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April 2015

Silence the mind and listen; this is the final state of meditation. –  Chinmaya

Why is the mind always noisy?

It is the symptom of a disease. It is the cry of the Infinite locked within the prison of the finite. It is the suffocation of the Eternal caged within the envelopments of the ephemeral. It is the helplessness of the Sentient bound by the inert. It is the fear of the Existence threatened by the non-existent. It is the un-comfort of the Auspicious when surrounded by the inauspicious. It is the impatience of the Self to overcome the imperfections of the non-Self.

It is the urgent call of the Divine saying, “O Man! Wake up to thy nature Divine!”

We, by very nature, are Sat-Chit-Anand. In short, we are born perfect. Nothing is lacking in us. We are Eternal Bliss. We are made in the image of God. But somewhere we made a terrible mistake. Instead of identifying with the ever-perfect Self – the Pure Consciousness in us – we got identified with the matter envelopments, namely the body, mind and the intellect (BMI).

The identification theory says that – When entity A gets identified with entity B, the properties of entity B appears to be the properties of entity A. Hence after identification, instead of experiencing our infinite nature, we start experiencing the finitude of our matter envelopments.

Body goes through six stages: अस्ति, जायते, वर्धते, विपरिणमते, अपक्षीयते, विनश्यति |

It exists; it is born; it grows, matures, decays and finally dies. But due to the identification with the body, we experience as though all these changes of birth, growth, disease, old age and death happen to us. For the Unborn, birth is misery. For the Undying, death is unthinkable. For the Infinite, finitude is torture. For the Blissful, misery is intolerable. Thus the mind is ever noisy trying to come out of its misery in various ways.

This noisy mind sings its tragic tale in six ragas – desire, anger, greed, delusion, arrogance and jealousy.

How to silence this mind and put an end to this abhorrent weep and wail?

The cause is ignorance, and therefore the solution is knowledge. Educate the mind of our own true nature. Let it seek happiness, not from outside, but from within. The Supreme Self is the very abode of everything that it seeks in life. Once it tastes the Self, it becomes permanently silent.

Self is Sat-Chit-Anand. In the absolute existence of the Self, the mind feels secure. In the absolute bliss of the Self, the mind becomes peaceful. In the direct experience of the Self, the mind desires nothing more to know, as all the doubts are dispelled.

Kabir, the great saint and poet, lived his whole life in Kashi. For centuries Hindus have believed that to die in Kashi is the greatest thing you can do in life, because for one who dies in Kashi, his paradise is guaranteed. It does not matter what kind of man he is, whether he is a murderer, a thief, a saint or a sinner – these things are all irrelevant. His dying in Kashi erases everything and he becomes qualified for paradise.

So in Kashi, you will find old people, old women who have come there just to die. They have not done anything in their life, but they don’t want to miss paradise.

And Kabir lived his whole life in Kashi, and when he was going to die he said, “Take me out of Kashi to the other side, to the small village.” Just on the other side of the Ganges was a small village.

His disciples said, “Are you mad or something? People come to Kashi; the whole of Kashi is full of people who have come here to die. You have lived your whole life in Kashi; what kind of nonsense is this? And the village you are pointing to is condemned; people say whoever dies there is born again as a donkey.”

But Kabir said, “I will go to that village, and I will die in that village. I want to enter paradise on my own worth, not because of Kashi. And I know my worth.”

Against their will, they had to take him to the other side, and he died there.

When you know your Self, then alone you know your worth.

An Army-retired old man once organized a party in his house. All his friends and relatives were called and there was a big bash. He narrated with great zeal the heroic war deeds of his past to all those who had assembled there, forgetting that he had narrated the same tale to the very same people umpteen number of times on different occasions. The old man was immersed in the narration of his encounter with terrorists in the Kashmir border. The crowd gave a patient hearing to the old man, more out of pity for his present condition than out of any serious interest.

Hours passed by. The drink kept going in, the ego kept bloating up, and the boastful words kept pouring out. Ultimately he got overly drunk. In that drunken state, the military man of the yesteryears plunged into a state of hallucination. He felt that he was surrounded by the terrorists in their camp and he had been caught alive. He frantically searched for his gun, but in vain. Loudly he started panicking, “Please don’t kill me! Spare me! Let me go!!”

Feeling pity for the lamenting old man, others soon joined to console him, “Come back to your senses dear sir. You are already at your own sweet home!” The old man was trembling with fear and was in no mood to listen.

Some fun-loving youngsters came together. They took the old man aside and whispered in his ears, “Sir, we are from the Indian Army. We have come in disguise. We have been sent on a mission to save you. Just follow us and you will be safe.” They took him out to the garage and made him sit in his own car. The engine was started. In the dark, they shook the car from behind to give him a feel of travel. Voices of various animals were mimicked to give a feel of a thick forest. After some time, they stopped the engine and requested, “Sir, you have come to your home. Please get down.”

There was a great sigh of relief upon the face of the old man. With tears in his eyes, he profusely thanked the youngsters, appreciated their courage, and congratulated them for their success in the dangerous and risky mission undertaken!!

Let’s not laugh at this old man! We too are doing the same. We are searching for something which we already are.

The mind which has found oneself becomes silent – no desires, no cravings. It drops all its wanderings and abides in the Self permanently. The knower of the Self becomes the Self. This is the final acme of meditation.

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T

March 2015

The secret of success in life lies in keeping the head above the storms of the heart. –  Chinmaya

The head, or the intellect, is the faculty which takes decisions based on the righteous ways of living. Its decisions are based on the scriptural teachings and on the wisdom of the saints and sages of the past. Thus intellect always takes us in the right direction.

The mind (or the heart in this context) is the faculty which takes decisions compelled by the impulses and instincts, likes and dislikes, emotions and sentiments, amidst doubts and confusions.

Make your wise intellect the captain of your life, and not your confused mind, says the quote.

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic-stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but …it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behaviour of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behaviour? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

We become incapable of handling the outer disturbances when we operate through our mind rather than through our intellect. When we allow the storms of the heart to rule over us, we blindly react. When we allow the wise intellect to take charge, we intelligently respond.

