Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 172, October 10 2015
Sri Sadgurubhyo namaha
Om Santissantissantissantihi
(Note: Beginning is missing in video)
What is difficult for us appears trivial to Guru. He says, why do you suffer so much for such a small thing? One must never say, if you are in my place you will know the magnitude of my suffering. One must never be indiscreet or disrespectful towards Guru. One must pray to God for humility and faith before Guru. If one places faith in Guru’s words and understands properly and treats the troubles as trivial, the troubles will soon go away.
Similarly, Sage Vasishtha tells Rama to spend a little time with him with a tranquil mind without any excitement or agitation in the heart. We must be under Guru’s control while we are with him. We should not allow our mind to dictate our behavior. How is it possible? If we have faith, love, respect, devotion, earnestness, and fear one can remain within control of Guru, the way students behave with discipline in a classroom out of fear and respect for the teacher. Love alone is not sufficient, especially if the proper meaning of love is not understood.
Vasishtha treats the topic of the world lightly and promises to sweep the world away from Sri Rama’s mind along with his ignorance. What appears most difficult for us is a very easy task for Guru.
The bow that could not be lifted by 5000 persons was tipped over effortlessly by Mother Sita’s left finger. While the multitudes of Vanaras failed to locate Mother Sita, Lord Hanuman was able to find her all on his own. He himself commented on that, but with no trace of ego. Only those without ego will have such power and potential.
Rama, you should accept my guidance. You should not indulge any longer in any anxiety as to whether or not you will succeed.
Once you tell Guru of your problems, you should no longer worry about them. You have placed your burden on Guru’s shoulders. You should stop worrying thereafter. When you agree for surgery, you cannot be still entertaining doubts about the surgeon’s capability. If the patient lacks faith, the operation will be successful but the patient will die.
There should be no doubt or suspicion in the mind. Follow my instruction and experience it yourself. Do not fear Sri Rama. I will guide you in the process. All that will remain will be Jnana. Just as a knowledgeable person is not deluded by mirages in a desert, you will become immune to delusion and ignorance. Vasishtha gave his word to Sri Rama.
Drashtrutvam
Only when a thing exists, the question of a seer, and of seeing comes into being. In deep sleep you are not seeing anything. You remain in bliss. This visible world causes the feeling that you are perceiving it. Only if there is a person to see, the visible world exists. Seeing happens only when there are both a scene and a seer. This Triputi must be removed. The three are interrelated. If one is removed, the other two also will go away. In Dhyana, the Triputi is in a subtle state. The mind becomes steady and one-pointed. During Parayana or Mantra Japa, or after Satsang or a session of Kriya Yoga, one feels a certain experience of peace and bliss. This is a common experience. The longer the duration of the practice, the longer the bliss remains.
Ekatvam
Unless we have in the mind a concept of more than one, we would not say ‘one’. When you say ‘two, already the mind has the thoughts of one and three as well. We are not aware of this mental process or of the prevalence of the background knowledge which is vast and extends to infinity. Unknowingly the superfast mind processes concepts and ideas very quickly, in microseconds. This is not a deliberate activity on our part.
This is the true state. Even one does not exist. Unless there is one, there are no two nor is there a pair.
Drushti
The perception of one and two must leave the mind. Truth and untruth and such dualities have to be got rid of.
Truth is unchanging. It is eternal. It never gets expended. The mind must constantly be recollecting these attributes of Truth. The Upanishads keep stressing this point. We have the tendency to keep forgetting. Unless there is constant recollection, the topic will not stay in the mind. That is why Swamiji is making us chant the Hanuman Chalisa thousands of times. The chant itself declares that by repeating it a hundred times, all sins get destroyed. But even after chanting the Hanuman Chalisa umpteen times, still we feel that we had not dwelt with concentration on a single line even. Constant repetition and continuous practice are most important in the pursuit of Yoga and Vedanta.
Dvitva
The two merge into one, we think. We see the world as a separate entity. The idea of I am seeing this world is established in our minds. The One that exists is not being retained in the mind. Sadguru has to sweep away the Triputi from the mind. Only then Paramatman will remain steadily. It cannot be said that Brahman is the one and only Truth. That statement would imply that anything other Brahman is untruth. But no other exists. That is why the wise ones do not say that. They say He is Truth.
Vedas say: It is one, and it is one without a second. See everything as Paramatma. Practice it. It is the intermediate step and one of the techniques to follow.
Brahman alone exists. It means and implies that a second does not exist. No one says: There is only one banana, there is no second banana. There is no need to say that. The first statement already implies that no second banana is there.
When only one exists, there is no scene, seer, and seeing. Brahman is I. This feeling must arise and get establish itself in us.
In the movie Datta Darshanam: the last song is “Nene Satyam/I alone am Truth”. It means that you are a part of Dattatreya, who is the one and only entity in existence. It does not mean that Datta alone is true and you are untrue. Datta is not boasting that He is great and you are not. Would anyone prostrate before a person in this world who announces the He alone is great and you are not? No. Datta removes our ignorance and merges us into Himself. That is what makes Datta great.
Datta Stavam says: Datta is a great soul. We are ordinary individual souls. He is Sadguru. So of what use is it for us? So what, if He is great? He grants boons to us. He transforms us also into great souls. It is cheap to simply run after him repeatedly to receive small worldly boons. That is not what we should desire. We should desire to become like Him. He was born great. Some achieve that status by sadhana. Why should Datta grant us boons? Does He owe us anything? He loves devotees as a cow loves its calf. That is why He grants us the boon of raising us to His level of a Mahatma. The reason we approach Guru is that. But we forget and ask for inferior favors.
There is nothing else except Brahman/Paramatma. The use of the word ‘second’ should not mislead us. There is no point in saying there is no second entity called untruth. No one says: I do not have a crore of rupees. He would be considered insane, if he did.
Ahanta
Where did all this begin from? It began with the ego. Saha aham. It is said. No one says: Aham hamsaha. Hamsaha it is said.
From a to ha our alphabet goes. Later ksha was added. The world runs on communication with words. Without words, the alphabet, no affairs are conducted. Without words or the alphabet, the world would be plunged in darkness. Misuse of words can cause great harm, just as misuse of nuclear energy. To this day the Japanese are suffering because of the bomb blast. How you use a thing determines its effect.
This visible world comes out of us. I came first. The world came from me. The poets who write lyrics for movies also are blessed with divine talent and insight sometimes. In every poet there is a sun, it is said. Bad and good both exist in the world.
It is not a world devoid of ego. Only because of the ego the world came into existence. One who has no awareness of ego will not take care of himself. He will not eat or sleep. Me and mine are the basis for this world. Ordinary people use these concepts in a limited manner confining the interest to themselves. Vasudhaika kutumbakam – the entire world is my family – is the tenet followed by noble souls whose vision is broad and universal. They consider the troubles of others as their own. They have a universal vision. They identify themselves with the entire world. They treat everyone as their own family. That is why Swamiji travels incessantly. We see that. Many cannot come to Him. So He goes to them. That is the nature of Sadguru.
Easily I will sweep away the ignorance and ego from your mind, assures Sage Vasishtha. Do not worry. Do not be anxious. I will convince you that the world never even came into being. It is not a question of a trouble arising and then vanishing. Troubles have no genesis whatsoever.
Many perform Ekadasi fasting very effortlessly. Some cannot bear their hunger even for ten minutes. Those who enjoy fasting are not troubled in the least by hunger. With devotion and sincerity they follow the fast. The first few times one fasts, he may be aware of hunger. Every month on Ekadasi, the body will request you to do fasting, once you become accustomed to fasting. It is strange that it is the same body that demands food on other days. The body has a built-in alarm. If you rise at 4 AM daily, the body will automatically rise at that time.
We need Sadguru’s grace and help for following these disciplines. The stomach feels clean and light with fasting. Whatever you do willingly becomes easy. What you force yourself to do will be hard.
I will give you the Jnana that you were never even born.
Verse
I will dust off the mirror called the mind and clean it. I have the required broom and dusting cloth. I will make it clear. ‘Nijamana mukura sudhaari’. This is a line from the Hanuman Chalisa. You see that Yoga Vasishtha is connected to the Hanuman Chalisa.
Naasato vidyate
This exact same verse occurs in the Bhagavad Gita. It is a verse from the Upanishad. Vasishtha uses it here. Lord Krishna again has uttered these words. It is wrong to think that Bhagavad Gita is older than Yoga Vasishtha. Sage Vasishtha is Guru even to Krishna.
What does not exist never existed. What is, ever is. No one asks when God was born. One may ask of the birth date of an incarnation such as Krishna, Rama, and so on. Bhagavan is God, it is not a name. It denotes the ever-existing Supreme Soul which is beyond the boundaries of Time. He transcends Time. He Himself is Time.
About Siva, one with a name, one may ask when He was born. But Siva and Vishnu have no mother or father. They are without birth.
Devaki who was previously Aditi, prayed to Vishnu: You have not enjoyed the love of mother. Hence, please be born as my child. That is why Vishnu was born to Aditi as Vamana and later as Krishna to Devaki.
He is eternal. He has no birth or death. This must be established firmly in the mind by constant recollection.
Yastu
Guru’s words are always like this. Sometimes they even laugh at our troubles, treating them as trivial.
Some senior devotees come back today and laugh about their own past troubles. It is only possible in Sadguru’s presence. That day we cried at your feet enumerating all our troubles. You laughed. Now we recollect and laugh about our small troubles of the past.
Is it difficult to destroy a trouble that never existed?
When an object is already clean, is it difficult to dust and clean it? You do not need any materials for cleaning it. It is very easy. If something is dirty, then you look for cleaning supplies and you have to exert yourself to clean it.
A difficulty as huge as a mountain will appear as a speck to Guru. He makes you transcend it easily. He makes you climb a hill with no effort at all on your part.
Just stay with me, listen to me, and follow my guidance, that is enough, says Vasishtha.
Jagadaadau
In the beginning of Utpatti Prakarana, it was first described that the universe got dissolved. All the five elements merged in God, including Space. All that remained was Brahman.
Going to the beginning of Creation means, taking the mind to the time before Creation began, when nothing existed. Before all this came into existence, what was there? That is Brahman. Envision that. Great souls have experienced it. They who have experienced Brahman can see everything in nothing. They can predict what things will be like in the future.
Those who experience Brahman have the yoga siddhi to make things take shape. When it was all a jungle, Swamiji told his step-brother Nanjundayya, when he brought him to this site, that a Vaikuntha will be created here. He could see the picture of the future of the ashrama in his mind. How did this evolve? By the power of Sadguru’s siddhi/spiritual power.
What now appears to you as the vast Universe, at one time never even existed except in the soul of Paramatma.
The blueprint is drawn and the plan is taken to get the permission sanctioned for the construction of a building. This is at the paper stage. Before it is drawn on paper, the plan exists in the mind. When mind is absent, nothing is there. The world will then not be visible. Mind is the source for everything.
Mukura sudhaari – the dusty mind-mirror must become clean and clear.
By Brahma Jnana, by the power of it, all this falsely appears to exist.
Jagannaa
There is no difficulty in removing your sorrow. Another example is given here. Guru is an expert at it. He removes the very source of the disease. He is teaching Sri Rama the spiritual technique, the sadhana. The example he gives we will discuss tomorrow.
We will proceed for Sri Chakra puja now. Chant internally the Hanuman Chalisa while witnessing it. Today it is Sani Trayodasi. This year we have many Sani Trayodasis. Please contemplate on God. Go to Sri Datta Venkateswara Temple and light the lamp for Sani and offer prayers. You may also perform Tailabhishekam to Lord Sani.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi