Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 120, March 30
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
Today we learn that Vichara is a very great sadhana. Each individual must ask himself, “Who am I?” The inclination to ask must come. Only then the answer will come through constant inquiry. Otherwise, one gets permanently stuck in the cycle of birth and death. Kaha Aham? Who am I? It seems like a silly question on the surface. We know our name, our relatives, friends, and what we do and so on.
Aham is ego that makes us feel most important. Until the ego is given up, we cannot progress in spirituality. Six things need to be got rid of deliberately, by persistent effort – the inner enemies of greed, jealously, anger, arrogance, avarice, and delusion. Gradual improvement will occur through constant practice. One must keep testing oneself and recognizing the improvement occurring within oneself.
Yesterday we were learning a story.
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. The disciple, out of arrogance, had removed both brahma and asmi. He left only the word aham. To the boy, he, the individual alone, Aham alone, mattered. Guru recognized the flaw in the disciple’s thinking and expelled him from the ashram after giving him a strong admonition.
‘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 which is detrimental to spiritual progress. A good devotee/disciple added ‘so’ before ‘aham’ after removing the first syllable ‘a’. Guru felt happy to see this. In Guru’s mind Aham/ego was never there. He recognized the meritorious act done by the disciple. ‘soham’ means – He is I. Another disciple noticed this change. He decided to change the statement according to his different way of looking at Truth.
He added another syllable to the statement, ‘da’. It then became ‘dasoham’ – 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 soham’ – Always I am He.
The second disciple got angry that his statement was changed. He made yet another change. He made it ‘dasadasoham’- I am the servant of the servant (of the Lord). Again it was changed by the first disciple, ‘sadasada soham’ – Forever and ever I am He.
This went on endlessly. One must fight for Truth, not for having one’s own way. It is wrong to engage in conflicts and wars to prove the supremacy of one’s creed, caste or religion. It is an indication of an escalating ego.
Guru scolded both the disciples that they were both going astray. He expelled them both and removed the wall altogether. A wall indicates an obstruction, a separation, a block.
Hanuman felt: If I feel that I am the body, then I am Rama’s servant forever. If I feel that I am the individual soul, then, the body is fleeting. I am an aspect of the Supreme Soul.
A glass of water taken from the ocean is a part of the ocean. It is not the ocean itself. The individual has some of the qualities of the Paramatman.
If one identifies completely with the Supreme Soul, then one merges with the Paramatman.
The three stages are there in Sadhana – Bhakti/devotion, Upasana/worshipful service, and Jnana/enlightenment.
Lord Hanuman has taught us all these three stages.
For experiencing Soham, one must completely conquer the ego.
Who is experiencing birth and death? Whose experience is this? A great soul keeps questioning and seeking the answer for this question at all times.
Sri Rama’s very first question to Sage Viswamitra was: Whose ashrama is this? Ashrama here means the residence, the body in which the soul resides. Who is experiencing the sorrow?
How can the body experience sorrow? A fallen body that is dead has no experiences. Who is the one who is experiencing? This question must constantly linger in the mind.
Koham? Kasya? Are the two most important questions to ponder over continuously.
With a huge accumulation of karma this body got formed. It is like a thick crust of rust. It has to be removed. The mirror covered with dust must be cleaned. With the dust of Guru’s feet, the dust cover must be removed. Sweat is like rust. We have to wash it off. Mere application of perfume will not remove its stink or bad odor.
An action must be followed by a reaction to cancel it out. Bad odor is removed by taking a bath – it is like revenge. Hunger is removed by eating food. A discomfort is removed by an action that gives comfort. It is referred to here as prateekara – revenge.
By listening to good words, and pondering over them, knowledge arises within. Some people may be living alone in a secluded place, and may not have the opportunity to listen to Guru. In some form Guru will appear to such a person, if he engages in Vichara, perhaps even from within, and will give Upadesha and give knowledge. A fish may have another fish Guru that will approach it and give it knowledge. An insect may find another insect which will act as its Guru.
An intelligent person must keep asking these two questions and keep churning them in the mind.
karya sankata
A king has many responsibilities. When a king gets into a dilemma, he keeps pondering over the problem to find a solution.
If food is in shortage in the dining hall, then how to overcome the difficulty? Jayalakshmi Mata Nitya Annadana Trust may face a challenge. Then, Guru ponders over how to find a solution. Devotees also should think of a solution. By such an intense search for a solution, some answer will come.
The pros and cons of each possible solution must be considered. There are 6 strategies. Which one should be employed? Sandhi, Vigraha, etc. are the six ways of finding a solution stated in the scriptures. Without contemplation, no solution will occur. Mareecha advised Ravana that plunging into action without a proper consideration of the plan to its ultimate conclusion, total destruction will occur.
Ravana engaged in a hasty and devious strategy. Mareecha, who had experienced the valor of Rama, cautioned Ravana that his foolish plan will eventually lead to his total destruction. Ravana was deaf to this sane advice.
Koham? Who am I? Why am I here? What am I doing here? Am I doing the right? What have I done before?
Kasya? Whose is it? Whose experiences are these?
veda vedanta
This is very important. Veda and Vedanta are different. Veda is the Karma section. Vedanta is the Jnana section.
Even out of ignorance Karma/action is performed sometimes. There are always two ways of performing action; with knowledge and with ignorance. Jnana is always knowledge. There are no two ways to Truth.
There are blind beliefs. Leave those alone. They are based on the experiences of a few persons, and have no universal application. They are not mentioned in the Vedas. Vedas teach what will apply to all. People make fun and ridicule the rituals prescribed in the Vedas. They do not understand the significance of breaking coconuts or performing abhishekam, and so on. These actions are difficult to understand. Some even appear contradictory. But the rituals have a definite benefit for society. It is not easy to explain their significance to the common man in an understandable way.
The Upanishads teach us in Vedanta, the nature of the Supreme Soul.
There are questions and answers bandied about until the bag of questions becomes empty. Then the final principle is presented in Vedanta.
Veda and Vedanta are the ultimate. Dharma, artha and kama are attained by following the teachings of the Vedas, by following the path of Dharma. Vedanta grants the final goal, Moksha/liberation. The four Purusharthas are granted by Veda and Vedanta.
Out of half-knowledge one must not criticize the Vedas. Even the one who knows one Veda fully is not fully knowledgeable. Guru’s attribute or qualification is that He knows the ins and outs of all the Vedas fully.
One who is not thoroughly knowledgeable has no right to speak derisively about the Vedas. Vidyaranya Swami wrote commentaries on all the four Vedas with consultation with 300 perfect scholars. For each statement given in the Vedas, a thorough explanation was given and was fully tested, reviewed, and accepted. Each one of the 300 scholars involved in this work was an adept in his field.
Teaching the meaning of the Vedas is not an easy task. One must have knowledge of the past, present, and future, and complete faith. That is also possible to attain only with Vichara. In the night it is totally dark. We stumble and fall. We therefore keep a lamp and watch our every step to be safe.
Vichara throws light on this existence of ours.
ananta
in the dark, we do not see the sun or the moon. The sun and the moon are still in the sky. But we do not see them. Their radiance is reduced at night. But the inner eye is always open. It never loses its light. The sun has risen but if you build a huge wall to block its light, the sun’s rays cannot penetrate through the wall.
The inner eye’s light can penetrate through each and every layer and obstruction that is placed, and will finally have the vision of the Almighty.
The eye doctor shows us an eye chart. By your ability to read the different lines with letters, as they become smaller, the doctor determines the level of your eyesight.
The inner eye’s vision is the same for each, regardless of whether one’s physical vision is good or whether one is blind.
Worship of Siva grants the third eye. It should be preserved internally. The area between the eyebrows is where it is located.
Sage Bhrigu kept the third eye that he was blessed with, inside his physical eye. It is an insult to inner vision. It cannot be kept accessible where it can be kicked with the foot. That is why he was taught a severe lesson as described in the scriptures.
verse
Some are born blind and some lose their vision due to unfortunate accidents. The blind have excellent memory. They depend on their memory as we depend on books for lyrics of songs.
A musician in Hyderabad rendered so many songs, all out of perfect memory, not referring to any printed text. Even Sri Swamiji’s toughest compositions, the Swarakshara Kritis, he sang from memory. It was remarkable.
Should we feel sorry for those who are born blind with no inner vision? Their minds are evil. Their nature is wicked.
But even those who become physically blind afterwards like Sage Chyavana are able to predict future events. He was able to warn the deities of an impending war. It is a result of Vichara using his discriminative mind.
A wise person is always victorious. We say Jai to Sadgurunatha Maharaj. It means that Guru will always win.
verse
This Vichara should be always respected and revered. It grants the ultimate goal of Self-Realization. In every situation, and at all times it should be engaged in, without a moment’s respite.
Now Hanuman Chalisa Parayana must keep going without a moment’s respite.
There is no greater or more valuable thing in life than Vichara.
saahaani
What is Haani? It is loss. Separation, or destruction is caused by conflict in words or actions. What is blindness? What is being mute?
If for an instant one forgets to remember Siva, Guru, or God, that instant, one is as bad as blind. It is a disastrous moment for us. That instant we have become separated from God. We have become momentarily blind, or mute. The Devatas/gods make us take many births to atone for that one moment’s lapse. Linga Purana makes this statement. Not even for an instant should one forget God or Guru.
Tomorrow we will continue.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi