AvadhootaDatta Peetham

Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
December 16 2015

Sri Sadgurubhyo namaha
Om Santissantissantissantihi

We have learned about Svayambhu Utpatti or Jeeva Utpatti Varnana.

We learned first about how this Creation came about, because that is what everyone is interested in. But what is more important to learn is how the Jeeva or the individual came into existence. What is the benefit we gain by learning about how the world came into existence? How you, I and all others came into being, and to know who I am, is the most important question for which an answer has to be sought. Once this answer is known, all other questions will be answered. Swamiji’s Life History begins with that question, as you know.

Why ask this question? Many people ask that. Don’t we know already who we are? Do we? Many people assume that they know everything and go about recklessly, not wishing to learn or be educated. Just because you arrogantly think that you know everything, does not mean that you really do know everything.

When you ask someone, who are you? He will answer by giving his name. That is only your name. But who are you really? I am this body. Oh, but will you always remain in this body? No. I am my heartbeat. Does the heart beat all the time? What happens to you when the heart stops beating? I don’t know.

What do you gain by knowing who you are? You will be freed from the pain of your coming and going (into this world). More than the happiness of obtaining something, we always feel more unhappiness about losing something.

When does life become fulfilled? Why were we born? The purpose is to ascertain that we overcome death. That is what everyone wants and desires. But this body will perish for everyone. That is unavoidable. Great souls do not even make any attempt to not lose the body. They are not under any delusion. They never make any attempt to safeguard the body from death. They know that they exist eternally. They have the experience of being unlimited and unfragmented and they never wish to change that.

If you are told that you are the owner of all these ten acres of land, would you ask if that small part in the middle of it is also yours? You will be told yes, that is also yours. Would you leave the vast expanse of ten acres and build a fence just around that tiny piece of land which is a small part of it? No sensible person would do it. We are doing just that. We are ignoring our vast potential and are building a periphery wall around our limited body.

Guru tells us not to do it. We have to heed his words that we are huge, vast and infinite. What is the use of hanging on to something extremely restricted as the body?

When there are Amritam (divine nectar of immortality) and Aavakaaya (hot, spicy pickle), which do you choose? You choose the pickle because you have not tasted Amrita. Sadguru tells you, you should ask for nectar and not the hot pickle. Amrita is tastier than even rice pudding. Whose fault is it if you do not grasp the Truth? It is not the mistake of the Sadguru. If we ask only for hot pickle, ignoring Sadguru’s offer of Amrita, when he holds both, we are the losers. Even after tasting the pickle, even the second time around, we again ask only for hot pickle. This is Maya, ignorance, delusion. The purpose of our life is achieved if we can defeat death. We were born to avoid death. Why have we taken birth? We have taken birth because we had died before. This should be remembered. We are now born to become immortal.

We take so many medicines and go through any surgeries because we wish to live longer happily.
But you have no such thing as death.

There is no greater fear in life than the fear of death. But there is no need for such fear. There is no birth at all for you. When you have no beginning, you can have no end.

You refute or reject this statement. It is very difficult for you to understand this. You say you were born, they celebrated, and distributed sweets. You studied, grew up, got married, got a job, you have an occupation, have a family, and a bank balance. How can you say that I was never born?

When you accept that *** is there and He is everything, do you believe that he has birth? No. If He were to have birth, He should also have death. Why do we say that *** has no birth and death? Because whatever is born must die. *** is eternal and true. He is Pure, true, flawless, and permanent. He is free from flaws such as old age and death. We have old age. He does not. We get diseases. He is free from disease. We have defects. He is untainted. He has no likes and dislikes. Only such a one is Paramatma. When everything is Paramatma, how can you be different from Him? You say it in words but you do not experience it. Every person who calls himself a devotee, affirms this. But only one in a billion has that experience. Only he is a Jeevanmukta. He is Sadguru. We associate with him only to become like him. We go to school and college and associate with teachers so that we can acquire the knowledge that they have. When students are negligent, the teacher puts in extra effort to teach them so that they will at least pass the exam.

If you fail to learn, who is the loser? You are the loser. You waste your life. To fulfill life’s purpose, you must experience ***.

The purpose of our present birth is to overcome death. Is it possible? Yes. It is possible, if you get out of the ignorance that you are this body which is perishable. When you limit yourself to this body, you subject yourself to great distresses. When you treat yourself as tiny, you become overpowered by troubles. When you consider yourself as infinite, when you go beyond the body, and identify with Paramatman, all your troubles will vanish.
Okay, it is difficult to say, I am ***. It sounds egotistical. Only *** exists. That is what you should realize. Then you will be free from all the difficulties of the world and the diseases of the body. Then the body taking birth and dying will not happen anymore. We may consider by our time scale that each lifetime is about a hundred years. But the subtle soul which hops from one body to another goes on a long journey according to its own time calculation. As it travels through so many different bodies, it experiences misery. This Sastra teaches us how to avoid that misery.

There is no benefit in learning about how the Creation came about, about the five elements and the sequence of their emergence. This Space exists because you exist and you have imagined space to exist. Who is this that has imagined it? It is the individual soul. Therefore, we need to learn about how the soul first came into existence. That is important. Learn about how you, as a soul, have come into existence.

We think that we are all only temporary and insignificant. That is why we speak of the Adi Jeeva, four-faced Brahma, or Hiranyagarbha, from whom Creation and all other souls, and the subtle perceptions and the gross elements have emerged. Since we, the individual souls have emerged from him, we cannot be different from him. But what is the use of identifying ourselves with four-faced Brahma? Because, he is also temporary. He will also merge with Paramatma at the end of the Kalpa. He has a limited lifespan also. What is the use of identifying ourselves with Brahma? After his lifespan of one hundred years, according to the time scale at his higher plane, expires, he also merges in Paramatma. A Kalpa is many Yugas, it is an extremely long time. That same Brahma is not reborn thereafter.

But we have the feeling that we have been born.

Countless four-faced Brahmas have merged in Srimannarayana or Sadasiva. No matter which name you use, Narayana or Siva, the principle is the same. Brahma is becoming liberated. Jeevanmuktas, when their bodies are discarded, become Videhamuktas. They become one with Paramatma. They have no rebirth.

Only some of them, out of infinite compassion towards us, descend to the earth to uplift us. Sadguru is like that. That is why they are called incarnations. An incarnation is a very special term. His mission is to teach us. It is as if he is at the Ph. D level, and yet, he comes down to our level to teach us the ABCs. He is not arrogant about his knowledge. He does not boast of his multiple doctorates. A grandfather who might have several doctorates descends to the level of his grandchild and teaches the ABCs. Sadguru does likewise. That is the nature of a Jeevanmukta.

Then who will continue this Creation, if four-faced Brahma gets liberated?
An Upasaka, Hanuman, the future Brahma will create. It is very nice to hear this, when you are a devotee. How will he create? You may say that he is all powerful and is capable. But Sastra does not accept that. He must have a reason to create. Strangely, behind Hanuman, there is no Samskara, no recollection of a past creation done by him. Then how will he create in the future Kalpa?

So, what does all this mean?

Creation is an illusion.
We have already discussed this in detail earlier.

It is your assumption that Lord Hanuman was born. He is not of that idea. That is strange. That is why he said to Sri Rama: You and I are one. That is why he is a Chiranjeevi. He is immortal. Becoming immortal is the goal of life. Lord Hanuman has achieved that. That is why Swamiji has told us to chant the Hanuman Chalisa, so that our life will attain its ultimate purpose. Rama Brahma who is Parabrahma has declared that Hanuman had attained the ultimate level. Rama and Hanuman have to be regarded as Guru and disciple, not as Lord and servant. Muktikopanishad was taught by Rama to Hanuman. In that he quotes from Yoga Vasishtha. Sri Rama had learned this science from his Guru. He repeated the lessons to his disciple.

He granted the boon of deathlessness to Hanuman.

Every day you should dwell on that thought. I am not the body. Body is subject to disease and death. I am beyond the body. We have the power to mentally travel, transcending everything. It is the truth. Before the word Anantapur is uttered, our mind has already traveled to Anantapur. Before the word America is pronounced, our mind has already traveled to America. That is how fast the mind is. Unless we are endowed with such power, we cannot mentally travel like that. We have forgotten our potential. Maha Yogis learn and practice that.

You and I may think that Hanuman was born, but he never believed so. Hanuman initially might have thought that he was born to Mother Anjana. But by Rama’s grace he realized that he is beyond death. That is why he is immortal. He eternally lives in the form of Light. We are told that he will later become Brahma and engage in the act of Creation. What does that mean? If all that exists is ***, and He is all-pervading, where does the question of Creation arise?

If he is Paramatma, then what does it mean that he will create?

If he is completely and fully ***, there is nothing on either side of Him, or above and below Him. He is everything. When the *** is brimming full with butter, how can anything else exist in it? Can you have a tennis ball or a football in the middle of it? No. It is fully only filled with *** stuff. How can He then create? Therefore, Creation is an illusion. Brahma, Paramatma is the only Truth. Yesterday we spoke of its subtle points. After explaining how the Jeeva came into existence, eventually it was proven to us that Jeeva never existed, was never born, and there is no such thing as Jeeva or individual soul. But he appears to us as if he exists. He appears to exist because you have that feeling. You are of the idea that he exists. That is all. That is why you believe that you are born.

You will be convinced that you were never born, only when you have the firm, definite, and most certain experience that Paramatma alone exists. When you have that experience, you will realize that nothing is yours. In our Karma Kanda (Vedic rituals) that is mentioned: Idam na mama – this is not mine.

When you give charity, do it anonymously. Many Datta devotees, almost ninety nine per cent do so. The left hand must not know that the right hand is giving. They inform Swamiji to receive his blessing. Whether or not you tell, he knows everything. People do puja and homa in Swamiji’s name and do not even desire to get Prasadam.

Even in Karma be unselfish. When you sacrifice or donate, be unselfish. In homa when you offer, you give what belongs already to the gods. Charity is where you give to another what is yours. Returning the water of the lake to the lake itself is giving arghyam. ‘Kereya neerannu kerege jalli’ is a saying in Kannada.

Tvadeeyam vastu Govinda tubhyameva samarpaye.

Govinda, what is your own, I offer it back to you. What right have I to give you back what actually belongs to you?
Agnaye Swaahaa. Agnaya idam na mama.

This is not mine. What is there in this world that belongs to us? We bring Samidhas (sacred dried twigs) to offer in Homa. Are they ours? Did we create the trees which produced them? Did we grow the trees? Did we produce the rice, or the rice pudding that is being offered? Are we responsible for the creation of the ghee? None of these materials are mine. What is yours, I offer back to you. What is great in that? Sacrifice is great. Donation and charity carry the inherent feeling that something of yours, you are giving away. That is why it is inferior. Karmas also teach us this same lesson. That is why Satkarma or good rituals and noble activities should be performed. Everyone will attain this level gradually. It may not come to you initially. Begin by doing good deeds. Why do we do Pujas? Did *** ever ask us to pour milk on Him? Did he ask for ghee to be poured on Him?

A very smart aleck Cinema person made a statement recently. Listening to him, some youngsters spoiled their minds. Do you know where he said that? Where you purchased a ticket for 500 rupees to see the show. The film person took the money and gives this false Upadesa. Why should he produce the picture in the first place? If he had not, we would have given this money for some donation to earn some spiritual merit at least. The man said, you are wasting milk by pouring it on an idol. Instead, give the milk to the poor. But, he wants us to spend the money to go and see his cinema. How clever!

I will give you 5 rupees donation, he says. He will consume the 495 rupees. He calls himself a perfectionist. Imperfection personified is he.

Should you not think? Devotees are performing these religious rituals with great faith and devotion for Yugas. You are criticizing and ridiculing them. Is that perfection? Perfection is not hurting others. Whereas you are hurting the feelings of so many devout persons. How is the milk wasted? We distribute it. Okay. We put it in drainage. So what? The germs and insects consume it. Nothing in this world goes waste.

Even in Satkarma, we display a sense of sacrifice. Even if you cannot raise yourself all at once to the level of a Jnani, if you keep doing meritorious acts, the mind becomes purified. When you do religious rituals, the mind gets cleansed. One has to continuously perform them. Only then the mind will become clean. The rust has to be removed. Only by ***’s grace the purification occurs. Only then the desire stems in the mind to follow the path of Jnana or spiritual wisdom. It only occurs by ***’s blessing. It has to be earned. That is very important. Do not allow the modern youth to listen to such *** statements. Only by the performance of Satkarma, we get admission to enter the path of Jnana.

In this Science of Advaita, in this section called Jeeva Utpatti, it is clearly stated that Jeeva was never born.
Ittham

The entire Sastra is delineated in this one verse.

Very logically till now everything has been explained. No other Sastra explains it so well. Ego is the cause of this visible or perceptible world. Without ego there is no Creation. I and You are the cause of this Creation. We falsely assume that the Creation is already there and we have entered it. Your created world, and my created world exist because we exist. Everything is inherent in the ‘I’ or ego. All the things in the world that our sense organs perceive, are non-existent. When the entire *** is filled with pure butter, there is no question of an insect being in it. If you fear eating the butter because you suspect that it is contaminated, and throw it away, you are the loser.

By this false assumption you make, that you are born and you exist, you are the loser. If the ‘I’ is not there, then what exists? All that exists is Paramatma and nothing else. Paramatma is the same as Sadguru.
To say that ‘it is not there’ is not the intent. The intent is to say, ‘it is all there’. We are not trying to say that you do not have ten rupees in your bank account. We are telling you that all that there is, is all yours. We ask for so little. We are given so much. We have to choose properly between Amrita and Avakaya. Which do we choose? The sensible person will always choose Amrita.

Paramaakaasa

The same topic is explained in greater detail with other examples. The subject is more clearly explained.
The day after tomorrow we will continue. Tomorrow is Subrahmanya Shashti. There will be Kavadi Seva. Everyone should participate. Now we will proceed to Sri Chakra Puja and Hanuman Chalisa chanting.

Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta

Om Santissantissantihi