EASY PATH TO GOD-REALISATION
BY SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA SARASWATI

CHAPTER I
TO THE WORLDLY MINDED

Nature of the World

This world is a play of colours and sounds. This sense-universe is a play of nerves. It is a false show kept up by the jugglery of Maya, mind and senses. You enjoy the sensual pleasures for a period of twenty years when the senses are strong. What is this short evanescent period of twenty years in eternity? What is this despicable, jarring, monotonous sensual life when compared with the eternal and peaceful life in the immortal Self within?

Worldly life is chaotic and fragmentary. It is full of noise, troubles, unrest, agitation and tribulations. A worldly man is a spiritual bankrupt, though he may be a very wealthy and extremely intelligent man, though he may hold a very high position, rank or status in society. Spiritual wealth is the real inexhaustible wealth. Spiritual knowledge is the real knowledge. Spiritual life is the real life. A full blown Yogi is the real Emperor of the whole world.

An ordinary worldly man is sunk deep in the terrible abyss of ignorance. He does not know what he is exactly doing. He is under intoxication of lust and gold. But he thinks, "I am a very wise man. I know much better than anybody else." This is delusion due to the influence of Avidya or Maya. He who knows his own Self is really a wise man.

You are helpless when you are a baby. You are also helpless when you are seriously ailing. You are helpless when you become old also. Why then do you boast of your ability, capacity, independence and freedom? Why are you proud and egoistic? Transcend the body and mind and realise the immortal Self. Then only you can be really strong, independent and free. Rise above delusion and illusion through discrimination, self analysis and enquiry of "Who am I"?

Man is pleased with the past. He is always discontented with the present. He hopes for the future. This is human nature. This is life on the earth plane. A sage who has gone beyond time is ever happy and rests in his own All blissful eternal Self wherein there is neither past nor present nor future.

A "True" Story
One moonlit night after supper, young Soni pressed his mother Kamalaji to tell him a very interesting story. Kamala caressed young Soni with motherly affection and began to narrate the following story:Once upon a time in the city of Kalinga there was a famous and renowned printing press called Noman's Press. Mr. Noman was its sole proprietor. The capital invested for the starting of the Press was zero crores of rupees.
The press was equipped with types of different fonts and had very beautiful faces which were all made of superior molten clay. Thus the type foundry section of the press stood unrivalled for its production. The ink used for printing was pure aqua mixed with lime.There were a number of machines well fitted with up to date mechanism. They were all manufactured out of strong cast bamboo sticks well burnt to ashes. The compositors, proof readers and other staff of the Press were, without exception, all blind.

Equipped with such up to date and well organised machinery and staff, the press earned a good will and fame which reached the three worlds, earth, heaven and the nether world. The proprietor Mr. Noman became even wealthier than Kubera, the Lord of wealth. Even the gods envied his wealth and prosperity. Lacs and crores of books with 000,000,000 pages were printed in this press daily. Every sheet of paper of the book had only one side. The press flourished for crores of centuries of a moment's duration of Noman's mental world, serving the humanity with its valuable publications. Young Soni was very much pleased to hear the captivating story and believed every word of his mother.Such is the reality of the world of sensual happiness, and the fate of Mr. Noman will be shared by those who expect happiness from sensual objects of the world.

Is There Pleasure or Pain in the World?
In this scientific era or age of the so called modern civilisation greed, passion, selfishness are increasing day by day, nay, hour by hour. One nation wants to devour another nation. Man has lost his manliness. On account of passion he is under the firm grip of lust—the soft government. The son drags his father to the courts for the division of property. The wife divorces her present husband and marries another, if he happens to be more rich, more beautiful and more young. Chastity or Pativrata Dharma has almost ceased to exist.

The younger brother poisons his elder brother to take possession of his estate. You see cruelty, dishonesty, injustice, atrocity everywhere. No one keeps up his promises. The father has no faith in his son. The wife has no faith in her husband and vice versa.

Young graduates and young doctors come to Rishikesh with earthen pots and orange robes to search caves in Uttarakasi and Gangotri for deep meditation and practice of Pranayama. Some young research students in Science (D.Sc.) and Rajkumars go to the Punjab in silken suits with collars and ties in search of girls for marriage. Is there pain or pleasure in this world? If there is pleasure, why do young graduates retire into forests? If there is pain, why do young men run after wealth, position and women? Mysterious is Maya! Try to understand the riddle of life and the riddle of the Universe. Acquire Viveka. Do Satsanga. Enquire into the nature of the Atman. Study Yogavasishta and the Upanishads. Then you will have a comprehensive understanding of the problems of life.

This is a world of three Gunas. There are three types of men viz., Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic. This world contains people of Tamo Guna in abundance. It is these Tamasic people who are creating mischief always. This is their nature. Let us be silent witness and enjoy the Lila of the Lord. Tamasic people will bark, but they cannot do any real harm to the Sattvic people.

Ponder These Facts
In the whirlpool of fleeting sensual pleasures you have forgotten the purpose of life and the goal. You live more for the body than for the soul. In your pursuit after the phantom shows of worldly vanities, you have annihilated the spiritual instincts and longings of the soul. What a sad state! Mysterious is Maya! Mysterious is Moha! Open your eyes now! Wake up from the long slumber of ignorance. Realise the ultimate Reality and enjoy eternal bliss.

In Kali Yuga people sell boiled rice and trade in the name of religion. Ladies lead an unchaste life. There is dispute between father and son and the son sues his father in the court. Son ill treats his mother. Wife is worshipped by the husband. One thing more, pseudo Sannyasins also do all sorts of mischief.

Ponder over the sufferings of human life. Take a little food. Withdraw the senses from their attracting objects of enjoyment. Sit quietly in your room. Look within. Meditate. You will soon attain the supreme peace of the Eternal.

Wake up from the slumber of ignorance from profound inertia. Cultivate all embracing love. Do selfless service. Be patient. Practise introspection. Develop intense Vairagya. Meditate regularly. You will attain immortality. Regain your lost divinity.

You are not the slave of the senses and desires. You are the mighty Emperor of emperors. Pain is a passing cloud. Sorrow is a fleeting shadow. Sorrow is false. It cannot live. Bliss is true. It cannot die. Rise above desires. Renounce selfishness and egoism. Awake.Arise. Become a dynamic Yogi. Enjoy the Eternal bliss of the soul. Thou art immortal, all blissful Atman. Thou art beyond the reach of pain, grief, sorrow, decay and death.

Think carefully. Decide correctly. Act faithfully. Speak truthfully. Live honestly. Work diligently. Talk gently. Behave properly. You are bound to succeed in any walk of life. You will have peace of mind. You will have a pure conscience. You will get spiritual wealth of an inexhaustible nature.

Maya
In this world some dance in joy, some others weep; some sing, some yell out in agony. Some deliver lectures; some run out to forests clad in rags, with cocoanut bowls in their hands; some go to Paris hotels clad in silken, scented robes; some shut their mouths and take a vow of silence. Oh Lord! I do not know what is there in this world, whether there is Amrita (nectar) or poison. World is a mystery. World is an Ascharya (wonder). World is Anirvachaniya (indescribable). It is neither Sat nor Asat; neither Jada (insentient, inanimate) nor Chaitanya (pure consciousness); neither Bhinna (separate) nor Abhinna (non separate). It is the product of Chit Sakti of Brahman. It is the Karya (effect) of Maya.

When a man is in a dying condition, Ayurvedic doctors give Siddha Makaradhvaja to produce heat in the body and make him talk for a short time. If you take hold of the key of his money box, which he has tied to his holy thread and try to remove it before his eyes he will at once begin to talk to you. He will be irritated and will prevent you from removing the key. Man has got a great attachment to money.

Just as a landlord has two dogs at the door of his house to prevent people from entering his house, so also the Lord has placed two Mayaic dogs, viz., money and lust at His door which prevent you from approaching Him. If you are devoted to the Lord, He removes the Mayaic illusion. The dogs will not bark. You can freely enter His chambers. Money and lust cannot deceive you now.

What is called Maya is only money and lust. Money and lust are two crocodiles in the river which prevent you from reaching the Lord who is on the other side of the river.

Maya havocs through imagination of the mind. Woman is not beautiful but the imagination is beautiful. Sugar is not sweet but the imagination is sweet. Food is not palatable, but the imagination is palatable. Man is not weak but the imagination is weak. Understand the nature of Maya and mind and become wise. Curb this imagination of the mind by Vichara or right thinking and rest in Brahman wherein there is neither imagination nor Sankalpa nor thought.

There is no end for craving (Trishna) in the life of a worldly man. That is the reason why a worldly man is ever restless despite his wealth and comforts. There is always dissatisfaction with his lot. He is ever discontented. Before one craving is satisfied another craving is ready to occupy his mind and this craving agitates the mind and makes a constant demand for gratification. He exerts along with the mind and the Karma Indriyas to possess the objects and enjoy them. He forgets his real divine nature and plunges himself in the ocean of Samsara (worldliness).

Give a good scrubbing to a pig with Pears' soap and a nice bath. Place it on a soft mattress and give it nice dishes to eat. It will not eat. It will immediately run away to eat filth. Even so, if you place the worldly minded man in the company of saints, Yogins and Sannyasins in solitary places with charming scenery, they can never live in peace. They will feel like fish out of water. They will feel like the pig that is put on the mattress.

**********************************