|
We got our first, yet most
effective introduction to understanding the nature of the Infinite when he
began his talk with sounding the And that was just the
beginning. Over the next six
days (Sep 25th – Sep 30th, 2005), Swami Ishwarananda, who was visiting us
from “There is nothing new in the Vedanta”, he said, “but when we apply the principles of Vedanta in our lives, everything becomes new.” He defined VEDANTA as Vasana Elimination, Devotion to Absolute Nature and Total Awareness, and said that Vedanta was not just a body of information, but a means to transformation. The Swami took up a different aspect of Vedanta practice each night over the next week, starting with meditation and life and ending with Vedanta in everyday life. Meditation and LifeOn the first day, Swami Ishwarananda spoke about the importance of meditation in life. Why meditation? We are so busy caught with our incessant activities, he said, that life just passes us by. Vedanta makes us pause and ask – “What is life?” Swamiji came up with a rough estimate of how the average person allocates his life span of about 65 years between different activities. Ranging from sleeping for about 22 years, and doing miscellaneous jobs for 2-5 years, we spend only about 5-6 years of our lives thinking! Even this, he said, was a very positive estimate! In this limitless flow of experiences, that is life, it is the mind that decides what happiness is, not the happenings themselves. And Vedanta is not concerned with happenings; it is concerned with the mind alone. Meditation is the tool that Vedanta advocates, to educate the mind so that it becomes an instrument that we control, rather than an entity that controls us. A person who meditates learns the art of being mindful, of doing mechanical things consciously, performing activities with attention and not “at tension”. Quoting from the Gita, Swamiji said, “If you keep your mind with you, it is your friend. Else it will behave like a foe.” He used the lamp as a symbol of meditation, where the flame is the mind, the wick is the intellect, the oil in the lamp is the practice with love, and the windless place for the lamp to burn, is the absence of distractions. The mind, unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place is the state of deep meditation. Swami Ishwarananda gave some wonderful practical tips to make meditation, an everyday practice. He said that the best time to meditate was the first thing in the morning, before the first thought enters the mind, and before we start assuming our roles as mother/wife/father/student/employee etc., The Lord does not care whether your body is clean, he is concerned with the cleanliness of your mind, Swamiji said. “When you open your eyes, step out of bed, sit on the floor right next to your bed and begin meditation.” Swamiji spoke about the different stages of evolution as we start on the process of meditation. In the beginning, you may want to focus on a form or symbol. Just like a tight ropewalker needs a pole to balance himself, the beginner to meditation needs the support of a form or symbol to help the mind get a sense of balance. In the beginning, meditation is a fight by one thought against many thoughts. Control of breath, chanting the name of the Lord (Japa), contemplation on verses from the scriptures… are all means to help quieten the mind and make it ready for meditation. As we get more seasoned in the art of meditation, these external aids may become unnecessary, he said. Just as he had defined Vedanta to describe its essence, Swamiji defined MEDITATION as the Mind Engaging Deeply In Total Awareness Transcending Its Own Nature. Through meditation, we seek to recreate the peace that we experience in deep sleep where there are no thoughts, emotions, feelings, sense perceptions, responses or knowledge. Swami Chinmayananda had said, “Silence the mind and listen: this is the final stage of meditation.” Silent SearchContinuing with the quest to quieten the mind, on the second day of his lecture series, Swami Ishwarananda focused on the steps we need to take to slow down. He said that the great masters understood that we are apart from our thoughts because we are aware of their presence or absence. In order to understand that our thoughts are not who we are, we need to slow down. We can learn this art by consciously following certain practices like forming no opinions about what we perceive, creating space, avoiding comparisons, listening with attention, letting others have their opinions, choosing our thoughts and practicing japa, he said. Swamiji also spoke about the importance of rising above negative thoughts. He said that the best way to do this was to delay negative reactions. “Danger and anger have but one letter’s difference,” he said. Dissolving fear is one of the ways to recognize your true self. Fear and freedom don’t go hand in hand and we need to replace fear with love. Fear is usually about our own insecurities, uncertainties, death etc. Knowing that the Self is free, facing difficulties with the attitude that “even this will pass” and that no situation in life is permanent, replacing loneliness with aloneness, are all ways to overcome fear, said Swamiji. We are all seeking spiritual completeness, whether we recognize it as such or not and we need to allow others to participate in our lives. A relationship is like a mirror where you see yourself in the other person and treat others the way you want to be treated. Swami Ishwarananda spoke about the need for us to discover our inner poise. You need to view yourself as a nobody i.e., as not this body. You should not get too serious in the role you play and let go of the past by learning from it but not living in it. Your true self is not this body, he reminded us. The power of Silence lies in its capacity to create awareness, he said. When you look at yourself without any thought, you will appreciate the spiritual presence within. Swamiji concluded the day’s talk asking us to delve deep within ourselves, learning to say no to habits and saying yes to meditation. Empowering with Emotions Swami Ishwarananda compared the mind to the moon. Just like the moon, the mind waxes and wanes. What helps us decide finally is the intellect. When there is an emotional imbalance, we see its result in self-destructive behaviors like over working, over eating, substance abuse, breakdowns etc. When the mind and emotions are untamed, it can cause us a lot of problems. So it is very important to be emotionally balanced, he said. Swamiji spoke about the three moods of the mind: Saatvik – peaceful and calm with the vision of oneness, Raajasik – agitated, ambitious, with a vision of diversity, and Tamasik – sensuous and narrow with a vision of self-centeredness. He said that we need to recognize the nature of our emotions and decide how to use them to achieve our spiritual goal. An emotion is “a motion” that moves in our hearts. Religion preaches faith to feel the presence of God and this experience or feeling of God happens in our heart. The heart is the abode of God. Empowerment through emotions is possible when we feel strongly for a cause, when we are willing to work hard, make sacrifices and dedicate ourselves towards that cause. This intense feeling for a noble cause is Mumukshutwam. Swamiji talked about two aspects of love – Maitri, where you add happiness to another with your love, and Karuna, where you remove others’ afflictions through your love. True love, he said, should be unbounded, not restricted. He said that compassion does bring pain, but the pain is different from the pain of limited love. Compassionate love empowers you to serve and purify your own mind and spirit in the process. Surfing above Sorrows
We cannot direct the wind; we can adjust the
sails!
Sorrows are unavoidable in life; suffering is
optional. It is easy to go down hill than go up. But the best views are always from
the top! With thought provoking quotes like these, Swami
Ishwarananda began the next day’s talk giving us valuable advice on how to
surf above sorrows. How we
face sorrows and meet challenges tests our integrity and strength, he
said. Vedanta gives us the
immunity to face weaknesses, but it is not for the escapist. Using the Bhagavad Gita’s example,
Swamiji pointed out that Lord Krishna deliberately placed Arjuna’s chariot
in front of Bheeshma and Drona, and not in front of Duryodhana. The Lord did not want Arjuna to go
to battle with the spirit of anger and revenge. Similarly, if we go through life
just for personal aggrandizement, we become weak. We need to grow in our challenges. When one door closes, another
opens. But often we keep
looking at the closed door and fail to see the door that has opened up for
us, he observed. He said, “Ask constantly – What can I do to improve
myself?” He said that we need
to be content with what we have, but not be content with what we
are! Vedanta is the means for an individual to change
and grow, others may not be able to observe it. All our sadhana is only to change
ourselves and achieve silent inner growth. Vedanta teaches us to surf over our sorrows by
first prodding us to know the causes of sorrow. Being ignorant of the Self,
identifying with the false image of ourselves, encouraging desires,
sensuousness, and insecurity with our possessions are some of the main
reasons why we become sorrowful. The solution to these sources of sorrow lies in
our attitude and outlook, said Swamiji. We need to perform our actions
with a sense of detachment regarding the results of the action. Despite our best efforts we may
not be successful. This is
because we alone are not responsible for the results; so many factors
contribute towards a particular end.
We need to think of ourselves as instruments through which the
divine is making something happen.
A wise man knows that he is not the doer. We need to face uncertainties and accept changes
in life cheerfully. We need
to know that constant death is the nature of matter; it is
inevitable. Dissolving desires by understanding the power of
our mind over the senses is one of the most effective ways to overcome
sorrow. Vedanta says that
what you desire does not have even an iota of joy, the expectation of joy
is entirely in your imagination and it is a relative feeling. What is joy to one could be sorrow
to another. Knowing Brahman,
one is released from sorrow.
“My devotee does not grieve,” the Lord said. Destiny
Versus Free will The fifth day of the lecture series dealt with a
topic that we battle with constantly. Is everything that we face
pre-ordained? Do we have any
free will at all? To consider humans as free and responsible for
their life on the one hand, and on the other, to regard everything as
pre-determined, are two extremes of a spectrum within which lies the
actual human condition, Swamiji said. He used a unique and very
appropriate analogy to describe this concept of destiny and free
will. He asked us to
visualize a cow that has been tied to a pole with a very long rope. The cow has freedom to move within
the confines of that rope and do as it pleases, but not beyond. That is similar to us having a
finite 24 hours everyday.
That is a given, we can’t change it, but what we do in those 24
hours is our choice.
Similarly, hunger, thirst, old age and pain are a given. What we eat and how we stay
healthy is our choice. This
is the concept of limited freedom, he explained. The human mind is so limited that it cannot fathom
anything beyond death.
Essentially Hinduism and Buddhism believe in rebirth or what is
popularly known as karma, Swamiji said. When we see all the discrepancies around us, the
Semitic religions take it as God’s will. But Hinduism goes further and asks
– Why and on what basis did God decide that way? The masters concluded that if we
are what we are, it is because of what happened in past lives. You will be the determiner of your
deeds and you alone see the results.
All actions have results; if you don’t experience the results of
your actions in this life, you will have to come back to face them. Swamiji said that this rationale
was only an explanation, an intellectually satisfying one, not a
solution. Swamiji spoke about destiny in terms of absolute
destiny and secondary destiny.
God decides absolute destiny even before one’s birth. Secondary destiny is the
hardships, blessings and limited freedom allotted to the human by
God. Karma, said Swamiji,
means action. When we see the
results of action right away, it is karmaphala. If it gets carried over to a later
time it is still karma. Karma
does not determine what you are, but it determines what situations you
will be in, he said.
Differences in fortune, social positions etc., are inherited
consequences of actions done in past lives. So, we need to accept our lot in
life and suffer patiently.
Swamiji quoted from the Mahabharata – Among a thousand cows the
calf finds its mother, so the past action its doer. Speaking about human choice or free will, Swamiji
said that the intelligence that is given to us is our free will. Spiritual life begins with a
decision, which should not be entered due to compulsion or fear. The Gita asks us to ponder over
and do, as we like. Swamiji quoted Thomas Aquinas to describe synergy
- Synergy is the relationship between self-effort and grace. The Lord’s grace and blessings are
there all the time, but if we do not take the effort to try and get near
Him, we will not be able to see His grace. Quoting from the Gita, he said –
To one whom I am the refuge attains eternal state by my
grace. Vedanta
in daily life On the last day of the lecture series, Swami
Ishwarananda spoke about the different personality types i.e., Sattwik,
Rajasik and Tamasik and also personalities that are a combination of these
three major personality types.
The reason he described these personality types, he said was to
help us become conscious of our traits and to try and overcome certain
tendencies in us. Swamiji spoke about the constant cycle of
impressions, giving birth to desires, followed by thoughts, leading to
actions that cause reactions and create further impressions in us. We are all products of our own
impressions gathered perhaps over many lives, he
said. Speaking about the importance of meditation, which helps the mind find some respite from this ceaseless cycle of thoughts and impressions, he said that in the beginning, it is very natural for negative thoughts and hidden tendencies to come up. “Don’t deny them”, he said, “watch them and try to substitute them with noble ones.” He used the analogy of the churning of the milky ocean where the first thing that came forth was poison! Vedanta goes in slow stages of meditation practice to get to the highest level of evolution where the person who meditates is able to recognize desires even as they arise and prevent those desires from even developing into thoughts. When the mind is restrained through practice, it remains contented in the Self alone, he said. Swamiji spoke about the teachings of Vedanta, which focus on an individual’s attitude as the key to affecting change in his/her life. The selflessness of actions is not in the action, but in the attitude of the actor – how the action is performed. The Lord is not interested in what you give, but how you give it, he said. That man attains peace into whom all desires enter as waters flow into a sea. Some practical tips for peace that Swamiji gave concluded this extraordinary lecture series on the 30th of September.
|