The Doctrine Of RE-INCARNATION.


Dear bloggers and members of Satsang,We are now studying 2nd chapter and just completed 'The Re-incarnation theory.' I will try to summarise what we have learnt
about Re-incarnation.Any comments are welcome.


The doctrine of reincarnation is a major tenet of Hindu religion. This doctrine distinguishes it from other major religions. Lord Krishna, the 9th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, says in the Bhagavad-Gita that it is a transcendental truth.

In the Bhagavad-Gita, when Arjuna starts grieving for the death of Bhishma and Drona, Lord Krishna says, Oh Arjuna, you should not grieve for Bhishma and Drona because they, in their true nature, are not dying. They are only leaving one embodiment to take a different embodiment. For this, do you have to grieve, Oh Arjuna? Your grief is because of your delusion. The wise do not grieve if someone leaves one embodiment to take a different embodiment. Lord Krishna further goes on to say, Oh Arjuna, in your delusion, you think that Bhishma and Drona are that body, mind and intellect. In actuality, they are not that body, mind and intellect, but in their true nature, they are the immutable, omniscient, all pervading Brahman. Therefore, the wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.

We are the soul with a body and not the body with a soul. All of us go through our infancy, childhood, youth, adulthood and old age. When we reach childhood our infancy is dead. When we reach youth our childhood is dead. When we reach adulthood our youthfulness is dead. And when we reach old age our adulthood is dead. But, the soul never died and it passed from infancy to childhood, from childhood to youth, from youth to adulthood and from adulthood to old age. The soul passes from one embodiment to another embodiment. Grief and sorrow belong to the body, mind and intellect, but not to the Soul. We know that we are the soul with a body, mind and intellect, but not the other way around.

The realized masters say that self alone is real and everything else is unreal. Self or Soul or Spirit was, is, and will be. Hence, self is real. That which was not there before, which is seemingly present today, and which will not be there tomorrow is unreal. Our body was not there before. It is seemingly present today but it will not be there a hundred years from now. Hence it is unreal. Self was there in the previous embodiment, self is here in the present embodiment, and self will be there in the future embodiment. Hence, self alone is real and that is our true nature. In other words, in our true nature we are birthless and deathless. Hence, self is SAT (real), everything else is ASAT (unreal). Let us take an example. All of us know what the ocean is and what the waves are. Ocean is present all the time. Waves are coming and going. Thus we can describe the ocean as real and waves as unreal. Ocean was, Ocean is and Ocean will be. Waves were not there before, waves are seemingly present now, and waves will not be there the next minute. Hence, the ocean is real and the waves are unreal. Similarly, self alone is real and that is our true nature.

Our body is like the shirt that we wear. When we wear the shirt, we don’t say I am the shirt. We say, this is my shirt. Similarly, we, as the self, are wearing this body and hence, we are not this body. We are wearing this body temporarily for a short period of time. Our identification with the body is the cause for many of our sorrows. Let us take another example. Let us take a room, which is dark. If we switch on the electricity, the light comes on and the darkness disappears. If we switch off the electricity, the room becomes dark. The illuminator, electricity and the illumined, the room are different. Similarly, we the self and the body we wear are different. We are the self. The self is the illuminator and the body, mind and intellect are illumined. The illuminator and the illumined are different. Hence we the self are wearing this body and we are not this body. We wear different embodiments in different reincarnations.

Birth, death and rebirth cycles are inevitable for us as long as we are suffering from the delusion, dream state, camouflaging and veiling. As long as we are dreaming, whatever is happening in the dream is true. It is only when we wake up from the dream, that we realize that the dream is false. Similarly, as long as we are deluded and ignorant of our true nature, we identify with this body and hence, ego has arisen. Ego is the cause for all our suffering and sorrows. To the extent we detach ourselves from our body, mind and intellect, to that extent our ego is diminished. It is always our ego that is the sufferer. Hence, if the ego is dead, there is no question of suffering. Total egolessness is nothing but self-realization.

Our goal is to become aware of our true nature. That is called enlightenment. If we get enlightened, we are called Jivan muktas (liberated while we are in this embodiment). When we leave this embodiment after enlightenment, we will not be born again. No more reincarnations. That state is called liberation, Moksha, Nirvana, or Kaivalya. That is immortality. We become awakened to the glory of the all pervading Brahman. That is Godhood. That is Brahmic state. No more re-incarnations. That is true liberation from birth, death and re-birth cycles. How to reach that state of liberation and bliss-infinite is the subject matter for another discussion.

Eswara Dutt.

FATE AND FREEWILL

Lot of discussion is going on today about Fate and Free will. I thought of conveying the message of Bhagavan Ramana regarding the same. This is his famous saying to his mother. “The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their Prarabdha Karma. Whatever destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever destined to happen will happen, do what you may do to prevent it”.

FREEWILL AND DESTINY ARE EVER EXISTENT. Destiny is the result of past action; it concerns the body. Freewill and destiny last, as long as the body lasts. But jnana transcends both. The Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance. Whatever happens happens as the result of one's past actions, of divine will and of other factors. Success and failure are due to prarabdha karma, and not to willpower or the lack of it. All the activities that the body is to go through are determined when it first comes into existence. One should try to gain equipoise of mind under all circumstances. That is willpower. Everything is predetermined. But a man is always free not to identify himself with the body and not to be affected by the pleasures or pains resultant on the body's activities.

There are only two ways to conquer our destiny or be independent of it. One is to enquire for whom is this destiny, and discover that only the ego is bound by destiny and not the Self, and that the ego is non-existent.

The other way is to kill the ego by completely surrendering to the Lord, by realizing one's helplessness and saying all the time, `Not I, but Thou Oh Lord' and giving up all sense of `I' and `mine', and leaving it to the Lord to do what he likes with you. Complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny. You can achieve this effacement through Self- enquiry or bhakti marga through sharanagathi.

Fate and free will arises to those alone who have no knowledge of the Source, and they will dispute which of them can conquer the other. Those who have realized their Self, which is the source of both fate and freewill have left such disputes behind, and will have nothing more to do with them.
Any comments welcome.

answers to anu's questions

Comment and answers to Anu’s Questions. Dear anu, thank you for posting your comments and pertinent questions. I will try to answer them according to my understanding.

I read both theories that you have mentioned. . When GOD has created, he has given us a Free will. How we use that free will is up to us. GOD has also created ethical, moral values which we may call them for practical purposes as 'GOD's laws.' If we do not follow his laws, we are committing a 'SIN'. What is a

SIN?



Bhagavad Gita says 'that a SIN is a mistake committed by an individual EGO against its own true nature. That means, that anything we do that is contrary to our true nature, is a SIN. In our true nature, we cannot make a mistake. Because, we identify with our EGO, (false nature), we commit mistakes. That means, we are misusing our free will.

It is our Delusion that is making us forget our true nature. That means, our true nature (SELF) is veiled. When our true nature is veiled, our false nature (lower nature or EGO) takes over and we commit all sorts of sins. Those sins will decide how much of suffering we have to go through in our multiple births. In other words, Lord Krishna's doctrine is, "you are punished by your SINS and not for your SINS.” That means, there is no one sitting some wherein heaven who is going to punish you for your SINS. You are punished for your sins by your own sins. GOD says, I created you in my likeness and gave you a free will. I love you totally, unconditionally. But, if you abuse your free will, and commit sins, then your sins will punish you.

That means, if I develop innumerable desires which will leave imprints on the shores of my mind, they are vasanas.I need to exhaust those vasanas.Untill I exhaust those vasanas, I will have birth, death and rebirth cycles. But, if I do 'NISHKAMA KARMA,' then I can purge those vasanas even in the present life and rise up in the SPIRITUAL LADDER.

That is what LORD KRISHNA says to Arjuna: O Arjuna, If you can fight this battle not for gaining kingdom, but for the sake of Righteousness, without anxiety for the fruit, then you will not only purge your present vasanas, you will not create new vasanas. That means, your mind becomes pure, serene and equipoised.With that steadfast mind and single pointed devotion, you can become aware of me as your true nature. Then you are me. At that time, there is no difference between you and me. You are Krishna of your life and times. That means, there is no fate or destiny. What we interpret as fate is our Prarabdha karma, or, Karma-phala.WE will discuss extensively about karma-phala or Karmic theory or theory of karma in chapter 3.called karma yoga.



