View source for Bhagavad Gita Ch18 part 27 on 19 March 2022

== Full Transcript(Not Corrected) ==
Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum
Adapatmetayo Sritva Pranamami Mohor Moho
Om Vasudevasutam Devam Kamsachanuram Ardhanam
Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum
Sarvopanishadogavo Dogdha Gopalanandana
Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dogdham Geetam Ritam Mahat
Mookam Karothi Vachalam Pangum Langayate Girim
Yath Kripathamaham Vande Paramanandamadham
In our last class we had been seeing the Lord is about to tell how one can attain to that supreme reality called Brahman.
So for that he had outlined 17 spiritual qualities that need to be developed very briefly about 12 qualities
rather in 12 numbers only I have spoken including the other 5 too.
Now we are entering into the 50th verse.
Siddhim Praptah Yatha Brahma Tatha Pnoti Nibodhame
Samasena Eva Kaunteya Nishtha Jnanasya Ya Para
How he a sadhaka who has attained perfection reaches Brahman
reaches means attains self-knowledge the knowledge that I am Brahman
about that matter in brief please learn from me
Kaunteya that supreme state of knowledge Krishna here uses very important word
Siddhim Praptah having attained Siddhi.
This word Siddhi can be translated as attainment of perfection
but perfection of what we can say this person had attained perfection of self-knowledge
that means he attained Brahman that means he became free that is one meaning
other meaning is here is a person whose chitta mind antah karana inner organ has become very pure
he is hundred percent convinced that God realization alone is the only goal of life.
So having attained to that state having almost bid goodbye to all the attachments in the world
he will be still in the world because the body mind will be in the world
but he is not of the world this is the state before God realization
which becomes very natural after God realization.
This is also called in other words becoming an Adhikari.
Siddhim Praptah means having become an adequate person to undertake exclusive spiritual disciplines
and especially taking to the life of either Vanaprasthashyama or most likely Sanyasashyama.
So Oh Arjuna now such a person is ready how did he become ready?
Earlier we have seen the Lord said whatever may be the caste the class to which a human being may belong
whatever may be the type of activities if he is a teacher he will be teaching
if he is a cook he will be cooking if he is a cultivator he will be cultivating
if he is a soldier he will be fighting and killing
if he is a hunter he will be killing animals and selling them.
No activity is a bird so that we can transform every activity into spiritual activity
into a yoga that is called Karma Yoga that is the secret of Karma Yoga.
That's why Swami Vivekananda brought two very important ideas in his marvelous book
incomparable book Karma Yoga.
First idea is there is nobody who is superior to anybody.
A Sanyasi is not a superior to a Grihastha.
A Grihastha is of course not superior to a Sanyasin.
A Brahmachari is not superior to a Sanyasi.
Sanyasi is not a superior to a Brahmachari.
No varna, no ashrama, no stage, no activity by itself is either good or evil.
Any activity at any stage of life in any class of human being can transform itself into perfect means.
How?
Thinking that oh lord you made me like this, you allotted me these duties, you are the lord, ruler of this universe.
I know that.
I will gladly do this because everybody is just good in his or her own activity
and that's what Swami Vivekananda said in his practical Vedanta.
A housewife will be the best Vedantin housewife.
A cook will be best Vedantin cook.
A student will be best Vedantin student.
Any stage of life is good.
Any activity is good.
But an idea has to be joined here.
I do it only for the pleasure of the lord.
I worship the divine lord from whom this whole universe has come,
in whom it is living and unto whom it is going to return in the end.
That is the idea given here.
Then this person in course of time, of course it will take time and we don't know much time,
the person's mind first 100% convinced God exists.
Second he belongs to God.
Third, God realization is the only goal of life.
Four, this world doesn't hold any charm, any temptation to him.
Previously he had to struggle very hard to get rid of,
to go outside the bounds of likes and dislikes, Raga Dvesha.
Now it has become very natural.
So in other words he has become an Adhikari.
So now he has to diligently develop 17 qualities.
How many? Not really 17.
There are many more qualities.
But whatever the lord has outlined at the end of the second chapter,
in the 6th chapter, in the 5th chapter, in the 9th chapter,
in the 12th chapter, 13th chapter, 16th chapter, 17th chapter,
of course at the beginning of the 18th chapter,
not that there are infinite number of spiritual qualities,
but there are plenty and all these now he has condensed once more
to remind us into 17 spiritual qualities.
Now this Sadhaka, he is just at that stage,
he has to pay more attention to develop, to cultivate 17 spiritual qualities.
And I have already elaborately spoken of them.
Now I will speak of them very briefly.
Samasena me nibodha, know from me.
Why? Because who is, like we say in English language,
right from the horse's mouth, who knows better than God,
God can tell. This is how you are going to reach me.
Now intermediary, of course intermediary is there,
the whole Gita, every scripture of every religion, it is there.
But I am going to outline it once more.
And for that 17 qualities have to be developed.
And so if a person develops these qualities, what is his gain?
He will gain Brahma Prapti.
What is Brahma? Brahma Jnana, the knowledge of Brahman and Brahman.
There is no difference at all.
And I have specially outlined this particular subject,
which requires a deep thought.
When we say, for example, I know this tree,
that means this tree is an object,
I come into contact with it, after some time,
I think I have obtained knowledge of this particular object called tree,
tree knowledge.
And the tree and the tree knowledge,
first of all, cannot be separated,
because they are one and the same.
When I think of the tree, tree knowledge will come.
When tree knowledge is flashing, the tree will come.
This is what Sri Ramakrishna and specially Vaishnava literature points out,
Nama, Namne are one and the same.
And here there is only one thing to be known,
and that is God.
That is called truth.
Truth cannot be many.
Truth is only one.
So supposing somebody says,
so here is a mango tree,
I know all about mango tree,
is it not knowledge of truth?
Yes, about the tree, yes.
I know all about this man,
is it not knowledge of the person?
Yes, that is the knowledge of the person.
But this knowledge is not the real knowledge.
Why?
Any secular knowledge is absolutely limited.
We give an example.
Supposing there is a paper in your hand,
what is the knowledge?
Paper knowledge.
And you burnt it.
Now the paper has come from the pulp of a tree.
So what is the cause of this paper?
A tree.
And what is the cause of the tree?
A seed.
And what is the cause of this seed?
Combination of certain elements.
And what are those elements?
Five elements.
Pancha Bhutas, Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi.
And where from they have come?
They have come only from Brahman.
So the knowledge about any object is partial
and it requires updatement.
And if you go on probing,
what you get, you go to the cause.
And then that cause becomes an effect in its turn.
And you go to its cause and it becomes an effect.
Every worldly knowledge is limited
and it is not complete.
It is only partial.
But the whole world has come from God.
So the root cause of the world is God.
And therefore once a person has God knowledge,
Atma Jnana, Brahma Jnana, Ishwara Jnana,
then only his knowledge is complete
because further where from God has come?
That question is a meaningless question.
Where from infinity has come?
That is a meaningless question.
So that is why Shri Ramakrishna categorically says
to know the many is avidya,
to know the one is vidya or knowledge.
So Shankaracharya crystal clearly can answer that
saying what is Brahman?
Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam, Brahma. Satyam, truth.
Jnanam, knowledge. Anantam, infinity.
Another words, Sat, Chit, Ananda.
Meaning the same.
So this is the ultimate knowledge.
There is only one reality, Satyam, that is Brahman.
And if it is true that there is one reality,
then everything, everybody including me,
we can only be Brahman.
We cannot be anything else.
And once we know, then we will be immortal.
We will be all-knowing.
And we will be all blissful, happy forever,
infinite happiness for eternity.
But who doesn't want it?
If this is the utility, everybody will want it.
So the whole discussion that we had so far
can be put in one question.
What is the way to Brahmasakshatkara,
to the realization of Brahman?
What is that?
What is the way to know I am Brahman
and there is nothing else besides Brahman?
So what should an aspirant do?
He has to develop the requisite qualities.
How many such qualities?
17 spiritual qualities.
And that is being outlined there.
We will discuss quite briefly.
You may ask, why briefly?
Why not elaborately?
Because we have discussed about these things
either with the same names or with different names,
meaning exactly the same thing
from the second chapter until now.
We have been discussing these things.
There is no doubt about it.
So let us now go into 51st verse.
budhyā viśuddhaya yuktaḥ dhrityātmānaṁ niyame ca
śabdādhīn viśeān tyaktvā rāga-dviṣau vyudasya ca
So these 17 qualities have been put
in the form of 3 verses.
51, 52 and 53.
17 spiritual qualities that are already there.
Some of them, but not complete and not pure.
So we have to develop further.
As we develop further, more conviction,
more śraddha, more joy, more understanding comes
and one day we understand.
