Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 36, August 22
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May there be peace.
Guru Dhyanam: Gurur Brahmaa, Sri Bhooyuta.. , Ajnana .. Akhanda, Dehe …, Akhandam ..
Yoga Vasishtha Dhyana Slokas:
yatassarvāṇi bhūtāni pratibhānti sthitāni ca
yatraivōpaśamaṁ yānti tasmai satyātmanē namaḥ || 1
jñātā jñānaṁ tathā jñēyaṁ draṣṭādarśana dr̥śyabhūḥ
kartā hētuḥ kriyā yasmāt tasmai jñaptyātmanē namaḥ || 2
sphuranti sīkarā yasmāt ānanandasyāṁbarē vanau
sarvēṣām jīvanam tasmai brahmānandātmanē namaḥ || 3
Brahmanandam, Sri Vasishtham Namami, Ramaya, Aapadaamapahartaaram, Om Purnamadah,
Om Santissantissantihi
Yesterday we learned about the negative aspects of the body that we occupy.
When we enjoy comforts no one demands an explanation from God. But we blame Him for our pains. We totally forget to thank God for all the benefits that we enjoy. Anjaneya is a Chiranjeevi/immortal. He wishes to be born again and again as a devotee to offer praises and thanks for God’s grace.
We ourselves have earned our good fortune and misfortune. Our strength is lacking to endure our fate. You ran, you slipped and fell. But you blame the one who made the floor wet. It is natural to look for someone else to blame. God is smiling always. He does not react to your praise or blame. We are responsible for our circumstances. We see only this lifetime. We question why we suffer bad things. We do not remember our past lifetimes and the misdeeds. No need to suffer so much, we think. We see ourselves in our children and grandchildren and wish success for them.
Veda also says that. You take the names of son and daughter and you identify with them. A series of births we have taken. As animals also we have lived and some of those tendencies we exhibit in this lifetime also. We carry a lot of baggage with us from past lives. All our circumstances are pre-planned by ourselves. God simply witnesses with no reaction. Like a movie reel or a slideshow it keeps moving.
If we initiate some change within ourselves, God will show His grace and He will guide us in the spiritual path. He will make a Sankalpa/intention to help such a devotee to cross over this ocean of rebirths.
Sadguru’s grace should be earned. Only your initiative and practice in the spiritual field will give him happiness.
Your worldly life does not interest him.
What should I do with this kingdom? Sri Rama is expressing his words of wisdom. Arjuna questioned out of ignorance in the Bhagavad Gita. Guru’s upadesa gives His words authenticity. For that reason, Sri Rama is speaking. Why pursue what is transient? I will not do it. I have no fascination for this body that shows no loyalty or gratitude. We have given beautiful clothes, food, and decorations. Yet, it leaves us. The soul ever remains in a subtle form. Our ancestors always wish us well. The bodies have returned to the five elements. But their soul remains.
The body has left. The soul remains. This is spirituality. This should give us great solace when the near and dear depart. May be parents, spouse, or children. Then you begin to see them in everyone you see around you.
The body cannot be trusted. It has no loyalty. No wise person would show much interest in it. It is unsteady like the ears of an elephant, which are continually moving. The body keeps deteriorating and finally it perishes.
We do not wish to learn the truth about ourselves because we are afraid. Whether we pass or fail in an exam we have to face the truth. We should not run away from the truth. Out of fear you run away from a rope, thinking that it is a snake. Such is the fear of Vedanta.
Although repeatedly experiencing this, people still are unwilling to let their infatuation for the body leave them. They see that the body treats everyone alike. Sri Rama is piercing us with our own thorn. Know the truth about the body.
Like a turtle that sleeps in its cave inside the ocean giving up even hunger for food, we remain. But the trouble is that there is no inclination to seek spiritual truth.
When we are asked to ask questions, we ask: when will I get married? We forget to ask for Guru’s grace. We only remember our difficulties and give a list. We think that our troubles are huge as a mountain and that we are carrying the burden.
We were helpless as children. But we learned to stand on our own two feet by God’s grace. But we do not think of thanking Him. Get that turtle out of the cave. Do not let him remain like a mute person. Initiate in him to an interest in God, says Sri Rama.
The movement of air and light can be detected but we cannot predict the movement of this body.
Sri Rama is speaking with sadness about those who have absolutely no inclination towards spiritual pursuits. They are totally absorbed in worldliness. They totally believe nothing else exists except the world. They give no thought to the Creator and sustainer of this world.
If you do not perform good deeds, the world will suffer. It is your duty to serve the world. Janardana, the ruler of the world should be remembered and served. Seeing the ashrama, one should also have darshan of Swamiji who created this ashrama.
People who are atheists are intoxicated with their own ignorance. Even people of esteem get drunk and end up in the gutters. Those who deny the existence of God are like that. Sri Rama is totally against such people. They deserve to be blamed.
Sri Rama says: I am not just this body. I am the consciousness that resides inside this body. The world is not real. Only God is real. The body is not anyone’s property. People only protect it temporarily. The strain of mental stress is extreme. Those who dwell in thoughts of God, they alone find rest and repose. I appreciate those who strive to know God. Their lives are worthy. We must get peace by acquiring spiritual knowledge. Sri Rama also show the way for obtaining it.
We are seeing. But do we not see properly. We see some illusions. Inside one picture, you see many images, such as a king, a peacock, a dog, and so forth. We see them all. Sometimes our vision deceives us. We have a beautiful song in Kannada that gives the same meaning. What you see may be false. What you see appears like 3 lines, when there are actually 4 lines there.
Whatever causes this illusion, creates all kinds of feelings within us, such as insult, profit, and so on. People see the advertisements and get fooled. Do not get deceived like that. The mind alone runs after things, but not the intellect. Until we fall in the pit, we do not realize our mistake.
We look outside all the time. We fail to find God who is inside us. We trust this body to be real. It totally deceives us. We have to change the way we look at things, to realize the actual reality.
Like a devil, the ego deceives us. It rests in the deep pit called the body. Egotism is its nature.
This false perception is a devil. It is a demon. It enslaves the intellect. It does not allow our reasoning to function properly. This demon that has occupied this body operates without any other aide and consumes our discretion.
As regards this vision of the world, it has absolutely no real substance to it. In English they say – I pray that your dreams come true. Our tradition does not engage in this type of blessing. We know that all dreams are not good dreams. Some are nightmares. What is the point in getting such dreams come true?
Good dreams, perhaps. What is not easily achievable is considered a dream. In that sense, wishing success in efforts is okay. When you wake up from a dream, you know that it is not true. You see snakes, scorpions and dragons in a dream. You do not wish for them all to come true. The relatives appear in the dream and people weep and laugh in their dreams. What we see in our dreams is not true. What we see in the wakeful state is also not true.
Some blind people see the world differently. They perceive only by touch. Some good blind singers see only one color. The fish thinks that only water exists in this world. A frog in the well thinks that the well is the largest body of water in existence. Our perspective remains limited. It does not become broad because we are unwilling to allow it.
What is your name? If you do not know, what is the use? We must have a proper picture of the world and of ourselves.
There is smasana, prasooti, and maithuna vairagya/fleeting sense of detachment that occurs when you witness death, childbirth, and bereavement. These do not last. It is a great wonder that we see and yet we do not realize and accept the truth.
One day this body, like a leaf, will drop. Yet, we do not attempt to serve God, seek, or realize the Truth.
A drop of water slowly flows down and suddenly drops to the ground. Like that the body drops.
We have a friend. He travels with us, eats with us, sleeps with us, and always goes one step before us. He is death. It is better that he keeps his distance. But he does not leave our side.
Like a bubble in the ocean we are. When the bubble bursts, it merges with the ocean. But do we burst and merge with God? Not unless we seek God.
We are caught in the whirlpool of delusion. It yields no reward. It does not uplift us. We are the ones born and must die. In the matter of Self-Realization, we have to be most selfish. This concerns only us. If we desire to go to Bangalore, we must reach that destination. It is no use ending up in Hassan.
Like a leaf caught in a whirlpool, we keep going round and round.
How did we obtain this body? Why are we given this lifetime? Some are healthy. Some are sick. Some are rich and some are poor. Why has God created so many differences? We easily criticize God. But think about it. We think that the child is mine. That other child is not mine. People lack compassion. But God has no favoritism. He is filled with compassion towards all. We are responsible for the kind of body that we are given. When we left our previous body, we thought about the kind of body we wished to acquire the next time. We have performed the karma to deserve this particular body and the circumstance. What does God do? He remains as a witness; that is all.
The five elements are in fear of the Paramatman. He is merely witnessing. That is all. Our past actions have created this life for us.
There are disadvantaged children. Their past karma is responsible for their fate. Our compassion towards them is our sadhana. When you are happy, you must thank God. When difficulties come, do not blame others for the difficulties you face. No one asks why we are given happiness. We simply take it for granted. If we should begin to list all the good things that we receive continuously and keep thanking God for them, we will have no time for doing anything else.
This body is of mithyaa jnaana/illusory. We were once in a subtle form, without a gross body. We desired to have this luggage and have acquired it. Now let us seek a body of light. Then we will rise to that level of light-bodies.
Sambhrama also means fear. Also surprise. The entire world is within us, inside our own minds. Is it possible to fly in the air? We enter fire and do not burn. These things happen in a dream. God gives these as examples. All three stages of wakefulness, dream and sleep are important.
I have no interest in this worldly life or this body. I only wish to engage in meditation of God, says Sri Rama.
Vedanta does not say like this. I am slightly modifying it now to make it easy for you to understand it. You are saying that this body is untrue. Do not trust it. But what are we supposed to do?
Mist comes and goes. It does not remain forever. Some wish to trust that mist is permanent. So be it. The autumn clouds are believed to be permanent, while they are not. So be it. Let people believe what they wish. Let them believe in the body and place their trust in it. Everyone has the common sense knowledge that this body is impermanent and cannot be relied upon. Like a Gandharva Nagara/celestial town, the body is illusory.
This body is filled with great disadvantages. Unless you feel dissatisfied with a certain town, you will not make an effort to move to another town. We need to make a move to the inner world of ours. We must leave this blade of grass and enter the land of bliss that lies within us. – These are the words of advice from Sri Rama.
This concludes the 62 verses of this Sarga.
Sri Rama indicates the fruit to be obtained by this new knowledge. We need to journey inward. The way we clean the body, we must clean our thoughts.
Sometimes a local anesthesia is given. We see what is happening, and yet we feel no pain. No joy and no sorrow. Yet, good result will occur. If the doctor does not give the local anesthesia, unable to bear the pain, the patient may kick the doctor and harm him. The operation yields a happy result; the cure is obtained.
Today in the Gnat-Na-Bah Yoga Conference, the talk will be about Bhakti/devotion and Sharanagati/surrender to God.
Lalita Sahasranama parayana is going on. On Wednesday it will be concluded. Please do as much as possible. Please witness the abhishekam to Sri Datta Venkateswara, since it is Friday.
Om Santissantissantihi
Sri Krishnarpanamast
Sri Guru Datta