Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 26, August 10
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
Today is Sravana Purnima and Raksha Bandhana.
We must bind our mind tightly to Guru.
In the beginning Rama says,
Doshaad …
So what if the mind runs amok? Rama says this mind gets destroyed by its wild running. It becomes weak. It drags us away from performing virtuous deeds. It discourages us from serving elders and Guru. Service to elders, parents, and Guru serves as the doorway to Liberation. But the mind makes us get away from such deeds.
Totakacharya was bringing Guru’s washed clothes, carrying them on his head, as they dripped water. He lamented that he is only doing menial jobs of cleaning and washing but not attending classes or receiving Guru’s instructions. He composed the Totaka Vritta. How did he attain the talent to compose such beautiful poetry? He got it by Guru’s grace from serving Him.
Yesterday we learned the 15th sarga. Rama explained about ego and the troubles it causes.
If something remains unsaid, if I have misunderstood this concept, whatever I still need to learn, where my understanding needs correction or is incomplete, please set me right authoritatively. Please command me firmly. Rama is addressing his two gurus, Vasishtha and Viswamitra.
To be happy and at peace, pay the taxes that you owe the government. Whatever must be done, should be done at the appropriate time.
O noble souls, please command me. In this modern age people will understand ego since they are familiar with email, etc.
If there is ego, there is no peace or happiness.
Chitta dauratmyam is now being discussed. Amara Kosa lists many synonyms for Chitta or mind. The mind has the power to deviate our understanding from knowing the Self. Intellect and mind are both working, pulling from opposite sides. Intellect pulls upward. Mind pulls us downward. We are not talking about listening to the heart, which is a common usage these days.
The mind can go around the world in an instant. The mind can make a small pit appear like a deep ocean. If there is a lake, the mind tells you to jump. The intellect says, do not jump. Mind says, jump, I will take care of you. The intellect cautions, if you jump, you will drown. The mentally weak take rash decisions. Mind is of neuter gender in Sanskrit. Intellect protects like a mother. We leave her grip and try to run away by the influence of the mind. She holds on to us to protect us. Mind is negligent and rash. If we listen to the mind we get into deep trouble. One who walks the tight rope is very brave and daring. He has practiced and mastered that skill. Mind will tempt you also to try it and says that it is great to enjoy that freedom. Intellect says, you will fall and break your head. You have not learned that skill. It is not easy.
Youngsters today are misled by listening to the mind that tells them to do unwise things. In fever, the intellect tells you to rest and get well first. Mind says, do not care about fever. Do what you wish.
Pursuit of Yoga will lead to the result that it promises to yield. At the end you only see the reward. You forget the effort that went into obtaining it. Mind discourages you from doing the systematic practice. Intellect encourages you towards it.
Misleading one is duraatma bhavam. What is existent appears as non-existent and vice versa. Describing this, Rama says, some people argue why not allow the mind a free rein? What is wrong in enjoying its play? By watching the cinema if you forget that your exam is scheduled for that same day, you are in trouble. Such is the trouble caused by the mind.
Mind generates dreams. If it is a good dream, you enjoy it. But if the dream is prolonged or if it is a nightmare, you do not find any happiness in it. Just because milk is good if you drink several liters at a time, you will keep sitting in the bathroom.
The pains that mind causes are countless. The way termites eat up a magnificent tree, the mind destroys us. It takes us away from Guru. It makes us disrespect parents. It makes us commit numerous sins. Why should parents be taken care of? Why should Guru’s advice be heeded? Mind draws you away from such good practices. If these good deeds are done, the way to liberation opens up. Mind, like a peacock feather with numerous colors, distracts a person from doing their duties diligently.
Mayura kalpa = a peacock is released by Mother Goddess. The world appears in a colorful array and tempts the viewer.
See the world with the eye of wisdom. You need to know what is good that should be accepted and what is bad that should be rejected. A painting is there in a museum. The painter simply splashed some paint. We see what we wish to see in the painting. We see there whatever shapes we wish to see.
Like a peacock feather, the mind keeps waving in the breeze, remaining very unsteady and ever moving. The mind does not stay still and focused on spiritual learning/jnana. We are forced to run behind the mind which is most unsteady. The moment we sit to do mantra japa, it begins to run. There is no concentration. It leaves us and goes away here and there. The intellect comes to our aid. Like a mother scolding her errant child, the intellect scolds. You must encourage that scolding by the intellect. The Mind has to be controlled by force.
When people see a mad dog, they feel disgust towards it. Like a mad dog the mind goes wherever it pleases, without any discretion. Rama describes the nature of the mind. We feel that we have to contain the mind. But just as it is impossible to contain water in a woven basket, it is impossible to contain the mind.
When a deer stays with the group of deer, it is safe. But if it gets separated from its companions, its troubles will begin. Mind gets separated from its proper associations. It gets caught in the net called desires. It has no happiness or comfort. How to extricate it from the net?
This is a beautiful verse.
Taranga …Like a wave that you eagerly wait for as it approaches, as quickly it recedes from you and vanishes, the mind also is very unpredictable and impossible to capture because of its incessant movement.
The mind is neither happy with itself nor does it give happiness to the gross and the subtle bodies. It does not stay still even for an instant. We hear some noise, we become afraid, we get up to investigate, we return, we hear another sound – all this is the mischief of the mind. Mind is stuck to the physical and subtle bodies and constantly gives them trouble and anxiety.
Just as by the churning by the Mandhara Mountain, the ocean of milk became turbulent, by the churning of desires created by the mind, our lives become turbulent. We have to be very careful in handling this troublesome mind.
Sri Rama says this vast ocean called the mind simply cannot be controlled by me. I am most incompetent to bring it under control. It is so fast, so fickle, so powerful, so enticing. It is like an ocean during a hurricane. It is ever in turmoil and is uncontrollable. Fabricating all the things of the world, this mind swallows me up like a crocodile swallows the small fish.
If Rama says the he himself is not capable of controlling the mind, we can understand how powerfully the mind is dragging us all down into the nether region/Patala.
Sit still and study for a few minutes. No. Just pay attention and listen for a few minutes. No. Just stay calm for a few minutes. No.
The mind is here one moment and thinking of what is happening there the next moment. It goes there the next moment and thinks about what is happening here the following moment. Like this, the mind is flitting about constantly, never resting on any one topic. Just like a cow flits from one blade of grass to another, this mind also keeps jumping from one subject to another. An animal knows and suspects that a trap has been prepared to catch it by placing attractive green grass on a flimsy cover placed on a deep dangerous pit. Still, out of attraction for the grass it goes and steps on the grass and falls into the pit.
We know that the mind is leading us astray. But we are unable to resist its temptations. Like a deer that runs farther and farther away out of fear with eyes darting to all sides, the mind also runs here and there darting without respite. Because of the mind we get absolutely no rest. Like a lion in a cage it keeps pacing restlessly. To make the lion sleep, the zoo keeper releases the lion into an open space. There it will rest and sleep, but never inside the cage. The mind should be set free. When we cage the mind, it remains restless. A broad perspective is needed for the mind to find some peace.
Rama says many more interesting things about the Mind.
This mind rides the chariot called illusion, says Rama. The way a swan takes only the milk from a mixture of milk and water, this mind takes away our even-mindedness. Rama gives us innumerable examples hoping that at least one of those will find its target and will make an impression in our minds to make us understand the dangerous nature of the mind. We get angry at someone. What happens then? We lose our peace of mind. Our BP rises. We get sick. If we find a loved one approaching, we feel at ease. We are happy. Being happy is good for our health. We should increase our happy thoughts.
The mind fills our mind with bad thoughts.
I wish to conquer this mind, says Rama.
I am very upset and agitated. There is no limit to the mind’s fabrications. It gets into all kinds of needless thoughts. It thinks only troublesome thought. In a cot of the olden days, there are crisscrossing bands that support it that are tied in knots at the ends. The way those bands are woven, the mind weaves endless thoughts. The mind falls asleep on the cot called illusion. It never wakes up. Even the Guru sometimes is unable to wake up this mind and get it out of its bed called illusions. By constantly hearing good counsel it must wake up.
Therefore I am in turmoil.
With discipline, we can wake up early without need for an alarm clock.
People wake up late shutting off the alarm, do not brush their teeth, do not bathe, do not eat proper food, go to work like that without any exercise, prayer or meditation or proper rest. What is the fate of such persons? Their stress and diseases increase.
The hunter throws a net and stays far away and waits patiently. He does not cough or sneeze. He does not even eat. Some birds wait cautiously. Some birds come and sit in the net readily. All the cords of the net are in the hunter’s hands. When he pulls them the net closes around the birds. We, who should be free, are caught in the net called Mind.
This fire called Mind is burning me up. Anger emits from the mind. Krishna beautifully explains in the Bhagavad Gita sequentially the way we go downhill. Someone does something. We want to do the same thing. We do not succeed the way the other person succeeded. He is an athlete. We begin at age 40. How can we succeed like him? We get angry. We should copy others in their practice. We cannot copy their success. Each is different. The attributes, talents, and attitudes are different.
When anger increases, BP goes up. He falls, gets a blood clot, and goes into a coma. At that stage he does not even know who feeds him.
Why is liquor drinking banned in the scriptures? We should never become unaware of what is happening to us by losing our alertness and coordination.
The smoke is there when flames rise from anxiety. Chita is pyre that burns. From anxiety flames arise. Mind/Chitta is the fire that scorches me.
A small strategy is suggested. That is not Rama’s intention. He is merely stating the condition of his mind. For this entire Vairagya prakarana, the answers are given later by either Vasishtha or Viswamitra.
Sage Patanjali says that Yoga remedies the mind. Mantra japa gives nourishment to the faculty of speech. Mental, verbal, and physical weaknesses are remedied by yoga. Pranayama develops concentration. The Mind needs a support. Prana Sakti offers good support to the Mind that has several wheels that make it move very fast.
A child sleeps when the cradle is swung. After the child sleeps we stop the swinging.
Pranayama and Kriya Yoga should be practiced daily. The mind should be kept calm and steady. We sat down to listen calmly. But the mind wanders towards other thoughts if it is not focusing. When the mind is steady, the subject will be understood. Otherwise the mind will not grasp the subject being discussed. If the mind is under control, we can understand ourselves. May all of you attain Yoga Siddhi.
Today is Sravana Purnima. During Sri Chakra Puja there will be flute concert by Jayaprada. We will also have the darshan of Sadgurudeva.
Om Santissantissantihi
Sri Guru Datta