27 Jul 2006
To earn money for basic needs is Bhukti.
Relief from the worldly stress is Mukti.
First is generation and second is preservation of Shakti.
God is the source of both these, devotion is Bhakti.
God is the main aim of life, concentration in it is Rakti.
Arjuna is fighting for his kingdom, which is essential to meet his basic needs. This fight caused lot of stress both physically and mentally. This point relates to your professional work, in which also, lot of stress and strain accumulates on you. Love on grandfather and anger on Duryodhana created confusion and emotion. Love and anger bring the stress and create lot of mental disturbance. Stress comes on exceeding the limits like cold at zero and heat at hundred degree centigrade temperature. Regarding the worldly or family affairs, both these should be in limits and equal so that a convenient normal temperature is created. But, sometimes, both these exceed limits and bring extreme stress, which is mental chaos.
Guru And Satguru
There are guides or Preachers at two levels. Guru is the first guide at first level, who can relieve your stress by preaching the self-analysis (Atma Yoga) and all this is Pravrutti only. Dharma (Justice to keep the social balance), Artha (earning money for basic needs), Kama (sex to help the divine mission of bringing down the souls from the upper world) and Moksha (relief of stress) are related to soul only (Purushaartha) and not related to God. The field related to God is Nivrutti or Paramartha. Bhukti and Mukti, thus are the fields related to the soul, involved in the worldly work only and not related to the work of God.
The second higher level is Nivrutti and the guide here is Satguru, who means God in human form. Guru is a scholar, devotee and servant of God, who prepares the stage or background by preaching Pravrutti or Purushartha. God alone can preach Nivrutti or Paramartha. Guru is the soul and can preach about Pravrutti only, which involves all the imaginary items. Satguru preaches about God, who is unimaginable item. To relieve you from the stress, guidance in Pravrutti is sufficient. The knowledge about soul (Atmayoga) is sufficient to relieve yourself from the stress. Regulation of supply of oxygen helps the physical health (Pranayama). Certain physical exercises (Asanas) and control of external and internal habits like food, sleep, thoughts will also help this Atma yoga (Yama and Niyama). Withdrawing yourself from the endless worldly affairs physically and mentally results in Pratyahara, which is the main essence of Pravrutti. Fixing yourself as Atman or pure awareness without vibrations (thoughts) is a psychological treatment to relieve you from stress. This has no connection with God. But it is the essential stage for the Nivrutti, which is in the drama only as the main item. You become peaceful on stress-relief and for some time, you feel happy with respect to the immediate stress you have faced. But after sometime, you feel bored, since you are fixed in zero like an inert stone, which itself becomes a great stress. The tremendous silence in life disturbs you.
Aim of Human Life
You feel very much to search the aim of this human life which is not mere peaceful living with all comforts and settlement of family. The west is in this state. The East is in the state of Arjuna with stress. East indicates the rise of Sun, which means the starting of Pravrutti. West indicates the sun-set, which means the end of Pravrutti. When you are settled in life, Pravrutti is ended. Now the search for the main aim of life clicks in your heart, which is the beginning of Nivrutti. The gurus are needed for India and Satguru is needed for the foreign countries. Ofcourse, there are cases in west also, who are settled externally but need Mukti (liberation) from stress, though not Bhukti. There are cases in East, who have this Mukti but no Bhukti.
When Atma yoga is preached, as you see the beginning of the Gita, where Krishna acted as guru only to preach Pravrutti, the self is preached. Arjuna is fighting for Bhukti only and he does not take this war as work of God i.e., to destroy the injustice and uplift justice. Arjuna got stress in Bhukti and therefore, he needs immediately the knowledge of Pravrutti only. Therefore the Lord started with Atma yoga only and confined Himself to the level of Guru only. But the Lord is also Satguru. Arjuna asked only for Pravrutti (stress-relief) and not for Nivrutti (about God). But the Lord being Satguru also continued into Nivrutti. You cannot find a schoolteacher in college. But the college lecturer may happen to be the school-teacher. This is the reason, why you find Gurus preaching about stress-relief only (Pravrutti) without Nivrutti. Of course, the schoolteacher is doing his assigned job perfectly on the instruction from God. God sends His closest servants, who are the liberated souls for this purpose.
Earning money for maintenance is a need. Family life is a change or co-curricular activity like conducting games in a college. Need is essential (sareera yatra picha…Gita) but change is optional. Dining in the hostel is a need. To participate in a game or seeing a picture once in a month is for a change. There may be a student who concentrates on studies only without interest in co-curricular activities. Such a human being is the saint (sanyasin). A student who needs some change is the householder. The first student is expected to score more marks. Thus a saint is generally expected to win the heart of God. But sometimes, the second student scores more marks! Thus change need not be a hurdle for success and avoiding change cannot assure you the success.
The saint need not be egoistic and the householder need not be dejected. If the main aim is not forgotten, both are one and the same. The householder serves the purpose of bringing down the souls from the upper world and thus involved in the divine mission only (Prajatantum...Veda), which incidentally happens to be a change also in his spiritual path.
Insufficiency of Pravritti
The Gita is theory and the entire practical is the follow-up i.e., war of Kurukshetra. By knowing that one is Self (Atman) or Causal body, not the subtle body (made of qualities) and not the gross body, one gets rid of mental stress and one can do the job with the best capacity. But the result may be success or defeat (Hatovaa…Gita). Krishna never assured success in the war in the beginning, which is about Pravrutti, by which you can do your job without disturbance. But the success is not assured. You have to keep neutral both in defeat or success, which state is possible by the self-realization. The result is based on the destiny. Only thing is that you should not be perturbed by the result, which may be positive or negative. It gives only the capacity to do your work irrespective of the result. Arjuna also expressed the doubt of success in his question and hence the Lord replied like this.
Nivritti - Necessary And Sufficient
But if you are firm on success only, Pravrutti is insufficient as it is inefficient. A soul cannot succeed over other souls by its own strength. Similarly a soul cannot attract another soul by its own merit. The grace of God or Super soul is essential for success or attraction. If the war is only for the personal affair of Arjuna, there is no need of interference of the Lord. But the war is also simultaneously the work of God as well as the work for bhukti of Arjuna. Participation of oneself in the work of Lord practically is a real proof of Bhakti. Therefore, the Lord entered into preaching Nivrutti, introducing Himself as God.
All the Pandavas (brothers of Arjuna) were ready to fight for kingdom. Draupadi wanted the destruction of Kauravas with revenge. She took the law and order into her hand and did not leave the aspect of revenge to God (Revenge is Mine…Bible). From their angle they were defeated at the end because all their issues, the heirs of kingdom were killed. Only Arjuna fought with the aim of helping the work of God. Arjuna did not like to fight for selfishness. He liked to withdraw from the war and was prepared to forego even Bhukti. This shows his detachment to the world. He left the revenge to God. In the Vishwarupam, Lord showed that the control of Law and Order is in His hand only. He showed in the vision that He is going to punish all the evil forces. Of course, Arjuna lost his sons born to Draupadi and Subhadra but only his grandson was protected by the Lord to become the heir of the kingdom. This is a mixed result for Arjuna. The reason is, since Arjuna was detached from the worldly pleasures in the beginning of war and became the servant of the Lord subsequently, his grandson was made king. But Arjuna wanted to withdraw from the war when his son born to Subhadra died and here Arjuna forgot the main divine aim of the war. Abhimanyu was the incarnation of a demon and had to be killed and at the same time, this was a test for the detachment of Arjuna from his family.
Therefore, to get success in Pravrutti, God’s grace is needed. This can be seen in the war everywhere. Only by the guidance of Krishna, Arjuna could kill all the evil people. When Arjuna had to enter the fire, he was ready to jump into it without any worry. Such state was attained by Arjuna by self-analysis (Atma Yoga), which was preached in the beginning. But in the last minute, Lord turned the situation by creating false sun-set and Arjuna succeeded in the war.
Atma Yoga: An Alternative for a Sleeping Tablet
Arjuna asked only for the stress relief. Krishna should have ended Gita by the second chapter after teaching Atma Yoga as the present Guru does by conducting a workshop teaching Yoga from Yama to Pratyahara. The four steps (Yama, Niyama, Asana and Pranayama) relate to the physical health. Pratyahara is related to mental health through psychological treatment. Thus, Atma Yoga is only the medical science and there is no spiritual knowledge in this. There is no reference to God here. The result of this is only stress-relief during work. This does not assure you about the fate of result. If you get defeat, you will again get stress. Then again apply Atma Yoga and relive yourself from the stress. Therefore, Atma Yoga is an alternative for the sleeping tablets. The sleeping tablet has side effects on the body, where as Atma Yoga has no such side effects. Therefore, you can prefer Atma Yoga than the medicines. All this is the field of Pravrutti. The Lord did not stop at this point because the Lord is not only a Guru but He is also a Satguru. The situation is similar to a college lecturer teaching a class in the school. He can continue the class in the college level also after the school. But a school teacher cannot continue in the higher level. Therefore, the Lord continued to preach about God and human incarnation of God. Then the Lord asked Arjuna to become His devotee and servant directly. As the Bhakti Yoga started, the field of Nivrutti has begun. Arjuna changes gradually and became the devotee and servant of the Lord in the latter chapters of the Gita. Arjuna realized that the war is the work of the Lord and not mere path to earn his wealth. Since, Arjuna is converted in to a devotee (Theoretical) and also servant (Practical), the Lord assured success stating that He is going to kill all the Kauravas and give wealth and fame to Arjuna. Here since Arjuna recognized the super self or God and subsequently recognized Krishna as the human incarnation, such assurance of success was given. Such assurance was not given in the second chapter of Gita where Atma Yoga was taught. In that field He was asking Arjuna to do the duty without attachment and advised Arjuna to continue in the same detachment even if the result goes against.
This Atma Yoga is thus applicable even to atheist and is Universal. But the Nivrutti is confined to the believers in God only. The advantage of catching Satguru at any level is that He can be the teacher from LKG to PG and therefore you need not worry about the search for a teacher to your corresponding level. The personal work of Arjuna to achieve his personal wealth is transformed as the work of God. This means God treats the work of His devotee as His personal work. You must know that there is no question of defeat in the personal work of God! It is not colouring His personal work as the work of devotee. But it is colouring the devotee’s work as His personal work!
Bliss of God
Therefore, to watch the world with detachment, Self-analysis is sufficient. But to succeed in this world, God’s grace is needed. God is the only Lord for this world as well as upper world. Pravrutti without Nivrutti is like a dead body, which is the peace or silence of a stone. This state can be directly transformed into the state of God (Esha Brahmi Sthitih…Gita), if the success and defeat can be enjoyed by you as God does. God created this world for entertainment or enjoyment (Ekaki Na Ramate…Veda). All good and bad, success and defeat are created by Him for enjoyment. Such continuous happiness is called as bliss. The happiness of the soul is discontinuous because it enjoys success and suffers with the defeat. God enjoys both good and bad like sweet and hot dishes. Such continuous enjoyment derived from both the dishes alternatively is bliss. God is possessor of bliss (Anando Brahma…Veda) and you should not beg God for bliss. If you go to a rich man and beg him, can you become such a rich man? You must know the technique of his earning, so that by following that technique, you can become equally rich. Ofcourse, this simile is partially incompetent in the case of God. No simile can give the full concept in the case of God.
The grace of God is required to become God. You may object this by saying that God is spectator, where as the soul is involved in the world. God also enters the world in human form like the soul and still enjoys continuously. Your objection is overruled. You are enjoying even a tragic scene when you are acting in a drama. In a pleasant scene, ignorance is necessary. You should think that the drama is real. To destroy your happiness, a tragic scene follows. Then, immediately you realize that the drama is unreal by the true knowledge. Your happiness continues, which is bliss. Thus by using ignorance and knowledge alternatively (Jnanamapohanamcha…Gita), you can continue your entertainment, which is called as bliss. By following this technique you can reach the state of God. But to remain in that state, grace of God is needed (Eswaranugrahat eva…Shankara). Once you have attained this state, you should not become egoistic. You have become God as far as the state of entertainment is considered. You are acting in a drama and the producer is also in a role like you. Both of you are equal as actors cum spectators. In that limited aspect, both of you are equal as far as acting and enjoying the drama continuously is considered. Such entertainment is only a feeling, which is a psychological aspect only (Matbhavaayopapadyate…Gita). The capacity of God to create, rule and destroy the world is not achieved by you. You have not become the producer of the drama.
From ‘Happiness and Misery’ To Bliss
In Atma Yoga you are immune to both happiness and misery. But in this transformed state, which is exactly equal to that of God, you are entertained and enjoy equally both happiness and misery. The first state of an ordinary human being is to enjoy happiness and feel pained in misery. By Atma Yoga you neither enjoy happiness nor get pain in misery. If you are in the first state only and still become a devotee of God, you can get continuous happiness only by the grace of God. This is a sideline from the first state. By that you will be bored in this sideline because even continuous happiness will bore you and will result in misery. In Atma Yoga there is no enjoyment at all. In the second sideline which is worship of God with desires (Kamya Karma), there is continuous enjoyment which bores you. Thus, both the lines have their own defects. But if you can reach the state of God directly by transforming yourself through the divine knowledge and grace of God you will have continuous entertainment without boring. Since both happiness and misery are changing alternatively, there is no point of boring. Since you are enjoying both, your happiness is continuous and is called as bliss (Ananda). The very meaning of Ananda is continuous happiness, since the letter “A” means continuity (Aa Samantat). But the main point in attaining the direct transformation into the state of God is that you should be always aware of God. The Advaita Philosopher also tries to achieve this after Atma Yoga. But he utterly fails in this because the state of God cannot be achieved without the grace of the God. Such state of God was the aim of Shankara and therefore He stressed on the devotion to God always. The Advaita Philosopher thinks that he is God and therefore he ends in Atma Yoga only. In Atma Yoga also the equality of happiness and misery exists but the equality is in the silence or peace or immunity to the enjoyment. By this the very purpose of the creation is lost. The Veda says that the purpose of the creation is entertainment and not immunity. If the immunity is the aim, God should have slept continuously without this imaginary creation. Assuming that the Advaita Philosopher is God, this point from the Veda (entertainment) is contradicting such assumption. Thus, such state of God is obtained by the liberated soul who becomes the servant of God. This liberated soul also takes human form like God and enjoys continuously in the world like human incarnation. The Atma Yoga is obtained by a realized soul who does not believe in the existence of God separately. Such egoism and ungratefulness will lead to the loss of Atma Yoga also and the egoistic and ungrateful Advaita Philosopher is thrown in to first state where he is pained by misery. The divine Maya will throw him in to such beginning state and actually then the Advaita Philosopher suffers like an ordinary human being. Totapuri, such an Advaita Philosopher, suffered with stomach pain and tried to commit suicide by the will of Maya. Liberated souls, like Raghvavendra Swami (Prahlada) etc., derived bliss in this world like the Lord. They never became ungrateful to God and Hanuman is the best example. Advaita according Shankara is this final state of God and not the Atma Yoga from which you can be easily pushed down by Maya.
Brahma Yoga is Ultimate
Both ignorance and knowledge are used for attaining bliss (Vidyachaavidyacha…Veda). This is the state of God when He enters the world like you. But the state of Advaita philosopher is different. He becomes immune to both happiness and misery. It is a state of peace, which is zero, attained by climbing from minus. This is Atma yoga, in which you realize that the forms and qualities (feelings) are essentially unreal and their reality is only matter, energy and awareness only. This is limiting boundary of the soul and should not extend by saying that this world (matter, energy and awareness) are unreal and God is only the reality. The statement is true but not practical, which can be practically true for God in human form in this world. Shankara was God in human form and could walk through bolted door of Mandana Mishra or could swallow the molten lead, because for Him, matter and energy are unreal. A soul can realize up to the level of forms and qualities as unreal. This is sufficient to avoid all misery, become immune to disturbance, and get peace. This is Atma yoga (Self-attainment). In Brahma yoga (attainment of God), you will attain continuous enjoyment called as bliss. Yoga means simply attainment. But, attainment of what? Nobody is analyzing this point. It has become a style of the day to utter the word “Yoga”! Astrologers use this word yoga for attainment of wealth. If it is the attainment of self, God is not necessary in the subject. Yoga in the present workshops conducted by Gurus strictly is confined to the attainment of physical and mental health to avoid the stress. Thus, simply by hearing the word Yoga, you should not misunderstand that it is related to the attainment of God.
But, everywhere, even in the success of the worldly effort, the grace of God is essential. Otherwise, you cannot retain the success, even if you attain it by your effort. Everywhere in Kurukshetra war, the guidance of Krishna became essential. A guru can preach through a workshop regarding this attainment of self and even an atheist is eligible for this training in stress-relief. Even if an atheist retains this yoga by his self-effort, he can use this in this world only. In the upper world especially in the hell, this yoga will not stand on seeing the terrible methods of torture, which are million times more cruel than the third degree torture in a police station! But if yoga means the association of the grace of God, yoga will not be lost in any world. Even Shankara told that Advaita (self-attainment) must be attained with the grace of God only. If the grace of God is more, one need not even go to hell. Thus attainment of yoga through knowledge of self analysis is not sufficient. Acceptance of God and attainment of grace of God through devotion is essential (Bhaktireva Gariyasee…Shankara). The real devotion is proved through service. For such practical service, full determination, without any trace of doubt is necessary. For such determination a thorough study of knowledge is essential. Thus again knowledge is coming up every where (Jnanadevatu…Shankara). Take a long time for knowledge, which alone gives the firm determination and the determination is spontaneously followed by practice (service). Lack of practice indicates lack of complete knowledge-base in devotion. Shankara in His commentary on Gita says that knowledge and devotion mean the same (service).
The Lord in human form enjoyed all the insults and tragic scenes also with full bliss indicated by the sweet smile on His lips. When Sisupala abused Him, He was smiling only, which indicates His bliss. At the end, He was spectator of all His relatives including sons and grandsons killing each other and then also He was with the same smile. In fact, He killed some of His people, who remained alive! Thus what He preached, He practiced. He preached Arjuna to kill his people in the war. Jesus preached that one should leave parents, wife or husband, children and even life to become close to Him. He practiced it. He did not give importance to His mother and left His life also for the sake of God. This is the proof of the awareness of the unreality of the dramatic bonds in this world drama. Since the bond is strictly a feeling (quality of awareness), it can be realized as unreal even by the realized soul. For the liberated soul even the higher levels of Maya like matter and awareness can be realized as unreal. For the human incarnation, even the highest level or Mula Maya (energy) is unreal.
Entertainment is Aim of Creation
The aim of God is not to become immune to the world. If it is so, the world should not have been created. Therefore attainment of self cannot be final. Ofcourse, the realization of degree of reality in various levels continues in the case of God as the basis of entertainment. In the Atma yoga, the realization of reality in the basic level of Maya (i.e., the realization of the forms and qualities as matter and awareness respectively) continues in all the situations, which gives peace. But in Brahma yoga, the realization of unreality in the required level comes only in tragic scenes and in happiness the ignorance of such unreality is superimposed for the sake of enjoyment. Arjuna faced the tragic scene and therefore the Lord started with Atma yoga proving the unreality in his basic level. Arjuna is standing on the ground and Hanuman is standing on the flag. The Gita starts with the level of Arjuna on the ground and goes up to the level of Hanuman.
The world is made of three qualities (Sattvam, Rajas and Tamas). These three qualities are just feelings which are forms of awareness only (Yechaiva…Gita). This means that the real essence of the world which gives entertainment is made of qualities only, which are the bonds. The other items like awareness, matter and energy are not direct participants of the drama. Therefore, the nature of drama which is the three qualities is common to both God and soul. Ofcourse for God, matter, awareness and energy are also feelings but they are not concerned in the drama. Since the essence of drama (feelings) is common relative reality to both God and soul and since the drama is limited to this essence (feelings or three qualities), there is no objection for the soul to entertain itself with the drama equal to God. The reality of matter, awareness and energy for the soul unlike for God is not an obstruction for the entertainment since such reality is irrelevant to the drama.
Hanuman is in the state of consciousness and one can reach the maximum state of Hanuman, who became God. Above that, the state of Bhagavatam is the mad state of Gopikas, representing the unimaginable climax of devotion. Madness cannot be obtained by any effort, which is spontaneously and is blessed by God only. The place of Gopikas was above the place of God (Brahmaloka or Satyaloka) called as Goloka. You should keep Hanuman as your climax of effort and not Radha, who is at an unimaginable height above God. God became her servant, since God wanted to enjoy the role of servant. Even in the role of Hanuman, God enjoyed fully the role of a servant. Rama and Hanuman and Krishna and Radha are the double roles of God.
Definition of Sin
A soul is beaten in the hell and the servants of Yama say “why have you done this deed which is not liked by God?” They will not say “why have you done this sin?” Anything that is not liked by God is a sin. By itself a sin is not a sin, because it is a feeling, which is a wave of awareness and is completely unreal. Hurting any soul, especially a believer in God is the basis of sin according to God. Punishment with an attitude to change the soul is exempted from this concept. There should be no trace of revenge in punishment. If the soul is realized and changed, do not think of revenge. Jesus told that if you punish others for their sins, God shall punish you also for your sins. Punishment of a student by a teacher is not a sin, because it is for his change and upliftment only. The same aim exists when God punishes the souls.
The Lord says in the Gita that the divine Knowledge alone pleases Him (Jnaya Yajnena…). He says that it is greater than Svadhya yajna and Dravya yajna. Svadhyaya yajna means simple recitation of hymns without any enquiry into their meaning. Dravya yajna means sacrifice of wealth. But the Gita praises that sacrifice of wealth or fruits of work (Karmaphalatyaga ...) is highest (Dhyanat Karmaphalatyagah…). There is no clash here. Dravya yajna represents sacrifice of wealth to undeserving or improper receiver or putting wealth in fire which is foolishness as stated by Kapila in Bhagavatam. Donating to temples based on the statues is climax of foolishness because the priests and management are not even the scholars of the Vedas and the Shastras. The priest is for his livelihood like a labourer and the management spends for unnecessary items and wastes the wealth due to lack of complete spiritual knowledge. The Government is taking that wealth and is using for social services, which are to be done by the public revenues only. The statue is not enjoying even an iota of your wealth. The temple should be a place of propagation of divine knowledge and devotion. The scholars and devotees should be maintained by such donated wealth to prorogate about God. But theses temples have become business-centers to solve the problems of devotees. Ofcourse, it is inevitable in the beginning stage (Sarvarambhahi…Gita) but the propagation of right divine knowledge should be the main program of temples, which should be run by scholars only.
True Knowledge Alone Gives Determination
The true knowledge alone can give the final determination, which alone leads to practice and since practice alone pleases the Lord, knowledge (Jnana yoga) is considered to be the main part of the effort. Decision, practice and grace of God are spontaneous consequences. A long period is needed for knowledge to arrive at the decision. One-year time is taken by the student to study the subject. Examination and award of marks takes place in a very short period. Decision cannot come by momentary emotion, which is attained in Tapo yajna or devotion. Emotion without full knowledge basing the decision is called as Tapo yajna. Demons do that for attaining selfish ends. If the emotion or love is based on the full realization which is the base of determination (Buddhi yoga), it is called as Bhakti yoga. Lord said that he can be achieved by both together (Dadami Buddhiyogam…, Bhaktyatvananyaya…). People are very good in singing songs (Bhajans) but they cannot do any service to God involving sacrifice. Such activity is only Tapo yajna and not the Bhakti yoga. Due to lack of realization, which is based on the divine knowledge, they fail in sacrifice to God. Their aim is to achieve some worldly desires only as the case of demons. To certain extent, it is allowed in the beginning owing to their ignorance. But you should not be a child life long receiving chocolates to study. Put more effort on knowledge to arrive at the correct and doubtless determination, which leads to practice spontaneously.
Without knowing the knowledge, simple recitation of the Veda and mechanical repetition of ritual is a waste (Sreyohi Jnanamabhyasat…Gita)! The present situation is exactly the same and the present-egoistic priests are responsible for this present situation. All the rituals are excellent if their meaning is realized and are diverted to God. When they are diverted to your worldly affairs, they become bad. Every feeling, word and action in this world aimed at God is good because the purpose of their creation is served (Matta eveti tan viddhi…Gita). Any feeling, word and action diverted to this world of your selfish entertainment are bad. The war in which Hanuman participated was completely the work of the Lord. In the case of Lord, do not apply your logic to examine whether the work of Lord is personal like search for His wife or the social service. Lord is above social service and justice also. Hanuman was capable of killing Vali and does the social service, but He waited for the Lord, since God alone can handle the Law and order. If you believe that the Kingdom of God exists in every corner of the world, why are you impatient? When all your ways are closed, the unexpected and unimaginable way of God opens in the last fraction of the last second. The war fought by Arjuna was both personal and divine. He realized the divine angle of the war and fought. If it is only the personal angle of attainment of kingdom, Arjuna should have gone back. By this don’t try to convert every work as the work of God. If you murder some body, it is not God’s work! Don’t say that every work is worship. Certain works only have that divine angle. Doing research work on this world can be divine, which is a path of searching God through science. Unless Einstein discovered the concept of inter conversion of matter and energy, today you could not have understood that this entire creation including space is basically the homogeneous energy called as ‘Sat’ by the Veda. Matter, space and awareness are various relative forms of energy and are called as ‘Asat’ by the Veda. Form and quality (feeling) are ‘Asat’ only even for awareness (soul) and so come under a lower category of Asat only. God is neither this ‘Sat’ nor this ‘Asat’ (Naasadasit No sadasit…Veda, Na Sat tat naasaduchyate…Gita). God is above the basic reality ‘Energy’ also. Awareness is the material of soul, which is created by matter (food) and matter is created by energy. Energy-Matter-Awareness is the chain of inter conversion. Energy is condensed into matter. Matter (food) on oxidation gives energy. Energy is converted in to awareness. Space is energy. The soul cannot cross the dimensions of space by applying any amount of imagination or analysis. The soul cannot go beyond energy, which is the ultimate reality for the soul. Lord says that His power cannot be crossed (Mama Mayaa duratyayaa…Gita). His power or energy is wonderful by assuming so many forms and therefore is called as Maya. Maya means wonderful (Maya Vaichitrye). Even the energy, which is work of God, is unreal before God and thus God is above space and thus becomes unimaginable to any soul.
Two Levels of Maya
The Lord says that His best devotees can cross Maya (Mayaametam Taranti…Gita). But in this place He did not say the word “My” (Mama) before the word ‘Maya’. He used the word ‘Etam’, which means ‘that’. When He said that Maya cannot be crossed by any one, He used ‘Mama’ which means ‘My’. Therefore, there are two levels of Maya: 1) Maya at the level of Lord; 2) Maya at the level of soul. What is Maya? The word Maya has two meanings: Maya means that which is wonderful, Maya also means that which does not exist (Yaa Maa Saa Maya…). Therefore, the two meanings come together and the essence of this is: Maya is the unreal item by itself but poses as if real and brings the confusion. In the world also ‘Maya’ is used in this sense only. Maya at the level of the Lord is energy, matter and awareness. At His level, these three are unreal completely because if He stops working, energy will not exist. Energy is active and essentially work of God only. If energy becomes unreal, matter and awareness also become unreal because energy is the cause of matter and awareness. Matter and awareness are forms of energy. When God in human form realizes and goes back to His innermost state, all these three items become unreal. Shankara passed through bolted door since when He went into His innermost state, matter and binding energy in the door became unreal. When God comes in human form, He comes down with His Maya i.e., Maya of His level as said in the Gita (Sambhavaamyaatma mayayaa…Gita). The word ‘Atma’ in this verse means ‘His’. Therefore, the Lord in human form comes down with Maya of His level.
The forms of various objects and feelings (qualities) are unreal even with respect to the soul. The beauty of a girl, which is a form, is unreal, if all the flesh, fat and binding energy are separated. The unreal form is attracting you and the separated flesh, fat and binding energy as lumps do not attract you at all. This is Maya at the level of the soul. The girl shows sweet feelings (love) and if the material of these feelings (awareness), which is energy, is separated, the feeling becomes unreal. The lump of crude awareness is not attracting you. This is also Maya at the level of the Soul. Beauty and quality (feeling) represents the gross and subtle bodies. The awareness becomes inert energy in deep sleep, when all the feelings subside. Such awareness like stand still water is inert energy only. Even if ‘I’ exists in experience, it is not deep sleep, rather, it is meditation only. Thus the causal body, which is the inert energy only, is Atman. When all the matter and all the souls are dissolved, a single lump of homogeneous inert energy is left over which is called as Brahman. This original form of inert energy creates, maintains and dissolves the world. But all the design of the world and all the souls (Jeevas) remain in impressed state in this energy (Avyaktam). These impressions are basically energy and hence Brahman is homogeneous (Ekamevaadvitiyam…Veda). Therefore Atman (inert energy form of soul in deep sleep) and Brahman (inert energy form of whole world) in the final dissolution are one and the same in Quality like water drop and Ocean. The Veda speaks these three states as Visva, Taijasa and Prajna representing the matter; awareness and basic energy states of awakening, dream and deep sleep respectively. In awakened state, the gross body stands for ‘I’. In dream the subtle body stands for ‘I’. In deep sleep, the causal body represents ‘I’, but in this state there is no experience at all and therefore, neither ‘I’, nor bliss are experienced. Prajna stands for bliss but in deep sleep the bliss is not experienced. It is experienced only after awakening. After the deep sleep the full rest gives freshness which gives the immense happiness. Therefore, the deep sleep is only a state of rest which is the cause of the bliss i.e., experienced later on. God is above these states. In deep sleep, the drop of inert energy represents the eternal Atman, which is qualitatively same as ocean of inert energy that results on the final dissolution. God is Parabrahman, thereby meaning that He is beyond Brahman or Atman of deep sleep (Turiyam Brahmamuchyate).
Maya, Maha Maya And Mula Maya
Therefore, at the level of the soul, the beauty (form) and her love (feeling or quality) are unreal but they disturb the soul. This Maya can be crossed by the soul by the grace of Lord as said (Maameva ye prapadyaute…Gita). This Maya exists at the level of the soul as form and quality in the creation. The higher Maya as matter awareness and energy exists at the level of the Lord in the same creation. Therefore, this creation is Maya only (Mayamtu Prakrutim…Gita). The creation or Maya consists of matter, awareness, energy, form and quality. The first three items are at the level of the Lord and the last two items are at the level of the Soul. We can call energy as ‘Mula Maya’ or the root item.
Matter and awareness is Maha Maya. Form and quality is Maya. The first three items are termed as “His Maya’. The last two items are termed as ‘Maya’ at the lower level. The soul is fooled by his lower Maya (Maayayaapahruta Jnanah…Gita). This lower Maya can be called as Avidya, in which case Maya is confined only to the first three items. Avidya means that the Maya can be removed by knowledge obtained by analysis (Vidya). Thus, Avidya can be treated as the ignorance of the soul. Maya (Maha Maya and Mula Maya) can be treated as the imposed ignorance of self by God. For soul, Maya is divine power and not ignorance.
