Mysorean

Sloka 19:

Brahman is seen in so many forms. How do you see through these forms? This is to be seen through the purified mind.

For example, babies have a pure mind. If you ask a 3-yr old to look at the board, then the kid will look at the board with 100% concentration. Because it doesn’t know any other way of doing it. But as the kid grows up, its concentration waivers. Many distractions enter its mind. Whatever took 5 minutes to teach the kid in the Second class, will take 15 minutes in the Third class and so on. The kid’s pure mind has been spoilt by the material nature of the World.

The mind should be free from useless attachments and desire. The mind must be only concentrating on realising the “Atman”. Sri Ramanuja likens meditation to the flow of pouring oil from vessel to vessel. Water flow has a drop-like form to it, but not oil. Oil flows in a continuous form. From the “Brahman” to the “Atman”, there is a flow like the flow of oil.

The mind that meditates must be so purified. It must have a one-pointedness of knowing the “Brahman”. It is such a mind that is being referred to here. The energy of mind should be harnesses.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa would hold a towel in front of his eyes and ask his devotees if they could see him. All of them would reply that they cannot since there is a towel that is hiding his face. This towel, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says, is similar to the curtain the mind creates in pursuit of the Ultimate Truth. The Ultimate Truth is the infinite Life, Happiness and Knowledge. In other words, it’s the “Atman”. The “Atman” is infinite Life, Happiness and knowledge.

Tomorrow: Sloka 19 (Continued)

[via Arujuna_speaks] An excerpt from the divine discourse:

How to know the sacredness of this nature?

Here is an example for this. There is the inner self – Atma Tatwa – in the physical bodies, matter and forms. There is an ocean. In this infinite, deep ocean, there are infinite number of waves. The forms of waves vary though the ocean is one. Are the waves separate from the ocean? Though they appear to be different, the coolness, that which makes it wet and the white color are the same in the waves of the ocean.

Similarly, divinity is present at the individual level and in the world. Prior to this universe there is Brahman. That which is present now is Brahman. Brahman will be there even after total annihilation of the universe. All these times, past, present and future, that which is permanent, that which is truth is Brahman.

How is it? A foolish person looking at the rope mistakes it to be a snake and shouts. A wise man will come and say it is not a snake, it is just a rope and allays his fear. He looks at the rope clearly after his fear has gone. Then it is the rope. The rope existed when he mistook it to be a snake and shouted. The rope continued to exist after the fear was gone. In all the three times, it was only the rope that existed. It was only delusion that made him mistake the rope for a snake. There is Brahman prior to this universe. That which is universe is Brahman. Brahman remains after annihilation. It is silver prior to this tumbler was made. There is silver in this form of tumbler. Silver remains when it is melted.

The forms and names differ though the silver remains the same in all the three stages.

Sloka 18 :
(Continued)

We need to keep both our mind and body in good shape. Like we exercise our body, we need to provide some exercise for our mind also. Otherwise our mind will fall asleep. Exercise for the mind is contemplation.

The Brahman though is ancient is still new. The new never loses its newness.

The statement of Ultimate truth is “The primordial thing from which we all exist is our consciousness”. We begin from God, we live in God, we return to God. God is consciousness, consciousness is God.

In terms of name and form, One appears as many. For example, consider the plates and cups made out of clay. The real matter in the plates and cups is the same – Clay. It appears as many.
Lets look at another example, this one was used frequently by Swami Vivekananda. Wave is a form of the sea. Can you seperate the waves from the sea? It’s impossible. Waves are a different name and form of the sea.

The realised person comes to the conclusion that it’s the non-changing, ever-new Brahman from where everything has come. He is the cause of the Universe.

You should pierce through this veil of name and form to see & feel the omni-present Brahman.

Tomorrow: Sloka 19

After a brief recap of the last lecture, Swamiji started on the next sloka.

Sloka 18:

Those people who know the Brahman, know that the power of the “Atman”. The sense organs can function only with the power of the “Atman”. Where there is “Atman” there is Life. The vital forces exist because of the “Atman”.

For example, when we see something move in a zig-zag fashion at a distance, we assume it’s a snake. We infer that since it’s a snake, we need to be at a safe distance from it. Also, when we see dark clouds, our immediate reaction is that it’s going to rain. Well, whether it rains in Chennai or in Vishakapatnam, it rains.

We are able to see the invisible from what’s visible. The snake was invisible, but we did visualize it as a snake and take the necessary precautions. Even the rain was invisible, but we did see it even before it came, right? How?

The ability to infer the invisible from the visible comes from our senses. The power driving the senses is the power of the “Atman”. The people who have realized the “Atman” look beyond the senses.

Beyond the smile of a child is the “Atman”. Beyond the cry of a child is the “Atman”. Beyond the beauty of any face is the “Atman”. Beyond the ugliness of any face is the “Atman”.

Eyes cannot see, it’s the “Atman” that sees. The power behind the eye is the “Atman”. Eye of the eye is the “Atman”. The power behind the senses – Life of the Life, the power behind the ear – ear of the ear, the power behind the mind – mind of the mind, is the Soul. “Atman”.

Mind is also matter. The person who has realized the “Atman” sees that it is the “Atman” that controls the mind. “Atman” generates the wave of thought which manifests itself in the mind.

Those people who see the real organ behind the organs, have determined correctly that the organ of all organs is the “Atman”. We operate our mind, we think, we eat, we speak, we do so many things – who does all this? It’s the “Atman”. The realized being sees the “Atman” behind everything.

The goal of the “Atman” is infinite Life, infinite knowledge and infinite joy. The “Atman” is all this. It is in our nature. We need to discover this.

Swami Vivekananda said, “All happiness and good things are the efforts and struggle of the Soul to manifest itself”.

Swamiji was very elaborate on this Sloka. Let’s continue learning this tomorrow.

Another article to be posted today is on: Initialising the team of teams

Sloka 17:

In this infinite Brahman which is beyond time, five types of souls reside. They are

1. Gandharvas: Celestial Singers
2. Pitrs: People who have departed from this World.
3. Devatas: Constitutional and law abiding souls like Indra, Brahma
4. Rakshasas: Unconstitutional
5. Asuras: Unconstitutional like the Rakshasas. For eg. Ravana and Indrajit.

The infinite space is also resting in the Atman. The Atman supports the sky (representing the five elements) and all the jivas of the Universe.

The Rishi who has realized the Brahman is the Soul. The Soul and the Brahman are one and the same. The point of contact with the Brahman is inside us – our Atma. All our Atmas are connected to the Brahman. Sage Yagnavalkya (who is the originator of this Sloka) says, “I am considering myself as the immortal Brahman”.

When we know the immortal Brahman we become the Brahman. This is the difference between knowing material and knowing Self. On knowing the Self we become the enlightened Soul. Youngsters believe in the Atman. That’s why they say I can do everything.

Knowing Brahman is becoming Brahman. Sage says, when you meditate on God, you will get the nature of God. You will get Divine nature. When you meditate on God, you find yourself improving because you are God yourself. When we realise God, we become God.

This was Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy too. He said, “Every soul is potentially Divine”.

Tomorrow: An excerpt from “I am a Voice without a Form”

Sloka 16:

Time is one. But we divide it into various parts and call it timelines across the planet for our convenience. Below the Brahman, time begins and changes into different seasons & ages and goes towards an end. The Brahman is above time.

According to a famous saying, “All paths of glory lead to the grave”. Every path leads to the Earth. For example, Pete Sampras was a Great Champion in tennis. But even the “great” champion had a time span. Greatness of human beings has a time span. Time signals the end. Time brings death. But Lord Shiva is beyond time. “Kaala kaalo Shivaha” means Shiva is immortal.

Glorious Atmans cannot be touched by the movement of time. There is no end to the Atman. The realized man is the Atman. Time exists under the Atman. Since there was no beginning to the Atman there is no end either. So, there can be no such thing as time for an Atman.

That Atman who cannot be touched by time is the immortal light among the mortal lights. He is the light of realization. It can never die. Light of consciousness is always awake. It never sleeps. There is no sleep for the Atman. It has been awakened. Ever-awakened. The Light of the Atman is eternal. This light can be seen always. It can see and understand anything.

Body and mind cannot dictate the Soul. The Soul is the Master. Body and mind are matter afterall. Soul is the only one that has control over everything. The light of the Soul is the only permanent one. All the other lights are temporary lights.

When we meditate on some object, we acquire the nature of the object. The Devatas meditate on the Atman and get the eternal quality of the Atman. Thus the Devatas go on to live till eternity. The immortal lights carry on without being touched by the passage of time.

When we are happy, years pass by very quickly. When we are in misery, time seems to drag along. When difficulties are there, days pass by at a slow pace. The enlightened man, who has realized the Soul will not be affected by misery. The eternal Atman is worshipped upon by Devatas for long life. And hence they live long. Daily if we meditate on the eternal we will also become eternal.

Tomorrow: Part III

I was under the impression that, having missed the previous Sunday’s discourse, I would have to skip slokas. But surprisingly, the Swamiji started with a recap of the 14th and 15th sloka from where we had ended the lecture on 7th August. That was good! Since we have already touched upon the 14th sloka in our previous post, we can now move to the 15th sloka. This is the 15th sloka from the 4th section of the 4th chapter of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

Sloka 15:

When the realization that the Supreme – The Creator of the Past, Present and Future and we are one and the same, we move beyond the boundaries of time. And with that brings a vision of oneness. We see ourselves as infinity. The infinite nature of the Supreme is what we begin to feel. We feel oneness with everything. We see God in everybody through our Soul.

We are all individual minds with an infinite soul. There is no individual soul. We get different ideas of self because of different minds that we have. But, we have an infinite soul. We are all hiding from the fact that the infinite God exists. We are living in ignorance. The enlightened man realizes this and sees oneness everywhere. He realizes the infinite nature of Soul.

Tomorrow: Part – II

In this very miserable state of the body, we started out, we realized that infinite soul is inside us. If I hadn’t realized I would have lived in tremendous difficulties. Whoever knows the Atman goes beyond the stages of death. They become eternal. Those who remain in ignorance will come back to this world again and again.

(As told by Swami Gautamananda in his discourse on “Brihadaranyaka Upanishad” at Ramakrishna Ashram, Chennai)

Swamiji stopped here as it was time to wrap up. We shall continue when I attend the next discourse. I will not be attending the Sunday’s (14th August) discourse as I am in Bangalore for my cousin’s engagement. So we will lose continuity. My apologies for that. I will anyway update the blog daily. Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow: India and the last mile

Advaita says “I am brahma”. The body has created all ills. The body makes us ill. We think we are ill if our body is ill. Getting into a body is like gettting into a dense forest thinking I will come out easily. But actually, It is difficult to get out of a dense forest. The entering of a body is equalled to getting into an inaccessible forest. The Atman has entered the perilous body. There is no way to escape the miseries associated with this body.

Anything that is achieved by one man, must be possible to eb attained by everybody. When the awakened soul realizes that he is the infinite soul he realizes that he is the creator of the World. A person who has realized God, sees God in everyone.

For example, there was a lady called Gopalamma (Gopal is Lord Krishna’s another name, Amma is mother) who used to live on one end of River Ganga. The other side of which was Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s abode. Gopalamma was a widow ostracized from the society. But she had benevolent in-laws who would give her Rs. 500/- a year towards her livelihood. Gopalamma would donate that to a temple in her neighbourhood and also serve there. In turn, the temple would feed her with two meals per day. She used to stay in a haunted house. Haunted as considered by the local villagers.

One day, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa & a few of his disciples crossed the river and walked into Gopalamma’s haunted house. Once Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa entered the house, the ghosts became very restless and went and requested Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to leave so that they could stay comfortable. When the spiritually enlightened enter, the lesser ghosts couldn’t even exist peacefully in His presence. So, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his disciples left the house. He had not informed the disciples of the incident lest they get scared and create a commotion.

Gopalamma would live in this house peacefully. She was a powerful spiritual person. She would do lots of penance and it helped her gain control over the ghosts. The Ghosts’ presence wouldn’t bother her at all. Gopalamma attained such heights that she was able to see Lord Krishna everywhere. The Lord would appear in the form of a small child and play with Gopalamma for hours together. Such sessions sometime extended upto months together.

During such sessions, Gopalamma would answer questions from the villagers regarding spirituality and other issues. Lord Krishna would actually answer the questions through Gopalamma. As long as Lord Krishna was there, Gopalamma would be able to answer all the questions. But once the Lord left, Gopalamma would say, “I can’t answer anymore. My Lord Krishna has left”.

Such is the power of spirituality. The enlightened being feels the oneness with Lord Brahma. This comes to people through hard spiritual exercises. All can escape misery through the knowledge of self.

Do we like whatever we do in our life? For example, if you are living in Mumbai, you have to get up at 4AM and catch the 5.02AM train. Is it enjoyable? Certainly not. This is the misery of our body. When spirituality wakes up, the miseries go away!

(As told by Swami Gautamananda in a discourse on “Brihadaranyaka Upanishad” at Ramakrishna Ashram, Chennai)

Tomorrow: Sloka 14.

The Atman has no fear. Fear comes with the possibilityof destruction. Atman full of joy. When we think that this world is infinity and we are one with that world, there is no fear. Attachment to the body, will get us only sorrow. We should realise that we are different from the body. That’s when the grief becomes attached to the body and not to the Atman.

An enlightened man, if he realises that he is the Atman or infinity, will never be unhappy. The realisation that “I am one with Brahma, the creator, the protector and destroyer”. A man is enlightened if he realizes he is the Atman. He will not have any desires. Desire arises out of attachment to worldly pleasures. All pleasure & all joy is in our soul.

A person who has infinite joy gets detached from the worldly joys. Like the saints who don’t want wealth and name, while we struggle for wealth and name throughout our lives. We want promotions and hikes to prove that we are better than the other. It’s an unending game of one-upmanship. Aspiration for higher things is always there. Whereas we are higher than everything else. We should realise that.

Physically, many things might not be possible. But spiritually we can go beyond all and everything. We can reach the highest point which is being one with the Divine. We are the divine.

For example, there was this kid who was studying in the school where the Swamiji was the Principal. This kid was exceptionally brilliant. So, Swamiji gave her a double promotion from Class 3 to Class 5. In Class 5, she would still top the class beating the closest contenders by 25 marks. So, she was given another double promotion to Class 7. So on and so forth, the kid went on till the tenth standard. Then from there she went to college and joined corporate organisation.

The point that Swamiji was trying to drive home was that, if you think that you are the body then you can grow only to a certain level. There is a limit to which you can grow. But once, we realise that we are the soul which is the infinite, why do we need to struggle in this body? Enlightened people decide to leave the body once their mission in Life is achieved.

Swami Vivekananda wanted to leave the body for two years upto the age of 38 as his mission in life was achieved. Once the desires of the body are fulfilled the body may be left. And we can go the God from where we started. We are in this body by the will of God. We are here for a specific Mission. Once the mission is achieved, we shall all go back to God.

This shows that everyone of us can escape from this world of misery to an infinite World of joy.

(This is as told by Swami Gautamananda in the discourse on “Brihadaranyaka Upanishad” at Ramakrishna Ashram, Chennai)

Tomorrow: Sloka 13