Pearls of wisdom for prayer, worship and meditation.
Of what use are prayer and worship, if the heart is not pure, and the mind not clean?
Without mental peace, there can be no happiness.
Darkness disappears, when light enters. Similarly, ignorance disappears, when one is enlightened.
When there is the Enlightenment, there, ignorance cannot exist.
One, who is a slave of the senses, is a fallen man. Because, he is wandering into gutters and ditches for impermanent sensuous pleasures.
One who uses senses with care, intelligence, discrimination and devotion is an ordinary man.
But, one who has conquered the senses is a divine and noble man.
Our biggest problem in the spirituality is this: having God within us, we search for God everywhere.
It is like sitting in a temple of Lord Krishna and asking everyone " where is Lord Krishna’s temple? ' people will give all sorts of directions. But, in actuality, you are right there, in the temple of lord Krishna.
Similarly, God is within us. But, we are asking everyone: ' Where is God? '
We get different answers from different people. Some will say, God is in this temple, or, in that temple. Others will say, to see God, you have to visit this holy place, or, that holy place.
But, all the while," God is within us ". In other words, we are always looking for God" somewhere else".
‘God or self ' is our true nature. Self-realization is our goal. Hence our tendency is to reach the ' self' ', to realize the ' self ‘. In other words, we are trying to ' gain the self ', by going somewhere else and ' acquiring ' it.
If you gain something, you can easily lose it. That which can be gained, can also be lost. Whereas, ' self ' is not something that can be gained or lost.
‘Self ‘is us. It is our true nature. This self is hidden from us, because, we are deluded. Hence, we identify with our false nature. When I am dreaming, whatever is happening in my dream, it is true. Nobody can convince a dreamer, that his dream experience is false. It is only when he wakes up, he realizes that it was only a dream and it was false.
Similarly, when I am deluded and consequently identifying with my false nature (dreaming), it is not easy for the sages to convince me that, it is my false nature.
In my ignorance, I am identifying with the body mind and intellect as me. From now on, whenever I say BMI, it means body mind and intellect. In actuality, I am not this BMI, but, I am the Illuminator of thisBMI.
Let us take an example of a room and electricity. The room is illumined by electricity. If I shut electricity off, the room becomes dark. That means the room and electricity are two different things. Electricity is the illuminator and the room is illumined. The illuminator and the illumined are different.
Similarly,' I ' the illuminator and This BMI, the illumined are different. Hence, lord Krishna says in Gita, the song Celestial, that Arjuna in his true nature, is not that BMI, but, the illuminator of that BMI.
In other words,' self ' is our true nature. Identification with our BMI is our false nature. When, we identify with our BMI, we are egocentric. If I am egocentric, I develop the feeling that I am bigger than thou,holier than thou, richer than thou etc.
Identification with my BMI--- is EGO. All the sufferings come to this BMI. That means, the sufferer is the EGO. If identification with my BMI is EGO, and if the ego is the sufferer, to the extent I detach myself from the BMI, to that extent my EGO is dead, and if the EGO is dead, where is the question of suffering for the fruits of my actions?
By deduction, all of our suffering is because of our EGO .EGO is our false nature. In our true nature, we are EGOLESS.
' God ' is totally EGOLESS. Hence, an enlightened person is totally EGOLESS.
Why do we pray to God? Why do we worship God? Does God care whether we worship him or not?
As we go deeper and deeper into spirituality, we realize that God cares less whether we worship him or not. Because, he is totally egoless. If somebody praises me, I like that person. Because, I have ego. If I am totally devoid of ego, I care less whether somebody praises me or,curses me.
Similarly, God Cares less whether we worship him are not. God is totally ego less.
Then, why do we pray? Why do we worship God?
' Prayer and worship ' are not for ' GOD ‘. They are for us. Prayer and worship will make our mind calm, serene and equipoised...
After all,' mind is man ' and ' man is mind ‘. As is mind, so is the man. If the mind is disturbed, man is disturbed. If the mind is calm, man is calm. If man wants to calm the mind, he needs prayer, worship and meditation. Hence, prayer, worship and meditation are for us, not for God.
These are the tools to make our mind calm, serene, equanimous and equipoised.
A calm mind is meditative mind. If we are mentally agitated, we cannot meditate. If we are unmeditative, we cannot have peace. If we are not peaceful, how can we be happy? (Says, Lord Krishna).
Hence, through prayer and worship, we can develop mental equanimity. If we have quiet mind, then, we can meditate. In a nutshell, if we truly meditate, in our deepest meditation, we will become aware of our true nature.
Mind you, we did not gain our true nature. It was there already. Our ignorance has disappeared, knowledge has dawned. Hence we became aware of our true nature.
Our true nature , ' self ' will shine forth in all its glory, if we unlearn our false tendencies, egocentricity etc. so, let us arise, awake and make an effort to unlearn our false tendencies, so that our true nature will shine forth. That is Godhood or self-awareness.
I will conclude this article by quoting swamy Chinmayananda's memorable statement which is as follows: man awakened to the glory of self is GOD. GOD forgetful of his own glory became a deluded man. We are in effect deluded men at this stage of our spiritual evolution.
Dr. Eswara Dutt.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Which Path to follow for SELF –REALISATION ?
When Lord Krishna SAYS THAT YOU CAN REACH ME THROUGH karma yoga,bhakti yoga,and gnana yoga,you have probably many questions as to which path to follow.should I follow the path of karma yoga, or should I follow the path of bhakti yoga,or should I follow the path of gnana yoga. Which path is the best?is there one path superior to the otherpath?these are daunting questions which all of us have to answer to our selves. In otherwords, we need to do some introspection , through shravanam, mananam, and nidhi dhyasana.that means , we need to do self enquiry within our selves. We need to reflect and contemplate on these three paths.. supposing we want to go to the capital of the united states ,Washington d. c. ,which is the nerve center of the entire country, is there only one path to reach the place? There are many paths to reach Washington d. c.we can reach from north, south, east,or west. Similarly, to reach the goal of eternal self,we have many paths. Next question is, is there one path superior to the otherpath? We want to follow the best path? In our discriminating power, we always want to follow the best path.. that is our nature. But lord Krishna says in bhagvag gita, that no path is superior , or inferior to the other path.all paths are equal in reaching the supreme self. Then we may say that we want to follow all the paths. That is not a bad idea. But the problem is that we all have different vasanas. We need to exhaust these vasanas.very few of us are satwic, .some of us are rajasic,and some of us are tamasic, and most of us are a combination of all the three. If I am a sudra not because of my birth,but because of my gunas, karma yoga is the best for me. If I am a Brahmana ,not because of my birth,but because of my gunas., then gnana yoga is best for me. Bhakti yoga is some thing we all have to follow. Remember always, all the paths are equal. None is superior, none is inferior. An ideal spiritual seeker follows all three in different gradations. For example,a person wakes up in the morning, takes a shower and practices bhakti yoga for half an hour. Then he goes to work wherein he practices karma yoga. When he comes home, after dinner, he reads a scripture like bhagvad gita and that is practise of gnana yoga . . if one practices these paths either single ore a combinationof all the three in different gradations, even in small measure , one can make significant progress on the road to liberation. To be spiritual, you do not have to go to Himalayan caves, or jungles,or to dip in cold waters of ganges.these paths can be followed right here. .you reflect a little, contemplate a little and meditate a little , do some devotional practices and surrender your self to god with stead fast mind and single pointed devotion. . Daily sustained effort on the spiritual path is far more important than performing great rituals,or austerities.you will encounter problems , face them courageously, without taking backward step. Take an example of a tree .the moment it sends its roots ,in to the earth, and draws its richness from it, it begins to flourish. Similarly , the moment you seek your roots in god , through any path, your personality flourishes. And you bring the best you have to all your relationships with others. And ultimately, you become aware of your true nature as that immutable ,omniscient, all-pervading pure consciousness. .
K. Eswara Dutt.
When Lord Krishna SAYS THAT YOU CAN REACH ME THROUGH karma yoga,bhakti yoga,and gnana yoga,you have probably many questions as to which path to follow.should I follow the path of karma yoga, or should I follow the path of bhakti yoga,or should I follow the path of gnana yoga. Which path is the best?is there one path superior to the otherpath?these are daunting questions which all of us have to answer to our selves. In otherwords, we need to do some introspection , through shravanam, mananam, and nidhi dhyasana.that means , we need to do self enquiry within our selves. We need to reflect and contemplate on these three paths.. supposing we want to go to the capital of the united states ,Washington d. c. ,which is the nerve center of the entire country, is there only one path to reach the place? There are many paths to reach Washington d. c.we can reach from north, south, east,or west. Similarly, to reach the goal of eternal self,we have many paths. Next question is, is there one path superior to the otherpath? We want to follow the best path? In our discriminating power, we always want to follow the best path.. that is our nature. But lord Krishna says in bhagvag gita, that no path is superior , or inferior to the other path.all paths are equal in reaching the supreme self. Then we may say that we want to follow all the paths. That is not a bad idea. But the problem is that we all have different vasanas. We need to exhaust these vasanas.very few of us are satwic, .some of us are rajasic,and some of us are tamasic, and most of us are a combination of all the three. If I am a sudra not because of my birth,but because of my gunas, karma yoga is the best for me. If I am a Brahmana ,not because of my birth,but because of my gunas., then gnana yoga is best for me. Bhakti yoga is some thing we all have to follow. Remember always, all the paths are equal. None is superior, none is inferior. An ideal spiritual seeker follows all three in different gradations. For example,a person wakes up in the morning, takes a shower and practices bhakti yoga for half an hour. Then he goes to work wherein he practices karma yoga. When he comes home, after dinner, he reads a scripture like bhagvad gita and that is practise of gnana yoga . . if one practices these paths either single ore a combinationof all the three in different gradations, even in small measure , one can make significant progress on the road to liberation. To be spiritual, you do not have to go to Himalayan caves, or jungles,or to dip in cold waters of ganges.these paths can be followed right here. .you reflect a little, contemplate a little and meditate a little , do some devotional practices and surrender your self to god with stead fast mind and single pointed devotion. . Daily sustained effort on the spiritual path is far more important than performing great rituals,or austerities.you will encounter problems , face them courageously, without taking backward step. Take an example of a tree .the moment it sends its roots ,in to the earth, and draws its richness from it, it begins to flourish. Similarly , the moment you seek your roots in god , through any path, your personality flourishes. And you bring the best you have to all your relationships with others. And ultimately, you become aware of your true nature as that immutable ,omniscient, all-pervading pure consciousness. .
K. Eswara Dutt.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Vasanas and the theory of Karma as enunciated in Bhagavad Gita
In Hindu religion we believe in Reincarnation. We need to ponder as to why we have birth-death and rebirth cycles. The reason for our birth-death and rebirth cycles is our 'VASANAS'. We need to understand the theory of 'KARMA' and the true meaning of Vasanas.
What are 'Vasanas'? In our lives, every desire we entertain will leave an impression on the shores of our mind. These impressions are called 'Vasanas'. In other words, any constant thought of a particular desire will leave an 'etching' on our mind. These are called tendencies, temptations, also called ' Vasanas '. These 'Vasanas' cause agitation in our minds. These Vasanas need to be exhausted, in other words, we need to fulfill those desires. Fulfillment of all desires is not possible, because, if one desire is fulfilled, ten desires will arise and if ten desires are fulfilled, hundred desires will arise and the vicious circle will continue. That means, we need to give importance to curtailing desires. Because, the more desires we entertain, the more Vasanas we create.
What is the cause for our desires? Why do we develop desires? Bhagavad Geeta has some succinct answer to this question. Spiritually speaking, we are innately 'full'. But, in our spiritual ignorance, we think we are not full. When I am not full, instinctively I want to fill it. This leads to desires at my intellectual level and incessant thoughts at my mental level. Thus, constant thinking of desires leads to footprints on the shores of my mind. If I cannot fulfill those desires, these 'Vasanas' keep on accumulating in my mind.
These Vasanas could be Sattwic, Rajasic or tamasic depending upon the texture of thought. All Vasanas have bondage, but, Sattwic Vasanas have least amount of bondage. I will discuss aboutSattwic, Rajasic and Tamasic gunas in a separate article later.
We need to understand the theory of ' Karma' here. Supposing a person has committed a crime in one city and moved to another city and changed his name, still a good detective will catch him. Because, he has left footprints in the previous place. Similarly, the 'Vasanas' that I have accumulated in my previous life if I did not exhaust them, will follow me to this life. In other words, the Vasanas that I have accumulated in my previous life will follow me to this life through my ' causal body'. In effect, I need to exhaust those 'Vasanas'. Past sins are responsible for my present sorrows. Present sins of mine will be responsible for my future sorrows.Sorrows ar nothing but state of agitation of the mind. The deeper meaning of sorrows is nothing but Vasanas. My past Vasanas are causing present mental agitations. If I accumulate more Vasanas in the present life, they will be carried forward in my causal body to my future life, causing further mental agitation.
For example, Arjuna, being a Kshatriya, has accumulated a lot of Rajasic Vasanas. He needed to exhaust his Vasanas. He had a beautiful field in the form of Kurukshetra battle-field to exhaust his Vasanas. But, Arjuna refuses to fight the battle and says to Lord Krishna that he does not want to fight the battle and he would rather go to jungle and spend the remaining time in meditation. But, Arjuna cannot meditate, because; he does not have an equanimous mind. That is because; his mind is filled with Rajasic Vasanas. Arjuna first must exhaust his Vasanas. That is when Lord Krishna starts Krishna cure of this Arjuna disease. Lord Krishna ultimately convinces Arjuna to fight the battle without anxiety for the fruit. If Arjuna can fight the battle without anxiety 'for the fruit', then he will not only exhaust his present Vasanas, he will not create any more new Vasanas. Vasana purgation is a pre requisite for deep meditation. Arjuna follows Lord Krishna's advice and fights the battle without anxiety 'for the fruit' and thereby exhausts his Vasanas. His mind becomes pure and equanimous. Then, he meditated and in his deepest meditation, he became aware of his true nature and got liberated and attained Moksha.
If we follow the advice that Lord Krishna gave to Arjuna, then we need to exhaust our Vasanas. To exhaust our own Vasanas,god has given us our own Kurukshetra battle field in this life. We need to follow our own Swadharma and try to purge our Vasanas. That means, we need to follow sattwic qualities of purity, nobility, self-control, compassion, charity, selfless love, and devotion, steadfastness, fortitude, truthfulness etc. Then, we must control our desires and gradually get rid of our desires. As our desires are reduced, our thoughts for those desires will be reduced and gradually our Vasanas will be eliminated. Desirelessness alone can lead to Vasanalessness. Elimination of Vasanas alone can lead to purification of the mind. Purification of mind leads to quietude. With that equanimous and steadfast mind, you can contemplate and meditate. And, in our deepest meditation, we too can become aware of our true nature as that immutable, omniscient and all pervading Brahman Which we are . As Swamy Chinmayananda says:'Man awakened to the glory of the self is 'God' '
Hence, let us arise, awake, and make an effort to gradually exhaust our Vasanas and purify our mind in preparation for meditation. I know it is difficult. We may not be able to succeed in this life. But, at least, we must start the process in this life to get head start in the next life.
Eswara Dutt.
What are 'Vasanas'? In our lives, every desire we entertain will leave an impression on the shores of our mind. These impressions are called 'Vasanas'. In other words, any constant thought of a particular desire will leave an 'etching' on our mind. These are called tendencies, temptations, also called ' Vasanas '. These 'Vasanas' cause agitation in our minds. These Vasanas need to be exhausted, in other words, we need to fulfill those desires. Fulfillment of all desires is not possible, because, if one desire is fulfilled, ten desires will arise and if ten desires are fulfilled, hundred desires will arise and the vicious circle will continue. That means, we need to give importance to curtailing desires. Because, the more desires we entertain, the more Vasanas we create.
What is the cause for our desires? Why do we develop desires? Bhagavad Geeta has some succinct answer to this question. Spiritually speaking, we are innately 'full'. But, in our spiritual ignorance, we think we are not full. When I am not full, instinctively I want to fill it. This leads to desires at my intellectual level and incessant thoughts at my mental level. Thus, constant thinking of desires leads to footprints on the shores of my mind. If I cannot fulfill those desires, these 'Vasanas' keep on accumulating in my mind.
These Vasanas could be Sattwic, Rajasic or tamasic depending upon the texture of thought. All Vasanas have bondage, but, Sattwic Vasanas have least amount of bondage. I will discuss aboutSattwic, Rajasic and Tamasic gunas in a separate article later.
We need to understand the theory of ' Karma' here. Supposing a person has committed a crime in one city and moved to another city and changed his name, still a good detective will catch him. Because, he has left footprints in the previous place. Similarly, the 'Vasanas' that I have accumulated in my previous life if I did not exhaust them, will follow me to this life. In other words, the Vasanas that I have accumulated in my previous life will follow me to this life through my ' causal body'. In effect, I need to exhaust those 'Vasanas'. Past sins are responsible for my present sorrows. Present sins of mine will be responsible for my future sorrows.Sorrows ar nothing but state of agitation of the mind. The deeper meaning of sorrows is nothing but Vasanas. My past Vasanas are causing present mental agitations. If I accumulate more Vasanas in the present life, they will be carried forward in my causal body to my future life, causing further mental agitation.
