Satsang Bhavan Lectures, Message 5
Satsang Bhavan Lectures of Swami Sivananda
CHAPTER I: THE SUPREME TRUTH
9. Philosophy of Pain and Suffering / 10. The Path to Liberation - Essence of Divine Life
9. PHILOSOPHY OF PAIN AND SUFFERING
Birth and death, pain, sorrow and suffering are all due to ignorance or lack of knowledge of one's own essential divine nature.
Egoism is ignorance. Desire is born of ignorance. Likes and dislikes are born of ignorance. Clinging to mundane life is due to ignorance.
Identification with the body is ignorance. Mistaking the impure, inert and perishable body for the pure, sentient and immortal atma or soul is ignorance.
Egoism, likes and dislikes, desire, craving, thoughts, etc. are all modifications of ignorance.
From ignorance or avidya desire is born. To realise the object of desire, man does karmas or actions, likes some and dislikes others, expects fruits of his actions and is therefore bound to the wheel of birth and death.
Attain Brahmajnana or knowledge of Brahman or supreme self. Pain, sorrow and suffering will cease. You will attain bliss immortal, everlasting peace and perennial joy. You will be freed from birth and death.
Discrimination, dispassion, non-attachment, serenity, self-restraint, endurance, renunciation, faith, devotion, cosmic love, courage, humility, truthfulness, compassion, concentration, meditation, burning longing for liberation are all aids to self-realisation or attainment of Brahmajnana.
CHAPTER II: THE PATH TO LIBERATION
10. THE PATH TO LIBERATION - ESSENCE OF DIVINE LIFE
I am thankful, not only thankful but grateful to you all for having come and graced this occasion with your august presence and for blessing me. I pray that you should all come here frequently and practise Japa and meditation on the banks of the Ganga and try to attain self-realisation in this very birth.
That is the goal of life. It is beautifully expressed in the formula: Brahma satyam jagan mithya jeevo brahmaiva na aparah. Remember this and the important mantras in the Upanishads which treat of the nature of the reality.
What is reality? That which is changeless, transcendental, immortal, all-blissful and imperishable. We know that Brahman alone is real and that the world is unreal. But how many people take Brahman as the only reality in practical life? As soon as you get up in the morning, you say "I want this," "I want that." You feel that the objects alone are real. You never even think of the transcendental atma which is the real basis for all these experiences.
He is the intelligent man; he is the strong man; he is the hero who has got dispassion and discrimination, for whom the wealth of the three worlds is as precious as a piece of straw. That is the strength born of discrimination and dispassion. That is the strength that you should acquire. Do not depend upon your bank balance. It may vanish at any time. Indryartheshu vairagyam anahamkarameva cha; janma mrityu jaraavyaadhi duhkha doshaanudarshanam. Develop vairagya towards the objects of the senses, and realise the defect in birth, death, disease, old age and misery here. That is the source of the highest strength. As soon as you get up in the morning you must remember this sloka and meditate upon it.
But maya tempts you and deludes you. It does not allow you to introspect, to meditate, to find out what mistakes you have committed during the day, what Vritti over-powered you, which quality was predominant in you, why the mind is restless in spite of your wealth, position and possessions.
It is the duty of everybody to control the mind and to find out the source of real happiness. Practise namasmaran—you will bring the mind under your control and you will attain the source of real happiness. But few people have faith. They do japa for three months; and if they don't get promotion in their job or if their business does not double itself, they lose faith in the mantra and give it up. There is a great power, achintya-shakti, in the Lord's name. Go on repeating it, for you do not know how much of sin and evil samskaras have to be washed away. Even to become a petty officer in the government, how many years you have to struggle!
Hold the highest goal before your mind always. As soon as you get up recollect the great upanishadic formula: yo vai bhuma tat sukham, na alpa sukham asti—'The infinite alone is bliss; there is no pleasure whatsoever in these little, finite, perishable objects'. Also, eko devah sarva bhuteshu gudah—'The one God is hidden in the heart of all beings'. That is the hidden love, light, wisdom and joy in all these names and forms. That is the only reality.
Through ignorance, raga-dwesha, you are identifying yourself with the body. Raga-dwesha (likes and dislikes) constitute the world in truth-not these trees and buildings, rivers and mountains. It is on account of raga-dwesha, born of ignorance, that you get involved in this cycle of birth and death, and take this body again and again. Cut at the root of this ignorance, Study the Upanishads. Practise yoga. Attain liberation.
Yoga is not something to be practised in a cave. The highest form of yoga is offering all your actions unto him as iswararpana. Feel that there is only one God and say, "I offer all my actions as worship unto him." This is quite essential and sufficient for God-realisation. Maya will tempt you to forget it. Remember this point and bring it to your mind again and again. Watch and pray. Wait and pray.
Nama-smaran is the easiest way to keep this bhav always in your mind. Go on repeating Sri Ram, Sri Ram, Sri Ram always. This will enable you to think of God always. Sri Ram is in no way inferior to Soham, or Aham Brahmamsi formulae. The name of the Lord will take you to the highest goal and will enable you to realise the satchidananda atma.
You must maintain the daily spiritual diary. Do not complain lack of time for sadhana. If you reduce and eliminate the time you waste in idle-gossiping, you will have plenty of time for sadhana. You say that this jhanjat (botheration) of samsara worries you an all sides; I say have this one more jhanjat of japa and dhyana, and it will soon eliminate all other jhanjat. You must feel that the world cannot give you everlasting peace and happiness. Then only is the least spiritual progress possible. That peace and happiness you can have only in japa, kirtan, discipline of the mind and senses, study of Gita and Bhagawata, and in selfless Service. Treat all your actions as divine worship of the all-pervading Lord; then all your activities will become yoga. Constantly hammer the mind with these ideas.
Equip yourself with the four means. Cultivate divine virtues. University education will only enable you to earn your daily bread, not to enjoy the transcendental experience. Vairagya, viveka, sama, dama, titiksha, uparati, sraddha, samadana, and mumukshatwa—all these you should possess in abundance. People don't even understand the meaning of samadana nowadays. Only if you had done selfless service in countless births, through God's grace, discrimination will dawn on you. The purpose of maya is to cloud this discrimination!
The mind is full of impurities; and therefore, you have forgotten the Light of lights "which illumines all things that shine here." Remove these impurities by the cultivation of virtues. You must be burning with the eagerness: "When shall I cultivate this virtue?" Aspiration, renunciation, devotion and meditation. Remember these four words which sum up sadhana. Then through hearing, reflection and meditation, you will reach the goal.
There is great work before you. To control the mind and senses is your foremost duty. He who fails in this duty leads a miserable life in spite of all achievements and acquisitions. He who succeeds in it acquires Brahma-vidya, the knowledge of the atma, the Science of sciences. He who knows it, knows all. He who does not know it, knows nothing even if he has acquired all other knowledge.
Get up at 4 a.m. and meditate. This is very important. This will not only enable you to progress rapidly in sadhana; but it will bestow success on all your undertakings. During the day you have to come into contact with people of various temperaments. If you wish to maintain an unperturbed state of mind throughout the day, therefore, you should generate a powerful satwic current in the mind in brahmamuhurtha. Then you will be able to adapt, adjust and accommodate, and you will enjoy peace and balanced mind which is one of the signs of wisdom. You will not be tempted by sensual objects also. You will realise that though sensual pleasure seems to be pleasant in the beginning, it is productive of great misery and therefore it is always painful and painful alone.
Even a little practice of sadhana paves the way for success. A little japa, a little kirtan, a little selfless service, a little meditation regularly—then there is the descent of grace and rapid spiritual progress.
Look at the world. How much suffering and misery there is! You should have a melting heart and you should share what you have with others. Only then will you be able to experience unity. You want to increase your wealth and look after your children only; how then, can you attain that transcendental experience of unity? If you wish to attain atma-jnana, destroy selfishness first. Then you will see God in all; then you will realise the one atma that pervades all names and forms. Examine yourself. Analyse yourself. Practice self-introspection.
Find out the lurking defects in the mind. Eradicate them; cultivate the opposite virtues. At the end of the month you are now in the habit of calculating how much money you have saved; now develop the habit of calculating how many virtues you have developed, how much you have helped your brothers in distress. That is your real wealth, the source of your real strength, the strength born of wisdom.
The ascetic has no money in the bank; but he possesses the wealth of the Lord. He has the highest spiritual wealth. It is your duty to acquire this wealth. You are growing old day by day. Ask yourself: "I have lived for twenty-five or thirty-five years here; how much of this spiritual wealth have I acquired?" Make fresh resolves now. March forward and attain the goal here and now.
May God give you strength, discrimination, aspiration and renunciation. May you all attain kaivalya moksha in this very birth is my humble prayer to the Lord.
Satsang Bhavan Lectures of Swami Sivananda
CHAPTER I: THE SUPREME TRUTH
9. Philosophy of Pain and Suffering / 10. The Path to Liberation - Essence of Divine Life
9. PHILOSOPHY OF PAIN AND SUFFERING
Birth and death, pain, sorrow and suffering are all due to ignorance or lack of knowledge of one's own essential divine nature.
Egoism is ignorance. Desire is born of ignorance. Likes and dislikes are born of ignorance. Clinging to mundane life is due to ignorance.
Identification with the body is ignorance. Mistaking the impure, inert and perishable body for the pure, sentient and immortal atma or soul is ignorance.
Egoism, likes and dislikes, desire, craving, thoughts, etc. are all modifications of ignorance.
From ignorance or avidya desire is born. To realise the object of desire, man does karmas or actions, likes some and dislikes others, expects fruits of his actions and is therefore bound to the wheel of birth and death.
Attain Brahmajnana or knowledge of Brahman or supreme self. Pain, sorrow and suffering will cease. You will attain bliss immortal, everlasting peace and perennial joy. You will be freed from birth and death.
Discrimination, dispassion, non-attachment, serenity, self-restraint, endurance, renunciation, faith, devotion, cosmic love, courage, humility, truthfulness, compassion, concentration, meditation, burning longing for liberation are all aids to self-realisation or attainment of Brahmajnana.
CHAPTER II: THE PATH TO LIBERATION
10. THE PATH TO LIBERATION - ESSENCE OF DIVINE LIFE
I am thankful, not only thankful but grateful to you all for having come and graced this occasion with your august presence and for blessing me. I pray that you should all come here frequently and practise Japa and meditation on the banks of the Ganga and try to attain self-realisation in this very birth.
That is the goal of life. It is beautifully expressed in the formula: Brahma satyam jagan mithya jeevo brahmaiva na aparah. Remember this and the important mantras in the Upanishads which treat of the nature of the reality.
What is reality? That which is changeless, transcendental, immortal, all-blissful and imperishable. We know that Brahman alone is real and that the world is unreal. But how many people take Brahman as the only reality in practical life? As soon as you get up in the morning, you say "I want this," "I want that." You feel that the objects alone are real. You never even think of the transcendental atma which is the real basis for all these experiences.
He is the intelligent man; he is the strong man; he is the hero who has got dispassion and discrimination, for whom the wealth of the three worlds is as precious as a piece of straw. That is the strength born of discrimination and dispassion. That is the strength that you should acquire. Do not depend upon your bank balance. It may vanish at any time. Indryartheshu vairagyam anahamkarameva cha; janma mrityu jaraavyaadhi duhkha doshaanudarshanam. Develop vairagya towards the objects of the senses, and realise the defect in birth, death, disease, old age and misery here. That is the source of the highest strength. As soon as you get up in the morning you must remember this sloka and meditate upon it.
But maya tempts you and deludes you. It does not allow you to introspect, to meditate, to find out what mistakes you have committed during the day, what Vritti over-powered you, which quality was predominant in you, why the mind is restless in spite of your wealth, position and possessions.
It is the duty of everybody to control the mind and to find out the source of real happiness. Practise namasmaran—you will bring the mind under your control and you will attain the source of real happiness. But few people have faith. They do japa for three months; and if they don't get promotion in their job or if their business does not double itself, they lose faith in the mantra and give it up. There is a great power, achintya-shakti, in the Lord's name. Go on repeating it, for you do not know how much of sin and evil samskaras have to be washed away. Even to become a petty officer in the government, how many years you have to struggle!
Hold the highest goal before your mind always. As soon as you get up recollect the great upanishadic formula: yo vai bhuma tat sukham, na alpa sukham asti—'The infinite alone is bliss; there is no pleasure whatsoever in these little, finite, perishable objects'. Also, eko devah sarva bhuteshu gudah—'The one God is hidden in the heart of all beings'. That is the hidden love, light, wisdom and joy in all these names and forms. That is the only reality.
Through ignorance, raga-dwesha, you are identifying yourself with the body. Raga-dwesha (likes and dislikes) constitute the world in truth-not these trees and buildings, rivers and mountains. It is on account of raga-dwesha, born of ignorance, that you get involved in this cycle of birth and death, and take this body again and again. Cut at the root of this ignorance, Study the Upanishads. Practise yoga. Attain liberation.
Yoga is not something to be practised in a cave. The highest form of yoga is offering all your actions unto him as iswararpana. Feel that there is only one God and say, "I offer all my actions as worship unto him." This is quite essential and sufficient for God-realisation. Maya will tempt you to forget it. Remember this point and bring it to your mind again and again. Watch and pray. Wait and pray.
Nama-smaran is the easiest way to keep this bhav always in your mind. Go on repeating Sri Ram, Sri Ram, Sri Ram always. This will enable you to think of God always. Sri Ram is in no way inferior to Soham, or Aham Brahmamsi formulae. The name of the Lord will take you to the highest goal and will enable you to realise the satchidananda atma.
You must maintain the daily spiritual diary. Do not complain lack of time for sadhana. If you reduce and eliminate the time you waste in idle-gossiping, you will have plenty of time for sadhana. You say that this jhanjat (botheration) of samsara worries you an all sides; I say have this one more jhanjat of japa and dhyana, and it will soon eliminate all other jhanjat. You must feel that the world cannot give you everlasting peace and happiness. Then only is the least spiritual progress possible. That peace and happiness you can have only in japa, kirtan, discipline of the mind and senses, study of Gita and Bhagawata, and in selfless Service. Treat all your actions as divine worship of the all-pervading Lord; then all your activities will become yoga. Constantly hammer the mind with these ideas.
Equip yourself with the four means. Cultivate divine virtues. University education will only enable you to earn your daily bread, not to enjoy the transcendental experience. Vairagya, viveka, sama, dama, titiksha, uparati, sraddha, samadana, and mumukshatwa—all these you should possess in abundance. People don't even understand the meaning of samadana nowadays. Only if you had done selfless service in countless births, through God's grace, discrimination will dawn on you. The purpose of maya is to cloud this discrimination!
The mind is full of impurities; and therefore, you have forgotten the Light of lights "which illumines all things that shine here." Remove these impurities by the cultivation of virtues. You must be burning with the eagerness: "When shall I cultivate this virtue?" Aspiration, renunciation, devotion and meditation. Remember these four words which sum up sadhana. Then through hearing, reflection and meditation, you will reach the goal.
There is great work before you. To control the mind and senses is your foremost duty. He who fails in this duty leads a miserable life in spite of all achievements and acquisitions. He who succeeds in it acquires Brahma-vidya, the knowledge of the atma, the Science of sciences. He who knows it, knows all. He who does not know it, knows nothing even if he has acquired all other knowledge.
Get up at 4 a.m. and meditate. This is very important. This will not only enable you to progress rapidly in sadhana; but it will bestow success on all your undertakings. During the day you have to come into contact with people of various temperaments. If you wish to maintain an unperturbed state of mind throughout the day, therefore, you should generate a powerful satwic current in the mind in brahmamuhurtha. Then you will be able to adapt, adjust and accommodate, and you will enjoy peace and balanced mind which is one of the signs of wisdom. You will not be tempted by sensual objects also. You will realise that though sensual pleasure seems to be pleasant in the beginning, it is productive of great misery and therefore it is always painful and painful alone.
Even a little practice of sadhana paves the way for success. A little japa, a little kirtan, a little selfless service, a little meditation regularly—then there is the descent of grace and rapid spiritual progress.
Look at the world. How much suffering and misery there is! You should have a melting heart and you should share what you have with others. Only then will you be able to experience unity. You want to increase your wealth and look after your children only; how then, can you attain that transcendental experience of unity? If you wish to attain atma-jnana, destroy selfishness first. Then you will see God in all; then you will realise the one atma that pervades all names and forms. Examine yourself. Analyse yourself. Practice self-introspection.
Find out the lurking defects in the mind. Eradicate them; cultivate the opposite virtues. At the end of the month you are now in the habit of calculating how much money you have saved; now develop the habit of calculating how many virtues you have developed, how much you have helped your brothers in distress. That is your real wealth, the source of your real strength, the strength born of wisdom.
The ascetic has no money in the bank; but he possesses the wealth of the Lord. He has the highest spiritual wealth. It is your duty to acquire this wealth. You are growing old day by day. Ask yourself: "I have lived for twenty-five or thirty-five years here; how much of this spiritual wealth have I acquired?" Make fresh resolves now. March forward and attain the goal here and now.
May God give you strength, discrimination, aspiration and renunciation. May you all attain kaivalya moksha in this very birth is my humble prayer to the Lord.
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