Feb 28, Vasishtha
Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 107, February 28
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, in the Mumukshu Vyavahara Prakarana, Sage Vasishtha has taught us that every living being must make a deliberate effort to seek God.
adanantam anayasam
We were told to seek Paramatman who has no beginning and end and gives us eternal bliss. Today who is Purushottama is explained. There is none who is higher than Him.
verse
Purusha does not refer to male or female. Purusha is a living being. In spirituality, Purusha is one who wears a body. Who is the best among all purushas? Only those who seek liberation are of the highest level. Dharma, artha, and kama should be utilized to lead us to Moksha/liberation. Those who are eligible to seek this Purushartha, which is the highest goal to aspire for, are the ones who merge their minds in God.
When we are afflicted with fever, we become disabled. The body suffers and cannot accomplish anything. When the mind gets fever/jvara, in spirituality, in the form of kamakrodha/the inner enemies of greed, ***, jealousy and so on, the vikaras/disturbances prevent us from seeking God.
This Purushartha has to be attained by all with consistent effort.
sambhoga asana matrena
Those who think that life is for physical enjoyments only are like blind frogs. They go after wealth and pleasure and unhesitatingly engage in all types of sin. They are like frogs confined in a well which assume that the entire world is only what is inside the well. Of such frogs, those that are blind are even more ignorant and close-minded. The blind frog cannot even estimate the dimension of the well that it is trapped in. Those who fail to seek God will lead miserable lives like such blind frogs.
The pleasures of the world are deceptive. Those who are drowned in such ignorance are completely obsessed with seeking physical enjoyments. They think of worldly enjoyments as friends but they are actually enemies. That realization should come. One must give up this foolish notion and must try to seek Realization of God.
Once a person is born, he has the duty to cleanse his mind by engaging in worship of God, doing good deeds to benefit others, and following the guidance of Sadguru. One should serve Guru and seek his grace to follow the right path.
Purushottamas are the best among men who seek God. Those who are like the blind frogs are the worst of living beings.
The mind that chases after pleasures must be made to run towards God instead.
verse
Those who betray trust are the worst kind of men. The pleasures of the world are like such. They deceive us by tempting us with joys. What seems like nectar at first, turns out to be poison in the end. The reverse happened during the churning of the Ocean of Milk. When poison emerged first, Lord Siva consumed it. In the end nectar was obtained. Thereafter they forgot all about the poison.
Alcohol is one such which appears attractive at first but in the end is detrimental to one's well being.. The evil things in life tempt people to commit sin. Some people engage in *** and terrorism due to demonic traits. One must remain far from such people and such deeds. Those who become slaves to and worship nothing but worldly pleasures, are infatuated with them. They waste their lives. They think out of ignorance and arrogance that they are doing great things. They live with not a trace of devotion, discipline, yoga, or morals. Some wealthy people live merely for pleasure and partying day in and day out. They are deceiving themselves. They move from grief to grief endlessly. They go from one type of fear to another type of fear. They falsely believe that they are enjoying heavenly pleasures, but instead they suffer ***. They suffer *** here and will suffer *** hereafter. Their intelligence is flawed. They believe that their *** comforts are the ultimate.
Joy and sorrow destroy one another. When joy comes it dispels sorrow. Sorrow destroys joy. When one forgets God, it is an undesirable and terrible state.
verse
We must offer prostrations to Sadguru. Many people feel that showing gratitude is equivalent to slavery. Expressing gratitude to mother is also considered as unnecessary by some. To show appreciation to mother for giving birth is certainly not a sign of slavery.
O Rama, you have become dispassionate out of extraordinary discretion. You deserve to be shown reverence and respect by prostration. Not expressing reverence to those who deserve it, is a sin of omission.
A person's culture is expressed in the person's behavior. Only if the feelings of concern and appreciation are properly expressed, they can be recognized and acknowledge. Such an expression in action, words, and facial expressions is culture.
When a guest comes in from traveling in the hot sun, it is good culture to offer a glass of water to satisfy thirst. If the person only feels respect and concern but does not express it, it is useless. What is the use of mentally offering water to drink. if it is not physically given? To those who deserve respect, one must offer prostrations. Not doing so, is wrong.
Unless the adults set an example, the children will not learn.
You cannot scientifically explain the benefits gained by such actions which are required. Certain benefits accrue when one offers salutations to the deserving ones. Such actions should be properly taught. They cannot be forced.
You will certainly attain enlightenment, Rama. Your company is much desirable. Rama, you deserve to receive prostrations. Vasishtha spoke those words then, and to this day, we offer prostrations to Lord Rama.
Rama grants such bliss which is free from any unhappiness. He gives both physical comfort and liberation. Seeking pleasures gives transient joy coupled with misery. But Rama is an incarnation of God, although at this time he was only a sixteen year old boy. Vasishtha knew the worth of Rama. Rama gives eternal bliss. One who is immersed in pleasures by God's grace, should also be constantly thinking of God.
Vairagya/dispassion does not occur overnight. Through constant practice it may be obtained.
verse
How to cross this Samsara, which is a powerful stream? Why should one reach the shore? Why not simply remain in the stream, since we are good swimmers? One may ask. Samsara is not marriage, family and children. Any person who comes into this world is subject to Samsara. It is the cycle of birth and death. Once we are caught in this stream, we have to get out of it. Even an ace swimmer cannot eternally be swimming. He needs to return to the shore. We should not be seeking continuous rebirths. We can extricate ourselves from this never ending cycle only through spiritual sadhana. It includes service to Guru, performance of Vedic rituals, charitable activities and so on, to gain enlightenment. One must pray to God to bestow devotion, dispassion and knowledge. Every piece of knowledge is useful, no doubt. But the knowledge of Self, knowledge of the Supreme Entity is the ultimate knowledge.
Continuous practice of dispassion itself becomes Yoga. With that as the means one must and can, cross this river with the dangerous currents and dangerous creatures.
Just as all rivers merge in the ocean, all spiritual paths lead ultimately to spiritual enlightenment.
verse
We cannot afford to rest and fall asleep here. There are lurking dangers here. Involuntarily in sleep people even swat mosquitoes unknowingly. We unknowingly lose our awareness of this dangerous position we are in, once we take birth.
Those who have the opportunity to awaken from this sleep, still do not avail of it. The one whose system is permeated with poison is unable to get rid of the poison. He become immobile and helpless under the influence of the venom.
A person should always be waking himself up from his slumber of ignorance. A constant reminder is required. One must ever remain alert of this perilous situation.
They sing Suprabhatam, a wake up prayer to the Lord. It makes one laugh. How can God be asleep and require waking up? O Lord, please wake up to listen to our prayers and our troubles. Who are we to wake up God? We are the ones who are asleep. In Tirupati, they perform Suprabhata Seva at 3 AM. We have to wake up at 1 AM to reach there by that time.
The Suprabhatam is for us. Our prayer is that God should remain awake in us. We should be awake in God.
Samsaramimasadya
We have fallen into this cycle called birth and death. Many ignorant ones disregard the words of Sadguru that one should seek spiritual knowledge. They moreover make fun of His words and ridicule His words of wisdom.
Why listen to these useless words? Tell me of ways to earn a few bucks. That will be useful. Such words are spoken to Guru by the ignorant.
The man is sleeping on a grass mat inside a thatched hut. The house then catches fire. Instead of running out to save his life, he looks for his cell phone and loses his life. The smoke kills him. It suffocates him. His brains stops functioning. We read of such incidents in the newspapers.
A man accidentally dropped his cell phone on the railway tracks and tried to retrieve it as the train was approaching and got run over because he tripped over the rails.
The moment one takes birth, he must realize that he is caught in a dangerous situation and must make every effort to save himself by extricating himself from this trap.
One may say: How to get out of this world when everyone around us is also caught in this fire of ignorance? How is it possible? Some may genuinely ask out of concern. And some ask as escapists to simply divert the discussion to a different topic.
We should get away to a place where we can live permanently.
The answer is given to both. Those who have built their own home, be it a bungalow or a hut, feel complacent that they are secure and can live there forever. But this body is only temporary. It is like a rental property. This home we occupy has to be vacated. We all seek a permanent home where we can remain forever.