For example, Arjuna, being a Kshatriya, has accumulated a lot of Rajasic Vasanas. He needed to exhaust his Vasanas. He had a beautiful field in the form of Kurukshetra battle-field to exhaust his Vasanas. But, Arjuna refuses to fight the battle and says to Lord Krishna that he does not want to fight the battle and he would rather go to jungle and spend the remaining time in meditation. But, Arjuna cannot meditate, because; he does not have an equanimous mind. That is because; his mind is filled with Rajasic Vasanas. Arjuna first must exhaust his Vasanas. That is when Lord Krishna starts Krishna cure of this Arjuna disease. Lord Krishna ultimately convinces Arjuna to fight the battle without anxiety for the fruit. If Arjuna can fight the battle without anxiety 'for the fruit', then he will not only exhaust his present Vasanas, he will not create any more new Vasanas. Vasana purgation is a pre requisite for deep meditation. Arjuna follows Lord Krishna's advice and fights the battle without anxiety 'for the fruit' and thereby exhausts his Vasanas. His mind becomes pure and equanimous. Then, he meditated and in his deepest meditation, he became aware of his true nature and got liberated and attained Moksha.
If we follow the advice that Lord Krishna gave to Arjuna, then we need to exhaust our Vasanas. To exhaust our own Vasanas,god has given us our own Kurukshetra battle field in this life. We need to follow our own Swadharma and try to purge our Vasanas. That means, we need to follow sattwic qualities of purity, nobility, self-control, compassion, charity, selfless love, and devotion, steadfastness, fortitude, truthfulness etc. Then, we must control our desires and gradually get rid of our desires. As our desires are reduced, our thoughts for those desires will be reduced and gradually our Vasanas will be eliminated. Desirelessness alone can lead to Vasanalessness. Elimination of Vasanas alone can lead to purification of the mind. Purification of mind leads to quietude. With that equanimous and steadfast mind, you can contemplate and meditate. And, in our deepest meditation, we too can become aware of our true nature as that immutable, omniscient and all pervading Brahman Which we are . As Swamy Chinmayananda says:'Man awakened to the glory of the self is 'God' '
Hence, let us arise, awake, and make an effort to gradually exhaust our Vasanas and purify our mind in preparation for meditation. I know it is difficult. We may not be able to succeed in this life. But, at least, we must start the process in this life to get head start in the next life.
Eswara Dutt.
What I learned from Bhagavad Gita
Swamy Chinmayananda was a great communicator. He left a legacy of
great spiritual knowledge in his pragmatic interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita in
simple language. In this article I will try to express my understanding of what the
Bhagavad Gita has taught me.
Bhagavad Gita is like a mother. When I was in trouble as a child I used to
run to my mother to comfort me. Today I feel Bhagavad Gita is like my mother.
Whenever I need comfort and solace I go to Bhagavad Gita and read a translation of
a few stanzas here and there. Immediately all my troubles will become so small that
I forget about them. Such is the greatness of the Bhagavad Gita.
The main thing I have learned from the Bhagavad Gita is about self. What is
self? Where is self? How can I become aware of the self? These are very important
questions that need to be answered.
Self has many synonyms. Self is also known as pure consciousness, bliss absolute,
beauty absolute, knowledge infinite, and vision absolute. When you become aware
of the self while you are still in this embodiment, you are called JEEVANMUKTA
(LIBERATED WHILE YOU ARE STILL ALIVE). If self awareness comes
to you after you leave this embodiment, then that state is called MOKSHA, or
LIBERATION, or NIRVANA.
Self is there in every one of us. Without self we cannot exist. It is self that
gives us the dynamism and vitality. Self illumines every part of our body, mind,
and intellect. Self is there in every cell of our body, in every molecule, in every
proton, neutron, and electron. In other words self is all pervading.
Now we understood what is self and where is self? Next, let us try to
understand how to become aware of self. Now you may ask why we should
become aware of Self? Because that is our true nature. Without self we cannot
exist. We are born in the self, we exist in the self and when we are decayed and
destroyed we merge in the self. That self is our true nature. In other words, we are
the self. But unfortunately, because of our delusion, dream state, camouflaging,
veiling, and maya disease we are unable to become aware of our true nature as that
immutable self. That means we need to get rid of these states which are veiling us
from the self.
How do we get rid of delusion, dream state, camouflaging, veiling and maya
disease? The Bhagavad Gita has answers to these questions. To get rid of these
states and to become aware of our true nature as an all pervading, imperishable self
we need to follow the below mentioned rules.
First we need to live a satwic life of purity, self control, nobility, compassion,
charity, selfless love, total devotion to god, steadfastness, non violence,
truthfulness, fearlessness, non-covetousness, humility, forgiveness, and egolessness.
Second, we must control our mind so that it may not wander into gutters
and ditches for sense gratification. Then only we can have mental equanimity or
stillness of the mind.
Third, we must develop non attachment or detachment or renunciation
of power, pleasure, and wealth. Most of us do this temporarily at some
point out of dejection, despair, and frustration because we cannot succeed
in some particular endeavor. But that is not a true detachment. True
detachment must come in an intelligent, mature, and discriminative fashion.
Fourth, you must reflect, contemplate, and meditate with a steadfast mind and with
single pointed devotion. This is called EKABHAKTI. If you follow the above rules
which I consider to be GOD’s LAWS, then you develop desirelessness which will
lead to vasanalessness, and in your deepest meditation you will become aware of
your true nature as that immutable SELF.
When once you become aware of your true nature as that immutable,
omniscient, all pervading, self luminous, imperishable self, you are in heaven upon
the earth. You are KRISHNA of your life and times. You may not have wealth, but
you are contented. You may not have power, but you are all powerful. You are
unequaled in society because you look at every body equally. You see the same
self in every person, dancing and glowing. In other words, you develop oneness,
togetherness, and no otherness. When you have become aware of your true nature
as the infinite self, your maya disease, delusion, dream state, and camouflaging
have disappeared.
In this state you are not this body, mind, and intellect any more. You are that
immutable, omniscient, all pervasive, self luminous, imperishable self. You have
reached deathlessness, moksha, liberation, or nirvana. You were identifying with
the fear of death before because you were deluded and once delusion is gone, your
limitation is gone. Now you are limitless and immortal. As lord Krishna says in
chapter 2 stanza 27, “O Arjuna, never did I not exist, nor you, nor will any one of
us ever hereafter cease to be in existence”. In other words, you and I were there in
the beginningless, we are here now, and we will be there in the endless. We never
cease to exist. We are immortal and limitless.
So, let us arise, awake, and become aware of our true nature as that bliss
infinite, as that beauty absolute, as that vision infinite, as that knowledge absolute.
Let us arise from this jeevatma to paramatma, from false self (ego) to true self, from
limitation to limitlessness and Krishna consciousness.
K Eswara Dutt
great spiritual knowledge in his pragmatic interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita in
simple language. In this article I will try to express my understanding of what the
Bhagavad Gita has taught me.
Bhagavad Gita is like a mother. When I was in trouble as a child I used to
run to my mother to comfort me. Today I feel Bhagavad Gita is like my mother.
Whenever I need comfort and solace I go to Bhagavad Gita and read a translation of
a few stanzas here and there. Immediately all my troubles will become so small that
I forget about them. Such is the greatness of the Bhagavad Gita.
The main thing I have learned from the Bhagavad Gita is about self. What is
self? Where is self? How can I become aware of the self? These are very important
questions that need to be answered.
Self has many synonyms. Self is also known as pure consciousness, bliss absolute,
beauty absolute, knowledge infinite, and vision absolute. When you become aware
of the self while you are still in this embodiment, you are called JEEVANMUKTA
(LIBERATED WHILE YOU ARE STILL ALIVE). If self awareness comes
to you after you leave this embodiment, then that state is called MOKSHA, or
LIBERATION, or NIRVANA.
Self is there in every one of us. Without self we cannot exist. It is self that
gives us the dynamism and vitality. Self illumines every part of our body, mind,
and intellect. Self is there in every cell of our body, in every molecule, in every
proton, neutron, and electron. In other words self is all pervading.
Now we understood what is self and where is self? Next, let us try to
understand how to become aware of self. Now you may ask why we should
become aware of Self? Because that is our true nature. Without self we cannot
exist. We are born in the self, we exist in the self and when we are decayed and
destroyed we merge in the self. That self is our true nature. In other words, we are
the self. But unfortunately, because of our delusion, dream state, camouflaging,
veiling, and maya disease we are unable to become aware of our true nature as that
immutable self. That means we need to get rid of these states which are veiling us
from the self.
How do we get rid of delusion, dream state, camouflaging, veiling and maya
disease? The Bhagavad Gita has answers to these questions. To get rid of these
states and to become aware of our true nature as an all pervading, imperishable self
we need to follow the below mentioned rules.
First we need to live a satwic life of purity, self control, nobility, compassion,
charity, selfless love, total devotion to god, steadfastness, non violence,
truthfulness, fearlessness, non-covetousness, humility, forgiveness, and egolessness.
Second, we must control our mind so that it may not wander into gutters
and ditches for sense gratification. Then only we can have mental equanimity or
stillness of the mind.
Third, we must develop non attachment or detachment or renunciation
of power, pleasure, and wealth. Most of us do this temporarily at some
point out of dejection, despair, and frustration because we cannot succeed
in some particular endeavor. But that is not a true detachment. True
detachment must come in an intelligent, mature, and discriminative fashion.
Fourth, you must reflect, contemplate, and meditate with a steadfast mind and with
single pointed devotion. This is called EKABHAKTI. If you follow the above rules
which I consider to be GOD’s LAWS, then you develop desirelessness which will
lead to vasanalessness, and in your deepest meditation you will become aware of
your true nature as that immutable SELF.
When once you become aware of your true nature as that immutable,
omniscient, all pervading, self luminous, imperishable self, you are in heaven upon
the earth. You are KRISHNA of your life and times. You may not have wealth, but
you are contented. You may not have power, but you are all powerful. You are
unequaled in society because you look at every body equally. You see the same
self in every person, dancing and glowing. In other words, you develop oneness,
togetherness, and no otherness. When you have become aware of your true nature
as the infinite self, your maya disease, delusion, dream state, and camouflaging
have disappeared.
In this state you are not this body, mind, and intellect any more. You are that
immutable, omniscient, all pervasive, self luminous, imperishable self. You have
reached deathlessness, moksha, liberation, or nirvana. You were identifying with
the fear of death before because you were deluded and once delusion is gone, your
limitation is gone. Now you are limitless and immortal. As lord Krishna says in
chapter 2 stanza 27, “O Arjuna, never did I not exist, nor you, nor will any one of
us ever hereafter cease to be in existence”. In other words, you and I were there in
the beginningless, we are here now, and we will be there in the endless. We never
cease to exist. We are immortal and limitless.
So, let us arise, awake, and become aware of our true nature as that bliss
infinite, as that beauty absolute, as that vision infinite, as that knowledge absolute.
Let us arise from this jeevatma to paramatma, from false self (ego) to true self, from
limitation to limitlessness and Krishna consciousness.
K Eswara Dutt
Monday, April 5, 2010
Veda and Vedanta: Are They Opposed to One Another?
Yam imam puspitam vacam pravadanti avipascitah
Vedavadaratah Partha nanyad asti ti vadinah
Kam'atmanah svarga-para janma-karma-phala-pradam
Kriya-visesa-bahulam bhog aisvara-gatim prati
Bhog'asivarya-prasaktanam taya'pahrta-cetasam
Vyavasay'atmika buddhih samadhau na vidhiyate
Traigaunya-visaya Veda nistraigunyo bhava'rjuna
NIrdvandvo nitya-sattvastho nirtogaksema Atmavan
Yesterday we discussed in great length about the demerits of the Vedic rituals and how Lord Krishna disapproved of it. I was reading the Kanchi paramacharya’s view on this in his book "The Vedas" and he talked in detail about these shlokas. In fact he has helped us in removing the misconception of it. I am reproducing the same here. please bear with me. It is lengthy, but very informative. Here it is his view on the shloka ___
The rituals mentioned in the karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the karmakanda enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than a beast.
This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma, while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda.
Lord Krishna teaches us in the Gita 2nd chapter shloka 42-45 and in it he lashes out against the karmakanda. In the Gita he says to Arjuna :"The Vedas are associated with the three qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas. You must transcend these three qualities. Full of desire, they (the practitioners of Vedic rituals) long for paradise and keep thinking of pleasures and material prosperity. They are born again and again and their minds are never fixed in Samadhi, because their mind clings to Vedic rituals. “In another passage Krishna declares : "Not by the Vedas am I to be realized, nor by sacrifices nor by much study. . . . "
Is it not contradicting? With some thinking we will realize that there is in fact no contradiction. Would it be possible for us, in our present condition, to go beyond the three gunas even to the slightest extent and realize the true state of the Self spoken of in the Upanishads? The purpose of the Vedic rituals is to take us, by degrees, to this state. So long as we believe that the world is real we worship the deities so as to be vouchsafed happiness. And this world, which we think is real, is also benefited by such worship. Thinking the deities to be real, we help them and in return we are helped by them. Living happily on this earth we long to go to the world of the celestials and enjoy the pleasures of paradise. So far so good. But if we stopped at this stage would it not mean losing sight of our supreme objective? Is not this objective, this goal, our becoming one with the Paramatman? Would it not be foolish to ignore this great ideal of ours and still cling to mundane happiness?
In our present state of immaturity it is not possible to think of the world being unreal. Recognizing this, the Vedas provide us the rituals to be performed for happiness in this world. Because of our inadequacies we are unable to devote ourselves to a formless Paramatman from whom we are not different. So the Vedas have devised a system in which a number of deities are worshipped. But, in course of time, as we perform the rituals and worship the deities, we must make efforts to advance to the state of wisdom and enlightenment in which the world will be seen to be unreal and the rites will become unnecessary. Instead of worshipping many deities, we must reach the state in which we will recognize that we have no existence other than that of our being dissolved in the Paramatman. We must perform Vedic sacraments with the knowledge that they prepare us to go to this state by making our mind pure and one-pointed.
If we perform rituals with the sole idea of worldly happiness and carry on trade with the celestials by conducting sacrifices (offering them oblations and receiving benefits from them in return), we will never come face to face with the Truth. Even if we go to the world of the celestials, we will not be blessed with Self-realization. Our residence in paradise is commensurate with the merit we earn here and is not permanent. Sooner or later we will have to return to this world and be in the womb of a mother. The ritual worship and other sacraments of the Vedas are to some extent the result of making an adjustment to our present immature state of mind. But their real purpose is to take us forward gradually from this very immature state and illumine us within. It would be wrong to refuse to go beyond the stage of ritual worship.
If, to begin with, it is not right to refuse all at once to perform Vedic rites, it would be equally not right, subsequently, to refuse to give them up. Nowadays, people are averse to ritual to start with itself. "What? " they exclaim. "Who wants to perform sacrifices? Why should we chant the Vedas? Let us go directly to the Upanishads. “Some of them can speak eloquently about the Upanishads from a mere intellectual understanding of them. But none has the inward experience of the truths propounded in them and we do not see them emerging as men of detachment with a true awareness of the Self. The reason for this is that they have not prepared themselves for this higher state of perception through the performance of rituals. If this is wrong in one sense, refusal to take the path of jnana from that of karma is equally not justifiable.
If one has to qualify for the B. A. degree one has to begin at the beginning - one has to progress from the first standard all the way to the degree course. One cannot naturally join the B. A. class without qualifying for it. At the same time, is it not absurd to remain all the time as a failure in the first standard itself?
In the old days there were many people belonging to the latter category (that is people who refused to take the path of knowledge and wished to remain wedded to the path of karma). Now people belonging to the former category predominate (that is those who want to take the path of jnana, without being prepared for it through karma). During the time of Sri Krishna also the majority clung to rituals. His criticism is directed against them, against those who perform Vedic sacraments without understanding their purpose and who fail to go beyond them. Unfortunately, this is mistaken for criticism of the Vedas themselves. The Lord could never have attacked the Vedas per se. After all, it was to save them that he descended to earth again and again.
In keeping with his times, Krishna Paramatman spoke against people who confined themselves to the narrow path of karma. If he were to descend to earth again to teach us, he would turn against those who plunge into a study of the Upanishads, spurning Vedic rites. It seems to me that he would be more severe in his criticism of these people that he was against those who were obsessed with karma.
Graduating to the Upanishads without being prepared for them through the performance of Vedic rites is a greater offence than failure to go along the path of jnana from that of karma. After all, to repeat what I said before, one has to go through the primary and secondary stages of education before qualifying for admission to college. The man who insists on being admitted to the B. A. class without qualifying for it is not amenable to any suggestion. The one who wants to remain in the first standard learns at least something; the other type is incapable of learning anything.
The Vedas and Vedanta are not at variance with one another. The karmakanda prepares us for Vedanta or the jananakanda. The former has to do with this world and with many deities and its adherents are subject to the three gunas. But it is the first step to go beyond the three gunas and to sever oneself from worldly existence. If we perform the rites laid down in the karmakanda, keeping in mind their true purpose, we shall naturally be qualifying for the jnanakanda.
All rituals, all worship, are meant to make a man aware of the Reality. Varnashrama with its one hundred thousand differences and with its countless stipulations as to who can do what is a preliminary arrangement to arrive at the stage in which there is a oneness of all, with all the differences banished. If we fail to go beyond the stage of karma, observing all the differences of varnashrama, we shall be committing a wrong. Krishna Paramatman directs his criticism against those who claim that the karmakanda of the Vedas alone matters, that the jnanakanda does not serve any purpose. In doing so he seems to attack the Vedas themselves. In reality he faults those who are, in his words, "Veda-vada-ratah", those who are deceived by flowery accounts of the Vedas without realizing their true meaning and those who do not exert themselves to rise to the level of experiential jnana.
To start with, we must perform the rites prescribed by the Vedas. But in this there must be the realization that they are but steps leading us to the higher state in which we will ultimately find bliss in our Self, a state in which there will be neither rites nor duties to perform. Similarly, to start with, the deities must be worshipped but again with the conviction that such worship serves the ultimate purpose of arriving at the point where we will recognize that the worshipper and the worshipped are one. Thus, to begin with, all differences in functions must be recognized and life lived according to them. Different divisions of people have different duties, and the customs and rites assigned to each are such as to help them in the proper discharge of those duties. But in the very process of maintaining such differences there must be the conviction within that ultimately there are no differences, that all are one.
If the Vedas are to be learned and chanted and if the Vedic rituals are to be practiced - - it is because in this way we shall be led to that supreme experience of the Reality in which there will be no need for these very Vedas. First the flowers, and from them the fruit. Though the flower looks beautiful, the fruit emerges only when it wilts or falls to earth. A tree does not fruit before it flowers. In the same way, to plunge into Vedanta without first going through a life of Vedic discipline is neither wise nor in keeping with reality. It is equally wrong to remain confined to the karmakanda and refuse to make an effort to acquire Vedantic knowledge: it is like wishing that we must have only flowers and no fruits. There must be a sense of balance, a sense of proportion, in everything we do.
The Gita is not Sruti and it is customary to regard it as belonging to the category of SmrtiThe Smrti that is the Gita observes: "Vedic rites and worship are futile if they do not take you to the path of jnana. " The Puranas too are among the three categories of authoritative texts of our religion - the other two being Sruti and Smriti - and they have the same view about a life confined to rituals. Sruti is higher as an authority than Smriti or the Puranas.. However, it might be argued that Sruti itself is divided into the karmakanda and the jnanakanda and that, after all, it is natural that in the jnanakanda the quest for jnana should be spoken of highly. So there is nothing remarkable about it declaring that rituals cannot be the final goal of the seeker.
However, in the karmakanda itself there is criticism of the view that rituals are all and they are the ultimate goal. Sri Krishna declares in the Gita, that it is laudable to perform the many sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas realizing their true purpose ("Evam bahuvidha yajna vitata Brahmano mukhe"). However, all these sacraments have their culmination in jnana ("Sarvam karm'akhilam Partha jnana parisamapyate").
The same idea is expressed forcefully through an illustration in the Vedic karmakanda itself: "He who performs only rituals, without wakening to Isvara feeds the fire to raise the smoke and nothing else" (Taittiriya Kathakam, first prasna, last anuvaka, fourth vakya). If you feed the fire with firewood you must keep the pot over it to cook rice. Once who does not exert oneself to be "cooked" in jnana is like the man who lights the kitchen fire without keeping the cooking pot on it. This is what the Vedas say. What purpose is served by building a big sacrificial fire if you do not offer the oblations in it? The result will be only smoke and more smoke. A sacrifice must be performed with the consciousness that you are offering the fruit of your karma itself as an oblation. Otherwise there will be nothing but smoke.
"The Self must be offered as an oblation in the fire of the Brahman. All sensual pleasures must be offered in the fire of self-control. The five vital breaths must be given over in sacrifice in one another ", says the Gita. Vedic sacrifices involving materials and works have this goal. A man may perform any number of sacrifices but he would be a fool to perform them without realizing this truth. The Vedas too say that such a man in unintelligent. What do you expect his buddhi (intuitive intelligence) to become- It would also be like the smoke of the sacrificial fire that darkens everything in its course and ends up in nothing.
When Vedic rites are performed in a spirit of dedication to Isvara they will loosen your ties little by little, instead of keeping you bound to this world. If you perform rites to please the Lord, without expecting any reward, your mind will be cleansed and you will transcend the three gunas. This is the meaning and purpose of "yajna". Is not the word understood in English as "sacrifice"? "Yaga" also means sacrifice, "tyaga". When an offering is placed in the fire we say "na mama" ("not mine"): it is this attitude of self-denial that is the life and soul of a sacrificial rite. Is it possible to retrieve what has been offered in the fire? Even if it were, it would soon disintegrate. In this way you must reduce your ego-sense to ashes, also your possessiveness ("ahamkara-mamakara"). One who performs a sacrifice without being conscious of such high ideals but with the purpose of petty gains like ascending to paradise - is he not a fool?
There is no contradiction between the karmakanda and the jnanakanda. In the karmakanda itself jnana is given an elevated place and the limitations of karma mentioned. There are hymns incorporating high philosophical truths in the Samhita part itself of the Vedas like, for instance, the "Nasadiyasukta", the "Purushasukta" and the "Tryambaka mantra". Also to be noted is the fact that the Upanishads themselves mention rites (karma) like the "Naciketagni". How would you explain this if the karmakanda and the jnanakanda were opposed to one another? The underlying idea is that we must graduate from the one to the other [from karma to jnana].
As we have already seen, the Gita (which is a Smrti) says that sacraments performed in a spirit of dedication to Isvara are a means of obtaining jnana. The same idea is found expressed in a Sruti text, the Isavasya Upanisad. The first of the ten major Upanisads, it commences with the statement: "Live a hundred years performing Vedic rites. But do so in a spirit of dedication to Isvara. Then it will not keep you bound. “So it would be wrong to believe that the Upanishads teach inaction.
Karma, however, is not the goal of the Vedas. You must go beyond the stage of performing Vedic rituals even if they be for such a noble purpose as that of creating welfare in the world, cleansing your consciousness and propitiating the deities. You must rise higher to the plane where you will realize that nothing other than the Paramatman exists, that the phenomenal world is unreal, that there are no entities called deities (devatas) with an independent existence of their own and that there is no "I". When you come to this state there will be no need for the Vedas too for you: this is stated in the Vedas themselves.
The Vedas are the laws laid down by Paramesvara. All people, all his subjects, must obey them. But there is no need for the man who is always steeped inwardly as well as outwardly in the Reality that is the Paramatman to refer to this law with respect to all his actions. That is why it is said that for such men the Vedas cease to be Vedas. (We too do not respect the Vedas as the law. For us also the Vedas are not Vedas. But we do not have even a whiff of jnana!).
If you do not realize that the karmakanda is a means to take you to the "paravidya" that is constituted by the Upanishads, then the Vedas (that is their karmakanda) is an apara vidya like any other subject such as history or geography that is learned at school. It is for this reason that the Mundaka Upanishad includes the Vedas in the category of apara-vidya. This Upanishad describes a person who performs Vedic rites for ephemeral enjoyments, mundane benefits, as a mere beast (pasu).
. Until a man becomes a jnanin he keeps performing the rites intended for the celestials. In return they bring him various benefits. They have to be given their share of the oblations. If a man helps us we have to help him in return. Is that not so? We have to help the celestials who bring us rain and other benefits. That is why we perform sacrifices. Some Brahmin or other gives the "havirbhaga" (a share in the oblations) to the devas, doing so as a representative of us all. It is like one man paying taxes on behalf of all.
To the celestial s a person who performs Vedic rituals is like a milking cow. When the cow goes dry what use is it to man (its owner)? The celestials will be pleased with a person so long as he remains a milking cow (performing sacrifices and other rites). If he ceases to be a milking cow they will dislike him, cause him suffering. That means man is like a cow to the devas in more than one sense: in the sense that he is ignorant (not a jnanin); and in the sense that they do not protect him when he stops performing rites (do we take care of a cow that has gone dry? ).
It is part of wisdom and enlightenment to realize that the gods are not separate from us. Vedanta points a way to realize this truth, and shows us how we may free ourselves from works and even worship of the gods and reach the stage where there is no difference between us and all the rest.
Vedavadaratah Partha nanyad asti ti vadinah
Kam'atmanah svarga-para janma-karma-phala-pradam
Kriya-visesa-bahulam bhog aisvara-gatim prati
Bhog'asivarya-prasaktanam taya'pahrta-cetasam
Vyavasay'atmika buddhih samadhau na vidhiyate
Traigaunya-visaya Veda nistraigunyo bhava'rjuna
NIrdvandvo nitya-sattvastho nirtogaksema Atmavan
Yesterday we discussed in great length about the demerits of the Vedic rituals and how Lord Krishna disapproved of it. I was reading the Kanchi paramacharya’s view on this in his book "The Vedas" and he talked in detail about these shlokas. In fact he has helped us in removing the misconception of it. I am reproducing the same here. please bear with me. It is lengthy, but very informative. Here it is his view on the shloka ___
The rituals mentioned in the karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the karmakanda enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than a beast.
This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma, while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda.
Lord Krishna teaches us in the Gita 2nd chapter shloka 42-45 and in it he lashes out against the karmakanda. In the Gita he says to Arjuna :"The Vedas are associated with the three qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas. You must transcend these three qualities. Full of desire, they (the practitioners of Vedic rituals) long for paradise and keep thinking of pleasures and material prosperity. They are born again and again and their minds are never fixed in Samadhi, because their mind clings to Vedic rituals. “In another passage Krishna declares : "Not by the Vedas am I to be realized, nor by sacrifices nor by much study. . . . "
Is it not contradicting? With some thinking we will realize that there is in fact no contradiction. Would it be possible for us, in our present condition, to go beyond the three gunas even to the slightest extent and realize the true state of the Self spoken of in the Upanishads? The purpose of the Vedic rituals is to take us, by degrees, to this state. So long as we believe that the world is real we worship the deities so as to be vouchsafed happiness. And this world, which we think is real, is also benefited by such worship. Thinking the deities to be real, we help them and in return we are helped by them. Living happily on this earth we long to go to the world of the celestials and enjoy the pleasures of paradise. So far so good. But if we stopped at this stage would it not mean losing sight of our supreme objective? Is not this objective, this goal, our becoming one with the Paramatman? Would it not be foolish to ignore this great ideal of ours and still cling to mundane happiness?
In our present state of immaturity it is not possible to think of the world being unreal. Recognizing this, the Vedas provide us the rituals to be performed for happiness in this world. Because of our inadequacies we are unable to devote ourselves to a formless Paramatman from whom we are not different. So the Vedas have devised a system in which a number of deities are worshipped. But, in course of time, as we perform the rituals and worship the deities, we must make efforts to advance to the state of wisdom and enlightenment in which the world will be seen to be unreal and the rites will become unnecessary. Instead of worshipping many deities, we must reach the state in which we will recognize that we have no existence other than that of our being dissolved in the Paramatman. We must perform Vedic sacraments with the knowledge that they prepare us to go to this state by making our mind pure and one-pointed.
If we perform rituals with the sole idea of worldly happiness and carry on trade with the celestials by conducting sacrifices (offering them oblations and receiving benefits from them in return), we will never come face to face with the Truth. Even if we go to the world of the celestials, we will not be blessed with Self-realization. Our residence in paradise is commensurate with the merit we earn here and is not permanent. Sooner or later we will have to return to this world and be in the womb of a mother. The ritual worship and other sacraments of the Vedas are to some extent the result of making an adjustment to our present immature state of mind. But their real purpose is to take us forward gradually from this very immature state and illumine us within. It would be wrong to refuse to go beyond the stage of ritual worship.
If, to begin with, it is not right to refuse all at once to perform Vedic rites, it would be equally not right, subsequently, to refuse to give them up. Nowadays, people are averse to ritual to start with itself. "What? " they exclaim. "Who wants to perform sacrifices? Why should we chant the Vedas? Let us go directly to the Upanishads. “Some of them can speak eloquently about the Upanishads from a mere intellectual understanding of them. But none has the inward experience of the truths propounded in them and we do not see them emerging as men of detachment with a true awareness of the Self. The reason for this is that they have not prepared themselves for this higher state of perception through the performance of rituals. If this is wrong in one sense, refusal to take the path of jnana from that of karma is equally not justifiable.
If one has to qualify for the B. A. degree one has to begin at the beginning - one has to progress from the first standard all the way to the degree course. One cannot naturally join the B. A. class without qualifying for it. At the same time, is it not absurd to remain all the time as a failure in the first standard itself?
In the old days there were many people belonging to the latter category (that is people who refused to take the path of knowledge and wished to remain wedded to the path of karma). Now people belonging to the former category predominate (that is those who want to take the path of jnana, without being prepared for it through karma). During the time of Sri Krishna also the majority clung to rituals. His criticism is directed against them, against those who perform Vedic sacraments without understanding their purpose and who fail to go beyond them. Unfortunately, this is mistaken for criticism of the Vedas themselves. The Lord could never have attacked the Vedas per se. After all, it was to save them that he descended to earth again and again.
In keeping with his times, Krishna Paramatman spoke against people who confined themselves to the narrow path of karma. If he were to descend to earth again to teach us, he would turn against those who plunge into a study of the Upanishads, spurning Vedic rites. It seems to me that he would be more severe in his criticism of these people that he was against those who were obsessed with karma.
Graduating to the Upanishads without being prepared for them through the performance of Vedic rites is a greater offence than failure to go along the path of jnana from that of karma. After all, to repeat what I said before, one has to go through the primary and secondary stages of education before qualifying for admission to college. The man who insists on being admitted to the B. A. class without qualifying for it is not amenable to any suggestion. The one who wants to remain in the first standard learns at least something; the other type is incapable of learning anything.
The Vedas and Vedanta are not at variance with one another. The karmakanda prepares us for Vedanta or the jananakanda. The former has to do with this world and with many deities and its adherents are subject to the three gunas. But it is the first step to go beyond the three gunas and to sever oneself from worldly existence. If we perform the rites laid down in the karmakanda, keeping in mind their true purpose, we shall naturally be qualifying for the jnanakanda.
All rituals, all worship, are meant to make a man aware of the Reality. Varnashrama with its one hundred thousand differences and with its countless stipulations as to who can do what is a preliminary arrangement to arrive at the stage in which there is a oneness of all, with all the differences banished. If we fail to go beyond the stage of karma, observing all the differences of varnashrama, we shall be committing a wrong. Krishna Paramatman directs his criticism against those who claim that the karmakanda of the Vedas alone matters, that the jnanakanda does not serve any purpose. In doing so he seems to attack the Vedas themselves. In reality he faults those who are, in his words, "Veda-vada-ratah", those who are deceived by flowery accounts of the Vedas without realizing their true meaning and those who do not exert themselves to rise to the level of experiential jnana.
To start with, we must perform the rites prescribed by the Vedas. But in this there must be the realization that they are but steps leading us to the higher state in which we will ultimately find bliss in our Self, a state in which there will be neither rites nor duties to perform. Similarly, to start with, the deities must be worshipped but again with the conviction that such worship serves the ultimate purpose of arriving at the point where we will recognize that the worshipper and the worshipped are one. Thus, to begin with, all differences in functions must be recognized and life lived according to them. Different divisions of people have different duties, and the customs and rites assigned to each are such as to help them in the proper discharge of those duties. But in the very process of maintaining such differences there must be the conviction within that ultimately there are no differences, that all are one.
If the Vedas are to be learned and chanted and if the Vedic rituals are to be practiced - - it is because in this way we shall be led to that supreme experience of the Reality in which there will be no need for these very Vedas. First the flowers, and from them the fruit. Though the flower looks beautiful, the fruit emerges only when it wilts or falls to earth. A tree does not fruit before it flowers. In the same way, to plunge into Vedanta without first going through a life of Vedic discipline is neither wise nor in keeping with reality. It is equally wrong to remain confined to the karmakanda and refuse to make an effort to acquire Vedantic knowledge: it is like wishing that we must have only flowers and no fruits. There must be a sense of balance, a sense of proportion, in everything we do.
The Gita is not Sruti and it is customary to regard it as belonging to the category of SmrtiThe Smrti that is the Gita observes: "Vedic rites and worship are futile if they do not take you to the path of jnana. " The Puranas too are among the three categories of authoritative texts of our religion - the other two being Sruti and Smriti - and they have the same view about a life confined to rituals. Sruti is higher as an authority than Smriti or the Puranas.. However, it might be argued that Sruti itself is divided into the karmakanda and the jnanakanda and that, after all, it is natural that in the jnanakanda the quest for jnana should be spoken of highly. So there is nothing remarkable about it declaring that rituals cannot be the final goal of the seeker.
However, in the karmakanda itself there is criticism of the view that rituals are all and they are the ultimate goal. Sri Krishna declares in the Gita, that it is laudable to perform the many sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas realizing their true purpose ("Evam bahuvidha yajna vitata Brahmano mukhe"). However, all these sacraments have their culmination in jnana ("Sarvam karm'akhilam Partha jnana parisamapyate").
The same idea is expressed forcefully through an illustration in the Vedic karmakanda itself: "He who performs only rituals, without wakening to Isvara feeds the fire to raise the smoke and nothing else" (Taittiriya Kathakam, first prasna, last anuvaka, fourth vakya). If you feed the fire with firewood you must keep the pot over it to cook rice. Once who does not exert oneself to be "cooked" in jnana is like the man who lights the kitchen fire without keeping the cooking pot on it. This is what the Vedas say. What purpose is served by building a big sacrificial fire if you do not offer the oblations in it? The result will be only smoke and more smoke. A sacrifice must be performed with the consciousness that you are offering the fruit of your karma itself as an oblation. Otherwise there will be nothing but smoke.
"The Self must be offered as an oblation in the fire of the Brahman. All sensual pleasures must be offered in the fire of self-control. The five vital breaths must be given over in sacrifice in one another ", says the Gita. Vedic sacrifices involving materials and works have this goal. A man may perform any number of sacrifices but he would be a fool to perform them without realizing this truth. The Vedas too say that such a man in unintelligent. What do you expect his buddhi (intuitive intelligence) to become- It would also be like the smoke of the sacrificial fire that darkens everything in its course and ends up in nothing.
When Vedic rites are performed in a spirit of dedication to Isvara they will loosen your ties little by little, instead of keeping you bound to this world. If you perform rites to please the Lord, without expecting any reward, your mind will be cleansed and you will transcend the three gunas. This is the meaning and purpose of "yajna". Is not the word understood in English as "sacrifice"? "Yaga" also means sacrifice, "tyaga". When an offering is placed in the fire we say "na mama" ("not mine"): it is this attitude of self-denial that is the life and soul of a sacrificial rite. Is it possible to retrieve what has been offered in the fire? Even if it were, it would soon disintegrate. In this way you must reduce your ego-sense to ashes, also your possessiveness ("ahamkara-mamakara"). One who performs a sacrifice without being conscious of such high ideals but with the purpose of petty gains like ascending to paradise - is he not a fool?
There is no contradiction between the karmakanda and the jnanakanda. In the karmakanda itself jnana is given an elevated place and the limitations of karma mentioned. There are hymns incorporating high philosophical truths in the Samhita part itself of the Vedas like, for instance, the "Nasadiyasukta", the "Purushasukta" and the "Tryambaka mantra". Also to be noted is the fact that the Upanishads themselves mention rites (karma) like the "Naciketagni". How would you explain this if the karmakanda and the jnanakanda were opposed to one another? The underlying idea is that we must graduate from the one to the other [from karma to jnana].
As we have already seen, the Gita (which is a Smrti) says that sacraments performed in a spirit of dedication to Isvara are a means of obtaining jnana. The same idea is found expressed in a Sruti text, the Isavasya Upanisad. The first of the ten major Upanisads, it commences with the statement: "Live a hundred years performing Vedic rites. But do so in a spirit of dedication to Isvara. Then it will not keep you bound. “So it would be wrong to believe that the Upanishads teach inaction.
Karma, however, is not the goal of the Vedas. You must go beyond the stage of performing Vedic rituals even if they be for such a noble purpose as that of creating welfare in the world, cleansing your consciousness and propitiating the deities. You must rise higher to the plane where you will realize that nothing other than the Paramatman exists, that the phenomenal world is unreal, that there are no entities called deities (devatas) with an independent existence of their own and that there is no "I". When you come to this state there will be no need for the Vedas too for you: this is stated in the Vedas themselves.
The Vedas are the laws laid down by Paramesvara. All people, all his subjects, must obey them. But there is no need for the man who is always steeped inwardly as well as outwardly in the Reality that is the Paramatman to refer to this law with respect to all his actions. That is why it is said that for such men the Vedas cease to be Vedas. (We too do not respect the Vedas as the law. For us also the Vedas are not Vedas. But we do not have even a whiff of jnana!).
If you do not realize that the karmakanda is a means to take you to the "paravidya" that is constituted by the Upanishads, then the Vedas (that is their karmakanda) is an apara vidya like any other subject such as history or geography that is learned at school. It is for this reason that the Mundaka Upanishad includes the Vedas in the category of apara-vidya. This Upanishad describes a person who performs Vedic rites for ephemeral enjoyments, mundane benefits, as a mere beast (pasu).
. Until a man becomes a jnanin he keeps performing the rites intended for the celestials. In return they bring him various benefits. They have to be given their share of the oblations. If a man helps us we have to help him in return. Is that not so? We have to help the celestials who bring us rain and other benefits. That is why we perform sacrifices. Some Brahmin or other gives the "havirbhaga" (a share in the oblations) to the devas, doing so as a representative of us all. It is like one man paying taxes on behalf of all.
To the celestial s a person who performs Vedic rituals is like a milking cow. When the cow goes dry what use is it to man (its owner)? The celestials will be pleased with a person so long as he remains a milking cow (performing sacrifices and other rites). If he ceases to be a milking cow they will dislike him, cause him suffering. That means man is like a cow to the devas in more than one sense: in the sense that he is ignorant (not a jnanin); and in the sense that they do not protect him when he stops performing rites (do we take care of a cow that has gone dry? ).
It is part of wisdom and enlightenment to realize that the gods are not separate from us. Vedanta points a way to realize this truth, and shows us how we may free ourselves from works and even worship of the gods and reach the stage where there is no difference between us and all the rest.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Conquering the Mind for Meditation
Lord Krishna says “If one can conquer the mind, one can gain the self”. In other words, conquering the mind is synonymous with self realization. Swami Chinmayananda used to say, “The mind stilled is self gained”. Meditation is futile if mind is not conquered.No amount of sitting still and trying to meditate will bring us closer to GOD, if mind is not tamed unconditionally. As the old saying goes: Man is mind and mind is man. If mind is agitated, man is restless and agitated. If mind is calm, serene and equipoised, man is calm, serene and equanimous...A calm mind is meditative mind.If we are mentally agitated,we cannot meditate.If we are unmeditative,we cannot have peace.If we are not peaceful,how canwe be happy?(says lord Krishna.)
Through prayer and worship, we can develop mental equanimity. If we have a quiet mind, then we can meditate. In a nutshell, if we truly meditate, in our deepest meditation, we will become aware of our true nature.
An ignorant man can argue that the mind cannot be conquered and hence, the self cannot be realized, because the mind is always restless, unyielding, agitated, tortured, and tossed about. Hence, infinite bliss and enduring equanimity cannot be achieved easily. Far from it, mind can be conquered and ultimately, through meditation, infinite bliss can be achieved. Mind is our greatest enemy, but if we can tame the mind it could become our greatest friend.
Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, that only a man of wisdom and spiritual knowledge through constant practice can ultimately conquer the mind. Lord Krishna says further in the Gita, that with true renunciation of the so called power, pleasure, and wealth, through dispassion and constant practice, one can ultimately conquer the mind. This is Lord Krishna’s declaration. It does not mean that one cannot have power, pleasure, or wealth. It means “ renunciation of clinging attachments to the objects of the world and lingering expectations for the fruits of our actions”, says Swami Chinmayananda.
Because, attachments to the objects of the world and expectation for the fruits of actions are the main causes for mental agitation leading to uncontrollable mind and egocentricity. If one can control these two aspects of the mind, through constant practice and deep meditation, one can ultimately conquer the mind. Renunciation and detachment will lead to control of flood of thoughts in the mind and thereby deepens true meditation to realize the self. If one can live a sattwic life to the exclusion of rajasic and tamasic lives, follow ethical values, develop self control, one can ultimately conquer the egocentric, wandering, and agitated mind and thereby go into deepest meditation to realize the self, our true nature.
If we can live a sattwic life of purity, nobility, self-control, compassion, charity, selfless love, devotion, steadfastness, nonviolence, etc, we can develop intellectual and spiritual growth and our clinging attachment to the objects of the world and expectations for the fruits of actions will drop off. Then mind automatically comes under our control because it has no other thoughts to wander hither and thither. Then only deepest meditation to realize our true nature is possible.
Controlling sense organs is another important aspect of controlling the agitations and restlessness of the mind. An agitated mind is not fit for reflection, contemplation, or meditation. Controlling the sense organs and thereby controlling and ultimately conquering the agitated mind is the beginning of discriminative intellect and true spiritual life to meditate and to realize our true nature. “The Self”. Mind you, we did not gain our true nature. It was there already. Our ignorance has disappeared. That means, knowledge has dawned. Hence, we became aware of our true nature. The Self will shine forth in all its glory.
An ignorant and not so ignorant person also may argue that controlling sense organs is fool hardy because when sense organs go after various sense objects ,it gives them joy and happiness. But spiritual thinkers and sages argue that the joy and happiness that you get by pursuing sense objects is finite, ephemeral, transient, and perishable whereas controlling sense organs and thereby conquering the mind through meditation and realizing the self will give you infinite bliss and infinite joy which is eternal.
If one is looking for infinite bliss, one has to avoid through self control all the ephemeral and finite joy temptations of this sensuous gross world here.
Desirelesness is another aspect of controlling sense organs and the mind. Desires will agitate the mind. Mind becomes restless because, any desire we entertain will leave an indelible impression on the shores of our mind like a footprint on the shores of the beach. These footprints in our mind are called “vasanas”. Vasanas are nothing but tendencies, temptations, and agitations of our mind. If one wants to conquer the mind, one has to keep desires to a minimum and exhaust the vasanas.
Desirelesness alone can lead to vasanalesness. Vasanalesness alone can lead to ultimate thoughtlesness and conquering the agitations of the mind. The mind that is conquered is now ready to meditate and in deepest meditation, one becomes self-realized.
Why do we need to control the senses and conquer the mind to realize the self? Because, self is our true nature. We are not this body, this mind, and this intellect. We are the self, the illuminator of this body, mind, and intellect. The illuminator, the self, and the illumined, the body-mind-intellect, are different. We are the self, the illuminator.
Self is that beyond the knowing of which there is nothing else to know. Self is that beyond the seeing of which there is nothing else to see. Self is that beyond the bliss of which there is no greater bliss. Most of all, self is that beyond the realizing of which there is no more death. That means that you have rea ched deathlesness. This is called Moksha, Kaivalya or Nirvana in Buddhist parlance.
To reach that state of “Jivanmukta” (liberated while we are still in this embodiment), we need to control the senses and ultimately conquer the mind to go into deepest meditation leading to self unfoldment. This is what Mahavakyas of four Vedas are saying: Pragyaanam Brahma (Pure consciousness is Brahman),Tat Twam Asi (That Thou Art ), Ayam Atma Brahma (This self within is Brahman), and fourth Mahavakya finally roars: AHAM BRAHMASMI (I AM BRAHMAN).
When we reach that state we are “God upon the earth”. We are “Krishnas” of our life and times.
Dr. K. Eswara Dutt
Lord Krishna says “If one can conquer the mind, one can gain the self”. In other words, conquering the mind is synonymous with self realization. Swami Chinmayananda used to say, “The mind stilled is self gained”. Meditation is futile if mind is not conquered.No amount of sitting still and trying to meditate will bring us closer to GOD, if mind is not tamed unconditionally. As the old saying goes: Man is mind and mind is man. If mind is agitated, man is restless and agitated. If mind is calm, serene and equipoised, man is calm, serene and equanimous...A calm mind is meditative mind.If we are mentally agitated,we cannot meditate.If we are unmeditative,we cannot have peace.If we are not peaceful,how canwe be happy?(says lord Krishna.)
Through prayer and worship, we can develop mental equanimity. If we have a quiet mind, then we can meditate. In a nutshell, if we truly meditate, in our deepest meditation, we will become aware of our true nature.
An ignorant man can argue that the mind cannot be conquered and hence, the self cannot be realized, because the mind is always restless, unyielding, agitated, tortured, and tossed about. Hence, infinite bliss and enduring equanimity cannot be achieved easily. Far from it, mind can be conquered and ultimately, through meditation, infinite bliss can be achieved. Mind is our greatest enemy, but if we can tame the mind it could become our greatest friend.
Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, that only a man of wisdom and spiritual knowledge through constant practice can ultimately conquer the mind. Lord Krishna says further in the Gita, that with true renunciation of the so called power, pleasure, and wealth, through dispassion and constant practice, one can ultimately conquer the mind. This is Lord Krishna’s declaration. It does not mean that one cannot have power, pleasure, or wealth. It means “ renunciation of clinging attachments to the objects of the world and lingering expectations for the fruits of our actions”, says Swami Chinmayananda.
Because, attachments to the objects of the world and expectation for the fruits of actions are the main causes for mental agitation leading to uncontrollable mind and egocentricity. If one can control these two aspects of the mind, through constant practice and deep meditation, one can ultimately conquer the mind. Renunciation and detachment will lead to control of flood of thoughts in the mind and thereby deepens true meditation to realize the self. If one can live a sattwic life to the exclusion of rajasic and tamasic lives, follow ethical values, develop self control, one can ultimately conquer the egocentric, wandering, and agitated mind and thereby go into deepest meditation to realize the self, our true nature.
If we can live a sattwic life of purity, nobility, self-control, compassion, charity, selfless love, devotion, steadfastness, nonviolence, etc, we can develop intellectual and spiritual growth and our clinging attachment to the objects of the world and expectations for the fruits of actions will drop off. Then mind automatically comes under our control because it has no other thoughts to wander hither and thither. Then only deepest meditation to realize our true nature is possible.
Controlling sense organs is another important aspect of controlling the agitations and restlessness of the mind. An agitated mind is not fit for reflection, contemplation, or meditation. Controlling the sense organs and thereby controlling and ultimately conquering the agitated mind is the beginning of discriminative intellect and true spiritual life to meditate and to realize our true nature. “The Self”. Mind you, we did not gain our true nature. It was there already. Our ignorance has disappeared. That means, knowledge has dawned. Hence, we became aware of our true nature. The Self will shine forth in all its glory.
An ignorant and not so ignorant person also may argue that controlling sense organs is fool hardy because when sense organs go after various sense objects ,it gives them joy and happiness. But spiritual thinkers and sages argue that the joy and happiness that you get by pursuing sense objects is finite, ephemeral, transient, and perishable whereas controlling sense organs and thereby conquering the mind through meditation and realizing the self will give you infinite bliss and infinite joy which is eternal.
If one is looking for infinite bliss, one has to avoid through self control all the ephemeral and finite joy temptations of this sensuous gross world here.
Desirelesness is another aspect of controlling sense organs and the mind. Desires will agitate the mind. Mind becomes restless because, any desire we entertain will leave an indelible impression on the shores of our mind like a footprint on the shores of the beach. These footprints in our mind are called “vasanas”. Vasanas are nothing but tendencies, temptations, and agitations of our mind. If one wants to conquer the mind, one has to keep desires to a minimum and exhaust the vasanas.
Desirelesness alone can lead to vasanalesness. Vasanalesness alone can lead to ultimate thoughtlesness and conquering the agitations of the mind. The mind that is conquered is now ready to meditate and in deepest meditation, one becomes self-realized.
Why do we need to control the senses and conquer the mind to realize the self? Because, self is our true nature. We are not this body, this mind, and this intellect. We are the self, the illuminator of this body, mind, and intellect. The illuminator, the self, and the illumined, the body-mind-intellect, are different. We are the self, the illuminator.
Self is that beyond the knowing of which there is nothing else to know. Self is that beyond the seeing of which there is nothing else to see. Self is that beyond the bliss of which there is no greater bliss. Most of all, self is that beyond the realizing of which there is no more death. That means that you have rea ched deathlesness. This is called Moksha, Kaivalya or Nirvana in Buddhist parlance.
To reach that state of “Jivanmukta” (liberated while we are still in this embodiment), we need to control the senses and ultimately conquer the mind to go into deepest meditation leading to self unfoldment. This is what Mahavakyas of four Vedas are saying: Pragyaanam Brahma (Pure consciousness is Brahman),Tat Twam Asi (That Thou Art ), Ayam Atma Brahma (This self within is Brahman), and fourth Mahavakya finally roars: AHAM BRAHMASMI (I AM BRAHMAN).
When we reach that state we are “God upon the earth”. We are “Krishnas” of our life and times.
Dr. K. Eswara Dutt
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
KATHOPANISHAD
In the gita Class, couple of weeks ago we discussed about comparing the body to the chariot metaphor and some of the attendees wanted the particular quote. Here it is. I am quoting from the Kathopanishad including the original mantra.
atmanam rathinam viddhi sariram ratham eva tu
buddhim tu sarathim viddhi manah pragraham eva ca
indriyani hayanahur visayamst su gocaran
atmendriyamanoyukam bhoktety ahur manisinah
The meaning is:
Know the self as the occupant of the chariot, the body as the chariot itself; know the intellect (buddhi) to be the charioteer and the mind (manas) as the reins.
The wise ones speak of the senses as the horses, their objects as their turf and they speak of the soul along with its body, senses and the mind, as the enjoyer (bhokta).
The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The jeeva(or the individual self) is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. In the absence of its body, senses, mind and intellect which are metaphorically referred to as chariot, charioteer, horses and reins, there is no agency on the part of the inactive self who is figuratively spoken of as the rider in the chariot in respect of actions, both mundane and scriptural, of the form of movement.
The purpose of the metaphor of chariot etc., in respect of the body is explained in the following two mantras.
Yas tv avijnanvan bhavaty ayuktena manasa sada
Tasyendriyany avasyani dustasva iva saratheh
Yas tv avijnanvan bhavaty yuktena manasa sada
Tasyendriyany avasyani dustasva iva saratheh
The meaning is:
For him, who always remains ignorant with his mind un-concentrated, his senses become uncontrollable just as wild horses for the charioteer; but for him who becomes intelligent always with his mind concentrated, his senses become controllable, just as trained horses for the charioteer, (are controllable).
In this world indeed to the one, who has got a good charioteer and reins, the horses become obedient. In the same manner only when the intellect and mind, metaphorically spoken of as charioteer and bridle are good (trained and disciplined), the senses, as compared to horses, become obedient and not otherwise.
atmanam rathinam viddhi sariram ratham eva tu
buddhim tu sarathim viddhi manah pragraham eva ca
indriyani hayanahur visayamst su gocaran
atmendriyamanoyukam bhoktety ahur manisinah
The meaning is:
Know the self as the occupant of the chariot, the body as the chariot itself; know the intellect (buddhi) to be the charioteer and the mind (manas) as the reins.
The wise ones speak of the senses as the horses, their objects as their turf and they speak of the soul along with its body, senses and the mind, as the enjoyer (bhokta).
The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The jeeva(or the individual self) is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. In the absence of its body, senses, mind and intellect which are metaphorically referred to as chariot, charioteer, horses and reins, there is no agency on the part of the inactive self who is figuratively spoken of as the rider in the chariot in respect of actions, both mundane and scriptural, of the form of movement.
The purpose of the metaphor of chariot etc., in respect of the body is explained in the following two mantras.
Yas tv avijnanvan bhavaty ayuktena manasa sada
Tasyendriyany avasyani dustasva iva saratheh
Yas tv avijnanvan bhavaty yuktena manasa sada
Tasyendriyany avasyani dustasva iva saratheh
The meaning is:
For him, who always remains ignorant with his mind un-concentrated, his senses become uncontrollable just as wild horses for the charioteer; but for him who becomes intelligent always with his mind concentrated, his senses become controllable, just as trained horses for the charioteer, (are controllable).
In this world indeed to the one, who has got a good charioteer and reins, the horses become obedient. In the same manner only when the intellect and mind, metaphorically spoken of as charioteer and bridle are good (trained and disciplined), the senses, as compared to horses, become obedient and not otherwise.
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