One life is an animalistic life… for example the moth sees a light, gets attracted and flies towards it without thinking of the consequence and dies in the flame, or gets crushed in the traffic while chasing the headlights. This is the wretched life of worms and insects. Similarly, an animal sees some green grass and lunges forward to eat it without thinking that there may be thrashing in store for it. One sees a handsome man or a beautiful woman and runs behind him or her. The eyes are attracted by attractive sight, the nose by good smell, the tongue gets attracted towards the sweet vendor’s shop or some mouth-watering dish. So, to fall for sensual attractions is called animalistic life, a wretched life.
Another is the human life, which is somewhat higher than the former. ‘She is my wife but we will have sex only after a certain number of days following the menstruation period and also avoid it on full-moon days, new-moon days, festivals, etc.’ this is human life. However, if one remains confined to this, he will either go to higher abodes by virtue of his merits and then fall down again, or go to hell on account of his sins and then take birth again as worms or insects. Human life is better than an animalistic life, no doubt, but it is a life spent without unfolding the human potentials. This is called a helpless life, a life of dependence.
‘For a dependent one there is no happiness even in a dream.’
Third is the sattvik life. In this, one has love for and interest in God, in one’s presiding deity and avails oneself of the benefits of religious occasions. One pleases Lord Narayana and earns merits through charity, Yajna, burning incense sticks, lighting lamps, worship and scred recitals. Taking a bath early in the morning in the month of Magh, Vaishakh and Kartik is still more meritorious because one becomes strong enough to bear the extremities of heat and cold and becomes more resolute and intellectually powerful.
Still higher than the sattvik life is the life of yoga and Samadhi. One can attain supernatural power, riddhis, siddhis, the powers of clairvoyance and clairaudience through Samadhi and through leading a life abiding by dharma, but this too is not the highest thing. All these are under the influence of Maya, the Cosmic Delusion. A yogi feels happy in Samadhi but gets disturbed if his Samadhi is broken. A devotee is happy as long as his devotional practices go on smoothly but becomes miserable if he slides from it. One goes to temples, mosques, places of worship, etc. but then comes back again to his same old world of sorrow, anxiety, fear, attachment and hatred.
So, a sensualist grumbles if he doesn’t get the same good thing everyday or if something adverse happens in his job, while a devotee complains that all his prayers are not answered but the great men who lead the life of perfection say that neither of these promotion, comforts and facilities, adversities, sense-enjoyments or renunciation is permanent, but our Antaryamin (Supreme Soul) which is a witness to all these is permanents.
‘I am my own self, the Lord of all circumstances.’
Such is the life of those great men who have realized the absolute self, the supreme soul! Such people who live a sattvik life free from the vices of drinking and meat- eating awaken into and get established their Real awaken into and get established in their Real self, the supreme Soul. Their eyes emit spiritual rays, their words, which emanate from the supreme Soul are delivered as satsang, their holy presence creates a unique atmosphere. It is beyond words. Beholding such a great man, the sadhaka says:
‘Do not console us O, Master! Simply remain seated
Your presence is enough to change the atmosphere, and save the falling hearts from degeneration.’
The heart, which is sliding into lust, anger, and greed, and into animals, human and divine tendencies, is elevated in the presence of such Self- realized masters. Regarding the darshan of such saints, Sant Kabir has said:
‘One attains one merit by bathing in a place of pilgrimage,
four when he attains a saint;
And infinite merits when he attains a Satguru, says Kabir after due deliberation.’
Infinite merits means imperishable fruits. The state from where there is no question of downfall is that of the Atman. Satsang does the work of training the mind so that it can attain that. The Ishavasya Upanishad forbids you from sitting idle in yoga or Samadhi:
‘To pitch darkness they go who worship the Unmanifested (Prakriti);
to greater darkness than this go those who are devoted to the Manifested (Hirayagarbhi).’
They too, who remain engaged in worshiping the Karana Brahman, the Brahman as the cause, enter into dense darkness and fall into the dark well of Prakriti. The Upanishad says that one who remains engaged in worshipping the Karya Brahman, the Brahman as the effect i.e. the body and samsara, who remains mired in sense pleasures, falls into blind darkness, no doubt, but even he who remains engrossed only in yoga and Samadhi, worshiping the formless Karan Brahman without aiming for Self-realization falls into greater darkness. The reason is that the practice of yoga will at the most help the practitioner attain to heaven or Brahmaloka, but indulging in the pleasures over there, he will continue to remain entangled in the cycle of birth and death.
One is fallen in the well of sense pleasures, another is confined to the well of yoga and the third is carried away but the swift current of animal tendencies. The self-realized one however, is distinct form all these. He says, ‘DO not be washed away in the drain of quagmire of sense-pleasures, nor limit yourself if to a particular aspect of yoga. Practice yoga when it is time to do so, enjoy pleasures when the need arises, and conduct yourself in the world whenever you have to. Sant Kabirji has said.
‘Standing, sitting or lying flat, I am always thinking of Him.’
That which remains immutable at all times is our won Self- the Lord of all circumstances. Attain such Self-knowledge. Why do you worry about your daughter? Why do you worry about your son or job and try to be a ‘jobber?’ whatever comes into being is open to destruction. That which existed before, which exists now and which will exist forever – know that Real Self of yours, believe in it. Why, surely you are not going g to lose anything by doing so.
‘Dodged by the world was I, so that I have renounced it, Eager it is to come to me.’
Repose in your Divine Self. Why do you waste your life for worldly gains by becoming a ‘jobber’ or servant? There is no prohibition to being a servant or doing a job, but repose, in your Knowledge absolute Self, which is the object of mediation, love and duty. The self is the source of all actions and it fruits are imperishable. Don’t be disappointed in the face of failure. March on, move ahead! Do not care for success or failure, march forward! The world will go on like this. Wear shoes on your feet and the whole earth will become thorn-less, sfor you. Why do you fear and torture yourself? Whatever has happened was for the best, whatever is going on is for the best and whatever will happen will be for the best. This law is immutable. Freeform your won self and board the boat of Knowledge, that’s all! Realize your Real Self and live in the light of Knowledge and Truth.
Another is the human life, which is somewhat higher than the former. ‘She is my wife but we will have sex only after a certain number of days following the menstruation period and also avoid it on full-moon days, new-moon days, festivals, etc.’ this is human life. However, if one remains confined to this, he will either go to higher abodes by virtue of his merits and then fall down again, or go to hell on account of his sins and then take birth again as worms or insects. Human life is better than an animalistic life, no doubt, but it is a life spent without unfolding the human potentials. This is called a helpless life, a life of dependence.
‘For a dependent one there is no happiness even in a dream.’
Third is the sattvik life. In this, one has love for and interest in God, in one’s presiding deity and avails oneself of the benefits of religious occasions. One pleases Lord Narayana and earns merits through charity, Yajna, burning incense sticks, lighting lamps, worship and scred recitals. Taking a bath early in the morning in the month of Magh, Vaishakh and Kartik is still more meritorious because one becomes strong enough to bear the extremities of heat and cold and becomes more resolute and intellectually powerful.
Still higher than the sattvik life is the life of yoga and Samadhi. One can attain supernatural power, riddhis, siddhis, the powers of clairvoyance and clairaudience through Samadhi and through leading a life abiding by dharma, but this too is not the highest thing. All these are under the influence of Maya, the Cosmic Delusion. A yogi feels happy in Samadhi but gets disturbed if his Samadhi is broken. A devotee is happy as long as his devotional practices go on smoothly but becomes miserable if he slides from it. One goes to temples, mosques, places of worship, etc. but then comes back again to his same old world of sorrow, anxiety, fear, attachment and hatred.
So, a sensualist grumbles if he doesn’t get the same good thing everyday or if something adverse happens in his job, while a devotee complains that all his prayers are not answered but the great men who lead the life of perfection say that neither of these promotion, comforts and facilities, adversities, sense-enjoyments or renunciation is permanent, but our Antaryamin (Supreme Soul) which is a witness to all these is permanents.
‘I am my own self, the Lord of all circumstances.’
Such is the life of those great men who have realized the absolute self, the supreme soul! Such people who live a sattvik life free from the vices of drinking and meat- eating awaken into and get established their Real awaken into and get established in their Real self, the supreme Soul. Their eyes emit spiritual rays, their words, which emanate from the supreme Soul are delivered as satsang, their holy presence creates a unique atmosphere. It is beyond words. Beholding such a great man, the sadhaka says:
‘Do not console us O, Master! Simply remain seated
Your presence is enough to change the atmosphere, and save the falling hearts from degeneration.’
The heart, which is sliding into lust, anger, and greed, and into animals, human and divine tendencies, is elevated in the presence of such Self- realized masters. Regarding the darshan of such saints, Sant Kabir has said:
‘One attains one merit by bathing in a place of pilgrimage,
four when he attains a saint;
And infinite merits when he attains a Satguru, says Kabir after due deliberation.’
Infinite merits means imperishable fruits. The state from where there is no question of downfall is that of the Atman. Satsang does the work of training the mind so that it can attain that. The Ishavasya Upanishad forbids you from sitting idle in yoga or Samadhi:
‘To pitch darkness they go who worship the Unmanifested (Prakriti);
to greater darkness than this go those who are devoted to the Manifested (Hirayagarbhi).’
They too, who remain engaged in worshiping the Karana Brahman, the Brahman as the cause, enter into dense darkness and fall into the dark well of Prakriti. The Upanishad says that one who remains engaged in worshipping the Karya Brahman, the Brahman as the effect i.e. the body and samsara, who remains mired in sense pleasures, falls into blind darkness, no doubt, but even he who remains engrossed only in yoga and Samadhi, worshiping the formless Karan Brahman without aiming for Self-realization falls into greater darkness. The reason is that the practice of yoga will at the most help the practitioner attain to heaven or Brahmaloka, but indulging in the pleasures over there, he will continue to remain entangled in the cycle of birth and death.
One is fallen in the well of sense pleasures, another is confined to the well of yoga and the third is carried away but the swift current of animal tendencies. The self-realized one however, is distinct form all these. He says, ‘DO not be washed away in the drain of quagmire of sense-pleasures, nor limit yourself if to a particular aspect of yoga. Practice yoga when it is time to do so, enjoy pleasures when the need arises, and conduct yourself in the world whenever you have to. Sant Kabirji has said.
‘Standing, sitting or lying flat, I am always thinking of Him.’
That which remains immutable at all times is our won Self- the Lord of all circumstances. Attain such Self-knowledge. Why do you worry about your daughter? Why do you worry about your son or job and try to be a ‘jobber?’ whatever comes into being is open to destruction. That which existed before, which exists now and which will exist forever – know that Real Self of yours, believe in it. Why, surely you are not going g to lose anything by doing so.
‘Dodged by the world was I, so that I have renounced it, Eager it is to come to me.’
Repose in your Divine Self. Why do you waste your life for worldly gains by becoming a ‘jobber’ or servant? There is no prohibition to being a servant or doing a job, but repose, in your Knowledge absolute Self, which is the object of mediation, love and duty. The self is the source of all actions and it fruits are imperishable. Don’t be disappointed in the face of failure. March on, move ahead! Do not care for success or failure, march forward! The world will go on like this. Wear shoes on your feet and the whole earth will become thorn-less, sfor you. Why do you fear and torture yourself? Whatever has happened was for the best, whatever is going on is for the best and whatever will happen will be for the best. This law is immutable. Freeform your won self and board the boat of Knowledge, that’s all! Realize your Real Self and live in the light of Knowledge and Truth.
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