Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 054

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

I bow to the eminent sage Patanjali, who removed the impurities of the mind through Yoga, of speech through grammar and of the body through medicine. We are discussing the second chapter called Sadhana Pada, that is the practical way of attaining to Yoga or Samadhi or Chittavritti Nirodha. I have taken quite a long time discussing because the most important obstruction to our spiritual life is egotism and this egotism doesn't directly manifest but it manifests in the form of four, egotism, attachment, hatred or intense aversion and intense clinging to life. Our whole problem, Shri Ramakrishna says what is the problem, when do you become free, when you can kill your, destroy your egotism, is it so easy to destroy the egotism, 24 hours from birth to death, I, I, I, there is nothing wrong with the I, what is wrong is its manifestations and I have given several examples of how this I manifests itself, even worse than all these things put together is it doesn't manifest in the same way, it manifests in different ways. That's what I am going to emphasize in this particular talk, so he says this attachment, it manifests in four different stages, Udara, Prasupta, Vichchena, Tanu and there is one unmentioned fifth, it is called Dagdha, Bijavat, Shri Ramakrishna uses that word like burnt seeds. Let us discuss one by one, see this egotism manifests in the form of passions, attachments, first of all how do we know that we have attachments or we have got egotism or we are ignorant, how do you know that you are ignorant, if you are feeling I am happy, if you say the simple statement I am, that is a manifestation of ignorance, if you say I am happy, it is a manifestation of it, if you say I am unhappy, manifestation of ignorance, any experience that we have is a manifestation of ignorance. What is the experience of a person who realized God? He doesn't have any experience, it is very hard fact to understand but the nearest illustration I can give, the scriptures give is deep sleep, in deep sleep did you ever feel I am experiencing, do you have any experience in deep sleep and yet there is no death, you are not dead, you are still alive, so even if this ignorance manifests itself in the form of egotism, means egotism manifests in the form of three, what are they, raga, dresha and avinimesha, attachment and its opposite aversion and we are all riding this bumpy ride, sometimes we are up, sometimes we are down and for dear life we are clinging with all our might to what we call life, even if it be most miserable life, what is wrong with that, the wrong thing, there is nothing wrong in it, if you want to go on, go ahead, have full for billions of years, in fact we were having billions of years, what is wrong, what is wrong is if only we know that there is the other side of the coin which is infinite life, infinite bliss, there is absolutely no enemy, in fact this is what is called in English, there is a beautiful word they use all the time which is used but which is never possible to attain, do you know what that word is, utopia, what is utopia, you are always in heaven but utopia has got its own negative side because the psychiatrists will not get a single patient, the doctors will not get a single patient, Swami Dayatmananda is not going to get one single audience in the state of utopia, yeah, that is the state we all desire, every creature says I want to live, I want to know, I want to be happy, how much, for eternity I want to live, I want to have infinite happiness, does any one of us want to have any enemies, we never want any enemies, we always want, do you want always friends, you think yes, no, if you don't have enemies, first of all you don't know who is a friend, secondly they bore you to death because you have no time left out, you can't reject anybody, you have no time of your own, that is why greatest happiness is to be alone, this is the simple truth, okay, so this avidya manifests in the form of egotism, egotism always manifests in the form of these three, I am happy, I am unhappy and I am clinging very dearly to my life, are we aware of it, the point is maya is such it doesn't allow us to be aware of it, but inside we are fully aware, unconsciously we are aware because our whole effort is to get rid of this, many times I discussed this, why do we breathe, because we want to live, why do you want to live, there is no answer, you know why, because it is our nature to be all the time, why do you want to know, because knowledge is our nature, why do you want to be happy, this is called the ultimate value in life, you know values have got two types, ultimate value or instrumental value, instrumental means it is an instrument for something else, why do you want to pass examinations, so that I can get a degree, why do you want to get a degree, so I can get a job, why do you want to get a job, so I can earn money, why do you want earn money, I can buy a house, I can get married, I can have children, why do you want to have a child and a wife and all these houses etc., I want to be happy, why do you want to be happy, there is no answer to that, because that is the ultimate goal, so to be, why do you want to live, it's our real nature, all our efforts that we do is for that, why do you want to know, because that is our nature, why do you want to be happy, happiness is our nature, we have lost or we think we have lost, not really lost, all these things, there is no death according to any religion, if you are a Christian, after death if you lived a good life and you go to heaven, paradise, if you are a Buddhist, you attain Nirvana, if you are a Muslim, you go to Allah, if you are a Hindu, you attain Brahman, but there is no death, even if you don't attain God, next life, next life, there is no death, it is a change, this is what we all believe, nobody believes, ever believes that he is going to die, nobody ever believes, because if anyone believes, the belief has to manifest itself in certain manifestations, you know what is that manifestation, a person who says I am not going to have another life, he will be desperate, he will do anything to be selfish, because this is the only chance to live, coming back to our subject, the problem is first of all Maya doesn't allow us to know that we are in Maya, second, that is why Kena Upanishad says, he who knows that he knows God doesn't know God, and he who knows that he doesn't know God, he knows, what a paradoxical language, already we are confused and the scripture is trying to confuse us even more, he who knows doesn't know and he who doesn't know, he knows, it's a one most wonderful truth, I will not go into it now, so this manifestations of intense attachment, intense hatred and as well as this intense clinging to life, always they do not manifest exactly hundred percent, so they go through four stages, that is where psychologists make lot of money, okay, first Udara, Udara means absolutely manifest, you see you are hungry, you see food, what happens, your attachment to that food is fully manifest, no hiding business there, you are tired, you want to go to sleep, it's fully manifest, you see somebody whom you hate and immediately your whole blood pressure goes up and your heart beats faster, it is very manifest, this is called Udara and most of the ordinary people, we live in the state of Udara, that's why we are called animals, Shiva has an epithet, he is called Pashupati, so he is Pati, means Lord, of whom, all animals, Pashus, what is, who is a Pashu, a Pashu is one who is in ignorance, he doesn't know he is Shiva and he who doesn't know he is Shiva, he is a Pashu, that is why Pashupati means he is the Lord of the bound creatures and all these are, the more Pashu nature we have, animal nature we have, the more we manifest all these things, so Udara, Udara means fully manifest but at the same time, how much, how many of we, how many of us are aware of that something is manifest in us, when a person is angry, does he know he gets angry, when a person is fully attached, does he know that he is attached, he doesn't know, he knows but he doesn't know, a very peculiar state, what it means is, supposing a person is very angry, as an example I am taking, suppose he knows I am very angry, how much will be his anger, 50%, because 50% of his mind is very angry, the other 50% of his mind is oh, you are very angry with this person but when we are angry, we become completely identified with anger, when we are passionate, we are overcome by lust, anger, greed and egotism, pride, envy, all these things, we are not aware of it, sometimes devotees are aware of it and they feel very feeble effort they make, I am a devotee, I am not supposed to have these things, sometimes we don't want to think because if we really think that I am going to be a devotee, I will be forced to control them and I don't want to control them, so temporarily we put God aside and say I will see you at 6 o'clock, I will come and meet you, until that time be happy where you are, yeah, these are all manifest, so these full manifestations could be consciously or unconsciously, this is the worst condition, then the next condition is prasupta, this is most dangerous thing, prasupta means what? It is potentially hidden, temporarily covered up and I will give you several examples of these things, why it happens and it can work both good way and also bad way, that also I will tell you. First of all, you know the Indian mythologies are full of these stories and in fact the whole psychology and psychiatry is full of these things, so many of our so-called normal people are most abnormal people according to Ramakrishna, all of us are abnormal people, according to Jung, many of these abnormal people are normal people, who calls them abnormal? The so-called those who think they are normal people call the other people because they are behaving in a different way, I am not joking, see Ramakrishna, is he a normal person or abnormal person, if I ask you that question, what would be your answer? What people used to say, you are saying that, but I will make a little bit fun of you, you know, see Ramakrishna, he was sitting for puja, for worshipping and suddenly a cat entered, what did he do? He fed the cat with the offerings supposed to be given to the Divine Mother, at least that is better, one day he was seen muttering, oh mother, please accept this food, oh mother, oh you want me first to eat and then he ate, people were observing it and then he offered it to the Mother Kali and immediately they wrote, sab banash, everything is going to be destroyed and then Madhur Babu came, that is a different issue, okay, that was the incident, people called him mad, he was washing his own feet, he was putting all the flowers on his own feet, on his head, on his feet, everywhere, afterwards he was offering to the Divine Mother and he was eating food and you think, oh, people didn't understand, if I had been there, I would have worshipped him as the greatest saint, supposing you bring Thakur some nice homemade sweet and I am doing puja and you hear me muttering, mother Thakur, you want me to eat first and then I eat, my question to you now is, after this, would you any time bring any offering to Sriram Krishna whenever I do the worship, you know, it is very easy to be romantic, after being brainwashed, Sriram Krishna was in incarnation, Rama was in incarnation, etc., etc., repeatedly these events have taken place, I will give simple examples, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when he was a small boy, a Brahmin guest came to his home and this guest, he himself had prepared his own food, even though he was a Brahmin, he was living in a Brahmin's house, he would not touch the food prepared by the host, he himself had prepared, offered it to his chosen deity, who happened to be Narayana and he was meditating, you know the story, what happened to this small boy Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he had extraordinary nose, he had smelt good food, this boy next door only, first class fragrance is coming, boy ran into that room, the poor Brahmin was absorbed, he closed his eyes and he was meditating thinking that the Lord is eating the food and this boy fell to eating and suddenly this Brahmin opened his eyes, three times it happened, third time the Brahmin decided I will beat him up, then that small boy revealed himself as Narayana and the Brahmin was overwhelmed, this could have been a cock and bull story had not Sriram Krishna been incarnated, Bhairavi Brahmani, she was preparing food, first day when she came, she went to Panchavati, she prepared the food, she offered it to her chosen deity Raghuvir and she was, here Sriram Krishna was sitting, you know that, he ran and without his knowledge he sat down and he started eating and Bhairavi Brahmani opened her eyes and what did she see? She saw her chosen deity Raghuvir sitting there and graciously accepting her food, fortunately she knew who Sriram Krishna was, though sometimes she forgot about it, this is the power of Mahamaya. So what I am trying to tell you, there are so many times these passions, these things, even good things, they lie hidden and I have already dealt with how this intense attachment, the story of Tulasidasa, the story of Mirabai, the story of Bilvamangala, how suddenly they became converted, now in the light of what we are discussing, what happened? They were like huge springs temporarily blocked by some stone or something, waiting for the opportune moment, some small event happens and that obstruction becomes destroyed and all that spring, it comes forth in floods, in flashes, unstoppable. Do you think that any man who loves a woman is going to be a Tulasidasa or a Bilvamangala? How much they must have practiced spiritual disciplines? But the other thing also, opposite also can happen, I am going to give examples from the Indian mythologies because Indian mythology is full of these stories, Gods, Goddesses, Rishis falling down, you know the famous story of Vishwamitra, he wanted to be man of God, realiser of God, Brahma Rishi like Vasishtha, then you know first time, you know this story, one thousand years, he did such intense austerity, Indra was, the Gods were frightened, maybe he is jostling for my job. So Indra sent his usuals, only two things, woman and money. So Indra sent woman and one thousand years of austerity, one glance at that woman, he fell like what we call a ton of bricks, this is an example. What happened? Did he really conquer his lust? No. Was it manifest? No. What was it doing? It was completely hidden but the moment this opportunity came, all this austerity, everything washed away, immediately he fell for that object. This is a very important thing for us to understand because there is something which we all fall victims to. Suppose there is a person, 60 years, 70 years, he has led a very good life and suddenly one day the whole town is abuzz that he has fallen, he is living with somebody or she is living with somebody, he has fallen from the high ideal. We say what happened, 60, 70 years and he has fallen. He had led such a good life, that woman or that man must be a very horrible person to pull this person down, the cause of the downfall, is it not? But really is someone else to be blamed for that? Who is to be blamed? The person who had fallen, why? Because all this like a tiger behind a bush, it is hiding for an opportune moment. This is what Sri Ramakrishna, in his own inimitable language he says, some birds, they eat some fruits and they come and sit on the roof. In course of time, the building becomes old and dilapidated. The seeds are there, nothing happens, you don't see anything. But suddenly one day some rain falls on that roof. Then what happens, immediately these fellows will spring. So is this rain to be blamed for these seeds to sprout? It is the seeds are waiting for an opportunity and the seeds are waiting for us. This is one example I gave you. You know the famous another example, Sri Ramakrishna used to warn, there was one young man called Bhavanath, sadhu, shabdan, holy man, beware, there was a woman who used to love this young man as her own son and he used to go and it is what is called lurid tales, she used to, he used to put his head on her lap and she used to feed him. The idea is like mother Yashoda feeding Bhagavan Krishna. Ramakrishna, do you think he was warning because he became jealous? His disciple was going to some other woman because at what moment these passions etc. come up? At that moment? No. How does this downfall come? In the beginning, everything looks very very fine, pure spirituality, pure relationship, platonic relationship. What is wrong? It is really platonic relationship in the beginning, there is no doubt about it but these seeds are hiding to come out and they come out. This is beautiful example that is there. Another example, beautiful example I remember, I have already given the example, there was one Swami, Swami Vijayananda, to be very brief, he was a brahmachari, he was sent to do some relief work and he did it very successfully, he returned back along with some volunteers and then he met Mahapurush Maharaj. The moment Swami Sivanandaji saw this brahmachari who absolutely very innocent at that time started scolding him right and left, you think you have done this job so beautifully? You rogue, what do you know? This brahmachari was dumbstruck because he doesn't remember why Mahapurush Maharaj is so angry with him, annoyed with him and then his face naturally becomes small, all our faces like that, if some expectations are not met, we all fall victim to that. What happened? This Mahapurush Maharaj, he went on scolding him and his face, brahmachari's face became very small and he did not know why he was being scolded. So many times this happened with Brahmanandaji, with Sriram Krishna, with everybody. So he went away, in the evening he came, still he was highly emotional Swami, his face was still small and everybody could see that he was not a happy person. Then he was standing, everybody went away, then Mahapurush Maharaj, my child, are you unhappy because I scolded you in the morning? He said yes, he was a very frank person. Did you know why I scolded you? He said no Maharaj, Mahapurush Maharaj said I saw that already a seed of egotism, I have done this work so excellently, it is in the seed form, that's why we don't see, you don't see a tree in the seed, you just see some small seed, that's all. I wanted to destroy it so that in future you will not be affected by it. This is the most wonderful thing. Now coming back, I also mentioned the examples of Tulasidas and Bilvamangala. They loved a woman, now tell me were they overcome by lust? It looks apparently that they were not like ordinary people, but this lust is too much in them, but the real truth is they were lovers of God, but that devotion, that love of God was temporarily hidden like a huge spring, it was waiting for an opportune moment when this obstacle will be removed. So temporarily it appears they led an indifferent life, but really no, Girish Chandrakosh, he was a divine person, you know how much he used to drink, why did Sri Ram Krishna rescue him, why did he bestow his grace upon him, because he was a drunkard, he was a divine person waiting for all these obstacles to be completely destroyed. These obstacles are nothing in them, it is only very temporary manifestation and Sri Ram Krishna said people will be astounded by the change that will come in this person whom the society regards now as a drunkard, as a loose person, they will be astonished and really we were astonished. What is the point I am making? The point is this Girish Chandrakosh, in this Tulasidas, in this Bilvamangala, all these examples I am quoting, these people that tremendous spiritual river is overflowing, but it did not find the right direction or maybe some past samskara or habit has to be eliminated through some experience and as soon as that came about, person was totally transformed. What is the proof? The proof is, this here is a very important point, what is the proof? The proof is if he had been a worldly person, temporarily overcome by spirituality, which would win, you know if there is a balance, there is one lighter material in one and in another side there is a heavy material, which would win, so if spirituality is heavier, it will come out sooner or later. If worldliness is heavier, then however temporarily they may be spiritual or devotional, soon after that it will go down. That is why we have to be very careful whether our devotion to Sri Ram Krishna or to God or to Vedanta center is it temporary because we were suffering and here is a place where we can get peace of mind and we come, we are overwhelmed, but as soon as some time passes, immediately the old samskara will overtake us. It can work both ways. We have to be extremely cautious about these things. What is the good thing about is, it is always possible to become better and still better and still better. The necessary qualification for that is persistence. Certain habits, when once you make, strive to make them permanent. This is called spiritual practice. I don't care whether you have visions, whether you show tremendous devotion, whether there is tears flowing from your eyes, all those things are not steadiness of character. Otherwise floating population, floating devotion, but this is also good because like this you go on hearing. One day you will get taste and you will improve, but it should be our endeavor to make it steadfast. That is why the first, there are four pillars for spiritual progress, Achara, Nishta, Shraddha and ultimately Dihana. Achara means what? Certain habits, strive, don't worry about devotion, don't worry if you don't feel any devotion to God, do you feel devotion to exercise? You know for most of us our problem is exercise is a painful duty we do it. We have to induce or brainwash our brain, many a long time it is good for your health, you know, you can live longer time and all those things. But in between if there is so much of unhappiness comes, what am I going to live a long time? The longer I live the more I suffer, so better I not do exercise so that I may die earlier. Now certain habits that is called Achara, Achara means good habits, that is the first step, go on doing them. The second step is first we don't understand, understanding has not come, but with willpower, sheer willpower we persist, then comes Nishta, after some time we get taste like you know brushing our teeth, go on doing it then you feel, if you don't do one day you feel very restless, very unhappy, oh today I am missing something and then comes Shraddha, Shraddha means true faith based upon scriptural teaching, Guru's teaching, holy people's teaching, that comes, oh now I understand why I have been asked to do this, it is most wonderful, then joy will come and this will ripen in course of time into the fourth stage which is called Dhyana, meditation. Then automatically like a spring flowing, like a river flowing, automatically our mind will go to God, these are the four secrets. Now let me tell you one beautiful story, how these attachments, passions, hatreds, etc., etc., can sometimes live underground and then come only when the right occasion comes. I read this beautiful story, there was a Christian saint, one day he was praying in a church and he was universally considered as one of the most spiritually progressive person. One particular day when he started praying, suddenly the face of Jesus Christ vanished and the face of a woman shone in his heart brilliantly like the midday sun. He was shocked because he was not thinking about a woman at all. For several years he had been so absorbed, he was getting so much joy in thinking of Jesus Christ, it was impossible for him to think of any ordinary person, opposite sex, woman, no. But it came, persistent, it persisted and it took him 2-3 years to get rid of that image from his heart through prayer, through weeping, through imploring and one thing good about these things in Christianity, very good thing is confession. Whenever such thing happens, they have got their gurus called spiritual directors and whenever this kind of thing happens, immediately go and confess it to the spiritual director. Why? Because sometimes you may have visions and visions can be inspired by devils, this absolute truth is there in that. So you say, oh I am so great, I had the vision of God, but you go to the spiritual director and he will tell you, I have not come about details, but I can add the details to you. This man goes to the spiritual director and says, I had the vision of Jesus Christ. Is it a good thing father? The man says, forget about Jesus Christ, this is not a vision, this is devil inspired thought inside you. The man will be almost as though stabbed with a knife, what? I had the vision of God and you are decrying it and you are supposed to be a spiritual director. The spiritual director, if he is a wise man and usually they are wise people and he will come, my son, yesterday afternoon did you have breakfast? Yes. And what breakfast did you have? You know, we were having bread, jam, butter and who were with you? And my brother, John, my brother, this, my brother, some few people are there. Then do you remember that you burst out and scolded one of your brothers? Yes, I remember now. Why did you scold? Why did you scold? What am I trying to tell you? If a man has got a vision of God, do you think his mind will be in these ordinary things which man told me, what? So many times we are sleeping in our ordinary day-to-day reactions with people, but when you go to the, run to the shrine and you sit with closed eyes, immediately Jesus Christ came running to you. That's why Swami Yathishwaranda Maharaj, he always used to emphasize one thing, I don't care whether you have visions or not visions or anything, are you a man of character? What is character here? Character means that steadfastness and say, I am a spiritual aspirant, I am a devotee of God. If somebody criticizes me, somebody didn't appreciate me, somebody looked down at me, somebody passed remarks, what do I care? I only want the certificate of Sri Ramakrishna, God. I don't care for Tom, Dick and Harry, their words have no value at all. Who is telling this? Sri Ramakrishna is telling. You know, once Keshav Chandra Sen, he told to Sri Ramakrishna, oh, you are one of the greatest, you are like Buddha and Christ. Sri Ramakrishna was a very straightforward person, he never minced words, he said, I don't believe you. If you have been reading Kathamruta, remember these words, straightforward, I don't believe you because you are worldly people, this is what you say to everybody. So this is how a spiritual director, if he is a wise man, he goes on observing what this person does at this time and then he will tell, if this is the type of behavior you are having and you still claim to have a vision of God, there is something seriously wrong about it. Devil means, don't think it is devil, devil means what? Maya. Devil means what? Our own imaginations. The thing is visions may be there, it may be there, I am not saying it is good or bad, what is important is character. If you come across two people, one person says I have a lot of visions, another person the absolute steadfast character, whom will you trust, this is very important for us. So this Christian saint, he went on confessing it, he told to so many people, but they helped him. They said, why this particular woman's face is coming into your mind? Because several years before, he wanted to lead a contemplative life and with the permission of the superior, he used to live outside the monastery begging his food. Once in a day, he will go begging food and there were strict rules, they should look only at the ground, never at the face of anybody, man or woman. What happened? This man, he went for begging and accidentally saw the face of this woman and at that time he was in that serious state of dispassion, he never even thought about it and nothing happened for several years. All of a sudden, in the shrine, when he was deeply praying to Jesus Christ, the face of this woman had started shining very brightly. What happened? What happened? His passion was hidden, it was waiting for an opportunity, for some reason at this time it found this opportunity. That is why Shri Ramakrishna was telling to Bhavana, at this time nothing may happen, but when you are overcome with passion, then this very woman's face might shine in your heart and it will detract you, sadhu, sabdhan. For an ordinary person, all these talks seem, oh you are exaggerating too much. That is why in the Upanishad it is said, Kathopanishad says, to walk on a spiritual path is like walking on the edge of a razor sharp knife, it will cut your feet to shreds if you are not careful about it. That is why you understand now, why it takes such a long time. Most of us are blissfully unaware what we are behaving, how we are behaving. I see every day in the devotees, they want to be good devotees, that's wonderful news, but are you aware what is happening to your own mind, what your mind is, samskaras are leading you to, that's why constant awareness, what is happening, what is my mind doing now, why is it like that, why is it reacting like this, why is it happy, why is it unhappy. If you go on 24 hours with the knife of discrimination, this is what Sri Ramakrishna has done the first thing. One day he was sitting under the Panchavati, suddenly he said, later on he described, I saw another monk, sanyasi, young sanyasi resembling exactly like me, he came with a trident and he said, if your mind deviates from the lotus feet of the mother even this much, I will pierce you with this trident, who was that sanyasi, Ramakrishna, divided his mind and said one part of the mind you keep watch over the other part of the mind. We have to be extremely cautious about it. So that is why prasupta means dormant and it will be hidden, but when the slightest opportunity comes, it will come out. So what is to be done, be careful and do not be callous about it. I will close this particular aphorism with one example, real example that happened. In India, there was a holy man, a sadhu we call it, holy man, he was doing tapas, he took a vow, I will not look at the face of a woman and he became very famous, he had lot of disciples, all men disciples and they used to serve him with great reverence. Sixty years had passed, one day he was sitting in his hut in a lonely place, suddenly he heard the sound of some anklets. In India, anklets are worn by women, especially village women etc. So this person heard the anklets, he ran to the door of his hut to see who is passing by. He knew very well that a man will not wear anklets, he knew very well, but before he could think about it, his legs had taken him there, but he was a great holy man, immediately he understood, oh, these legs are the cause of my ruin, after 60 years, this is the result. He took an axe and broke both his legs. It might seem to be very extreme, but God will be very pleased with this because that is called real discrimination. That is why shyama, dhamma, sadhana, chitta, what is shyama? Mental control. What is dhamma? Physically, don't go on facing some of these objects of temptation. If you do that, one day or other, today or tomorrow, today you may be in a high mood, it happens. Once a young man was brought to Sriram Krishna, it is in his life, not in the gospel, and constantly he was shedding tears and his relatives wanted to know whether this is a genuine spiritual condition. Constantly he was uttering the name of Harid and he was horrifying, his hair was standing on end. Then Sriram Krishna had a look and said, yes, this is a genuine spiritual experience. Suddenly he attained to that highest state of raga bhakti, bhava, maha bhava, and this will not last. If he touches any woman with a passion, with a desire, immediately he will fall down and after a few days, the relatives were very relieved that it is a genuine case, he was not a mad person, but they took the young man back and exactly as Sriram Krishna had predicted, after a few days, slowly the order came down and then he happened to touch another woman and then immediately, not only he lost, he fell down. That is why scriptures are full of warnings for us. So this avidya or egotism, egotism in the form of attachment, aversion and intense longing for God, these can be fully manifest or hidden, subconscious, unconscious when the time comes. I also mentioned, this is the subject very interesting for what is called psychologists. People become mad and apparently there is no cause, but if they probe, they will find deep inside that all these are hiding and they are playing havoc with the person's health both mental and physical and many of us, we are blissfully unaware. We watch horrible movies, we read things, we gossip, we do so many things, but let me also bring how careful we should be. You know, you sit in the shrine, open your eyes, open your eyes means I don't mean your eyes are open, be aware what is happening. Some people walk like elephants, like earth is shaking, the whole earth is shaking. Some people, you know this asana, that red asana, they take it, they put it with such violence on the floor, like that it makes a sound and when they come back, they want to put that asana again in the proper place, then another dhoom sound comes. Have you noticed? Now are these people not aware? I mean the floor itself creaks, it makes some noises, it's unavoidable something is there, but added to this, these people are not at all aware and they consider themselves they are absorbed in God. What type of absorption? You don't know how much disturbance you are causing to the other people. If the person is really genuine spiritual sadhaka, he will be aware, not only he should not cause disturbance to himself, he should be equally careful not to cause disturbance to the other person. But this is a very minor matter, but serious matters, I will give, just now an example came to my mind, Swami Turiyananda was travelling with Swami Vivekananda to USA on a ship. They got two cabins and when Swami Turiyananda left India, somebody presented him a pocket watch with a golden chain and one day, Swami Vivekananda and Swami Turiyananda were taking a walk in front of the cabin. Swami Vivekananda has very sharp eyes, he happened to look into the cabin of Swami Turiyananda, this pocket watch was there visible on the table. Swami Vivekananda scolded him left and right and is it right for you to, Swami Turiyananda didn't understand. We are here, nobody is going to steal it, his idea is if you put like that somebody would steal it. Swami Vivekananda, that is not the point, the point is so many of these servants who are walking, working there, they may not steal, but the idea how nice it would be if we have this one, that idea of stealing, thought of stealing would enter into their mind. This is the present day society and you all know better than me, the way people dress, it is shameless, it is not only they are doing harm to themselves, they are also doing harm to the whole society. Is there any wonder if the society is going to dogs? Anyway, that is a side subject. The third manifestation is called Vichinna. Vichinna means one emotion temporarily interrupted, overcome by another emotion. Swami Vivekananda gives a beautiful example. A mother is very angry with somebody. She is scolding somebody left and right, she is raising what is called demoness like that. Suddenly her baby crawls. What happens to that woman? This very woman immediately she hugs the baby, all that rage had completely disappeared. Now what happened? You can interpret it in both ways. One way is that the anger, the rage was temporarily hidden by the love which became manifest at that moment. Or you can put it the other way round that the love of the baby was hiding, but this rage temporarily hidden that love of, as soon as the baby came, immediately she forgot everything and she hugged. There is a law, which I repeated umpteen number of times. The mind cannot entertain two emotions or passions at the same time, two opposite thoughts at the same time. So this is one of the dangers, that's why we say one emotion can be hidden temporarily, but when the opportunity comes, that emotion would pleasantly manifest, that's why we have to be very careful. So this is vichchina means temporarily. What do you mean by temporary? Temporary means one minute, one hour, one day, it could be several lives. Compared to timelessness, what is after all even one hundred lives? So if there is an emotion hidden like this and overcome by another emotion, it appears as though this person is of a different character, but when the opportune moment comes, that hidden one will come to the surface. So temporarily we are all devotees, this is what Sriram Krishna says, when a person goes to take bath in the Ganges, all the sins, where will they be sitting? On the branches on the bank. As soon as he comes out, what does it mean? They jump onto his shoulders, what does this mean? This means when we enter into the shrine room and listening to music and bhajan and all those things, we may appear to be very devotional, but as soon as we cross this borderland, immediately all the old sins, means all the old samskaras, thoughts, etc., are sitting to jump on our shoulders. We have to be very careful. Swami Vivekananda gives another example, here he says, supposing a mother is walking in the street and suddenly a ferocious tiger is running fast towards her, what would she do? She would run away to save her life, is it not? He says, next day she is again walking, the same woman is walking there, but this time her child is in her lap and this tiger is running towards her. This time what would be her reaction? She will push the baby behind her and she will bravely stand in front of the tiger. What is this example for? Can you guess now what I am trying to tell? Previous day that she was frightened of her life, today what happened? Her love of her baby had overcome her fear of death and she would like to save the life of the baby, she is prepared to die herself. So this is one way that our samskaras may be temporarily hidden, maybe for good or bad, it could be both ways, but we have to be careful, we should never think that we have overcome them. Fourth, it is a beautiful state, through spiritual practice they become tanu, tanu means thin, thinned out, attenuated, become so soft, still it is there, but as soon as it comes the yogi becomes very aware, oh, this has come into my mind, you know like nipping a plant in the bud we say, as we say, the moment that comes he is aware and it is very easy because it is very soft. This is the fourth state and this should be our ideal, to make all our passions as thin as possible through careful sadhana. And there is a fifth state which is indirectly hinted by Patanjali, it is called DADDHA-BEEJA-AVASTHA, like burnt seeds, Ramakrishna uses this word many times, you know seeds, you fry them, you burn them, they appear to be seeds, but even if you plant them, nothing is going to happen, but this is a state of those who have realized God. So what shall we do to attain to this state of first tanu and then DADDHA-BEEJA-AVASTHA? So coming back to the beginning of this sadhanapada, three, Tapas, Swadhyaya and Ishwara Pranidhana. Pranidhana means controlling the sense organs, Swadhyaya, constant study of scriptures, dwelling on the Guru's teachings, scriptural teachings and also Swadhyaya, studying one's own mind, oh what are you doing now, what are you thinking, are you angry with that person, are you happy with that person, why is it, what made you, is the person made you happy or is what the person did that made you happy? You understand what I am talking about? Somebody brings me first class food, I am very happy to see the person, am I? I am very happy to see the food brought by the person and the next time if the person doesn't come without food, comes without food, then I won't be so happy to see the person. So constant what is called watching the mind, monitoring the mind is very necessary. So what is the last thing? No progress in spiritual life can be made without the grace of God and that grace of God comes when we allow the grace of God to come and that process by which we allow God to manifest in ourselves is called Sharanagati or self-surrender. So that is the most wonderful point you have to remember. I am every day saying to God, I surrender myself to you, but why is the grace not coming to me? Because you are saying that but you are not allowing God's grace to flow into your mind. So constant practice and intense prayer and study of one's own mind and above all watching one's own mind, slowly make our Samskaras thin. Once it becomes thin, by the grace of God, a day will come, they become like seeds burned and we become free. So we have discussed, there are many important aphorisms, we will discuss in course of the time. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.