A great poet once got lost in the forest. For three days he could not find the way out. Hungry, tired and worried about wild animals the whole night, sitting on the trees, and the whole day stumbling, trying to find some human being… But for three days he could not meet anyone to show him the way. The third night was a full-moon night.

He was sitting on a tree, utterly exhausted. He looked at the moon, and suddenly he laughed. He laughed because he had written so many poems about the moon and he has read so many poems about the moon. The moon is such a romantic phenomenon that no poet of any standing can leave it out, no painter can leave it out. Its impact is deep, its beauty is great. So why did he laugh? He laughed because when he looked at the moon, he didn’t see all those romantic things that he was talking of in his poems. He only saw a round loaf of bread, floating in the sky!!

He said, “My God! What has happened to me?” He laughed at himself, and for the first time he understood that what he had been saying about the moon had nothing to do with the moon; it had something to do with himself.

Everything you see is interpreted by what rules over you – head or heart.

Two friends went out for a camping trip. In the night they set up a tent in the open and fell asleep. In the middle of the night, one of them woke up the other and asked, “Look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”

The other replied, “I see millions of stars.” 

The first one asked, “What does that tell you?” 

The other pondered for a while and then answered, “Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.  Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past two. Spiritually, it’s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?” 

The first one remained silent for a moment and then replied, “Practically… Someone has stolen our tent…”

It is said that common sense is the most uncommon thing in the world!

In the Bhagavad Geeta, the Lord gives three examples of how the storms of the heart can paralyse the thinking capacity of the intellect.

धूमेनाव्रियते वह्नि: यथादर्शो मलेन च । यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भ: तथा तेनेदमावृतम् ||
(Just like the smoke covers the fire, the dust covers the mirror, or the womb covers the fetus, so too the passions of the heart cover the intellect and force one to sin.)

Three examples are given to show how the intellect is rendered ineffective by the inner passions. When our mind is sattvic, winning over the desires is as easy as blowing away the smoke from the fire. When the mind is rajasic, the process is a little difficult, like wiping away the dust from a mirror. But when the mind is tamasic, the covering is as thick as the womb covering the fetus and then winning over the inner storms becomes almost impossible.

One can handle these inner storms only if the intellect is made very powerful. The intellect is strengthened by cultivating right understanding about life. This is done through regular study of the scriptures, listening to satsangs, and through deep contemplation and meditation. Once the intellect is strengthened, it can easily handle the deceptive mind and pull it out of all channels of dissipation. Then alone all thought-storms of the heart can be subdued once and for all.

Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, was sitting, surrounded by his disciples in the prison. Socrates had been awarded capital punishment, and had been given poison (hemlock). But he was busy discussing spiritual matters with his disciples in such a manner as if he was not in the prison at all! While discussing the highest spiritual Truth with the disciples, Socrates noticed that the sentry wanted to say something. He asked one of his disciples to go and see what the sentry wanted to say.

 “Talking too much increases the blood temperature in a person and under such circumstances, the poison given to a prisoner becomes less effective. I am afraid, if he continues thus, I shall have to give him another cup of poison,” informed the sentry.

The disciple returned and informed Socrates what the sentry had said. But Socrates remained unaffected. He told his disciple to tell the sentry to prepare another hemlock for him. “Discussing knowledge alone, for me, is the most important.”

Saying this he once again became busy discussing philosophy without a tinge of fear in his heart.

Know for sure that success is near, when the heart is pure and the head is clear.

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T

February 2015

Make your life a celebration of His presence. –  Chinmaya

People search for God everywhere in vain, not knowing that He is the very Self of all beings. The Upanishad says:

श्रोत्रस्य श्रोत्रं मनसो मनो यत् वाचो ह वाचं स उ प्राणस्य प्राण: |
He is the very Life Principle in each one of us because which we are alive, because of which all our sense organs function.

एन रूपं रसं गन्धं शब्दान् स्पर्शान् च मैथुनान् । एतेनैव विजानाति किमत्र परिशिष्यते ||
It is that Consciousness in the light of which the entire world is experienced. Other than this Consciousness, what else remains to be known?  

The saints, having known this truth make their lives a celebration of His presence.

This is a story on Sant Kabir and his son Kamal. Though living in extreme poverty, Kabir spent his time joyfully singing the name of the Lord Shri Rama.

Once a large group of devotees came to visit Kabir. Spreading a woollen blanket on the floor, Kamal made all of them comfortably seated with the exchange of sweet loving words. Kabir took his wife aside and said, “These devotees have come to our home from various sacred places. We must feed them well and take care of their needs. If we permit them to sleep here hungry our reputation of goodness will be lost.”

Now there was not the least bit of food in the house and so the distress of the couple was intense. The wife said to Kabir, “O Lord, I do not know what is to be done. If we go to our neighbour, they will not give us anything. We could go to the bazaar and buy, but we have no money. So take your son with you and go and steal something. Break open the shop of the merchants who seem to have an abundance of materials for food. Bring the food and we will serve these saints sumptuously.”

Kabir assented to this. It was midnight. He took a sword and his son Kamal took a crowbar. They hastened to the bazaar and broke open the shop of a rich merchant. He put the son inside the shop and he himself remained outside. The merchant was in deep sleep. When Kamal looked into the shop, he saw piles of money, garments and ornaments. Seeing them he felt a sense of disgust. He rejected them all and took with him only the materials needed for cooking. Kamal brought out of the shop flour, rice, sugar, peas, butter, vegetables, turmeric etc. and gave them to Kabir. He brought just sufficient items to feed the saints well.

As he hastened to come out of the shop, a thought came to his mind, “The grocer is fast asleep. I ought to wake him up. I will wake up the grocer and quickly run away from here.” Then taking courage, he quickly moved to the side of the grocer and slapped him on his back saying, “You ought to be awake. We are two thieves who have broken open your shop. We are going away with the materials for cooking. I tell you this.”

The grocer sat up and Kamal started to run away. As he was passing through a narrow opening, both his feet got caught. When half his body was outside, the merchant seized him by the feet. As the head was outside, the merchant could not recognize who this thief was. The child Kamal then called out to his father, “O father, the grocer will now come outside and shout in the bazaar. If people hear the story of our stealing, your reputation of goodness will be lost and the saints will no longer visit our house. So put aside all ideas of love. Cut off my head before the merchant recognizes me.”

Highly pleased with his son’s words, Kabir cut off his son’s head with his sword. He then took the bundle of materials and hurried back home. He told his wife what had happened and gave Kamal’s head to her. Overwhelmed with love for her child, tears flowed from her eyes. She wept, “O my child, you are one of great good fortune. You have sacrificed your body for saints. Coming into this worldly existence, you have made Shri Ram your own. You have saved our whole family line.” Saying this Kabir’s wife restrained her feelings with great difficulty by the force of her courage. She took the cooking materials and started to cook. After cooking she served the saints and said, “This is a blessed day. I have seen the feet of the saints.”

Meanwhile, the grocer came out of his house and shouted aloud. People gathered. Looking at the corpse they said, “This thief’s head has been cut off and taken away. Now, who can recognize him?” They told the grocer, “Your fate seems to be very peculiar. One of the thieves has killed this man and taken away his head. God has indeed protected you, else you would have met with calamity. But indeed strange! How is it that they left the pile of money untouched and took only little cooking materials?” The matter became the talk of the town. The grocer, however, hurried away and reported the matter to the king. The king ordered his soldiers to find the culprit.

Meanwhile here, the saints took leave of Kabir after finishing their morning prayers. The couple accompanied the saints to see them off. The wife was weeping bitterly. She prostrated at the feet of the saints. As they came out of the city an extraordinary event took place. As the devotees were walking along the path, they saw a headless corpse impaled on a stake. As they stood still for a moment to look at the sight, the corpse joined its hands and saluted the saints!

The sadhus said to Kabir, “The corpse is making namaskar to us. How is it that life has been preserved in a body without head?” Kabir spoke in all humility with folded palms, “Sir, this thief is a great devotee of the Lord. Just like Bhishma and Jatayu, he has preserved the life in his body only because he had a great desire to prostrate unto the lotus feet of the saints and sages.” The saints wondered, “Who is this thief?” Kabir narrated the whole story.

The hearts of the saints melted in loving compassion for the little child Kamal. The saints asked them to get the head of the boy. When the compassionate saints saw Kamal’s head, they were moved with emotion. They took the corpse down from the stake and placed the head upon it. As the saints placed their hands upon the head of Kamal, he came to life, arose and made a namaskar to the saints!

The men and women gathered there looked on with wonder! What is impossible for the devotees who have bound the Lord with the chord of their single-pointed devotion! No wonder why the Lord says in Sreemad Bhagavatham – AWÇû pÉ£ü mÉUÉkÉÏlÉ:  – I am a slave My devotee!

When the devotee is so tuned with the Lord of his heart, he intuitively comes to the experience that the Supreme Lord is not somewhere outside, but He is the very Self of all beings.

Hence says Kabir:

मोको कहां ढूंढे रे बंदे मैं तो तेरे पास में । न तीरथ में न मूरत में न एकान्त निवास में ।
न मंदिर में न मस्जिद में न काबे कैलास में । मैं तो तेरे पास में बन्दे मैं तो तेरे पास में||
(O Man! Why are you roaming around in search of Me? I am so near to you!! I am neither in holy places and godly idols, nor am I in solitude; neither am I in mosques and temples nor am I in Kaaba or Kailash. O dear! I am so near to you!!)

Life becomes an eternal celebration once His presence is felt as the very Consciousness in us. In Pujya Gurudev’s words “Problems and challenges become chutneys and pickles for the food of life once His presence is recognized each moment!!”

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T

January 2015

Carefully navigate around the dangerous rocks of thy own lower nature. Thou shall reach the eternal heaven of peace and bliss. –  Chinmaya

Our higher nature is Sat-Chit-Anand – the Supreme Self. But when we identify with the lower in us – the body, the mind and the intellect – then the lower nature is born. This lower nature, otherwise called as Ahankar or the ego, is the root of all evil.

Our lower nature has a perverted vision. It has a magnified vision of others’ vices but is totally blind to one’s own. A subject of great interest to our lower nature is self-flattery. When tempted with baser urges, it can give enough reasons to yield to them. It has got ample justifications to prove that “I alone am right.” Under its influence, we refuse to admit that we can ever be wrong. It is an expert in twisting and misinterpreting the truth to make it turn to one’s own favour.

Thus, enthroning the king of ego on the throne of ignorance, this lower nature rules the kingdom of delusion where the real (God) is seen as unreal and the unreal (the ego) as real!! Under its rule, one holds the head high in arrogance and haughtiness. Even God is helpless in bringing a ray of wisdom when our lower nature affirms and asserts in us.

This is a story from Tulsi Ramayana which tells us how the lower nature can pull one down, even if one be as great as sage Naradji.

Once Naradji, while roaming all around, found a scenic place at the foothills of the Himalayas and sat there for meditation. Effortlessly his mind soared high and entered into samadhi. Indra, fearing that the sage was meditating to usurp his kingdom, sent his retinue of Kama deva, Gandharvas and heavenly damsels and tried to disturb his meditation, but to no avail. Fearing that the sage might curse him, the god of love, along with others fell prostrate at the feet of Naradji and begged for pardon. Without any anger or revenge, Naradji reassured all of them in a very friendly term.

The news of Naradji’s victory spread over all the three worlds. Soon the sage was filled with an air of arrogance. He visited Lord Shiva to narrate his unparalleled feat. Knowing him to be His most beloved friend, Lord Shiva admonished him as follows, “O sage, I pray you again and again – never repeat this story to Lord Hari as you have repeated it to me. Even if the topic comes up, hush it up.”

But Lord Shiva’s advice fell flat on the sage. Naradji felt that Lord Shiva was jealous of him as He could not control His anger while confronting the cupid. Naradji went to Lord Hari and again narrated his achievements. Lord Hari outwardly praised Naradji, but detected that a huge tree of pride had sprouted in his heart. The Lord decided to eliminate this sense of pride in His devotee.

While returning from Vaikunta, on the way, Naradji saw a beautiful city which he had never seen before. (The illusory city was created by Lord Hari with the help of Maha Maya). He went to the king’s palace there and came to know that a grand swayamvara (choice marriage) ceremony had been organized for the king’s daughter, named Vishwamohini. When the sage saw the king’s daughter, he was stunned by her divine beauty.

“Somehow I must possess her. How am I to get this girl?” Soon this thought gained deep root in Naradji. Becoming extremely restless and increasingly impatient, he intensely prayed to Lord Hari and lo! The Lord appeared.

After narrating the whole story, Naradji pleaded, “O Lord, please bless me with Thy unmatched beauty. That is the only way I will get her.” The Lord smiled and said, “Indeed, I will do only that which is good for my devotee.” So saying the Lord disappeared.

In a hurry, the sage left for the swayamvara ceremony and thought within himself, “My beauty is so surpassing that she cannot choose anyone else for her husband.”

Naradji didn’t realize that he was blessed with a monkey’s face. (The word ‘Hari’ also means monkey!)

Accompanied by her female companions, the Princess glided from one king to the other, and when she saw a monkey’s face eagerly waiting in the line, she was filled with rage and swiftly walked away. She did not care to look even casually at the quarter in which Naradji sat, elated with pride. Again and again, the sage would rise and fidget about.

The gracious Lord too went there in disguise of a king. The Princess joyfully placed the wreath of victory around His neck. The Lord carried off the bride to the despair of all the assembled kings.

The sage felt much perturbed. Infatuation had robbed him of his reason. Later, when he saw his reflection in a mirror, his fury knew no bounds. At once he proceeded to meet Lord Hari. But the Lord met him right on the way with Goddess Lakshmi and the Princess. Trembling with rage, Naradji cursed the Lord thus, “You made me a monkey. Therefore You shall have monkeys as Your helpmates. And as You have grievously wronged me, so shall You suffer the pangs of separation from Your wife.”

Gladly accepting the curse, the Lord made many entreaties to the sage, and withdrew the irresistible charm of the Maya. When the spell of Maya was lifted, there was neither Lakshmi nor Princess by the Lord’s side.  In dire dismay, Naradji clasped the feet of the Lord and said, “O Lord! Save me! Forgive me!! May my curse prove ineffectual.”

“It was My will,” replied the Lord.

“I poured many abuses to You,” the sage repeated, ”how shall my sins be expiated?”

“Go and repeat the name of Lord Shiva a hundred times. Your heart will be disburdened at once. My Maya shall haunt you no more.” Thus reassuring His dear devotee the Lord disappeared.

If this can happen to sage Naradji, what to talk of we little creatures! Needless to say, total surrender unto the Lord is the only way out.

The dhyana shloka of Bhagavad Gita says:

भीष्म द्रोणतटा जयद्रथजला गान्धार नीलोपला शल्यग्राहवती कृपेण वहनी कर्णेन वेलाकुला ।
अश्वथामविकर्णघोरमकरा दुर्योधनावर्तिनी सोत्तीर्णार् खलु पाण्डवै रणनदी कैवर्तक: केशव:||
(In a river, there can be innumerable dangers – currents, whirlpools, treacherous rocks etc. So too while navigating along the river of life, our lower nature can bring out various dangerous moods like anger, pride, greed etc. which can destroy our life.)

But with the Lord as the ferry-man, there is nothing to fear. Let us lay our trust upon Him Whose experienced Hands have helped countless devotees cross over this river of life with the utmost ease. 

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T

August 2014

The fewer one’s passion, the greater are one’s freedom and enjoyment. – Chinmaya

An intense desire for anything worldly is called passion.

In passion, the mind rules over the intellect; hence there is compulsive thinking which forces one to act based on likes and dislikes, and not based on rights and wrongs. In passion there is an addiction, and therefore a state of helplessness.

All the evolutionary possibilities are shut off in a passionate one as the mind cannot think of anything other than the object of passion. Being thus a slave of his mind, he rots in his self-projected world of confusions and delusions, distributing miseries freely to one and all.

Hiranyakashipu, after obtaining the boon from Lord Brahma, conquered all the three worlds. He shifted his residence to Svarga Loka, the very abode of beauty and prosperity. There he indulged in all pleasures and lived a licentious life. During his oppressive and tyrannical rule, even the guardian deities were at his feet to execute his orders. Violating all scriptural injunctions, he lived a life amidst unimaginable luxury and pleasure, power and prosperity.

But he could never satisfy his mind or the senses. His life ever remained unsatisfied and hollow, being addicted to his animal passions.

Scriptures warn us that the passions of the heart can never be quenched. Trying to gain happiness by fulfilling the desires is like trying to put off the fire by pouring clarified butter (ghee) to it; or like trying to quench one’s thirst by drinking salt water; or like scratching the skin affected by ringworm.

A Sanskrit subhashita says:

आशा नाम मनुष्याणां काचित् आश्चर्य शृङ्खला । यया बद्धा प्रधावन्ति मुक्तस्तिष्ठति पङ्गुवत् ॥
Desire is indeed a strange chain. The bound run around, while the one free from passions is as quiet as lame!

Lord Narasimha, after killing Hiranyakashipu, was seated on the throne, burning with rage, wearing the garland of intestines and His whole body stained with blood. None dared to approach Him in that mood of intense fury. The little boy Prahlada was sent to pacify the Lord.

Listening to the Stuti (adoration) of Prahlada, who was lying prostrate unto His lotus feet, the Lord’s heart melted. Lifting the boy with His lotus hands the Lord insisted to ask for any boon of his choice. But the intelligent boy refused to ask anything.

He said, “O Lord, the one who is devoted to Thee only to seek something of the world is not a devotee; he is only a businessman. He has only made Thou a means for gaining his worldly end.

O Lord! May my devotion to Thee be pure and immaculate without any worldly desire.

“O Lord! Being born in an Asura race, I am naturally inclined to sense pleasures. Please don’t tempt me through such irresistible boons of Thine.

“Also, I am scared of worldly desires because:

इन्द्रियाणि मन: प्राण आत्मा धर्मो धृतिर्मति: । ह्री: श्रीस्तेज: स्मृतिर्सत्यं यस्य नश्यन्ति जन्मना ॥
“ The strength of the senses, the mind, the vital energies and the body, the sense of righteousness, determination, understanding, modesty, good fortune, prowess, talents and abilities, memory, adherence to the truth – all these are destroyed the moment desires sprout in the heart.
“Therefore O Lord, if at all Thou insist to give me any boon, please bless me that my heart becomes free of all desires.”

The six enemies in the mind described in our scriptures are kama (passion), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (delusion), mada (arrogance) and matsarya (jealousy). But

on closer analysis, we find that all these enemies have their root only in kama.

Kama turns to krodha, and later into moha, when one doesn’t get the object of one’s desire. When one gets in abundance, kama turns to lobha. Fulfilment of these desires also leads to mada, when one finds oneself better off than others; otherwise, it takes the form of matsarya.

Thus we find that all deformities of the mind are rooted in passion.

For a spiritual seeker, passion speaks volumes. It is a coded message from the Divine indicating that one is seeking the world more intensely than the Creator of the world.

Needless to say, the Lord, like any father or mother, expects His children to love Him the most, for in this alone lies their welfare and wellbeing.

The moment passion rises, peace vanishes. The intelligent ones, therefore, take passion as a loving guidance from the Supreme to correct themselves while walking the spiritual path towards absolute freedom and joy.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

December 2014

Human life has been given to us unasked. We are blasting it and blaspheming it in a thousand ways. –  Chinmaya

Once upon a time, there lived a noble king. But due to bad company, he slipped into licentiousness and indulgence. He squandered away the wealth of the poor by living an extravagant life. The subjects were miserable under his tyrannical rule.

One day, acting on the advice of his team of counsellors, the king performed a huge yaaga (ritualistic worship) for prestige, power and prosperity. The ritual was performed extremely well and the king, overjoyed, handed over a very expensive silken cloth to the chief priest as dakshina (gift).

As the priest received the cloth, he felt a strong urge to sneeze, and thoughtlessly, out of sheer habit, covered his nose with the cloth. The king, seeing this, flew into a rage and thundered, “Idiot! You deserve to be beheaded. How dare you insult me by insulting my gift!!”

The king had great regard towards the elderly Raja Guru (the Royal Preceptor). He turned to the preceptor for consent.

The Raja Guru, feeling pity for the poor priest, told the king, “O king! Let me ask you a question. Do we have the right to punish someone for the mistake we ourselves commit?”

“No Guruji. But… Why do you ask this question?” wondered the king.

The Guru smiled and said, “Is it not true that the Lord also has given us a beautiful gift – this human body? While we go on misusing His gift, is it right to punish someone for the same mistake?”

The preceptor’s reply came as a bolt from the blue. Realizing his mistake and strongly repenting for whatever had happened, the king decided to turn over a new leaf and ruled the kingdom adhering to the path of righteousness.

It is said:

A farmer was gifted with a jet plane. He did not know what to do with it, as he had never seen an aeroplane.  So he yoked the plane to his bullocks, broke the windshield of the plane, sat in the cockpit and rode the jet with bullock-speed!

So too with the majority of us.  We mishandle and misuse this divine gift called the human body, which has infinite possibilities to unfold and to blossom.

Tulsi Ramayana says:

“Out of 84 lakh species in this universe, to be born as a human being is indeed very rare. The human body is like a ladder which can take us to the higher or to the lower worlds, or even beyond all worlds (through liberation). The one who uses it for indulging in sense pleasures is like the one who throws away the paras mani (philosopher’s stone – a stone which can convert the base metal to gold) and picks up the glittering, sharp glass pieces from the wayside and injures himself…”

There is a classic story about the rarity of human birth in the Pali Canon, the ancient text recording Buddha’s teachings:

Buddha was speaking to a group of monks, “Suppose that this great earth were totally covered with water and a man were to toss a yoke with a single hole into the water. A wind from the West would push it East; a wind from the East would push it West; a wind from the North would push it South; a wind from the South would push it North. And suppose a blind sea-turtle were there. It would come to the surface only once every 100 years. Now, what do you suppose the chances would be that a blind turtle, coming once to the surface every 100 years, would stick his neck into the yoke with a single hole?”

The monks answered, “It would be very, very unusual Sir!”

And the Buddha replied, “And just so, it is very, very rare that one attains the human state.”

Having attained this human birth, what is the best way of utilizing it?

The scriptures are unanimous in answering this question – Know Thyself. The Self in us is none other than the Supreme Lord, so say the scriptures.

Srimad Bhagavatham whips up the seekers in slumber:

“The ears which do not listen to the Lord’s glories are merely snake-holes. The tongue which does not chant the Lord’s name is nothing but a tongue of the frog. The head of a man, though bedecked with silken turbans and diadems, is only a burden if it does not bow down in front of the Lord. The hand that never serves the Lord, is the hand of a corpse. The eyes that don’t see the images of God are as purposeless as the eyes in the centre of peacock feathers. The feet that don’t take us to the places of worships are no less than trees. The heart that never melts listening to the glories of the Lord is no better than a stone.

Vain are the lives of such people, their life-span being merely food for Time to swallow through its jaws of sunrise and sunset…”

An absent-minded professor was late for his lecture. He jumped into a cab and shouted, “Hurry! At top speed!!”

As the cab sped along he realized he had not told the driver where to go. So he shouted, “Do you know where I wanted to go?”

“No Sir,” said the driver, “but I am driving as fast as I can!”

Unless we study the scriptures and expose ourselves to the teachings of the great saints and sages, we will find ourselves lost in this jungle of worldliness. Let scriptures be our road map in our journey of life.

The Upanishad says:

इह चेदवेदीत् अथ सत्यमस्ति । न चेदिहावेदीत् महती विनष्टि:| (All is fine if this great Truth is known in this birth. It is a big loss if this Truth is ignored.)

मृत्यो: स मृत्युं गच्छति य इह नानेव पश्यति | (The ignorant person goes from death to death.)

Is there any guarantee that we may get this human birth in the next life also?

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee. The Lord says in the Bhagavad Geeta:

… क्षिपामि अजस्रमशुभान् आसुरिष्वेव योनिषु |
(Those who live a vicious life filled with anger, greed, lust etc., I throw them into the devilish wombs.)

Through our noble way of living, let us prove to the Lord that He has not committed a blunder by granting us the human status!

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T

November 2014

There is no vessel to ferry man across the ocean of samsara except jnanam (Self-knowledge). –  Chinmaya

This samsara (world/worldliness) is compared to the ocean in almost all Hindu scriptures. There are many reasons for this:

1) The ocean appears endless for a sea traveller; so too there is no end to worldliness (the cycles of birth and death).

2) संसरति इति संसार: – Ceaseless change is the nature of this world; so too with the ocean.

3) Whether the waves or the bubbles, foam or the froth – death has the final laugh in all happenings in the ocean. In the same way, all the things, beings and happenings of the world are constantly swept across towards the shores of death.

4) A drowning man in ocean, without any stable support to hold on, is at the mercy of the huge waves which toss him up and down. A man drowning in samsara too is tossed mercilessly by the dualities of life – heat and cold, health and disease, joys and sorrows, pleasure and pain, birth and death, victory and defeat, honour and dishonour etc.

5) A drowning person tries to quench his thirst by drinking the oceanic water. But alas! His thirst only increases with every drop drunk. So too, the cravings for the worldly pleasures only intensify with every act of indulgence.

6) Samsara is also called Bhava sagar. ‘Bhava’ means to become. Each one thinks that in future by becoming the person of his dreams, he will be permanently happy. This chase for happiness continues ad infinitum.

7) The life of a person drowning in the ocean is ever threatened by dangerous aquatic creatures. So too, the worldly existence is ever threatened by disease, accidents, natural calamities etc.

8) So says the Lord in the Bhagavad Geeta – दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया |

Worldliness is unassailable by the ignorant; just as the ocean is impossible to cross over.

9) The only way a drowning person can save himself is by getting into a ship. So too, the only ship to save us from the ocean of worldliness is jnanam or Self-knowledge.   

How can jnanam help?

A jnani is like a lighthouse in the ocean. A lighthouse doesn’t take the support of the ocean; it takes the support of the solid ground beneath. Hence the lighthouse, though remaining in the ocean, remains unaffected. So too, a jnani remains unaffected by the perishing world, as he holds on to the eternal, imperishable Self. 

Waves and bubbles have to die, but not the water, the essence of the ocean. A jnani is the one who has realised the essence of the perishable world as imperishable Self. Hence he becomes fearless.

Samsara belongs to the ego. A jnani dries up the ocean of samsara by discovering that this ego is a mere illusion born out of indiscrimination. Ego is nothing but the sentient Self-identified with the insentient matter (body, mind etc.). Jnanam is, therefore, putting an end to this unholy marriage. This is done by identifying with the Self and not identifying with the matter. This Self, of the nature of Sat-Chit-Anand, is the ship which the jnani boards to cross over the ocean of samsara.

A ticket collector in a train found an old worn-out wallet in a compartment full of many people. He looked inside to find the name of its owner. There was no clue. All that there was in it, was some money and a picture of Krishna. He held it up and asked, “Who does this wallet belong to?”

An old man said, “That’s my wallet.” The ticket collector asked for the proof. The old man gave a toothless smile and said, “It has a picture of Krishna in it.” The ticket collector said, “That is no proof; anyone can have a picture of Krishna in his wallet. What is special about that? Why is your picture not there in it?”

The old man said, “Let me tell you why my picture is not there in it. My father gave this wallet to me when I was in school. I used to get a small sum as pocket money then. I had kept a picture of my parents in it.

“When I was a teenager I was greatly enamoured by my good looks. I removed my parents’ picture and put in one of my own. Some years later, I got married. My wife was very beautiful and I loved her a lot. I replaced my own picture with a picture of her. I spent hours gazing at her pretty face.

“When my first child was born, my life started a new chapter. I shortened my working hours to play with my baby. I went late to work and returned home early. Obviously, my baby’s picture occupied the prized position in my wallet.”

The old man’s eyes brimmed with tears as he went on. “My parents passed away many years ago. Last year my wife too left her mortal coil. My only son – he is too busy with his family. He has no time to look after me.

“All that I had ever held close to my heart is far far away from my reach now. Now I have put this picture of Krishna in my wallet. It is only now that I have realized that He alone is the eternal companion. He will never leave me. Alas! If only I had realized this before. If only I had loved the Lord all these years with the same intensity as I loved my family, I would not have been so lonely today!”

The collector quietly gave the wallet to the old man. When the train stopped at the next station, the ticket collector went to the bookstall at the platform and asked the salesman, “Do you have any picture of God? I need a small one to put it in my wallet!”  

The above quote reminds us of the following verses from the Bhagavad Geeta:

तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् । भवामि नचिरात् पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम्||
For the devotees who have taken total refuge in Me, I become their Saviour. It becomes My responsibility to lift them from the ocean of worldliness.

अपि चेदसि पापेभ्य: सर्वेभ्य: पापकृत्तम: । सर्वं ज्ञानप्लवेनैव वृजिनं सन्तरिष्यसि ||
Even a rank sinner crosses over the ocean of samsar by the raft of Self-knowledge.

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T

October 2014

Do your job well. Live straight. Devotedly pray and serve. The reward shall come to you. –  Chinmaya

The above quote says – do your part, and the Lord will do His. The results are bound to come. The Lord is all-knowing and just. Have no fears or anxieties.

A spiritual seeker is advised by the scriptures not to insist upon the results of one’s actions. The reasons are not hard to find:

i)  Results are always unpredictable. Insistence upon the results means attaching our mind to the unpredictable. A mind attached to the unpredictable results cannot but become worried and anxious, tensed and stressed.

ii) Results can be determined only by the omniscient God, and not by the individual who knows nothing about millions of factors which determine the results.

iii) An insisting mind is a worrying mind. Actions born out of an inefficient worrying mind cannot but be inferior. Inferior actions can only bring out inferior results.

iv) The Lord does only what is good for us. When we insist upon the results, we are indirectly telling our Creator – “I know what is good for me better than You do!” Insistence upon the results only proves our stupidity and arrogance.

v) A stubborn insistence indicates the presence of a strong ego. The stronger the ego, the greater the difficulty in the spiritual path.

vi) Insistence on results also indicates that one loves the world more than God. This is the attitude of the worldly, and not of a spiritual seeker.

vii) When the instruments of action (Body-mind-intellect), the field of action (the world), the resources necessary for action (wealth etc) and the Life Principle behind the action belong to Him, how can the results alone belong to me? The results also should belong to Him. Insistence upon the results amounts to misappropriation, and hence a sin.

viii) When we insist upon the results we miss the sacred present and live in the unborn future.

ix) Insistence upon the results is born out of the misconception that the world is the source of happiness. The truth is – the Self, being the nature of Bliss, alone is the source of all happiness.

One of the best commentaries on the Brahmasutras is ‘Bhamati’. Interestingly, Bhamati is the name of a woman; and it may appear strange and weird that the commentary upon a philosophical text expounding the Immortal Truth is named after an ordinary mortal woman!

The commentary was written by a great philosopher, Vachaspati Mishra, whose wife’s name was Bhamati. It took him twelve years to write the commentary, and he decided that the day the commentary was complete, he would renounce the world and go to the Himalayas.

One day, in the middle of the night, the commentary was completed. He took the oil lamp, in whose light he had been writing the commentary, to go to his room.

 And on the way there, he found a woman and he asked, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

She said, “My lord, you were so much immersed in writing the commentary. You forgot completely that you had married me. I am your wife.”

Vachaspati said, “I remember. And I also remember that every day… just show me your hand, because I can recognize your hand. You were the one who was putting the oil lamp by my side every day as the sun was setting. I know this hand. But it is too late. I have decided that the day the commentary is complete I will leave the house. You should have reminded me.”

Bhamati said, “It would have been very unloving to disturb you. I was waiting. And don’t be worried – if you have decided to leave, you leave without any worry. I will not come as a hindrance to your decision. It is enough that I can see that you are worried about me. This will be enough for my whole life, that you had a certain love.”

Vachaspati said, “You are a great woman. It is very rare to find such a woman. It is easy to find many commentators of my quality, but to find a woman of your quality – such love, such trust, such waiting, such patience. And such greatness of heart – without any expectation!

“I will call my commentary Bhamati, so that whoever reads this commentary is bound to be surprised by the name – because it has no relevance; the commentary is on the Brahmasutras… And, Bhamati?

“But without you, and without your love, and without your patience, and without your silent waiting… You never came in front of me, and you are so beautiful that it is certain if you had come in front of me, it would have been a disturbance. I may have forgotten about the commentary. I may have delayed in completing it just to remain with you.”

But Bhamati said, “I have received more than I deserve. You should not wait in the house any longer. Let me have the pride of having a husband who followed his decision… even though now I can see you are hesitating. Don’t hesitate. I will not allow you to remain in the house; you have to go to the Himalayas – because if you remain in the house, I will not be able to give you the same respect.”

Vachaspati left for the Himalayas, but he could not forget Bhamati… such a quality, such grace and such beauty… something beyond human qualities.

Vachaspati remained a great scholar, but Bhamati proved to be a far more divine

personality. Only such people have given proof that there is something more than human qualities, something which can only be called divine.

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T

September 2014

Any attempt of the mind to rise from low values of its present existence to a healthier and diviner scheme of life is yoga. –  Chinmaya

The word yoga comes from the root ‘yuj’ which means to unite.

There is a constant attempt made by the mind to unite with something or the other. The only purpose behind all these attempts is to get rid of the present state of incompleteness, and to gain a sense of total peace and fulfilment.

From the unicellular organism to the most evolved human being – all are in search of happiness. Explorations into the deep space and the ocean, inventions and discoveries in the field of science and technology, extensive research into the atomic and the sub-atomic particles… all are geared towards only one goal – happiness.  

Thus all of us are yogis in some sense of the term, as we are trying incessantly to ‘unite’ with an ideal state of perfection!

A casual observer of life finds that a good job, a good home, a good spouse, good children, good friends, a good car, good bank balance, luxuries and comforts, possessions and positions indeed give happiness. So with his superficial analysis of his experiences in life, he concludes –The world is the source of all happiness. This philosophy of life makes him a bhogi or a samsaari– the one whose mind is ever extrovert seeking union with the outer world.

From then on, true to his theory of happiness, he is in a constant hunt for peace, perfection and security in the outer world. Very soon he gets dragged into a world of cut-throat competition, of greed and jealousies, of bribes and scams, of indulgence and addiction, of revenge and rivalry, of restlessness and sleeplessness.

Constant blows from the outer world compel him to think that there is something wrong with his equation of happiness. A deeper analysis reveals to him that this world also is a source of great sorrow. He discovers that everything in the world is impermanent and unpredictable. Therefore holding on to the world can bestow nothing but perpetual tension and worry, fear and anxiety. Soon he finds himself at a crossroads where neither is he able to leave the world, nor is he able to hold the world. His search for happiness intensifies day by day and soon his inquisitiveness takes him to the world of religion and spirituality – a world which he had never explored till then.  

Mother Nature, who is ever waiting anxiously to guide her children, soon exposes such a matured, ripened person to scriptures and spiritual masters. And there he comes to realize that happiness has more to do with the state of the mind rather than the external circumstances. He observes that one can be happy even amidst tragedies and failures if the mind is at peace; on the other hand, one is miserable even amidst luxuries and comforts if the mind is disturbed.

Thus he learns the greatest truth of life – “Seeking happiness outside is futile. Happiness is one’s own nature. Quieter the mind, the greater the happiness.”

This new revelation totally transforms the erstwhile bhogi into a yogi. The extroverted seeking ends and a new journey into one’s own within begins. This inner journey, where efforts are put forth to awaken oneself to the higher, healthier and diviner state of existence constitute yoga.

Two boys in a boarding school were assigned rather menial tasks involving manual labour – such as cleaning tables after the meals, mopping floors and so on. One of the boys was very unhappy with this kind of work. He would do the job uninterestingly and half-heartedly, shabbily and hastily, grumbling and complaining all the while. Whenever he found that none was around to inspect, he would skip off and go out to play.

The other boy, on the other hand, would not only do his allotted task well, but also do his best to complete the other boy’s work.

The teacher in charge noticed this, and he asked the diligent boy what prompted him to do another’s work. The boy’s reply was significant, “This school has given m so much. I am just expressing my gratitude in a humble way. Also, Sir, haven’t you taught us in our daily prayers that the one who is the servant of all wins the heart of the Lord?”

Even menial tasks become yoga when they are performed with noble intentions.

A poor but devout woman wanted to give away some of her clothes to earthquake victims in Gujarat. “I can give away some of my blankets and bedsheets. There are many which I rarely use,” she thought. “Poor ones! They need it more than I do. Without homes and without anything to cover themselves, how difficult it must be to camp out in the open air! Let me do for them whatever I can.”

She pulled out her clothes, blankets and bedsheets from her wardrobe. She was careful not to give the torn, the unusable and the useless ones. Rather than heartlessly bundling up the clothes and the blankets, she carefully washed them, dried them, mended them, ironed them and then handed them over to the collector.

“This is meant for God’s children,” she said. “And so I wanted to make it as nice as possible.”

True yoga is not about learning to walk in the air or to walk on the water; it is all about learning to walk on the earth with a clear head and a clean heart.  

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T

July 2014

Even though you have not conquered in battles the world, you become the world conqueror when you have conquered your mind. –  Chinmaya

How can a mind-conqueror be greater than a world-conqueror?

This is so because the world has no existence apart from the existence of the mind. Only when the mind exists, the world exists. This is proved in the scriptures through Anvaya-vyatireka method.

In our deep-sleep mind is absent, and therefore the world is also absent. In the dream state and the waking state, the dream world and the waking world is experienced only through the mind. Hence there is no world without the mind.  Thus when the mind is conquered, the world is conquered.

The wise, therefore, instead of trying to conquer the world, take a U-turn and conquer the source of the world – the mind.

It is said about Diogenes, that even Alexander the Great became jealous of him. Diogenes was just a naked fakir, and he had nothing. He had renounced everything; he was searching for his own inner world.

It is said about him that when he renounced the world, he used to carry a small begging bowl. But then one day he saw a dog drinking water from a river. He threw that begging-bowl. He said, “If the dog can do without it, then am I worse than the dog?” Everything was thrown away. He remained naked.

Many stories, rumours, were reaching Alexander that this man had something in him. Finally, fascinated, Alexander went to see him, and he could see that the man had something that he had not. He was just lying down. It was a winter morning; it was cool and the sun was rising. He was lying down by the side of a river, bathing himself in the early sun, naked.

 Said Alexander with an air of arrogance, “You know who I am? I am Alexander, the world conqueror. Ask anything and it shall be given.”

Diogenes laughed and said, “You are obstructing the sunlight. Please stand by the side. This is all the boon I ask from you. And remember, don’t disturb anybody else’s life. That’s enough; nothing else do I want from you – because all that I want is within me.”

And Alexander could feel that the man was true, literally true – the solidity, the

crystallized being, the ‘vibe’ of one who has attained, the surround, the climate of the person who is filled with an inner light, inner realization, inner riches. He could see it. He bowed down and he said, “If next time I am to come into the world, I would ask God not to make me Alexander, but Diogenes.”

Diogenes laughed and said, “There is no need to wait that long. You can become a Diogenes right now! For what are you struggling and conquering people, and moving continuously and warring? For what?”

Said Alexander, “First I want to conquer Middle Asia, then India, then the Far East…”

And Diogenes went on asking, “Then what? Then what?”

Finally, Alexander said, “Once I have conquered the whole world, I would then like to rest.”

And Diogenes said, “You look to me the most stupid, because I am resting without conquering the world. You can rest by my side. See, the bank is so big; we can share it. And nobody comes here. You can rest to your heart’s desire. Who is preventing you? And I don’t see the point that one needs to conquer the world first just to rest in the end. You can rest any moment.”

At that moment Alexander must have felt his poverty. He said, “You are right. I am mad, but now it is difficult for me to come back. I have to conquer, only then can I come.”

And when he was leaving, Diogenes said, “Remember, nobody can come back unless one is aware. And if you are aware right this moment, the journey stops. If you are not aware, you will never come back.”

And Alexander never could go back. He died before he reached back home.

Why do we crave to conquer the world?

Infinity is our nature. Hence we crave to have infinite joy, power, freedom, fame, strength etc. Only when we are infinite, we feel ‘at home’. But unfortunately, due to our tight embrace with the finite – namely the body, mind and intellect – we experience only finitude. This sense of identification with our finite           equipments is called as Ahankaar or ego.

All finite efforts made by the finite ego to expand itself hoping to unite with the infinite end up in a disappointingly endless process, called as Samsaar.

Then what is the solution?

Annihilate the mind. With that, the ego is annihilated, and our identification with the finite instruments ceases. With it, our sense of limitation also vanishes.

When once we come to know of our limitless nature, all sense of want disappears; the desire for the world ends. End of desires means the end of slavery. End of slavery is mastery.  Thus a mind-conqueror effortlessly becomes a world-conqueror.  

O    M        T    A    T        S    A    T