Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 118, March 27
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.
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
Om santissantissantihi
We learned the meaning of Vichara Niroopana yesterday. Fear, sorrow, ignorance, and delusion get dispelled by Vichara, intellectual analysis. The state of eternal, undisturbed peace is attained by Vichara. The Jeevanmukta stage of merging with the Paramatman occurs through Vichara. The experience of that stage is described and praised today. How important it is to question, to obtain answers from Sadguru, and to understand and grasp the information are stressed. Enquiry is very essential. We look first for the Information Desk to learn about so many things, except about ourselves. We look for enquiry counters wherever we go. We need to seek information always about ourselves. It is our responsibility. It is not necessary to keep worrying about others and bothering about their affairs. It is wrong to be nosy about other people’s lives.
We find out about the schedule of the World Cup matches. We get into that fever. Yesterday India was sent home. Yesterday someone joked. A man wrote a letter to the boss. I will be having fever the day after tomorrow. I will not be available to come to work. The doctor also had gone to witness the World Cup finals and was unavailable to give treatment. The day after the finals the employee showed up well and healthy at work.
Our purpose in life must be inquired into. This information, this knowledge will rid us of all sorrows and problems. We must ask Sadguru. Sometimes out of compassion, Sadguru tells us on His own, even without our asking. At such times, not to listen to Him is a sin.
Cow’s milk enhances our interest in spirituality. A cow regurgitates and absorbs the essence of the food it consumes. That essence improves our Satvic nature. The way the cow absorbs the essence of the food it takes, is a secret we have to grasp. The monkey also regurgitates but it does not give us milk. Kamadhenu/the holy cow is always kept with Lord Dattatreya. Constant remembrance and mulling over the spiritual subjects is very necessary. Otherwise, even important aspects we tend to forget.
Yesterday we learned step by step the nature of Vichara and its benefits. Finally, even while the body remains, one attains liberation. That experience is the Jeevanmukta stage. We were led to the description of that state on the ladder of spirituality. Parabrahman is the highest state. Vichara has the capacity to take us to that level. One who has reached that level remains as a mere witness. He ever remains. The body and the world will disappear. Or these keep changing. The Parabrahman ever exists in a state of supreme bliss. He remains unchanged. He is not the kind of witness who will come to a court of law to give a witness report. He sees everything. But He will not speak. We have aged persons at home who keep looking at the goings on but will not speak of what has been witnessed. They say that they did not register the events in their minds.
Everything exists. Or appears to exist. Things keep changing state or vanishing. Paramatman alone ever exists as Bliss and Consciousness. The Jeevanmukta remains eternally in that state.
na cha
This Jeevanmukta is difficult to describe. He is a strange being. Suka Avadhoota was born as an Avadhoota/fully free and enlightened. He remains in any place only for the duration it takes to milk a cow. He is ever roaming. If he remains for a little while, it is our great fortune. You milk the cow and offer him the milk and he leaves at once. Such a one remained for a whole week in the presence of King Parikshit. The king was cursed that he would die in a week’s time. Suka Maharshi assured him that he had a whole week yet to live. He had nothing to worry.
Khatvanga was liberated in an instant. Suka Yogi remained in place for a week. The Avadhootas do not need to eat and yet they remain strong and energetic. They drink the nectar of divinity. That is their attribute. It is very difficult to understand this state. If all Jeevanmuktas leave their bodies because they does not need them anymore, then, who will guide us to reach that state? We have to accept the existence of divine incarnations and Jeevanmuktas. They are essential for our liberation.
He is neither attached to the outside world nor is he worried about internal activities. He has nothing left for him to do. He is a fully ripened fruit. He is a completely filled pot.
Some great souls appear to be ever active. We wonder why they keep exerting themselves and also making us engage in work constantly. We wonder why they bother. They have no desire to either remain idle or be engaged in work. It is said that we should work without desire. They do not even desire the state of no desires or having no needs. They exist in such a pure state. They are not even concerned about their clothing.
A Jeevanmukta never gets immersed in or attached to, the work that he is engaged in. A bad deed is distasteful. A good deed is pleasant. When we act as per our preference, the actions and their consequences keep following us inescapably. Both types of actions will cause us bondage. A good deed will earn us merit and the compassion of God and Guru.
But an Avadhoota is engaged in action without any attachment to the action whatsoever.
Sri Krishna assured Arjuna that he will not incur sin by killing the enemies in battle, as long as he is unattached to the action and its result.
Science requires proof to be demonstrated. Scientific tools cannot measure the results produced by spiritual pursuits.
Arjuna is stationed in the battlefield. He has to fight. It is his duty to do so. He should not fight to please his brother or to avenge the insult dealt to his wife. Does it not bring sin to kill relatives, teachers, and friends? ‘No’ said Krishna.
A worldly argument will not explain the logic behind this. We must elevate ourselves to the subtle plane where our actions will only attach themselves to our subtle and aural states. the mind and the intellect are the only ones which carry these impressions. The body merely gives us the physical experience. A madman does not even realize that he has cut himself. His mind and body became disengaged and disconnected. That is why.
Karma theory runs this world. One is wealthy, one is poor, one is a scholar, one is illiterate. Will God create one very handsome and another very attractive, just wantonly? No. God merely remains as a witness. He may give us guidance or punish us for our bad deeds as consequence of karma. That is all.
The one who remains unattached remains free from fear. Karma is a great ocean. But one who does not drown in karma lives without any fear.
verse
If something is lost or leaves him, the Jeevanmukta is not concerned. He is like a filled ocean. He is unperturbed. He is never troubled. He attains this state through Vichara. One says, I am not weeping although the situation calls for it. It will then get pent up and explode later. Tears wash away sorrows. That is why one says one should not suppress grief. One should give release to the sorrow. One should cry and shed tears. The scriptures demand it. It is a sign of ego when one suppresses sorrow and refuses to cry.
From the ocean emerged many valuable things, when it was churned for nectar, the Kaustubha Gem, Lakshmi, the moon, the celestial horse Uchchaisravas, the Airavata elephant, and so on.
All these left the ocean. Was the ocean troubled by the loss? No. Did the ocean yearn to have them back? No. Sri Rama is deep, undisturbed, and steady like an ocean. The Ramayana describes Him to be so. It is not a pretense. It is His nature. This is the result of Vichara.
evam poornena
One who remains in this stage of totality – Purnamadah …(shloka)
This is a great mathematical science. This calculation is superb. Many mathematicians have written commentaries on this mantra, this statement from the scriptures.
There is a pot with not a drop of water. There is another pot that is completely full and cannot hold even another additional drop of water. What does one prefer to have? The full pot, of course.
If you purchase a pot and the seller adds ghee to the pot, would one refuse it? No.
The mind should not be blank. The mind should be filled with bliss. There is a huge difference between empty and
full.
The mind has been destroyed, it is said. What it means is – to remove unrest, turbulence, and movements from the mind.
The great souls have minds that are filled with bliss. No matter how much happiness they distribute to others, they still remain happy, full, and joyful. Their minds are full always. Purnaalu – is a sweet dessert. It has a sweet filling inside. How did the sweet get inside the shell? The Britishers always had an unanswered question, a puzzle.
The great souls wish that everyone should share their bliss. They have realized the Paramatman. They are the ones who are fully liberated while retaining their bodies. Jeeva/the individual soul and Brahman/the Supreme Soul are united in them. That is Yoga.
Sitting in asanas and standing upside down for hours are not real Yoga. One should approach Sadguru not for miracles, but for spiritual bliss. The miracles occur only to attract the attention of the common people. Swamiji declared this in a press conference decades ago. The siddhis occur with constant practice. Remaining for 3 hours in Seershasana is a siddhi. Climbing the Chamundi Hill in 5 minutes, whereas it normally takes 2-3 hours, is a Siddhi. It was achieved after great spiritual sadhana. Manifestation of objects out of thin air is a Siddhi. Many people ask before visiting a temple whether the temple is famous. Many people ask that when they a visit a new town, to tell them of the temple that is most famous in the region. God is ever famous. It is a wrong question. Some people drag us down with words such as these. How can God be famous in one temple and not in another? We go to the temple that has been recommended to us because we believe that God in that temple will listen to our prayers and will fulfill our desires. We have to be extremely careful with our words and actions.
The great souls are the ones who have merged with God. A man at 90 years finds it difficult to do the Garuda Asana, although some adepts are able to do it at any age. Asana Siddhi and Hatha Yoga also lead eventually to the merging with God. But these are only the basic levels. But bodily fitness alone is not Yoga. The mind and the intellect also should be exercised and made fit, pure, and healthy. Everyone should be benefited by Yoga in both body and mind. Yoga helps in maintaining health. But physical health alone is not the goal of Yoga. Hatha Yoga is the preliminary step. Patanjali Yoga Sutras are mostly about mental and intellectual training which leads to spiritual elevation.
ruchiram
Bhishma had the boon that he could choose the time of his death. He took a vow as a young man, for helping his father, that he would remain an unflinching Brahmachari/celibate lifelong. He remained unmoved from his oath under all circumstances.
Even Krishna could not choose to kill Bhishma. Bhishma would only die when he chose to die. When Krishna picked up his disc, after having vowed that he would not employ a weapon in the battlefield, Bhishma got off the chariot and declared that he was most honored and ready to die at Krishna’s hand. But Krishna kept his promise to not use his weapon and he honored the boon given by Bhishma’s father that his son could choose the time of his death.
Both Bhishma and Subrahmanya have the same descriptive name, Gangeya, son of Ganga. They share the same divine aspect.
A Yogi would emerge out of a well in any village that suffered from problems such as dangerous epidemics. He would fill his waterpot/Kamandalu with water. He would sprinkle the sacred water and save the people from the dangers they faced. This story was told for a long time here.
One white-bearded man appeared inexplicably, sprinkled water and saved a man who fell unconscious on the railway tracks. The man who got up and saw the man, saw him walk away quickly. He later recognized the man to be our Swamiji. The yogis are free to choose to come when they want, leave when they wish, and do what they choose to do.
Yoga is very powerful.
ushitvaa
The mind and the life force of the Yogis are in their control. Whenever they choose, they leave the body and take birth again by choice if a need arises. They decide when and where they wish to be born. Otherwise, they simply merge in God and remain without a physical body.
Water assumes the form of the container it is poured into. Similarly, the divine souls occupy bodies and appear as if they are those bodies. That is the nature of Jeevanmuktas.
Koham
People always wish to take revenge against those who have harmed them. It is wrong.
For having been given this birth which drowns us in sorrow and delusion, we have to take revenge. What is the form of that revenge? We have to listen to spiritual wisdom and ponder over it. We have to have a questioning mind. We should question ourselves and question Sadguru about ourselves. That is Vichara. We will continue the study of this subject tomorrow.
Today there is going to be Abhishekam to Lord Sri Datta Venkateshwara.
A devotee is going to perform Tulabharam to Sri Swamiji because he saw Swamiji in his dream and wished that he should do this. Please witness and participate in these programs and also chant the Hanuman Chalisa.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantisantihi