Thursday, November 16, 2006

 

GITA 108 DAYS - DAY 38

38. One who believes in God is as good as dead

One who believes in God is a dead person. The main problem of the world is that we are all God-believers. In belief there is always doubt! We must become God inquirers. If we inquire diligently we will understand it. Once you know it, there will be no sin, virtue, pleasure, pain, mantras, pilgrimage, Vedas, teachers or disciples.

Those who are diligently attentive, and who has control over his senses gain wisdom. This ‘knowledge’ is capable of imparting ultimate peace. When you are diligent, there will be questions and inquiries. The diligence comes out of love. Those who are inquisitive about the ultimate truth, should have the diligence of a mother in inquiring about her infant child.

Yagna of knowledge is superior to the material yagna. Owner of material wealth is always fearful of losing it. But all actions end up in gaining knowledge. Knowledge is indeed freedom and lack of knowledge is dependence. One would get the knowledge by submitting the ego by full body prostration to the source. A mind thus prepared will be calm and serene and such a mind produces healthy and relevant questions.

With an attitude of reverence and service one must approach the source (place, teacher) where he may be able to gain this knowledge. Then visionaries will inspire the seeker with the knowledge he is seeking. No one can deny knowledge to a student. Bhagavad Gita accepts everyone, including the worst sinner. The 'university of Bhagavad Gita' is always open – anyone can come in and go out in complete freedom.

Past actions or mistakes need not hinder this inquiry as even the worst sinner can cross the sea of samsara (confusion, i.e. the sea of the physical world of plurality) by the boat of knowledge. All ‘actions’ and their effects will be burnt in to ashes in the fire of knowledge. There is nothing else in the world as sacred as the knowledge. Yogis realize this over time on their own within their self. This is the knowledge of self and the realization that there is nothing out there other than the self. Finally he comes to realize that even the knowledge he is seeking is not separate from his own self. There is nobody ‘out there’ sitting ready to make your life better or miserable.

 

GITA 108 DAYS - DAY 37

37 All actions are worship of the Brahman

All actions are worship of the Brahman and therefor are conidered yagna. Yagna is doing an action with no 'doership'. The notion of “I am submitting “is wrong because in complete submission, there is no ‘I”.

Oblation in a yagna is Brahman. The material (haviss) that is placed in the yagna fire is also Brahman. Fire is Brahman and the person placing the haviss is also Brahman. The ultimate realization and the path to achieve that is also Brahman. The seeker, the sought, the goal and the methods are all Brahman itself. Whatever we do is Brahman. The Lord is within ourselves, although we seem to seek Him outside. One should realize the yagna that is taking place inside of us more than the external yagna and oblations that feed the yagna fire. In the inner yagna, one should burn the fire of self control in order to submit the oblations of sensory desires.

Different people conduct yagna in their own unique ways. Some people consider God as the aim and path of yagna and fill their inner self with godly wealth and thus get rid of demonic impulses. Some others make the yagna itself as the path and the goal. Some control their senses and others control their mind. Some people submit their thoughts and other sensory activities in the body including the life forces as oblations in the fire of self control. Some people take up charitable missions and thus submit oblations of materials in yagna. Some people are engaged in the yagna of contemplation and penance. Some are in the yagna of teaching others and others do yoga as their yagna. There are people who lead a noble life by controlling their breath (pranayama) and food habits. These widely varying activities are all intended for the benefit of the world and are bonafide yagnas. All these will help create a better world.

Those who eat the remnants of yagna for their sustenance reach the ultimate goal. (All that we enjoy are results of yagnas- even the movies we watch are ‘yagna sishta’ and we should enjoy all with this awareness.) For those who do not participate in yagna, there is no world, then how can he get liberated? The different kinds of yagnas are all expounded in the Vedas and they are all borne out of Karmas. Those who know this will get liberated. So we should do all our actions with the attitude of worshipping Brahman. Karma (action) and jnana (knowledge) are the two wings of a bird. If one is broken the bird cannot soar and reach its goal.

 

GITA 108 DAYS- DAY 36

36. Vision of Karma and Akarma

“Actions do not influence me and so I don’t have any desire in the fruits of actions”. If one realizes himself in this way, he will not get bound by any actions. There are different types of actions. Actions with no notion of doership, actions with wrong notions (asad bhava karma) about it and actions with the notion of doership. There are also actions done with the right attitude (sad bhava karmas) of two kinds – kartthavya and akartthavvya karmas. Last type is the actions that are forbidden (vikarmmas).

Those who sees ‘akarmma’ (Brahman) in the universe that is moved by actions, and in that Brahman observes the dynamism of actions is indeed a wise man. He is a yogi who does his actions in its completeness. Each movement occurs in the universe in the realm of consciousness which is motionless and in each movement exist the consciousness. Lord Krishna expounds the same thing in a different way through the verse “chatur varnnyam mayaa srishtam…”

When a transparent disc with different colors around it is rotated in front of a light source, lights of different colors fall on the stage. The light emanating from the bulb is colorless, but colors are created by the colored sheets on the disc. The multitudes of colors are ‘created’ by the bulb, but at the same time, they are ‘not created’ by the bulb. The bulb says: “chatur varnnyam mayaa srishtam….”

Likewise, all notions of various characteristics have been created by the Lord (consciousness). He is the ‘doer’ as well as the ‘non-doer’ of them. Bhagavad-Gita is not giving legitimacy to any kind of caste systems here. Gita proclaims that one should teach others that which would free us from all that are inauspicious. But if we practice the caste system as we know now, we will never get liberated.

Men of wisdom should burn all their desires in the fire of knowledge. Those who work without wishing for the fruit of actions and without depending on anything, is not ‘doing’ any actions. When takes up an action with his consciousness as the witness, for the sake of his body’s existence leaving out all possessiveness and with out any desires, he doesn’t get entangled in the bondage of action (karma bandha)

Be contented with whatever comes in your way. Be aware of the dualities of pleasure–pain, happiness-sorrow, and gain-loss, and rise above their influences. Actions by those who are steadfast and devoid of selfish competitions whether they get something or not, are indeed a service to the whole world.

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