Is Moksha Pursuit selfish? (Guru purnima, 2014)

Is Mokha pursuit selfish? (12th July, 2014)

In our scriptures all the human goals are classified into four types. In Sanskrit the goal of a human being is called purushartha. The four human goals are Artha, Kama, Dharma and Moksha.

Artha is all those things that are required for our security, all the things we seek for our security and survival. After making sure we have the basic needs, the next thing we look for is entertainment or pleasures. All those things that we acquire for pleasure is called Kama. Once these two are taken care of reasonably well, the next thing a human being seeks is Dharma. It means pleasure and joy and well-being that I get when I contribute to others. By doing good or noble actions through one’s efforts, whatever satisfaction or self-respect and feel-good factor is enhanced and that is called dharma. In shastra we call it punyam. In modern language it would be self-esteem. The last one is called Moksha, liberation or freedom (spiritual freedom). Therefore Artha, Kama, Dharma, and Moksha are four purushartas. According to our scriptures the greatest purusharta is the fourth one, namely moksha. It is said that those human beings who pursue moksha are superior and discriminating people. In Katha Upanishad ……the majority of people seek the first three called preyas and they are mandas (foolish) while deerah are those matured and wise people who seek shreyah or moksha. In Viveka Choodamani …….Sankaracharya says that three things are very rate for a jiva. The first rare thing is being born a human being. After human birth, being interested in spiritual knowledge is because of lot of punyam. A person who does not dedicate his life for the pursuit of moksha is wasting the precious human life and Sankara calls him “moodathi”. Our scriptures affirm that moksha is the greatest goal for a human being and pursuit of moksha is the greatest pursuit.

But unfortunately majority of people are lost in the pursuit of other three. Either they are busy pursuing Artha (pursuit of wealth, real estate etc and the whole life is spent). Or they are after Kama or entertainment. Earn for five days and entertain yourself for two days. So during weekdays you work and become weak during weekends! They so busy in parties that they don’t come anywhere near moksha. There are some people who are more mature, they are not interested in artha and kama too much. They have come to dharma and they are noble people engaging in some many community service activities, either is neighborhood service or religious service or national service or varieties of NGOs etc. They do a lot of good work to the society. They are highly dharmic people and according to scriptures they are ideal to come to moksha. But many such people get stuck in service unable to come to Moksha. They service has purified their minds and they are fit for moksha but they are still busy serving. They are varieties of obstacles for them to come to the fourth goal. Among many obstacles to pursue moksha there is this misconception. That is going to be my main topic today:  misconceptions regarding moksha that prevents them for coming near it. I want to analyze those misconceptions in this lecture. Some dharmic people look upon pursuit of moksha has a selfish pursuit. Their argument is “I don’t want to pursue moksha for it is for my benefit only. I want to sacrifice as I want to serve the society.” Serving the society is an unselfish activity no doubt, and pursuing moksha is a selfish activity is their contention. This is a view held even by some matured people and this prevents them from coming to moksha. But we as students of Vedanta must be clear about this misconception. Because someone even in our family may charge us that we are pursuing a selfish goal. They say,” You are dropping your duty for the family and running after Swamiji and running after weekly classes” When they charge us, we may ourselves feel guilty whether we are selfish or not. Here I want to analyze “what is the definition of selfishness” according to our shastra and “what is the pursuit of moksha’s aim is”.

            According to Vedanta every human being except a liberated or spiritually enlightened person are naturally selfish. A liberated person is one who has got self-knowledge and who is a jnani who is free from selfishness. According to scriptures except for a jnani all others have selfishness has their instinctive characteristic. Selfishness is a most natural trait of a human being and it is caused by self-ignorance. As long as we are spiritually ignorant, selfishness is natural and no one can avoid it. This is the first lesson of scriptures regarding selfishness. Just as hunger is natural, thirst is natural “selfishness” is instinctive and universal for a human being. According scriptures this selfishness is expressed in three ways.

            Selfishness is manifest in three different expressions and these stem from self-ignorance is something you should note. The first expression of Selfishness is “Ahamkara”. Ahamkara is a notion or idea that I am an individual with a body and mind sense complex. Ahmakara is a misconception or notion or idea that I am a human being with a body-mind sense complex. This is a universal expression of selfishness.

 The second expression of selfishness is a natural corollary of the first. The Ahamkara in an individual is connected to a few things and beings around – my house, my property, my land, my extra land in kodaikanal, etc. These are connections with a few things and few human beings; my wife, my child, my grandchild, etc. These connections represented as MAMAKARA. Mamakara is extended Ahamkara. Mamakara is universal second expression of selfishness. I am also selfish to find out whether you get the message or not!

            The third expression of selfishness is an extension of Ahamkara and Mamakara. I divide the entire world into two groups: a favourable group from the standpoint of my Ahamkara and my Mamakara. I make a list of few things and people as giving me happiness. This is RAGA or attachment where a segment of world is classified as favourable and to those objects/people I develop RAGA. I also classify a few things as unfavourable, a source of sorrow and so I develop a dislike or hatred towards them which is DVESHA. Raga and Dvesha are twin brothers stemming from Ahamkara and Mamakara.

            Therefore according to our scriptures every living being and every human being is bound by Ahamkara, Mamakara, Raga-Dvesha. So the nature of every being is SELFISHNESS. As long as this selfishness is there, all the human pursuits are conditioned by (directed by and determined by and governed by) selfishness only. Wherever I have RAGA I run after those things. Wherever there is dislike I run away from it. Life is always either running to or running away. As Swami Dayananda says, first they will say “I love you” after a few days of dating. Dating or baiting I don’t know. Initially a person is categorized as favourable and become raga-vishayah (object of desire) and I run after that person saying “I love you, I love you.” Then they decide to live together and after a few weeks or few years, the very same person who was raga-vishayah becomes aragah-vishaya or still worse dvesha-vishayah. Swami Dayananda humorously says: First I love you and now I allow you! (smiles). Even in English it is correct     a-love. You go your way and I go my way. Then another person is trapped and again “I love you and I allow you.” Throughout life selfishness prevails….pravruthi and nivrukti. Artha pursuit is selfishness governed and kama pursuit is selfishness governed. Even dharma pursuit is selfishness governed. Ethical people have got fine selfishness and unethical people have got gross selfishness.

            I generally give this example. When there is school anniversary, there will be several programmes. There will be one drama enacted by school children. It is a long drama with several scenes. And after a few scenes a bunch of people will vacate the hall. When you observe closely you will find a group of people going out with a boy or girl in some costume. Then it hits you: they came to the programme only to watch their son or daughter or grandchild who is present in a particular scene. They are not interested in the school or anniversary and not even interested in the drama. They are just interested in “their child who is playing a particular role” for a few minutes. That too a very minor one! – in a palace scene the grandchild is a gatekeeper. There is no dialogue. This child stands for 5 minutes during which a dozen of family members take hundreds of photographs. This is Mamakara for “my child is there” and therefore I have raga to the school, the management, anniversary and all of them. After that particular scene they leave the hall. After each scene, groups and groups of parents walk away when their child’s role is over. For the last child they will only be 5-6 people! Therefore every jiva’s life is governed by Aham, Mama, Raga-dvesha. These are packaged together as SELFISHNESS. And you cannot blame anyone for this is instinctive. So all pursuits are this package then what is the pursuit of moksha?

            Our scriptures say that if all pursuits are selfish, we admit that moksha pursuit is also a selfish one. Then our scriptures add that moksha pursuit is most intelligent selfish pursuit. Because one who pursues moksha has an understanding about selfishness. That understanding is “as long as a person has selfishness consisting of aham, mama, raga-dvesha, the life will be miserable. AS LONG AS MY LIFE IS GOVERNED BY AHAMKARA, MAMAKARA, RAGA-DVESHA MY LIFE WILL BE MISERABLE. This understanding a seeker of moksha has got. How do you say life will be miserable? As long as you have raga and dvesha, I want the world, the people and the event to conform to my likes and dislikes. I want everyone to conform to the norms of my raga and my dvesha. How the child should be, how the daughter-in-law should be and for everything I have my own personal likes and dislikes. I want the setup to conform to my raga-dvesha. But unfortunately most of the time the setup does not conform to my raga-dvesha. Because the world is governed by so many factors over which I have no control. I have no control over the behavior of my own spouse. I kept calling my spouse for gurupurnima day talk and he has not come! (repressed laughter in the audience). I have no control over my child or government or neighbor or even an event like rains. Since the setup does not conform to my raga-dvesha I am upset most of the time. Reverse “setup” and you get “upset”. I get upset at my failure as the world does not conform to my likes and dislikes. Therefore definition of selfishness is “my likes and my dislikes”; I am going to be miserable. Because most of the time the setup in the family or setup in the neighborhood or the setup called society or setup called government does not conform to my raga-dvesha. I find myself helpless. Helplessness leading to anger, anger leads to frustration and frustrations lead to depressions. This will be the cycle – helplessness, anger, frustration, depression – of a selfish person who is trapped in his/her Ahamkara, Mamakara, Raga-Dvesha.  

In the case of a moksha seeker, his entire endeavour is to get rid of this selfishness package. A moksha pursuit is a selfish pursuit to remove this selfishness as it keeps me miserable and upset most of the time. In other pursuits of artha, kama, and dharma the selfishness is perpetuated while only in moksha pursuit the aim is to remove and dilute selfishness. Life is all about the lists in artha and kama and dharma changing from Raga list to Dvesha list. In the earlier generation they tolerated their spouse when they became a dvesha item in their list, now people separate and move. Therefore all pursuit perpetuates selfishness while moksha pursuit is the only noble pursuit where a spiritual seeker has diagnosed the problem. What is the problem? Selfishness is the problem. So a mature person works to remove this problem so that setup does not make him or her upset. Setup based upsets will never go away unless I remove this selfishness. This the seeker of moksha has a clear understanding. He is an informed selfish person. Besides he also has another very important information. A selfish person has this package of selfishness called Ahamkara, Mamakara, and Raga-Dvesha and this is born out of what? SELFISHNESS IS INSTINCTIVE AND IT IS BORN OUT OF SELF-IGNORANCE. Self-ignorance is the result of Aham, mama, raga-dvesha and if selfishness has got to go away then “samasara” has to go away. I have to remove self-ignorance and self-ignorance only goes away with self-knowledge. Just like Chemistry ignorance will not go away with physics-knowledge, it only goes away with Chemistry knowledge. Therefore self-ignorance goes away only with self-knowledge. And moksha pursuit is nothing but knowledge pursuit. This pursuit is a long pursuit and as we gain this knowledge the ahamkara, mamakara, raga-dvesha will have to go away. This is a very long journey and I want to highlight three important lessons which are inimical to ahamkara, mamakara, and raga-dvesha.

            The first lesson is a understanding or new insight with respect to my body.  What is my relation to my body? This knowledge will eliminate ahamkara. The scriptures teach that body and mind is not me. I AM NOT BODY AND I AM NOT MIND, they are temporary medium through which I transact with the world. Much like the spectacles I wear both body and mind are temporary mediums that I use for experiencing and transacting with the world. It is temporary for in the waking state I use both body and mind, in the dream state I use mind, and in the deep sleep state where both mind and body are resolved “I” am still there. In that state I am not using body and mind as I am not doing any transactions with the world. I gain in understanding that I AM NOT THE BODY and it is just a temporary medium. The body will be with me for some time and then it will go away whether you like it or not.

            The second lesson is I am not the body and I also not the owner of the body. It is temporarily given to me for my use only. I am the user of the body but not the owner of the body. Bhagawan is the owner of my body and HE has given it to me for my temporary use only according to the law of karma. And HE will take away the body without notice, without even three months notice, two months notice, one week notice. HE gives no notice and HE will take it away the body at any moment. HE does not require my permission indicating that I am not the owner of the body.

            And lastly I am not even the controller of the body also. I am one of the factors that determine the destiny of the body. There are so many factors that determine the future of the body. There is time, there is place and there is the law of karma and so many other factors. I AM N OT THE BODY, I AM NOT THE OWNER OF THE BODY AND I AM NOT THE CONTROLLER OF THE BODY.  Once my understand this clearly my ahamkara becomes weaker. For ahamkara is claiming body-mind complex has myself and claiming I am an individual human being. Ahamkara becomes weaker with self-knowledge. Then who am I? I am ATHMA the consciousness principle who is the experience of the body. I am athma and this is only remedy for weakening the ahamkara. This is lesson number one.

            By repeated study of scriptures Mamakara will also be dropped. For once I don’t claim ownership of this body itself, how can I claim the ownership of other bodies? Whether it is my wife or husband or child or my grandchildren? Therefore mamakara also has no scope at all and I conclude that I am not the owner, not the controller of other bodies. Majority of the problems arise as I want to control other family members. I want everyone to behave as per my norm. Many parents will educate the children to chant guru stotram or gita gyna stostram. They will train them to chant these stostram as Swamiji is coming home for bhiksha. The kid will nod this head when asked if he will chant the slokam before Swamiji. For the proud parents even the bhiksha to Swami is secondary. The child is called before all others and parents badger it to say the slokam but the child will stand mute. Even a five year old baby whom you claim as your son or daughter, you cannot control. The more you try to control the more we become miserable. Samsara is trying to control the uncontrollable. Therefore mamakara also will drop as I hand over everything to Bhagawan. Tana, man, dhan and sub kuch tere!     Ahamkara and Mamakara is dropped and as I understand my relation with God.

            The third important lesson is understanding of my nature. If I am not the body and mind, the next question is who am I? What is my real nature? Our scriptures points out a mind-boggling thing. Initially it is very difficult to accept but ultimately we have to gain this knowledge. What is that? I am the ATHMA and this is ONLY source of happiness in the creation. I realize that nothing in the world is a source for happiness. We have raga or attachment to the objects and people in the world for I mistakenly think they are a source of my happiness. Vedanta blasts that misconception and don’t get attached to anything. The only source of happiness is the realization that I am the ATHMA. Whenever the world seems to give happiness it is only my raga and dvesha that creates a particular state of mind. In that state my own happiness is evident or manifest like seeing my own reflection in the mirror. The biggest delusion or brahma is the people and things in the world give happiness. This delusion is like the baby sucking the thumb. The baby sucks its own thumb thinking it is getting mother’s milk. Till the baby is weaned it is attached to the mother, and it delusion (brahma) it sucks its own thumb. When it sucks, what does it get? It’s own saliva. Saliva not from the mother but its own body. That its own saliva the baby mistakes it for mother’s milk. And it goes so sucking, similar is the state of us. We mistake the world to give happiness but it’s sucking our own thumb. We think the husband gives happiness, children give happiness or grandchildren when it in fact our own saliva. It is our own Athamananda that gives happiness and we attribute it to worldly factors. That mental state is contentment and detachment. Through self-knowledge if our mind becomes content and detached, we can enjoy our own happiness all the time. We need not be attached to the world. Therefore the more joy I discover in myself; neither raga nor dvesha will affect me. The second lesson is the I AM THE ONLY SOURCE OF HAPPINESS and nothing in the world can give me happiness.

            Thirdly and finally when we realize that as long as ignorance is there, selfishness is very natural. I am now able to understand the nature of the world. The world is in a continuous flux where change is constant. Therefore I learn to adjust to different conditions of the world, by hating or resistance you cannot change the world. Learn to accept the nature of the world as it is. Then I won’t hate old age, I won’t hate by own body in the old age. When we are young we pray for long life and when we are getting old we pray for a short one. First you long your body and now in old age you hate your body and others in the home! You must learn to adjust to different conditions of the world without generating rage or dvesha. Once you understand the whimsical nature of world, you learn the virtue of acceptance. Slowly I learn to accommodate the nature of the people also. The nature of people is selfish!

A wise person who has accomplished self-knowledge by dropping the Ahamkara and Mamakara understands and accommodates the selfishness of ignorant people. He realizes that others are selfish and they are helpless. They are helplessly selfish because of their ignorance. Their selfishness does not surprise a wise man. If I expect others to help me as I have helped them in the past, you are bound to be disappointed. They would always look for their convenience first. They have to cater to their ahamkara and mamakara and only then consider yours! I will accept their selfishness without hating them. As Krishna says in the Gita that a jnani is one who is free from ahamkara, mamakara, and  raga-dvesha. A jnani has consideration for others, he knows all others would be naturally selfish. Therefore it does not shock him. And he will try to help them fulfill their raga and dvesha but he himself is above them. He has destroyed his selfishness and he does suffer from raga-dvesha based samsara.

Moksha is freedom from selfishness through self-knowledge and accommodating others selfishness. Therefore he does not hate anyone and he is not attached to anyone. Therefore Mokha pursuit is a selfish pursuit but that is the best selfish pursuit for it destroys selfishness and gives ananda. On this auspicious guru purnima day we worship the entire guru parampara which helps in destroying our selfishness.  

Sivaratri Talk –What is God’s grace? (27/02/2014)

Our culture which is based on the Vedic scriptures is a religious culture which appreciates the presence of God in everything. Our scriptures define Ishwara as Shisti, Struthi, and Laya Karanam – not only Bhagawan creates this world, not only does Bhagawan resolves this world, in between also the world is surviving because of the presence and blessings of the Lord only. The entire universe is operating according to several laws and that’s why everything in creation performs in an orderly manner. We as human beings can only know the laws governing creation, we cannot create or maintain this universal principle. Therefore we appreciate the presence of the Lord, and also the grace of the lord in the uniform functioning of the creation. In Brihdaranya Upanishad, Yagnavalkya tells Gargi: If the planets are moving round the sun, and if they are maintaining some orderliness because of which alone days and nights are possible, because of which alone all the seasons are possible, because of which alone we get rain and food etc; when we are experiencing all of them, a Vedic person appreciates the unseen hand of God behind all of them. I see the grace of the Lord in the sunrise, I see the grace of the Lord in the sunset; in Sri Rudram we are only appreciating that glory of the Lord. In the Bhagavad Gita also Lord Krishna tells the same thing: In the form of Surya Bhagawan, I alone absorb water from the ocean. I alone generate cloud at the right season, and I alone make the cloud pour in the form of rain. In all these, may you appreciate the unseen hand of Ishwara. Thus everything is possible in our life because of the provisions given by the Lord only. Dayananda Swamiji beautifully says,” When a person goes to a 5 star hotel, he need not carry everything. Because in a 5 star hotel everything will be provided; you don’t have to carry a bucket or a mug. And if you do, you are a mucku!” …(laughter). If I appreciate what has been provided, I will appreciate the person who has organized all these things. As Swami Dayananda would say,” If that is the glory of a 5 star hotel, when we are born, we are born in a creation which is not 5 star but a multi-star creation. When we come into this world, we come only with a suitcase called the physical body. We don’t bring oxygen for our need, imagine if you have to carry oxygen cylinders, what kind of pregnancy will it be? If we have carry water, food etc; we don’t bring anything but we just land and everything is provided for us. In all this multi-star facilities that we enjoy, there is an unseen hand and that is Ishwara.  Therefore a Vaidika, a Hindu, must appreciate Ishwara’s grace in everything for whatever is happening in the creation. This is not only to be appreciated at the macro level, at the individual level also we appreciate the grace of the Lord in all our activities. So whenever we accomplish something, everyone may appreciate us, but we will add “all this is possible because of grace of the Lord” only. If I am able to give this talk because of Lord’s grace, two weeks back I had to cancel the class, remember. Therefore in every activity and in every accomplishment, we appreciate the grace of the Lord.

But when it comes to the life of the individual living being, we do face a problem. With regard to the creation at the macro level Ishwara’s grace is always there; everything functions perfectly. But in one’s individual’s life, I do experience the grace of the Lord on several occasions. In some instances I find the situations very, very favourable to me and immediately appreciate HIS grace. “I went there and there was this last ticket, I got the ticket…God’s Grace.” Whenever extraordinary things happen, I experience God’s grace. But when I look at my life, at the individual’s level, God’s grace does not seem to be uniform. There are many situations I face a lot of unfavourable and adverse circumstances; in such trying circumstances I would wish God to rescue me from those difficulties. I desperately look for God’s grace. I desperately pray for God’s grace. There are lots of situations that despite my expectations, in spite of my desperate prayers, God’s grace seem to elude me. And problems after problems come and they say Patta kal ayala Paddam….(the same leg is hurt once more) I face problems like a wave coming one after the other. Each problem being worse than the previous one. In desperation, I pray to the Lord. Sometimes the prayers are answered, and sometimes the prayers are not answered. Sometimes Bhaktas sing the song also: O Lord, I have been screaming. Aren’t you not listening? Are you also hard of hearing because YOU are growing old? Do you require an audiogram test as my prayers seem to fall on deaf ears? Only this morning I heard this song on Kapalieswara: Kathinain Kadarinain (I shout and I crawl) and Lord you don’t seem to look at me even with the corner of the eye. When such difficult situations come and when God seems to desert, we get a question: WHAT ARE THE NORMS FOR GOD”S GRACE? When will grace come and when will grace not come? Is it an arbitrary choice of God? HE looks around and says: let me send grace to this person. There are times when HE sees the devotees crying also and HE chooses to ignore him. So what are the norms for the Lord to favour the devotees with HIS grace? Are there any norms or is it Bhagawan’s choice? When we are in dire states; they say Bhagawan is Karunamaya, Karusindhu, Karunasagarah, Karunandhi….I don’t want to say that ..(laughter). Some bhaktas pray to God very intelligently: O Lord, I am dinahah and you are supposed to dina saranyah. You are the protector of the desperate one. If YOU have to protect your title, better you save me.”….(laughter). Otherwise YOU will lose YOUR name. Bhaktas try all kinds of methods and sometimes everything fails. Then there is a doubt,” Whether there is a God at all; or whether there is God’s grace at all?” Some people turn nasthikas also. “Swamiji, I have stopped praying to God and I have stopped the pujas.” And there are some who don’t know how to answer the question, therefore they suppress the intellect. We don’t know the basis for Bhagawan’s grace. Whenever HE feels, let him bless. I have no right to question HIM? Therefore Bhagawan’s ways are inscrutable; whenever HE feels, HE blesses. Whenever HE doesn’t feel, HE does not bless. I should not ask any question because I don’t understand the ways of the Lord. When these questions arise some suppress the intellect and don’t raise the question, and some reject the Lord HIMSELF. Two extremes! But our scriptures point out that when we get such questions, what is the norm with regard to the grace of the Lord, neither suppress the intellect nor reject Ishwara but try to understand the principle behind Ishwara Krupa. 

What exactly is Ishwara krupa? And how come Ishwara krupa works for some people for some time and does not work for another at that time? In an accident the whole bus falls into a ditch, some people survive the accident while some people die. Some people have Ishwara’s grace while some people don’t have HIS grace. Why is there a reason, is there a norm behind it? The scriptures say we have the answers to these question but we must study the scriptures to understand it. And what do the scriptures say with regard to Ishwara krupa or Ishwara anugraha? It says Bhagawan does not select the people with regard to HIS grace. If Bhagawan were to choose some people and favour some people and does not favour other people, then what will it mean? Can you guess the answer? Suppose in an accident Bhagawan saves some people and allows some people to die, if Bhagawan is responsible for choosing the people then HE will be open to the charge of favouritism. The Lord will be polluted with RAGA and DVESHA. We human beings have this problem of raga-dvesha, strong likes and dislikes, HE will also suffer the same problem if HE favours some and doesn’t favour some others. In Brahma Sutra Vysacharya dedicates an exclusive adikaranam that clearly states that Bhagawan does not choose the people for favouring with grace. Bhagawan does not choose, HE cannot afford to choose, and if Bhagawan does choose, HE will be open to the charge, in Brahma sutra, it is called Vaishamya Nairgrunya dosah.  Vaishamya means favouring someone and helping them to escape an accident. No doubt the person who is alive will come and say,” All this is due to God’s grace” and Swamiji nothing happened to me”. It is very nice to hear but we should ask the question: If Bhagawan saved that person with grace, why didn’t Bhagawan save the other person with the same grace? This means the Lord is partial with regard to this person and HE is very cruel to the other person. So Vaishamyam means partiality or favouritism and Nairgrunyam means cruelty. And if Bhagawan were to choose objects or people for HIS grace, HE will be accused of FAVOURITISM and CRUELTY. We had the recent flood havoc in Kedarnath, the temple itself was saved because a huge boulder came before the temple. All the waters were diverted and so the temple was saved from destruction. And everyone was praising the glory of the Lord as HE was able to save HIS temple. They talked about the miraculous role of God in protecting the temple. But if you go to the villages and those people who lost their near and dear ones, many lost their entire savings and livelihood and you tell them,” Bhagawan saved HIS temple, they will argue what kind of Bhagawan is HE? HE is so selfish to look after HIS temple but not my wife and children. So if you say Bhagawan is great because HE saved some people, will it not imply that HE is cruel as HE did not save some other people. Therefore in Brahma Sutra Vaishamya Nirgrunya Adhikaranam, Vysacharya clearly states that the Lord does not select people for HIS grace. Bhagawan is an embodiment of grace and his infinite grace is open to all. It is not directed towards a person or a society or a particular country, it is not unidirectional but it is omni-directional – HIS grace is there for all people. It is available. Therefore HE does not have Vaishamya Nirgrunya dosah, Bhagawan is uniform with regard to availability of HIS grace. This is lesson number one. And Lord Krishna says this in the Bhagavat Gita amo 'ham sarva-bhutesu  na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah  ye bhajanti tu mam haktya mayi te tesu capy aham I am uniform with regard to everyone. In an accident if someone is saved, it is not because I directed MY grace to some person and withdrew MY grace to some other. I don’t DIRECT and I don’t WITHDRAW. Then there would be this question: if Bhagawan’s grace is uniformly available for all people, how come only some people benefit and some does not in an adverse situation? How do you explain the disparity with regard to enjoyment of Bhagawan’s grace? In an accident some survive and some die; what is the reason for this disparity?

The scriptures say the differences or disparity is not because of Bhagawan. The disparity is caused by the individual jiva, they alone are responsible for the disparity with regard to availability and non-availability of his grace. Grace will be available for me only if I earn my grace. Only when I tap the grace, only then it will be available. And if I don’t tap I am only the loser. Grace is available for all; but you must know how to tap it. The disparity in grace is not caused by Bhagawan but by the individual jiva – by tapping or non-tapping, by earning or non-earning. Several examples are given in the scripture but let me take a modern one. Solar energy is available is everywhere. But if you want electricity, whether I should get or not that I have to decide and not the sun. I have to fix solar panels to avail this energy. The sun god gives the solar energy uniformly to all the people, but I have to work if I want to tap this energy for my electricity. Then I can light up my lamp. But if my neighbour’s lamps glow and mine does not, then I cannot complain about Sun’s partiality. I must fix these solar panels like my neighbor to access it. In Soundarya Lahiri, Sankaracharaya says,” O, mother you are like the moonlight available uniformly for all.” Therefore tapped grace alone will be useful for us. As long as we don’t tap, we will not be able to benefit from the grace of the Lord. Therefore TAPPING THE GRACE is required. As Lord HIMSELF says you can have MY GRACE by tapping it using a solar panel. The question is, what is the panel I need to fix, Can I just look at the picture of Lord and ask,” Give me 500 units of grace.” Grace is not available for asking but you have to deserve. By mere asking nothing can be gained. You can’t go to a shop and say,” Give me 5 kg of sugar.”

Many people falsely propagate that Lord will provide anything you ask. Thattuga Kadavu Tharaka Pattum; Kelunga and Kuttaka Padam (meaning Knock , and the door will be opened. Ask, and it will be given). That God is a karunamurthy and HE will give anything is asking is an exaggeration. We have to earn grace by putting forth the right effort; mere asking will not help. I read a joke in Readers Digest. A religious preacher was telling people about the glories of the Lord and telling them how kind HE is. You pray and ask; prayers will move mountains. You just have to ask, and the Lord will give.” This preacher goes to several villages and gives this talk. In a gathering there was a young boy. The preacher wanted to inculcate this Bhatkti to the boy. He told the boy,” The Lord is so great that HE will give you whatever YOU want. And I have got everything in my life through HIS grace.” The boy was very impressed by the talk and he looked at the beautiful watch of the preacher. The boy asked for the watch, he looked at it admiringly and the boy asked,” How did you get this watch?” The preacher said,” Everything including this watch is God’s grace. Whatever you want, lord will give.” The boy said,” Preacher, I will suggest this. I will take this watch, you can pray to the Lord and get another watch.” ……(laughs). After by praying, if you are going to get just like that, you will ask for a palatial bungalow in Nungambakam or in the centre of the city and you will get a house. God’s grace is definitely there but not merely by praying or asking but by earning, by doing appropriate karma. Therefore karma is compulsory for earning the grace of the Lord. In scriptures Lord HIMSELF has talked about different kinds of karma that will earn the grace of the Lord. Several karmas are suggested but we have seen one karma in our Gita classes, in the context of Karma yoga I have mentioned those “grace earning karmas” (GEK). GRACE EARNING KARMAS ARE CALLED PANCHA MAHA YAGNAS. I have to earn the grace of the Lord by doing one or two or three or all the Pancha Maha Yagnas. All with the pure motive of serving the lord, worshipping the lord, or for the welfare of the entire creation – loka skhemartham, sarva bhavantu sukinah.

Today’s puja was also “loka schema” with a pure and open motive of doing pancha maha yagna. Deva Ygnah, all kind of pujas I do and praying for loka skhema. Instead for praying for my children and grandchildren and family centric prayers, the more puja I do for loka skhema. Every such prayer will bring me grace in my saving account. Everyone has got a bank account in which Bhagawan deposits grace. If a devotee performs such selfless prayers, his/her grace amount will increase. The first is “deva yagnah”. “

Pitru yagna” is the second, all forms of service we do for our parents which is slowly dwindling now. Because of a nuclear family and no one is interested in taking care of the old parents – scriptures insist on that karma. Service to parents in particular and service to elders in general is extremely wonderful karma when it is done without any expectation. Without having an eye on the property; without hoping for any favours in the will of the parent! If I serve the parents for the sake of parents, matru devo bhava, pitru devo bhava that is another powerful grace earning karma.

These are all solar panels; second of the five panels! Deva Yagna is grace panel, Pitru yagna is grace panel, and the third is “Brahma Yagnah”. It means spreading the message of the scriptures especially this message of performing pancha maha yagna to as many people as possible. Brahma means Veda. Thus preserving and propagating the message of the Vedas will come under Brahma Yagnah. Even regular parayanam will come under Brahma Yagnam; chanting Vishnu Sahashranam or Gita or all of them. Any parayanam done without having any motive for one’s worldly gains but when done for loka samastha sukhino bhavatu. If this is the attitude before any chanting, then Bhagawan will deposit in my grace account. Since grace is invisible which we don’t see but definitely it increases.

The fourth one is called “Manushiya Yagnah”, any service done to any human being around. Any kind of social activity I do, even a simple smiling. Some people even in smiling are very stingy. What are they going to lose, even a simple smile is beyond them. If you smile, it makes the other person comfortable and Lord will add one unit of grace in your account. At the end of the class, do it freely….(laughter). Even a thought that when someone is suffering and I cannot do anything, a simple prayer: O Lord, may he/she have your grace. Such a prayer will come under manushiya yagnah.

Every service to other human beings is grace earning karma (gek) and the last one is “Bhuta yagnah”. This is very popular in our culture, service done to all animals that serve us. So many animals are serving us, we also have a duty to serve animals and plants. So many Mahatmas are undertaking “go samrakshanam”. Cow is such a sacred animal that it serves us even in its excretion. Even cow dung and cow’s urine are useful, only one animal whose excretion is fragrant. Any other species, it would stink. We will hold our noses and run away. So cow is worthy of worshipping and serving; sadly slaughter houses are increasing and in lacs and lacs they are slaughtered. So many people have started “go samrakshnam kedram” to protect aged cows that cannot give anything. Thus anything we do to protect the animals, plants, and environment which will in turn bless us will come under “Bhuta yagnah”.

Thus pancha maha yagna will help me deserve Ishwara’s grace. So if a person escapes an accident with God’s grace, it is not because of god’s favoritism but this person has got “tapped grace”. The other person, don’t say does not have grace, he does not have tapped grace. Whether I should tap god’s grace or not, who should decide? I or Ishwara?  If Ishwara decides or makes some people to tap and others not to tap, then what will be problem? If that were to be the case then the Lord will be open to the charge of favouritism. Whether one should tap grace or not; Bhagawan will not and cannot decide. Therefore whether I should tap or not is dependent on my own freewill. We should accept every jiva has a freewill with which he/she can decide to tap or not to tap Ishwara’s grace. By doing what? PANCHA MAHA YAGNA.

That is why Lord Krishna says in the Gita: samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu  na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah I am uniform to all. Arjuna if some people get moksha, it is not because I chose them. But they chose moksha. Therefore the choice is yours. You can get Bhagawan’s grace and accomplish all the goals that you want.

Here the scriptures add one more point. Tapping the grace alone is not sufficient because the tapped grace will not become operational instantaneously. Just as a seed cannot produce a tree or a fruit instantaneously; the seed can give benefit only after a duration and manifestation to become operational. Therefore the tapped grace will be there in the account of all living beings who chose to tap through pancha maha yagna. So in all our accounts, what kind of grace will be there? The tapped grace will be there, but it will require some time to become operational which is gestation period, incubation period, manifestation period. In Sanskrit it is called “Pari pakvam” which means to fructify.  It is like some fruits we buy and wait for it to fully ripen. Tapped grace will not benefit you, but only tapped grace which has become ripened. Therefore TAPPED RIPENED GRACE will be available to me by giving me favourable situations and condition. Therefore TRG, whoever has more trg will have an extra advantage. And whoever does not have TRG or ERG (earned ripened grace) will not have that advantage. This earned ripened grace alone is called “pari pakvam punyam”. When an individual has ERG or pari pakvam punyam they will find all the situations favourable. Without that, they will not have that extra advantage. So grace requires two conditions: a) it should be earned grace and b) it should be ripened grace. Unearned grace will not benefit, earned and un-ripened grace also will not benefit; earned ripened grace called pari pakvam punyam alone will bless us. So when you find some people have advantages and so people don’t have that advantage, what should we understand? Don’t say Bhagawan is partial; or HE is blind and deaf; don’t complain against Bhagawan. It will only means that I don’t have enough in my grace account, ERG is missing. So we can all work for EARNED RIPENED GRACE only if we choose and practice Pancha Maha Yagna in our daily lives.

And lastly when we practice pancha maha yagna for pari pakva punyam or Ishwara Anugraha (both these words are synonyms) we can earn it for two types of purposes. This punyam can be allocated in both ways, just like in those charitable trusts. We can allocate money for building fund or temple fund etc likewise when we have Ishwara krupa; we have a freedom for any one of the two purposes. We have the choice. One for spiritual purpose, meaning I should grow internally and my mind should become purer and purer – kama, kroda, moha, mada, matsarya; all of them should get diluted. Sadhana Chatushtai Sampathi I should gain; my mind gets spiritually oriented. That I should get a spiritual guide so that I can pursue moksha; when I seek grace for that then it will come under “spiritual purpose”. Guru is available but I am not able to go? For what, you need HIS grace. For Shravanam, Mananam, Nidhidyasanam; I must have grace. So self-enlightenment and moksha is spiritual purpose. When I earn Ishwara’s grace, I can allocate it for spiritual purposes. That I should tell in my sankalpa: Annpurne sada purne shankar pran vallabhe Gyana vairagya siddhiartham; immediately God will mark it for spiritual purpose. Suppose you say: Putra Pautra sidyartham, dhana dana sidyartham ….(laughter) promotion sidhyartham; so any non-spiritual things you mention that Lord allocates accordingly. One is called “Sreyah” and another “Preyah” – there are two types of anugraha Sreyah Ishwara Anugraha and Preyah Ishwara Anugraha. We can decide which one we want. Today we did puja, and when you offer flowers; watch your mind. If you pray for your son, daughter, father, mother while doing namaskaram, then the grace will be attached to it. But spiritual gain will not be there, we will be dying an ignorant person. Punarapi janam, punarapi maranam. Today’s puja will come under deva yagnah. And if you dedicate these prayers for Jnana Yogyatha Prapthi. Jnana Prapthi, Jnana Nistta Prapthi then desire for knowledge of spiritual knowledge comes.

All these will come only from Ishwara’s grace. Can you use the right word? EARNED RIPENED ISHWARA ANUGRAHA (ERIA). This grace will bring you to Vedanta class. And ERIA will keep you awakened in Vedanta class. ….very tough (laughter). ERIA will help you understand the teaching. Therefore we should increase earned ripened Ishwara anugraha, flow must be there continuously. If you want continuous flow of ERIA, what should you do? There is only one way and that is you should do pancha maha yagna continuously.

Therefore Ishwara Angraha is available for some and not available for some not because Bhagawan is partial because some have earned and some don’t have the earned ripened grace. Let us all earn Ishwara’s grace and accomplish either preyas as you like or if you are an intelligent bhakta you can use it for jnanam and moksha.

Sivaratri Talk -Upasana Yoga (10/03/2013)

In our tradition, our scriptures have given us several spiritual and religious sadhanas for daily practice. Among all these practices there is one practice that is very important, useful, and very efficacious. And that is upasanam or upasana. It is so important and presented in the Vedas as upasana kandam. And one ashrama, the vanaprastha ashrama, is specially designed for practice of Upasana.

            The word “Upasana” literally means “staying or sitting near”. It says staying near or in proximity but does not say staying near what? We are supposed to fill up properly. We should not interpret it as staying near television or staying near Naivedyam; it should be understood as staying near God. Ishwarm Upa Asanam (Asnam means staying or sitting, Up means near, and Ishwaram is God). This Upasana is also known as “Upa vasah” (Vasah means staying). So if the devotee wants to stay near with the Lord on special occasions like Sivaratri day, Vaikunda Ekadasi etc the entire day, he/she will not have time even for eating food.  Therefore by the implied meaning of “Upa vasah” began to mean “not eating food.” Upa vasah means staying near the Lord that we don’t have time for cooking food, or eating, or visiting New Woodlands hotel! We want to spend the whole time with the Lord. This proximity (of staying near the Lord) has two dimensions; one is physical proximity and the other is mental proximity. Physical proximity is doing puja or visiting temples; but more important is mental proximity, by which I mean, the mind dwells on the thoughts of the Lord. Mentally dwelling on the thoughts of the Lord is mental Upvasah Between physical proximity to the Lord and mental proximity to the lord, which is important? Mental proximity is considered more important and efficacious. I could be in the temple and mind may be dwelling on the tasty “panjamritham” mentally! Therefore manasa upavasah is more efficacious than just physical. Even the scriptures declare that among Kaeeka, Vachika, and Manasa activities, mental one is the most powerful. Even in Japa they talk of three types; one is vocal and loud repetition of the mantra (Vachika Japa), the second is whispering repetition (Upanshu Japa), and the third is mental repetition (Manasa Japa). We may consider loud chanting as spending more energy but Sastra says that “Manasa Japa” is Uthamam. What I want to emphasize here is “mental proximity to the Lord” is very important aspect of Upasanam.

            This Upasana, our elders, prescribe as a regular activity. Not just for one day in a year like Sivaratri but a daily Nitya Karma. The daily practice of Sandhya Vandanam is considered to be the most important Upasana. Therefore Ishwara Upasanam is considered to be Nitya Karma where I enjoy the presence of the lord or thoughts of the Lord in my mind. There is this story of a Nayanmar that Swami Dayananda loves; among the 63 Nayanmar there was a Nayanmar who was a great Siva Bhakta by name Pushalar or someone. He built a temple for Siva mentally. The Nayanmar built a temple in the mind while parallelly a local king was building a most expensive temple. The King fixed the time of Kumbhabisekham; Lord Siva appeared in the dream of the king and said his appointment on that day was already booked. The Lord also has a dairy and HE also has bookings and appointments; My bhakta is doing a Kumbhabisekham and that is very important for ME and therefore you change the date. The King’s ego was hurt: I have spent so much money and how can the Lord give importance to someone else. Then the king asked,” Where is this temple?” and the Lord gave him the address, somewhere in the outskirts of Chennai. The king visited that place and found nothing. He found the Nayanar and when the king queried about the temple, the Nayanmar said,” I have built the whole temple in my heart and I have fixed the Kumbhabisekham.” That is when the king realized that Manasam is more powerful and efficacious than Vachikam and Kaeekam. Therefore this manasa upasanam is one of our Nitya Karma. But unfortunately Sandhya Vandanam is now an endangered species; many people who are supposed to do don’t even know the mantras. Sandhya Vandanam can be replaced by Ishwara Upasanam like manasa puja. What is the daily Upasanam that is prescribed by the scriptures? The purpose of Upasanam is to refine ourselves both externally and internally, which is called a samskara karma. There are 41 samskarams in the scriptures and one of them is the Upasanam. The word “samskara: is defined as “dosha appanayanaka purvah guna adharam” – removing the impurities both externally and internally and adding more virtues. As the 16^th chapter of the Bhagawad Gita “Asureem Sampath elimination” “Daiveem Sampath acquisition” is “Samskarah”. According to the scripture “Samskaras” are required and the ultimate stage of spiritual and religious life is “offering ourselves unto the Lord”. Initially we offer various things to the Lord in the form of naivedyam, bananas etc but the ultimate stage (which is the ninth stage of Bhakti) is “Atma Nivedhana Roopa Bhakti”. You would have heard the sloka: sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam; varieties of expressions of Bhakti and the ultimate stage is the bhakta does not exist separate from Bhagawan. As we saw in Taittiriya Upanishad, Bhagawan-Bhakta division must be removed. Dwitha Bhaki must culminate in Advaitha Bhakti in which the devotee offers himself to the Lord. And if I have to offer myself, I must purify. Like if we are offering flowers in a puja we must clean all the flowers. Not only physical cleaning but also spiritual cleaning like sprinkling “Bhur Bhu Sua Om”. If I am to offer myself to the Lord, I must likewise refine myself. Nitya Upasanam is self-refinement to make myself fit to offer myself to the Lord. Ishwara Sayukyam Ikyam.

            The next question is “How do I know I getting refined or not?” What are the indications of spiritual, religious refinements? In our dharma sastra the indications are given. These Nitya Upsana must refine me and confer me with Asta Atma guna; by following Upasana one will get eight fold virtues. The practice of Upsana is called “Upasana Yoga”. When I do upasanam for worldly benefits it is called “Sakamam” but with objective is to refine myself and offer myself to the lord it is “Nishkama Upasana yoga”. What are the eight virtues we have to develop?

            Daya is the first virtue – consideration for other people or being aware of other’s difficulties. That sensitivity for others is first guna. The second is Skhesma; patience. Whenever I want things done, I can use violent method also. Or by non-violence also. By shouting at people and threatening people, I can get things done. That Sastra says violence is not good; always try to get things done in a pleasant non-violent method. Violent method should only be the last resort. That means I should have lot of patience. You can point a gun at someone, and they will immediately comply. But non-violent methods require patience. Therefore to have daya you must have skhesma. The third is “anasuya” – not having jealousy on seeing the prosperity and progress of others. The fourth is “Shaucham” that is having purity at thought, word, and deed level. My motives are always noble. Then the fifth is “Anaayasah” – enjoying a disposition always which is calm and quiet at physical, mental and vocal levels. The sign of a calm disposition in the mind is a relaxed body language; my words at the vocal level reflects calmness and gentleness. You can request someone to stay away in a calm manner or you can get agitated and yell, “Get away.” Anything we can say gently or rudely. So if I can be gentle in my body language, in my verbal language, and even at thought level; it is called “Anaayasah” or “Calm Disposition” (Ayasa Hinah) and chief benefit is freedom from stress and tension. The sixth virtue is “Karpanyam which is freedom from self-pity. All the time complaining “I am miserable, I am miserable”. Self-pity or low self-image is called “Karpanyam” which is what Arjuna felt in the first chapter of Gita. “I have one qualification and which makes me proud is that I am a bhakta of the Lord.” So freedom from self-pity or “Karpanyam” The seventh one is “Aspruhah” – freedom from greed and attachment. And the eighth and last one is “Mangalam”. The word”mangalam” means a pleasant and cheerful and endearing personality. People enjoy coming near me; just seeing me they will not run away. As I have always said: Some people give happiness wherever they go, some people give happiness when they go away. Meditate on this! So having a pleasant, cheerful, and endearing personality in spite of having problems! Everyone has problems and it does not mean that I have to distribute my misery to everyone around. This is called “mangalam” These eight virtues are called “Astau Atma Gunah” which makes me fit for “Atma rupa nivedhana bhakti”. These eight qualities must be developed through nitya ishwara upasana. Shivaratri day is an auspicious day to take a vow that “I will spend some time daily for Ishwara Upasana”. Not only will it refine, it will also give me physical and mental health. In fact your BP will come down, you can test. Without medicines you can eliminate blood pressure.

            Then the next question is “how do I practice upasana”. Several methods are mentioned in the scriptures. And one method is “manasa puja” which is a beautiful and convenient form of upasana which does not involve the physical body. Doing a puja requires a lot of physical fitness. And for most of us sitting itself is a project! Somehow they sit; most of them say,” Swamiji we don’t want to sit in front of you; so we don’t need a chair.” Then I will tell them,” Please sit in the chair. If you sit on the floor then I will have to lift you up.” …..(laughs) “So at least for my sake, take the chair.” So even a ritualistic puja many of us are not able to do; Sandhya Vandanam is a beautiful daily ritual and if you can do them, it is fine. But if cannot, then you can sit in any posture including an easy chair, we can do a “manasa puja” if you don’t doze off. And many of our Acharyas have written several “manasa puja slokams” on several deities. There is “devi manasa puja” and “Dakshinamurthy manasa puja” but the simplest and most beautiful one is “Shiva Manasa Puja” which is only five slokas.  Rathnai Kalpitham asanam, Himajalai snanam cha divyambaram Naana rathna vibhooshitham mruga madha modhanvitham Chandanam, today being Sivaratri, I wanted to quote this. Jathi champaka bilwa pathra rachitham, pushpamcha deepam Thada Deepam deva dayanithe pasupathe, hrud kalpyatham gruhyatham ll

You can mentally chant this sloka and visualize the Lord taking an asanam and the asanam made up of all precious stones. And you can do that because it is a mind thing!.......(laughs). You visualize the most expensive jewelry and mentally offer each one of them. Souvarne nava rathna Ganda Rachithe, pathre Grutham Payasam Bakshyam pancha vidam Payo dadhiyutham, rambha phalam panakam Saaka namayutham jalam ruchikaram, karpoora gandojwalam Thamboolam manasa maya virachitham Bhakthyo prabho sweekuru ll Chathram Chamarayoryugam vyajanagam, chaa darshakam nirmalam. All these are offered to you by devotion; may you kindly receive. Careful, you should not say: I am offering and may you accept them with devotion…..(laughs) because in Sanskrit the word “bhaktya” comes in the wrong place. We have a booklet and may you learn this simple sloka and then you can do a beautiful manasa puja which is equal to daily sandhya vandanam. Those of you who have taken “sanyasam” from Sandhya Vandanam can replace it with this beautiful manasa puja. After the third sloka the puja is over. The fourth sloka Aathma thwam Girija Mathi sahacharaa, prana sarreram gruham lPooja theey vishayopa bhoga rachana, nidhra samadhi sthithi l Sanchara padayo pradakshina vidhi, , sthothrani sarva giraa lYadyath karma karomi thathad akhilam, shambho thavaradhanam. At the end of the sloka we have to do “etha sthanam prateshtta payami” which means you have to send back the Lord to his original place. Then the question will crop up as to what is the original place of Bhagawan? You may think it is “Kailasa” but what the Sastra says would shock you,” the original place of Shiva is your very own heart only.” Yo veda nihitam guhayam parame vyoman so'snute sarvan kaman saha brahmana vipascita. So after the puja I install the Lord in my own heart. That means my body becomes a temple. I am carrying the Lord with me always. This bhavana is wonderful for throughout life, we have this sense of insecurity. Insecurity is one universal problem. It grows more and more when we are growing old. We want all the relations to be around us all the time. Paka Balam….(laughter) Unfortunately our present day lifestyle is such that all our relatives are scattered all over. Children are everywhere except near me! They are in America, Russia, Japan, Australia and only we oldies are left behind in India. You cannot even summon them for an emergency for flight itself takes 19 hours. By which time I will reach Kailasa itself…(laughter). We don’t have any support and Sastras says,” don’t rely on any local support”. They themselves are not sure of their lives. Therefore what is the best support? HAVE THE LORD IN YOUR HEART. Therefore I am always with Ishwara. Thereafter Kara charana krutham vaak kayajam karmajam vaa l Sravana nayanajam vaa maanasam vaa aparadham l Vihithamavihitham vaa sarva methath Kshamaswa l Jaya Jaya katunabdhe sri Mahadeva Shambho ll For the sake of our survival we often compromise with ethical and moral values. All the values are going away. Even those who wish to follow values complain to me,” O Swamiji, It is easy for you to preach. How does it matter to you?” …(laughter). We are regularly violating and we are regularly doing himsa (everyone has a mosquito bat at home and daily centuries!) All these are pappams and what Prayachitams we are doing? Sandhya Vandanam is a Prayachitam and that also we have renounced. We commit so many pappas and we don’t do Prayachitam it will take me more and more away from God. Therefore daily prayachitam is daily Upasanam, and very important. According to Sastra, Sandhya Vandanam must be done thrice a day. Even if you do once in the early morning, it is a very good practice. If anyone is not doing, you can start from tomorrow itself. Sandhya Vandanam is a wonderful spiritual and religious practice. It is called manasa puja.

            The second method of Upasanam is manasa parayanam. If we cannot do a puja, we can chant any slokam we know. But the chanting is also done mentally. What will happen if we chant vocally? The mouth will be chanting while the mind will be worrying. Because we know it by heart Jagath prabhum deva devam antham purushothamam I Sthuvan nãma sahasréna purusha saththo thithaha and we will be racing at the speed of a train. I know so many people do Bharatanatyam also while chanting! They even keep talking,” When did you come?” We will have conversations all over while chanting! So “manasa puja” is much more efficacious.

            The third one is “manasa japah”. Japa is taking any nama like “Om Namo Shivaya” or “Om Namo Narayanaya” or any word like “Maha Deviya Namah” and any mantra we can choose. We need not wait for initiation. People nowadays have different excuses. And one excuse is,” I have not been initiated.” Bhagawan HIMSELF is the best guru. We can get initiated by Bhagawan and take any nama and mentally chant. This is called Manasa Japah.

            And the fourth one is a very, very important Upasana which is vishwa rupa bhavanam. This is an integral part of all upasanam. In manasa puja parayanam etc we have a deity in front of us in the form of Siva linga or Saligrama or any moorties. But we should remember that these moorties only represent Bhagawan and that Bhagawan is in the form of the entire creation. According to Sastra the first avataram of Bhagawan is in the form of the world itself. This is the most beautiful and wonderful avatara because it is available throughout. If you read the translation of Sri Rudram, it says Lord, you are in the form of Akasha in Chidambaram, you are in the form of Vayu in Kalahasthi, you are in the form of Agni in Tiruvanammalai, you in the form of Jala Lingam in Tirivanni Kaval, you are in the form of Prithivi lingam in Kanchipuram” which means the Lord is the manifestation of five elements, panja bhootas. This Vishwa Rupa Ishwara Dyanam is the most important part of Upasanam. In Vishnu Sarashanam there is sloka is boo padam asura wilayah and in Sri Rudram we have the slokam “Jala Dara Kalasam Lingam Akasha Murthim” indicating the dome of the lingam is the sky. “Nakshtram Puspamalyam” what a beautiful description that all the stars are nothing but flowers on the Shiva Linga. graha ganda kusuma chandra vani arka natram, Kukshit Samudram Hima giri sayanam sapta pathala, vedam vaktram dasa dishi vadanam divya lingam navami. The ultimate lingam is vishwa rupa Ishwara. In the Vishnu Sahasranama the first name of Vishnu is “Vishwam” – the whole universe.  

This meditation is extremely important to eliminate two problems faced by all human beings. Those are “Ahamkara” and “Mamakara”. Ahamkara is claiming ownership of body and mind. And claiming a few things around is Mamakara, my car, my house, my new chapels. One of the worries in any function is “my new chapel should be there when I leave”. Nowadays people do “Chappel Dyanam” for it is very, very costly. That is why I chose “wooden” shoes….(laughter) but nowadays wooden shoes are becoming a fashion. Now I am worried whether I will lose my chapels. So Ahamkara and Mamakara is claiming Bhagawan;s property as mine. According to Sastras Ahamkara and Mamakara is trespassing in God’s territory. And Bhagawan’s is clear: trespassers will be prosecuted. Whoever claims “I” or “mine” is subject to prosecution. And this prosecution is samsara in the form of fear, worry, attachment and most of the negative emotions are born out of Ahamkara and Mamakara. Whenever you are anxious, ask yourself “about what”? Not the auto rickshaw of some person. Because in that auto rickshaw, I don’t have ahamkara and Mamakara. I only get anxious when “I” and “mine” are involved. Those can be weakened only by the Vishwa Rupa Ishwara dhyanam. That is why in the “arathi” there is Hindi prayer tan-man-dhan sub kuch tere. I am not the owner of anything. I am only the user of Bhagawan;s property. The Lord has given me everything for my temporary use. And Bhagawan can take away anything including the closest body without advance notice, not even a sms …..laughter. A person may go to sleep and never wake up. Therefore I have to replace “ownership” idea with “usership.” As Bhagawan is the owner of everything he is the controller of everything. I don’t have control over anything including my body; I don’t know whether my body will be in ICU or You See Me. We don’t know. But I do have a freewill and I can play an “influencing” part. I don’t have a controlling freewill except an influencing freewill. Bhagawan can give me any experience according to HIS will or HIS law of karma. Therefore future is a continuous experience of favourable and unfavourable situations. If at all I can ask Bhagawan, I can only ask,” O God, give me the courage to go through any blessed experience that you want me to go through.” If I am engaged in various projects, I cannot ask for success all the time. Because Bhagawan will not give what I ask but what I deserve according to the law of Karma. I tell Bhagawan that I prefer success but I immediately add; give me the courage to receive any experience that you want me to go through. I use Vishwa Rupa Ishwara Upasana to gain courage and strength. The most important resource we need is life is COURAGE and STRENGTH because life is a mixture of opposites. Sukha Dukha, Labha, labou etc.

      So Manasa puja, manasa parayanam, manasa japa and Vishwa Rupa Dyanam is to get courage and strength to face the day. I will take a sankalpa that I will follow the karma yoga way of life. I have talked about Karma Yoga in 2013 New Year speech,” Pancha Angani”. Mayi sarvani karmani sannyasa adhyatma cetasa nirasih nirmamo bhutva yudhyasva vigata jvarah. I will recapitulate: a)   Keep moksha as primary goal b)      Dedicate every action to the Lord as an offering. Every Karmaphallam comes from the Lord and everything is fair. There is no unfair karmaphallam in the world. Therefore I accept any karmaphallam as Ishwara Prasadam. c)      Keep OFF all the expectation from the mind. Replace expectations with seeking courage and strength to deal with any situation whether it is tallying me or not. d)  Always remember I am not the owner or controller, I am only the user and influencer. e)   Learn to say from your heart, you are willing and confident of going through every experience, any karmaphallam. That is, be equanimous. As given by Lord Krishna, I chant this verse and take a vow that I will follow. Krishna when says it means “you chant” and when we say it will become “Krishna you chant” so we will make a slight change mayi sarvani karmani ,  sannyasyadhyatma-cetasa, nirasir nirmamo bhutva,  yudhyasva vigata-jvarah. Mayi will change to Dwayi and Yudhyasva to Yudheya. I take a resolution that I will follow Karma yoga. If I practice this upasanam regularly, I will have peace of mind, I will have spiritual growth, and at the time of death I will not have puner janma but I will merge with Ishwara. This is very beautiful Nitya Karma and this Ishwara Upasanam every one of us should do. And my request is please follow Upasanam daily and preferably at the time of Sandhya on waking up. Let us have the grace of Lord Shiva for implementing this Upasana Yoga in our daily life.

New Year – 2014: Astanga Yoga

First of all I wish all of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous year 2014. Last year I talked about “yoga” and how different meanings are there for the word. From Veda’s viewpoint the word “yoga” is ikyam or union between Jivatma and Paramatma. According to scriptures both Jivatma and Paramatma are one only and because of ignorance we have created a division between them. Through knowledge when we remove this notational division, it is called Jivatma-Paramatma ikyam which is nothing but “Jnanam”. Therefore the primary meaning of the word yoga is jnanam and this is the goal of every jiva. Therefore we call it Sadhya yogah and yoga the destination.  

To reach his goal the scriptures prescribe several disciplines and all those disciplines are also called yogah (more specifically, Sadhana yoga). There are many yogas talked about and we have seen karma yoga which is one type of sadhana yoga, then upasana yoga and then finally jnana yoga which is systematic and consistent study of scriptures like the Gita for a length of time under the guidance of a competent an Acharya. Following these yogas an aspirant will reach the destination, Sadhya yoga, which is jivatma-paramatma ikyam and this is moksha. There is also one more yoga which is very important called “Astanga yoga” as a Sadhana yoga.

Today I want to briefly dwell on this topic of Astanga yoga and otherwise also called Patanjali yoga. Patanjali Maharishi presented Astanga yoga in his well known work “Patanjali Sutra.” This Astanga yoga has two darshanams, the theoretical part, the yoga darsham and the disciplines called yoga sadhanam. Of the two, we don’t take the yoga darshanam in our tradition because it deviates from the Vedic teaching. Therefore the darshanam part is rejected. Vysya while presenting the Vedic darshanam sets aside the yoga darshanam propounded by Patanjali Maharishi. Though we reject the yoga darshanam part of Yoga sutra we accept the other part, yoga sadhana, which is called Astanga yoga. Astanga yoga is accepted as a sadhana by both Vysacharya and Sankaracharya. This Astanga yoga is very useful and beautiful for all the people. I propose to briefly present the principles of Astanga yoga in today’s lecture.

            Patanjali Maharishi present yoga sutra and defines yoga is “Chitta Vritti Nirodah”. Chitta means mind, vritti means function meaning thoughts proliferation or mental function and Nirodha means disciplining or regulating. Therefore Astanga yoga means a scheme for disciplining mental function. Or in simple language yoga means “mental discipline”. We will know the importance of mental discipline if we know two things regarding the mind. We must know the greatness and powerfulness of an internal organ the mind that we are given. Mind is very important and powerful internal organ. We must know the problems faced by the mind also. Mind is the most powerful instrument we have with which we can accomplish all the goals of life; artha, kama, dharma and moksha. Mind is so powerful that we have to use it in all our activities. We have different sense organs for different activities; to see form we have “eyes” and to hear we don’t use “eyes” rather another sense organ the “ears”. Therefore each sense organ is used for a particular area and not always but the mind has to be employed in all the area. Mind is so primary and powerful. Mind has a unique capacity to convert heaven into hell and hell into heaven. A person with every convenience can feel miserable and a person weighed by so many negative things can feel so wonderful. The quality of our life is dependent on the most powerful organ, the mind. All these are the glories of the mind and you can do an archana which in Veda is hiranyagarba upasana.  

The powerful mind also has another dimension; it has a serious problem in its nature. The mind has the nature of producing/generating continuous thoughts without taking permission from us. Without our will, without our permission, without our involvement the mind which is supposed to be our instrument – we are the owner but the mind acts on its own. The mind must produce thoughts of our choosing but its nature is to produce thoughts continuously. The involuntary thoughts is happening even now….(laughter). I have no way of knowing all the involuntary thoughts that are going in the audience and who all are listening to me now. This generation of “continuous involuntary thoughts” is a very serious problem. And because of which several adverse consequences takes place. When there are involuntary thoughts, the thoughts kidnap the mind. And this means the mind is not available for my use. Even though Bhagawan has given me a wonderful mind, I am deprived of the benefit. Like I buy a car for my use and all the family enjoys it. I want to come to the morning class and the car is not there! The most powerful gift god has given us but these involuntary thoughts encroach upon it. There is a property dispute which we are not even aware of. The dispute is who the owner of the mind? Involuntary thoughts are the encroachers that kidnap the mind and the biggest problem is “I don’t have the mind for my use most of the time.” I do all the actions as an absent minded person as a mindless person or “living in absentia.” I go through the entire life because the mind is not available, as a kartha I am inefficient. In all the actions many mistakes are committed as forgetfulness is a problem. I misplace something and waste hours searching for it – always searching for a pen or book or anything. As a Bogtha I cannot even enjoy a beautiful concert in Marghazi season. I am in the auditorium and “I am here but I do not hear” – such absented mindedness and all due to the involuntary thoughts that the mind produces without my permission. As a kartha I fail, as a bogtha I fail, as a pramatha the learner I fail because I don’t listen. I don’t listen because the mind is not behind it. It is engaged elsewhere and robs me of my efficiency. I experience is often: I announce a class in the morning while one or two will come in the evening and find the hall empty. They will call me saying,” Swamiji there is no one.” Case of announcements not registered…..(laughter).

Involuntary thoughts are the greatest enemies we have not recognized. The second problem when these involuntary thoughts are constantly moving in the mind, several times they produce disturbing emotions also. These involuntary thoughts produce toxic emotions like worry, anxiety, fear, depression, regret, hurt, guilt – all these are generated in the mind by the involuntary thought without my invitation. These come and encroach my mind. Even when I ask them to go, they don’t go away. The problem of emotional disturbance is a serious one. When these toxic emotions stay for a long time, I even lose my health. Loss of efficiency is first problem, loss of health is second adverse effect of involuntary thoughts in the mind. In fact many of our modern diseases are caused by a stressful mind. Stress means involuntary thoughts continuously running in my mind and running very very fast. And in the old age when I retire from most activities I own a mind that I don’t really own. I am stuck with a mind I cannot set away, it comes with me wherever I go. Owned by whom actually? Involuntary thoughts! Thoughts keep piling upon one another and all kinds of problems flare up. I call them “FEDEREL” problem. Fe means fear, De for depression, Re is regret and L is loneliness. I am here and the children are away. Even here L stands alone! I am stuck with a mind with FEDEREL problem in old age. My life becomes miserable because of what? I did not realize the problem and seriousness of “involuntary thoughts”.

Astanga yoga is a scheme by which I learn to be aware of this serious problem and take measures to tackling it. As the very word shows, Astanga yoga consists of eight steps. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. The first two are general disciplines and this we have seen in my lecture “The ten commandments of Hindusim”. We will now see the later six disciplines called the yogic meditation. Only when I am aware of this problem of “involuntary thoughts” only then I will be serious to tackling them. These six yogas will let me see whether these involuntary thoughts are the owner of my mind or I am the owner of my mind and capable of giving a job to the mind. Who is the boss? I or the Mind? What are the “Shadaga Yoga”?

The first is “Asanam” in which I sit in a posture deliberately. I sit in a physical posture and am intensely and totally aware of my entire body from top to bottom. I am conscious of the body, I am conscious of the posture, and I consciously relax the body. If I consciously do that it means that my mind is available for that job I have set for it. Incidentally it will help in relaxing also. This is asanam or consciously being seated. The whole principle of Astanga Yoga is deliberate and conscious action.

The second step is “Pranayama” – consciously and slowing breathing and being intensely aware of the breathing process. Conscious and slow inhalation and exhalation and making sure my mind is aware doing this job deliberately. If I do both “Asanam” and “Pranayama” I have used my mind and the “flow of involuntary thoughts” would go away. Because I have taken possession of my mind doing them deliberately; I have snatched my mind from wandering and for a moment free from the terrible and powerful involuntary thoughts. By consciously doing “asanam” and consciously doing “pranayama” I am exerting my ownership of my own mind. And if have succeeded in snatching my mind from involuntary thoughts I have come to “Pratyahara”.

Pratyahara means retrieving, bringing back from the clutches of involuntary thoughts; indicating I am the original owner of the mind but unfortunately the mind had been owned by involuntary thoughts. We try retrieving the mind for 15 minutes by being aware of this serious problems and deciding to take steps.

Having retrieved the mind in the third step, I continue to make sure I own the mind. If I don’t take any step then the involuntary thoughts are waiting there. You will retrieve your mind for a minute and these thoughts would swamp you under. These are most powerful internal enemies. So after retrieving the mind in the third step, I continue to give a job to the mind. I suggest whatever prayer you know in any language by-heart; say it mentally with a lot of deliberation. That you chant mentally with total awareness. It may be a guru strotram, it maybe Gita dhyanam or Shiva manasa puja by being aware of every word; like you are hearing yourself or the words appearing in your mind screen. You don’t have to think of the meaning for this a shabda pradhana manasa parayanam. I should be aware of every word for 5 minutes only. When I am doing that I am only extending my attention; dharanam is attention in a particular area and then I go to the next step “Dhyanam”.

            “Dyanam” is remaining in that thought for a length of time, maybe 5 or 10 minutes. Dharana is attention while Dhyanam is attention span. Many people have attention but they don’t have attention span. In any lecture they will be attentive for ten minutes and after that OUT. They will then look around, exclaim that there is a good crowd and start looking for the face of your friend in the audience! And all this happens without your permission – involuntary thoughts can take your attention away at will.  If one can listen to a 60 minute lecture with attention then that mind has a converging power. Dyanam is these thoughts must continue in the same field.

If Dyanam determines the length of attention the last part is “Samadhi”; which is the depth of attention. How deep and total my attention is? Samadhi means “absorption” and if I can have my mind absorbed in the field I have provided. We are not talking about one hour now; we are only seeing if we can remain aware in one thought for five minutes. What is the yardstick that you are absorbed totally? In that case you will forget the surroundings; I don’t hear anything, I don’t smell anything (in the neighborhood they may be preparing masala vada!). In Samadhi I am ignorant of the world; it is called Savi Kalpaka Samadhi. Not only do I forget surroundings, I forget myself also. This total self-absorption is called Nirvilpaka Samadhi. These six steps put together is called Shadaga Yoga Abyasa. When we practice them we will know whether we are the owners of our mind or the involuntary thoughts own our mind. If we don’t practice this yoga we will never know the seriousness of this problem. And if we don’t diagnose the problem how can we attempt a solution?  

Therefore we go through Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi for ten or fifteen minutes and by that time we will know where we stand; whether I am yogi or a rogi (manasa roga). Manasa roga is called samsara roga. Once you discover this problem then you will need a sankalpa – “Acknowledge I have this problem of involuntary thoughts” and these become masters of my mind. Now I have to get back my property back by defeating these involuntary thoughts. When my war becomes with my involuntary thoughts then I am called an “Astanga Yogi”. This war is not with my family members or any external actor but with my own involuntary thoughts. I take a strong sankalpa that I will live an alert and conscious life. I will watch involuntary thoughts and gradually reduce them and slowly they become weaker. They may not be totally removed but I can achieve an FIR reduction – frequency and intensity of reaction. How frequent are the involuntary thoughts that snatch away the mind and the intensity of these involuntary thoughts that rob my mind and how long these involuntary thoughts lasts; I will be alert and vigilant. My goal would be reduce involuntary thoughts and they must become weaker while I must become stronger and owner of my own mind.

And what are the steps to lead an alert life? The shadaga yoga will help me become a master of my own mind and it is called “Karma Yoga”. Karma yoga not only includes doing the duty, not only includes Ishwara Arpanam, and Prasada Bhavana; Karma yoga includes according to Sankara’s Bashyam Samadhi or Shadaga yoga. This Astanga yoga is integral part of Karma yoga which is spending some time to find out where my mind is and try to lead an alert life. As Krishna says: traigunya-visaya veda, nistraigunyo bhavarjuna, nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho, niryoga-ksema atmavan by leading a mindful life. Even in Buddhism they talk about “Right Mindfulness”. Which means whenever you are doing an action, do them consciously. When we do actions consciously we have two-fold advantages: when I am deliberate my efficiency improves (if you place your pen or book consciously then you will not have to search for them), as opposed to doing actions mechanically where involuntary thoughts proliferate. So one method of defeating involuntary thoughts is by being deliberate in one’s actions; before we start the class we chant guru strotram. Now see whether you can chant deliberately, or mouth chants and the mind rants! So the first benefit of deliberate action is we become efficacious and we make fewer and fewer mistakes. Even in giving cheques you will put the year properly or you will still be used to 2013 even this year. Why? When I put the date my mind is not there. I am telling this so that you write your cheques from today on….(laughs). Conscious actions will make me efficient, the second benefit is we win our war against the most powerful enemy which is “involuntary thoughts”. Krishna calls all the conscious actions as “Sattvic” actions. Mechanical chanting or mechanical puja is “Rajasic” karma; so increase your Sattva guna.

For regular chores like walking you don’t have to be deliberately conscious whether it is right or left leg. But in India, you better be conscious you don’t where there is a gutter! Therefore walking must be yoga in India! Especially if you are old, or you will land up in a hospital with a fracture. Because of what? Actions are mechanical. You place your feet after purifying them with your Dhristi, then even walking becomes a yoga. But if you are doing a regular chore and acting mechanically then have a programme for your mind otherwise involuntary thoughts will take over. Learn some slokas and repeat. The sloka which have to chant consciously, recently learnt sloka. If you know Vishnu Shastra Namam then you don’t chant that; then it becomes mechanical and involuntary thoughts will be generated. So have some conscious action by learning new slokas. By repeating them constantly and with alertness, you will learn them by-heart. Once they also become mechanical, learn a new set of slokas. You must have some conscious action ready for utilization to defeat the involuntary thoughts. Ultimately a successful person is one who is the owner of this own mind. So what is Astanga Yoga? It is winning the property dispute after several years; it is the longest war more than 30 years in a land dispute and involving Indian courts. My property is my own mind. And I can accomplish all the goals like Artha, Kama, Dharma and Moksha with such a mind.

Once I reduce involuntary thoughts I gain freedom from worrying habits. New Year starts and it is called Janworry …..(laughs). Freedom from habitual worry, habitual anxiety, habitual depression; all these problems are because of mechanical life. And we try to solve these problems by prayers and these prayers are done mechanically! The problem is mechanical and we add to the problem by Temple visit, mechanical. Puja, mechanical. Vedantic meditation, mechanical. Break mechanicalness and own your mind. This is a fantastic scheme presented by Patanjali Maharishi through the Shadaga yogah. Which I consider very important during the New Year by waging war with involuntary thoughts

I will briefly mention the first two steps Yama and Niyama which is a set of rules given in the form of Ten Commandments. I have dealt with them earlier; I will briefly list out the ten values that have to be observed if you are a serious spiritual seeker. For success both shadaga yoga and these two together is extremely important. Yama is observance of five values: Ahimsa (non-violence), Satyam (truthfulness), Asteyam (not owning any illegitimate property), Brahmacharyam (following the sexual morality), and Aparigraha (not possessing too much, which is a simple life). The five Niyamas are: Shoucham (cleanliness in word and deed), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (moderation), Svadhyaya (Scriptural Study), and Ishwarapranidanam (Surrender to the Lord). These ten values along with Shadaga yoga will give spiritual success. With this I conclude and wish you success in your war against involuntary thoughts in 2014.