Thursday 23 October 2008

Chapter 3 - Qualities of a seeker

After narrating this background, Vasista started answering Rama’s enquiry about fate.


Vasista said

O Rama, fate is an illusion. What people call fate is nothing but the fruits of past actions. But you should realise that the present action and its fruit is more powerful than the action of the past. The wise realises this and overcomes the burden of the past by dwelling in the present.

The kingdom of peace and bliss is guarded by 4 gatekeepers. You need to be good friends with them to gain entry through the gates. If you cannot become friends with all, start with one and he will bring you to others. These 4 gate keepers are


1. Self effort- anything and everything in this life is achieved by self effort. All the wise have attained wisdom through self effort. Viswamitra and myself have become brahmarishis by self effort. Even though some people are born with exceptional talent and intuition, if they do not apply self effort, their greatness will not shine forth. Self effort supersedes everything and has the power to change the so called destiny. Even for you to attain a master, or the grace to flow in your life, self effort is necessary

2. Self enquiry – constant enquiry about the origin of life, origin of ur existence, purpose of your life

3. Contentment – is being happy with what is available and not being unhappy with that u aspire but is not available

4. Satsanga – the company of the wise is a great catalyst. It hastens many of the above processes and makes u complete very soon. Just like a log catches fire and burns brightly when it comes in contact with a burning fire, so too does a seeker shine in the company of the wise.

O Rama, practice these four qualities and you shall soon attain peace and bliss

Chapter 2 - Dispassion

Rama in his teens requested his father to send him on a pilgrimage. After obtaining permission, Rama along with his brothers visited all the pilgrimage centers and returned looking more despondent and dull. He became more and more apathetic towards life and its offerings. He had lost interest in all worldly activities including food and sleep. At about the same time, sage Viswamitra came to Ayodhya and requested Dasharatha to send Rama to slay the demons Khara and Dhushana who were disturbing the holy rituals. Dasharatha was unhappy about this request, but as he had already committed to Vishwamitra, and after assurance from sage Vasista, summoned Rama to the court. Rama’s attendant at that time mentioned to the king and the sages about the state of Rama.

Sage
Viswamitra summoned Rama and asked him the reason for his apathy, to which Rama in great detail described the uselessness of the world and the life. He spoke about childhood, adult hood and senility and how each was an illusion and how each promised a lot but delivered nothing. He also spoke about the stranglehold of ego and sensory pleasures on human existence and how life has been crippled by their dominance. He spoke that in spite of being free from ego, he wasn’t able to attain peace. Viswamitra was greatly pleased with the level of dispassion that had been established in Rama and asked sage Vasista to dispel Rama’s myths and enlighten him of the true nature of existence.

Vasista then started narrating to Rama the truth of existence, which was narrated to him by Brahma himself. He said that everything that permeates is consciousness. When a vibration arose in the consciousness, just like a wave in the ocean, Vishnu was born and from Vishnu, Brahma came forth. Brahma then made the entire creation. Over a period of time, Brahma noticed that all living beings especially human beings were unhappy and sorrowful. To keep them out of their suffering he created places of pilgrimage and holy rituals. But then soon he realised that this was only a temporary rescue. To make life worthwhile, to keep the human life established in peace and bliss, he created Vasista and soon after creation imposed the veil of ignorance on him. Vasista like a mere mortal underwent the pleasures and sufferings till he was so fed up that he came to the surrender of Brahma. Brahma then removed the veil of ignorance from Vasista, thereby enlightening him. Brahma explained to Vasista that he kept him in ignorance so that he could understand the sufferings of the human beings and then enlightened him so that he could realise the real purpose of existence. He then asked Vasista to share this divine knowledge and help people out of suffering.

Sunday 19 October 2008

Navaratri

Guruji’s talk on Navaratri

A Journey to the Source

The festival of Navaratri is celebrated with prayers and gaiety in the beginning of the Ashwin (autumn) and the beginning of Chaitra (spring). This period is a time for self referral and getting back to the source. During this time of transformation, Nature sheds the old and gets rejuvenated; animals hibernate and life emerges back afresh in the spring.


According to Vedic science, matter reverts back to its original form to recreate itself again and again. The creation is cyclical, not linear; everything is recycled by nature‑ a continuous process of rejuvenation. The human mind, however, lags behind in this routine cycle of creation. Navratri is a festival for one to take the mind back to its source. The seeker gets back to the true source through fasting, prayer, silence and meditation. Night is also called ratri because it brings rejuvenation. It gives relief at the three levels of our existence ' physical, subtle and causal. While fasting detoxifies the body, silence purifies the speech and brings rest to the chattering mind, and meditation takes one deep into one’s own being.
The inward journey nullifies our negative karmas. Navaratri is a celebration of the spirit or prana which alone can destroy mahishasura (inertia), shumbha‑nishumbha (pride and shame) and madhu‑kaitabh (extreme forms of craving and aversion). They are completely opposites, yet complementary. Inertia, deeply ingrained negativities and obsessions ( raktabeejasura), unreasonable logics (chanda‑munda) and blurred vision ( dhoomralochan) can be overcome only by raising the level of prana and shakti, the life‑ force energy.


The nine days of Navratri are also an opportunity to rejoice in the three primordial qualities that make up the universe. Though our life is governed by the three gunas, we seldom recognize and reflect on them. The first three days of Navaratri are attributed to tamo guna,the second three to rajo, guna and the last three to sattva guna. Our consciousness sails through the tamo and rajo, gunas and blossoms in the satva guna of the last three days. Whenever sattva dominates in life, victory follows. The essence of this knowledge is honoured by celebrating the tenth day as Vijaydashmi. The three primordial gunas are considered as the feminine force of our magnificent universe. By worshiping the Mother Divine during Navaratri, we harmonise the three gunas and elevate sattva in the atmosphere.


Though Navratri is celebrated as the victory of good over evil, the actual fight is not between good and evil. From the Vedantic point of view, the victory is of the absolute reality over the apparent duality. In the words of Ashtavakra, it is the poor wave which tries to keep its identity separate from the ocean, but to no avail. Though the microcosm is very well within the macrocosm, its perceived separateness is the cause of conflict. For a gyani (wise), the entire creation becomes alive and he recognizes life in everything in the same way children see life in everything. The Mother Divine or the pure consciousness itself pervades all the forms and has all the names. Recognizing the one divinity in every form and every name is the celebration of Navratri. Hence, special pujas honouring all aspects of life and nature are performed during the last three days.


Kali is the most horrific manifestation of Nature. Nature symbolizes beauty, yet it has a horrific form. Acknowledging the duality brings a total acceptance in the mind and puts the mind at ease. The Mother Divine is recognised not just as the brilliance of intellect ( buddhi), but also the confusion (bhranti); she is not just abundance (lakshmi), she is also hunger (kshudha) and thirst (trishna). Realising this aspect of the Mother Divine in the entire creation leads one to a deep state of Samadhi. This gives an answer to the age‑old theological struggle of the Occident. Through wisdom, devotion and nishkama karma, one can attain advaita siddhi or perfection in the non‑dual consciousness.

Yoga Vasista Chapter 1 - the story (confusion) begins!!

If there is nothing that Yoga Vasista will do to you, it will definitely confuse you. And as Guruji puts it “Blessed are those who are confused!!” The whole text is in the form of series of stories one inside the other, each story contributing the one inside it. You need a bit of awareness to follow the text.

Happy reading and Jai Gurudeva. May the Guru’s grace flow through you.

Om Shanti rastu, Thusti rastu, Pushti rastu.

The jist

The world appearance is confusion, even as the blueness of the sky is an optical illusion. I think it is better not to let the mind dwell on it, but ignore it. Neither freedom form sorrow, nor realisation of one’s nature is possible without this conviction. Once convinced you will realise that the objective world is a confusion of the real with the unreal.


The background

A sage by name Sutikshna went to Sage Agasthya and asked “ what leads to liberation – knowledge or work?” to this query, Agasthya told him the conversation between sage Agnivesya and his son Karunya. Karunya had read the scriptures and come to the conclusion that liberation can only be achieved through abandonment of all action; and hence became apathetic to life. To bring him out of this inertia, Agnivesya narrated to him a conversation between Suruchi, an apsara, who was meditating in the Himalayas, and a doota (messenger) of Indra. This messenger was sent by Indra to escort Sage Arishtanemi to heaven, as he was involved in rigorous Tapas. On invitation, Aristhanemi asked the doota, what people would do in heaven, to which he replied that the people who reach heaven because of their Punya karma stay there in bliss and peace till their punya is exhausted; and then they are sent back to the earth. Hearing this, Aristhanemi refused to come to heaven. The doota went back and reported to Indra, who resent the doota to ask Aristhtnemi to speak to sage Valmiki before refusing the invitation. Hence, Valmiki was approached, and he narrated the Yoga Vasista, the conversation between sage Vasista and Lord Rama. Valmiki told Arishtanemi that he had earlier narrated the same to sage Bhardwaja, who then went and narrated the same to Brahma. Pleased, Brahma asked Bharadwaja to ask a boon, to which Bharadwaja, requested the happiness of all human beings in the universe. Brahma granted the boon, but said that the best way for human beings to achieve this was by asking Valmiki to narrate the yoga vasista in such a way that the listener may be freed of darkness of ignorance. So Bharadwaja went back to Valmiki, who then renarrated the Yoga Vasista in an enlightening and simple manner. This renarration was explained to Arishtanemi by Valmiki.

Yoga Vasista - the story (confusion) begins!!

If there is nothing that Yoga Vasista will do to you, it will definitely confuse you. And as Guruji puts it “Blessed are those who are confused!!” The whole text is in the form of series of stories one inside the other, each story contributing the one inside it. You need a bit of awareness to follow the text. Happy reading and jai Gurudeva. May the Guru’s grace flow through you.
Om Shanti rastu, Thusti rastu, Pushti rastu.

The jist
The world appearance is confusion, even as the blueness of the sky is an optical illusion. I think it is better not to let the mind dwell on it, but ignore it. Neither freedom form sorrow, nor realisation of one’s nature is possible without this conviction. Once convinced you will realise that the objective world is a confusion of the real with the unreal.
The background
A sage by name Sutikshna went to Sage Agasthya and asked “ what leads to liberation – knowledge or work?” to this query, Agasthya told him the conversation between sage Agnivesya and his son Karunya. Karunya had read the scriptures and come to the conclusion that liberation can only be achieved through abandonment of all action; and hence became apathetic to life. To bring him out of this inertia, Agnivesya narrated to him a conversation between Suruchi, an apsara, who was meditating in the Himalayas, and a doota (messenger) of Indra. This messenger was sent by Indra to escort Sage Arishtanemi to heaven, as he was involved in rigorous Tapas. On invitation, Aristhanemi asked the doota, what people would do in heaven, to which he replied that the people who reach heaven because of their Punya karma stay there in bliss and peace till their punya is exhausted; and then they are sent back to the earth. Hearing this, Aristhanemi refused to come to heaven. The doota went back and reported to Indra, who resent the doota to ask Aristhtnemi to speak to sage Valmiki before refusing the invitation. Hence, Valmiki was approached, and he narrated the Yoga Vasista, the conversation between sage Vasista and Lord Rama. Valmiki told Arishtanemi that he had earlier narrated the same to sage Bhardwaja, who then went and narrated the same to Brahma. Pleased, Brahma asked Bharadwaja to ask a boon, to which Bharadwaja, requested the happiness of all human beings in the universe. Brahma granted the boon, but said that the best way for human beings to achieve this was by asking Valmiki to narrate the yoga vasista in such a way that the listener may be freed of darkness of ignorance. So Bharadwaja went back to Valmiki, who then renarrated the Yoga Vasista in an enlightening and simple manner. This renarration was explained to Arishtanemi by Valmiki.

Yoga Vasista - an introduction

Yoga Vasista is a bit different from other great spiritual texts such as the Bhagavad-Gita and the Ashtavakra Samhita. Bhagavad-Gita is the common man’s spiritual guide. It includes everyone and it is for everyone. All different routes of reaching the ultimate are described. Any human being, in whatever level of elevation of consciousness he may be in, can identify with the Gita. That is why it is the most popular text. Thousands of summarisations and explanation texts have been written about the Gita and thousands have read and listened to it. However, the number of people, who have been transformed by it, I think is very low. It caters to everyone; hence it is not very specific. It is an all inclusive text, hence it appeals to everyone and thus its popularity.

The next in line is the Ashtavakra Samhita. This is a much more advanced and specific spiritual text. \it is said that if you haven’t meditated in your life, you are not eligible to read or listen to the Samhita as you may not understand it and may interpret it in an entirely different way. This is a royal conversation which happened in the palace of King Janaka, in contrast to the Gita, which happened in the middle of a war. Arjuna was confused and in anguish when the Gita was narrated to him, while Janaka was at the peak of his mumukshatwa, eager to absorb the great knowledge. To convince a disturbed mind, in the middle of a chaos, you need to come up with very good logical explanations and solutions as the anguished persons mind is usually not open to all possibilities and full of doubt. But when you are a Sadhak and ur practices and company have not brought that promised fulfilment, and when you have found a great master ( actually when the master finds you), the mind is all keen to take things. There is so much faith and reverence, that no convincing is necessary.

Yoga Vasista is said to be the supreme knowledge, as it was given by a human to a God. If an introduction to the spiritual path is necessary to listen to or understand the Ashtavakra Samhita, it is said that you have be a seeker for quite some time to be eligible for the Yoga Vasista. Indeed Sage Valmiki in his introduction to text, mentions

“He is qualified to study this scripture who feels ‘I am bound, I should be liberated’, who is neither totally ignorant nor enlightened “

The term Kakataliya or coincidence is often repeated in this story. More about this later on.