Besides me, there is nothing else excepting me,
which is I am Brahman.
So this is, let us discuss briefly.
So these are the, how many qualities here?
4 spiritual qualities have been outlined.
First I will just go through quickly
the Sanskrit verse with its meaning
and how many qualities it wants to expound
and at the end of the 3 verses
we will go through them briefly.
So 4 qualities in this 51st verse.
What is that?
As a sadhaka, he must become
viśuddhaya buddhya yuktaḥ
He must be having viśuddha buddhi,
pure mind, pure antahkarana.
What is pure antahkarana?
That which understands the ultimate truth crystal clearly
without any doubt.
But as we progress, sometimes the mind goes up and down
and a little bit of doubts will come
and whenever such things happen
ātmānaṁ dhrityā nīyaṁ yajā
completely controlling the mind with tremendous will power
with one-pointedness
that even if I don't progress,
even if there doesn't exist any God,
even for my whole life I am not going to realize God
but I will not give up the effort,
let come whatever wants to come.
This is the second spiritual qualification.
Shabdādīn viśehāntyaktvā
Giving up certain things which are inimical to spiritual progress
like seeing wrong forms,
hearing wrong words,
smelling wrong things,
tasting wrong things
and touching wrong things.
Then of these experiences with the sense objects
when our sense organs come into contact with the sense objects
naturally our mind will be running towards those objects
which promote our happiness
and run away from those objects
which seem to bring more suffering
and the opposite of happiness.
So rāgā-dveśa uca vidasya ca tyaktvā
So giving up that means keeping the mind under control
rāgā-dveśa will come at the beginning
but they become less and less and less in course of time
as we go on practicing sadhana.
Then comes how many?
Beautifully eight qualities.
So what are they?
vivikta-sevi, no here five qualities.
What are they?
vivikta-sevi, laghvāsi, yata-vākaya-mānasaha,
dhyāna-yoga-paro-nityam, vairāgyam-samupāśritah
Having abandoned egoism, power, arrogance, desire, anger
and aggrandizement and freed from the notion of mind
and becoming peaceful,
such a person is fit to become Brahman in course of time.
So eight qualifications are there.
What is that?
First of all vivikta-sevi.
Resort, take resort to solitary places where disturbance is less.
And then laghvāsi, eat only what is necessary
and do not develop any special attachments.
yata-vākaya-mānasaha
Complete control over our actions and our speech and our thoughts.
nityam-dhyāna-yoga-paro
Let us think of our object which is Brahman,
which is God, personal or impersonal,
in any particular form,
continuously remembering the God.
dhyāna-yoga-paro-nityam
And this word nityam means there is no holiday from spiritual pursuits.
And then vairāgyam-samupāśritah
Along with this, dispassion also.
Dispassion means to give up what we know clearly,
that which is inimical obstructions to our spiritual progress.
That is called dispassion.
Viveka means discrimination to know what is right, what is wrong,
what is desirable, what is not.
And giving up what is not desirable, what is not right.
And acquiring what is right, what is desirable.
And this nityam can be also joined here.
Not that dispassion will have a holiday.
Saturday, Sunday I will give holiday to dispassion.
Other days I will practice self-control, etc.
No, all the time.
Then verse 53
So here certain qualities are there.
What are the qualities here?
Eight qualities.
What are they that we should abandon?
What should we abandon?
Ahankaram, egoism.
Balam, strength.
Or develop strength but use it, but do not misuse it.
Darpam, arrogance.
Kamam, lust.
Krodham, anger.
Parigraham, accepting what is not necessary,
keeping what is not needed, pimuchya.
Giving up all this.
Nirmamaha, bhutva.
So ahankara and mamakara.
Sri Ramakrishna's beautiful teaching.
What is maya, avidya, I and mine.
What is vidya, true knowledge, not me and not mine.
Thou, thou.
Nirmamaha, bhutva.
Then what should we become?
If we practice all this, our mind becomes shanta.
Shanta means filled with infinite peace.
Infinite, unbreakable joy, ananda.
And such a person is absolutely ready,
as soon as we acquire this,
immediately we become fit to have atma jnana
and immediately the grace of God will come
and that is what we have to understand.
So the sadhaka who follows the above mentioned 17 qualities,
understand them what they are
and trying to acquire all these qualifications,
then he becomes fit.
Brahma, bhuyaya, kalpate.
He becomes absolutely fit.
That means there is no way
God can remain separate from him any longer.
He comes running,
meaning he is fit now to gain the knowledge of Brahma.
So these qualifications,
all these as I mentioned earlier,
have been scattered throughout the Gita quite clearly,
not hidden,
but they are once more brought to our notice
in a condensed form
so that instead of our doing a horrible homework,
the Lord himself has eased our hard work
and brought them together.
So let us now discuss one by one.
First qualification is
Endowed with a pure mind, pure memories,
pure heart and pure determination.
A person who has lived a life of Karma Yoga,
a prayerful life,
a life of self-surrender to God.
For who knows, many lives probably
and that is what God himself says
After so many years of intense spiritual practice,
A person becomes endowed with true knowledge.
What is that true knowledge?
I am Brahman.
What is that true knowledge?
If he opens his eyes and perceives the world,
experiences the world,
he doesn't see the world as we see it.
He sees it, it is Brahman.
He is playing in this world,
putting on infinite number of dresses.
Vasudevaha sarvam iti.
Vasudeva is everything.
Brahman is everything.
So the first qualification is
Also known as in Jnana Yoga circles,
That means it is ready now to develop certain other qualities.
In a way it is also explained beautifully.
One of our senior Swamis once told us in a group,
Supposing you have a room and it is full of things
and most of the things are old, dilapidated and dirty
and we are not able to use them.
Now better things have come and we can acquire them
and we want to bring them but there is no space.
Now we have to remove all these things and throw them out.
So then only if we do not make space,
we cannot bring in new things.
Chitta Shuddhi is all those qualities
which are obstructing our spiritual progress,
have to be given up one after the other slowly but gradually
and then only as to the extent we succeed in getting rid of
these unwanted so-called worldly qualities,
spiritual qualities, we do not need to invite them.
Automatically they come in.
So a person, that process of getting rid of unwanted things
and bringing or making space for wanted spiritual things,
that is the essence of Karma Yoga.
So a person who practices Karma Yoga
and if he is a Bhakta, he tries to remember God more and more
and he wants to surrender himself more and more
and maybe for many, definitely for many lives
and he will be acquiring such a mind
which is called Vishuddha Buddhi, pure mind.
Sri Ramakrishna had a disciple, he was called Niranjan.
The Sanskrit, it is a mixture of, rather one word with a word in front of it.
So what is that? Ni na anjana.
There is no stain, no impurity.
My Niranjana has no stain at all.
So like that our mind also should have,
it is not easy but as much less of impurity as possible.
Such a person does not, first of all is very pure.
How do we know? How do we know such a person is a pure person?
Because he has absolutely no doubt about three things.
Such a sadhaka will have absolutely no doubt about three things.
What are they? What is the highest truth?
That means God exists, Brahman exists
and what is the second thing? That is the only goal of life.
So if I don't have God as my goal,
even if I am doing all spiritual practice,
I want God to fulfill, to become my servant
and cater to my needs but very few people want,
I want God Himself and I would like to serve Him.
This is what in Ramanujacharya's philosophy,
it is called Nitya Kainkarya.
I never want God to do anything for me.
I only want to serve God.
But even this buddhi, I want to serve only God,
can come only by God's grace, not through by other means at all.
It is not possible. That is what we have to understand crystal clearly.
Now another thing also, this person,
in his devotion, he wants to serve,
like a mother wants to serve the child,
but he doesn't understand, God doesn't require anything.
But he says, without me, God cannot look after Himself.
I have to look after, like Yashoda, like Hanuman.
Without my service, Rama will be discomfited.
He will not be comfortable at all.
It is a spiritual quality and it is a wonderful quality.
So that is what he wants to say.
This person knows what is the goal of life.
He knows God realization is the only goal of life.
He has no doubt God exists and then he will adopt.
A Guru will be there inevitably and the teacher will tell him,
this is your path and this person has absolute faith in the words of this teacher
and he will never give it up.
So only a mind which is pure can understand these three things,
which Ramanuja had termed and which is my favorite usage,
Hita, Purushartha, Tattva, Purushartha and Hita.
Tattva means God exists, truth exists.
Purushartha means that can be the only goal of life and nothing else.
Not something else.
That is also a goal of life. No.
That is the only goal of life.
And third is what is the way my teacher told me.
The first two, the person understands this when his mind becomes pure,
when his heart becomes pure.
This knowledge reflects automatically when the mirror is pure.
Light automatically reflects in it without any distortion.
But he requires a teacher, requires guidance and at the exact right time,
the exact right teaching will come and this person has absolute faith in that teaching
and that is called Hita.
And then he will not deviate from what his teacher told.
He will not misinterpret what his teacher has told
and this condition of the mind is called purity of the mind.
Second, Dhritya Atmanam Niyamyacha.
As we go on struggling, we know struggle means what?
That I am not perfect.
What does it mean?
It means sometimes mind is okay, sometimes not okay,
sometimes it is uncontrollable,
sometimes yes, it becomes focused, concentrated,
sometimes it gives me happiness, sometimes it doesn't.
But these are the more the beginners we are,
the more will be the hesitations, restlessness, ups and downs.
But the more we progress and this is one sure sign
that the mind comes slowly slowly under our control.
What is the meaning of controlling the mind?
That we are able to regulate our thoughts, emotional intelligence.
Actually controlling the thoughts means mostly it is controlling the emotions
because we are very emotional persons.
We like to generate thoughts which will give us pleasure, happiness, liking,
which will make us feel safe, comfortable, security
and the opposite, they hesitate us, they make us suffer.
These are emotions.
When things are favorable we are in a high way
and if it is opposite we plunge into the very depths.
No, everybody will have these things
either because of the nature of the world
or because of the old samskaras in the mind, it doesn't matter.
Gradually this person conscientiously and with great awareness,
with exercising the power of will,
slowly slowly slowly he creates new samskaras
and that ability to control one's mind
which is also called willpower,
not for wicked purpose but for the purpose of one's own salvation.
That is the second qualification.
Without becoming discouraged, without becoming frustrated,
without going down, without becoming sad.
Controlling oneself.
That is why Patanjali says, beautiful definition.
What is yoga?
It is the perfect control of our memories
because thoughts are produced from memories
and memories strongly end up in pleasure and pain
which will create likes and dislikes, raga and dvesha.
Our whole life, life after life is only a matter of
being a slave in the hands of this raga and dvesha
but this person slowly says,
my emotions you will not control me but I will control you.
Sri Ramakrishna was intensely suffering
towards the fag end of his life because of the throat cancer
but nobody had ever seen him sad.
If somebody had ever expressed any sorrow,
he used to say, let the body understand the body
and deal with the body.
Oh mind, you remain at the lotus feet of the mother and be happy.
To be at the lotus feet of the mother,
to remember God and to do namasmarana and to perform japa
all mean the same thing.
That is, I am very safe, I am a happy person
because I am sitting in the lap of God
or if you don't like that idea,
I am sitting at the feet of God
and God with a million eyes, million hands, million legs
enveloping me and protecting me.
I have nothing to worry, I am just a child.
So here atma means atmanam niyamya.
What is controlling atmanam?
Atma means we know, self.
No, no.
In Sanskrit this word self is used in so many ways.
Here self means body-mind complex
controlling the sense organs of the body,
controlling the emotions and the propellant samskaras in the mind
that means the memories.
So controlling, mastering them
and that is the meaning of controlling the atmanam
means gaining control over one's own mind,
over one's own body and mind.
Now this is very necessary because
if a person, even a scientist, even a sportsman,
even a musician,
you know how much austerity they have to perform.
For example, a wrestler cannot go on eating,
cannot go on getting up at 12 o'clock at night,
cannot go on being lazy.
On the day of the match I will do a little exercise
and I will do that.
I have read once a book of which I have narrated to you,
Muhammad Ali, I am the greatest.
And I was very much impressed.
He said two months before any major contest,
wrestling contest,
my, what is called manager,
he will prescribe,
this is what you will eat,
this much quantity you will eat
and at this time you will eat
and these are the exercises that you will do.
Get up at 4 o'clock in the morning,
climb up a hill which is 6 kilometers high,
come back, have something
and then go on working in the gymnasium,
punching, all this, there is a bag.
Nowadays it is automated,
so automated that if a person,
even if he is a great expert,
it will give you a punch exactly like a human opponent
but only infinitely more intelligent
because it sees what you are doing
and it is so fast.
And if you can defeat this machine,
you can very easily defeat anybody in this world.
So if somebody wants the highest goal,
which is God realization,
so not only this is necessary
to lead a life of contemplation
but the whole lifestyle.
What is lifestyle?
When we get up, what we eat
and how we eat,
what attitude, we discharge our duties,
our activities,
how much time we spend in contemplation
and that is called lifestyle.
We must have perfect mastery over both these things.
So naturally it involves giving up
all those pleasurable things.
As a fellow had remarked,
I can withstand anything except temptation.
Sir, if you cannot withstand temptation,
what else is there for you to withstand?
So that is why the third qualification is
Raga Dvesha Yudhasya Cha
and you know Raga means likes,
Dvesha means its opposite, dislikes.
Whole life they are controlling us.
Why do I want money?
Because I am attached to money.
Why do I work like slave?
14 hours, 16 hours, 18 hours,
a businessman, his mind is on the business,
even 24 hours a day practically,
excepting for deep sleep,
even his dreams are of money.
Why do you want money?
So that I can live a comfortable life.
You stupid fellow,
that even to enjoy something,
you require tremendous amount of time.
A person who gulps down things in 15 minutes
and another person who spends at least one hour
slowly savouring every mouthful,
every dish, everything in its proper way
and that is what they call Japanese tea ceremony
and this is an art,
how to enjoy whatever we are doing.
The whole Zen Buddhism places so much of importance on it.
So what is this qualification?
Raga Dvesha of Yudhishthira,
continuously like waves in a turbulent sea,
continuously rising,
continuously falling,
coming forward, going backward
and what are they?
Only two things,
the waves of Raga and Dvesha,
likes and dislikes.
These are our greatest enemies,
not only in spiritual life
but in the achievement of any higher ideal,
whether I want to become a great musician
or aesthetic master
or a poet
or a writer
or a speaker
or a statesman
or a politician
and or a scientist,
very much necessary.
So I must not be a slave,
I must control.
Then the next qualification is
Vivekta Sevi, Vivekta Dvesha Sevi,
Sri Ramakrishna's second commandment
as per the sadhana is concerned.
Now and then go into solitude
and think of only the Divine Lord intensely
and how this world is unreal
and that is what you need to do it.
Vivekta means where there is nobody to disturb.
Nobody means a fellow goes with a mobile phone
and nowadays mobile phone is a thousand times powerful
than previous even 40 years back
what you call a powerful laptop
and there you get audio,
you get video,
you are connected to the whole blessed world
and that is not Vivekta Sevi.
Vivekta Sevi means absolutely
neither there should be an external disturbance
but more important it is a solitude,
is a state of the mind
that is what Sri Ramakrishna's words
having deep meaning
Nirjana means what?
Jana means people,
nirjana means no people
that means not absence of the physical presence of people.
You say Oh Lord I understand now
there is not a single person in this world
not to speak of any object
a single person who can really help me
when really help is needed
who can eat for me
who can sleep for me
who can dream for me
who can meditate for me
who can study for me
who can think of God for me
who can do any japa dhyana for me
absolutely no
but there is one being
you have to understand
don't think there is one being
it is God
God can eat for you
so that is how
he ate for the sake of
hundred and one hundred disciples of Durvasa Rishi
when they visited
Pandavas in the forest
at the prompting of Duryodhana
Bhagwan Krishna came
and just ate
one grain of rice left out in the pot
that too by his will only
and then he said
I am completely satiated
and here the stomachs
the bellies of this great Rishi
supposed to have the biggest belly in the world
and his disciples also
are competing
whose belly is greater
all the hundred and one bellies
have filled so much
you know what they felt
that if even one grain of food material
is forced into our mouth
we will just faint
we will vomit the whole lot
and we are not going to survive
and with that they just ran away
so the Lord can do
we can also recollect
there was one disciple
and attendant of Holy Mother
is very fond of eating
on Shivaratri day
the monks had forced him to fast
and naturally he didn't like the idea
but he could not reject their force
as it were
and Holy Mother saw, laughed at him
and said
my son
you go and eat to your heart's content
I will fast for you
I can eat for you
I can fast for you
similarly
when Shri Ram Krishna was
one day
going towards Dakshineshwar from Calcutta
in a boat with some devotees
on the way they all felt very hungry
and they had a small bit of money
and they bought some sweets
Shri Ram Krishna ate
the entire pot full of sweets
and said
I am satisfied
I am tripta
and immediately
all of them felt
all their hunger has disappeared
and so
what am I talking about
God can sleep for you
God can do sadhana for you
you surrender yourself
Holy Mother used to say
I do japa
I have taken the burden of
whomsoever I have taken into my lap
and they don't do anything
after getting initiation
I will do everything for their sake
only God can do
but in this world
there is nobody
to have that strong feeling
I should not depend upon anybody
because
everybody is helpless
not because they don't love us
some of them definitely do love us
but
they are weak
they are themselves helpless
they cannot help us
so
now and then go
and practice
nirjanasthana
the idea is
that
a person
should
if he stays
for a long
in this midst
of this world
suddenly
that person may develop attachment
very likely
we all develop
only to the place
and even if it is a
dilapidated house is there
and we develop
tremendous attachment
people living in America
in palatial homes
they remember fondly
the houses they have left behind
in
what is called
God ridden
these villages
and
dilapidated houses
oh
how peaceful it was
how marvelous it was
what happy days we spent
which was true
but
now you will not be able to go
and face that situation at all
you feel like running away
but
the memories haunt us
if only I can go back
forever I will be very happy
like a person who thinks
if I can get this person
as my spouse
forever I will be in heaven
anyway
these are some of the ideas
we need to get rid of them
and to be able to
contemplate
on the realities of life
on the
reality of God
and our relationship with God
and that is called
going into solitary places
so that externally
there is nothing much to disturb
more important
what is called
internal disturbance
that is why
I hope you remember
when Totapuri Maharaj had come to
Dakshineswar
he told Sri Ramakrishna
proclaimed to Sri Ramakrishna
I am not going to stay here
for more than 3 days
many Sanyasins take that vow
because after 3 days
there is
every likelihood
that they can develop
tremendous amount of
attachment
but I am not so sure about it
even one second
suppose a fellow will go
to one village
he is going to stay there for 3 days
he goes to the tank to take bath
and the Sanyasi had seen
a village girl
and in that particular moment
and she stands like Rambha
Urosithilottama
so Mahamaya can trap us anywhere
but the idea is
sincerely you practice it
it is very important
and Sri Ramakrishna comes to our Eid
what he says
that every person
must practice this Nirjanatha
how?
Bhone Kone Mone
I changed the
sequence of these words
Mone Bhone Kone
but I say Bhone Kone Mone
what does it mean?
that if you want to think of God
go to a place
which is free from
darkness etc.
especially Indian shrine rooms
are situated between
kitchen and toilet
as if reminding him
life is nothing but
eating, drinking and
evacuating and that is all about life
and the sounds come from one source or the other
continuously
even at night also
that's why Sri Ramakrishna says
if there is a place which is relatively free
go there
Bhone
pronounced Bengali as Bhone
means in a wooded area
solitary place
supposing
one is not able to do it
and even if there is a place
when one returns home
and you are not able to go to that solitary place
find out
the quietest spot in your own home
that is called Kone
some corner, not any corner
not near the kitchen corner
so some corner you find
especially in the west
many people have basements
absolutely quiet
I couldn't believe
how quiet it could be
much better than even a wooded area
so go to a corner
very quiet
silent, least disturbing
spot. Suppose
person doesn't have even that
opportunity then
intensely pray to God
and there you think of God
in your own mind with this
discrimination, dispassion
and detachment
that is what he used to say
but if a person is not qualified
if he goes to such a place
and then there is
every chance
that he may go mad
Swami Brahmanji Maharaj used to say
an unqualified person
if he goes to
a very lonely spot, especially in the
place of Rishikesh
Uttarkashi or Himalaya
some spot etc
more likely he will go mad
he will go crazy. Why?
Because as I mentioned earlier
that solitude is a
state of mind where a
person has come to this firm
conviction, God alone is
real, everything else is
empty and without
that conviction merely an
external space is not
going to help much but
go for a short time, if possible
with some like minded people
like Mayavati etc
you are in a relatively safe
place, use that place
not gossiping
not carrying all the news of
the world, not watching news
not hearing anything
of the worldly news
not even talking
to family and friends unless of course
it is extremely
unavoidable and
necessary practice
one practicing and
one will gain that capacity
so for one month, then three
months, six months, afterwards
probably whole life one can
stay. At least
the good habit of studying
scriptures with intense
joy can help us
a great deal. Of course
here is a person who had
developed to some extent
and then what should he do
whenever he goes to a quiet
place, he must control his food
laghu ashi means
small he must become
small eater, that means he must have
control that eat only
what is necessary, eat
only what suits your stomach
eat only what helps
you grow in
spirituality. So
when a person is
trying to lead a
spiritual life, see
most of the time what is he doing?
Sitting and thinking about God
and therefore he doesn't require
much sleep first of all. Secondly
there is not much expenditure
of energy either
in the form of words or in
the form of activities, a
bare minimum so that he
has to eat and he has to procure
food and eat, he has to
attend to the calls of nature
and a little bit of cleaning and
changing, accepting for that
so for that much
energy is not needed
when there is no necessity
for so much of energy
so the intake of the food
must also be completely
commensurate
with that requirement
and then shankaracharya
that means this person should eat
moderately, here shankaracharya
helps us saying a sadhaka
should eat
slightly, why?
to ward off obstructions
to his contemplation like sleep
etc. It is a well known phenomenon
when a person eats more
he is likely to sleep more
and that is everybody's
experience so
eat not less
not more, that is why
yukta ahara viharasya
yukta cheshtrasya karmaso
yukta swapna avabodhasya
then only yoga
yoga
makes a person
advance towards spiritual life
then having gone
to a solid pit or
even at one's own
home or in a temple
or in an ashrama, wherever
the next spiritual quality
is yatha vakkaya
manasa, one should
keep a watchful eye
over what
one's actions, there are so
many called unnecessary
actions and then of course
one's speech
few days back I have
sent a whats message
application, teaching of Swami
Turiyananda, he was narrating
when he read
Shankaracharya's Vivekachudamani
so he remembered
yogasya pradhamam
dhwaram vagnirodaha
a very first doorway
to become a yogi
is complete control
over one's tongue
tongue in the both senses, not only
what it craves for
but what speech comes out of it
you just observe
the world has become mad
24 hours blah blah
blah blah
this is what in America they call it
yakking, go on
yakking, go on yakking
and this fellow who is stupid fellow
and who listens, he is also
yakking, what do I mean
sir I don't yak, I just sit and
listen, well when that fellow
says yak, that is echoing
in your mind, yak yak
like that, so
even to listen to that
is a terrible thing, so control
the actions, whatever is absolutely
necessary, control the speech
whatever is very necessary
and also naturally
unless we
control our thoughts, controlling
thoughts means what, develop
spiritual thoughts and try
to remove all the
negative, negative means
unspiritual thoughts
I am not talking about pure
inwardly people, so many negative
people, they don't have any capacity
to see what is positive
what is good, especially
these politicians, whatever
the
politicians or government
in power, whatever good
the government does and every
government will be doing
very good amount of good if
we have that eyes to
see and go on finding
fault and nothing else
but what do these wretched people do
when they come to power
they will do exactly the same
things, so
that is not the negativity
I am referring to, here the
lord is referring to negativity means
any worldly thought that
pops up in the mind, you must
immediately squash it out
like soap bubble
you have to remove them
then this is the most important
thing, that is called yoga, that is
why yogaha chitta vritti
nirodaha, especially in
the form of pleasant thoughts
they come in the form of
vivid imaginations
today's class I will end
with the story of
the first Christian
ascetic
the very first is
called Saint Paul of the Great
but the world knows Saint
Anthony the Great
this man he was a Christian
and his parents died
he was quite well off
quite rich, he had a
sister and one day he went to
the church and he
found out that
the village
priest had taken up for his
Sunday sermon a particular
incident from the life of Jesus Christ
a young man
went to Jesus and said
Lord what shall I do to enter
into the kingdom of heaven
and Jesus replied
he knows this person
go if you really want
go and sell
all your riches distributed
to the poor then come back
take up my cross and
follow me and the man went away
sadly so that was
the subject matter of the sermon
and the old priest had preached
but this teaching of
Jesus had left a profound
impression it
brought about a complete transformation
and he went home
and he sent his sister who was of
similar mind into a convent and
he sold everything distributed
to the poor went into the desert
and for nearly
45 years or so
he did intense tapasya
in complete solitude
living in a mountain
cave now he was describing
somehow day time
passes taking God's name
in doing some work they believed in
work but as soon as
evening came all the village
women with whom he used to meet
to cut jokes etc
used to assume
what is called
irresistible divine
women like women
from the heavenly world
and then he
wants to do
like that and when
he wants to prayer to get rid of
those thoughts those very
thoughts had become demons used
to frighten him shout at him etc
it is only the
grace of God which had saved
him now this is the
point we will discuss in our
next class
may Jai Ram Krishna
holy mother and
Swami Vivekananda bless us all
with Bhakti Jai Ram Krishna

[[Category:Bhagavad Gita]]