Oct 4, 2015
Q & A session with HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji - October 4, 2015 - Mysore
Compiled by Smt Hira Duvvuri
Question :
In Yoga Vashistha they speak of Paramatma and Jivatma. I am confused.
Answer :
You are confused because you have read only half of it. Read fully and listen to Balaswamijis lectures on Yoga Vashistha.
Paramatma has no mercy towards the destitute. He shows no difference between a hill and a lake. He is merely a witness. Like the sun, he does not reduce his heat where it gets too hot, and does not give more heat in places where it is too cold, like in Europe. He gives the consequences as per past karma. Jivatma has to transcend feelings and also become only a witness by merging with Paramatma, who is just a witness. Conquering Maya is only this.
If you fully read and study a subject, you will already know the subject thoroughly. You will not have questions.
Question :
Why are we very eager and concerned about what other people are thinking about us? Why are we more interested in knowing about others, rather than in learning about ourselves? It seems to be the nature of humans. How to control this?
Answer :
First you correct yourself. You have no trust in how your face looks. That is why you look in the mirror. If you know how your face looks, then why do you need to look in the mirror? Instead of being satisfied with the good looks given to you by ***, you wish to improve upon them by applying colors to your face and cutting your hair here and there. Why? You are insulting *** by trying to change what He has given you. You have no faith in Him and you do not have belief in yourself. You want to beautify yourself more and more because you are dissatisfied with yourself. Learn to be contented and satisfied with what you got. Then you will be a happy person. You will not be bothered about what others are thinking about you. When you yourself are dissatisfied with yourself, then you cannot complain that others are criticizing you. They have every right to do so. If you are happy with yourself, then all kinds of good things will come to you.
Question :
I have read a lot. I have heard a lot. Repetitively I have heard Appaji’s advice for 35 years. I know what I should be doing. But I do not do it. What is stopping me? How do I make progress?
Answer :
Many wish to cook dishes with different tastes. You make the same dish several times and each time you comment that it is either tastier this time or not as tasty as the last time, and still keep consuming it. Having cooked the meal, you feel less hungry than before the meal was cooked. Why? What is the psychology behind this? Before the meal was prepared, there was more hunger. Once the meal is ready, the hunger is reduced because you feel a mental satisfaction and you begin to exercise a choice as to what to eat of the options available. Should you eat only rice with buttermilk, or should you also eat rasam and chutney? Before the meal was prepared, you were ready to eat anything that was edible. Some get confused when there are too many items placed before them.
You have prepared all the items that you know how to make. But you are not eating.
When you do not know the language that is being spoken, if you hear even one familiar word, your concentration perks up and you get interested, thinking that it is an interesting topic. But if you come with the notion that it is a foreign language but you have fondness for the speaker, you will not gain anything from the speech. If you concentrate and pick up at least one word, you will benefit from the speech. To know whether rice is cooked or not, it is enough to test just one grain. There is no need to test every single grain.
You have heard so many speeches. And yet, you have not put any one teaching into practice. Your head is merely a *** that has collected everything. You have not experienced the contents. There is no need to analyze whether you have heard this before or not. You must first listen. Then you must ponder over the topic. You then digest the summary. At least 5-10 per cent of what you have learned, you begin to practice. You are not lazy to hear the speeches. But you are lazy to put the advice into practice.
Question :
What is the concept of Space and Time according to you? I feel that you and space are somehow connected.
Answer :
Good. Space is formless. Time has form. Space and air are formless. Planets are in space. Incarnations have form. We are all living in Time. Different manifestations as incarnations or people or animals occur in time. Paramatma, like Space, is formless. He is invisible, like Space. Space is for traveling, thinking, and for contemplation/Dhyana. We have a planet. It means Time. To speak from a human point of view: Space has no form. Yet, all things, objects, and spheres exist in it. There are stars there, too far away that we cannot even see them. They will be visible if you do space travel using time. To go to Ontikuppal, it requires a vehicle and time. If we simply sit here and think about Ontikuppal, then Time comes into factor. Another name for Time is Karma. It is the Karma theory. Space has no Karma since it is formless. Paramatma alone has no Karma.
However, Paramatma also will have Karma once He takes a form. He then has to perform actions. To merge with Time, you must give up Karma. Rama was entering the Sarayu River when it was his time to return to Vaikuntha. The time had come for him to take a form. The time had come for him to give up his form. From form, when his Time was up, he returned to Space, the formless.
There is talk whether life exists on another planet, such as Mars. Whether one can create an artificial atmosphere that is amenable for survival is being considered. One perhaps has to become like a robot to go and live there. But a human being cannot survive there. When you transcend the boundaries of Time, you merge into Space. Time means body. Space means Liberation. I cannot simplify this any further.
Question :
Swamiji’s spiritual stature was put to test by his own father. Swamiji took his father to a solitary place and revealed to him some facts which had taken place during the father’s youth, known only to him. The father fell at Swamiji’s feet and acknowledged him as his guru.
I forget everything worldly when I come to your presence and accept you as ***. But once I step out, the illusory world grabs me again with all its attractions and distractions. Fifteen years ago I went to a hill to do penance, knowing that all this is an illusion. But I became afraid and returned home running, without even looking back. Please help me to overcome this Maya by giving some valuable advice.
Answer :
He wants to win over Maya and be freed from the bondages of the world. A wonderful question and a wonderful wish. To answer it is difficult.
When a serious illness occurs, the person is advised to perform some very tough exercises. But he cannot do them. His back hurts if he sits, his knees hurt if he gets up, he is cold if he sips Teertham, he feels hot if he takes harati, he is miserly when it comes to spending money, and without spending he cannot survive. What is the solution? He likes relatives to visit, and he also likes to save the rice. But he cannot tell the guests to leave.
You are in total confusion about this worldly life. This worldly life will not drown you. You thought worldly life is an illusion. You can remain in the world and at the same transcend illusion if you control your ***, your desires, and your thirst for money, position, and children. You cannot get freed from these without making any effort. As you grow older, you are increasing your attachments for money, wealth, assets, and relationships. You are going in the reverse direction. You cannot increase your desires and hope for liberation. Sadhana means refusing to yield to Maya.
My mother taught me a method of sadhana in my childhood. I always take the example of food, because that is the only way you will understand.
She gave me a gold dinner plate because she was extremely fond of me. It was exclusively for my use. Although she was a yogini, she was obsessed with love for me. She would prepare several items for me and serve them in the plate. In the middle she would place some rice and rasam. She would tell me not to touch any other items but to only eat the rice with rasam. Without touching any of the other items, I would only eat what was in the middle of the plate. My mouth would not even water at the sight of the other delicacies. One should have a fully served meal placed before him and yet have the self-control not to eat the items. Then it is possible to conquer Maya. You cannot ask that food should not be served to you.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said, one has to keep a piece of rock candy in the mouth for six hours without salivating. Is it possible? At once you will lose the battle because you will begin to *** and chew on it. It will become moist in the mouth. You must develop self-control.
Gopeejana sangamu lekane kreedanu chesevaadu Saadhinchene O manasa (Thyagaraja pancharatna kriti).
Krishna played with the Gopikas intimately without a trace of attachment or desire towards them. One should be like that. Only if you are able to be like that you can win over Maya.
It is meaningless for a person who has no food to do a fast. One with plenty of food available should be the one fasting. It is meaningless to observe a vow of silence while all alone. One should practice silence in the midst of a gathering of people, in the middle of a family quarrel. That is the method for conquering Maya. You want hot spicy pickles and chutneys, you want a blanket the moment it turns cold, and you hanker after the company of your children. You are fond of likes and dislikes. How can you escape from them? You should first have the realization. You said you did penance on top of a hill. Then why did you get married? Why did you come to the city? Why did you have children? Is this a question to ask Swamiji now? When you go home your wife will slap and scold you. Once you bore the burden of a family, it is your responsibility to take care of them. That is your worship. Only if you execute your duty properly, it will become yoga. Otherwise you will neither be a yogi, nor a householder. You will lose at both ends. Carefully take care of your family. One goes through different stages in life such as childhood, youth, and old age. In your old age if you are careful, perhaps you will regain the wisdom that you experienced when you went to the hill to meditate. Jaya Guru Datta
Question :
Why do all yogis prefer to go to the Himalayas to acquire their yogic powers? Why not to other places? Our Sadguru Swamiji has not gone to the Himalayas. Sainath had not left the boundaries of Shirdi. So many yogis, without crossing their boundaries could acquire immense yogic power to bless the disciples who approach them. Sometimes when Swamiji gets angry, he says he will go away to the Himalayas. What are the special features prevailing only in the Himalayas?
Answer :
When one loses parents one suffers. My real father is Siva. That is why I want to go to the Himalayas to spend some time with Him, not because I am angry. Sometimes mother tells lies to make a child behave. If Swamiji says he will go away to the Himalayas, it is like a mother trying to frighten a child to make him eat his food, saying that a bad fellow is coming to get him.
Those who are immersed in family and worldly affairs cannot go to the Himalayas. Even if you go, you will return in a day. In the mind, the attachments have to be given up. Physically breaking bonds is ineffective. Siva is the guru for all yogis. So they wish to go there. The cold weather prevents the yogis from getting burnt in the fire of yoga when they perform penance in the Himalayas. Sometimes, if life leaves the body of a yogi, it has the facility to return to it because the body will not perish there. Such yogic facilities are there. But some who go there under a delusion, become ill and get admitted to a hospital. It requires great determination to do penance.
One can practice penance anywhere. There is no necessity to go to the Himalayas. Once the bondages are given up, if the body is healthy, one may go to the Himalayas. But with ill health one should not go. It is Adharma to do so. In South India one can do penance. The body that has fallen ill once, should not be subjected to torment. One must maintain good health by regular check-ups and treatment. The body is the house of ***. It should be kept in good repair. You must become free from the bondages of Karma. You must tell yourself that you are not your body or your sense organs. Once you achieve this realization, you can do penance even in a marketplace. It is pointless to go to the Himalayas and end up with pneumonia. We were born here for a purpose. We should remain right here. Why did Sage Agastya remain right here in South India? It was the command given to him by Lord Siva. Those who do not go to the Himalayas are not unfortunate people. Several rishis have remained in South India also.
To quickly become free from Karma, South India is the best place. It is a Karmamukti Kshetra. Jeevanmukti Kshetra is the Himalayas. Even the thought that one should go to the Himalayas is good. It gives merit to even say that one wants to go to Kasi. If one says four times a day that one wishes to go to the ashrama to have Swamiji’s darshan, that itself is sufficient. It is equivalent to actually having his darshan. One must make an effort to visit the ashrama. One should dwell on the whereabouts and activities of Swamiji. Wishing to see Swamiji in itself gives the greatest happiness. You do not get that thought. But if you do, you feel relief. Keep thinking that, and without any effort, unknowingly you will arrive here. Himalayas are great for yogis.
…
We have changed our weekend schedule. Beginning this month we will have bhajans on Saturday evening and a Q&A session on Sunday evenings if Swamiji is present. Sunday noon we have the Tailabhishekam.
Next Sunday, I will show you a movie, which will answer this question about Time and Space. How a soul travels in space is shown in a science-fiction spiritually higher level movie. You may watch it along with me. You should not be looking at me during the movie. You must fully concentrate and watch the movie. The science people have produced a spiritual movie. Our spiritual Indian people have not made such a movie. All the movies made here are about men and women and their relationships. It is not really a movie. It is a documentary produced at a tremendous cost. It is an excellent, wonderful movie. It needs no advertisement or publicity from me.
Sri Guru Datta