Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The qualities of a seeker
Srimad Bhagavatham - The qualities of a seeker
We have been seeing till now that the ultimate reality is called Lord or Brahman or Consciousness, one without a second. It is only ignorance of one’s own very nature of Self or Lord which causes one to think that he is in bondage and suffering. The suffering that we experience is nothing but an illusion like the dream world which we all experience frequently. The experiences are an illusion because they are always changing. A person experiences happiness this moment and sorrow the next moment – he sees a man today and tomorrow the man dies & hence he doesn’t see him. This is what is the very nature of the world which always changing and impermanent. Such a world can never give a person eternal bliss which is one’s own very nature and which is what each and every one seeks each moment. When the ultimate reality of Lord who is present in the heart of all beings (heart represents one’s own very nature) is known, that very moment all sorrows and sufferings which are mere illusions vanish. Any illusion vanishes the moment a person knows the substratum of the illusion which is the reality behind the seemingly existent illusion. Thus the way out of sorrows and sufferings is two fold – one is to know that the world is an illusion and hence one cannot get eternal bliss from the world, second is to put effort to realize the Lord who is sitting in the heart as one’s own very Self.
These two steps are like two sides of the same coin. When one is not there, the other will not be present completely. And when both are not there, then there will not be cessation of the seemingly existent sorrow. Thus, a person has to follow these two steps and understand these two simple things very clearly. Only when a person understands something will he be able to put it into practice. Only when it is put to practice will that become an experience where all experiences vanish & there remains only the Lord, one without a second.
All efforts by the seeker are towards removal of the ignorance which veils one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Self or Brahman. This is what is the aim of Vedanta and Vedantic study. The Self or Lord is not achieved as it is always present & the only thing which is self-existent and ever-existent. But effort is required to remove the ignorance which veils the Lord – when ignorance veil is removed, the Lord is seen and the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the Self.
When a person sees his face in a mirror which is full of dirt, he doesn’t see his face. This doesn’t mean that he has no face!!! Instead the face is ever there but it is obstructed by the dirt in the mirror. When the dirt is removed, the face is seen clearly in the mirror. Similarly the dirt of ignorance is present in the mirror of mind. This dirt obstructs the Lord who is one’s own very nature. When ignorance vanishes, one perceives the Lord as one’s own very nature. There the mind also vanishes as it merges into the Lord and what remains is the Lord alone, one without a second.
As explained there are two steps to realization:
Dispassion towards the sense objects – which arises only when the reality that the world is an illusion as it is always changing is known.
Contemplation on the Lord who is the substratum of the illusory world.
Both these are the sole criteria for a seeker to realize the Lord. There is no other conditions in realizing one’s own very nature of Self. There is no limitation or restriction on realization – like only Brahmins can realize etc. because the Self is one’s own very nature & each person is eligible or has the right to know who he really is.
When there is the above two qualities shortly put as Vairagya or Dispassion and Anusandhaanam or contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord, the ignorance vanishes and then the seeker realizes the Lord who is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
What is to be done practically to gain these two qualities???
All intellectual knowledge is of no use if it isn’t put into practice. A person can go on telling “I am Brahman, I am the Lord” etc. but when it comes to action if he says “I did not get promotion because of my manager – that person did not give me promotion, he is a very bad guy” etc. then this itself shows that he hasn’t realize the ultimate reality of Lord.
The sole criteria of judging a realized saint is by the peace emanating from him. Because of this peace, all his actions will be towards welfare of the society – he will not be attached to anything (internally) even though he might be seen as doing the actions externally. This is where practice comes into picture. A jnaani requires no practice at all but all his actions are natural and there is no conscious effort towards action. The above two qualities of Vairagya and Anusandhaanam are not conscious efforts in the case of a jnaani but those are natural for the jnaani because the jnaani experiences that there is nothing here but the Lord alone and that the world seen is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. But in the case of a seeker, these are conscious efforts & he needs to consciously perform all actions with these two qualities.
Let us now see what these two qualities mean:
1. Dispassion towards the objects in the world
Dispassion is not mere Virakthi attitude towards the world because of losing one’s wife or children. Here dispassion is of lower type as it is because of surroundings of the world & it will surely change back to normal attachment to the world. The higher dispassion which is the real dispassion is the attachment towards the ultimate reality of Lord which in turn makes one dispassionate towards the world and its object. Thus, real dispassion is knowing the ultimate reality of Lord beyond the illusion of the world. Thus a seeker clearly needs to remember the fact that the world is always changing and sorrowful – hence it is only an illusion – and that the reality behind this illusion is the ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman. When this is known, then automatically craving for the objects in the world vanishes as the seeker knows them to be illusions and temporary only. Therefore the seeker starts seeking the ultimate reality of Lord.
2. Contemplation on the reality of Lord
When the seeker starts seeking the reality of Lord once he gets dispassion by attachment towards the Lord, then the seeker starts contemplating on the Lord rather than on the world and its objects (which are illusions). Thus the seeker always remembers the Lord – without any gap. The seeker constantly thinks about the Lord alone. This thinking is not mere thinking like a lover thinking about his love, but this thinking is along with the knowledge that the world is illusory and the Lord alone is the non-dual ultimate reality. When contemplation continues, then slowly ignorance vanishes. The seeker then starts experiencing bliss that cannot be explained in words. He starts feeling peace at all times. Then finally the ignorance completely vanishes & the seeker merges into the ultimate reality of Lord (he realizes his own very nature of Lord – he realizes that the Lord who was being sought is his own very nature only). After that, the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the Self. He might be doing any action but still is unaffected by it because according to him, he sees the Lord alone & he knows that if there is some world, it is only an illusion – if there is any action performed, then it is the Ego alone which is acting & not “I” or the Self.
Thus, the seeker becomes a realized saint and always rejoices in the eternal bliss (here the various states like seeker & realized saint etc are with respect to the ignorant and the mind alone as the Self is ever realized & the Lord is always present as ever-realized but the mind veils it & when the veil is removed, then it is said to be realized with respect to the previous state of bondage or veiling).
The above two qualities which have to be put into practice by a seeker is not tough – it is very easy and much simpler than what we get by working for a month in a company. This is the only way to realization – there is no other short cut or long cut to the reality. The reality is realized only when the seeker knows that everything is the Lord alone, the world is only an illusion & the Lord is my own very nature. This is real bhakthi or devotion to the Lord. This itself is jnaana or knowledge. This alone is yoga or union of the seeker with Lord. This alone is karma or action performed without any expectations and as an offering to the Lord.
When the seeker is always thinking about the Lord, all his actions are directed towards the Lord – he offers all actions unto the Lord as he will say “O Lord! I offer this action unto thee who are guiding me and acting through this instrument of body and mind”. The reality is that it is the Self or Lord who is acting through the mind by giving it the power to act (Consciousness makes actions possible). But the actor of Lord or Self is not at all affected by the Ego is affected by the actions as it gets attached to things. The mind causes the seeker to think that he is the Ego and thereby makes the Self feel that it is acting and enjoying (or suffering). It is the Ego which causes the seeker to think that he is different from the Self or Lord or Brahman. All the practices and sadhanas are to remove the wrong knowledge that I am not the Self but the Ego. When this removed, the seeker realizes his very nature of Self or Lord. Then everything is seen as Lord alone. There remains no duality at that time – but only the Self or Lord remains, one without a second. Thus, the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss which is his very nature and which is the aim of each and every seeker.
Let us not set aside the path of realization by saying that “it is very tough, it is meant for intellectuals only, it is meant to be learned only when one becomes old” etc. These are all idiotic statements. Any person can try following the above mentioned two qualities and he will realize that it is the easiest thing that can be done. And obviously these are not intellectual path wherein one has to study the 10 Upanishads, Brahma Sutras along with the commentaries of Sankara, anandagiri and the long list of commentaries. Nobody is told to learn the Khandana Khanda Khyadyam or Sri Harsha, Advaita Siddhi of Madhusudana Saraswathi, Chitsukhi of Chitsukhacharya (all these are intellectual and logical works meant to refute other systems of philosophy and answer their criticisms to the system of Advaita Vedanta which says that there is nothing here but the Lord alone). Instead a seeker is told to follow the easiest path of contemplating on the Lord at all times which can be done by everyone.
If a person is unable to think about the Lord at the young age, then how can he think about the Lord in his old age??? In old age the mental capacity will be very less as well as the person will be used to thinking about relatives and other things so the only thought that these people will have is “I have just one more desire – to see my grandson’s marriage!!!!” Isn’t this foolish enough? And if a person still says that he will learn spirituality when he becomes old and discourages the young people from following this path, then what else to call such a person other than an IDIOT!!! Sankara calls such a person who doesn’t realize his nature of Self as having committed suicide (in Vivekachoodamani). Sri Krishna terms such people as MOODAAH or IGNORANT IDIOTS.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad calls a person who hasn’t realized his own very nature of Lord before shedding off the mortal coil as a MISER who has bliss and the Lord in him but still hasn’t realized it or used it for his own benefit. Isn’t it a pitiable if a seeker who has the grace of the Lord and the Lord himself within his heart doesn’t realize his own very nature of Lord??? There is no greater loss than this to the seeker. Hence, let us all try to spend atleast some time in contemplating on the Lord and gaining the two qualities of DISPASSION and CONTEMPLATION so that we may realize the ultimate reality of Lord, one without a second & thereby rejoice in the eternal bliss inherent in the Lord.
We have been seeing till now that the ultimate reality is called Lord or Brahman or Consciousness, one without a second. It is only ignorance of one’s own very nature of Self or Lord which causes one to think that he is in bondage and suffering. The suffering that we experience is nothing but an illusion like the dream world which we all experience frequently. The experiences are an illusion because they are always changing. A person experiences happiness this moment and sorrow the next moment – he sees a man today and tomorrow the man dies & hence he doesn’t see him. This is what is the very nature of the world which always changing and impermanent. Such a world can never give a person eternal bliss which is one’s own very nature and which is what each and every one seeks each moment. When the ultimate reality of Lord who is present in the heart of all beings (heart represents one’s own very nature) is known, that very moment all sorrows and sufferings which are mere illusions vanish. Any illusion vanishes the moment a person knows the substratum of the illusion which is the reality behind the seemingly existent illusion. Thus the way out of sorrows and sufferings is two fold – one is to know that the world is an illusion and hence one cannot get eternal bliss from the world, second is to put effort to realize the Lord who is sitting in the heart as one’s own very Self.
These two steps are like two sides of the same coin. When one is not there, the other will not be present completely. And when both are not there, then there will not be cessation of the seemingly existent sorrow. Thus, a person has to follow these two steps and understand these two simple things very clearly. Only when a person understands something will he be able to put it into practice. Only when it is put to practice will that become an experience where all experiences vanish & there remains only the Lord, one without a second.
All efforts by the seeker are towards removal of the ignorance which veils one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Self or Brahman. This is what is the aim of Vedanta and Vedantic study. The Self or Lord is not achieved as it is always present & the only thing which is self-existent and ever-existent. But effort is required to remove the ignorance which veils the Lord – when ignorance veil is removed, the Lord is seen and the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the Self.
When a person sees his face in a mirror which is full of dirt, he doesn’t see his face. This doesn’t mean that he has no face!!! Instead the face is ever there but it is obstructed by the dirt in the mirror. When the dirt is removed, the face is seen clearly in the mirror. Similarly the dirt of ignorance is present in the mirror of mind. This dirt obstructs the Lord who is one’s own very nature. When ignorance vanishes, one perceives the Lord as one’s own very nature. There the mind also vanishes as it merges into the Lord and what remains is the Lord alone, one without a second.
As explained there are two steps to realization:
Dispassion towards the sense objects – which arises only when the reality that the world is an illusion as it is always changing is known.
Contemplation on the Lord who is the substratum of the illusory world.
Both these are the sole criteria for a seeker to realize the Lord. There is no other conditions in realizing one’s own very nature of Self. There is no limitation or restriction on realization – like only Brahmins can realize etc. because the Self is one’s own very nature & each person is eligible or has the right to know who he really is.
When there is the above two qualities shortly put as Vairagya or Dispassion and Anusandhaanam or contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord, the ignorance vanishes and then the seeker realizes the Lord who is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
What is to be done practically to gain these two qualities???
All intellectual knowledge is of no use if it isn’t put into practice. A person can go on telling “I am Brahman, I am the Lord” etc. but when it comes to action if he says “I did not get promotion because of my manager – that person did not give me promotion, he is a very bad guy” etc. then this itself shows that he hasn’t realize the ultimate reality of Lord.
The sole criteria of judging a realized saint is by the peace emanating from him. Because of this peace, all his actions will be towards welfare of the society – he will not be attached to anything (internally) even though he might be seen as doing the actions externally. This is where practice comes into picture. A jnaani requires no practice at all but all his actions are natural and there is no conscious effort towards action. The above two qualities of Vairagya and Anusandhaanam are not conscious efforts in the case of a jnaani but those are natural for the jnaani because the jnaani experiences that there is nothing here but the Lord alone and that the world seen is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. But in the case of a seeker, these are conscious efforts & he needs to consciously perform all actions with these two qualities.
Let us now see what these two qualities mean:
1. Dispassion towards the objects in the world
Dispassion is not mere Virakthi attitude towards the world because of losing one’s wife or children. Here dispassion is of lower type as it is because of surroundings of the world & it will surely change back to normal attachment to the world. The higher dispassion which is the real dispassion is the attachment towards the ultimate reality of Lord which in turn makes one dispassionate towards the world and its object. Thus, real dispassion is knowing the ultimate reality of Lord beyond the illusion of the world. Thus a seeker clearly needs to remember the fact that the world is always changing and sorrowful – hence it is only an illusion – and that the reality behind this illusion is the ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman. When this is known, then automatically craving for the objects in the world vanishes as the seeker knows them to be illusions and temporary only. Therefore the seeker starts seeking the ultimate reality of Lord.
2. Contemplation on the reality of Lord
When the seeker starts seeking the reality of Lord once he gets dispassion by attachment towards the Lord, then the seeker starts contemplating on the Lord rather than on the world and its objects (which are illusions). Thus the seeker always remembers the Lord – without any gap. The seeker constantly thinks about the Lord alone. This thinking is not mere thinking like a lover thinking about his love, but this thinking is along with the knowledge that the world is illusory and the Lord alone is the non-dual ultimate reality. When contemplation continues, then slowly ignorance vanishes. The seeker then starts experiencing bliss that cannot be explained in words. He starts feeling peace at all times. Then finally the ignorance completely vanishes & the seeker merges into the ultimate reality of Lord (he realizes his own very nature of Lord – he realizes that the Lord who was being sought is his own very nature only). After that, the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the Self. He might be doing any action but still is unaffected by it because according to him, he sees the Lord alone & he knows that if there is some world, it is only an illusion – if there is any action performed, then it is the Ego alone which is acting & not “I” or the Self.
Thus, the seeker becomes a realized saint and always rejoices in the eternal bliss (here the various states like seeker & realized saint etc are with respect to the ignorant and the mind alone as the Self is ever realized & the Lord is always present as ever-realized but the mind veils it & when the veil is removed, then it is said to be realized with respect to the previous state of bondage or veiling).
The above two qualities which have to be put into practice by a seeker is not tough – it is very easy and much simpler than what we get by working for a month in a company. This is the only way to realization – there is no other short cut or long cut to the reality. The reality is realized only when the seeker knows that everything is the Lord alone, the world is only an illusion & the Lord is my own very nature. This is real bhakthi or devotion to the Lord. This itself is jnaana or knowledge. This alone is yoga or union of the seeker with Lord. This alone is karma or action performed without any expectations and as an offering to the Lord.
When the seeker is always thinking about the Lord, all his actions are directed towards the Lord – he offers all actions unto the Lord as he will say “O Lord! I offer this action unto thee who are guiding me and acting through this instrument of body and mind”. The reality is that it is the Self or Lord who is acting through the mind by giving it the power to act (Consciousness makes actions possible). But the actor of Lord or Self is not at all affected by the Ego is affected by the actions as it gets attached to things. The mind causes the seeker to think that he is the Ego and thereby makes the Self feel that it is acting and enjoying (or suffering). It is the Ego which causes the seeker to think that he is different from the Self or Lord or Brahman. All the practices and sadhanas are to remove the wrong knowledge that I am not the Self but the Ego. When this removed, the seeker realizes his very nature of Self or Lord. Then everything is seen as Lord alone. There remains no duality at that time – but only the Self or Lord remains, one without a second. Thus, the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss which is his very nature and which is the aim of each and every seeker.
Let us not set aside the path of realization by saying that “it is very tough, it is meant for intellectuals only, it is meant to be learned only when one becomes old” etc. These are all idiotic statements. Any person can try following the above mentioned two qualities and he will realize that it is the easiest thing that can be done. And obviously these are not intellectual path wherein one has to study the 10 Upanishads, Brahma Sutras along with the commentaries of Sankara, anandagiri and the long list of commentaries. Nobody is told to learn the Khandana Khanda Khyadyam or Sri Harsha, Advaita Siddhi of Madhusudana Saraswathi, Chitsukhi of Chitsukhacharya (all these are intellectual and logical works meant to refute other systems of philosophy and answer their criticisms to the system of Advaita Vedanta which says that there is nothing here but the Lord alone). Instead a seeker is told to follow the easiest path of contemplating on the Lord at all times which can be done by everyone.
If a person is unable to think about the Lord at the young age, then how can he think about the Lord in his old age??? In old age the mental capacity will be very less as well as the person will be used to thinking about relatives and other things so the only thought that these people will have is “I have just one more desire – to see my grandson’s marriage!!!!” Isn’t this foolish enough? And if a person still says that he will learn spirituality when he becomes old and discourages the young people from following this path, then what else to call such a person other than an IDIOT!!! Sankara calls such a person who doesn’t realize his nature of Self as having committed suicide (in Vivekachoodamani). Sri Krishna terms such people as MOODAAH or IGNORANT IDIOTS.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad calls a person who hasn’t realized his own very nature of Lord before shedding off the mortal coil as a MISER who has bliss and the Lord in him but still hasn’t realized it or used it for his own benefit. Isn’t it a pitiable if a seeker who has the grace of the Lord and the Lord himself within his heart doesn’t realize his own very nature of Lord??? There is no greater loss than this to the seeker. Hence, let us all try to spend atleast some time in contemplating on the Lord and gaining the two qualities of DISPASSION and CONTEMPLATION so that we may realize the ultimate reality of Lord, one without a second & thereby rejoice in the eternal bliss inherent in the Lord.
# posted by vedanta : 9:58 AM
