WHAT IS VEDANTA
Om. Vedanta is that bold philosophy which teaches the unity of life or oneness of consciousness. It is that supreme philosophy which boldly proclaims, with emphasis and force, that this little jiva (human being) is identical with the eternal or absolute. It is that sublime philosophy which elevates the mind at once to magnanimous heights of Brahmanhood, divine splendour and glory, which makes a man absolutely fearless, which destroys all barriers that separate man from man and which brings concord, unruffled peace and harmony to suffering humanity. It is the only philosophy that can really unite (on the basis of one common self in all) a Hindu and a Mohammedan, a Catholic and a Protestant, an Irishman and an Englishman, a Jain and a Parsee, in a common platform and in the core of their own hearts also. It is the only philosophy that, when properly understood and practised, can put a definite stop to world wars and all sorts of dissensions, splits and skirmishes that exist in nations and communities.
Vedanta is a magnetic healing balm for the wounded and the afflicted in the dreadful battlefield of this dire samsara (phenomenal existence). Vedanta is the divine collyrium which removes the cataract of ignorance and gives a new, inner eye of intuition or wisdom. Vedanta is the direct, royal road to the domain of felicity; it is the supreme abode of immortality and eternal bliss. It is a panacea, a `cureall' for those who are being burned by the three fires and the five afflictions of this miserable mundane existence. It is the Himalayan herb that can bring immediate life to a dying man. It lifts a man, at once, to the status of Emperor of emperors, King of kings even though he has nothing to eat; even though he is clad in rags.
Vedanta gives real spiritual strength; it inspires, renovates, vivifies, invigorates and energises. It eradicates ignorance the root cause for human sufferings. It puts a stop to the never ending wheel of birth and death and confers immortality, infinite knowledge and bliss. It gives hope to the hopeless, power to the powerless, vigour to the vigourless and joy to the joyless.
Vedanta is the only universal, eternal religion. Vedanta means `end of the vedas' or the essence of the teaching of the srutis (scriptures).
ESSENCE OF VEDANTA
Vedanta is expressed in the mahavakhyas (great sentences) of the Upanishads as "Tat twam asi" – "Thou art That"; "Aham brahma asmi" –"I am the self". Vedanta says, "O little man! Do not identify yourself with this perishable body. Give up `Iness' and `mineness'! Do not hate your neighbour or brother. Do not try to exploit him he is your own self. There is a common self or common consciousness in all. This is the same in a king and a peasant, in an ant and a dog, in a man and a woman, in a cobbler and a scavenger. This is the real immortal entity. Mind is the dividing principle. It tempts and deludes. Kill this mischievous mind. Control the indriyas (senses) which drag you out to the external objects. Fix the mind in the source. Rise above body and mind. Eradicate desires. Learn to discriminate the real from the unreal. Identify yourself with this immortal, nondual, selfexistent, self-luminous essence. Behold the one self in all. See the one in many. All miseries will come to an end."
Vedanta speaks of the one atman or Brahman or self who exists in the past, the present and the future, who has no beginning, middle and end, who is the support for everything, who is the embodiment of wisdom, peace and bliss. The seers of the Upanishads have expressed their realisation in glowing terms. They have given out their inner experiences after long research and mighty struggle. All these have been collected in the form of the Upanishads. This constitutes the subject of vedanta philosophy.
Although vedanta is the direct royal road that takes one to the goal, it should not be prescribed for all in a wholesale manner. There are four types of aspirants. They are the karmic (active) type, the bhakti (devotional) type, the mystic type and the rational type. Karma yoga should be prescribed for people of karmic tendencies for the busy and active men who have mala (impurities) in the mind; bhakti yoga for men of devotional temperament - in whom the emotional element predominates; raja yoga for men of mystic temperament; vedanta yoga for men of reason and will for people of intellectual temperament.
Vicara (enquiry, "Who am I?") can only benefit that aspirant who is free from impurity and tossing of the mind, who is endowed with bold understanding, gigantic and tremendous will, sharp, subtle intellect and the four means. It is certainly not meant for all - it is meant for the select few only who can really understand and realise the full significance or import of vedanta and reap the fruits.
GOAL OF VEDANTA
The goal or aim of life is self-realisation which confers immortality, highest bliss, knowledge and supreme peace. Fixing the mind on the source or inner self and getting it absorbed there is the highest yajna (worship), the highest charity, the highest karma (action), the highest bhakti (devotion), the highest yoga or knowledge. Now the little self-arrogating `I' vanishes. Just as the river joins the ocean, the little self becomes one with the ocean of bliss. With the disappearance of the little illusory `I' comes the disappearance of `you', `he', `this', `that', time, space and causation, `mine' and `thine', the pairs of opposites, the ideas of jiva (soul), Isvara (God), prakrti (nature), etc. The whole world presents itself as atman. This grand vision this magnanimous samadhi (superconsciousness) is atma-darsan (vision of the ultimate reality), which is beyond description. Many have attained this vision - why not you also? Apply diligently right now in its achievement.
There is something dearer than wealth; there is something dearer than wife or son; there is something dearer than your life itself. That dearer something is thy own self (atman), inner ruler (antaryamin), immortal (amrtam). He who dwells in this eye, who is within this eye, whose body this eye is, whom the eye does not know, who rules the eye from within, is thy self, inner ruler, immortal.
The vedantic method of meditation on the formula `anomayoham' (I am all-health) or the enquiry, "Who am I?" is the most efficient, patient and best method for eradication of all disease and ensuring perfect health and a high standard of vigour and vitality. This is the king of all physical cultures. For those aspirants who practise the, "Who am I?" enquiry and who are not able to keep up good health by this method alone, I prescribe the practice of asana (posture) and pranayama (yoga breathing).
The aspirant who has got citta suddhi (pure mind) will only be able to hear the still, small voice of the soul or self. If there is no purity he will certainly mistake the voice of the self. He will be misguided - he will blink and grope in darkness. The help of a realised guru is indispensably requisite in the beginning for the aspirant who treads the path of jnana yoga.
ROOT OUT ATTACHMENT
Atman is Brahman or absolute or infinite or supreme being. It is existence absolute, knowledge absolute and bliss absolute. It is eternal, perfect, pure, self-luminous. It is self-delight and selfknowledge. It is bodiless, formless (nirakara) and attributeless (guna-less). It is all-pervading, all-full, imperishable. It has neither beginning nor end. It exists in the present, the past and the future. It is svayambhu (self-existent). It is the source for the body and the mind, prana (life), indriyas (senses), vedas and the universe. No one can deny it because it is the self of all beings.
Selfishness retards spiritual progress. If anyone can destroy his selfishness, half of his spiritual sadhana (practice) is over. No samadhi or meditation is possible without the eradication of this undesirable, negative quality. Aspirants should direct their whole attention in the beginning towards the removal of this dire malady by protracted, selfless, disinterested service.
Never say `my body', `my wife', `my son', `my house'. Attachment is the root cause for the miseries and sufferings of this world. Discipline the mind carefully. The old habits will creep in - destroy them at the very root. Lead the life of mental non-attachment. This is the master-key to open the realm of Brahmic bliss. Non-attachment is dispassion or indifference to sensual enjoyments.
It is the mind that creates the ideas of `Iness' and `mineness'. It is the mind that links the body and the jiva (soul) and creates intense deha adhyasa (body-consciousness) and the man thinks, "I am the body". If the binding link in the mind is destroyed, you can remain wherever you like - you can roam peacefully, in any part of the world, unattached, like water on the lotus leaf. Nothing can bind you. The whole mischief is wrought by the mind.
Introspect. Look within. Try to remove your defects. This is real sadhana (practice) you will have to do it at any cost. Intellectual development is nothing. But the former needs a great deal of struggle for many years as many vicious habits have to be rent asunder.
Keep up the unbroken current of meditation. Avoid mixing. You will soon get over body-consciousness. A little more drastic sadhana is needed for a month - unbroken silence. Do not allow inertia or laziness to overpower you.
MEDITATION IN VEDANTA
Preliminary meditation for six months:
On the blue expansive sky, all-pervading air or ether, or light, or Himalayas, or infinite ocean.
On abstract qualities - mercy, patience, generosity, etc.
On abstract ideas - indivisibility, existence, wisdom, bliss, truth, eternity, immortality, infinity, purity, etc., will render the mind subtle and sharp and prepare it for deep abstract meditation on atman.
Just as one thread penetrates all flowers in a garland, so also one self penetrates all these living beings. Behold the one self in all. Serve all. Love all. Give up the idea of diversity. You will be established in Brahman. When one Atman dwells in all living beings, then why do you hate others? Why do you use harsh words? Why do you try to rule and dominate others? Why do you exploit others? Why are you intolerant? Is this not the height of folly; is it not sheer ignorance?
Behold the "One in all". Feel, "I am the all", and "I am in all." Feel, "All bodies are mine; the whole world is my body, my sweet home". Feel, "I work in all hands; I eat in all mouths". Feel, "I am the immortal self in all". Repeat these formulas mentally several times a day. Repeat Om mentally and feel oneness of life or unity of consciousness when you play football or tennis, when you drink and eat, when you talk and sing, when you sit and walk, when you bathe and dress, when you work in the office or answer the calls of nature. Spiritualise every movement, action, thought, feeling. Transmute them into yoga. Gradually names and forms will vanish and you will feel, "Aham asmi" (I exist). The balance or residue left will be atman.
A jnani sees atman everywhere; there is no thought of self; the lower self is entirely annihilated. He lives to serve all. He feels that all is himself only. He has cosmic vision and cosmic feeling. He is free from worry, trouble, difficulties and sorrow. He is always happy and cheerful.
In the formless vedantic meditation of advaitins (non-dualists) there will be an abstract mental image in the beginning of sadhana (practice). This will vanish eventually. When you meditate, deny names and forms, do net-ineti (not this, not this).
BRAHMAN OF VEDANTA
Brahman cannot be approached by argument. He is unknowable. He is without any limiting adjunct. He is the source of the world, vedas, body, mind and prana (life).
Brahman is the only abode of eternal peace and purity. He is the instrumental and material cause for the universe, though He Himself is causeless because He is beginningless and endless.
He is one without a second. He is attributeless. He is free from birth and death.
Brahman is absolute, infinite. He is the supreme being. He is the highest self. He has no attachment; He has no connection with anything - He has no connection with bodies, minds, etc. - This is his supreme yoga which ordinary mortals can hardly understand.
Brahman dwells in every heart. He is boundless, unfathomable and immeasurable. There is neither subtle desire nor craving nor sense hankering in Brahman. He is an embodiment of purity. His name or symbol is Om. He is the silent witness of the activities of the world and the activities of all minds. He is imperishable.
Brahman is absolute consciousness, the indwelling atman. He is the one great indivisible bliss - satchidananda. He is awake when people sleep at night. He is the passive spectator of this world show or cosmic bioscope. The aspirant finds full and eternal satisfaction in Brahman. All his desires melt away like mist or snow before the rising sun.
There is something behind life, matter, energy, mind that is the ultimate reality - it is eternal and unchanging. The finite mind cannot solve certain problems of life and the riddle of the universe.On account of egoism we persist in our vain researches and experiments. But our boasted intellect has failed to satisfy our yearnings and equip us with real knowledge that will dispel our ignorance and give us real peace of mind.
We bow our heads before the inner ruler who dwells in the chambers of our hearts, who is the source of matter, life, energy and mind, who is immortal, eternal, bliss absolute, knowledge absolute and existence absolute. May He now give us real enlightenment. May He grant us that highest knowledge of self through which alone we can get full knowledge of all secular sciences. Our silent salutations to that highest self, the Brahman of the vedanta.
GUIDE TO SADHAKAS
No complete knowledge is possible as long as there is the relationship of subject and object. When the subject and the object merge into absolute union there are no doubts or questions. When you enter the consciousness of the infinite you will have no problems.You will have no questions to ask, for the questioner and the questioned will be one - subject and object will be dissolved.
Only when action is quickened with love and illumined with knowledge, then the pilgrim in the spiritual path finds his destination and end. The one you seek is he who seeks you. The essential craving of the heart is the inner light. He who has faith, he who is tranquil and self-controlled, he who meditates on the atman attains immortality and eternal bliss.
So, reduce your wants to the utmost minimum. Adapt yourself to circumstances. Never be attached to anything or to anybody. Share what you have with others. Be ever ready to serve. Lose no opportunity serve with atmabhava (feeling that the self is all). Speak measured and sweet words. Have a burning thirst for God-realisation. Renounce all your belongings and surrender yourself to God.
Keep your soul strong and fresh and give it spiritual food prayer, japa (repetition of God's name), selfless service, etc. Feed your mind with thoughts of God, your heart with purity, your hands with selfless service. Remain soaked in remembrance of God, with onepointed mind. Repeat the Lord's name with faith and devotion. Meditate on his form and surrender your heart and soul to him.
Let the thought of God or reality keep away the thought of the world.Forget the feeling that you are so-and-so, that you are a male or a female, by vigorous brahmacintana (contemplation of God.) Never postpone a thing for tomorrow if it is possible for you to do it today. Do not boast or make a show of your abilities. Be simple and humble. Always be cheerful. Give up worries. Be indifferent to things that do not concern you. Fly away from bad company and discussion. Be alone for a few hours daily.
Control the emotions by discrimination and vairagya (dispassion). Maintain equilibrium of mind always. Give up backbiting and faultfinding. Find out your own faults and weaknesses. See only good in others. Do good to those that hate you. Shun lust, anger, egoism, moha (delusion) and lobha (greed) like venomous cobras.
THE RIDDLE OF THE WORLD
You yourself have made your life complex. You have entangled yourself in this quagmire. You have multiplied your wants and desires. Every day you are forging new links in the chain of bondage. Simplicity has vanished. Luxurious habits are daily developed. People are dying of starvation; there is depression and unrest everywhere. There is devastation by earthquake. The divorce courts are increasing. One nation is afraid of another nation. Life has become a matter of uncertainty. It has become a mass of confusion and bewilderment; it has become stormy and boisterous.
You can escape from these troubles and difficulties if you lead a life of dispassion, selfrestraint, purity and selfless service, if you develop cosmic love, if you make a habit of developing the right point of view, right thinking, right feeling, right action, with the right mental attitude and if you practise meditation and devotion.
If you have no sustained vairagya (dispassion) you will find no improvement or progress in spirituality. Vows, energy, austerities and meditation will leak out like water from a cracked pot. You have spent eight hours in sleep and the rest in idle gossiping, telling lies and deceiving others. How can you expect spiritual good or immortality if you do not spend even half an hour in the service of God, in singing his name and in divine contemplation?
Is there pain or pleasure in this world? If there is pleasure, then why do young educated men retire into the forests? If there is pain, why do young men run after wealth, position and women? Mysterious is maya (illusion)! Mysterious is moha (delusion)! Try to understand the riddle of life and the riddle of the universe. Acquire viveka (wisdom). Have satsanga (holy company). Enquire into the nature of the atman. Study the Yoga Vasishta and the Upanishads. Then you will have a comprehensive understanding of the problems of life. There is not one iota of happiness in this world.
Real freedom is from birth and death. Real freedom is freedom from the trammels of flesh and mind. Real freedom - is freedom from the bonds of karma. Real freedom is freedom from attachment to the body, etc. Real freedom is freedom from desires and from egoism.
BE ONE WITH ALL
Mere intellectual conception of identity or oneness will not serve your purpose. You must actually feel the truth of it through intuition. You must become fully aware of the real self, the basis or substratum or bedrock of this world, body, mind, prana (life) and senses. You must enter into consciousness in which the realisation becomes a part of your every day life. You must live the ideal spiritual life daily. Your neighbours should actually feel that you are an entirely changed being, a superman. They should smell the divine fragrance in you. A full-blown yogi or jnani can never remain incognito. Just as fragrant fumes emanate from scented incense sticks, so also spiritual fragrance emanates from the body.
There is no such thing as inanimate matter. There is life in everything. Life is involved in a piece of stone. All matter is vibrant with life - this has been conclusively proved by modern scientists. Smile with the flowers and the green grass. Play with the butterflies, birds and deer. Shake hands with the shrubs, ferns and twigs of trees. Talk to the rainbow, wind, stars and sun. Converse with the running brooks and the waves of the sea. Speak with the walking stick. Develop friendship with all your neighbours, dogs, cats, cows, human beings, trees, flowers, etc. Then you will have a wide, perfect, rich, full life. You will realise oneness or the unity of life. This can hardly be described in words - you must feel it for yourself.
A strong mind has influence over a weak mind. Mind has influence over the physical body. Mind acts upon matter. Mind brings bondage. Mind gives freedom. Mind is the devil. Mind is your friend. Mind is your guru. You will have to tame the mind. You will have to discipline the mind. This is your important duty.
There is only one caste - the caste of humanity. There is only one religion - the religion of love, the religion of vedanta. There is only one dharma - the dharma of truthfulness. There is only one law -the law of cause and effect. There is only one God - the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent Lord. There is only one language - the language of the heart; the language of silence.
KNOW THYSELF NOW
Man is a soul and has a body. Man's true nature is God. You are pure consciousness. Through ignorance you have imposed limitation upon yourself. Reflect and abide in the absolute or Brahman.
Man's innermost essence is atman or the divine spirit. Realising the spirit, man achieves security, certainty, perfection, freedom, independence, immortality and bliss eternal. Man and his life become the starting point and the end of philosophy. Man is of the nature of his faith. What his faith is, that verily is what he is.
Physical body and intellect depend on the soul within about which man knows little or nothing. Personality is the sum total of man. A man of good personality has a number of good qualities. He behaves quietly and politely. He has confidence in himself. He has the capacity to win other people's cooperation. He has the capacity to draw others towards himself. Hunger, libido and fame are the fundamental urges in man. Unless man is liberated from the bondage of the mind and matter he cannot have knowledge of the self and of God.
The head and the heart must be wedded - then alone there will be perfection and integration in man. Faith, virtue, piety, dispassion and honesty are the greatest treasures of man.
Every man must arise, purify, meditate, and declare freedom unto himself. Man says, "When this (worldly activity) is over then I will have time to do that (meditate)". But it is never done because something new turns up all the time to distract him. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power. Truth is not outside you, it is within you. It dwells in the cave of your heart.
You are a truth of God, a work of God, a will of God. You are unfettered, free - eternally free. Roar Om. Come out of the cage of flesh and roam about freely.
When the cause of illusion is pulled away by the roots, when knowledge annihilates ignorance (without a possibility of a remnant or reminiscence) - then there is not an ego, a body or world to be experienced. When there is the cloud of ignorance you cannot see God, but you cannot say that there is no God.
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