish all types
of sound, all types of speech, words, etc. Similarly, if you have a
perfect faculty of seeing, your cognition of the entire world is through
sight. In the same way, you are able to perceive heat and cold, soft
and hard through the sense of touch. Similarly you perceive the world
through the sense of smell and the sense of taste. So, whatsoever you
know about the world right from the birth onwards, is through the five
senses of seeing, hearing, touching, smell and taste in the form of
roopa, shabda, sparsha, gandha and rasa. (Appearance, speech,
touch, smell and taste) These are the five dimensions of your cognition.
These are five types of experiences through which you perceive the whole
world and acquire all the knowledge. So this is indirect knowledge,
it comes through one of the senses or a combination of them. If any
one of these senses is absent, that part of perception is absent. A
person born blind has no perception of colour, form and appearance.
That aspect of the world does not exist for him at all.
In direct Knowledge the senses play no roll. Aparokshanubhuti, the
direct Knowledge arises only when the senses are completely still.
The senses are useless for direct Knowledge. As a matter of fact the
senses are the main obstacle in direct Knowledge, they come in the way
of the direct Knowledge. It arises without the medium of these senses,
when the senses are totally still, the mind is desireless and when the
seeker enters a very subtle state of higher consciousness. One just
experiences in the depth of one’s own consciousness, one’s
own real Self, transcending the material world and its cognition. That
is the direct Experience. That is the Aparokshanubhuti.
In some wondrous era in our ancient history, the seers had the great
Experience and came face to face with the Truth, came face to face with
the Ultimate Reality. The moment they entered into the direct Experience,
they were amazed, they were struck-dumb; because, there was a total
transformation of their whole consciousness and they became filled with
the Light. The darkness of ignorance vanished instantaneously, all doubts,
all questions vanished forthwith. They experienced the total Knowledge;
everything became clear straightway; no more any questions, any doubts,
remained. That Knowledge is known as Brahma-jnana and the knower
is known as a jnani. Thus, whatever is to be known became known
to them. The origin and the source of the universe and the man, also
became known to them. They became the very embodiment, the very personification
of Knowledge itself.
Vedanta: The records of these purely transcendental experiences
comprise and constitute the contents of the end portion of Vedas
known as jnanakanda or the vedanta. Some of these
seers have very compassionately narrated how they attained It, what
were all the Sadhana and tapas they did. So Vedanta is the most
important and valuable portion of the Vedic wisdom heritage. It forms
the very basis and foundation of spiritual life. It is the source and
origin of all the Indian philosophical systems, whether it is the Absolute
Monism of Sankaracharya, or Qualified Monism of Ramanujacharya or Pure
Dualism of Madhvacharya or Dual-nondual Doctrine of Nimbarkacharya or
Pure Dualism of Vallabhacharya or Achintya Bhedabheda of Gauranga
Mahaprabhu. All the great acharyas based their philosophical
systems on different interpretations of vedanta. All these philosophical
systems, the schools of thoughts, are known as vedanta.
There are many schools of philosophy in the East, Far-East and the
West. But the main fundamental subject, namely, the purpose of human
life is more explicitly and emphatically spelt out in the East.
Before making a detailed study of the philosophical systems, let us
inquire into some basic questions: What is our purpose of this study?
What do we obtain or gain from such study? What are their fundamental
findings and teachings? What do these seers want to convey to us?
When we try to probe this particular question, we find that what they
want to convey to us ultimately, is something so very apparent, so very
absolutely clear and plain that nobody will ever question it a second
time. They have given us some plain facts, some home-truths of life.
The way by which they reached them at that time must have required a
great deal of thinking, a great deal of contemplation, a great deal
of analysis and speculation and all that. We should be very grateful
to them, for they have proclaimed them and very clearly put before us
the conclusions they arrived at. They have spared us all the difficult
spadework, all the agony. Now it is like reaching Mt. Everest by an
aeroplane or helicopter instead of reaching there by one’s own
effort, by one’s own self, slowly trekking the long route, climbing
the extremely difficult mountains and making the final attempt to reach
the summit again and again. Whatever is necessary for acquiring the
Knowledge, our ancient seers have already done somehow and have clearly
laid down the path for us. They have clearly derived the ultimate Truth.
We have simply to follow their path.
The Basic Truths:
Now I will tell you something that I usually tell on the last day as
a concluding message. Without telling that I am not closing my message.
But something prompts me from within to tell this today itself. Once
you know it, your entire approach to your study, to your life, will
be changed and it will take a new bhava, a new viewpoint altogether.
The ultimate highest discovery of the ancient sages and seers is recorded
in the Upanishads, which reveal the great truths and teachings.
It is the great grace, compassion and blessedness of our ancients that
some sages might have thought: ‘In the times to come, who is going
to study this very abstract Vedantic philosophy, understand it and acquire
thorough knowledge, ponder and contemplate on it and attain Illumination?’
They must have envisaged that the whole world will be career oriented
and money will rule the entire life. All the time and energy of people
will be spent in earning money and keeping the pot boiling at home.
Though the teachings of Upanishads is the highest and the greatest invaluable
treasure of the mankind, very few people will be able to take interest
in it. So the quintessence of the entire wisdom teachings, knowledge
and spiritual experiences of the Upanishads is given to us, to the entire
mankind, in a very concise yet very simple, lucid and interesting form
in the Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita. In this amazing and epigrammatic poem,
all the truths are included. If we try to keep in view what basic, fundamental
yet practical and pragmatic home-truths Bhagavad-Gita gives us, we can
make our life based on them and enrich it.
Just imagine in eighteen chapters, in seven hundred verses only, the
quintessence of the entire teachings, the wisdom knowledge of all the
Upanishads, the highest spiritual experiences of so many illumined sages
and seers, are treasured in such a simple and easy-to-understand way!
Some of these verses are the preamble, the prologue and the narrative
and the actual number of verses giving the intricate teachings is much
less. It is amazing how in such a concise treatise, in such a brief
discourse everything necessary for our uplift and supreme welfare is
given to us! If we try to keep in mind the basic and fundamental yet
practical and pragmatic home truths this wisdom teachings of Bhagavad-Gita
gives us, and if we base our life on them, we can attain our highest
good. We cannot afford to ignore these basic truths. Unless our life
is based on these truths, our life will be wasted. This is one interpretation
of the implication of these truths.
Truth Is God: Another implication of the fundamental Truth is:
It is the ultimate Reality. That alone is the real Truth and compared
to That, everything else is untrue. All other things fail to fulfil
the test of genuineness and authenticity of Truth which That fulfils
completely. So the definition of that ultimate, eternal Truth is Tat
Sat. This is another implication, the highest one, of Truth.
There are some lesser implications also. The facts of life which no
one contradicts are also known as truths. There are two views about
this: there are certain facts which are so self-evident that there can
be no dispute about them. These are known as svatah-siddhah truths.
There are many such truths elaborated in the Upanishads, and the Gita
has reproduced them in a simple, lucid form.
Such truths are narrated in more interesting, very simple, very easy-to-understand
story form in the Puranas. In the Puranas a truth is woven in a very
absorbing big story and many people may miss it. The narration is so
interesting and elaborate that many people take note of the stories
and bypass these truths and the preaching.
1) Certainty of Death: Whereas Bhagavad-Gita puts them in such
a straight, direct, undiluted and concise form that no one can ever
miss them. One such truth that all of you must always remember and which
you cannot afford to forget even a single day of your life is proclaimed
at the very beginning of Lord Krishna’s teachings in Bhagavad-Gita.
What is that? That great truth is: The absolute certainty of death.
In one categorical statement He says, Jaatasya hi dhruvo mrityuh
(Certain is the death for the born. II-27). For everyone who is
born, death is certain. How many people have really pondered over the
importance of this truth? You should ponder: ‘Why this has been
so categorically proclaimed? In what way this concerns me? How should
I relate myself to this great truth? Why Jagadguru Purnavatara Bhagavan
Krishna told this to Arjuna?’ He told this to Arjuna in order to
bring him out of delusion, in order to take him out of nervous break-down,
in order to bring him out of the weeping condition. He asks, ‘For
whom are you weeping? If you don’t kill them, do you think that
they will live for ever? Even if you don’t kill them, one day they
will die; die they must, in one way or the other. Even at this moment
many are being born and many are dying. This is the plain truth of life.