When you analyze, the beauty is just matter and energy. The love (feeling) is just awareness only, which is inert energy only in its essence. This analysis removes all the attraction and confusions. The girl including her beauty and love is just a pot of inert energy at the deepest level (Mula Maya). At the deeper level (Maha Maya), she is just a pot of matter, energy and awareness only. The Lord graced Arjuna with this divine knowledge and fixed him at Maha Maya after crossing Maya. Then his grandfather looked like a pot of matter, awareness and energy.
All the Acharyas (Preachers) are based on ‘Sat Karya Vada’, which means that the entire world is just a modification of this basic inert energy called as ‘Sat’. It is called as ‘Sat’ because it alone exists as the single item in any bit of the world and all its forms are illusions only. Its forms, like matter and awareness are illusory including itself for God but not for the soul. Only God can say that this whole world is unreal and that He alone is real. The soul can say that the forms and feelings are unreal but matter, energy and awareness are real for the soul.
At the maximum, the soul as a scientist can say that energy is only real but this again is not a practically true statement for the soul. But he cannot think anything beyond energy since he cannot cross the space, which is the original form of energy only. Even the vacuum is made of energy only and the wavelength of such energy is beyond the grasping power of the soul. The scientist has touched only a part of the electro magnetic spectrum and therefore cannot claim the space as nothing. There is nothing like nothing. Every thing is a form of the power of God only.
If one cannot cross the lower Maya, he or she is a demon (Dushkrutino mudhah...Gita) and can never get the grace of Lord. This is Tamas which is the downward direction (Athogachchanti…Gita). If one crosses this Maya, he or she may still stay in the second level (Rajas). For them matter, energy and awareness are real. They represent the general humanity. The quantity of the real matter is important to them. The form of the coin does not fool them. But the metal (material) in it fools them. Sex is illusion of Tamas and money is the illusion of Rajas, Sattvam is good quality because they cross matter but they stop at awareness and call it as Jnanam. An Avadhuta sees the whole world as inert energy only. All these may accept God, who is beyond the inert energy, but God is very near to Avadhuta and very far from demon. Here the Avadhuta is having awareness of God only. I do not mean the Avadhuta who is in deep sleep and inert.
Such Avadhuta receives permanent grace of God since he sees only God. He realized entire divine knowledge and implements it. Gopikas became the real Avadhutas after Krishna left them. Sattvika person becomes the scholar only. Rajasic person becomes a rich man. Tamasic person is always involved in eating, drinking and sex only. The state of Avadhuta appears as madness to others. He finds homogeneity everywhere as unreality and is aware of the absolute reality (God) only. Such practical behavior is not possible by any effort. If he experiences only the unreality of the world and if he does not experience God, he is just a stone. That is the state of “Sunya vada” of a Buddhist. An Advaita philosopher also feels that the world is unreal but he does not accept God other than himself. At least he recognizes the existence of himself, which means that he accepts awareness as reality. Since awareness is a property of energy, energy becomes reality and it’s another form, matter is also a reality. Indirectly he is telling that the world consisting of matter, energy and awareness is real. He is confused at this point since he does not realize that the self is a part of the world and the essential material of self (energy) is the essential material of the world. He is not recognizing the existence of unimaginable God. A Buddhist says that everything including self is unreal (Sunyam) and this is good in realizing the unreality of world with reference to God. But he also does not recognize the existence of unimaginable God and thus the reference is lost. Gopikas are real Avadhutas, who recognized the God in human form. The entire world became unreal before the Lord. When an opportunity to serve the Lord came, they gave the dust from their feet without feeling the existence of hell before the Lord. All their families were unreal for them except the Lord. Hanuman also served the human form of Lord and He did not feel the existence of even His body and tore His heart to show Rama in it. Both Hanuman and Gopikas are real Avadhutas and got highest fruit since they proved that anything other than the human form of Lord does not exist in their eyes. The present Avadhutas also behave like them in proving that the entire world is unreal for them but differ in recognizing the Lord in Human form. They feel themselves as Lord but never recognize the human form of Lord. Hanuman showed that Rama exists in the heart of human incarnation because He Himself is a human form of Lord Shiva. If you treat Him as a devotee, even then, it proves that God exists in the heart of His best devotee also. He showed that God does not exist in inert pearls, which indicates that God does not exist in inert statues, which of course, can act as representative models of God for beginners. Avadhuta means the devotee who treats the entire world including his body as non-existent with reference to God in the Service of God in human form. With reference to the world (society), the world is real and so a real Avadhuta will not become naked. Hanuman or Gopikas never wandered without clothes on their bodies in the society. When sacrifice of wealth (butter), family, relatives and even the body reaches climax for the sake of God in human form, such a soul is a real Avadhuta.
Veda Declares That the Unimaginable God Exists
The God is unimaginable, but His existence is experienced so we should say that the unimaginable God exists (Asteetyeva…Veda). Therefore, God also is called as ‘Sat’, which means that exists. God gives the experience of His existence through human incarnation to human beings. Since God can be called as ‘sat’, you can say that God alone existed in the beginning before the creation while explaining (Sadeva Somya…Veda). God created the energy (Tat Tejo…Veda) and the energy can also be called as ‘Sat’, which means that Energy exists even if all forms of energy disappear. It is “Sat” with reference to its forms (matter and awareness). But it is non-existent with respect to God and so it is also ‘Asat’. Therefore, the Veda says ‘Sat existed in the beginning’ and also says ‘Asat existed in the beginning’. The first statement applies to God also since God is the absolute Sat. According to the context, you have to take the corresponding meaning for any word. Without analysis, confusion results finally.
The atheists are condemned souls who do not join the School and spoil their career. The school students are those who worship statues as representative models of God. The college students are those who worship the devotees, in whom the grace and power of God exists. The University students are those who worship the human form of Lord while alive. The human incarnation is like a cloud in which the sun is hidden. The devotee is like a fuel cell that trapped the solar energy. The people who worship every living being as God and believe God in the form of society are between the school and the college, since they are coming near to the concept of human incarnation. People who worship the energetic forms of God (Vishnu etc.) by imaginations are U.K.G. students because they are unnecessarily strained by concentration of mind for the sake of the medium. Ofcourse, he is appreciated because the energetic form again resembles the human form and thus he is indirectly directed to the human incarnation. People who meditate upon formless objects as representative models of God like space, energy are L.K.G. students only. All are good and appreciable from LKG to Postgraduate since all are theists. A lower level need not be criticized or condemned since the PG student was also the LKG student once upon a time. But I wonder about the old people, who are leading their lives easily with fulfilled minds stating that their children are well settled in USA! The old age is like preparation holidays before the examination or enquiry of God. At least, if you concentrate on God in old age, you will pass with minimum marks, which is the human re-birth. You are thinking that the preparation holidays are the vacation after exams! You have participated in the co-curricular activities like games (family affairs) very well but never touched the text- book (God). You have come across with the physical directors only, who guided you well in games. The present Gurus are very good physical directors, who teach you about the success in Pravrutti and release of stress in the co-curricular activities like job, family life etc. You have not come across the lecturer (Satguru) who teaches you the main course and therefore, you have no idea of the main activity or aim of your student –life. You feel proud by the cups you have won in the games and feel the preparation holidays as the vacation given to you after playing the games well. Such people, I assuredly tell all of you, will enter the cycles of animals and birds only. I really pity these people, who are going to be the condemned souls. The atheists are already condemned souls like debarred students. The animals and birds never have the smell of spiritual knowledge. Eating, drinking, earning (food or money), sex, production of children and care for the children are the only activities of the animal kingdom. All these are not wrong if they are realized as side activities, which are necessary for a change and thus creation of these by God is justified. A student who does not participate at all in side activity (Saint) and a student who participates in side activities for a change (a devoted householder) have equal opportunity to get the best rank from God. Even if you make the games as the main activity, at least the studies should be a side activity! But what to speak of those who forget the main activity of studies even in the preparation holidays! When somebody reminds them, they acknowledge for a moment and again forget! At present they are not condemned, but they are going to be condemned. They may console themselves seeing the atheists, who are already condemned by God. The atheists, due to their vehement emotional criticism against God, are going to be born as cruel animals and harmful insects (Tanaham dvishatah…Gita).
I declare that all those devotees, who recognize the present human incarnation, are human incarnations by themselves. Both Rama and Hanuman are human incarnations of God. Both Krishna and Radha are incarnations of God. Hanuman represents the climax of service and Radha represents the climax of devotion. Service is the proof of devotion.
Devotion is theory and service is practical. For both, knowledge must be the firm foundation. The climax of theory leads to firm determination, which results in the practice. When all the doubts are cleared, devotion reaches climax and appears as service. Removal of doubts is attained by knowledge and shrewd analysis. Devotion with doubts cannot reach climax and then service will not appear. All the devotees who propagate the divine knowledge of present human incarnation are also God in human forms. Delivery and propagation of divine knowledge complete the divine work. God does His own divine work and gives credit to these human forms (devotees).
The Veda says “Asanneva Sa bhavati…” etc. This hymn means “God exists while being the non-existent. Realize that God is both the existent and non-existent items. Then you will realize that God exists”. This hymn needs an elaborate analytical explanation. You can bring another Vedic statement here (Tat Srushtvaa…, Satcha Tyat Chaabhavat…). This means “God created the world and entered into it. Then he became both existent and non-existent”. Bring the Gita here (Manusheem Tanum...), which means that God enters the human body. The non-existent items (Asat) are energy, matter and awareness, forms and feelings. Forms and feelings are non-existent with respect to matter and awareness. Both matter and awareness are non-existent with respect to energy. Energy is non-existent with respect to God. God is never non-existent. He is always existent (Sat). When God enters in the energetic form, the energetic form consists of form and energy and both these are relatively true (Asat) items. When God enters the human body, the body consists of matter, energy, awareness, forms and feelings, which are also relatively true (Asat) items only. You have to take that form as God as you take the live wire as current. If you agree that the unimaginable God exists and enters imaginable items, which are non-existent (since they are relatively true), now you can say that God exists and is visible. Through the imaginable and relatively non-existent items (like energetic form or human body) only you can experience God. The Veda says that God becomes both ‘Sat’ and ‘Tyat’. God exists as God and also as non-God (body and soul). In human body, He entertains Himself under the illusion of forms and feelings like an ordinary human being. If necessary, He will rise to higher level and will realize that forms and feelings are unreal. If still necessary, He will rise to still higher level, will realize both matter and awareness as unreal, and will perform miracles. Finally, He will rise to the highest level, where energy also becomes unreal and in this state, He is creator, maintainer and destroyer of the world. In this highest level only the Gita or the Bible or (divine knowledge) comes out.
O Preachers, Concentrate on Nivrutti!
I (God in Me) advise all the preachers (Gurus) to become “Satgurus” mainly and concentrate on Nivrutti. Your job is mainly to be lecturers and you can act as physical directors for just one period in the evenings. You are preaching games only in all the periods and solving all problems related to games only. Now and then you are preaching the main syllabus. You are making the college as a training center for physical education by conducting workshops on stress-relief and on peaceful and happy living. Of course, a balance in society is necessary and I am not denying its importance for a good foundation (Pravrutti). A sound body is necessary for a sound mind and thus games are also important. But I tell you, all the problems in games (family & professional life) are due to over-attachment and undue importance given to co-curricular activities. If the main activity (spiritual effort) is stressed, these side activities can be overlooked and then many problems in games get solved by themselves. When you realize that a subject is negligible, the complication in that subject disappears, since the subject itself becomes weak.
God is characterized by one highest miracle i.e., creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic primordial energy (Mula Maya). In the beginning God created the original lump of energy, which is the material for creation, maintenance and dissolution of this world. Light, heat, sound, magnetism, electricity etc., are only modified forms of the primordial energy. This energy can be created by God only and not by the soul. This energy is referred as ‘Tejah’ in the Veda (Tat Tejosrujata…). This Energy is referred as ‘Mahat Brahma’ in the Gita (Mama Yonih Mahat Brahma…). This energy is compared to wife (Yonih) since it gives entertainment by creation of Universe. This Mula Maya is under the complete control of God. Since it is generated by God, it can be treated as daughter. This is the meaning of marriage of Brahma with Saraswathi who was created by Brahma. It should not be taken in wrong sense. Similarly, when it is said that Jesus was born to Mary, who was not married, this should not be taken as that the Father of Jesus was unknown and doubt the character of pious Mary. It has spiritual meaning. God is the Father. Mary and her husband are souls which are part of nature only and thus constitute the mother only (Energy). If you analyze any human being, it is Energy only from top to bottom. The soul is awareness, which is a special work form of Energy. The body is made of matter and binding energy, which are again energy only. Energy is the mother. Jesus, a human body is thus the son of the mother only and this is true in the case of any human being. Spiritual sense is misinterpreted by priests, who are not having the true logical analysis. Their mental work is rigid and conservative with recitations only like routine machines.
God alone creates this energy, which is not possible for a soul. A devoted soul, blessed by God (may be even a demon) through its rigid penance can create matter from energy. He can even create awareness in a dead person, if he is sanctioned so by God, because matter and awareness are forms of energy. Balarama, an incarnation of Adisesha, who is the best servant of God, gave life to a dead person called “Bhurisrava” (Refer Bhagvatam). You can find such miracle in the case of some other devotees also.
God, Devotee and the Ordinary Human Being
An ordinary human being can create a form in matter and a feeling (quality) in awareness. An ordinary person cannot create matter and awareness from energy. Thus you have now three levels: God, blessed devotee and ordinary human being. Energy is created by God. Matter and awareness can be created by a blessed devotee, who may be even a demon. An ordinary soul can create forms and feelings from matter and awareness. The dream, which is made of feelings or thoughts, is created by soul and this point cannot make the soul to be God as advaita philosopher argues. In such case, a beggar should become a King by creating a feeling that he is the King! Even blessed devotees, who create matter and awareness, could not become God as seen in the case of demons. The demon belongs at least to the second higher level. The Advaitin belongs to the lowest level, claiming himself to be God. The Advaitin is neither a perfect atheist because he accepts God, nor he is perfect theist because he says that God does not exist separately. Thus, he is a very delicate and complicated person who does not belong to any of these two categories!
Therefore, miracles show the blessings from God, but do not mean that the possessor of the blessings is God. The third class (Advaitin) and second class (demon) cannot be first class (God). One can attain any miracle except the creation of Energy, which is the basic form of Universe. Brahma Sutras say this point and Ramanuja supported this. Madhva clarified this very well. Shankara also clarified this to theists and devotees (satyapi bhedaapagme…) but to atheists (Purvamimamsakas and Buddhists), He told that Soul is God since He has to bring such extreme fellows to the path. It is Arthavada, which means a lie told for a good purpose. The mother says to the child “if you eat this, the Moon will come to your hand”. The child eats the food by that attraction. It is not cheating and a lie. Artha means a purpose, Vada means a statement and Arthavada means a statement given for a good purpose. It only shows the excessive compassion of Acharya (Guru) or preacher to uplift the humanity.
A soul can never create Energy because the soul itself is made of Energy. How can it create itself? God is beyond energy since the Veda says that He created the Energy. Neither the blessed soul should pose that he is God not the ignorant public should mistake him to be God by such miracles. The creator of energy can also create matter and awareness from energy. In fact, when a blessed devotee creates matter, it is only the will of God that creates the matter or awareness from energy. In the fuel cell, it is the solar energy that created current.
In a blessed devotee, the power of God exists, which is the energy associated by will of God. In human incarnation, God directly exists. Miracles exist in Human incarnation also because a college student can also write the school examination. Miracles cannot be the characteristic identification since they are common to God and blessed devotee. If you say that your cow is having a bell-belt, people cannot distinguish it since all cows are having bell-belts. It is only one of the signs and is useful to distinguish the cow from a donkey since donkey does not have a bell-belt. Thus you can distinguish a divine person (God or a blessed devotee) from an ordinary human being by miracles. The miracles are only one of the signs as said in the Veda (Satya karmah…) like the bell belt. Love and kindness are other signs as said by Veda (Raso Vai sah…), but several human beings also exhibit extreme love and kindness, which is a quality that is made of awareness. The other sign is bliss, which is continuous happiness as said in the Veda (Anando Brahma…). Bliss comes only when you can treat this entire life as a divine drama. By the grace of God, a blessed soul can attain this state also. Thus, Ananda can be present in a blessed soul also. The last sign, by which you can clearly identify is divine knowledge, which is special to God only and is called as ‘Prajnanam’. The letter ‘Pra’ means the special best quality in the explanation. Such knowledge is based on the harsh Truth, since God never cares for any soul to please the soul and get some benefit (Satyam Jnanam…Veda). Krishna by the Gita, Jesus by the Bible, Mohammed by the Q’ran, Buddha and Sai Baba are recognized as human incarnations by their preachings. Even such knowledge is a special design of awareness only and is not the nature of God. It is only a constantly associated jewel of God by which you can understand the existence of God in such human form. Therefore, there is no direct sign which is the nature of God and thus God is always unimaginable. The Prajnanam also indicates only the existence of God in that human form (Asteetyeva…Veda). Even such special design of awareness (Prajnanam) cannot give the nature of God. How can you say that the lump of crude awareness (Chit) which exists in every living being is the nature of God? The word Jnanam is Yoga Rudha, which means that it is applicable by the root meaning and is also fixed in the knowledge but not in mere awareness. The Advaitin is erring in this very fundamental step itself. The second blunder is to say that the awareness (Wrong interpretation of Jnanam) is infinite. The awareness is limited to a finite body of the living being only. It is not continuous and contradicts the practical experience. If it is continuous and infinite there should be no inert object in this world!
It is the egoism that makes Advaitins and demons to think that they are God. This egoism never dies, especially when the soul is in a body of male. The sages took the birth of ladies and were born as Gopikas to receive the highest grace of God. The upper caste also induces egoism and so the sages were born as ladies in a lower shepherd caste. The ladies and lower caste are blessed and should feel fortunate in the spiritual field. They can easily attain the divine grace due to their submissive nature and they should not feel that they are suppressed. Jesus told that you would rise so much as you suppress yourself. If such suppression is done by others, are you not fortunate? The suppressor becomes more and more egoistic and will fall soon from the eyes of God. I am a Brahmin by caste and a male by sex. Can I say this? No, I am not telling this, only God in Me is telling all this to the world.
(To be Continued...)
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