Last week, we discussed about the qualities of

"ATMAN" or soul or SELF. One of the qualities we discussed was "All pervasiveness" of the ATMAN. The SELF is everywhere. If the self is everywhere, if there is no space infront, behind, above or below the self, how can the SELF move? Hence it is 'IMMOBILE’. If the SELF is everywhere, how can it have form. Hence, it is formless. Self is subtlest of the subtle. Nothing can pervade the self. But, self pervades everything. In the Self we are born, in the Self we exist and when we are decayed and destroyed, we merge back in the self. That is what I was trying to explain in our Satsang.



The Atman or Self is one and the same in all of us. It is the same Atman which is illumining your body and my body. Your analogy about rain drops may not be totally accurate. I will try to explain this way. I explained about the cause and effect theory. I don't know whether you rember it or not. One of the principles that I explained was that the cause is one and the same but the effects are multiple in nature. For example, cause is mud, but you can have mud pots of different sizes, shapes and colours.Similarly, cause is SELF, but we are all men,women,different sizes, shapes and colors and different mind and intellect equipments depending upon our vasanas in previous births. That is why we have names and forms. But the Atman is the same. That is, cause is the same in all of us.i.e; Atman is the same in all of us.



Regarding the last question, Atman is everywhere. It is all pervading. It is birthless and deathless.

WE discussed earlier that atman is everywhere. It is immobile. You are identifying with Jivatma or Ego-centricity. This Jiva or EGO leaves one embodiment to take a different Embodiment. This Jivatma carries with it in causal body all vasanas to a different body to eke out its remaining vasanas.

I hope, I have not confused. But, be patient. As we study more stanzas in Gita, these doubts will disappear.

Regards.

Eswara Dutt.

MAYA

Dr. Eshwar Dutt beautifully explained about the summary of the Bhagavad-Gita and about the “SELF “in his postings. But to be one with the SELF or to realize it what is it that is obstructing all of us, is our ignorance or in Sanskrit it is called as MAYA. To understand the concept of MAYA It has been explained lucidly in the book Kaivalya Navaneeta through questions and answers. They are enlightening. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi used to talk about this to his devotees. Here they are:

1) What is Maya?

In sanskrit it is called as "Anirvachaneeya" or it cannot be explained.

2) Who is affected by the MAYA?

The jeeva or the mind or the ego is affected, who thinks that he/she is a separate entity from the "SELF".

3) How did it originate and where is the root of the MAYA?

No answer to that question. It is the sport of the brahman.

4) How did the MAYA arise?

Because of our lack of enquiry "WHO AM I" and we are not doing the vichara.

5) If the self and Maya both exist in the individual, how is the advaitha theory explained?.

It is not contradictory. Maya is dependent on the "SELF". It has no separate existence of its own. It is like super-imposing the internet on the computer screen. We are able to see so many things on the screen through the internet and as such the internet can not be used without making it appear on the computer screen.

6) If the "SELF" and Maya are one, then is it not the self, also of the nature of maya and so is illusory?.

The answer is no. The "SELF" can create illusion with out being illusory. We can give the example of a magician, who creates so many things for our entertainment during the show. But when once the show is over it is only the magician who is true and not the things he created. Everything he created disappears after the show. He just created the illusion for us to believe in him. He is not part of the vision but solid and real.

This is a very complex topic. I tried to put it as simple as possible. Any questions and comments are welcome.

self

SELF----our true nature.


Who am I? Where did I come from? Where was I before I was born? Where will I go after I die? Am I really dying? Why am I sometimes happy and sometimes sad? If one can answer these questions to one’s satisfaction and follow them, that person is a man of self –realization. In other words, we should all answer these questions to our satisfaction, not to someone else’s satisfaction and follow them.

We need to reflect, contemplate, and meditate on these questions. All Hindu scriptures, namely the Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad-Gita are roaring with the message that our true nature is SELF, not this body, mind, or intellect. That means we need to know what the self is? SELF is that by who’s mere presence the body perceives, the mind feels, and the intellect thinks. SELF is the substratum for all our experiences of the body, mind, and intellect. SELF is the illuminator of our body, mind, and intellect. If SELF is the illuminator and this body, mind, and intellect are illumined by the SELF, then logically, both must be different. To give an analogy, imagine a room in your home illumined by electricity. Shut off the electricity and the room becomes dark. That means the room and the electricity are different. Similarly, the SELF, the illuminator, and the body, the mind and the intellect, the illumined, are different. This is the basic philosophy of Hindu religion.

The self is the same in all of us. The self which illumines my B M I and the self which illumines your B M I are one and the same. He who understands this concept recognizes oneness in this world of plurality. Such a man of self-realization is unequalled in society, because he looks at every body equally, as he finds the same SELF in every person dancing and glowing. HE is a real yogi.

The self is one (second to none), yet the self appears as many when it expresses itself through the plant kingdom, animal kingdom, and human kingdom. In the human kingdom, the self-expresses itself through men, women, different sizes, shapes, colors and different mind and intellect equipments. This principle of SELF holds the plant, animal and human kingdoms of this universe together, as a string holds flowers of different shapes, sizes and colors to form one beautiful garland. The body, mind and intellect are nothing but insentient matter. The body is a grosser form of matter. The mind and intellect are subtler forms of matter. But all of them are by themselves inert and insentient. The self makes the BMI sentient. The pure SELF by itself has no expression. It is when the self or spirit weds the insentient matter, man and woman are born. Swamy Chinmayananda has given a beautiful analogy of electricity. Electricity by itself has no expression. An electric bulb by it self has no expression. When the electricity comes in contact with the light bulb, electricity expresses itself as light. In the same way, the BMI equipment is inert and insentient. The pure self, by itself, has no expression. Just as when electricity goes through the light bulb and expresses as light, the self weds BMI (matter) and expresses as life i.e. the insentient matter becomes sentient. The SELF is otherwise known as the absolute, Brahman, pure consciousness, spirit, truth, or the supreme reality. The SELF is immutable, omniscient, all pervading, self luminous, and imperishable. The self is that beyond the knowing of which, there is nothing else to know, beyond the seeing of which, there is nothing else to see. The SELF was, is, and will be. The SELF is also described as SAT-CHIT- ANANDA. It means, existence, consciousness, and bliss. SELF alone is ever existent and self is bliss infinite. It is in that self, we (the BMI) are born. We exist for some time and when we are decayed and destroyed, we merge in that SELF. SELF alone remains. SELF was there in the beginningless, SELF is here now, and SELF will be there in the endless. When Arjuna in the battle field of Kurukshetra saw his teacher Dronacharya, his grand sire Bhishma, and his cousins, he said to lord Krishna, his charioteer, that he would forego his kingdom rather than killing all these people. Then lord Krishna told him as follows: Oh Arjuna, never did I not exist, nor you, nor will any one in this battlefield ever ceases to be in existence. In other words, says lord Krishna, I was there in the beginningless, I am here now, and I will be there in the endless. The same thing applies to you and all the people in the battlefield. In other words, you are not dying, nor will any one in this battlefield.

Arjuna was convinced by lord Krishna that Bhishma, Drona, and his cousins were not dying, and that they were only leaving their present embodiment to take a different embodiment depending on their vasanas. He sprang into action in the battlefield to destroy all his enemies who were clinging on to adharma and established dharma. Here lord Krishna by implication convinces us that our true nature is the SELF and not this body, mind, or intellect. Immutability, omniscience, all pervasiveness, self-luminosity, and imperishability are our characteristics

With this understanding, let us try to answer the questions that we posed in the beginning. Who am I? The answer is simple. I am not this body, mind or intellect. I am the immutable SELF. I am the illuminator of this body. I am pure consciousness. Why am I unable to become aware of my true nature? That is because, I am suffering from maya disease, delusion, dream state, camouflaging, and veiling. The SELF, our true nature, is covered by various sheaths called food sheath, vital air sheath, mental sheath, intellectual sheath, and bliss sheath. The goal of life is to transcend the five sheaths and to become aware of our true nature as that pure consciousness.

Where did I come from? Contrary to popular belief, I did not come from any where. I was, I am, and I will be. I was there in the beginningless, I am here now, and I will be there in the endless. Because of my maya and vasanas I am unable to recognize my true nature, which is veiled. It is like a dream. In my dream, whatever happens, it is true as long as I am dreaming. It is only when I wake up that I realize that the entire dream is false. Similarly, this maya, delusion, and veiling by the five sheaths are all like a dream. It is only when we transcend these things, we realize that this is all false. Hence our true nature is ever-present pure consciousness.

Where was I before I was born? When the spirit weds matter (BMI), it inherits all the properties born of prakriti. We have taken many lives in the past based on our tendencies called vasanas. Our true nature is self, which is ever present. But ignorance of our true nature is because of our vasanas, which we have accumulated over many lives. We are going through birth, death (gross body), and re-birth cycles because of our innate tendencies called vasanas, which need to be exhausted. Until we exhaust all our vasanas, we cannot become aware of our true nature as that pure consciousness. Swamy Chinmayananda said that desirelessness leads to vasanalessness, which leads to thoughtlessness, which leads to self-awareness. Hence vasana exhaustion is very important to reach the goal of self-awareness.

Where will I go after I die? After we leave this embodiment (gross body), the causal body consisting of our acquired vasanas in the present life and any unexhausted vasanas in the previous lives were carried forward to the next birth and the cycle is repeated until we exhaust all our vasanas to become aware of our true nature as the pure consciousness. Then there is no more birth, death and re birth cycles. This is what we call MOKSHA, liberation, Nirvana or Kaivalya.

Am I really dying? We answered this question extensively earlier. Suffice it to say that the self (our true nature) was, is, and will be. SELF is eternal. We leave one embodiment to take another embodiment to exhaust our accumulated vasanas. When my true nature is happiness (bliss infinite), why am I sometimes happy and sometimes sad? SELF is bliss infinite. But, because of our identification with the body, mind, and intellect, we are some times happy and some times sad. Body always perceives objects. When that is not successful, you become sad. Mind always feels emotions. When there is material success, we feel happy. When there is material failure, we feel unhappy. In other words, if we identify with our BMI, success is always followed by failure, good is always followed by bad, praise is always followed by curse etc. If one can transcend the body, mind and intellect through transcendental reflection, contemplation, and transcendental meditation, one can become aware of one’s true nature as pure consciousness. Then, one is beyond the perceiver, feeler, and thinker of objects, emotions and thoughts. That is bliss infinite as self is that beyond the bliss of which there is no greater bliss.

In summary SELF is our true nature. So, let us awake and arise from this sense of mortality to immortality, from this sense of limitation to limitlessness, from this sense of ego to egolessness and become aware of our true nature. Hari om.


K.Eswara Dutt

Pearls of wisdom from chapter 2

Dear Gitamruta varshini members and bloggers, I thought that I will enumerate some pearls of wisdom and doctrines of Lord Krishna as of todate that we have learnt in chapter 2,so that we may entertain questions or comments on those doctrines.
1.The Theory of 'Re-incarnation'.
2. We are the Soul with a body and not the body with a soul.
3.Death can be no more a threat to a wise man.
4. When the senses come into contact with objects in this finite world,they cause heat and cold,happiness and sorrow,pleasure and pain etc; and these twin opposites are impermanent and hence, one should bear them with Equanimity.
5. Change alone is the 'Changeless Law.'
6. That Firm man (DHIRA) to whom these twin opposites afflict not,is alone fit for ultimate 'Realisation of the SELF '.
7. The purpose of Life for every one is the attainment of 'IMMORTALITY '.
8. That which was, is and will be is 'REAL' . That which was not there before,which is seemingly present today and will not be there tomorrow is 'UNREAL'. This is known by the knowers of the truth.
9. The 'SELF ' is 'All Pervasive ' and 'Imperishable'.
10. The 'SELF ' is incomprehensible by the ordinary mind and intellect.
11. Knowing the 'SELf ' is 'Being the ' SELF '. 'SELF ' is not separate from ' Knowledge '.
12. Active resistance to evil is one's duty.

These are the salient pearls of wisdom that we have learnt till now from Lord Krishna.
Eswar.