Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Story of the churning of the ocean - 07
Whatever is achieved by humans through praana, wealth, karma, words, body and children all those lead to sorrow alone. Whatever action a person does without any notion of difference and with the knowledge (thought as well) that everything is the Lord alone, those actions will lead to experience of the TRUTH (which is that there is nothing here apart from the ultimate reality of Lord). Action performed in this way is like watering the root of the tree which will circulate water to all the parts of the tree.
The devas who were did the action of churning of the ocean with the knowledge/thought that everything is the Lord alone thereby attained immortality.
Explanation
We have come to the end of this beautiful story of the churning of the ocean denoting action performed with the right attitude and devotion to the ultimate reality of Lord.
As we have been discussing in the last few days, amrita or immortality or eternal bliss can be achieved only through realization of one’s own very nature of Lord. There is no other way than this to eternal bliss. Realization of one’s own nature of Lord is possible only through constant contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord with the knowledge that there is only the Lord alone, one without a second. All actions which are performed without this knowledge and devotion towards the reality of Lord will lead only to sorrow.
Actions will either give good or bad fruits. Good fruits also will finally end up and hence lead to sorrow only due to remembrance of the good and non-enjoyment or non-attainment of the bliss currently. Hence actions will lead only to sorrow. Actions are limited and finite. Hence the fruit of the action also has to be limited alone. Such limited fruits cannot give unlimited and eternal bliss. Hence if a seeker wishes to get eternal bliss, he should stop seeking things through actions. The only entity capable of giving eternal bliss to the seeker is the ultimate reality of Lord because the Lord alone is infinite, unlimited and eternal. The Lord will be capable of conferring eternal bliss only when the seeker comes out of the delusion of maya which causes differences and dual notions in the world. A seeker in order to overcome Maya has to constantly contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord offering all actions unto the Lord. A seeker should ever remain with the knowledge that there is no duality whatsoever here; whatever really exists is the ultimate reality of Lord alone. This knowledge combined with pure devotion characterized by total and complete surrender alone will lead a seeker to the ultimate reality of Lord. When a seeker thus follows knowledge and devotion, the ignorance that the world of plurality is real and that “I” am limited is removed. Through this, the seeker will realize the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own very nature of Consciousness. The seeker as the individual and limited to the body-mind-intellect complex will cease to exist; instead the seeker will merge unto the ultimate reality of Lord thereby the Lord alone would exist, one without a second. Since the Lord is blissful in nature, there will be bliss and bliss alone.
Thus the way to eternal bliss is constant contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord. This doesn’t mean that the seeker should refrain from doing actions because actions are inevitable in the world. The seeker should do all activities but as an offering to the ultimate reality of Lord with the knowledge that everything is but the Lord alone. The seeker should think that the doer is the Lord, the bestower of fruits is the Lord, the equipments with which the action happens is the Lord and the witness of this activity as the illuminator is also the Lord alone. Thus the seeker will be ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord though he might be doing activities at the empirical level.
An action done with such an attitude is like pouring water on the roots of the tree. The attitude mentioned here is the attitude of knowing everything as the Lord alone and offering the action unto the Lord. Water when poured on the roots will go to each and every place of the tree – unlike water poured on the branches or any other parts of the tree. An action performed with the right attitude will lead the seeker to realization of the ultimate reality of Lord which is giving life to the tree (gaining eternality or ever living). If a person on the other hand does mere actions without the right attitude, it will not be fruitful. It will seem to be giving happiness but will finally lead to sorrow alone. And such actions will never lead to satisfaction, contentment and eternal bliss for which all activities are being performed.
If we have to gain success in our life by making our life fruitful, we have to constantly contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord knowing that everything is the Lord alone and offer all activities unto the Lord. The devas had this attitude and hence were able to get amrita whereas the asuras were not able to get amrita because of lack of remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord at all times.
We will see a summary of this story of Srimad Bhagavatham in the next day and continue with the next story.
We come to the end of this story of the churning of the ocean. Let us today try to summarize the story and the imports that has to be implemented in life from the story.
Devas and asuras denote the good and bad thoughts of the mind. The Ego (seeker) can be said to be the Indra – the controller of the devas. The ego and the devas-asuras seek bliss. The mind always seeks bliss. The search of life itself is for ever-lasting and eternal bliss. It is but a fact that man searches for bliss in the external world but fails to get it from the diverse world. This is because the world is temporary and changing. Anything that is not eternal cannot give eternal bliss. Therefore the world and its objects cannot confer eternal bliss. Eternal bliss is what Bhagavatham denotes in the story as amrita or immortality. With immortality comes bliss and satisfaction. The Upanishads proclaim that man fears death or loss of his own existence. Bliss is achieved when one transcends the ocean of samsaara characterized by birth-death and sorrows-sufferings. Thus immortality or ever-present state is nothing but bliss alone.
Bliss or amrita can be achieved only by realizing the eternal entity of Lord. There is no other way to immortality than this. Bliss since is the very nature of Lord cannot also be achieved without the grace of the Lord. Even though the grace of the Lord is ever present but a person will be able to apprehend the grace only through knowledge and pure devotion characterized by total and complete surrender. Thus if a seeker seeks eternal bliss, he has to surrender completely unto the ultimate reality of Lord knowing the Lord as the one and only real entity present amidst the illusory world and its objects. Surrendering completely means constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord at all times and offering all actions unto the Lord with the knowledge that there is nothing here but the Lord alone, one without a second.
Churning of the ocean is overcoming the ocean of samsaara characterized by sorrows and sufferings. A person will be able to overcome the ocean of samsaara only by gaining equanimity of the mind through seeing everything as the Lord alone. Such a person will maintain the thought of the Lord in the mind always. Thus his mind will always be steady and constant – this denotes the devas and asuras working together for churning of the ocean. A seeker has to remember the ultimate reality of Lord even amidst good and bad thoughts. When a seeker does that, good and bad thoughts cease and whatever remains in the mind is only thought about the Lord associated with illusory activities of the world.
Thus the way to overcoming the ocean of samsaara thereby gaining immortality is through constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord as present in the entire world and knowing the world to be a mere illusion in the Lord.
When a seeker follows the spiritual path of constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord, he will get many siddhis or spiritual powers. It is very easy to get deluded into small and big powers of the world (which denotes wealth, money, fame etc.). A seeker will be able to get eternal bliss only if he doesn’t stop in the path when these siddhis are achieved. The seeker just accepts these siddhis as the wish of the Lord and continues in the spiritual path unaffected by the achievement of the siddhis. This is what the devas and asuras did – they got many things out of the churning but they didn’t stop until amrita. Thus when a seeker continues in the spiritual path without any stop, he finally gets amrita in the form of realization of one’s own very nature of Lord.
The saints mention the path of spirituality as walking along the edges of a razor. It is not as easy as we think. We will be tested at each and every stage. Jesus Christ considered as the son of God was tested by the devil!!!! If Christ himself was tested, what to speak about other human beings???
A seeker has to constantly remember the ultimate reality of Lord and thereby continue in the spiritual path passing over all the testing through the single solution of “constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord”.
The final testing for the devas and asuras came in the form of Mohini. As we have seen, Maya cannot be said to come in just one form. It is indescribable and can appear in any form. A seeker shouldn’t get deluded into anything and be fixed in the goal of ultimate reality of Lord. Such a seeker gets amrita by the grace of the lord – for such a seeker, Maya becomes a boat to cross over itself instead of being an obstacle. The way to thus overcome Maya is constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord and complete surrender unto the Lord.
The spiritual path though is tough to tread, it alone can give eternal bliss – that which we all are seeking each and every moment. It is upto the seeker to decide as to whether he wants eternal bliss which is his own very nature of Lord or the temporary happiness from the world which is the seed of sorrow-sufferings and causes a person to again and again immerse in the ocean of samsaara.
Bhagavatham through this story tells all of us to see the Lord everywhere, have complete surrender unto the Lord and offer all actions to the lord; thereby proceeding in the spiritual path until Maya is overcome through the grace of Lord and immortality as the very nature of oneself is realized as nothing but the Lord alone, one without a second.
We will continue with the next story in the coming days.
The devas who were did the action of churning of the ocean with the knowledge/thought that everything is the Lord alone thereby attained immortality.
Explanation
We have come to the end of this beautiful story of the churning of the ocean denoting action performed with the right attitude and devotion to the ultimate reality of Lord.
As we have been discussing in the last few days, amrita or immortality or eternal bliss can be achieved only through realization of one’s own very nature of Lord. There is no other way than this to eternal bliss. Realization of one’s own nature of Lord is possible only through constant contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord with the knowledge that there is only the Lord alone, one without a second. All actions which are performed without this knowledge and devotion towards the reality of Lord will lead only to sorrow.
Actions will either give good or bad fruits. Good fruits also will finally end up and hence lead to sorrow only due to remembrance of the good and non-enjoyment or non-attainment of the bliss currently. Hence actions will lead only to sorrow. Actions are limited and finite. Hence the fruit of the action also has to be limited alone. Such limited fruits cannot give unlimited and eternal bliss. Hence if a seeker wishes to get eternal bliss, he should stop seeking things through actions. The only entity capable of giving eternal bliss to the seeker is the ultimate reality of Lord because the Lord alone is infinite, unlimited and eternal. The Lord will be capable of conferring eternal bliss only when the seeker comes out of the delusion of maya which causes differences and dual notions in the world. A seeker in order to overcome Maya has to constantly contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord offering all actions unto the Lord. A seeker should ever remain with the knowledge that there is no duality whatsoever here; whatever really exists is the ultimate reality of Lord alone. This knowledge combined with pure devotion characterized by total and complete surrender alone will lead a seeker to the ultimate reality of Lord. When a seeker thus follows knowledge and devotion, the ignorance that the world of plurality is real and that “I” am limited is removed. Through this, the seeker will realize the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own very nature of Consciousness. The seeker as the individual and limited to the body-mind-intellect complex will cease to exist; instead the seeker will merge unto the ultimate reality of Lord thereby the Lord alone would exist, one without a second. Since the Lord is blissful in nature, there will be bliss and bliss alone.
Thus the way to eternal bliss is constant contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord. This doesn’t mean that the seeker should refrain from doing actions because actions are inevitable in the world. The seeker should do all activities but as an offering to the ultimate reality of Lord with the knowledge that everything is but the Lord alone. The seeker should think that the doer is the Lord, the bestower of fruits is the Lord, the equipments with which the action happens is the Lord and the witness of this activity as the illuminator is also the Lord alone. Thus the seeker will be ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord though he might be doing activities at the empirical level.
An action done with such an attitude is like pouring water on the roots of the tree. The attitude mentioned here is the attitude of knowing everything as the Lord alone and offering the action unto the Lord. Water when poured on the roots will go to each and every place of the tree – unlike water poured on the branches or any other parts of the tree. An action performed with the right attitude will lead the seeker to realization of the ultimate reality of Lord which is giving life to the tree (gaining eternality or ever living). If a person on the other hand does mere actions without the right attitude, it will not be fruitful. It will seem to be giving happiness but will finally lead to sorrow alone. And such actions will never lead to satisfaction, contentment and eternal bliss for which all activities are being performed.
If we have to gain success in our life by making our life fruitful, we have to constantly contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord knowing that everything is the Lord alone and offer all activities unto the Lord. The devas had this attitude and hence were able to get amrita whereas the asuras were not able to get amrita because of lack of remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord at all times.
We will see a summary of this story of Srimad Bhagavatham in the next day and continue with the next story.
We come to the end of this story of the churning of the ocean. Let us today try to summarize the story and the imports that has to be implemented in life from the story.
Devas and asuras denote the good and bad thoughts of the mind. The Ego (seeker) can be said to be the Indra – the controller of the devas. The ego and the devas-asuras seek bliss. The mind always seeks bliss. The search of life itself is for ever-lasting and eternal bliss. It is but a fact that man searches for bliss in the external world but fails to get it from the diverse world. This is because the world is temporary and changing. Anything that is not eternal cannot give eternal bliss. Therefore the world and its objects cannot confer eternal bliss. Eternal bliss is what Bhagavatham denotes in the story as amrita or immortality. With immortality comes bliss and satisfaction. The Upanishads proclaim that man fears death or loss of his own existence. Bliss is achieved when one transcends the ocean of samsaara characterized by birth-death and sorrows-sufferings. Thus immortality or ever-present state is nothing but bliss alone.
Bliss or amrita can be achieved only by realizing the eternal entity of Lord. There is no other way to immortality than this. Bliss since is the very nature of Lord cannot also be achieved without the grace of the Lord. Even though the grace of the Lord is ever present but a person will be able to apprehend the grace only through knowledge and pure devotion characterized by total and complete surrender. Thus if a seeker seeks eternal bliss, he has to surrender completely unto the ultimate reality of Lord knowing the Lord as the one and only real entity present amidst the illusory world and its objects. Surrendering completely means constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord at all times and offering all actions unto the Lord with the knowledge that there is nothing here but the Lord alone, one without a second.
Churning of the ocean is overcoming the ocean of samsaara characterized by sorrows and sufferings. A person will be able to overcome the ocean of samsaara only by gaining equanimity of the mind through seeing everything as the Lord alone. Such a person will maintain the thought of the Lord in the mind always. Thus his mind will always be steady and constant – this denotes the devas and asuras working together for churning of the ocean. A seeker has to remember the ultimate reality of Lord even amidst good and bad thoughts. When a seeker does that, good and bad thoughts cease and whatever remains in the mind is only thought about the Lord associated with illusory activities of the world.
Thus the way to overcoming the ocean of samsaara thereby gaining immortality is through constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord as present in the entire world and knowing the world to be a mere illusion in the Lord.
When a seeker follows the spiritual path of constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord, he will get many siddhis or spiritual powers. It is very easy to get deluded into small and big powers of the world (which denotes wealth, money, fame etc.). A seeker will be able to get eternal bliss only if he doesn’t stop in the path when these siddhis are achieved. The seeker just accepts these siddhis as the wish of the Lord and continues in the spiritual path unaffected by the achievement of the siddhis. This is what the devas and asuras did – they got many things out of the churning but they didn’t stop until amrita. Thus when a seeker continues in the spiritual path without any stop, he finally gets amrita in the form of realization of one’s own very nature of Lord.
The saints mention the path of spirituality as walking along the edges of a razor. It is not as easy as we think. We will be tested at each and every stage. Jesus Christ considered as the son of God was tested by the devil!!!! If Christ himself was tested, what to speak about other human beings???
A seeker has to constantly remember the ultimate reality of Lord and thereby continue in the spiritual path passing over all the testing through the single solution of “constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord”.
The final testing for the devas and asuras came in the form of Mohini. As we have seen, Maya cannot be said to come in just one form. It is indescribable and can appear in any form. A seeker shouldn’t get deluded into anything and be fixed in the goal of ultimate reality of Lord. Such a seeker gets amrita by the grace of the lord – for such a seeker, Maya becomes a boat to cross over itself instead of being an obstacle. The way to thus overcome Maya is constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord and complete surrender unto the Lord.
The spiritual path though is tough to tread, it alone can give eternal bliss – that which we all are seeking each and every moment. It is upto the seeker to decide as to whether he wants eternal bliss which is his own very nature of Lord or the temporary happiness from the world which is the seed of sorrow-sufferings and causes a person to again and again immerse in the ocean of samsaara.
Bhagavatham through this story tells all of us to see the Lord everywhere, have complete surrender unto the Lord and offer all actions to the lord; thereby proceeding in the spiritual path until Maya is overcome through the grace of Lord and immortality as the very nature of oneself is realized as nothing but the Lord alone, one without a second.
We will continue with the next story in the coming days.
# posted by vedanta : 6:43 PM