This same idea is repeated in the Bhagavad Gita because Yoga Vasishtha is a much earlier work.
God is called Parandhama - the ultimate abode. Vaikuntha, Satya Loka, or Brahma Loka is that plane of existence, which is a permanent residence. There Jnana itself merges with the Supreme Consciousness.
Once they reach Brahma Loka, there is no return. There, there is no danger of homes catching fire, bill payment for electricity and other utilities, and getting expelled or evicted due to non-payment of bills, and so on.
There is no type of tension when people come to the ashram. There is no pressure to wash clothes, to cook, serve, wash dishes or do anything else. People bring enough clothes. They get ready in the morning. They simply relax and enjoy their stay here. Swamiji looks after all facilities for us.
We become Jnana and Chaitanya once we reach that state, when we reach Satya Loka. There is no sorrow there of any type.
People ask whether such a state really exists and whether it is in fact reachable.
Sage Vasishtha says: Such a state is possible to achieve. Make an attempt to acquire spiritual knowledge. 'Veda' means - to know. Vedanta is a science where there is no strain or stress. Sharpening of the intellect is all that is needed. Once the intellect is sharpened, fill it with this subtle knowledge. Unlike other types of Yoga, there is no physical stress or strain here. Vedanta requires only a sharp mind.
Where is this knowledge available? Where do we get it from? Who should we approach to obtain this? All these questions occur to us. Wherever you may be, seated on a chair, lying in bed, in a hospital, or on a cricket field, it may acquired right there. Wherever your mind is, where you focus your intellect, here, and now, in this lifetime itself, it may be obtained. There is no doubt about it. I am not saying this to fool you or to deceive you. I am speaking the absolute truth. This is certain. There is absolutely no doubt about it. It is possible to experience this while one is still here on earth, living in the body.
nasti chet
Some people are still not convinced.
You say that there is no doubt in it. But how do I know that it is certain? How do I believe that you are speaking the truth?
Vasishtha responds: There is no loss in making an attempt to experience it. I say that it is there. You refute my statement. I know that it is there. You say show me. It cannot be shown. It has to be experienced by you. How does it come to my personal experience? You ask. I have experienced it. You can also experience it. It will happen only if you believe that such a state exists. To know whether or not it is true, you must make an attempt to know and experience for yourself. By trying, you lose nothing.
The entire Sundara Kanda in the Ramayana, is an explanation of this concept. Everyone else returned to Kishkindha, not finding Sita. Only the group that traveled south did not return. Led by Hanuman, they searched frantically at every nook and corner, in rivers, in the sky, in mountains and fields, looking for Sita. Finally they entered a cave. There they saw a light. They were hopeful of finding Sita there. A celestial Yogini appeared there. She disclosed a few facts to them. She told them to close their eyes. She transported them to the seashore. They lost hope and decided to do Prayopavesa/deliberate death by starvation. Sampati heard their discussion and hearing his brother Jatayu's name, he entered into a conversation with them and gave them some unexpected useful information. That is how the story of Ramayana proceeded.
Their time was up. Sugriva was going to kill them if they returned past the deadline. But they still continued their search because what was the use of returning to meet their certain death? They had the satisfaction of having searched thoroughly without ever giving up.
Search. As Guru, who knows the facts, Vasishtha said to the disciples: If after searching, you find that what I say truly exists, you will be able to cross this ocean of Samsara successfully.
Sandigdhe paralokepi
is a shloka.
Some people are doubtful of the existence of a higher realm. They wonder if they are wasting their time visiting temples early in the morning and chanting the Hanuman Chalisa and other mantras. They still follow the path shown by the Veda. Unlike their neighbor who sleeps till 10 AM and does not follow any spiritual path, this person at least developed discipline and improved his health by following the spiritual path. His concentration improved. He began the practices assuming that there is a higher state. Even if he fails to find it, he has still benefited greatly merely by the practice of a spiritual discipline. Granted that there is no higher realm, if that is what one wishes to believe, at least the satisfaction of following the Vedic path is there. This way, even a non-believer can attain liberation by following the path of Veda.
During Sri Chakra archana, Hanuman Chalisa will be chanted. Everybody please join in.
We will continue tomorrow.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi