Jan 2, Vasishtha
Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 90, January 2
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.
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
Om santissantissantihi
Yesterday was New Year's Day. We celebrated Vaikuntha Ekadasi. Sri Datta Venkateshwara Swami keeps breaking His own records in the number of devotees who come to have His darshan on Vaikuntha Ekadasi each year. The Lord Himself develops devotion in the hearts of people. Devotion should be developed. It is highly beneficial. It is fortunate that Vaikuntha Ekadasi and New Year's Day came together this year.
Yesterday we did not have the Yoga Vasishtha discourse. Today on Dwadasi, we begin the episode of Jnanavatarana, how spiritual wisdom was brought to this world, narrated by Sage Vasishtha. Vasishtha discloses his own story and his experience of how he attained spiritual knowledge.
Rama said, past lives' sins can be overcome as you have explained, but the future is unknown. How are we to control it?
Vasishtha gives the answer. Spiritual wisdom is limitless. Parabrahman is in everyone and in everything. There is nothing but He in the entire Creation. He is future also. Therefore, there is nothing to fear about the future. By His grace all future will be good. With Brahma Tatva, this section begins. The one who relieves you from difficulties is 'nitya bandhu', the true everlasting relative. He removes your sorrow and gives you happiness.
Focus your mind with devotion and dedication on the Parabrahman. It will give you the greatest blessing. Vasishtha gives his own story and gives Upadesha about Parabrahman. Vasishtha reveals how Parabrahman released him from his grief and granted him the greatest peace of mind and supreme bliss. The rarest and the most precious knowledge of how to attain liberation is being given.
From Brahman emerged Brahma of four faces. It is no ordinary birth. The lotus emerged from the navel of Lord Narayana. Brahma is the one who created this existence. Padma Kalpa is described. In the world, the creatures were in ignorance and hence, were in great sorrow. Therefore, The Lord resolved to give them knowledge. Thus, wisdom came into being. Brahma created me. I was like his son. He gave me upadesha, as Jnana. I was asked to spread this spiritual wisdom in Jambu Dvipa, the huge mass of land/island.
It was much larger than present day Asian continent. Bharata Varsha, our present India was a part of it.
Whoever shows a genuine interest in learning this, to them I instruct this wisdom. Vasishtha states that none of his actions are ever performed out of ego.
Now this is the 10th sarga that we commence. We have learned earlier about karma, niyati/discipline imposed by Time, and luck. We have learned that any fortune occurs only as a result of past actions. Today we begin the topic called Jnanavataranam/the emergence of spiritual wisdom.
Our past lives' merit goes with us into following births. But what about the future, which totally controls us, how can we overcome its effects? asked Rama. Niyati, the future cannot be overcome. We do not know what it is. We are controlled by it.
Vasishtha is beginning to answer the question posed by Rama. Now Vasishtha begins.
yathaa sthitam ...
The Brahma principle is self-effulgent. It is not lit by anyone. Whatever is seen is all perishable, including even all its subtlest elements. The eternal consciousness is not a thing. It is the principle of Parabrahman. That alone remains when all else is destroyed. Everything merges in Parabrahman. You are seeing this creation as if it is existent. But actually, only the Parabrahman which is naturally radiant, alone exists.
Niyati is the consort of Kala Purusha. Kala/Time consumes all in the form of Death. Niyati is the one that imposes limits on our existence in Time. Cause and Effect are all Parabrahman. Nothing exists outside of Parabrahman. Whoever is performing good deeds has no reason to ever fear Niyati/the discipline of Time.
What exists, and the cause of its existence, are both the Parabrahman alone.
verse
No need to fear, Rama. Learn this principle. You base your conviction on this and pursue your sadhana. Your own mind is your friend. Focus it on Parabrahman. When taken along the right path, the mind is the best friend. When allowed to deviate from the right path, the mind is the worst enemy.
We have to recollect the words of Rama.
We must realize that Niyati is also our friend. Future will benefit us. It is up to us.
avaantara..
The sense organs keep falling into desires. They ride the vehicles called tempting desires. One must control them by determined effort. With practice, it can be achieved. You must develop even-mindedness.
iha amutraca
One must be comfortable in this life. At the end of life one must attain liberation. I will grant you that wisdom.
There is something greater than attaining all that can be attained in this world. That is liberation. The technique to attain it, is given by Sadguru. Vasishtha is now granting that. One lifetime is not enough to learn all that is to be learned. No matter how many provisions/groceries we may keep at home, we can only consume a limited amount of food at each meal. Sadguru gives the essence of the limitless knowledge in palatable doses.
verse
We should not forget and fall back in our knowledge and understanding. We must retain the required knowledge.
We go to a temple and take darshan. We should keep the concentration on God. But if we keep our thoughts on the sandals left outside, it is of no use. Again and again we will then experience sorrow. Total peace, and happiness that comes with contentment will be acquired by those whose mind is broad. We must travel in the path of spiritual wisdom.
poorva apara
Karma, Upasana, and Tatva Vichara are all important. The deeds we perform should be good. Our upasana such as yajnas, rituals, and austerities should be good. Our contemplation and study should be properly done. The mind should be filled with the essence of knowledge of God. Anusandhanam means to make the mind pursue with one-pointedness till it merges in the subject. Listening to shruti with full concentration, will make the mind become one with Nada.
In contemplating about Atma/Soul, the mind merges with the Soul. The mind and soul will then become one due to constant practice.
Both grief and joy will have to be removed. When there are dualities, there is sorrow. Because it is not happiness, you feel that it is sorrow. A rotten thing is a cause of sorrow for us. But for germs and insects a rotten fruit is a delicacy. What is good or bad is a matter of our own perspective. Even a freshly prepared item is criticized by some persons. A starved person relishes even stale food. It is only thought that determines whether something is pleasant or unpleasant. A poor laborer sleeps peacefully on bare ground. A man of luxury cannot sleep peacefully even on a feather bed.
Ten days of cold water bath will make the body accustomed to it. Later hot water will become unpleasant. Practice makes the perspective change.
Removing the dualities gives the greatest happiness. Such bliss does not go away. We have experienced many fleeting pleasures that give happiness in lesser or greater degree.
Vasishtha is now giving Upadesha to Rama about this topic.
verse
Listen to this technique of how to obtain a state of mind that is free from sorrow of any kind. Whoever is not interested in learning this, should not even enter the hall where such a discourse is given. In ancient times, great restrictions were imposed on who may listen and who may not listen to spiritual discourses. In Kali Yuga we are very lenient. We hope that at least one in a thousand will benefit from listening to these words of wisdom.
verse
The imperishable state of happiness is granted by this upadesha. One must listen and absorb this knowledge which was passed on by Brahma to Vasishtha. This knowledge will dispel all sorrows. It is wrong to expect to gain all pleasures. Do you wish for the pleasures felt by a snake, a tiger, and a pig? You must not wish for excess sleep or beastly pleasures. Only wish for all grief to be removed, and not to gain all pleasures. You must understand the difference. What is more important? To remove pain or to gain pleasure? In choosing pleasures, there will be no clarity. But the pain that you are now experiencing is known with clarity. That you wish to be rid of. The desire for health and wisdom is a legitimate desire. You pray for health even when you are healthy, not just when you become sick.
In hot weather, coolness gives pleasure. In cold weather, you enjoy warmth. Pleasures are changeable. So, do not wish for pleasure. You wish for the removal of pain. What is left then, is bliss. When you pray to Paramatma, pray for what He alone is qualified to give. Don't pray for cheap favors.
Ignorance is the greatest grief. All other difficulties which we experience also, we wish to be free from. Desiring comforts is the greatest foolishness in this world.
Do not pray for 75% pleasure and 25% pain. It is foolish. When you pray to Sadguru and God, pray only for the release from sorrow. When you pray for happiness, happiness may come, but sorrow also comes along with it.
Dualities should be removed. That is lasting happiness.
Waking up at 4 AM with deep devotion, thousands of devotees happily waited in line to have the darshan of Lord Sri Datta Venkateshwara yesterday. For them it was a pleasure. For a non-devotee, it is a pain. To withstand the cold, they wrapped a shawl, and shivered, might have felt hungry also, but once the darshan was obtained, all of that was forgotten. They felt blessed and happy.
When one listens to this upadesha of how to obtain Moksha, liberation, only happiness will remain.
Some people are there who imagine sorrows and indulge in grief. For a poor man, stale food gives pleasure. For a pampered person, a delicacy also gives pain and discontent.
verse
We all need someone who will give us solace and hope. One in a quagmire will go down deeper if he moves and squirms. If he stands still, he may remain in the same place. Someone may come and rescue him. This upadesha gives confidence to the intellect.
Here, Sri Rama expresses a doubt. What was the reason that Brahma gave you this upadesha?
verse
How did you manage to receive this Upadesha? How was it meaningful for you? How did you understand it?
It is very important to know the story of Guru, the glory of Guru, and the experience of Guru. Mother Goddess is called: Guru mandalaroopini.
asti
Wonderful beginning for this upadesha. This is the way the great souls begin, continue, and end their discourses. You must observe how they begin, how they end, and what they teach in between. Vasishtha begins with asti: He is. God is. that statement is the basis for this entire existence.
Nasti: He does not exist. When such an idea is believed, there is no future for existence. Only what is seen or perceived by the senses is believed by those people, the atheists, the non-believers. Because you cannot see what is beyond the scope of your vison, you do not believe in anything that cannot be perceived by the senses.
But it is God who created both the atheists and the theists. In a'theist', theist already exists.
How can you say that 'something' does not exist. That something must exist, before you can even refer to it.
It is foolish to speak that God does not exist. This world consists of all kinds of people. God supports even non-believers. Such is His compassion.
Sachchidananda principle is that: asti. He is eternal. He exists in all three time phases, past, present, and future.
Amsa panchakam - 5 most important concepts: to be, to be radiant (something in total darkness is not perceived), to be pleasing, to have a specific form, and to have a name. The first three apply to God/Paramatma. These three are not always present in worldly things. They keep changing. Paramatma has no change. He eternally exists, is ever radiant, and is always bliss itself. We all have form and name but the first three come and go.
Paramatma is Limitless Knowledge/Glory/Discipline - ananta vilasam.
He is everywhere. He does not travel from one place to another. In stories like the Gajendra Moksham it may be narrated that God came from afar, all the way from Vaikuntha. But God is in everyone, at all times. He is in the heart-lotus as conscious awareness that is imperishable, radiantly glowing.
The lamp we light in our homes represents the sun and the moon which light up the world. The light within us is God who is in all.
Paramatma is without any particular attributes.
Without speaking of himself with ego, Vasishtha begins first by speaking about Paramatma, and how Srimannarayana, as an aspect emerged from Paramatma. From Narayana came Brahma, and from Brahma came Vasishtha. How Jnana was awakened in him is described.
Lord Venkateshwara gives Netra Darshana only once a week, on Thursdays. His eyes are visible on that day. He looks with compassion upon devotees. On Thursdays, He also sees with glaring eyes at the evil doers to punish them. That is also required.
Today is Friday. Abhishekam to Lord Sri Datta Venkateshwara.
Sri Swamiji has arrived in Bangalore from Vijayawada. We pray for his safe travel to Australia and New Zealand. We pray for his healthy and safe return after a successful trip.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi