BE FIRM IN WISDOM

                                     Be Firm In Wisdom

Viveka (wisdom) gives inner strength and mental peace. A viveki (wise one) gets no troubles. He is always on the alert. He never gets entangled in anything. He has far­-sightedness. He knows the true value of the objects of this universe. He is fully aware of the worthlessness of these shallow toys. Nothing, nothing can tempt him. Maya (illusion) cannot approach him now.

Associations with mahatmas (holy ones) and study of vedantic literature will infuse viveka in man. Viveka should be developed to the maximum degree; one should be well established in it; viveka should not be an ephemeral or occasional mood in an aspirant. It should not fail him when he is in trouble, when any difficulty stares him in the face. It must indeed become part and parcel of his nature. He should exercise it at all times without any effort. If one is careless in the beginning, viveka may come and go. So the aspirant should live in the company of sages for a long time till viveka burns in him like a big steady flame.

Maya is very powerful. She tries her extreme level best to lead the aspirant astray. She throws many temptations and obstacles on the path of young inexperienced aspirants. Therefore the company of sages and mahatmas is like an impenetrable fortress for the neophyte. Now no temptations can assail him. He will undoubtedly develop true and lasting viveka. He will then have permanent and spontaneous viveka.

Then only he is truly and perfectly safe. The dangerous zone is past. Only a true viveki can claim to be the richest, happiest and most powerful man in the world. He is a rare spiritual gem. He is a beacon-­light and torch­-bearer. If viveka is developed, all other qualifications will come by themselves. From viveka is born vairagya (dispassion).
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Discrimination is the faculty which distinguishes between the real and the unreal. The whole world outside and the universe that is inside, are unreal. Earth, water, wind, fire, the sky, the ocean, our bodies and the vital force animating them, our minds, our consciousness of ourselves ­- all are but airy nothingness. The only real thing is the Atman (Self) or Brahman, the Absolute.

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VAIRAGYA

                                               Vairagya

There is a way to the immortal abode and supreme happiness. There is a way to the fourth dimension. That way is vairagya. Follow the way. Vairagya is dispassion, desirelessness or non­-attachment. It is indifference to sensual objects herein and hereafter. It is born of and sustained by right discrimination.

Vairagya is the opposite of attachment which binds a man to the wheel of births and deaths; vairagya liberates a man from bondage. Vairagya purifies the sensual mind and turns it inward. It is the most important qualification for a spiritual aspirant. Without it, no spiritual life is possible.

The two currents of the mind -­ attraction and repulsion -­ really constitute the world of births and deaths. A worldly man is a slave of these two mighty currents and is tossed about hither and thither like a piece of straw. He smiles when experiencing pleasure; he weeps when in pain. He clings to pleasant objects and runs away from those which cause pain.

Wherever there is sensation of pleasure, the mind gets glued, as it were, to the object that gives pleasure. This is what is called attachment and brings only bondage and pain. When the object is withdrawn, or when it perishes, the mind suffers unspeakable pain. Attraction is the root­-cause for human suffering.

A dispassionate man has a different training and has a different experience altogether. He is a pastmaster in the art or science of separating himself from the impermanent, perishable objects. He has absolutely no attraction for them and constantly dwells in the eternal. He stands adamantine as a peak amidst a turbulent storm, as a spectator of this wonderful world­-show. A dispassionate man has no attraction for pleasant objects and no repulsion for painful ones. Nor is he afraid of pain. He knows well that pain helps considerably in his progress and evolution, in his journey towards the goal. He is convinced that pain is the best teacher.

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REAL DISPASSION

                                         Real Dispassion

The world is as unreal as a shadow, bubble or froth. Why do you run after the toys of name and fame? How uncertain is sensual life in this illusory world! How transitory is sensual pleasure! Mark how many thousands of people were carried away in the recent earthquake! How many houses were destroyed! Yet people want to build seaside cottages and attain immortality there. How foolish they are! Self­-deluded souls! Pitiable is their lot! I pray for them. They are earthworms only, as they revel in filth. May God bestow on them vairagya (dispassion), viveka (wisdom) and bhakti (devotion).

The vairagya that comes momentarily after such incidents as the loss of some dearly beloved relative, or wealth, is known as karana vairagya. It will not help much in one's spiritual progress. The mind will be simply waiting to catch hold of the sensual objects when an opportunity comes.

Vairagya, born of discrimination, is the premonitory symptom of spiritual development. It will help the aspirant in his spiritual upliftment. If you develop vairagya, if you subdue your indriyas and shun the enjoyments and pleasures of this world ­- as dung, as poison, as they are mixed with pain, sin, fear, craving, miseries, disease, old age and death -­ nothing can tempt you in this world. You will have eternal peace and infinite bliss. You will have no attraction for women and other earthly objects. Lust cannot take hold of you.

The body is the source of great miseries. It is full of impurities. It brings disrespect, censure, etc. It is subject to diseases, decay and old age. It passes away without a moment's notice.

Give up moha (attachment) for the body. Think of the Atman (Self) which is eternal, pure and all­pervading. The things that used to afford you delight before, give you displeasure now. That is the sign of vairagya. The shadow of clouds, the friendship with a fool, the beauty of youth, wealth -­ all last only for a short time. Vairagya (dispassion, indifference, non­-attachment) is of two kinds: karana vairagya on account of some miseries and viveka purvak vairagya on account of discrimination between real and unreal. The mind of the former type of man is simply waiting for the opportunity to get back the things that were given up. But the other man who gave up the objects on account of viveka will have spiritual advancement. He will not have a downfall.

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ABANDON BODY-CONSCIOUSNESS

                             Abandon Body-Consciousness

The physical body appears only in the present. A thing which has neither past nor future must be considered as non­-existent in the present also. If you think over deeply, with pure intelligence, you will find atyanta abhava (complete non-­existence) for the world.

This body which is full of impurities, urine, pus and faecal matter etc., is perishable. It is like froth or bubble or mirage. It is despised by its enemies. It remains like a useless log of wood on the ground when prana (life) leaves it. It is the cause of pain and suffering. It is your enemy. You should treat this body with contempt, as dung. Why should you cling to it and worship it with scents, powders and flowers? Do not be silly and foolish in adorning it with fine silks and ornaments. It is dire ignorance only.

"Nothing on this earth belongs to me; this body is not mine" -­ this is wisdom. "He is my son; she is my daughter; she is my wife; that bungalow is mine; that garden is mine; I am a brahmana; I am lean; I am fat" -­ this is foolishness of a superior order. This physical body is the property of fishes, jackals and vultures. How can you call this yours?

Application of soap to the body, oil to the hair, powder to the face, looking in the mirror very often, wearing rings on the fingers -­ all these will intensify moha (attachment) for the body. Therefore give up these things ruthlessly.

Will your son or daughter or friend or relative help you when you are about to die? Have you got one sincere, unselfish friend in this world? All are selfish. There is no pure love. But that Lord, your real Friend of friends, Father of fathers, who dwells in your heart, will never forsake you though you forsake him. Adore in silence that God of gods, Divinity of divinities, Highest of the highest. May He bless us with His love, wisdom, power and peace. Om!

Narayana Upanishad says: "In the beginning these two roads were laid, the roads through karma (action) and sanyasa (renunciation). The latter consists in the renunciation of three-­fold desire -­ of son, wealth and fame. Of these, the road through sanyasa is preferable." The Taittiriya Upanishad also says: "Renunciation, tyaga, is certainly to be preferred."

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WHERE IS REAL LOVE

                                     Where Is Real Love

The desire to attain knowledge of the Self will dawn only in the person who is free from desires, who has a pure mind, and who is quite disgusted with this worldly life. Such a man only is competent to hear, meditate and attain Brahman, jnana or knowledge of Brahman. When the knowledge of the Self dawns, ignorance, which is the seed for bondage and the cause of karma, is totally eradicated and the aspirant attains immortality and eternal bliss.

Do not depend upon anybody. Rely on your own self. Be centred in the Atman only. The sweet wife deserts her husband when he is on the roll of unemployment and marries another young man. The rich husband divorces his wife when she loses her beauty on account of protracted illness and marries another woman. Even Lord Jesus and Buddha were forsaken by all their friends, followers and disciples. This is a strange world. Mysterious is maya (illusion)!

Real affection can be found in God and sages only. Worldly affection is only showy, hypocritical, illusory and changing. Just see whether your relatives, even your friends, your brothers and sisters show affection to you when you are unemployed, when you are suffering from a chronic, incurable disease and are without any money in your hands.

Saints and prophets who have realised God are shouting at the tops of their voices that the Lord is dwelling in the hearts of beings, and yet no one is earnestly attempting to make a vigorous search in his own heart. Is this not lamentable? God is above below, within, without and all around. Thirst for his darsan (vision). Look within, practise introvision. Try earnestly to attain the immortal being. In Him, you can find eternal peace. Enter His kingdom right now in this very second. Stand firm on the rock of truth or Brahman. Have a firm grip of your reality, the self-­luminous, immortal Atman or soul. Look upon this universe as your all-full form. Only when knowledge of the Self dawns in your heart can you free yourself from rebirth and become identical with the Supreme Self. Equip yourself with the four means. Hear the srutis (scriptures), reflect, meditate and realise. May you become a sage!

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FREEDOM FROM ATTCHMENT

                               Freedom From Attachment

Attachment produces infatuation and causes entanglement. Fear exists on account of attachment and desire. Infatuation or delusion is a stigma on pure love. Attachment to the objects of the world is due to ignorance of their true nature. Nothing but the Atman (Self) really exists. Objects are illusion. Attachment is indicative of the feeling that the objective possession brings happiness. This idea has to be removed from the mind.

Happiness is not in the objects but in one's own Atman. Attachment is the impure vasana (feeling) of love or hate that is entertained by the mind for the diverse objects of this world. If you remain unaffected by joy, envy and sorrow, you have relinquished all attachments. If, without rejoicing in joy, or pining under pain, you do not subject yourself to the trammels of desire, then you can be said to have rid yourself of attachment.

If you can be content with whatever you get, then you have cast off attachment. Through attachment, desire for material objects arises. Renunciation of attachment is said to be moksa (release). Through its destruction, all rebirth ceases. Destroy the association of the mind with the objects and attain the state of the jivanmukta (liberated soul).

Pleasure does not lie in the objects but in the condition of the mind. The mind goes out in search of pleasure. At the same time there is pain as the mind is straying away from the truth. When the object is attained, the mind ceases to function and rests on the Atman, the substratum. Then it unconsciously tastes the bliss of the Atman.
Sublimate your inward longings through discrimination, dispassion, enquiry and meditation. You will attain supreme bliss.
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Develop vairagya (dispassion). Sharpen the intellect. Give up kutarka and viparita bhavana (distorted and perverted thinking). Identify yourself with the pure Atman. You will soon attain knowledge of the Self.

If you are careless and non-vigilant, if you are irregular in meditation, if your dispassion wanes, if you yield even a bit to sense pleasures, the mind will continue to go downward. Maya (illusion) closes in even upon a wise man if he stops his sadhana  (practice) and meditation even for a short time.
Be careful. Be alert. Be regular in your meditation.

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TRUE DISPASSION

                                        True Dispassion 

Vairagya (dispassion) does not mean abandoning social duties and the responsibilities of life. It does not mean detachment from the world, or a life in a solitary cave of the Himalayas or in the cremation ground. It does not mean living on neem leaves, the wearing of matted hair and carrying a water-pot made of gourd or coconut-shell in the hand. It does not mean shaving of the head and discarding one's clothes. Vairagya is mental detachment from all connections of the world.

A man may remain in the world and discharge all the duties of his order and stage of life with detachment. He may be a householder. He may live with family and children. But at the same time, he may have perfect mental detachment from everything. He can perform his spiritual practice systematically. That man who has perfect mental detachment while remaining in the world is a hero, indeed. He is much better than a holy man who is living in a cave of the Himalayas, because the former has to face innumerable temptations at every moment of his life.

Wherever a man may go, he carries with him his fickle, restless mind, his desires and subconscious impressions. Even if he lives in solitude in the Himalayas, still he is the same worldly man if he is engaged in building castles in the air and in thinking of the objects of the world. In that case even the cave becomes a big city for him. If the mind remains quiet, if it is free from attachments, one can be perfectly dispassionate even while living in a mansion in the busiest part of a city like Calcutta. Such a mansion will be converted into a dense forest by him. Vairagya is purely a mental state.

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Vairagya is a means for attaining wisdom of the Self. It is not the goal itself. A realised sage has neither desire nor dispassion. If you give him a little dry bread, he is quite satisfied and will not grumble. If you give him the best sweetmeats, milk and fruits, he will not refuse, but he will not be elated by good food. He has equanimity of mind and is above likes and dislikes. He always delights in his own Self only, but not in external objects.

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