Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 23, August 7
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
Yesterday in the 14th sarga in the episode of Jeevita Garhana Rama gave us some pointers about life and criticized its negative points. His intention is to caution us.
We identify ourselves with our life. That man is seeing, talking, eating, and doing. But when he is dead, it is called a corpse, a dead body. We do not even call the body by the name of the person. He ceases to do anything. We tie ourselves to the body. It is not correct.
Now he speaks how the life force enters the body like a serpent and torments it. For some snakes like pythons, food intake is not necessary every day. They simply survive on air for a few days. If we keep ingesting poisonous air, we will harm ourselves. We are entertained by a snake charmer without paying attention to how much he harasses the snake after removing its fangs. Unless we nourish the body with good deeds, it will wither away. Unless we protect this body with meritorious activities, it will get eaten away like animals eat away plants. If we abuse this body without removing its fangs, it will sting us like a snake. If there are termites, if we do not remove the termites from the body, they will destroy us. An object eaten by termites will appear beautiful. If you touch it, it will collapse.
A cat waits for the mouse patiently. We do not have that kind of patience. It is as if it does penance. If it is chased away, it returns when no one is there. It comes very quietly to catch the mouse as it comes out of its hole. A cat stealthily comes and drinks our milk. A cat will be waiting to catch the mouse and eat it up. It will tease the mouse even if in the process the mouse bites the foot of the cat.
This life is like a cat. We must not become like mice.
We think that our life force is ‘I’. We feel that without life we cannot exist. We are not the life force. It is only in common parlance that we say that he exists as long as the life is in him. But the Bhagavad Gita explains as no other science explains it. We were invisible before we were born. We again become invisible when the body drops away. What it is that activates the body comes unseen and leaves unseen. We build an attachment with the body. It gives us pain. When a dear one leaves, we shed tears and do the funeral rites. We wish for the person’s soul’s smooth passage. It is useless to keep crying about departed souls.
We are born to be happy. We are not here to keep grieving. Keep remembering the good qualities of the departed ones. This kind of sorrow occurs to everyone. We only know the body that came into the world. We spend a happy time with that person/body.
Lifespan is like the tail of a lizard. The tail falls away.
If we are the life energy that departs, how are we able to be born again and again?
We plan so much even for preparing a dessert, a stew and so on. We think of the ingredients, the dishes to use. God, who creates this entire world with the five elements, makes a very detailed plan.
When we gently separate the two blades of grass, the middle portion comes out easily.
We must not keep whirling in this wheel of rebirth. We are complicating this by our wrong thinking.
We are the soul, not the life energy. Life is waiting to swallow us up. While we live, we must utilize this body well. When we go out, the cat goes before us. Like that the life force is always with us doing everything we do. But it does not contemplate on God as we do.
We give treatment if a remedy is available. Sometimes the doctor says bluntly that the surgery will not help the patient. At such times we tell him not to perform it. If anyone tells us that he will make us immortal, it is wrong to believe such a person. We must respect the law of nature that death is certain.
Rama gives many examples. Life is compared to a wicked woman. A womaniser does not respect the people at home. He is lecherous towards women. He went to the old woman’s house. She knows that he eats sumptuously. The woman fed him well. He ate, slept and returned home. Such a wicked woman distances us from the virtuous damsel called liberation.
It is a very useful advice for society. To catch fish they use bait. The fish comes rushing to catch it and the fish is caught. A fisherman’s net catches a lot of fish. His investment is minimal. His profit is great. Life is like that.
Money, people, and youth – you have to be very cautious with these three. These three are very dangerous. In youth the elders are disrespected. In prosperity the poor are disdained. Popularity makes people proud. These three things make us commit sins.
It is possible to get rid of our bad traits. There are remedies. Why consult astrologers and force them to speak falsehood? You are only 19 and you get worried that you are told that you will die at 90.
Why not simply satisfy hunger with some simple food that is available? Why hanker after delicacies and end up going to bed hungry.
So much fear about death is meaningless. Death is natural for everyone. Trisanku could not be made immortal even by Viswamitra. If you drink Amrita you can remain in heaven eternally. Trisanku was thrown out of heaven. He could not land here.
Some dosha/evil aspect of a planet may be there. You can do something as an antidote. Do not worry too much. Do not allow anxieties to get to your head. Change your perspective. That is spiritual pursuit. Get rid of your fear. What harms you is not death but fear of death. Live well. Do good things. Learn good things.
Some children go after drugs and go to jail. They waste their lives. They are branded as criminals. They suffer lifelong. In youth many temptations occur. A wicked man leaves his wife and goes after other women because the wife lost her beauty. A woman was offered a boon by Siva. She said let me go on a pilgrimage with my husband. Siva agreed gladly. The husband was offered a boon. He wanted to go for a picnic with a woman 30 years his junior. Siva agreed after raising his eyebrows. At once the husband became a 90 year old man and went with his 60 year old wife.
Such a man nourishes false attachments to beauty and fleeting pleasures of life and lifespan itself.
Rama says I forfeit my love for life, and my fear of death.
Since childhood we have to train our youngsters to cultivate some devotion and detachment. It is like adding some honey to their milk. If good habits are cultivated early in life, they will protect us throughout life. Soon with discretion we will give up bad thoughts.
If an unwelcome guest comes to the house, if you fail to feed him, he will go away. As you keep adding ghee, the fire glows more strongly.
Foreigners are surprised at the long term success of marriages in India. Their divorce rate is very high. Our tradition itself is different. During the Saptapadi ceremony, there are significant rules laid out. During different situations in life the couple promises to remain loyal to one another. But in liberation each individual is on his own.
A wicked bachelor looks at the beauty of a woman. But in marriage one looks for virtue. Everything changes in nature. Beauty does not last. We must preserve our culture of protecting the tradition of marriage.
Rama views life in a very objective and philosophical way. We are obsessed with the thought of our body and give it too much importance. Rama says, I do not like to go after transient pleasures. I am seeking what is permanent. I observe that life is temporary. I see that all pleasures that the body offers are fleeting. The body does not give enduring happiness. It is very cheap and inferior.
There is nothing worse in life than life that occupies a body. Its nature is death. It is there in me. How do I use it? What is the flaw in life? Rama has analyzed it very keenly.
15th sarga. Ahankara Jugupsa – disgust about ego. Repulsion towards ego. Repulsion we feel towards objects, people, and circumstances.
We must ponder over all these points and firm up our understanding and convictions. Sri Rama is handing to us many important concepts to strengthen our minds. This will lead us further to something even more important.
That is what Rama feels, repulsion towards ego. Either hide it or you go away from it. What is Ahankara? Modern youngsters (not related to age) who are ignorant and foolish think that without ego you cannot engage in worldly affairs. You look for recognition in the world and reciprocation for your actions.
But from the spiritual aspect what is ego? We benefit greatly by giving it up.
Kaara is spice that causes irritation to the stomach when taken in excess. I am doing. That feeling denotes ego. I have done this. We boast.
Can infants help themselves? Birds and animals are self-sufficient even at a very young age. Even a newborn is left and it survives. Human babies cannot survive if there is no nurse, mother or caretaker. We speak so highly of humans but for so many years a human is dependent on parents or others, unlike birds and animals which can take care of themselves at a young age.
No human does anything unique. Humans merely gather many things. You pick a flower and offer it to God. You have not created the flower. We do Gayatri mantra first thing in the morning. We get inner stimulation from God to engage in actions. Only some people achieve great things. They have received the inner stimulus. We must pray for such energy and inspiration from the divine. A parent holds the hand of a child while walking. The parents’ energy is taking the child along. God’s energy and initiative make us move and do things.
Om Santissantissantihi
Sri Guru Datta