Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 119, March 29
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
In the topic of Vichara Niroopanam we are learning about what is Vichara and what its benefits are. Sage Vasishtha is explaining to us. Vichara is enquiry. Self enquiry or reverentially questioning Sadguru with a sincere and genuine interest. Randomly asking or asking without respect is wrong.
This sadhana is important for everyone including those at the student stage all the way to people of maturity. Guru Gita came into existence because Mother Parvati questioned Lord Siva. Siva responded by saying that she was posing the question with a view to benefiting all humanity, since all human beings were the children of Mother Goddess. That is why Lord Siva readily responded and gave His answer. Sri Vishnu Sahasranama also came into existence only as a response to the question posed by Yudhishthira to Bhishma at the behest of Lord Krishna. One should not remain complacent that Guru will accord the information on his own. One should ask. If one is not bold enough to approach Guru physically with the question, then at least internally one should keep asking the question. Then by the compassion of Guru, the answer will come, bringing with it peace of mind.
Yesterday we celebrated Sri Rama Navami. The day before yesterday we had the discussion on this topic.
The one who enquires into his true nature will eventually become a Jeevanmukta – liberated while still occupying the body.
koham
Regardless of how otherwise occupied one may be, regardless of how many entanglements one may have, regardless of how tight one’s daily schedule may be, this question of ‘Who am I?’ must be asked by every single being. There is no escape from this question for anyone. Claiming to be too busy to engage in questions like this is not correct. When a topic is of interest, other things will automatically yield place and time for its pursuit. Being too busy is never a tenable argument. Only he, who is not interested in doing something, will use the excuse that he is too busy.
‘Who am I?’ is the most important question in everyone’s life that every single individual has to ask himself. No one is truly too busy for this. It is only an excuse. Either there is no interest in the subject or one is afraid to explore into the question. Some people are even afraid to go to an ashram. They fear that they will end up renouncing everything. No one ever becomes a Sanyasi all at once. It is not that easy.
Koham? Who am I? The crow say Kakaka ka. He is the vehicle of Lord Saneeswara. Sani/Saturn is the son of the Sun. The crow represents Yama, the God of Death or God of Time. Before Time swallows you up, know your true nature.
When a child is born, at once it cries. If it does not, it is made to cry. One must cry to find the answer to the crucial question. We must cry to get the answer from Sadguru. We fail to do so. We foolishly cry on the shoulders of others, which is useless.
Koham? That is the question. The answer that comes is Soham. I am He. I am the same as that Paramatman. Unless the question is asked, no answer will come.
A Guru intended to build an ashram to benefit the people around him. He built it. There was a wall. A disciple wanted to write something on it. The Guru said: it is nice and blank. Let it be. The disciple insisted. So Guru Said: Okay. ‘aham brahmasmi’ – was written, which means, I am Brahman. Guru was happy that people will see the message and will benefit from it.
The disciple saw it every day. Initially he felt happy to see the writing on the wall. Then he became proud that because of his suggestion, Guru had written the message. People thought that this boy was becoming arrogant.
The disciple then became egotistical. He took a paint can. He erased the word ‘brahmasmi’. He felt that there was no need for the mention of Brahma. To the boy, he, the individual alone mattered. Guru recognized the flaw in the disciple’s thinking and expelled him from the ashram. ‘aham’ remained on the wall in big letters. Let the mistake made by the disciple remain. Perhaps another good disciple will rectify it, hoped the Guru. Guru continued his Upadesa and his spiritual instruction as always.
The new disciples kept looking at this: ‘aham’ – written on the wall. The disciples decided to erase this Aham/ego. A good devotee/disciple added ‘So’ before it. Guru felt happy to see this. In Guru’s mind Aham/ego was never there. He recognized the meritorious act done by the disciple. ‘so aham’ means – He is I. Another disciple noticed this change. He decided to change the statement.
He added another syllable to the statement, ‘da’. It then became ‘daso aham’ – it means I am a servant (to the Lord). Guru noticed it. Nothing wrong with it, he thought. But the first disciple added another syllable to correct this mistake: ‘sa’ – He made it sada so aham – I am ever He.
The second disciple got angry that his statement was changed. He made yet another change.
to be continued in tomorrow´s discourse
Sri Guru Datta