Thursday, August 24, 2006
GITA 108 DAYS DAY 35
35. Who is a Brahmana? What is ‘karma’ and ‘akarma’?
The particular verse in the Bhagavad Gita: “chatur varnnyam maya srishTam…” is a highly misunderstood and mis-interpreted one. Even if one explained it as referring to the four castes - Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra, the question remains – who is a brahmana?. “Vasoochokopanishad” is a scripture based on this very question. The life force, body, caste, knowledge, occupation or righteousness do not make one a brahmana.
Every body has one life force and so, that cannot make one a brahmana. All bodies are made up of the five elements and so, the body cannot give one the title of brahmana. According to scriptures, creatures other than human beings gave birth to even sages. Sage Rishya Srimga was born from a deer and the Sage Kausika was born from a type of grass. Sage Jambooka was born from a fox and Sage Agasthya from a pot. These instances tell us that the birth and caste of a person do not have anything to do with his “Brahmana-hood”. People of all walks of life get educated and do their karmas. They also live righteously. So Brahmana-hood does not depend on them either. Brahmana is the one who has gone beyond the influences of castes, characteristics (three gunas), karma, thirst, hunger, ageing, death, birth, growth, depletion, and destruction, etc. and devoid of sorrow, delusion, transformation, etc. He has realized the ultimate – that is the essence inside and outside of everything like space is; that is the substratum of all; that is of the nature of truth, existence, consciousness, knowledge and bliss. He is adept in the “science of the self" as one would be fully knowledgeable of the gooseberry held in one’s own palm. He is at peace with himself. The four-fold classification can also be done based on the work we do for a living- intellectuals, protectors, business men and service men. One should look at all jobs as virtuous.
Take our body- various parts of it can be divided in to four. Head, as the seat of intelligence is Brahmana; the hands that protect us are Kshatriyas; the thighs that sustain us are Vaisyas; and the legs that support us are Sudras. Here, think of the action of hands massaging the legs when they get tired after a hard days work! Think also about the lotus feet of the Lord that we prostrate. One can understand truth in four ways through the senses- smell by nose, effulgence by eyes, air by ears and the dampness through skin. If we put a lamp inside a pot with a number of holes, people would see and perceive light in the shape of those holes. The light inside the pot is the reason behind the shape, but the light itself is devoid of any shape.
The Lord says- due to the variety of characteristics and forms, I appear in four different ways. I am the 'doer' as well as the 'non-doer' of this arrangement. This is the meaning of the verse in Bhagavad Gita. The inner consciousness (the Lord) explains to us that, all that are perceived through the sense organs are created by me; but they are not me.
The particular verse in the Bhagavad Gita: “chatur varnnyam maya srishTam…” is a highly misunderstood and mis-interpreted one. Even if one explained it as referring to the four castes - Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra, the question remains – who is a brahmana?. “Vasoochokopanishad” is a scripture based on this very question. The life force, body, caste, knowledge, occupation or righteousness do not make one a brahmana.
Every body has one life force and so, that cannot make one a brahmana. All bodies are made up of the five elements and so, the body cannot give one the title of brahmana. According to scriptures, creatures other than human beings gave birth to even sages. Sage Rishya Srimga was born from a deer and the Sage Kausika was born from a type of grass. Sage Jambooka was born from a fox and Sage Agasthya from a pot. These instances tell us that the birth and caste of a person do not have anything to do with his “Brahmana-hood”. People of all walks of life get educated and do their karmas. They also live righteously. So Brahmana-hood does not depend on them either. Brahmana is the one who has gone beyond the influences of castes, characteristics (three gunas), karma, thirst, hunger, ageing, death, birth, growth, depletion, and destruction, etc. and devoid of sorrow, delusion, transformation, etc. He has realized the ultimate – that is the essence inside and outside of everything like space is; that is the substratum of all; that is of the nature of truth, existence, consciousness, knowledge and bliss. He is adept in the “science of the self" as one would be fully knowledgeable of the gooseberry held in one’s own palm. He is at peace with himself. The four-fold classification can also be done based on the work we do for a living- intellectuals, protectors, business men and service men. One should look at all jobs as virtuous.
Take our body- various parts of it can be divided in to four. Head, as the seat of intelligence is Brahmana; the hands that protect us are Kshatriyas; the thighs that sustain us are Vaisyas; and the legs that support us are Sudras. Here, think of the action of hands massaging the legs when they get tired after a hard days work! Think also about the lotus feet of the Lord that we prostrate. One can understand truth in four ways through the senses- smell by nose, effulgence by eyes, air by ears and the dampness through skin. If we put a lamp inside a pot with a number of holes, people would see and perceive light in the shape of those holes. The light inside the pot is the reason behind the shape, but the light itself is devoid of any shape.
The Lord says- due to the variety of characteristics and forms, I appear in four different ways. I am the 'doer' as well as the 'non-doer' of this arrangement. This is the meaning of the verse in Bhagavad Gita. The inner consciousness (the Lord) explains to us that, all that are perceived through the sense organs are created by me; but they are not me.
Monday, August 21, 2006
GITA 108 DAYS - DAY 34
34. Fear disappears when we are Alert
In the contemplative state of meditation we become alert and aware. When we do anything with awareness, there is no fear possible. From the fear enimity and war are generated-do not approach the Lord with fear. Once we know everything as the One, then there is no fear towards anything and anyone. In Gita, the Lord explains four kinds of the liberation- salokyam, saameepyam, saroopyam, & sayoojyam. Salokyam is the state in which we continue to see and experience the Truth without the influence of likes, dislikes & anger. Sameepyam is where we sit close to the Lord and serve him. There is no point in searching for someone at distant places when he is already very close. Know that the nature indeed is God. Third one is to attain the form of the Lord- Saaroopyam. Sayoojyam refers to a state where one becomes one with the Lord. This is the ultimate aim.
We are all serving and extolling God with a name and a form, and we will be able to attain the Truth through this as well. Continuous chanting of the Lord's name will make you forget the name. Any one repeating 'Rama.. Rama' will end up chanting Mara.. Mara..- you don't need to be a SageValmiki to do that. The one who stays put at Rama..Rama.. is not evolving -he is not improving. In chanting the Rama mantra, the one pointed attention is to maintain the name intact. But as the name gets upside down, the name and the chanter of the name become one and the same. There Rama takes birth as consciousness. Similarly when we continuously serve the form of the Lord, eventually the form disappears and He becomes formless. The word vi-graha (deity) is to mean the entity that enables us to grasp a greater vision in an auspicious manner.
Gita is not meant to be learnt by-heart -verse after verse. It is intended to create a transformation in us. There is no point in serving the Lord if that is not going to make useful changes in our daily life. Gita provides us with the answers to our doubts in times of mental conflicts and calamity. Its verses are replies provided by the consciousness (aham) of the total mind of the universe.
The Lord blesses his devotees most appropriately and adequately, in the ways they want him to bless them. All our present experiences -without an exception- are the results of our asking.
In the contemplative state of meditation we become alert and aware. When we do anything with awareness, there is no fear possible. From the fear enimity and war are generated-do not approach the Lord with fear. Once we know everything as the One, then there is no fear towards anything and anyone. In Gita, the Lord explains four kinds of the liberation- salokyam, saameepyam, saroopyam, & sayoojyam. Salokyam is the state in which we continue to see and experience the Truth without the influence of likes, dislikes & anger. Sameepyam is where we sit close to the Lord and serve him. There is no point in searching for someone at distant places when he is already very close. Know that the nature indeed is God. Third one is to attain the form of the Lord- Saaroopyam. Sayoojyam refers to a state where one becomes one with the Lord. This is the ultimate aim.
We are all serving and extolling God with a name and a form, and we will be able to attain the Truth through this as well. Continuous chanting of the Lord's name will make you forget the name. Any one repeating 'Rama.. Rama' will end up chanting Mara.. Mara..- you don't need to be a SageValmiki to do that. The one who stays put at Rama..Rama.. is not evolving -he is not improving. In chanting the Rama mantra, the one pointed attention is to maintain the name intact. But as the name gets upside down, the name and the chanter of the name become one and the same. There Rama takes birth as consciousness. Similarly when we continuously serve the form of the Lord, eventually the form disappears and He becomes formless. The word vi-graha (deity) is to mean the entity that enables us to grasp a greater vision in an auspicious manner.
Gita is not meant to be learnt by-heart -verse after verse. It is intended to create a transformation in us. There is no point in serving the Lord if that is not going to make useful changes in our daily life. Gita provides us with the answers to our doubts in times of mental conflicts and calamity. Its verses are replies provided by the consciousness (aham) of the total mind of the universe.
The Lord blesses his devotees most appropriately and adequately, in the ways they want him to bless them. All our present experiences -without an exception- are the results of our asking.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
GITA 108 DAYS - DAY 33
33. It is in our minds that the Lord takes birth
The lord’s assurance is that “whenever there is a decline in Dharma, I will take birth”. Adhrama happens not in a particular geographical area, but it is in the minds of each and every one of us. So also, the Lord takes birth in our minds. The decline of Dharma happens within an individual’s mind and there the Lord takes birth as consciousness. Lord has no special interest in this earth to take birth physically in a particular place!
The birth of consciousness as a premonition that stops us from taking a wrongful action is none other than the Lord himself. It is the Dharma bodha (dharma consciousness) that creates mental conflicts when we are about to tell lies, for example. The Lord declared that He will manifest incessantly to annihilate adharmas and to establish dharma in the world. We are all noble, but our actions may take good or bad turns. The Lord does not call us sinners or evil, but we are capable of doing evil acts. When we are awakened by the continuous dharma consciousness, we will naturally stay away from any wrong doings. This is what the Lord does in us - his birth (reincarnation) and actions are for creating this awareness in us. If we ‘know’ the truth behind the Lord’s incarnations, he will not have any more births. With this revelation, one comes to realize that “I am not this body” and with this realization, one gets liberated from the birth-death cycle. The Lord’s weapon is ‘Sudarsana’, meaning ‘auspicious vision’. With this vision, he annihilates all evil tendencies in us.
The Lord tells us: “I had taught the secrets regarding karma & jnana (action and knowledge) to Sun, and he taught them to Manu. Manu advised Ishwaku on this, but the knowledge got lost eventually. Now I am declaring it again for your benefit”. Here the Lord is the consciousness and the consciousness advised the intellect (Sun) and he passed this knowledge to his son, Manu, the mind. The mind disseminated the secret to the five senses as they are in charge of undertaking actions. Senses are kings, but they lost this knowledge. King Dritarashtra is the symbol of the king who lost this secret knowledge of yogic wisdom.
The conflict between the dharma and adharma happens in our mind. Our body is the field to act out dharma and the root cause of war is the notion of ‘I’ ness and ‘my’ ness. One should think “what all did I do selflessly in my actions?” Pandawas represent people who do dharmic actions and stay away from adharmic actions based on their knowledge. Kauravas are those who do not undertake dharmic actions but choose to undertake adharmic actions despite having appropriate knowledge. In this conflict, people who have prepared their minds ready to give birth to the Lord (consciousness) will realize the ultimate Truth and they are sure to get liberated.
The lord’s assurance is that “whenever there is a decline in Dharma, I will take birth”. Adhrama happens not in a particular geographical area, but it is in the minds of each and every one of us. So also, the Lord takes birth in our minds. The decline of Dharma happens within an individual’s mind and there the Lord takes birth as consciousness. Lord has no special interest in this earth to take birth physically in a particular place!
The birth of consciousness as a premonition that stops us from taking a wrongful action is none other than the Lord himself. It is the Dharma bodha (dharma consciousness) that creates mental conflicts when we are about to tell lies, for example. The Lord declared that He will manifest incessantly to annihilate adharmas and to establish dharma in the world. We are all noble, but our actions may take good or bad turns. The Lord does not call us sinners or evil, but we are capable of doing evil acts. When we are awakened by the continuous dharma consciousness, we will naturally stay away from any wrong doings. This is what the Lord does in us - his birth (reincarnation) and actions are for creating this awareness in us. If we ‘know’ the truth behind the Lord’s incarnations, he will not have any more births. With this revelation, one comes to realize that “I am not this body” and with this realization, one gets liberated from the birth-death cycle. The Lord’s weapon is ‘Sudarsana’, meaning ‘auspicious vision’. With this vision, he annihilates all evil tendencies in us.
The Lord tells us: “I had taught the secrets regarding karma & jnana (action and knowledge) to Sun, and he taught them to Manu. Manu advised Ishwaku on this, but the knowledge got lost eventually. Now I am declaring it again for your benefit”. Here the Lord is the consciousness and the consciousness advised the intellect (Sun) and he passed this knowledge to his son, Manu, the mind. The mind disseminated the secret to the five senses as they are in charge of undertaking actions. Senses are kings, but they lost this knowledge. King Dritarashtra is the symbol of the king who lost this secret knowledge of yogic wisdom.
The conflict between the dharma and adharma happens in our mind. Our body is the field to act out dharma and the root cause of war is the notion of ‘I’ ness and ‘my’ ness. One should think “what all did I do selflessly in my actions?” Pandawas represent people who do dharmic actions and stay away from adharmic actions based on their knowledge. Kauravas are those who do not undertake dharmic actions but choose to undertake adharmic actions despite having appropriate knowledge. In this conflict, people who have prepared their minds ready to give birth to the Lord (consciousness) will realize the ultimate Truth and they are sure to get liberated.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
GITA 108 DAYS - DAY 32
32. Desires are behind the sins
Arjuna’s doubt was that ‘who’ makes everyone commits these horrible sins? Lord Krishna replied that the sins are due to the endless desires born out of ‘rajo guna’. It is the desire that makes people to commit sinful actions.
The Indian philosophy doesn’t preach us to deny desires, but the desires must be in accordance with dharma. If we fulfill certain desires by the single pointed attention of the mind and the intellect, those will be a blessing to the whole world. Assess all desires –whether they are dharmic or not. If it is according to dharma, one can earn any amount of wealth or perform any action. If the fulfilling a desire is the goal, check to see if the way to achieve that is dharmic or not.
If we undertake a wrong action to fulfill a desire, it will result in a fall and behind all our sorrows, there is a desire. Desires and rage due to non-fulfillment of desires are man’s enemies.
Truth has been concealed in different levels - at intellectual, mental and at the sense level. Intellectually, it is like the ash covering the fire. If we blow a little, we can reveal the fire. Mentally, it is like a dirty mirror. One should work hard to wipe clean the mirror. At the sense level, it is like the baby in the womb, covered by the skin bag, that only the time can remove. Everyone has the ability and power to remove the cover and find the truth. We just have to work a little.
For a wise man, his prime enemy is the desires that conceal the knowledge of the self. We run after money thinking that it can fulfill our desires, but these journeys create more afflictions in us. Winning over the senses doesn’t mean that we should suppress the senses because forceful control of the senses will create more problems and illness. It is about observing everything from a standpoint beyond the sway of the senses. With that vision, one should annihilate those desires destroying our knowledge and experience.
Senses are great indeed. Greater than senses is the mind and the intellect is the greatest of the three. But these three are abodes of desires. But the noblest of all is the ‘self’ and everyone should know this eternal Truth.
Arjuna’s doubt was that ‘who’ makes everyone commits these horrible sins? Lord Krishna replied that the sins are due to the endless desires born out of ‘rajo guna’. It is the desire that makes people to commit sinful actions.
The Indian philosophy doesn’t preach us to deny desires, but the desires must be in accordance with dharma. If we fulfill certain desires by the single pointed attention of the mind and the intellect, those will be a blessing to the whole world. Assess all desires –whether they are dharmic or not. If it is according to dharma, one can earn any amount of wealth or perform any action. If the fulfilling a desire is the goal, check to see if the way to achieve that is dharmic or not.
If we undertake a wrong action to fulfill a desire, it will result in a fall and behind all our sorrows, there is a desire. Desires and rage due to non-fulfillment of desires are man’s enemies.
Truth has been concealed in different levels - at intellectual, mental and at the sense level. Intellectually, it is like the ash covering the fire. If we blow a little, we can reveal the fire. Mentally, it is like a dirty mirror. One should work hard to wipe clean the mirror. At the sense level, it is like the baby in the womb, covered by the skin bag, that only the time can remove. Everyone has the ability and power to remove the cover and find the truth. We just have to work a little.
For a wise man, his prime enemy is the desires that conceal the knowledge of the self. We run after money thinking that it can fulfill our desires, but these journeys create more afflictions in us. Winning over the senses doesn’t mean that we should suppress the senses because forceful control of the senses will create more problems and illness. It is about observing everything from a standpoint beyond the sway of the senses. With that vision, one should annihilate those desires destroying our knowledge and experience.
Senses are great indeed. Greater than senses is the mind and the intellect is the greatest of the three. But these three are abodes of desires. But the noblest of all is the ‘self’ and everyone should know this eternal Truth.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
GITA 108 DAYS- DAY 31
31. We are not equal; we are incomparable
Lord does not declare that we are all equal, but he expounds that we are incomparable!. You, I, and whatever we see are all eternal. They don’t have a state of non-existence, because the basic nature of everything is existence itself. In the body level, death happens in the same way as a child transforms through adolescence, youth, middle and old ages. It is just a change of state. Men of courage do not get deluded in this. Being courageous is, not to do anything with out the full awareness what is being done. Nothing can confuse the mind of a man who has realized the ephemeral nature of pleasure and pain and developed equanimity towards them. (In Vedanta, man and woman are synonymous)
Gita’s attitude is, “let us enquire first if there is life after birth, then let us see if there is life after death”. Observe everything carefully- reminiscing about our own childhood or pointing an old photo to say, ‘that is me’, etc., are observing the self from a distance. Bring that observation to the present time as well -cry if you feel like it and laugh when you feel like laughing. Be ready even to die at any moment and accept everything as provided by the nature wholeheartedly, without any complaint. A wise man will never even ask the Lord to “take me away without making me suffer in my death bed”.
Ask some one whose legs have been amputated to see if his ‘I’ awareness has been injured. This one example is good enough to see that this ‘I’ is beyond the body. When a tree is born, it is not the death of a seed, but it is the fulfillment of the seed’s life. In life, we see continuous transformation of the body. Life not like a train that goes through a fixed track, but it is like the flow of the river Ganges. It flows through the forests and mountains, making a lot of changes in its path, snaking through valleys and plains, carrying and depositing a lot of things in the journey.
It is true that the body will disintegrate, but it has its own duties (dharma) to fulfill. If those dharma expounded in the Upanishads are to manifest in me, my senses must be energetic. If one suppresses his senses and deny the existence of his body, he will not be able to follow dharma as these are mutually compatible. A citizen of Bharath should be able to find bliss through knowledge – not by calling out “Bharath matha ki Jai” slogan adorning a nice sandal wood paste on his forehead. Gita teaches us to learn to know and suffer without vengeance. We should be steadfast like a mountain or deep sea. There is no use in visiting temples if we do not know the import of such pilgrimages. The temple helps me developing self-awareness knowing the symbolic nature of the deity, i.e., it represents the Lord within me. This is where we belong. If we don’t occupy the rightful place where we should, others will take over the place and that will lead to all kinds of problems. Sage Vyasa does not ask us to join any side. Gita’s aim is to make us see ourselves and develop further, not to assess or criticize others.
Lord does not declare that we are all equal, but he expounds that we are incomparable!. You, I, and whatever we see are all eternal. They don’t have a state of non-existence, because the basic nature of everything is existence itself. In the body level, death happens in the same way as a child transforms through adolescence, youth, middle and old ages. It is just a change of state. Men of courage do not get deluded in this. Being courageous is, not to do anything with out the full awareness what is being done. Nothing can confuse the mind of a man who has realized the ephemeral nature of pleasure and pain and developed equanimity towards them. (In Vedanta, man and woman are synonymous)
Gita’s attitude is, “let us enquire first if there is life after birth, then let us see if there is life after death”. Observe everything carefully- reminiscing about our own childhood or pointing an old photo to say, ‘that is me’, etc., are observing the self from a distance. Bring that observation to the present time as well -cry if you feel like it and laugh when you feel like laughing. Be ready even to die at any moment and accept everything as provided by the nature wholeheartedly, without any complaint. A wise man will never even ask the Lord to “take me away without making me suffer in my death bed”.
Ask some one whose legs have been amputated to see if his ‘I’ awareness has been injured. This one example is good enough to see that this ‘I’ is beyond the body. When a tree is born, it is not the death of a seed, but it is the fulfillment of the seed’s life. In life, we see continuous transformation of the body. Life not like a train that goes through a fixed track, but it is like the flow of the river Ganges. It flows through the forests and mountains, making a lot of changes in its path, snaking through valleys and plains, carrying and depositing a lot of things in the journey.
It is true that the body will disintegrate, but it has its own duties (dharma) to fulfill. If those dharma expounded in the Upanishads are to manifest in me, my senses must be energetic. If one suppresses his senses and deny the existence of his body, he will not be able to follow dharma as these are mutually compatible. A citizen of Bharath should be able to find bliss through knowledge – not by calling out “Bharath matha ki Jai” slogan adorning a nice sandal wood paste on his forehead. Gita teaches us to learn to know and suffer without vengeance. We should be steadfast like a mountain or deep sea. There is no use in visiting temples if we do not know the import of such pilgrimages. The temple helps me developing self-awareness knowing the symbolic nature of the deity, i.e., it represents the Lord within me. This is where we belong. If we don’t occupy the rightful place where we should, others will take over the place and that will lead to all kinds of problems. Sage Vyasa does not ask us to join any side. Gita’s aim is to make us see ourselves and develop further, not to assess or criticize others.
