Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 4, July 17
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
Suruchi is receiving an answer from the celestial messenger who was stopped by her and questioned about his mission.
The celestial messenger told her that he went to the earth upon the bidding of Devendra to fetch Rajarshi Arishtanemi to heaven.
Rajarshi Arishtanemi asked the celestial messenger: You have come to escort me to heaven. I am happy about it. But I am not required to follow you to heaven just because I am invited by Indra.
Just because someone tempts us, we do not need to change our traditional ways and follow them.
Arishtanemi asked to know the merits and demerits of the joys in heaven before he decides whether he wishes to go to heaven or not.
In the words of the celestial messenger we learn about the joys that are offered by heaven. One needs to eventually transcend the differentiation between both merit and demerit.
We need to increase our Satva Guna first because it helps to destroy our Vasanas/tendencies. It makes the path to liberation smoother. But a stage has to be reached when even Satva Guna has to be given up. That is a very advanced stage. Rajo Guna, which is characterized by screaming, shouting, anger, jealousy, envy, ambition, and so on, has to be drastically cut down. Tamo Guna is characterized by laziness, inertia, constantly finding faults in others, blaming and scolding others, and such behavior. Both these Gunas have to be eliminated from our personalities for us to become eligible for the study of the science of Vedanta and to practice its tenets.
Let us first learn about the good and bad features of heaven.
We think that heaven is just one place. There are different levels in heaven just as there are different regions in hell. All of us have desires. Whether they are good or bad is a different question. Of all pleasures, the pleasures of heaven are said to be the best. If the desire for such pleasures is given up, then it is great. In chess, if you do checkmate then no soldier needs to die thereafter. The king of desires is the desire for heaven. This desire should be overcome to riser higher in the spiritual field.
There are 3 types of heaven.
What is the visa to get into heaven? Extraordinary merit that has been earned by the performance of good deeds will qualify one to go to heaven. If extensive meritorious deeds are performed, one can enjoy life here as well as in heaven.
1st type of merit: lead life without harming others. Simply take care of yourself and your family without hurting others. They get the lowest heaven.
2nd type of merit: lead a good life while helping others in any way possible. They get the medium pleasures of heaven.
3rd type of merit: performing Vedic rituals and other activities for general welfare of the world. They get the highest heaven.
You have to do the performance of good deeds as per the rules set forth in the scriptures. You cannot mix half worldly rules and half scriptural rules in your activities.
Those who go to heaven can stay there only as long as the visa lasts. As the merit gets expended, a person begins to notice in heaven that there are others enjoying higher pleasures than he is, and begins to feel jealous of them. A sense of competition arises in the mind. The mind wishes to see the superior ones brought down to an inferior level. He will begin to feel happy to see those who are only enjoying inferior pleasures than he.
These feelings of envy and jealousy begin here on earth itself. We must overcome the weakness of being envious of others. The desire to be superior to others must be given up. The wish to pull others down to become inferior to us is an undesirable trait. By entertaining such thoughts we begin to lose our status of being human and will degenerate to the level of animals and insects. One should wish well for others and pray for others to rise higher.
The moment the earned merit gets exhausted, Indra will push them down again to earth.
Those who go to Brahma Loka, if they are exalted souls, will continue their spiritual sadhana there. Those in heaven also have the opportunity to remain in their spiritual sadhana and continue. But those who are merely interested in enjoying pleasures, will only indulge in them until their merit gets exhausted, and will return to earth.
This Rajarshi is a highly exalted soul. Arishtanemi, having heard these details about what heaven has to offer, being a Rajarshi of a high spiritual caliber, felt that there are only disadvantages in going to heaven. There is no hunger or thirst there, no doubt, and life is luxurious like simply sitting on a soft sofa. But this is not what he was seeking.
Every living creature engages in work for enjoyment. Those who cause a revolution do so because they enjoy it. Those who refrain from joining the revolution do so because they like their calm life. Even a scientist who strives to find a cure for a disease does so because it gives him happiness. A man raises a family because he enjoys it and expects happiness from his efforts. But these types of happiness are transient. Why not then strive to gain eternal happiness? In that process though, one has to sacrifice these fleeting joys. The bliss of knowing the soul is permanent. It is like reaching the peak of the Himalayas.
One possibly could rise to a higher spiritual level after going to heaven, by having the darshan of the celestials. But if one goes there without having attained sufficient spiritual wisdom, one will only become envious of others and will be thrown down to the earth again when the merit gets all spent. This is not a permanent position in heaven. There is always tension that the position is temporary and one will be kicked out suddenly.
Considering all the pros and cons, Arishtanemi rejected the offer to go to heaven. He said: Perhaps my penance is not complete yet. My penance should lead me to Jnana and then to liberation. I am now determined to engage in even more severe penance to attain my goal.
In the performance of rituals, much spiritual knowledge is not acquired. In doing worldly good deeds, only merit is acquired, but not spiritual wisdom. Celestials are not immortal. They also require enlightenment to be liberated. They are higher level souls and deserve our reverence. They should never be insulted. If they are abused, they have the power to drag us down to a lower level. They are more powerful than human beings. But they are not the highest in wisdom and are subject to feelings of jealousy.
We must pray to realize our true self. Then the celestials will try to assist us by removing the hurdles that may occur in our path.
There is no need to worry that by listening to Vedanta, our families will suffer. The reward obtained by listening to Vedanta is the fulfillment of all desires and requirements.
Of all pujas, mental worship is of the highest level where the flowers offered to God are one’s own sense organs. But the study of Vedanta is an even higher level of spiritual sadhana than the performance of mental worship.
Atmopasana/worship of one’s own soul or the serious attempt to attain Self-Realization is superior to Manasa Puja. Worshiping God who resides within, is the most superior form of worship.
Arishtanemi said: If my penance does not qualify me for liberation, then I wish to continue my penance, rather than use up my merit by enjoying the pleasures of heaven. I will try even harder and do even more severe penance.
Edison failed umpteen times in trying to make a light bulb. But he did not give up. He tried one more time and he succeeded. All the failures were lessons for him that taught him what does not work. They were not wasted attempts. That is how our thinking should be; always positive.
Does Atma/soul exist or does it not exist? Who can give an answer? One has to discover the answer for oneself. This search is the highest spiritual effort.
I will purify my body, the way a snake sheds its used up sheath, and I will merge in the Supreme Soul, said Arishtanemi. Hearing this I was filled with great surprise, said the messenger. I rushed back to Devendra to convey the news to him. Indra was very pleased that out of billions there is one such exalted human being with a great and worthy aspiration. Indra said: Go back at once to Arishtameni and take him to Sage Valmiki. Please convey to Valmiki that I pray to him to bless this worthy disciple with enlightenment.
One must never give orders to great souls. One must humbly pray to them to share their knowledge.
Arishtanemi is filled with humility. That is his first qualification.
People in the audience these days think that guru got a lucky chance to teach now because they are present here to listen to him. They think: if we did not come, would he teach the walls? Indirectly they think arrogantly that they are doing the guru a favor. Such an attitude is wrong and will not benefit them.
Guru is constantly in the knowledge of the Self. Because now he is ready to share his knowledge with others, we have eagerly come to listen to his most valuable wisdom. This should be the humble attitude of the disciples. Swamiji is doing puja because we have come to witness it, people mistakenly assume. Because we came, Swamiji is singing bhajans, they think. It is wrong. Swamiji does Puja and sings bhajans even when there is no audience. I have witnessed such occasions. One must beg and plead with Guru to please bless by sharing his knowledge. If you try to order him, he will not oblige. One must have the utmost humility with a spiritual Guru.
By Indra’s command, the celestial messenger took the Rajarshi to Valmiki’s ashram and introduced him to the sage. The messenger conveyed Indra’s message to Sage Valmiki: This Rajarshi has given up even the desire for heaven. He is eager to be freed from the never-ending cycle of birth and death.
If you go to the doctor for a headache, he will give you medicine for indigestion, because it is your indigestion that is causing the headache.
Sage Valmiki greeted Arishtanemi and inquired after his welfare.
When Guru asks about your welfare, he is not asking whether you are eating timely meals. He is asking whether your lifestyle is as it should be, with regular prayers and spiritual practices. Your health is also his concern perhaps.
Arishtanemi responded: I am fulfilled by your darshan. Whatever wrongs I might have committed, they are all now voided by your gracious presence. Please inculcate the interest and the capacity within me to attain spiritual knowledge in its entirety.
It is generally our nature not to do what we are supposed to do, and to do what we are not supposed to do. The remedy for both of these wrongs is Guru darshana, having darshan of Sadguru. With this darshan we gain the merit of all the good deeds which we have left undone, because the same level of internal purity which we would have attained by performing those actions is granted to us by Guru, merely by our having his darshan.
At once, a doubt must arise in our minds. It takes such a length of time, and so much of effort and expense to carry out all those meritorious deeds to earn the same measure of mental purity. How is it possible to earn all of that in a mere instant by having the darshan of Sadguru? How is it possible? How can the two be equated? The result of performing noble deeds is the attainment of purity of mind. Once the stage is set by such purification, the Almighty places the fruit there. The fruit is the same.
The purpose of good actions or the goal of doing good is to cleanse the mind. The action itself will yield a result, no doubt: if you feed the hungry, it fills stomachs, regardless of whether you serve the food with pleasure or displeasure. But when you serve the food with pleasure, your mind becomes clean. If you serve with irritation, the merit of feeding the hungry still accrues to you, but you lose out on purifying your mind. This is a very important point to note. This is the theory of Karma. Guru Darshana burns the contamination in the mind. Unfortunately there are no meters to measure the quantity of benefit. Similarly, the impurity of mind that has resulted by all of our bad actions is also canceled out by our mere darshan of Sadguru.
That is the sentiment that was expressed by Arishtanemi to Valmiki with the utmost reverence.
Valmiki is Adi Kavi; it is the title of Brahma, the Creator. Valmiki is Brahma Himself. Brahma Loka is superior to Svarga Loka/heaven. Now Arishtanemi has bypassed heaven and has arrived in Brahma Loka by the grace of Indra and the celestials. That is why it is important to respect the celestials and be reverential towards them. One must never insult them.
In response to Valmiki’s query on the purpose of this visit by Arishtanemi, Arishtanemi reverentially said: I need to learn from you the way to overcome the grief caused by the bondages of Samsara.
In the Lakshmi Nrsimha Karavalamba Stotram, Samsara/worldly life is described in different ways as: a venomous serpent, a deep ocean, a vicious crocodile, a mighty tree, a wild fire, and so on. The lay person has the notion that Samsara is merely family life with spouse, children, and relatives. But it is really the cycle of unending births.
Saru is the delicious item served in Annapurna Mandira. Sara is the root word for it. It is a fluid that flows down a slope. It does not flow up a slope. I wave rises high. That is a different action. We flow down to take births. An incarnation occurs by compassion overflowing. There is a difference. If we rise high spiritually, our Samsara reduces. If we go down spiritually, our Samsara increases. This is Vedanta. It speaks about spiritual growth when it speaks about transcending Samsara. Many people are afraid of listening to Vedanta because they feel insecure that the knowledge will separate them from their attachment to their bodies. Such fears have no basis. Vedanta elevates the intellect.
Even great souls take birth. But they do not suffer from grief the way we do. What is the difference? They are free from bondage. Whether we live in this world with attachment or detachment is up to us. Sometimes attachments bind us without our inviting them. It is like our feet getting entangled in a wire, preventing us from moving forward. That is our karma. But to overcome such hurdles we have to cut the threads of such attachments. Then we proceed higher on our journey. Severing the strings of attachment is not the same as either discarding our body, or family, or running away from responsibilities to find shelter in a forest.
If you read the life histories of Sri Jayalakshmi Mata or Sri Swamiji, you will learn how they became free mentally from all bondages. They live in this world but are free and happy in their lives.
This concept requires constant and continuous contemplation to truly absorb its meaning. It is not easy to digest. Karma Yoga must be diligently practiced.
Arishtanemi begged Valmiki to teach him the method of freeing himself from the entanglements of life.
Sage Valmiki said: Now listen to the Akhandita Ramayana/the complete, un-fragmented Ramayana.
What is whole Ramayana and what is partial Ramayana? The Adi Kavya, the Ramayana as we popularly know it, is a wonderful story of 24,000 verses. The narration flows smoothly and includes all the literary embellishments of different moods, emotions, and poetic descriptions which add flavor to the story. But it does not deal extensively with the subject of Liberation. It only speaks of Dharma, by the performance of which liberation is possible.
Yoga Vasishtha speaks of the dispassion that enveloped Rama as a youngster and the spiritual teaching he received from his Guru Vasishtha. This work is exclusively a spiritual work speaking only of the procedure for attaining union with God. The two works are not compatible to be presented together. The exclusively spiritual flavor contained in this work will completely overshadow all the other sentiments expressed in the Ramayana story. The Ramayana is meant for a larger audience to teach them the rules of life, the rules of Dharma. Yoga Vasishtha is aimed at a small set of readers who are interested in the higher philosophy of life. Those who begin reading the Ramayana, when they get to this portion, if it were included as a part of the story, will lose interest in the work and will close the book, since the story line comes to a long pause here. Hence, the two works have remained as separate scriptures, although this work includes a part of Rama’s life history.
Ramayana does not require a Guru to explain the subtleties contained therein. It may be read and enjoyed even as a simple story, although it has many hidden truths in it. But Yoga Vasishtha requires a detailed explanation of each point by an enlightened Guru. It cannot be understood by a layman without proper spiritual guidance. At the conclusion of its deep study, Yoga Vasishtha has the capacity to grant liberation to the individual, if not while living, certainly upon giving up the body.
The greatest goal to achieve is liberation.
What we now know as Srimad Valmiki Ramayana does not include this Yoga Vasishtha. If the 32,000 verses of Yoga Vasishtha were to be added to the 24,000 verses of the Ramayana, the work would become too voluminous.
Therefore, Valmiki has separated the two works and has kept them as two completely different scriptures.
We all know the defects in our bodies. We know that we stink when we sweat. We do not smell ourselves when we are stinky. We know what we will find when we cut through the skin and see the insides. One must not hate the body, however. One must see the body for what it is and recognize its faults. One should not starve to death by fasting. It is a sin. It is not what Vedanta teaches. We all have the responsibility of protecting the body. The body is an instrument for spiritual growth. One should not develop an attachment to it. There are many who misunderstand the teaching of Vedanta. Many misinterpret and misuse the knowledge that they gain from listening to Vedanta. You must not fix your ideas before listening fully to the teaching of the Guru. Some people commit suicide, developing hatred for the body. Some people torment the body, subjecting it to all kinds of painful punishments. It is a sin. Some are escapists, who try to put the blame on Guru when they indulge in being cruel towards their own body. Those who do such things will go to the lowest worlds or will be born in the meanest types of bodies.
You must fill yourself with the divine spiritual knowledge and then leave the body in the most natural manner. You cannot just jump from a cliff, jump into the ocean, or jump into the fire. Never make such blunders. Many do not come as serious disciples to learn Vedanta. Theirs is just a passing curiosity. They listen to bits and pieces and go away with a wrong understanding. The body should not be despised and harmed. One should be aware that it is unclean and needs purifying. Most people wrongly interpret Vedanta and even make fun of it or ridicule it. That is why it is not taught widely to the public. Unless one grasps the knowledge fully, half-knowledge becomes dangerous. Guru said the body is unclean, so in haste people decide to torment the body or to kill it by suicide. If you beat the snake pit, what is the use? The snake will simply occupy another pit.
Do not put the blame on guru and guru’s teaching. Fasting that is regulated is recommended on Ekadasi, full moon, new moon and Sankashtahara Chaturthi. Guru never says fast till death. It is very wrong to assume in haste that you have understood Vedanta. Vedanta is not an easy subject to understand. You must follow procedures step by step, with attention to every single detail. Suicide and self-inflicted harm are great sins. Never even entertain such ideas. That is why I hesitated to begin speaking on this subject. Only those with a keen and genuine interest in spiritual knowledge should attend these lectures. Do not come here unless you wish to listen fully and understand. Do not come out of love and devotion towards me. Unless your interest is genuine in Vedanta, do not come here. Do not come here to escape from household or personal problems. No guru ever advises that one should leave home and family. People begin to neglect their duties and their families using Vedanta as an excuse.
The blame finally falls on the guru who teaches Vedanta with a wonderful intention. In the Datta tradition, no one ever tells anyone to leave family or leave family duties. Sri Jayalakshmi Mata lived as a housewife and continued her spiritual practices. The way a snake leaves off its sheath, gradually, with great effort, one must acquire the required spiritual knowledge. The snake skin has to get caught on some rough surface, and it should slowly peel off. The process cannot be avoided for the snake to survive. It has to discard the old sheath to come out in its new fresh skin. Similarly, to attain liberation, this impure sheath of ours must be discarded after attaining purity gradually. Please think about this very deeply. If you learn to gradually leave the attachment to the body, an effortless, painless death will occur, without your being a burden on anyone.
Generally those who study the Yoga Vasishtha are at an elevated spiritual level already, and do not need to be given these serious cautionary words. Here there are many beginners and frivolous listeners who will speak ill of Vedanta out in the streets. This is a sacred subject about Paramatma. How can people stoop to the sin of making fun of Vedanta or speaking lightly about it? Never speak too much about it. A wise person always speaks less. Therefore, I will end today’s discourse here.
Sri Guru Datta