Chintana

March 2019

So long as one remains a slave of one’s senses how can one concentrate the mind on God and serve Him?  –Swami Tapovan Maharaj

The law of life is:

Whatever we love, we will invariably think of it. What we love is what we think, and what we think is what we become. A mind which loves the world becomes a worldly mind; a mind which chooses God becomes a spiritual mind.

What kind of mind do we possess – a worldly mind or a spiritual mind?

Our experience at the seat of our meditation will give us the answer.

A worldly mind is rooted in the world; a spiritual mind is rooted in the Self…   A worldly mind is noisy; a spiritual mind is silent…  A worldly mind wanders; a spiritual mind ponders…   A worldly mind seeks pleasure outside; a spiritual mind finds bliss inside…  A worldly mind is content with nothing; a spiritual mind is content with anything… A worldly mind is extrovert and gross; a spiritual mind is introvert and subtle… A worldly mind carries the burden of worries and anxieties; a spiritual mind is light and carefree…

Meerabai, a princess of Merta, was a disciple of Ravidas, the famous fifteenth-century Indian saint who was a cobbler. Because of her Guru’s low status, many of Meerabai’s friends, and many others as well, spoke of him with contempt and compared his poverty with her great wealth, saying such things as: “Saint Ravidas is scarcely able to make a living by mending shoes; while Meerabai who claims to be his disciple, lives in luxury in her palace.”

It was not long before Meerabai was told of what people were saying and, devoted as she was to her Master, she was touched to the quick. Wondering what to do, she finally decided to take a valuable diamond from her jewel casket and give it to her Guru, so that he could sell it and obtain a large amount of money.

Going to Ravidas with the diamond, she bowed low before him with folded hands and said: “Revered Master, it pains me to see you living in such poverty and want, and at the same time everyone is ridiculing me for being the disciple of a pauper saint. It would please me beyond anything if you would take this diamond and sell it, and build a comfortable home with the proceeds, so that you could live in ease and comfort.”

Ravidas, still bending over his work of mending a pair of shoes, replied: “Dear princess Meerabai, please try to see that whatever I have attained has been achieved through the mending of shoes. If you feel that it is beneath your dignity to come to me, and that people speak ill of you for doing so, you are free to stay away. As regards the diamond, dear Meerabai, I need nothing of this world and am most happy in my seeming poverty.”

Meerabai, however, was determined to give the diamond to Ravidas, and she begged and pleaded with him for a long time. But the saint remained adamant in his refusal.

In the end, Meerabai, disappointed and in great distress, told the Master: “Sir, I am putting the diamond here, in the thatched roof of your hut. Please do as I have begged you, and sell it so you will be well-to-do and comfortable. If you do not need it now, let it stay hidden in the thatch. In case of need at any time, it will be there for you to use.”

Meerabai then returned to her palace, and many months passed by before she was again able to visit her Guru. When she did go to Ravidas, she was surprised to find that he was still working as a cobbler and was still poor as ever. Bowing before him in reverence, she asked: “My beloved master, why are you still in such poverty in spite of the diamond that I left with you? Why haven’t you used the gift that I gave you in all love and sincerity?”

“Ah dear Meerabai, I thank you, but I have no need for your diamond,” said Ravidas. “I already have wealth so great that it could not possibly be calculated. Please take the diamond away with you when you leave here today.”

Searching in the thatch of the roof, Meerabai quickly found the diamond, to which Ravidas had not given a single thought. Humbled, and with her inner understanding immeasurably increased by this demonstration of the vastness of the spiritual treasures within, Meerabai fell at the feet of her beloved Satguru.

A worldly mind values the world; a spiritual mind values the Spirit, the Self.

Our mind basically wants happiness. Addiction to the lower remains as long as the mind is not exposed to the bliss of the Higher.

An ascetic, a true lover of God, who was young and exceptionally handsome, came one day in his wanderings to the house of a lady in a small village. As he was begging for alms, the lady gave him some food and, as she gazed at his beautiful face, fell deeply in love with his eyes.

For several days after that, the ascetic went to the lady’s house. Each day, she gave him food, and each day she fell more deeply in love with the young man’s luminous eyes. One day the ascetic went to the next village to beg for food. When, on the following day, he returned and went once again to the lady’s house, she ran to the door and cried: “Where have you been? I thought you might have left our village forever. I was nearly out of my mind.”

“But why was that?” asked the guileless ascetic. “Have you had a death in your family?”

“Oh, no, no!” said the lady. “It was your eyes. I cannot live without them. Oh, what shall I do when you do leave us and go away, never again to return?”

The poor ascetic, very much surprised, went quietly away. But the next day he went once more to the lady’s house. A bandage was over his eyes, and he felt his way along with the aid of a stick. In his hand, he carried a small bag.

When he reached the lady’s house, she saw his bandaged eyes, and asked in a voice filled with sympathy: “Have you hurt your eyes, poor man? Is there any ointment I could give you, to ease the pain? Ask for anything at all, and I will get it for you.”

The ascetic handed over to her the little bag, saying as he did so: “Mother, here are the eyes with which you fell in love. Pray keep them, for I no longer have any use for them. Do not be distressed, for I could not do anything else. On the path of the devotee, every attachment is forbidden, except for the attachment of love for the Lord.”

For the sake of the Higher, any sacrifice is no sacrifice.

Shankaracharya in Vivekachoodamani says, deer due to its attachment to sound, elephant due to touch, moths due to sight, fish due to taste, bee due to smell – these beings die because of the attachment towards one sense organ. What to talk of human beings who are attached to all of them!

Through our senses, we cannot know the Divine. On the other hand, these sense organs can only help us become an addict to the world of objects. Is there a way to profitably use our senses so that we can evolve spiritually?

Kulashekhara Alwar answers this in Mukundamala says:

जिह्वे कीर्तय केशवं मुररिपुं चेतो भज श्रीधरं पाणिद्वन्द्व समर्चयाच्युतकथा: श्रोत्रद्वय त्वं शृणु |

कृष्णं लोकय लोचनद्वय हरे: गच्छाङ्घ्रि-युग्मालयं जिघ्र घ्राण मुकुन्दपाद तुलसीं मूर्धन् नमाधोक्षजम् ||

O tongue! Sing the glory of Keshava. O mind, think of the enemy of Mura. O two hands, worship the Lord of Wealth. O ears, listen to the story of Achyuta. O eyes, see Krishna. O feet, walk to the temple of Hari. O nose, smell the tulasi leaf offered at the feet of Mukunda. O head, bow down before Lord Adhokshaja!

Become a slave of the senses, and be a slave of the world. Make the senses slaves of God, and be a master of the world. Meditate on the world, and be a slave of the senses. Meditate on God, and be a master of the senses.

The choice is ours.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

February 2019

Love of God is the highest and the best means to a person’s happiness here and hereafter. –Swami Tapovan Maharaj

Why a worldly person can never be happy in this world?

How a spiritual person is ever happy in this world?

The reasons can be many.

1) Complex nature of the world

Everything in this world is complex. The more we enquire into the nature of this world, the more confused we become. Whether it is peeping deep into the atom or exploring far beyond into space, the end result is only confusion. How can a worldly man attain peace in such a mysterious unknowable world?

But a spiritual person has nothing to worry. He is like a child in mother’s lap blissfully unaware of the complications of the world! He knows that he is taken care very well even without his knowledge! A child of God joyously wonders at the omniscience and omnipotence of God. For him, not able to understand God itself is the right understanding of God!!

 2) Impermanent nature of the world

Everything in this world is impermanent – whether it is the body, or the relationships, possessions or positions. This can be a major cause of grief for a person who leans on the worldly crutches for happiness.

But a spiritual person knows the one permanent thing – God. He is our very Self. Thus holding on to the permanent God, a spiritual person lives a life of happiness even in this impermanent world.

3) Uncertain nature of the world

There is no guarantee that we will get what we desire even if we work hard for it. Since the results are uncertain one goes through fear, worry, anxiety and stress.

But a God-lover knows that though things are uncertain here, whatever happens, happens for the good. We are ever under the protective hands of the Lord and He knows what is best for us. God is not our wish-fulfiller, but our well-wisher. Thus even in this uncertain unpredictable world, he remains happy and content.

4) Unending nature of our needs

Our needs are unending whether it be at the physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual level. But the lover of God knows that the One who has created the needs in us will provide us with the means also. Therefore he is absolutely carefree.

5) Complex nature of our body and the mind

Just like the external world is complex, our internal world constituting our body-mind is also equally complex. How it works, God alone knows!

When a worldly person is not able to understand the head or tail of its functioning, he becomes miserable. He becomes disturbed when there is some health issue or when there are negative mental moods.

A God-dependent person, on the other hand, knows that body-mind equipment works most efficiently when it is surrendered unto God. To follow the instructions of the manufacturer is the best way to use any device efficiently. A surrendered mind is peaceful and cheerful, efficient and obedient.

6) Sense of loneliness

A worldly person, deluded by the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, lives only to take, and not to give. This selfish attitude creates a psychological wall cutting himself off from the rest of the world. In this self-created psychological prison made out of the bricks of selfish acts, the worldly person suffers unbearable pain of loneliness. Even in a crowd, he remains lonely.

But for a spiritual man, his dearest and nearest God Himself has become everything – from the plants and the animals to the stars and the galaxies. How can you be alone when all are you alone!!

7) Confusions regarding the purpose of life

Self-ignorance expresses as all-round confusion – confusion regarding the profession, finance, family etc. A worldly person is confused regarding the very purpose of life. Not knowing what to do with his time, he wastes his life in useless pursuits.

On the contrary, a spiritual man, through the company of the sages, through satsangs and through the study of the scriptures, gains perfect clarity with regard to the purpose of life. Hence he makes use of every situation to evolve spiritually. In every challenge of life, he sees the blessing and guidance of the Lord, and advances towards liberation.

 8) Misery born of comparison

A worldly person cannot but compare himself with other more successful people of greater talents and abilities. This only leads to misery and discontent.  

On the other hand, a spiritual man enjoys total contentment.  He knows that for peace what is needed is not great skills, but the right attitude. Moreover, all skills and abilities belong to God. As no one is superior or inferior, he is able to love all and accept all. 

9) Attachments and addictions

For a worldly person, the world is the source of happiness. Hence he gets attached to the world. Any attachment is slavery.  Through attachment, he loses his freedom.

A spiritual person considers God as the source of his happiness. Hence he never gets attached to the world. For him, attachment to anything other than God is an insult to the love for God. Any other attachment is ignoring God. As he never wants to weaken his relationship with God, he remains unattached to everything other than God. Thus he remains a master of the world, the mind and the senses.

10) Mistaking egoistic joy to be the real joy

For a worldly person, the real joy is of indulgence, of extroverted pleasures, of name and fame, of egoistic satisfaction born out of taking revenge, defeating others etc. But all these joys ultimately end up in pain alone. How many have ended their lives only because their ego could not face defeat, insult, or humiliation?

For a spiritual person, the real joy is born out of egolessness. Ego means the absence of God. Therefore wherever ego is, misery surely is.

11) Craving for respect and love

This is a psychological need. All want to be loved, valued and respected. A worldly person seeks it from the outer world. How many people have lost their lives in trying to get noticed, to be in the limelight? How many have perished in trying to win the attention and admiration of others?

For a spiritual man, this need is fulfilled through the Lord. The Lord gives us the greatest love we can ever think of. This love is unconditional and infinite. He loves us as though we are the only one in this world, says St Augustine!

And when we know that the all-powerful Lord resides in our heart, we are filled with self-respect. We stop craving for respect from others since we know our self-worth.

12) Fear of death

The one thought which bothers a worldly man is the thought of death. This thought remains in him throughout his life as constant background music. Death means forceful separation from his near and dear ones, from his hard-earned money, from his fame, power and position. Death means a travel to the world of unknown. Death means going to a world of uncertainties. Thus it is but natural that one is scared of death and its consequences.

But a spiritual man has no such fear. He knows what death is. It is nothing but the dropping of this physical body. He knows that he continues to exist as the Self and that there can never be a state of non-existence.

To conclude:
No God, no Peace. Know God, know Peace!

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

January 2019

Every event in daily life is a silent proclamation of some profound truth. – Chinmaya

What is the purpose of life?

The purpose of life is to take us from darkness to Light, from illusion to Reality, from ignorance to Knowledge, from inertness to Sentiency, from death to Immortality, from plurality to Unity, from sorrow to Peace, and from the not-self to the supreme Self.

Event by event, birth by birth, this journey of life continues, patiently and perseveringly taking us from the present state of imperfection to the ultimate state of Perfection, the state of no-return.

What are we to learn here?

We have to learn to be the Self, see the Self, and live as the Self. As an expression of this vision, we are expected to rise above our petty ego and selfishness, and learn to love all, serve all, and work for the welfare of all.

How are the lessons taught?

Through the language of peace and pain, He constantly navigates us towards His Kingdom of the Self. He, as the world, becomes the event outside. He, as the Inner-Controller, becomes the guide inside.

Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua, a resident farmer in Kenya, made headlines recently for his effort to save wildlife in the Tsavo West National Park.

Patrick, a local Kenyan pea farmer, was dejected when he discovered that one of his kidneys has failed and that he did not have enough money for treatment. One day, as he was walking past the Tsavo National Park, he saw a healthy elephant dead on the wayside. It was the month of June, the month of intense heat.

His eyes welled up with tears. He thought “I will anyway die due to my disease. But this elephant so healthy; just because it could not satiate its thirst it died. I must do something.”

 In Kenya, from June to December, it is a dry season without a single drop of rain.  Patrick thought maybe God has made him as an instrument in saving these wild animals. He took a vow that no animal will die of thirst any more.

He went to the city and started collecting donation. With the collected money, he got a water tanker for rent and reached the isolated place in the deep jungle after travelling around 70 kilometres for three and a half hours. He dug a pit and then emptied the water from the tanker, around 12,000 litres.

 When the wild animals saw this, they, in hundreds, came running to drink water from this pond. The animals included zebras, antelopes, elephants and buffalos. The grateful animals expressed their gratitude in their own language – by licking Patrick!

This touched his heart. Patrick continued his service, amidst exhausting travel and heat, in spite of his weak health, needing dialysis twice a week. But he forgot his pain when he saw the parched animals coming running towards the truck for water. In relieving the suffering of these animals, Patrick found a new purpose of life.

Patrick’s service was appreciated worldwide and got wide media coverage. Soon the funds and supports started pouring in. Today Patrick has three trucks and he has a team who would supply water in the forest.

When we wipe out the pain of others, a miracle happens – we forget our pain!

Hence the wise say – “We truly live when we live for others.”

The Hindu scriptures say: वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् – The whole world is one family.

Father Massimo d’ Orlando is a priest ordained in the Roman Catholic Order in Italy. He is the disciple of father Elinjimittam, his revered teacher, who too is an ordained Roman Catholic priest.

Father Massimo arrived at CIF (Chinmaya International Foundation) with his students from Italy and Switzerland, for a spiritual camp on Vivekachoodamani!

But before that who is father Antony Elinjimittam? He is a priest who runs Sacchidananda Mission of Assisi, Italy, and has a story preceding him.

One historical blessed day, some three decades ago, Father Elinjimittam was driving over a bridge in Rome, when in the distance he espied a man standing at the curb, looking down at the river flowing under the bridge. Even from that distance, Fr. Elinjimittam sensed an urgency to stop and ask after this man who appeared to be clad in orange garments.

Now, Fr. Elinjimittam is of Indian origin even if he has been living in Italy for over 40 years. Therefore the orange garments conveyed something. Stopping his car, he got down and nearing the man, his feelings were confirmed.

“Are you Swami Chinmayananda?” he asked. Gurudev affirmed and they greeted each other with the cordiality and respect that people of such elevated spiritual commitments accord one another. And as they talked, Pujya Gurudev talked about his dream to set up a Sanskrit Research Foundation in Velianad, Kerala.

At this point, Fr. Elinjimittam froze. “Where, did you say?”

“Velianad, a small hamlet in Kerala,” explained Gurudev, knowing that nobody would have ever heard of the place. But not for Elinjimittam. “Velianad!” he repeated slowly, relishing the name, and said, “But Swamiji! That’s where I was born!”

The heavens must have smiled deeply that morning as two great men, converged after seeming years of separation. Like the two roads that had parted to accomplish separate tasks and met again with greater purpose, so did Gurudev and Elinjimittam. A significant meeting had been accomplished by time.

Unusual settings and unusual meetings unfold unusual occurrences. So it was that Gurudev invited Fr. Elinjimittam to visit CIF. “You must visit us!” he urged and the good Father accepted graciously.

Two roads met that morning and then diverged… as both went their ways. Some years after that meeting, Fr. Elinjimittam was watching the news on Italian TV one morning in 1993 and heard that India’s revered teacher Swami Chinmayananda has attained Mahasamadhi.

Fr. Elinjimittam, in his next trip to India, visited CIF. Recounting his meeting with Gurudev, Father said, “I want to do something for CIF, as I promised Swamiji…”

The residential block where the Acharyas of CIF live today- called the Scholars Block – was sponsored by Fr. Elinjimittam. He kept his word, but more was to come.

In September 2008, his disciple, the revered Father Massimo d’ Orlando arrived at CIF and threw everyone off their feet as he wanted a Vivekachoodamani camp for his team! He himself gave a talk on Vivekachoodamani in Italian! Next Swami Advayananda and Swamini Niranjanananda addressed them in English, and father Massimo translated it into Italian for the participants. Father Massimo sang many bhajans, chanted Sanskrit verses from Vivekachoodamani – all with the clarity, precision and diction rare even among born Indians.

The visiting seekers were so happy that at the end of the programme, they offered to sponsor the entire Easy Sanskrit Online Course; that is how CIF was able to deliver this course so effectively. The entire cost of building the website, converting the easy Sanskrit Interactive CD into an online course format and making it fully functional, was an offering of love from Fr. Massimo’s team and the Sacchidananda Mission of Assisi. In fact, it is this course that IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) has adopted as its Certificate Course in Sanskrit.

About three decades ago two great men met without a plan, in the middle of a busy street on top of a bridge, in the holy city of Rome… One mentioned his dream; the other kept his promise.

The profound truth – the Self – proclaims silently – that we are all connected.

The Lord says in Geeta:  मयि सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सुत्रे मणिगणा इव -The whole world is strung in Me like the pearls in the thread.

Abiding peace is only for those who recognise this connection and have risen above all superficial differences of caste, creed, gender, nationality and religion.

And once this lesson is learnt, the purpose of life is over. The external world, which has fulfilled its purpose, fades away to become an illusion. The knower of the Self becomes the Self, and sees nothing but the Self.

Till this profound truth is known, events repeat itself.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

December 2018

Dassehra is the victory over the senses, over the mind, which ends in the disappearance of the dreadful shadow ‘I’, that cauldron of weaknesses, yearnings, slavery and imperfection. – Chinmaya

Dassehra is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.

In the northern and western states of India, the festival marks the end of Ramleela with Lord Rama‘s victory over Ravana. On Dassehra, the towering effigies of Ravana symbolizing the evil are burnt with fireworks marking evil’s destruction.

In India, no festival is without a spiritual message.

Dassehra or Dashahara is a Sanskrit term which is Dasha (=ten) + hara (=destruction). The ten-headed monster Ravana was killed by Lord Rama on this day.

Who is Rama?

Rama is the Self in us. The nature of the Self is Existence-Consciousness. The Self is ever with His consort Seeta, representing Bliss, Happiness and Peace.

Who is Ravana?

He is the ego, the impure ‘I’ in us, the cauldron of imperfections. He is called ‘Dashamukha’ and is picturised having ten heads. These ten heads are nothing but our ten organs – five organs of knowledge (eyes, ears, nose, tongue to taste, and skin) and five organs of action (hands, legs, tongue to speak, genital organ and anus). The ego in us is ever in search of happiness in the external world through sense gratification.

Ravana is so powerful that by his sheer might, he brings the three worlds under his control. Whipped by greed, stung by hatred, wounded by revenge, burnt by jealousy and anger, our ego can make us work hard to attain the greatest of material heights.  It can instigate us to acquire anything we want – be it power or position, pleasure or possession.

Ravana lived in Lanka, an isolated island in the ocean. So too, the ego lives in isolation from the rest of the world due to its strong sense of individuality. Ravana’s Lanka was surrounded by fort walls made of gold. “I and mine” becomes the golden wall, where the ego suffers in isolation.

The city of Lanka had everything except one thing – a temple for God.

Likewise, the heart which the ego rules, is a heart devoid of God.

Ravana kidnapped Seeta but he could never possess her. Seeta always belonged to Rama. So too, peace accompanies only the Self, and not the ego. The ego may command material comforts, but never peace. 

Life is miserable as long as Vibheeshana, the jeevatma (the individual self) is living under the tyrannical rule of Ravana, the ego.

It was Vibheeshana’s practice to chant Ram’s name while getting up from bed in the morning. It is this chanting which Hanuman (who was in search of Seeta) hears, and consequently prompts him to seek his company. So too, it is the spiritual samskaras (tendencies) which make a person fit to receive a Guru.

The sufferings of Vibheeshana, the jeeva, come to an end once he meets Hanuman, the Guru.

When the ego rules, the life is miserable. Vibheeshana tells Hanuman, how he lived in Lanka:

सुनहु पवनसुत रहनि हमारी । जिमि दसनन्हि महुँ जीभ बिचारि ||
(O Son of Wind God! Listen. I live here like the poor tongue living amidst teeth!)

The soft and tender tongue has to silently forebear the atrocities of the hard teeth surrounding it. So too, an individual under the rule of his ego is ruthlessly tortured by likes and dislikes, anger and greed, passion and confusion. They are like the attendants ever accompanying the king ego.

Vibheeshana feels that he is unfit for His grace. He says:

तामस तनु कच्छु साधन नाहीं । प्रीति न पद सरोज मन माहीं |
(“Born in the race of demons, no spiritual practice is possible with this tamasic body. How can I, who has no love at the lotus feet of the Lord, ever deem myself fit to receive His grace?”)

In the beginning, no seeker feels confident in the spiritual path. Doubt always lingers whether one is qualified for the spiritual journey.

Hanuman, a perfect teacher, assures him giving his own example:  “O Vibheeshana! Look at me. In what way I – a monkey, an animal, a highly restless being – am superior to anyone? Even then, the Lord showered His infinite grace on this wretched being.” As Hanuman speaks these words, his eyes get filled with tears and voice chokes with emotion.

It is the Guru, who with his own life, inspires the disciple. The Guru, through his own personal example, shows the disciple that a limited individual can indeed transcend all the limitations of matter envelopments, that a mortal can very much attain the state of Immortality.

Hanuman persuades Vibheeshana to surrender unto Lord Rama and seek His protection. So too, it is the Guru who connects the jeeva to Eshwara.

Hanuman successfully returns, burning the Lanka and giving hope to Seeta. Guru’s entry into our life burns away our delusions regarding life and gives us hope of attaining everlasting peace and happiness.  

Vibheeshana tries his level best to persuade Ravana to surrender to Lord Rama, but in vain. On the other hand, Ravana kicks him and says, “Get out from my kingdom, you, a traitor! You eat my salt, but sing the praise of my enemy.”

Vibheeshana leaves Lanka to surrender to Lord Rama.

Ego and God cannot go together. Who should rule us – the ego or the Lord? The choice is ours. Vibheeshana, a true seeker, chooses the Lord.

Vibheeshana introduces himself to Rama and says, “O Lord! I am Ravana’s brother. Having been born in the demon race, my body has the element of tamas (inertia and ignorance) and I have a natural affinity for sins even as an owl is fond of darkness. But I have heard Thy fair renown. Save me! Save me O Lord!!”

Thus saying, Vibheeshana falls flat at the feet of Rama.

The Lord, delighted to listen to these words of utter humility, gets up immediately, runs towards him, lifts him from the ground and embraces him. The Lord makes him sit beside him!

The only thing Lord expects from a jeeva is total surrender. And once this condition is satisfied, the Lord takes the entire responsibility of the jeeva.

The bridge is built. Through surrender, the jeeva allows the Lord to enter into his life.

In the final battle, Rama takes on Ravana. For the heart throne of the jeeva, there is a constant battle between the Divine and the devil. Vibheeshana assists Rama in killing Ravana. The throne is won by the one whom the jeeva assists.

Rama could not kill Ravana even when his heads were chopped off countless times. But when, as suggested by Vibheeshana, Rama’s arrow strikes Ravana’s navel, the monster dies. So too, the ego doesn’t die with japa, austerity, fasting, yajna, charity etc. The root of the problem has to be addressed. Ego’s existence is rooted in Self-ignorance. It dies only with Self-knowledge.

Finally, Ravana is killed by Rama. Ego can be destroyed only by the Lord, not by the jeeva. Hence the Lord says in the Bhagavad Gita:

तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थम् अहमज्ञानजं तम: । नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता ||
(I shower My Grace on My devotees by lighting the lamp of knowledge and destroying the darkness of ignorance residing in their heart.)

The Lord coronates Vibheeshana as the King of Lanka. With the death of the ego, with Self-realisation, one is no more ruled by the BMI (body-mind-intellect), but he becomes the king of BMI.

In the end, Rama rules Ayodhya along with Seeta.

The heart of the devotee, which is ruled by the Self (Rama) and which experiences infinite Bliss (Seeta), becomes verily Ayodhya, i.e. a place free from conflict.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

November 2018

Without learning to live here, there is no hereafter to hope for. – Chinmaya

What should we learn here?

We must learn to live the right way.

The right way is to perform our actions as best as we can with the God-given talents and abilities, for the welfare of all, as a worship of the Lord, in a spirit of co-operation, without ego and egocentric desires, keeping the noblest goal of moksha (liberation) in mind.

But in the case of most of us, we tend to live an animalistic selfish life.

The photo of a vulture waiting for a starving Sudanese girl to die was taken by Kevin Carter who later won the Pulitzer Prize for this picture.

He was actually savouring his feat and being celebrated on major news channels and networks worldwide. His depression started when during one of such interviews someone phoned and asked him what happened to the child. He replied, “I didn’t wait to find out after this shot as I had a plane to catch.”

And the person replied, “According to me, there were two vultures on that day. One had a camera.”

This statement led to his depression, and within a few months, his suicide.

Kevin Carter could have been alive today if he had just picked that little girl up and had taken her to the nearby United Nation’s feeding Center where she was attempting to reach.

Can suicide solve all our problems?

No. Escapism is never a solution, says the above quote.

Death is only for the physical body (sthoola shareera). Even when the physical body is gone, we continue to exist in our subtle body (sookshma shareera) and causal body (kaarana shareera).

In short, death is only for the body, not for the mind. Our mind continues to remain with us even after our physical death. So there is no escape from existence, from our mind, and from misery.

If we have cultivated a noble mind here, rest assured that our experience will be peace and joy hereafter. But if the mind is trained in unethical and immoral ways, then our experience after death cannot be anything different from misery and agitation. The mental state cultivated here continues hereafter too.

Hence the emphasis to live a righteous life here.

During the time of Guru Nanak, in the city of Emnabad, there lived a high-born man of wealth named Malik Bhago. He was the Divan, or the Chief Minister of the Pathan Governor and thus a personage of high authority.

It happened that on the anniversary of his father’s death, he prepared an elaborate feast and invited all the religious and holy men from far and wide to attend.

Coincidently, Guru Nanak was visiting Emnabad and had planned to take his meals at the house of a poor carpenter named Lalo. As a devotee, Lalo had welcomed the Guru with great reverence.

The news that a saint was staying at the house of Lalo soon reached Malik Bhago. He immediately sent a servant to invite the Guru together with his followers, but Nanak declined the invitation in spite of constant persuasion in repeated attempts. In the end, the Guru went to his house; and Lalo, unable to stay without his Guru, followed behind.

“Why didn’t you come to the meal for holy men at my house?” Malik Bhago asked Guru Nanak.

“Please bring me the food and I shall take it now,” replied Guru Nanak. He turned to Lalo and asked him to bring food from his house also. Lalo hurried away to his house and shortly returned with some coarse barley bread.

In the meantime, a great crowd had gathered around the Guru. When the food was brought before him, the Guru took the plain, dry bread from Lalo in one hand and some of Bhago’s in the other, and squeezed the two. From Lalo’s bread oozed drops of milk, but from Bhago’s bread came blood.

“Now you can see why I refused to eat your food,” said the Guru to Malik Bhago. “Your food is tainted with the blood of the poor. But in Lalo’s house, the food is pure because he earns it by his own hard work.”

Bhagavan Shankaracharya says in Vivekachoodamani:

चित्तस्य शुद्धये कर्म न तु वस्तूपलब्धये |
(Actions are meant for purification of the mind, not to attain anything of the world.)

Many don’t believe in the hereafter, i.e. life after death. For them, this body is be-all-and-end-all of life. For them life is meant to eat, to drink, and to be merry. For them, there is no punya-papa, dharma-adharma, no heaven-hell, no rebirth etc. Since they are not seen, they don’t exist. For them, life is over with the death of the body. Undoubtedly they end up living a licentious indulgent life.

There are people who believe that dying in a holy place gives liberation. So when they grow old and are sure of death, they camp in a holy place like Kashi to die!

There are others who make all the provisions to cremate their dead body in the holiest of places, wrapped up with a holy ochre cloth, to be cremated on sandalwood amidst the chantings of the holiest of mantras. According to them, the disposal of the unholy body in a holy way is the way to liberation!

There are some others, who have heard that the last thought of the dying man decides his next birth. So they chant the shlokas of some holy scriptures in the ears of the dying relative at the time of his/her departure. They are unaware of the fact that the last thought of the dying man is decided, not by what he has heard, but by how he has lived!

Again, there are others who try to take care of their after-life through right investment. They have heard that “what you give here, you get it there.” Therefore to get it there, they, as an investment, give here!

Rare are the people who have understood the mystery of death. True liberation is not the liberation from the body, but the liberation from the ego. It is this ego which forces us to take birth again and again. Unless the ego is destroyed here through right knowledge, there is no hope hereafter, meaning there is no end to the future birth-death cycle, and hence no end to the variegated miseries.

Sadhu Vaswani was on board the steamer from Europe to India. One night, as he paced up and down the deck, his thoughts moved to the bag of clippings which he carried with himself. They were newspaper reports giving an account of his triumphant march through Europe – the places he had visited, the lectures he had delivered, the receptions held in his honour, the articles he had written interpreting the wisdom of India’s rishis.

“What is this I am carrying to India?” he said to himself. “A bag of vanity! I aspire to be a servant of India’s sages and saints. I aspire to live a life of new awakening, of self- effacement and of Self-realisation. And yet…”

The decision was made. He entered his cabin and brought out the bag of clippings. Without another glance at them, he threw them all into the waters.

“Fame and name,” he said, “are the waves on the surface of the sea. They appear and disappear. True life is that which is lived in the depths. It is Life in the Self. Eliminate the ego; eliminate every personal ambition and adventure. And thus slaying the lower self, attain the wisdom of the Self. This alone is the purpose of life, and such a life alone is worth lived. All else is vanity. All else is wastage of lifetime.”

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

October 2018

No hurry is allowed in nature. In our inner growth also, no hurry is permitted. Any hurry or impatience will end in suppression/repression. – Chinmaya

Every constructive process has to be slow.

Because there are so many lessons to be learnt en route.

As a newborn, how many lessons we have learnt unknowingly in a single task called ‘learning to walk’?

A newborn baby lies on his back. But there is no freedom to move. He has no freedom even to scratch when it is itching! Helplessly he learns:

Bondage is pain.

Lying on the back is the safest posture of the body, as there is no fear of fall. But absolute safety comes with unbearable boredom! He realises:

Nothing can be achieved in our comfort zone.

This boredom and bondage make him desperate to seek something better. He struggles, not knowing that he is learning a new law of life:

 Necessity is the mother of invention!

After many failures, in a few months, he at last succeeds. He is thrilled to see his new achievement – the ability to flip, to turn over and lie on his chest. He is greatly excited and practises his newly learnt skill every now and then. He ponders:

Work hard, and success is sure.

His first success of his life boosts his confidence level. And what a change in the perception of the world! Earlier he saw only the ceiling and the fan.  Now, lying on his chest, everything appears totally different! He wonders:

What you see depends on where you are.

Soon he discovers the various advantages of lying on his chest. When the upper part of the body is lifted with the hands, he learns:

Higher you go, the better the vision.

When the hands start paining and he is exhausted, he introspects:

To go higher, you have to pay a price.

 With repeated practice, when the hands no more pain, he observes:

Practice makes one perfect.

After a lot of trial and error, he discovers that the bottom portion of the body can be lifted by the knees. Now he is on all four. His creativity takes him further – “Why not walk with these four?”

He tries, succeeds, and is amazed at his self-discovered creativity! He understands:

Where there is a will, there is a way!

For the first time in his life, he is able to move by himself! He considers it the greatest moment in his life! Movement means freedom from bondage. Movement means a choice of destination. Movement means no dependence on others! He explores:

Freedom is happiness.

In his newly found freedom, he moves around freely towards his objects of interests, picks things and puts them indiscriminately in his only laboratory – the mouth. With his freedom, the mother’s concern also begins. He teaches all:

Freedom without wisdom is calamity!!

Sitting on his bottom, he discovers that he has scaled greater heights! But many times he loses balance and falls backwards hitting his head on the hard floor. Of course, the mother is always there to soothe and console him. Through pain, he learns another lesson:

Alertness keeps you high. Carelessness brings you down.

As days pass by, he is amazed, “How are these people walking on their legs so easily! Can I too do it?” The very thought makes him shudder with fear. But the Lord, his unknown Friend and Guide, residing in his heart, whispers to him:

“You too can! Keep trying! A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Holding on to a sofa, he tries to lift himself up. The experience of standing is amazing but his soft tender legs can’t afford to take his weight. He sits down quietly. But he won’t give up. He tries again and again. His past experiences have taught him:

Perseverance combined with patience is the key to success.

With undaunted effort, now he manages to stand erect, but the height scares him. The intense desire to be like others forces him to take risks. These adventures give him many painful falls and bleeding wounds. But by now he has learnt the law of life:

No pain, no gain.

And finally, there comes a day when he walks, runs, jumps and throws tantrums around!

This is our story of outer growth. So too is the case with inner growth.

Q: What is inner growth?

A: Inner growth is nothing but spiritual growth.

Q: How do we know whether we are growing internally?

A: When we internally grow, the mind becomes more mature. A mature mind is a mind which, through experiences of life, has come to this firm conclusion that the Self/God alone is the source of peace, security and happiness.

Such a mind does not hanker after the pleasures of the world, since it knows the hollowness of all these pleasures. With its vision of oneness, it becomes a storehouse of all virtues. Such a mind is ever quiet, serene and peaceful without any bubbles of desires gurgling forth. It ever remains a disciplined, tamed, and obedient mind.

Q: How long does it take to achieve this?

A: Time frame cannot be set because it depends on person to person. Some have already made great advancements in their past births and therefore their spiritual growth appears very quick and smooth in this birth, while others who are just beginners struggle in every step.

Even among seekers, the majority are lukewarm in spiritual practices, while a rare few are seen pursuing it intensely. So the result will vary depending on how intensely you seek it, and for how long you have been seeking it.

Q: Why no hurry is allowed in spirituality?

A: Just as we don’t expect a newborn baby to walk straight out of the womb, we don’t expect anyone to walk out of the world to the kingdom of God. It takes time, effort and patience. Nothing happens by a click of a button. A child becomes a professional only after many years of sincere study. A seed becomes a huge tree after very many years. No short cuts are allowed in nature. Everything takes its own sweet time for fructification.

Q: What takes time?

A: Replacing the worldly vasanas with the spiritual one takes time. The latent impressions gathered in very many lives cannot be easily erased from the mind. It takes persistent and wholehearted effort. The Sattwic mind which has transcended the Rajas and Tamas alone becomes fit to abide in the Self effortlessly.

Q: Will external renunciation (Sannyas) help?

A: It depends.

For people filled with devotion and dispassion, renunciation is the most ideal path. A lot of time is available for meditation and contemplation, and one is free from all worldly botheration and distractions. Mind being under one’s control, the time is well utilised for the attainment of the higher.

But for the unprepared minds, Sannyas can be suffocation. Very many times, hasty people, inspired by some books or talks on spirituality, renounce their family and possessions and take to ochre cloth (Sannyas). But soon they find themselves in ‘Trishanku Swarga’ – neither here nor there!

On one side mind is filled with all worldly desires, but being a Sannyasi they are incapable of fulfilling them. On the other side, mind, starved of devotion and dispassion, is unable to revel in the Divine. Such a mind experiences a state of suppression which is unhealthy.

For such people, the Lord in the Bhagavad Geeta asks to remain in the world as a karma Yogi. When actions are done selflessly as a worship of the Lord, the mind becomes pure. Such a healthy mind is capable of taking up higher spiritual sadhanas.

 ‘Don’t hurry’ doesn’t mean ‘Be lukewarm.’ It simply means strive hard, but never be impatient.  

As Gurudev nicely puts it: Hasten, (but) Slowly!

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

September 2018

The words of the Master can echo their message only in a bosom that has been stilled in complete love. – Chinmaya

Not all bosoms are fit to receive the highest knowledge.

When do we pour water from one vessel to the other?

1. We never pour when the receiving vessel is higher than the giving vessel.

So too an arrogant, egoistic mind is an absolutely unfit instrument for gaining knowledge. A humble mind alone has the ability to receive.

2. We don’t pour when the receiving vessel is shaky/unstable.

An agitated mind is a shaky vessel. It is a mind filled with a hundred thousand desires and aspirations, worries and anxieties. Such a wandering mind is never available for the teachings.

3. We don’t pour when the receiving vessel is already full.

A mind with an ‘I-know-all’ attitude is a full vessel. 

These seekers come to the Master with a good intention to learn; but the ‘fullness’ in them won’t allow them to listen, and they end up being preachers. They don’t even allow the Master to speak!

By beating their ego-drum with their bookish knowledge, they unknowingly proclaim how hollow they are within. Amidst such noisy seekers, the Master remains silent like dumb.

4. We don’t pour when there are holes in the receiving vessel.

A non-serious mind is a hole-full vessel. Such a mind listens, but the knowledge enters through one ear and leaks out through the other. For such a mind, spiritual knowledge falls under the least priority category. Such people come to satsangs when they have nowhere else to go. In such a mind which listens with a ‘time-pass’ attitude, the knowledge doesn’t stay.

5. We don’t pour when the vessel is upside-down.

An un-interested, faithless mind is an upside-down vessel. Such a mind is very clear regarding spirituality, “Neither I believe in these things, nor am I interested.”

Such a mind remains untouched and unaffected even amidst an ocean of spiritual happenings. In this sense, they can be compared with lotus! They are also in a way Sthitaprajna, with a stunted intellect!

In the second chapter of the Bhagavad Geeta, the Lord starts His teaching only after ensuring that Arjuna satisfies the conditions of a true seeker. Arjuna says:

शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् |
(O Lord! I am totally confused. I know nothing. I completely surrender unto Thee. I am your disciple. Please teach me.)

In these words, we see the humility, the surrender and the receptivity of Arjuna and also his intense desire to learn.

Bhagavad Geeta is a revolutionary scripture which destroys all our preconceived notions, making it clear to us that this knowledge can be imparted anywhere – even in a noisy battlefield, at any time – even during the war, if the receiving vessel – the disciple – is ready.

During the period of exile, there were many occasions when Krishna and Arjuna had spent their time in leisure on the river banks, mountain valleys and forests. But even in such ashram-like environments, the Lord chose not to give this knowledge, because He knew, that unless the soil of the seeker’s heart is prepared, the seed of Self-knowledge won’t sprout.   

This story is of those times when the wars between the Sikhs and the Mughals were frequent.

There was a simple peasant called Bhai Bela who wandered into Guru Gobind Singh’s satsang and asked the Master if he could be blessed with some service.

“Do you know how to use a gun?” asked the Guru.

“No Sir.”

“Then can you ride a horse?” the Guru enquired.

“No Sir” was again the answer.

“Well brother, what kind of service do you think you could do?” asked the Guru.

“Sir, I could very well work in the stables and take care of the horses.”

“Very good Bhai Bela,” said the Guru, “you may go to the stables and start your service.”

Bhai Bela started his service wholeheartedly and with utmost devotion. He would feed the horses on time, massage them, look after them with the best of his ability and clean the stables. Within two to three months, all the horses had greatly improved in appearance. Bela’s arrival in the stable had made all the difference. The condition of the horses was now perfect.

One day Guru himself went over to the stables and was delighted to see the horses in such good condition.

“Who is responsible for making these horses look so well?” the Guru asked the head stableman.

“Sir, it is Bhai Bela.”

“Bhai Bela, have you ever had any education?” Guru Gobind Singh asked him.

“No Sir,” replied Bhai Bela. “I have never been to a school of any kind.”

“Very good,” said the Guru. “I will now be glad to teach you, and hereafter you will be studying, as well as rendering service.”

Every morning thereafter the Guru would tell Bhai Bela one line or sentence, and Bela would repeat it the whole day with utmost devotion.

One morning when the Guru was leaving for the battle with the Mughals, he had no time to give a new line to Bela. When the latter saw that the Guru was leaving in haste, he ran after him, and asked a new line for the day.

“Oh Bhai Bela!” the Guru said, “Can you not see that this is neither the time nor the place?”

Bhai Bela thought that this was the line he was to repeat that day. So he repeated the whole day with the same love and devotion as always. All the people around him had great fun hearing Bela repeat this line all day, and they thought what a great fool he was not to understand what the Guru meant.

When the Guru returned, they asked, “Sir, in your graciousness, what did you give Bela as his new line for today?”

“I did not give him a new line,” the Guru told them.

“But Sir, Bela has been repeating all day long, ‘O Bhai Bela! Can you not see that this is neither the time nor the place?’”

“Though he didn’t understand the time or place, he has understood everything,” said the Guru with a smile.

The moment the Guru uttered these words, Bela entered into samadhi. As a result, whether awake or asleep, whether walking, eating or drinking, he was always in communion with the Guru. His attention was always on the name of the Lord.

Seeing this, some of the disciples were greatly annoyed and openly stated that this certainly was not justice.

“We have been serving the Master for many, many years,” they said, “and at no time such grace has been bestowed on us, whereas this man, who came here only recently, has got everything.”

When the Guru saw that these people were angry, he gave them a huge quantity of hemp.

“Prepare this hemp with all love and devotion of which you are capable,” he told them. “Only after that I will listen to your complaint and decide what to do.”

When they had filled a pot, the Guru said to them, “Now make a liquid of it and each one of you rinse your mouth with it until it is all finished.”

Once everything was over, the Guru asked them, “Do any of you feel intoxicated?”

“No,” they replied. “How could we feel intoxicated when we did not swallow the hemp?”

“You have already received the answer to your question.” The Guru said.

The Guru then explained to them, “Of course you cannot get intoxicated unless you swallow the hemp. By merely gargling with it, nothing can happen. Bela has absorbed the teachings of the Satguru. Bela literally does what his Guru tells him to do. For him, Guru and the Lord are not different. To such a one alone, the Truth reveals Itself.”

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T

August 2018

The distribution of grace is not controlled by the Guru, but depends upon the capacity of the recipient. – Chinmaya

God’s/Guru’s grace is ever there. But only a rare few receive it.

What decides the descendance of this grace?

Total faith. Total surrender.

Bhai Manjh was a man who was not only wealthy but also a landlord who owned a village. He was a worshipper of the tomb of the holy man, Sakhi Sarwar. He had hundreds of followers. But one day, he happened to attend a discourse given by Guru Arjan (the famous Sikh Guru), and the words of the Guru made such a profound impression on him that he begged him to grant him the boon of initiation.

“Whom do you follow at present?” asked Guru Arjan. “Sir, I am a devotee of Sakhi Sarwar,” Manjh replied humbly.

“I will grant you initiation only after you have gone back to your home and have completely destroyed the room that is set apart for holy worship,” the Guru said.

Manjh ran to his house as fast as he could and tore down every brick of the room. Several people who had gathered to watch him solemnly warned him: “Bhai Manjh! You will have to pay very heavily for the destruction of this holy room!”

“I have done it,” said Manjh boldly, “and am prepared to suffer any consequences.”

When he returned to Guru Arjan, the Master, considering him fit, bestowed initiation on him.

But it was destined that he be put to still further tests. Soon his horse died; then some of his bullocks. Thieves took some of his other possessions.

Seeing this, people began to taunt him, saying: “This is the result of the disrespect shown to Sakhi Sarwar. You should go and rebuild the temple in your home.”

But none of this bothered Bhai Manjh in the least. To one and all he said: “I do not care what happens. My Guru is all-knowing, and he knows what is best.”

One misfortune followed another, and before long Manjh was not only destitute but owed money to many people. All of them demanded immediate repayment saying: “Either pay us at once or leave the village.” At the same time, many of his old friends pleaded with him: “If you would only rebuild the temple, things would be sure to take a turn for the better.”

But no. Bhai Manjh remained adamant and preferred to leave the village. So he, his wife and his daughter packed up their few remaining belongings and found shelter in another village. As he had been a rich landlord, Manjh had never had to learn a trade. But it was now necessary for him to earn money. So he began to make his livelihood by cutting and selling grass.

Several months went by in this way when one day Guru Arjan sent Bhai Manjh a letter which was delivered by one of his disciples. To the disciple, the Guru had said: “Please be sure to demand twenty rupees as an offering before you give Bhai Manjh the letter. If he does not pay you, bring back the letter.”

Bhai Manjh was delighted to see the letter, but had no money with which to pay the twenty rupees. He asked his wife for the advice and she said: “I will take the ornaments and those of our daughter to the goldsmith, and see how much he will give me for them.”

The goldsmith’s offer was exactly twenty rupees. So Manjh gave the twenty rupees offering, received the letter, kissed it, lifted it to his forehead and eyes, and pressed it against his heart. As he completed these devotions, he went into ecstasy.

Two years went by, and the Guru then sent Manjh a second letter, for which he was to make an offering of twenty-five rupees. Once again, Bhai Manjh had no money. But he remembered that the headman of the village had once asked if his son could marry Bhai Manjh’s daughter. Accordingly, he sent his wife to see the wife of the headman, telling her to offer their daughter in marriage, even though the head man was of a lower caste, and to demand twenty-five rupees as a marriage payment.

The headman gladly paid the money and Bhai Manjh received the letter.

But the Guru wished to test Bhai Manjh still further. So he told a disciple: “Please go to Bhai Manjh and ask him to come to my court.” Manjh went quickly and gladly to the court of his beloved Guru. There he, his wife and his daughter went to work in the kitchen, cleaning the utensils and cutting firewood.

After a few days, the Guru asked: “Where does Bhai Manjh take his food?”

“He eats with us, getting his food from the free community kitchen,” the disciples said.

“It seems to me,” said the Guru, “that Bhai Manjh is not doing real service, for, then he would expect nothing in return for his work. He is charging us for his wages, which he takes in the form of food.”

When Manjh heard of this from his wife, he told her: “I want nothing in return for service to the beloved Guru, who has given me the priceless gift of Naam. We will get our food by some other means.”

So from that day onwards, Bhai Manjh went to the forest each night to cut wood. He then sold the wood in the bazaar and used the proceeds to buy food. During the day time, he and his family worked in the kitchen as before.

A few weeks later, after Manjh had gone to the forest to cut wood one night, there was a great wind storm. Bhai Manjh valiantly struggled against the wind, with his bundle of wood on his head. But the wind was so fierce that it blew Manjh headlong into a well, together with his precious bundle of wood.

Everything that had taken place was already known to the Guru. So when Manjh was blown into the well, he gathered some of his disciples and told them: “Be quick now! Get a wooden board and some rope. Then follow me at once to the forest.”

When they reached the well in the forest, the Guru told one of his disciples: “Bhai Manjh is at the bottom of this well. Shout down to him and tell him that we will lower a board tied to a rope. Tell him to cling to the board and we will pull him out.”

The disciples did this, but he also added some words told to him in private by the Guru. “Brother! See the wretched condition you are in. And it is all due to the way the Guru has treated you. Why don’t you forget a Guru who does such things?”

“What?” shouted Manjh. “Forget the beloved Guru? Never! And as for you, ungrateful one, please never again speak so disrespectfully of the Guru in my presence. It makes me suffer agonies to hear such shameful words.”

Bhai Manjh then asked that his bundle of wood be taken out of the well first. “Take the wood,” he said, “because it is for the Guru’s kitchen. I do not want it to get wet, for then it would not burn.” The wood was drawn up, and then Bhai Manjh himself was pulled up out of the well.

When he came face to face with his beloved Satguru, the Guru said, “Brother! You have gone through many trials and have met all of them with courage, faith and devotion for the Satguru. As a reward, I would be glad, if you would wish it, to give you the kingdom of the three worlds.”

But Bhai Manjh said, “O Guru! My Beloved! This is Kali Yuga, and in it, no one has the strength to stand up to the tests of Satguru. Therefore, my only request is that henceforth the disciples should not be put to such tests.”

This pleased Guru Arjan very much, but he still wished to give a tangible reward of some kind to Bhai Manjh. “Please ask me for some gift or boon,” he said. “You have earned it and it would make me very happy to give it to you.”

At this Bhai Manjh fell on his knees before the beloved Guru, and with tears streaming down his cheeks, exclaimed: “What boon could I wish for, my Guru, but you alone? I want you alone. Nothing else could ever be of any interest to me.”

Upon hearing these words, spoken from the heart, the Guru embraced Bhai Manjh and said:

“Manjh is the darling of his Guru;
And Guru is Manjh’s only love.
Manjh now, like Guru, is a ship,
That carries people safely across
The ocean of transmigration…”

O M   T A T    S A T

July 2018

A face overflowing with inner warmth of peace and smile is a charm which none can resist. – Chinmaya

Why are we attracted towards peaceful, loving and good people?

It is because these are the characteristics of our true nature. We get drawn to anyone in whom the divine qualities of the Self are seen reflected.

It happened in RamakrishnaParamahamsa’s time.

Keshav Chandra Sen was a great intellectual genius, and he was the co-founder of Brahma Samaj – the Society of the Divine. He was known all over India.

On the other hand, Ramakrishna was not known except to a few people. He was uneducated, and people thought he was mad. But slowly slowly his influence was increasing, particularly in Calcutta. People came to see him.

Keshab Chandra Sen was worried about this uneducated, ordinary villager. Even professors of the universities were becoming his devotees; they would go to listen to him and would touch his feet. And whatever he was saying was so ordinary. The man had nothing exceptional. Keshav Chandra finally decided to go and argue with this man and finish this whole thing. He went.

Hundreds of people who knew Keshab Chandra Sen and a few who knew Ramakrishna -they all gathered to see what would transpire. Ramakrishna’s followers were very much afraid, knowing that Keshab could defeat anybody if it was a question of rationality. He had proved his mettle hundreds of times all over India. He had defeated great scholars without much effort. Now, how was poor Ramakrishna going to stand up before him?

Everybody among the followers was nervous, but Ramakrishna was not.

On the other hand, lovingly, with all his innocence, he was, again and again, asking, “Keshava has not come yet?”

Finally, Keshav Chandra arrived with his great following.

Ramakrishna just went and hugged him. Keshav Chandra was not prepared for that.

He had come to fight, and he made it clear to Ramakrishna, “These things won’t help. I have come to discuss each and every point of your philosophy. Don’t try to create a friendship. I have come as an enemy. Either you defeat me and I will be your follower, or be ready to become my follower.”

Ramakrishna said, “That we will be doing soon – hugging has nothing to do with it! I have always loved you. Whenever I have heard about you and your ideas, that you say there is no God… I know there is God, but still, I enjoy and love you. In fact, your great intelligence is proof that existence is intelligent; otherwise from where does intelligence come? You are a proof to me that God is – but that we will discuss later on. What is the hurry? And there is no need for any enmity. The discussion can be in deep friendship.

“And you know, I am a poor man. I don’t know any logic. It is going to be a very easy job for you, so you need not be so tense!

“I have prepared some sweet for you; first take the sweet. I have prepared it with much love. And then you can start your so-called discussion.”

Keshav Chandra was finding it a little difficult. The man was strange; he offered him a sweet, he hugged him. He has already destroyed the animosity, the aggressiveness – in a very subtle way, without saying a word.

After his taking sweet, Ramakrishna said, “Now you start your game!”And Keshav Chandra was arguing against whatever he had found in Ramakrishna’s small books.

These books contained the sayings, stories, anecdotes and similes from Ramakrishna’s life collected by his followers.

And Ramakrishna would enjoy it, and would say to his followers, “Look how beautifully he has criticized it!” And many times he would stand up and hug him and say, “You are a genius! Your criticism is perfect!” Keshav Chandra said, “I have not come here to get your approval; I have come to argue.”

Ramakrishna said, “I don’t see there is any question of argument. You are the proof.

I don’t need to give any other proof. I can take you to the whole world as a proof that God exists – Keshav Chandra is the proof!”

Keshav Chandra had never come across such a man, and what he was saying had immense significance; it was penetrating Keshav Chandra’s heart. And the presence of the man, the way he behaved, his lovingness… Something happened to Keshav

Chandra that his followers could not believe.

By the end of the discussion, Ramakrishna said, “You tell me who is defeated and who is victorious, and I will follow it. If you are victorious I will become your follower. But I don’t know the ways of discussion and I don’t know the judgement.

You judge; you are efficient enough to make the judgement. You can say to me, ‘You are defeated,’ and I am defeated.”

And what happened next shocked Keshav’s followers. Keshav Chandra fell at the feet of Ramakrishna. They could not believe their eyes!

When they had gone, everybody was asking, “Keshav Chandra, what happened to you?”

He said, “I don’t know. One thing is certain, that this person has experienced something about which I have only been talking. I can talk efficiently, but he has it; he radiates it. I have that much intelligence at least to see the aura of this man, to feel the radiance of his love, to see his simplicity, his sincerity, his trust… And he has not argued at all. How can you defeat a person who has not argued at all? On the contrary, he was appreciating my criticism!”

And, needless to say, Keshab Chandra Sen too became a follower of Ramakrishna!

If there is one force which is the most powerful, it is the force of love.

There is a beautiful letter written by the great scientist, Albert Einstein, to his daughter Lieserl. In the late 1980s, Lieserl donated 1,400 letters to the Hebrew University. This letter is one of them:

“Dear Lieserl! There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe. This universal force is Love. When scientist looked for a unified theory of the universe, they forgot this most powerful unseen force.

Love is Light that enlightens those who give and receive it. Love is Gravity, because it makes some people attracted towards others. Love is Power, because it multiplies the best we have, and allows humanity not to be extinguished in their blind selfishness. Love unfolds and reveals. For Love, we live and die. Love is God and God is Love. This force explains everything and gives meaning to life.

“Perhaps we are not yet ready to make a bomb of Love, a device powerful enough to entirely destroy hate, selfishness and greed that devastate the planet. However, each individual carries within him/her a small but powerful generator of Love whose energy is waiting to be released. When we learn to give and receive this universal energy, dear Lieserl, we will have affirmed that Love conquers all, because Love is the quintessence of life.

Your father.”

The giver of love rules all. In the history of the world, the greatest conquerors have never been the men of might, but the men of heart. Buddha, Jesus, Nanak, Mohammed, Mahaveer, Mahatma Gandhi – all were great revolutionaries who fought their war not with the weapon of steel, but with the weapon of love.

Love knows no religion, nationality, gender, caste or creed. Even animals, birds and plants understand the language of love. Love could reform even great sinners like Angulimala and Ratnakara. Above all, those who are the champions of love, even God becomes their servant!

In Tulsi Ramayana, Tulsidasji calls Hanumanji VaanaraYootha Mukhyam, ‘The king of all monkeys’. Someone objected a mahatma during Ramayana Katha, “Sir! Isn’t Sugreeva the king of monkeys?” The saint smiled and replied, “True. Sugreeva ruled only the kingdom. But Hanumanji ruled the hearts of all monkeys!”

The world is blessed and millions are transformed when such rulers of heart walk on earth.

A nice quote was seen on the wall of a charitable institute:

Urgently needed:- An Electrician to ‘restore the current’ between people who do not speak to each other anymore; An Optician, to ‘change the outlook’ of people; An Artist, to ‘draw a smile’ on everyone’s face; A Civil Engineer to ‘build a bridge’ between angry neighbours, relatives and friends; A Doctor to ‘cure us’ from the disease of ego and selfishness; A Gardener to ‘cultivate positive thoughts’; and a Maths Teacher to ‘count our blessings every day’!

Let us become all-in-one; but this is possible only when we see the One-in-all.

and when we see the One-in-all, we see one’s Self-in-all. And when we see one’s Self-in-all, we have love-for-all.

With this love-for-all, may we serve all.

O M   T A T   S A T

June 2018

Tolerate the world and its endless foolishness. Smile and keep on loving the people. – Chinmaya

What can be called the greatest foolishness in this world?

To forget God and to run after the world.

What is the end result of this foolishness?

Suffering, suffering and more suffering!

Persian mysticism tells of a wanderer who trudged along on a seemingly endless long road. He was carrying all sorts of burdens. A heavy sack of sand hung on his back, logged water tank was strapped around his body. In his right hand, he carried an odd-shaped stone, in the left hand a boulder.

Around his neck, an old millstone dangled on a frayed rope. Rusty chains, with which he dragged heavyweights through the dusty sand, wound around his ankles. On his head, the man was balancing a half-rotten pumpkin. With every step he took, the chains rattled.

Moaning and groaning, he moved forward step by step, complaining of his hard fate and the weariness that tormented him.

On the way, a farmer met him in the glowing heat of midday. The farmer asked, “O, tired wanderer, why do you load yourself down with this boulder?”

“That’s awfully dumb,” replied the wanderer, “But I hadn’t noticed it before.” With that, he threw the rock away and felt much lighter.

After going a long way down the road, another farmer met him and asked, “Tell me, O tired wanderer, why do you trouble yourself with the half-rotten pumpkin on your head, and why do you drag those heavy iron weights behind you on chains?”

The wanderer answered, “I’m very glad you pointed it out to me. I didn’t realize what I was doing to myself.” He took off the chains and smashed the pumpkin into the ditch alongside the road. Again he felt lighter. But the farther he went, the more he began to suffer again.

A farmer coming from the field watched him in amazement and said, “Oh, good man, you are carrying sand in the sack, but what you see far off in the distance is more sand than you could ever carry. And that big water tank – as if you planned to cross a desert.  All the while there is a clear stream flowing alongside you, which will accompany you on your way for a long time.”

Upon hearing this, the wanderer tore open the belt of the water tank and leaked out its water into the path. Then he emptied the sand from his knapsack. He stood there pensively and looked into the sinking sun. The last rays sent their light to him. He glanced down at himself, saw the heavy millstone around his neck and suddenly realized it was the stone that was still causing him to walk so bent over. He unloosened it and threw it into the river. Freed from all his burdens, he gave a deep sigh of relief.

All our problems are only self-created. By the time we realise this truth, unfortunately, the entire life is over!

Bhagavan Shankaracharya laments in Bhaja Govindam:

बालस्तावत् क्रीडासक्तः तरुणस्तावत् तरुणीसक्तः । वृद्धस्तावत् चिन्तासक्त: परमे ब्रह्मणि कोऽपि न सक्त:||
(In the childhood one is busy with play; in the youth one is busy with the opposite sex. The end result? In the old age one is busy with worries and anxieties. Alas! None is attached to the Lord!)

How we busy ourselves with the unimportant and the insignificant things of life!

These are the words of Manohar Parrikar (Chief Minister of Goa) while he was under treatment for Pancreatitis in US Hospital:

“Life has given me abundant political respect and it has become synonymous with my name. However as I have noticed, except my work I rarely had any other moments of enjoyment. Only my political status has remained a reality.

Today in this bedridden state I introspect my life… The popularity and wealth – I thought to be milestones of life. And the inflated ego – all of it appears to be jaded and meaningless as I stand facing the death.

“With each passing second as the death creeps to me stealthily, I see the green lights of life-saving machines around me, their humming noise makes me realize my proximity to death. At this critical moment, I have understood that there is so much more to life than accumulating wealth and fame… I realize that of all the political success that I have earned, I can carry nothing with me… 

“This bed of sickness is the most exclusive bed as nobody can use it except yourself. You can have servants, drivers, employees to serve and earn for you but none to share your sickness… All the things that are lost can be found or earned back but what cannot be retrieved is time…

“As you run through the rat race of life pursuing success you must realise that at some point of time you have to reach the last part of the drama in the theatre where the end of the show is inevitable…”

According to scriptures, happiness is our nature. When we seek it in the outer world, the scriptures call us “Vimoodhaatma”, a completely deluded fool.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Former Mr Universe, Hollywood actor and Governor of California) posted a photo of himself sleeping on the street under his famous bronze statue and sadly wrote: “how times have changed”…

The reason he wrote the phrase was not only because he was old, but because when he was the Governor of California he inaugurated a hotel with his statue. The hotel staff had told Arnold, “At any moment you can come and have a room reserved for you.” When Arnold stepped down as Governor and went to the hotel, the administration refused to give him a room arguing that he should pay for it.

He brought a sleeping bag and stood underneath the statue and explained what he wanted to convey: “When I was in an important position, they always complimented me, and when I lost this position, they forgot about me and did not keep their promise. Do not trust your position or the amount of money you have, nor your power, nor your intelligence. It will not last.  When you’re important in people’s eyes, everyone is your friend. But once you don’t benefit their interests, you won’t matter.”

This is the way of the world.

यावत् वित्तोपार्जनसक्तः तावन्निजपरिवारो रक्त:। पश्चात् जीवति जर्जर देहे वार्तां कोऽपि न पृच्छति गेहे ||
(As long as one is an earning member of the family, he gets love and respect from others. Once he becomes old and incapable, none bothers about him.)

What should be our attitude in such a world?

First and the foremost – never be a fool to run after the world forgetting God. But when we have to deal with people who have done this mistake, let’s love and serve them with a compassionate attitude.

Gandhiji’s door was open to all.

Some came to seek his help to find employment; some to seek his help to settle disputes between husband and wife; some with the domestic problems of their families; some with tenant-owner problems; There was a theft in somebody’s house; somebody’s child was untraced; somebody had lost all his belongings; some came to narrate their woes; someone would seek advice on whom should one marry; someone on how one could make both ends meet with his or her meagre income; someone would raise problems of the traders.

Gandhiji not merely sat through all these but was totally tuned to the subject and to the person presenting the problem or seeking advice.

Thousands used to come to him with their sorrows, but there was hardly anyone who returned without feeling better and lighter.

Even when Gandhiji served all, he never expected anything from anyone. His inspiration and strength were from God and only God.

Let us hold on to God. Then alone can we, amidst all foolishness, tolerate, smile and love all.

O   M         T   A   T         S   A   T