Why don’t you realise it fully? Why don’t you take it calmly?
What is the use of breaking your head for something which is inevitable,
for the truth which cannot be changed or altered?’
What was Arjuna’s delusion? He thinks: ‘All these people
will die in the battle-field.’ All of them had to die, death is
inevitable for all of them. But Arjuna thinks: ‘If he does not
fight they will not die, they will live.’ Krishna says: ‘What
a foolish notion! Whether you fight or not, all are going to die and
you too will die.’
What is the lesson? The lesson is: If we do not recognise and realise
the certainity of death very plainly and clearly, and if we do not accept
this truth in living our daily life, we are also living in delusion.
We do not want to face the hard reality of life. If we are living our
life setting aside this truth, we live our life in a state of ignorance
and delusion. The root cause of all sorrow is this delusion. When someone
near to us dies, we are dismayed and despaired as if something most
unexpected has happened. But it is not at all unexpected. Lord Krishna
clearly says: ‘Everyone who is born has to die.’ The time
of death is most uncertain; but sooner or later everyone has to die.
This truth is based on the actuality and we must accept it and always
remember it.
Let us now see the constructive dimension of this truth. In what way
it can be useful to us? If we recognise this first truth so forcefully
brought out by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-Gita wisdom teachings and if
we always keep it in mind, we will never postpone anything that is important,
we will never postpone our duties, we will never say: ‘I will do
my duty later’. Who is sure of tomorrow? Then how can you say:
‘I will do it tomorrow?’ It is said, alone you come and
alone you go back. It is so correct from one point of view. But
if we look from another point of view, one is never alone. From the
very moment an individual jivatma is born, it is never alone;
it is always accompanied by the Lord of Death. The whole life is a slow
process of death, a constant march towards death. With every breath,
with the passing of every moment, we are moving closer to death. You
are never alone; the shadow of death always accompany you. The Lord
of Death takes away your life every moment, little by little. At the
last moment, he takes away the pranas and goes away and the body
becomes lifeless.
If you recognise this truth: One day this life will terminate, one
day I will die, I will not be here. I must ponder over this and resolve:
‘Whatever I have to do, I must apply myself to it now itself, right
at this moment; I will never postpone it to tomorrow.’ Now you
cannot be a loser. You are free from the delusion of tomorrow. Guru
Maharaj used to say: Never say I will do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is the
most deceptive word. There is no such thing like tomorrow. If you postpone
something on tomorrow and go to sleep today; but when you wake up, it
is already today and not tomorrow. God’s ration is today only;
tomorrow is our concept.
Past is finished, it has slipped from your hands and you cannot recover
it again. There is no use projecting your important work and duty in
future, because it has not yet come, it is not in your hands. What you
have in your hands is now, the present moment only. Remember
this always, every moment of your life.
You should always remember the death; remember that this life must
terminate one day and you have to leave this world. Therefore resolve
with firm determination: ‘I will attain whatever I have to attain,
whatever the goal of life I have. Right now, from this moment itself
I shall engage myself in it, I shall strive for the goal of life,
right now. I will attend to all my aspiration, duties and obligations,
my kartavya karmas. Let me apply myself to it right now calmly
and quietly, without tension or anxiety. I shall not postpone it, I
shall not show any laziness or lethargy.’
God has wonderful sense of justice and has given to all of us enough
time. Everyone has twenty-four hours a day, the same ration to everyone
without any discrimination. Whether you are a professor or doctor, a
big man or a beggar, you have the same ration. If you plan your time
properly, there is time for everything, everything can be achieved in
this life itself.
There is an English writer called Arnold Benett. He has written a wonderful
book, ‘How to live on 24 hours a day?’ It implies that no
one really lives for all the 24 hours a day. We fritter away little,
little moments from morning to evening. This book proves that if you
can make use of those moments which are unnecessarily wasted on trifle,
irrelevant things, you have enough time for everything.
So, the very first truth proclaimed by Bhagavad-Gita is of great importance.
You must live with full awareness that one day the life must end in
death. Therefore, whatever you have to do, should be done right now.
Start doing it right now. You cannot afford to remain idle and waste
away the precious time. Time wasted is the time lost for ever, you can
never get it back, you can never use it. Time does not give you a second
chance. Whatever you have to do, whatever effort and exertion you have
to put forth to achieve the goal, you have to do it right now. In this
way, you will be able to achieve what has to be achieved.
2) The World Is an Abode of Unhappiness: Now arises the next
question: What it is that diverts us away from our goal? What is it
that deceives and dupes us and makes a fool of us? What is it that makes
us repent and regret that I have not done what I should have done? When
the time of departure comes, you are very sad thinking: ‘I have
not been able to do what I ought to have done, I have not been able
to become what I wish I had become.’
It is the deceptive attractions of the sense objects all around us.
They entice us saying: ‘Come, come! You will get all the happiness
from us’. Some beautiful sight says, ‘You will get happiness
from me.’ Some pleasant, attractive sound, smell, taste or touch
says, ‘Come, come! You will get happiness from me.’ So, all
our time and all our energy are consumed by numerous attractive objects
of this wondrous supermarket of Maya-bazaar. Your attention is
scattered through the five holes of senses.
You do not realise that this is only a delusion and there is not an
iota of real happiness in these objects. It is only some momentary pleasant
nervous sensation. It is not a real happiness. Such pleasant experience
is purely a gross, primitive, biological process and a phenomenon common
to all the animals. When a sense object comes in contact with the related
sense organ, the tactile nerve catches the sensation and sends a message
to the central nervous system which passes the message to the brain
and the brain feels a momentary pleasant sensation. You are now hooked
by this sensation, you are enslaved. All these pleasant sensations are
momentary and depend on the proper functioning of the apparatuses. Even
if any one of them, a sense organ, the connecting nerve or the receiving
centre in the brain is impaired, there is no sensation pertaining to
that sense faculty. If you have lost the sensation of taste, you will
not be able to experience any taste, even if the most delicious dish
is given to you. If your optic nerve has become week, the most beautiful
sight will have no impact on you even though your eyes may remain open.
How long is this experience of pleasant sensation lasts? You are eating
your favourite tasty dish. So long as the food is in the mouth there
is the pleasant sensation. But once it goes in, it is all over. In a
flash of a moment the sensation disappears. But who thinks about this?
If you ponder over it, if you analyse it impartially, you will realise
that it is only a purely biological nervous sensation and this cannot
be called real happiness. But we are duped by it and we interpret it
as happiness and we waste our life in chasing the sense objects. Can
there be a greater folly? It is a great blunder. It is not wisdom. There
is no happiness here. On the contrary He who created all these, says:
Ye hi samsparshajaa bhogaa duhkhayonaya eva te;
Aadyantavantah Kaunteya na teshu ramate budhah.
[The enjoyments that are born of contacts are only generators of pain,
for they have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna! The wise do not rejoice
in them. B.G. V-22]
He makes it quite plain that all the enjoyments arising out of the
contact of any sense object are the source of sorrow and pain only,
there is no happiness in them. This is the second great truth given
by Lord Krishna in Gita. This is a scientific and analytical way of
looking at the problem.
He puts this truth in a general form also. He says, ‘O Arjuna!
Do you know what is the nature of this world? It is duhkhaalayam-ashaashwatam
[the place of pain and is non-eternal. B.G. VIII-15]. This world
is a world of transitory objects with names and forms. The transitory
objects cannot give you lasting, eternal, real happiness. This world
is an abode of misery and sorrow.’
In a negative way, He describes the characteristics of this world as:
Anityam-asukham lokam imam [this impermanent and unhappy world.
B.G. IX-33]. This world is characterised by a total lack of happiness.
The senses are duhkhayonaya eva te, generators of pain. Again
and again He reiterates this great truth that there is only pain and
sorrow that you can obtain from this world.
Buddha’s Four Truths: When Buddha attained the Illumination,
he discovered four great truths pertaining to the human life:
1) Life is full of suffering;
2) The cause of the suffering is craving, desire (trishna);
3) The possibility of complete cessation of the suffering by destroying
desire; and
4) The way to bring about the ultimate cessation of the suffering.
The first step is to become convinced that this world is an abode of
sorrow and suffering. The next step is to know the cause of the suffering.
Once we know the cause of the suffering, there is an unending hope for
the mankind. Because, once you remove the cause the suffering will end.
The suffering is an effect. Once the cause is removed the effect does
not arise at all, it is automatically eliminated. Once you know the
cause, you can find out by one way or the other, some device to remove
it. The first discovery everyone knew; but so long as they do not know
the cause of the suffering, people live with it thinking I can be happy
with the coexistence of sorrow.
The third discovery is also very important. All these sufferings are
not unavoidable or inevitable. They are not permanent. If the sufferings
were eternal, if there had been no possibility of ending the sufferings,
the question of finding a way to end them would have not arisen at all.
But Buddha discovered that we can put an end to all the sufferings.
He assured us that this is certainly possible.
Lastly, Buddha discovered the way to end all the suffering and putting
completely an end to all the suffering. It is called The Noble Eight-fold
Path. Like the eight-stage path to Liberation given by Maharshi Patanjali
in his Yogasutras, Buddha has also discovered an eight-fold path to
cessation of suffering: right views, right intention, right speech,
right action, right livelihood, right effort or endeavour, right mindfulness
and right meditation. Like in Yogasutras, Buddha also gives minute details
of each of these. The first one is Right View and Buddha gives ten aspects
of it.
Today I am telling this to reiterate that death is inevitable. Therefore,
be alert! Be up and doing. Apply yourself quickly to whatever you have
to do. Fulfil all your obligations and duties. Be up and doing on
the path of Liberation, on the path of Divine Perfection, the great
grand, glorious Goal of human life. You have to apply yourself to
that Goal right now. What is that comes in your way as an obstacle?
The delusion of happiness here. Convince yourself firmly that there
is no happiness here and there can never be happiness here. This world
is petty abode of janma-mrityu-jaraa-vyaadhi-duhkha (the evils
of birth, death, old age, sickness and pain. Gita XIII-8), an abode
of sorrow, sufferings and unhappiness only.
You are enslaved by the sense objects only if you think that there
is some pleasure, some happiness in them. But once you discover their
true nature, you are free. But once you are convinced that there is
no happiness here, you are no longer deluded, you are no longer made
fool of by the sense objects, you are wise. Through all these attractions
you can remain untouched and unaffected by them. You will say: ‘Yes,
I know your nature. You can no longer fool me.’ You become established
in anasakti, total detachment. Even if you are surrounded by
hundreds of attractive objects of pleasures, you are not perturbed.
You know their real nature and so cannot be deluded. You go through
your life as a master of the situation and not as a slave to every attractive
sense object of name and form. You are the in-charge of your life.
If you have realised these truths, you become totally detached. Now
you are steadily, serenely advancing to the Goal, absolutely unaffected
by the sense objects. The basis of your detachment is discrimination
and wisdom. You know that there is nothing in them; now they cannot
enslave you.
A mother was frightening a little boy by covering the bush with a black
cloth and was saying: ‘Don’t go there. A devil is hiding there.’
The father thought that she is unnecessarily frightening the child,
this is a bad psychology. The son will afterwards be always afraid.
So one day he took the child near the bush and removed the cloth and
said: ‘Look, there is no devil here.’ The child told his mother:
‘Now you can never make me afraid of that black cloth. I know there
is nothing in it. I know its real nature.’
Like that once you know the real nature of the world through constant
discrimination, it will never be able to dupe you, delude you. You will
no more be afraid of it. Now you can proceed straight towards the target
like an arrow shot from the bow.
This is the second truth about the life about which I have to tell
you. All the philosophers tell us that our tenure here is temporary,
we are not residents of this earth plane, we are just the travellers.
Our life is a journey with a definite destination. The important point
is that you should always remember the Destination, the Goal. So many
people go from here to the Badrinath shrine day after day. The journey
is very difficult, arduous and full of discomforts. But they have only
one idea fixed in the mind: ‘I will reach my destination sooner
or later. I will have the great fortune of having darshan of
Lord Badrinath.’ There is no thought about the discomforts and
hardships.
3) The Divine Destination: The next great truth proclaimed by
the Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita is about our Divine Destination. Your
destiny is to transcend the sorrow and suffering, pain and misery, defects
and imperfections and to attain the state of glorious Perfection that
is characterised by Bliss-absolute, Peace-profound. Perfection, Peace
and Bliss. This is your birth-right. You are given this human birth
only to attain that state. You are the heir of that profound Experience
of unalloyed, unmixed, hundred per cent pure Bliss, a distilled quintessence
of absolute Bliss. That Bliss, that Peace, that Happiness is imponderable.
It does not come from any source, It does not depend on any object.
That Bliss, that Peace, that great sense of Perfection, that Light is
known as Brahman, God, Bhagavan, Paramatman, Allah, Khuda. We call It
the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. You may call It by any
name, no matter what name, label or appellation you give It, It is that
great Experience absolute where all the sorrows disappear, where all
the doubts vanish, where all the questions disappear. It is transcending
them all, It is transcending all sorrow, pain, grief, suffering, delusion
and bondage. You are in a state of absolute freedom and fearlessness.
The Goal of human life is That. You have full potential for attaining
It. It is your birth-right. You are given this human birth to attain
That. That Experience is called Kaivalya Moksha Saamraajyam.
That is to be kept as your Goal. Your efforts to attain That should
never be postponed for Jaatasya hi dhruvo mrityuh (Certain is
the death for the born. B.G. II-27). You should not be tempted and diverted
into side-channels. There is nothing anywhere else. They are like water
of mirage. You should know and remember always, duhkhaalayam-ashaashwatam
[the place of pain and is non-eternal. B.G. VIII-15]. There is not an
iota of real happiness here.
All these are fundamental truths. All the different schools of Vedanta
whether it is the Absolute Monism of Sankaracharya, or Qualified Monism
of Ramanujacharya or Pure Dualism of Madhvacharya or Dual-nondual Doctrine
of Nimbarkacharya or Pure Dualism of Vallabhacharya or Achintya Bhedabheda
of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, all of them declare these truths. They all
tell this is a passing world; one day you have to die. You do not belong
to this world, you are only a traveller. The human life is a great journey
towards that grand Goal. It is not to be wasted after petty things.
If your life is properly directed and properly used, you can attain
That in this very life. You can attain Immortality, eternal
Bliss and Peace at the end of your life.
This is the quintessence of the Indian Philosophy. Contemplate on this.
Don’t be lost in nomenclature and unnecessary details. You should
know the heart of philosophy: You are Divine, you are the Immortal Atman.
You are given this human birth to regain that Experience of your lost
Divinity. Do it now. Do not postpone.
The message of the day is:
1) Remember always the death.
2) Do not fall prey to the attractions of petty things.
3) You are given this human birth to regain your lost Divinity. The
goal of life is to attain It.
4) Do it now. Be up and doing. Uttishthatha Jagrata. Awake,
arise! Do not stop till the goal is reached. Keep on, keep on, keep
on.
God bless you all.
The Golden Thread Of Vedanta
(Talk given to the students of 21st Course of YVF Academy, 16-10-’95)
The Divine Life Society was founded by worshipful Guru Maharaj Swami
Sivanandaji, in order to proclaim to the whole world of the modern times,
the way of living one’s life so as to be able to attain, experience
and become established in the Divine Perfection which is inherent in
each one of the human being, as his unalienable, true, eternal nature.
All of you have an apparent human personality which is only the external
facade of your Reality.
This human personality is not the Reality according to the Vedanta.
You have to know this because you are participants in the Yoga Vedanta
Academy Course. So you must know what Vedanta has to say about your
life, about this world and about everything pertaining to life in this
world.
You have come here as jijnasus. Jijnasus are those who are keenly
eager for attaining jnana, the Knowledge. Jijnasus attending
this course have a special uniqueness, a special distinction. You are
jijnasus with a difference.
Apara-vidya: What is that difference? The difference
is: All other seekers of knowledge are trying to acquire apara-vidya,
the worldly knowledge; whereas you seek to acquire Para-vidya.
This is a basic, fundamental difference. Apara-vidya enables
you to get, keep, possess and enjoy objects of this world. But Vedanta
says, this world is only a temporary dream. Apara-vidya enables
you to get distinction, name and fame, and the objects you can possess,
keep and enjoy.
The world is transitory: But all these only for a brief while;
because the whole world is transitory, subject to decay, subject to
ultimate dissolution. Everything here is unstable, nothing here endures,
nothing here is lasting, nothing here is permanent. Therefore this world
is not having any permanent validity.
What is the meaning of everything? Aabrahmaa sthoola paryantam.
From a blade of a grass up to the position of Brahmaa, the creator;
Brahma-loka, the greatest, the biggest status in the cosmic scheme
of things—everything is worthless, valueless. This is what has
been declared by the great sages who have known the impermanence of
all the things. So I have said that your outer personality is not the
reality according to the Vedanta.
The Reality: Why did I say according to the Vedanta? Vedanta
gives a specific definition for Reality. What is truly, authentically
and genuinely Real? You have to try to understand with a very subtle
intellect, what Vedanta wants to convey to you. That alone can be called
Sat, really true, the Reality which is beginningless and endless, which
is ever present, ever is, in all the three periods of time. It
always existed in the past, It does exist in the present and will always
exist in the future as well. It never will cease to be. There is a further
qualification: That is the Reality which abides always, in all the three
periods of time without undergoing any change, It always remains the
same. Nothing can alter It, nothing can change It. That is something
which is always in Its Fullness, in Its Perfection.
This is the classical specific definition of Sat, the Reality:
It is always present in all the three periods of time, past, present
and future and It is never subject to any change, It is unalterable,
unchangeable. If you apply this test to anything in this world, you
will find that all the things fail to fulfil this requirement. All the
things change right from the beginning. Your body changes right from
the birth, so it cannot be the Reality. Your human personality did not
exist before you were born. The duration of its existence here on the
earth plane is for a limited time. One day, everyone who is born has
to go. Everyone knows this. It does not require any study of any big
philosophy.
Death the Leveller: Gurudev used to sing: Time sweeps away
kings and barons. Even the big people who wield great deal of power,
were powerless before old age, disease, decay and death. The glories
of our personality are shadows only, they are not substantial things.
There is no power against fate. Death lays its icy hands on kings and
barons. Even the biggest sceptre and crown must tumble down in the dust
one day. An emperor may be holding a sceptre as a symbol of royal power
and may be wearing a crown as a symbol of the royal status, but all
these must go in dust and become as worthless as the dust. The title
of Gurudev’s poem is “Death the Leveller.” Death makes
everyone equal, whether he is a beggar on the street-side or a great
king, a president of a big state or an ordinary labourer breaking stones
on the road-side or cutting wood in a forest. When death comes they
all become the same, either they turn into a little ash or become food
for the worms under the earth! This is a common human experience.
So Gurudev says:
Time sweeps away kings and barons!
Where is Yudhishthira? Where is Ashoka?
Where is Shivaji? Where is Napoleon?
Where is Valmiki? Where is Shakespeare?
Where are those mighty people? Where are Yudhishthira and Ashoka? One
is the greatest from the point of view of Dharma, the righteousness,
and the other is great from the point of view of vastness of the empire.
The empire of Ashoka stretched from South India and went beyond the
North India and covered Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kabul and Gandhar. Archaeologists
find his coins and Ashoka’s inscription carved on rocks and stone
pillars and in all these areas. All the great warriors, great poets
have disappeared.
Lord Krishna who is the creator, preserver and dissolver of countless
billions of universes, who is the supreme Lord Himself, He opens the
wisdom teachings of Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita and right in the beginning
of His teachings says; “Jatasya hi dhruvo mrityuh. [Certain
is the death for the born].” For one who is born, death is certain.
That is the only certain thing, other things may be uncertain. Therefore,
this human personality which did not have any existence before we were
born, will come to an end one day. One may live very long, say a hundred
years, hundred and ten years, but ultimately this life has to end. If
it does not end, you yourself will pray to God: ‘O God! Please
take me away from here. It is painful to live here; I cannot stand,
I cannot even sit, I cannot eat. Every moment is painful. Please relieve
me from the burden of this body.’
Where do you go after death? The human personality is not there. That
means the human personality is asat. Anything which is
changing is asat. You were something in infancy, something different
in your childhood, adolescent, youth and old age. Everyday there is
a change in your mood, change in your attitude, change in your health
condition. Everything changes. Instability is the second name of this
body. This body is changeful, it has a beginning and an end. It is temporary
in time. Therefore, it cannot be the Reality.
Your essential Nature: Which is the unreal aspect of your being?
What is anitya, asat, non-real and changeful? The Reality is
always present, always unchanging; It is without a beginning and an
end. Why? Because It is a part of the Cosmic Principle that is eternal,
infinite, unchanging, permanent, imperishable. That Cosmic Being is
called the Universal Soul or Paramatma. They call It God, they call
It Allah, they call It Almighty Father in the Heaven, or Ahura Mazda
or Tao or the Supreme Reality. They may call It by any number of different
names, but It is the same One, the same Universal Essence who is the
source, the support and the fulfilment of all the existence. That is
Perfect, That is Full, That is Divinity. You are a part of That in your
inner Reality, in your essential Nature.
That Divinity is inherent in you. It is your true identity, essential
identity, eternal identity. That eternal identity is immortal Spirit,
That eternal identity is perfectly Divine.
This Reality is the very central Principle on which Gurudev has focused
his message. He says: “You are immortal Atman; you are perfectly
Divine. This life is a rare gift, a golden chance, a unique opportunity
given to you. You should always make use of this life to become awakened
within. Unfold this slumbering Divinity. Your endeavour should be to
transform yourself into a Divine personality, into a Perfect Being.”
You are not just a human personality with all the drawbacks and weaknesses;
you are simultaneously a Divine personality. You are the Divinity on
the earth. “Awaken the sleeping God within you,” says Swami
Vivekananda. This is the great task of your life. Live your life in
such a way, make your thinking, feeling and actions in such a way, that
all these become a great help for bringing about an inner process in
this direction; so that they become a wonderful support for the specific
techniques and practices for bringing about this unfoldment.
Gurudev gave his message as a message of Divine Life, living the life
in such a way that the Divinity within you becomes awakened through
Bhakti-Yoga, Jnana-Yoga, Raja-Yoga and various other Yoga systems and
constant practice. If your inner life and spiritual practices are supported
by a helpful, and become supplementary and complementary to your outer
life which also partakes of the same quality of divinity, then your
whole life becomes a unified process of trying to attain one single
objective of the Divine Perfection.
That is the great objective with which Gurudev founded this institution;
and to initiate you into the ways and means of bringing about this more
rapidly, more effectively, he set up this Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy.
His objective was to initiate you into the inner skills, the secrets
of sadhana and practical spiritual life so that you can live
actively an inner spiritual life.
The Vedanta Doctrines: All the Upanishads taken together are
called Vedanta, because they comprise the Jnana-kanda, the end portion
of the Vedas. Vedanta literally means the end portion of the Vedas.
These Upanishads are the culminating portion of Vedas; it is pure jnana.
So Vedanta means jnana. The Jnana-kanda of the Vedas is the record
of transcendental Experiences and the ways and means of attaining It.
So the contents of the Upanishads is about the nature of that transcendental
Experience and about what happens to the person when he attains that
Experience.
How many kinds of Vedanta are there? Innumerable. Because, unfortunately
the learned scholars who study the Upanishads deeply, reflect over them
and try to understand them, have understood them in various ways. So
each one gives his own interpretation of what he thinks is the correct
interpretation of the Upanishads. According to the interpretation given
by that particular person who understood it in a particular way, a school
of thought of Vedanta arises.
All the human beings are not the same. They have different intellects
and different ways of understanding things, different approaches and
different ways of looking at things, both physically, as well as, through
the intellect. Later on, the scholars started to interpret the structure
of the words of Vedanta. One school says: ‘Tattvam-asi’,
the other tries to prove that it is ‘Atattvam-asi’.
Due to such varied interpretations, certain well recognised systems
have come into existence. The amazing part of it is that all these systems
form valid parts of the total body of Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana Dharma
does not take any side or validate any particular system. These
are merely interpretations of the scholars and have become part of it
and it tolerates them and treats as valid. So all these schools are
called Vedanta.
The Absolute Monism of Sankaracharya (788-820) is called Kevala Advaita
Vedanta Siddhanta, a little modification of which is known as Vishishta-Advaita
Vedanta or Qualified Non-dualism of Ramanujacharya (11th century). Sankaracharya
said jiva and Brahman are one. Ramanujacharya agrees with
this oneness but interprets that it is so in a specific way only. In
the Absolute Monism, jiva-hood is considered as a myth or an
imaginary existence only; there is no real existence of jiva. Ekameva-advitiyam
Brahma, Neha naanaasti kinchit. One and only One exists, there is
not many. There is only One without a second. He is uncompromising about
this and as though to emphasise it, he says: ‘If you think anything
else exists, it is not real but it is your bhranti only.’
You may argue: ‘How do you explain jiva?’ he says:
‘What do you mean? There is no jiva to be explained. Jiva-hood
is a myth, it is non-existent, it is a non-entity.’ What he was
trying to prove was his own Aparoksha-anubhuti, his direct Experience
of the Reality, his Advaitic Experience of non-dual Consciousness.
Nimbarkacharya (1162) gave another interpretation known as Dvaita-Advaita
Vedanta Siddhanta, the Dual-Nondual Doctrine of Vedanta. He says: “It
is inexplicable thing! There is dvaita as well as Advaita.
Then came Madhvacharya (1199) who propounded Dualism or the Dvaita
Vedanta Siddhanta. Individual soul and the Supreme Soul are proved by
him to be different and separate entities. They can never become one.
In essence the individual soul may be like the Supreme Soul, but it
is a jiva’s status, can never be the same, it can never
have the same power or glory as that of the Supreme. He is Supreme,
individual is under Him. The distinction, the bheda, is eternal
and so they remain two, as jivatma and Paramatma.
Then came another Acharya called Vallabhacharya (1479) who gave Shuddha-Advaita
Siddhanta, the Pure Non-dualism, which is also known as the Pushti Marga.
Five hundred years after Sankaracharya, another great scholar, great
grammarian and a brilliant intellectual took his birth in Mayapuri,
Nabadweep. He is known as Sri Krishna Chaitanya (1486). He expounded
a certain school of thought of philosophy and mysticism, known as Achintya
Bheda-Abheda Doctrine. He says:
‘The nature of the absolute Reality is impossible for us to grasp.
Our mind is a petty, finite instrument. How can it comprehend That which
is supernal and infinite? How can it grasp that Being which existed
before the mind had come into existence? How can the mind go to that
Realm, because it did not exist when That alone existed? That is beyond
the mind, It transcends the mind; the mind cannot reach That. The mind
cannot even think of That. Whenever the mind thinks that it is thinking
about That, it is only a thought or an imagination; it is not That.
That Being is achintya, unthinkable. So the relationship between
That and Its creation, including we all, the jivatma, cannot
be thought about; it is both, oneness, as well as, bheda, the
difference.
When a river ultimately merges with the ocean, you cannot distinguish
the river from the ocean. There is no more any river, there is only
the ocean. But you cannot say that the river water does not exist at
all. It is continuously flowing and the river water forms a part of
the ocean water, no matter even if it has got mixed up with it. The
river water will be different from the water of the ocean at the centre.
The river water cannot reach there. So long as the river has lost its
separate existence, there is oneness or non-dualism between the river
and the ocean. But so long as we cannot completely deny or entirely
ignore the existence of the river water, there is bheda, a difference,
there is duality.’
All these doctrines are having the same origin, the Upanishads or the
Jnana-kanda of the Vedas. So all of them are known as Vedanta Doctrines.
All these Acharyas were highly learned scholars. Each one of them gave
his own interpretation of the Vedanta and proved his system, his view
point, to be valid, using arguments, logic and all that. Our great people
are so large-hearted that they recognised all these systems to be valid
part of our Satya Sanatana Vaidic Dharma. All of them are given a place
in it and we study all of them. What is the height of generosity is
that even Charvaka Doctrine is studied! It is a school of philosophy
that does not at all recognise the existence of God. Ours is a great
democracy of spiritual thought with complete freedom of speech and expression.
The highest spiritual Experience is interpreted by different sages from
different points of view, ability and depth. So have come different
doctrines.
Veda accepts such divergence by saying; Ekam Sad-vipra bahudha vadanti.
[There is only one Truth which the scholars describe differently.]
It is also said: Shrutir-vibhinnaa smritayopi vibhinnaa; tathaa muninaam
matayo vibhinnaa. [Vedas are many, other Scriptures are many; so
also the views of the sages.] The views of scriptures also vary; there
are different views. So also the opinions of sages and saints are different.
This is to be expected in human beings as each human being is different.
In Hindi it is said: ‘All the five fingers are different.’
Similarly, the siblings of the same parents are all having different
temperaments, different nature. But the parents accept them all. Similarly,
all the different doctrines are accepted by the parental Sanatana Dharma.
The same one Being is termed differently, viewed differently by the
sages.
There is one common Golden Thread in all these various schools of Vedanta.
Whatever may be the nature of your relationship with the eternal divine
Reality, one thing is certain. And all of them recognise that: ‘You
are Divine; and you ale inseparably related to the supreme Being.
That is the origin from which you have come; you are of That; and within
you there is something of That.’ All the Doctrines agree about
this; no one disputes this. There is no disagreement; there is no difference
of opinion.
This is the most important thing and Gurudev focused hundred percent
on this. This one thing is enough, you need not worry about other things.
Let the scholars quarrel and disagree with each other; let them prove
one thing and disprove another. You may not bother about all those things
if you remember this one thing that you are Divine. Beyond your
passing, temporary, apparent, imperfect human personality which is non-real
according to the Vedantic Doctrines, there is hidden within you the
unchanging, eternal Reality, Divine Perfection, All-auspiciousness,
All-blessedness. It is the Beauty of beauties, incomparable and unimaginable.
It is full of light, full of purity, full of everything. It is glorious
and grand, radiant and shining. That is you. That is your real
nature.
Awaken your Divinity: When you are That, why should you be content
in making your life merely a process of petty, little expressions of
imperfect qualities of your mind, intellect and all that? When you have
the potential, when you have the capacity to become glorious, perfect,
pure radiant Being, why do you not opt for That? Why should you remain
content at a much lower level? Why should you remain sometimes loving,
sometimes hating, sometimes liking, sometimes disliking, sometimes very
friendly, sometimes quarreling and fighting? This is foolishness. So
our sages say: ‘Come! Come! Wake up from this slumber of imperfect
life. Awaken yourself to your Divinity. Unfold your Divinity. Attain
that All-perfection. Do not opt for anything but the highest and the
best. Do all that is necessary to attain your real Nature. Do not compromise.’
That is the ideal of Divine Life. That is the fulfillment of the fundamental
discovery of the Truth within as expounded by the Vedanta. The discovery
and declaration of the Vedanta about Divinity within you is: ‘Within
each one of you is the Divinity.’ These are the words prompted
by Gurudev. This is the declaration coming from the Vedic era. When
the ancient sages discovered It, they declared this and they have made
a wonderful device to preserve this highest wealth of the humanity,
by setting up a system of unbroken succession of a lineage of master
and disciple, of Guru-shishya parampara.
This invaluable treasure should not be lost. So a disciple should make
him fit and worthy of that, so that the wisdom of the scriptures may
be imparted to him. He can thus be inspired by the Guru to attain It
during this very life. If he chooses ten such worthy disciples and imparts
them the wisdom of the scriptures and even if two or even one disciple
experiences It, it is enough. Even if we have a single candle lit, we
can have from it another, from it another, from it yet another, and
the chain continues and the Light will perpetuate perennially. This
is the wonderful device of an unbroken lineage of master and disciple.
This Guru-shishya parampara has succeeded marvellously and most
effectively in preserving this great flame of living spirituality from
the ancient times till now, so that even now, towards the end of the
twentieth century, you are in a position to be told:
“You are Divine. Divinity is your birth-right. Divinity is your
true identity. Divinity is your essential, true, unchangeable, eternal,
real nature. That is your super, greater and real personality. Human
personality is a subordinate personality. You have a dual personality;
the Divine and the humane. In spite of all the drawbacks, defects and
weaknesses of your human personality, you are still the Pure and Perfect;
nothing can touch your this aspect; nothing can alter it. Even though,
you are now subject to imperfections of your temporary, passing human
personality, you are fully Perfect. Recognise this and rejoice. Tell
yourself: ‘I am always the radiant Divine within. I will not lose
a single day, a single chance of trying to bring about the great inner
awakening and unfoldment. In this very body, in this very birth, I must
succeed in fully awakening my Divinity, experiencing That, becoming
established in That.’
“That is the Goal, becoming liberated by attaining the full experience
of your Divinity. That is the ideal of your life. That is to be attained
right now, while living in this body; not in some unknown state after
death, after the body is buried or burnt.”
Divinity is your birth-right: Is this possible? Yes, certainly.
The history of our great country shows that in every generation, there
have been such great jeevan-muktas, the liberated ones, who say:
‘I have attained It. Why don’t you attain It? It is your birth-right.
You have been given this human birth to attain It, that is the purpose
of your life.’
The human birth throws wide open the portal to this blessed state of
Divine Consciousness, the Cosmic Consciousness. It is only the human
personality which has power to think, reason, reflect, ask, probe, analyse,
and discriminate. The very fact that you have been endowed with this
rare gift of human personality is sufficient for you to fix the goal
of attaining the fullest Blessedness; and that should always be your
endeavour.
This is the declaration of the Vedanta: Uttishthata jaagrata, praapya
varaannibodhata. [Arise! Awake! having reached the great (teachers)
attain that Atman. Katha Upanishad 1-3-14.] Become awakened! Approach
knowledgeable persons; they are there waiting for you. Come and ask,
they are waiting for you to give the highest Knowledge. They expect
nothing from you; they have got everything. They are Full and this Fullness
spontaneously enriches the whole world; just as the spring season without
any reason, spontaneously brings about abundance of flowers and fruits
and turns the earth into beautiful greenery, makes all the lives to
flourish. The saints are like that spring. So Jagad-Guru Adi Sankaracharya
says: ‘They are there; go to them. Become fully awakened as they
have become. Attain Bodhi, the full awakening.’
That is what you are. You are fully awakened but you are in the sleep
state and you are dreaming. You are “Nitya shuddha, nitya Buddha.”
Buddha means awakened. This is the eternal call of Vedanta. This
is the Vedanta in nutshell for you. You must respond to this great call
of Vedanta. You should never forget it. Vedanta is not to be stored
in the books and lectures. Vedanta is to be actively lived for awakening.
You must respond to the great call ‘Uttishthata jaagrata, praapya
varaannibodhata’ and say: ‘Yes, I shall now wake up and
attain Illumination. I am prepared to do anything for It.’ This
should become inseparable part of very breath of your life, every cell
of your life.
Sublimation Of Mind
(Talk given to the students of 23rd Course of YVF Academy, 13-5-96)
You may open the door. We are keeping the door closed to prevent the
monkeys. But when so many people are sitting there is no danger of the
monkeys coming inside. Each human individual is more than ten monkeys.
He has more potential for mischief than that of ten monkeys. Its potential
is limited within its little range of instincts and given capacity.
There is a humorous saying: Brahmachari shata-markatah [A brahmachari
is equal to a hundred monkeys]. In old days, after being invested
with the sacred thread, the boy was known as a brahmachari and
was sent to a gurukula. There were no outlets like radio, television,
cinema or sports. So the brahmacharis were either studying or
making mischief.
What is the nature of mind? It is full of desires and strong compulsive
urges. It is very uncontrollable. How much uncontrollable? It is said,
it is as much restless, fickle and fidgety as a monkey. You know, the
monkey is considered to be the most restless creature. Similarly, the
human mind cannot remain steady on one object at a time even for a single
moment. It constantly jumps from one object to another like a monkey.
But not an ordinary monkey. Suppose a monkey has been drunk and it becomes
intoxicated. Now suppose it becomes possessed by a spirit. How much
uncontrollable it will now become! As if to add fuel to fire, suppose
a scorpion stings this monkey. If a scorpion stings someone, the agony
is so unbearable that he will be screaming and shouting, jumping and
dancing, holding this thing and that thing. When all these things are
added together, can you imagine what will be the plight of this monkey,
what will be its antics? They say, the mind filled with desires and
without any discrimination is like this monkey.
Can Mind Be Controlled? No wonder, Arjuna expressed his doubt,
when Lord Krishna went on describing very nicely, how to control the
mind, saying: ‘You may go to a lonely place where there is no disturbance,
where the environment is good and quiet; in a clean spot, prepare a
seat that is neither too high nor too low, made of cloth, a skin and
kusha grass, one over the other; make the mind one-pointed, with
the actions of the mind and the senses controlled, fix the mind on Me
and meditate, make the mind steady as a lamp placed in a windless spot
which does not flicker...’ All this is very nicely described.
But Arjuna had known the havoc his mind had created a little while
ago as described in the Chapter I, and here Krishna says: ‘You
do this thing and that thing and control your mind!’ Arjuna says:
‘Whatever you have said is good, systematic and scientific. But
the only difficulty is it is not just difficult but it is impossible
to control the mind.
Chanchalam hi manah Krishna pramaathi balavad dridham;
Tasyaaham nigraham manye vaayoriva sudushkaram.
[The mind verily is restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding, O Krishna!
I deem it as difficult to control it as to control the wind. VI-34.’]
Mind is more uncontrollable and fickle and difficult to grasp than the
blowing wind. Even if we may be able to catch the blowing wind and make
it steady, it may not be possible to control the mind. So Arjuna asks
Krishna: ‘What is the use of describing all this when it is not
possible to control the mind?’
Without contradicting Arjuna, Lord Krishna says:
Asamshayam mahaabaho mano durnigraham chalam;
Abhyaasena tu Kaunteya vairaagyena cha grihyate.
[Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed Arjuna! The mind is difficult to control
and restless; but by practice and by dispassion it may be restrained.
VI-35] I quite agree with you. The mind is extremely difficult to control.
But it is not impossible to control it. It is possible to control the
mind.”
Everything is done through the mind. Mind is the source of all the
problems. The solution always lies where the problem lies. If you have
a heart problem the heart is to be treated. If you treat the stomach,
the problem can never be solved.
The whole problem of an individual soul engaged in the journey of the
earth plane is not outside; it is inside, it is the mind. For example,
people who have been born in a family which has been non-vegetarian
for generations, for several centuries, are used to that type of food
only. Now suddenly, one such fellow, joins a society of strict vegetarians.
He tries to stick to the rules of this society. But every time he sees
all his people taking non-vegetarian food, there is a problem. His mind
urges him: ‘What a foolish idea you stick to!’ It becomes
a temptation that is difficult for him to resist; and there is a tussle
in his mind.
On the other hand, think of a person who is born and brought up in
a family which is strictly vegetarian for centuries. All the relatives
and friends are vegetarians. In his body cell, and hereditarily, there
is no inclination, no taste, no temptation towards the non-vegetarian
food. On the contrary there is some sort of aversion to non-vegetarian
food. For such a person there is absolutely no temptation for that kind
of food. Even when he goes to a grand party where good many tasty, choicest
delicacies are served, he asks for boiled potatoes, toast and salad
only, and he is not the least tempted by the tasty non-vegetarian food.
Suppose, in a family everyone—grandfather, father, mother, elder
brothers, are drinking and there always is a bottle on the table. The
child daily sees them drinking. When all are away and he is alone, he
also drinks out of curiosity. In the beginning he does not like it,
but soon becomes addict to it. Now when he grows up, he is always tempted
to take a drink whenever he sees a bar or goes to a party where drinks
are served or when he is in a company of friends who are addict. On
the other hand a person coming from a family of teetotallers is never
tempted by the sight of a bottle or a bar, never enticed by the friends
or party. Where is the temptation? Is it in the bottle or the sight
of bar or in the friends or the party? Certainly not. All these things
have no effect on the second person. The temptation is not outside,
it is in the mind only. The vegetarian person or the teetotaller has
absolutely no thought in that direction. It is the mental condition
of the person which makes all the difference.
Mind, the Cause of Bondage: In the same way, the bondage, the
Maya, the prapancha is not due to outside objects. You
become bound only because you have a craving for this object and because
you have attachment or aversion for this person or that, you have likes
and dislikes. It is because you give so much importance to the objects
and persons that you become bound. If you are not the least affected,
influenced or moved by anything, then you will not be caught in the
net of Maya even while living in the midst of all the worldly
objects and persons. So the entire problem is subjective, the bondage
of Maya or samsaara is subjective. The same samsaara
exists for all; but a child or a sage or a realised soul is not
affected by it at all. The problem is within you only.
What is that problem? Why this problem does not arise for a cow or
a dog or a bird? Because they do not have a thinking mind. They don’t
have desires and cravings, ambitions and expectations, schemes and plans
for the future. Their problem is confined to a very limited, small area
of survival. All that a non-human creature wants is what it can eat,
what it can drink, where it can take shelter, how it can protect itself
and is interested in satisfying its basic impulses and instincts like
procreation. The instinct of fear is put in it, by the Prakriti, the
Nature, as a safeguard, so that it will not rush to its own self-destruction.
It is because of this fear instinct that the moment a fire starts in
a forest, all the animals, birds and even small creatures run for safety,
away from the fire, in the opposite direction. This is the Nature’s
device or mechanism of survival.
Samskaras, the Root-Cause of the Problem: No other being except
man has the problem because only man has a thinking mind. He has the
ability to interpret a meaning out of every sense perception. Everything
a man sees, hears, touches, tastes or smells evokes different kinds
of psychological and emotional reaction in the fields of desires and
sentiments. Had there been no such reaction, there would not have been
any problem. But he does evoke reactions, and the problem begins. A
man is in bondage only because there are desires in the mind, because
there are cravings in the mind, because there are attachments in the
mind, because the mind is never content. The main reason for this is
our samskaras, the mechanism of impressions of such sense experiences,
such sense enjoyments in the past, and the vasanas, the propensity
to such experiences and enjoyments, and inclination for repeating them
in the present and in the future.
Samskaras are the in-built impressions in the mind like the
grooves of different sounds on a gramophone record. What is its nature?
What happens if you put your thumb on an ink-pad and then press it on
a paper? Exactly the same impression has been reproduced and will remain
intact even after a thousand years. But it is inert; it does not reproduce
by itself more impressions and has no other effect. But the impressions
in the mind are different; they are not inert, they are living impressions,
they remain alive in the chitta, the mind-stuff. They have an
effect, they exercise pressure for repeating the experience. They are
living impressions and have the potential of generating desires. They
create a desire for exactly the same sense experience as one had it
previously. There may be shubha-samskaras which are good for
you or ashubha-samskaras which are not good for you.
When you play a gramophone record it reproduces the song exactly as
it was recorded. But it cannot produce the voice that produced it. It
only plays back. But what is the nature of the samskara? When
a particular sense-experience is repeated over a prolonged period, it
not only creates a latent dormant tendency and a desire in that direction,
but that tendency becomes a vasana. Vasana may be shubha-vasanas
or ashubha-vasanas, auspicious and positive or inauspicious
and negative.
The samskaras are living and dynamic impressions. So when you
are put in a similar type of situation, they become active and powerful
and you are impelled to go after the same sense experience. They are
so circumventing to temptations that they compel you to that experience.
They are also called seed impressions as they are like seeds produced
by previous experience and are capable to reproduce that experience
like a seed producing a tree similar to the one from which it has originated.
So long a seed is lying in isolation, in an unfavourable ground, it
remains inert. But if you give it a favourable ground beneath the fertile
earth and water it regularly, it starts growing; it becomes a little
seedling and then comes out a sprout with a few leaves also; and if
the favourable circumstances continues it ultimately becomes a big tree
similar to that from which that seed was produced. The new tree produces
more seeds and every seed has a potential to produce the same type of
tree again and again. Such continuous chain reaction is the nature of
samskara.
The human mind, with its imagination, has potential of completely reproducing
the same condition or the psychological state of being. This impels
the mind to go and indulge in that sense experience and enjoyment. It
is because of these samskaras and vasanas that a man is
propelled towards the sense objects, get attached to them, craves for
them, wants to indulge in them, possess them, keep them, snatch them
away from others.
The mind has four-fold aspects:
1) In the form of reasoning intellect,
2) In the form of imagining, remembering and desiring mind,
3) In the form of feeling mind having emotions and sentiments,
4) In the form of the assertive ego. Once a desire arises, it is the
ego principle which asserts: ‘I want it, I will obtain it, I will
enjoy it, I will do this, I will do that.’ It now propels the body
into activity. The root cause of all the actions is ego.
All these different modifications of the psychological level of the
human nature are totally outward-going and make you a part and parcel
of the outward world. So you are enslaved by the desires for the outer
objects and forget your own real nature, your own real identity completely.
You undergo all sort of emotions, elevation, depression, satisfaction,
dissatisfaction, fulfilment, disappointment, etc. All these positive
and negative experiences are due to your propelling yourself outside
through four aspects of your interior psyche. This has created for you
a big range of a net spread by your desires to catch the birds of sense
pleasures.
Dva suparnaa sayujaa sakhaayaa
Samaanam vriksham parishasvajaate;
Tayoranyah pippalam svadvattyan-
Ashnann-anyo abhichaakasheeti.
[Two birds that are ever associated and have similar names, reside
on the same tree. Of these, one eats the fruit of divergent tastes,
and the other looks on without eating. Mundaka Upanishad 3-1-1.]
Why the second bird is caught in the net of karmas and their
fruits? Sankaracharya says, it is due to avidya-kama-karma-vasana-aashraya-lingopadhi;
it is due to delusion, passion or desire, activities, craving on
account of clinging to the adjunct of the body. So you become full of
raga, dvesha, klesha, kalaha, passion, desire, anger, envy, jealousy,
intense craving, dejection, despair, disappointment. One moment you
are up, one moment you are down. Now you are constantly in the wide
range of outward propelling desires and that keeps you in a state of
flux and confusion. This causes the problem.
Be God-oriented: Yesterday we saw that all the things can be
directed to that one and only Being, the sole Source. In That only can
be obtained, lasting and permanent happiness, unalloyed, unmixed, total
happiness, enduring, eternal happiness, happiness that would not decrease
or change. That is Brahman, That is God, That is the Kingdom of heaven.
Direct your entire being towards That. Direct your mind, intellect,
emotions, sentiments towards That, make all your activities God-oriented
by spiritualising them.
You may ask: ‘All said and done, how can I implement it? Why should
I do so? I am involved in this world. All my friends and associations
are here. I have attachment for them, all sort of feelings for them.
I am fully involved in my surroundings and the situations I face. This
is a familiar ground for me. I am born into it and right from my infancy,
it is a part and parcel of my life. So it is spontaneous and natural
for my mind, for myself, to move towards them. I had not to learn to
do so. I belong to this world and this world is mine; so I naturally
flow towards it. It is something most natural, something easiest to
do for me. But now you are asking me to reverse that process and connect
myself to that unknown Being, whom I do not know, who is absolutely
unfamiliar and completely unknown entity for me. How can I ever do it?
There is a funny proverb in Tamil: How can I know about the cremation
ground until I die myself?
‘How I can know That which is all perfect, bliss absolute, absolute
unmixed peace and happiness? How can I think about It? How can I meditate
upon It? It is easiest for me to think of my mother or father, television
or cassette-player, a cricket bat or ball because they are a part of
my life. I have not to make any effort or undergo any training to think
about them. But I don’t know that unknown, unfamiliar Being. How
can I have any love or affection, inclination or longing for That? How
can I relate myself to It? I know my relationship with my brother or
sister, mother or father. But how can I be related to That? When I don’t
know what It is, how can I meditate on It?’
True, your problem is genuine. But the solution is quite simple: Detach
from here, attach There.
‘But how to do it is a big problem. It is quite easy to attach
myself here, because everything here is familiar to me. But how to think
of That?’
So first of all, you should get yourself familiar, get yourself acquainted,
to That whom you want to worship, love, adore, on whom you want to meditate
upon, towards whom you want to move.
How you can get yourself thoroughly acquainted with That? There are
three different ways. The first is the heredity. If you are born in
a family where both the mother and father are devotees and they are
doing puja, and kirtan, singing devotional songs, reading
about the lilas of the Lord and the lives of saints, talking
about Him, you will automatically develop love for Him.
Secondly, if you are not born in such a family, you should think about
our rich heritage, you should get yourself acquainted with it by reading
the spiritual books. There is a unique tradition in all the parts of
India. There are some people whose sole occupation and allocation is
to master the scriptures and to go to various places and narrate, expound
and elucidate them. Many institutions make elaborate arrangements for
such discourses regularly and provide the venue. They go to remote villages
also and explain the scriptures in their own, simple, easy way supplementing
it with illustrations from day-to-day rural life. This is a part of
Indian way of life. So even an illiterate villager also knows some philosophy;
he knows about Shabari, Ahalya and many such characters. He knows about
Bhakti, he knows about God’s grace.
Our scriptures are abound in stotras and stutis, hymns
and paeans of the Lord, glorifying Him. Our ancient rishis have not
missed, during the narration of the main theme, a single opportunity
of introducing stutis; so we find them at frequent intervals.
We develop great admiration and adoration, great reverence and veneration
for the supreme Being. If you listen to the glories, grandeur and greatness
of God and the desirability of that wonderful Experience of attaining
that Being and attaining the supreme Bliss, Peace and Happiness, and
going beyond all sorrow and suffering, it will create in you a longing
for God, for that Experience and your life will certainly be changed.
Thirdly, once your taste is developed in this direction due to your
family background and upbringing or through listening to the Scriptures,
you develop a strong desire to acquire more knowledge and naturally
you buy some books. Now the original texts of most of the scriptures
are available and they have also been translated in all the Indian languages.
So you begin to read and study our great scriptures in your leisure
hours, prepare your own personal notes and discuss the finer points
with like-minded friends. You slowly build up your own library of inspiring
literature. What you argued to be unknown and unfamiliar becomes known
and so close to your heart that you will spend most of your spare time
on That and you don’t like to waste your time on the worldly things.
Now, you like to read about It, you like to think about It, you like
to talk about It and you like the company of people with such tendency
only. Now unknown That becomes your best friend and guide, the remote
becomes the closest, He becomes a part of your life, you cannot live
without Him.
Shravana-Sadhana
In all the paths of Yoga, shravana is considered as a very important
sadhana. It is listening to the description, to a clear elaborate
nature and the glorification of that Being, the transcendental Reality.
In Vedanta Vichara Marga of Jnana-Yoga its importance
is clearly accepted. In the Bhakti-sutras of Devarshi Narada and Maharshi
Shandilya, a very systematic and scientific method of developing the
devotion is outlined; and the very first step is shravana. If
your temperament is not intellectual, if you are emotional by nature,
if you have spontaneous ability to have affection, attachment and love
for God, or if you are artistic by temperament, then you are naturally
attracted to the Bhakti-Marga. You should develop deep and firm
attachment towards your deity by the shravana of His greatness,
grandeur and glories. In addition to whatever has been expounded in
the Bhakti-sutras of Devarshi Narada and Maharshi Shandilya, the Maha-Purana
of Srimad-Bhagavatam gives us a very systematic and practical method
of developing devotion in gradual stages and progressing steadily on
the spiritual path. Here also the very first stage is Shravana.
In the science of meditation of Raja-Yoga of Maharshi Patanjali, though
it has not been specifically stated as a specific sadhana, it
has been included in another hidden form. The second anga, the
limb, of the Ashtanga Yoga is daily svadhyaya. In svadhyaya,
shravana is more important way to grasp the right understanding.
In ancient times, the main method of imbibing knowledge was listening
to the teachings of Guru and other great sages. You may study at home,
but you may have many doubts or you may not have grasped the proper
meaning. So listening to others is necessary. The proper understanding
of the scriptures and the basic truths of life is possible only after
a complete purification of the mind and the heart, refinement of the
intellect and deep faith.
In ancient times, an aspirant was approaching a guru with the request:
‘Please elaborate the nature of the Reality to me so that I can
meditate on It.’ The guru used to say: ‘First of all you prepare
yourself for that higher knowledge. A gross mind cannot grasp subtle
truths. First of all, the mind is to be refined and it is to be made
pure and subtle.’ Even if these truths are told to an impure mind,
it will not retain their impressions. So chitta-shuddhi, the
purification of the mind-stuff, purification of the interior and sharpening
of the discriminating intelligence are the necessary pre-conditions.
Shravana is of great help in this direction. So shravana is
the preliminary sadhana that prepares you for higher sadhana
and the higher knowledge of Vedanta.
Why these preliminary sadhanas? If your mind is always filled
with grossness and if you have no proper discrimination, it will always
go after sense indulgence; and as long as the mind is craving for the
sense pleasures, you will not develop a keen discrimination, your intelligence
will never be refined. Our ancient rishis must have reflected
upon this. So our scriptures clearly declare that: ‘Have a clean
discrimination and Realise it. Free yourself from the deceptive nature
of the sense objects, free yourself from the harmful nature of sense
indulgence, free yourself from the clutches of your gross nature by
constantly exercising discrimination, everyday, every moment of your
life.’
You must be a person of great discrimination, intellectual, ethical
and spiritual discrimination, so that the material world cannot fool
you, cannot trap you. Then only you will be really free and you will
be able to imbibe the great wisdom teachings.
Know it well that there is nothing good for you in these sense objects
which attract you, entrap you, enslave you. They are the root-cause
of all your pain and diseases, sorrow and suffering, disturbance and
restlessness. So long the mind is restless, there cannot be real peace
or happiness. Whatever intense passion and desire you may have for the
sense objects and the sense enjoyments and all that, you gradually get
rid of that with firm determination and constant discrimination. You
convert your raga, passion, for the sense objects into viraga,
dispassion, and then develop vairagyam, detachment. You will
have to exercise very strict discipline on your mind. Because the senses
have been habituated with certain behavioral pattern over a long period
and you have never tried to curb them, you have never tried to exercise
any samyama, sense-control due to your delusion and ignorance.
You have never come in contact with that type of people, that type of
a society, that type of the world that do not run after the sense pleasures,
but are trying to curb them. So you think you must have sense enjoyment.
Soon you are accustomed to have sense enjoyments. Now it won’t
leave you unless you make a very determined effort.
Develop that firm determination. You must control the turbulent behavior
of your mind. You must control its constant chasing of the sense pleasure.
You must try to restrain yourself. This is one pattern of disciplining
your mind.
Sadhan-Chatushtaya
In the ancient times, the guru used to tell to a new seeker:
‘First of all, practise the four-fold sadhana of viveka,
vairagya, shat-sampatti and mumukshutva; and then only, I
will give you the knowledge of the subtle truths of philosophy and Vedanta.
Otherwise, even if I tell you these subtle truths, you will not be able
to understand the correct implications of what I teach you, you will
not be able to retain it. This requires purity of the mind and subtle
intelligence.’ Therefore, first you get yourself established in
four-fold sadhana; then only you are qualified to do shravana
sadhana according to the Vedantic Jnana-Marga.
In sadhan-chatushtaya, the four-fold sadhana, viveka or
discrimination is the first aspect, vairagyam or dispassion the
second.
Shat-sampatti: The third sadhan is Shat-sampatti. It
includes shama, dama, uparati, titiksha, shraddha and samadhana.
Shama: The determination to subdue these will come only
when you realise: ‘As long as I allow the senses to push towards
the sense objects and allow myself to get caught in the excitement of
the sense indulgence, my mind will always be restless, agitated and
disturbed, it will be in tumult and it can never be calm or serene.
I can never have peace and happiness.’ Once the mind realises that
this is not the proper direction, it will say: ‘No I will not think
of the sense objects. The senses naturally plunge in the sense objects,
only if I think of them. The problem arises in my thinking of
the sense objects. The sense objects are inert and non-intelligent;
and so they cannot trouble me by themselves. But I myself allow them
to become troublesome; because I
