AvadhootaDatta Peetham

Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha

Day 41, August 30

Jaya Guru Datta

Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha

Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha

asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi

Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May there be peace.

Guru Dhyanam: Gurur Brahmaa, Sri Bhooyuta.. , Ajnana .. Akhanda, Dehe …, Akhandam ..

Yoga Vasishtha Dhyana Slokas:
yatassarvāṇi bhūtāni pratibhānti sthitāni ca
yatraivōpaśamaṁ yānti tasmai satyātmanē namaḥ || 1
jñātā jñānaṁ tathā jñēyaṁ draṣṭādarśana dr̥śyabhūḥ
kartā hētuḥ kriyā yasmāt tasmai jñaptyātmanē namaḥ || 2
sphuranti sīkarā yasmāt ānanandasyāṁbarē vanau
sarvēṣām jīvanam tasmai brahmānandātmanē namaḥ || 3

Brahmanandam, Sri Vasishtham Namami, Ramaya, Aapadaamapahartaaram, Om Purnamadah,

Om Santissantissantihi

Yesterday, we celebrated Ganesh Festival. Today is the auspicious Rishi Panchami. Married women perform austerities today.

Stree Jugupsa – the 20th sarga is discussed today.

Yesterday we heard Rama say that in the ignorance of youth, youngsters let go even of the valuable Chintamani gem.
During the peak of youth, like a man suffering with a feverish passion, one goes towards doom. But he should instead turn his attention towards God. Until this long night of youth passes, it is difficult to overcome love and hate. How to view this youth that is so terrible in its nature?

One should look upon with pity at youth for its quickly passing nature, like a child dying of a severe disease, and make haste to make good use of the time by following a dharmic and spiritual path, rather than waste it carelessly on vices and bad habits.

We are near the temple of Lord Narasimha. We are here compared to human beasts. Instead we must become Man-Lions like the Lord. Then we can conquer everything. A beast is inferior in nature. But a lion that is not hungry will not harm an animal. Only if we try to harm it, it will attack us when it is not hungry. Otherwise, it will not bother us.

The one who revels in his ignorance is a beast. There are those who say that they are happy in their ignorance and do not wish to change or learn the truth. That is very foolish. Without knowing of the fleeting nature of youth one gets drowned in illusion. Those who refuse to learn are ignorant like beasts and they simply destroy their own lives, by wasting precious time.

Subhashita is a gem – a wise statement. A poet says: There are only three precious gems in this world - Food, water and wise words. Those who consider rocks as precious gems fail to see the value in the above three, which are crucial for living a good life.

Youth is conducive to egotism and self-centeredness in a bad way. Such a life will certainly lead to regret and repentance later. It is better to avoid things that will lead to regret later. The person who abuses Guru and parents will certainly repent his actions later, when it is too late. It will lead to future despair. Purusha here means human being, not just male. Follow dharma; then your youth will pass smoothly and you will earn merit and acclaim. Listen to the words of Guru, follow his instructions, and endure the difficult phase of youth and pass it without difficulty. It will then make it easy to cross this ocean of life that is filled with cruel crocodiles. Why is worldly life compared to an ocean? It has the capacity to swallow us up. Those who escape danger and cross it are to be praised. To cross it safely, it requires effort and caution.

If you recognize the greatness in others, then you have good examples to follow. You should try to be a great soul, rather than one who is despised by everyone. Follow the right path that justifies this human birth. Live like a real human being. Live a comfortable life wisely during the days of the youth. One should look back and feel that they have led their youthful days in a wise and worthwhile manner.

Sri Rama says: It is not my intention to throw a blanket of blame upon all youth. There are some who put youth to good use, by being kind, instead of selfish. Those who avoid being totally selfish, will not distance themselves from their parents and their Guru.

A youth, who practices kindness and virtues, will escape the dangers of youth. Such persons are rare. You cannot find forests and flowers up in the sky. Similarly, finding good youth is also very rare.

We can avoid a future birth by being careful during our youth. Doing things out of selfishness regarding physical pleasure, we neglect to take care of our real Self. This body will leave us and go away. We do not go anywhere. This body is most ungrateful. We must realize the difference I and my body. This is most important. We keep working so hard to please our body.

We see a photo of our grandfather when he was young and another photo when he grew old. Everyone must realize that one will not always remain young and that soon we also will be old.

Yayati took the youth of his son for 1000 years. He realized his mistake and offered to give it back. Stop living in this false belief that we will always remain the same, as young, and as energetic. Actors and actresses struggle very hard to remain youthful; they do not eat properly. They torment their bodies to stay in shape. They *** the food they eat, to remain slim. Still, by nature the body ages. Some heroes and heroines have committed suicide after going into depression because they have lost their youth. For life’s *** to be good, the youth should be well utilized. Many people think that this type of seeking for truth is only for old people. It is wrong to think like that. We must tie down this mind and tame it. Only a tamed elephant will allow us to take it in a procession. A wild elephant will not allow us to use it for good purposes. The mind is likewise.

Academic success has no effect or influence on this. Common sense is important. If you lack such common sense, your life is futile. The youth has to make an effort to control the mind and make good use of this life. Swami Vivekananda alerted the youth to wake up and realize the truth. Veda urges, Bha ra ta – get interested in Truth.

Ours is a Jnana Bhoomi/Land of spirituality; it automatically becomes a Karma bhoomi/land of selfless action.
If we keep working only to earn a living, and use up our entire life, how will we awaken into spiritual knowledge? Jnana is not the same as worldly knowledge of sciences or arts used for earning a livelihood. A country does not develop just from worldly knowledge. India was a highly developed country once. Now it is called a developing nation. It has lost its grip on Truth. It is true that we were under foreign occupation which has had its negative effect. Merely working for a livelihood is not sufficient.

When youth are amidst friends, the peers will reject them if they express different preferences and values. Then pretend a little bit to fit into company artificially. The ashrama is totally a world on its own. All kinds of people live here. All kinds of people with all kinds of mentalities stream in and out of the ashram. The people here are not deities. They are only ordinary people. Swamiji calls them angels only because he wishes that someday they will become divine. The moment they begin to feel that they are already special they become egotistic and become devils.

I live in the city of Mysore. I am not ignorant of what goes on in the outside world. All the newest technological gadgets come first to the Mysore ashrama. The first tape recorder in Mysore city was at the ashrama. We see many things here first.

Do not change your attitude or nature to please your peer group. Pretend, if you need to, but do not change. Then you will have the power to change the world later. All those who are teenagers and working people are youth in this regard. Only the retired persons are considered elders.

Do your best to follow Dharma. All those who are watching on yogasangeeta are capable of changing the world. Many ask if overpricing is not a sin. In your salary, you save some small proportion. Then you are saved. These days, jobs have to be created. There are not enough jobs. There are 100 qualified persons for each single job. One has to safeguard one’s job. The youth have to do justice to the job. You cannot convince your boss about the injustices of overpricing. You will get a chance to tell him some day. Sri Rama is giving us hints and we have to find the hidden truths behind them.

Sri Rama is blaming youth that follows the wrong path. They throw away Chintamani gems. Excessive ***, anger, bad habits, vices spoil health. The youth are suffering. Youth that follows the wrong path is like a night filled with darkness. When the light of truth fills the heart, life will be good.

Youth will die soon; it will yield to old age. The belief that youth lasts forever, will lead to disaster. One, who realizes s the truth about youth will follow good habits.

Ebola can be avoided by eating one Tulasi leaf a day, it is said now. Our elders performed puja daily and took a Tulasi leaf. Daily eating one Bilva leaf and one Tulasi leaf are excellent for health. I am the standing example before you. Sometimes during travel they are not available. I really miss them on such days. We have given up good habits and traditions thinking that they are superstitions. Canada has so many more books on Veda than India does. They utilize the valuable knowledge and they convince us that it is useless for us.

Here we give up good nutritious food and eat pizza daily. They eat healthy food and preserve their health. Processed foods that are sold for profit have to have chemical preservatives in them to give them a long shelf life. We get addicted to such foods. We get our children addicted to them also and they become obese. This ignorance has to go. History is now repeating itself. Our elders have researched and given us the findings of what is useful and beneficial for us. Unless we hear form outsiders that they are good, we do not believe them. If we follow our Sastras, we will be so healthy. Wrongly we blame our traditions as superstitious. Our youth reject our traditions because they want to ape the west blindly. Unless we use our judgment, we will not benefit. If we remain strong and stick to our convictions, we will become a strong center of attraction. Then others will get attracted to our ways and will follow us. Sadguru’s word is etched in Truth even if the sky falls down.

We do not follow our scriptures. Yoga Vasishtha applies to every living creature. Dharma, tradition, and customs are very important. In other cultures, they adhere to their traditions. Why are we giving up ours? Please think about these things. Do sadhana and earn recognition. Endure the difficulty of being different and being looked at as a different type of person. Then poison will turn to Amrita.

Sri Rama we worship as god to this day because he acted differently from others. Try to taste the bliss of truth. Never reject it and run away. Never treat it as a bore. Do not question its value. Why do you build a house? You don’t think that your house will collapse in an earthquake. You believe that it will last for a few centuries. Our research into our Sastras has stopped. So much research was done on curing diseases. Cholera, the plague, and so on. With regards to Jnana, we have stopped our researching.

We assume that the body is permanent. Our attention is directed only towards the body and not towards God. Sadguru is traveling incessantly to educate and enlighten people. 99% of the people are different. Only 1% are following the path of truth. It should be the other way around. For that we have to strive. We listen but we forget. Constant pondering is essential. We have to destroy the darkness of the obsession with youth and its pleasures. A wise person does not fall into such delusion. The ignorant ones drown in delusion.

Sri Rama cautions us that repentance will be the consequence of making mistakes. One must correct the mistakes and avoid repeating the mistakes. O I have hurt my elders, my parents; I have blamed Guru. Repent, and then correct yourself.

Those who have crossed over the period of youth successfully are truly great souls. It is very difficult to cross the ocean called youth. Rama says there are good youth, and good youthful years but only in rare cases. This concludes this sarga. We must be the rare ones. The mind is always youthful. Keep it like that. Keep the mind running towards positive values always.

Some maintain good health throughout. Some suffer from ailments due to past karma. Give up anxieties. Happily enjoy the butter prasadam at Krishnashtami, instead of worrying about granddaughter’s marriage. Grieving over things is useless. Instead, be happy and pray. Swamiji is giving us beautfiul darsan. Many people are more interested in asking him for answers to fleeting worldly problems. That is wrong. Remember that you come to the ashram for peace of mind. once that is achieved, all other things will fall in place.

Su-yauvana/good youth is there. We must strive for it.

This Prakarana began with the warning: do not be too attached to the body. See the pitfalls you will face by indulging in excessive attachment to the body. If you go to the temple, give up your attachment to the fancy clothes you are wearing and the expensive sandals you have left outside. Clothes may get stained or sandals may be stolen. But if you are preoccupied only with keeping your clothes neat and your footwear safe, you cannot focus on God when you go to the temple. It is perhaps wise to wear old clothes and not worry about the footwear left outside. Similarly, one must not be too preoccupied with the comforts of the body, to be able to lead a dharmic and peaceful life.

Next, the flaws in childhood and youth were pointed out and described by Sri Rama.
The next topic of discussion is the preoccupation of men and women with persons of the opposite gender. Because Rama is male, he is speaking about the dangers the men who suffer from their preoccupation with thoughts about women. If Mother Sita were to discuss this topic, she perhaps would have spoken about the dangers women will face if they become preoccupied with thoughts about men. So I request the ladies who are listening to this not to take offence that the chapter is called: Stree Jugupsa – why women are to be despised.

Women and men believe that the body is permanent. There is no distinction between the sexes where the necessity of Jnana is considered. Everyone needs spiritual awareness, regardless of gender, religion, caste, and race.

Sri Rama is attempting to bring about a transformation in our perspective on life. God divided his body into male and female. The Rishi with whom it started is known as Manu.

In marriage, it is not the body of the woman that is important. It is the love and understanding between the couple that is important. In the olden days in India, the bride and groom never even saw one another until after the marriage ceremony. A curtain would separate the two until after the oaths were taken. They place on each other’s head a paste made of jaggery and cumin seeds. It symbolizes a strong bond between the two individuals. They look at each other only afterwards.

The shape and the beauty of the body are very fleeting. The looks change very quickly as time passes. People become sick or injured and may lose their physical beauty and fitness. Nature, the mind, and behavior are important.

There is an incident in the Mahabharata. Subhadra loved Arjuna. Arjuna was eager to marry Subhadra because she was Krishna’s sister. He was ready for the marriage, because he wanted to be even more closely related to Krishna. But Krishna urged him to first learn of Subhadra’s nature and test her virtue before jumping to the hasty decision of marrying her. Afterwards, if you are satisfied, you may decide to marry her, said Krishna. Arjuna agreed to go and meet her. Being a Kshatriya/warrior, it was acceptable to do so. But Krishna told Arjuna that he could only meet her in the disguise of an ascetic. Krishna quoted the scriptures and said: Only that kind of a meeting is acceptable. Arjuna had heard of Subhadra’s beauty earlier. Arjuna lived for some time in the kingdom where Subhadra lived, upon Krishna’s suggestion. Subhadra heard of the greatness of this new ascetic in the kingdom and began serving him. He was handsome to look at and was radiant. One day, when Arjuna tried to hold the hand of Subhadra, she scolded him soundly, and ran away from there. She cursed him that she would complain against his behavior to Arjuna, who would accord him the appropriate punishment. Then Arjuna revealed his true identity to her. Then Arjuna mentioned to Krishna how virtuous his sister Subhadra is and expressed his wish to marry her for her virtue.

Subhadra, however, told her brother Krishna that now she was of two minds whether to marry Arjuna or not, because he has this nature of deception. Krishna convinced her that she had no need to worry and recommended that she marry him. Arjuna had the boon that his disguises will always be of benefit to him.

Many devotees are satisfied if Swamiji suggests a match to them, even if they have not seen the boy or the girl. If Swamiji has approved of their nature, then that is sufficient for them. Looks are not important. If the couple lives happily ever after, then Swamiji is very happy. If they spoil their relationship, then Swamiji will regret his decision of suggesting the match.

The world is deluded by the physical beauty of the opposite gender. That is why Sri Rama is speaking about the strange features of the woman’s body.

Men look at certain parts of a woman’s body in an evil manner, and even women recognized that tendency in men. In our tradition a little girl is addressed as a little mother/Chitti thalli. With such great respect and reverence a female child is looked at and treated. We are born in a country like that.

Maamsa …

Body is nothing but flesh and blood, and is like a machine with life with wastes produced in the body that get expelled periodically. What is the beauty or attraction in such a body? Look at the different components that make up the body: sweat, bones, nerves, blood vessels, and intestines; what is so beautiful?

I have to explain the detail about illusion. One goes to job. One sits for meditation. One sits in front of Sadguru. Even on all such occasions, if the wife is thinking of the husband, or the husband is thinking of the wife, they cannot do justice to their work or the circumstance. That is illusion. Why does one become deluded like that? We must develop proper discretion. Then people do not lose their judgment. All the seven great rishis are married. Marriage is not wrong. But becoming deluded by the relationship is wrong. Even Rama got married. He is not against marriage. He insists that virtue is more important than physical beauty and attachment to the body.

But as per Vedanta, to attain true knowledge, one has to develop distaste for the body, be it male or female. That is a pre-requisite for perceiving Truth. We have to distance ourselves from ignorance and wrong perception about body.

Make-up and fancy attire are deceptive. Very highly educated persons choose as a partner one who has not even completed high school. Why? It is mere physical attraction. It should be avoided. Once the bodies end up in the cremation ground, all bodies get burned to ashes or eaten by beasts such as wolves or foxes.

People are afraid of Vedanta, which actually destroys fear by giving true knowledge. It is ironical.

A physicist has knowledge; or a doctor has some amount of knowledge/scientific expertise that allows him to properly execute his procedures to cure a disease. Similarly, Vedanta knowledge helps to cure our mental misunderstanding, which will result in a clear understanding and consequent happiness. That is what Sri Rama is teaching us in different ways.

What is the difference between a donkey’s body or a camel’s body and a human body? All are made of the same five elements. Once this clear knowledge is obtained, our foolish thoughts and actions will be reduced. The modern cinemas and media only speak of woman, money, and pleasure as if they are reality, whereas they are unreality. But due to repeated exposure to this people are getting convinced. We wrongly encourage our children to follow the crowd.

Rama at age 15 is speaking these words. It suggests that children at that age require this knowledge. It is said that birds and animals lack knowledge. But in Kali Yuga it appears as if they have better sense than humans. Here is a parrot in Swamiji’s quarters that keeps chanting Om Santissantissantihi. Does it know the meaning? Perhaps not. But do we all know the meaning when we say it? We also do not truly understand.

Our lives are insignificant unless we develop some awareness. Otherwise, such a horrendous crime as has taken place in Delhi, by a 15 year old criminal would not have happened; nirbhaya. Such an act has not taken place in the previous yugas even.

Consumption of liquor and preoccupation with women are causing a degeneration of our nature.

Swamiji will arrive at 1 PM. Please all of you come and have darshan.

Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta

Om Santissantissantihi