This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson in each experience. Learn it and become wise. Every failure is a stepping stone to success. Every difficulty or disappointment is a trial of your faith. Every unpleasant incident or temptation is a test of your inner strength. Therefore nil desperandum. March forward hero!
The benefits of Mouna (Silence) are incalculable.
Four Paths
Union with God is the goal of this human life. It is the be-all and end-all of our existence. It is the summum bonum of life. This can be achieved by following the path of Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga or Karma Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion or the path of affection that is suitable for people of devotional temperament, in whom the love-element preponderates. Women are fit for this Bhakti Yoga Marga as affection predominates in them. Raja Yoga is suited to men of mystic temperament. Some are fond of acquiring Siddhis (powers). They can take up this path. Jnana is the path of Vedanta. Men of rational temperament with reasoning power, strong individual thinking and bold reasoning can take up this path. Those who have an active temperament can follow the path of Karma Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga is suitable for the vast majority of devotees. Generally there is a mixture of devotional and intellectual temperaments in all men. Some are purely devotional. Some are purely intellectual. One can realise through selfless Karma Yoga also. Karma Yoga purifies the mind (Chitta Suddhi) and prepares the aspirant for Jnana Yoga. People of active temperament should take up Karma Yoga. Bhakti is also classified as mental Karma. It comes under Karma Yoga. Raja Yoga is also a form of Bhakti Yoga. In Bhakti Yoga the devotee does absolute self-surrender to the Lord. A Raja Yogi has subtle egoism. The Bhakta depends upon the Lord. He is extremely humble. A Raja Yogi exerts and asserts. He is of Svatantra type (independent). Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga are not incompatibles like acid and alkali. One can combine one-pointed devotion with Jnana Yoga. The fruit of Bhakti Yoga is Jnana. Highest love (Para Bhakti) and Jnana are one. Perfect knowledge is love. Perfect love is knowledge.
Sri Sankara, a Kevala Advaita Jnani, was a great Bhakta of Lord Hari, Hara and Devi. Jnana Dev of Alandi, Poona, a great Yogi, was a Bhakta of Lord Krishna. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa worshipped Kali and got Jnana through Swami Totapuri, his Advaita Guru. Lord Gouranga of Bengal was a great Advaita Vedantic scholar and yet he danced in the streets and market-places singing the Names of Hari. Appaya Dikshita, a famous Jnani of Adaiyapalam, North Arcot District, the author of Siddhanta Lesha and various other Vedantic books, was a devotee of Lord Siva.
It behoves therefore that Bhakti can be combined with much advantage with Jnana. Raja Yoga aims in controlling all thought-waves or mental modifications. The second Sutra in Yoga Darshan of Patanjali Maharishi in the first chapter reads:
Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah.
"Yoga is the restraint of mental modifications."
This is the definition of Raja Yoga according to Patanjali Maharishi. Sri Jnana Dev, Goraknath, Raja Bhartrihari and Sadasiva Brahman were all Raja Yogis of great repute and glory.
Bhakti is a means to the end. It gives purity of mind. It removes Vikshepa (tossing of the mind) Sakamya Bhakti (devotion with expectation) brings Svarga and Brahmaloka for the devotee (Uttamaloka Prapti). Nishkamya Bhakti (love without expectation of fruits) brings Chitta Suddhi and through the purity of the mind the aspirant gets Jnana.
Union with God is the goal of this human life. It is the be-all and end-all of our existence. It is the summum bonum of life. This can be achieved by following the path of Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga or Karma Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion or the path of affection that is suitable for people of devotional temperament, in whom the love-element preponderates. Women are fit for this Bhakti Yoga Marga as affection predominates in them. Raja Yoga is suited to men of mystic temperament. Some are fond of acquiring Siddhis (powers). They can take up this path. Jnana is the path of Vedanta. Men of rational temperament with reasoning power, strong individual thinking and bold reasoning can take up this path. Those who have an active temperament can follow the path of Karma Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga is suitable for the vast majority of devotees. Generally there is a mixture of devotional and intellectual temperaments in all men. Some are purely devotional. Some are purely intellectual. One can realise through selfless Karma Yoga also. Karma Yoga purifies the mind (Chitta Suddhi) and prepares the aspirant for Jnana Yoga. People of active temperament should take up Karma Yoga. Bhakti is also classified as mental Karma. It comes under Karma Yoga. Raja Yoga is also a form of Bhakti Yoga. In Bhakti Yoga the devotee does absolute self-surrender to the Lord. A Raja Yogi has subtle egoism. The Bhakta depends upon the Lord. He is extremely humble. A Raja Yogi exerts and asserts. He is of Svatantra type (independent). Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga are not incompatibles like acid and alkali. One can combine one-pointed devotion with Jnana Yoga. The fruit of Bhakti Yoga is Jnana. Highest love (Para Bhakti) and Jnana are one. Perfect knowledge is love. Perfect love is knowledge.
Sri Sankara, a Kevala Advaita Jnani, was a great Bhakta of Lord Hari, Hara and Devi. Jnana Dev of Alandi, Poona, a great Yogi, was a Bhakta of Lord Krishna. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa worshipped Kali and got Jnana through Swami Totapuri, his Advaita Guru. Lord Gouranga of Bengal was a great Advaita Vedantic scholar and yet he danced in the streets and market-places singing the Names of Hari. Appaya Dikshita, a famous Jnani of Adaiyapalam, North Arcot District, the author of Siddhanta Lesha and various other Vedantic books, was a devotee of Lord Siva.
It behoves therefore that Bhakti can be combined with much advantage with Jnana. Raja Yoga aims in controlling all thought-waves or mental modifications. The second Sutra in Yoga Darshan of Patanjali Maharishi in the first chapter reads:
Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah.
"Yoga is the restraint of mental modifications."
This is the definition of Raja Yoga according to Patanjali Maharishi. Sri Jnana Dev, Goraknath, Raja Bhartrihari and Sadasiva Brahman were all Raja Yogis of great repute and glory.
Bhakti is a means to the end. It gives purity of mind. It removes Vikshepa (tossing of the mind) Sakamya Bhakti (devotion with expectation) brings Svarga and Brahmaloka for the devotee (Uttamaloka Prapti). Nishkamya Bhakti (love without expectation of fruits) brings Chitta Suddhi and through the purity of the mind the aspirant gets Jnana.
Kill Desire
Arjuna said: "But, dragged on by what does a man commit sin, reluctantly indeed, O Varshneya, as it were, by force constrained?" The Blessed Lord said: "It is desire, it is wrath, begotten by the quality of mobility, all-consuming and all-polluting-know thou this as our foe here on earth. As a flame is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an embryo is wrapped by the amnion, so this is enveloped by it. Enveloped is divine wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise in the form of desire, which is insatiable as a flame. The senses, the mind and the reason are said to be its seat; by these, enveloping wisdom, it bewilders the dweller in the body. Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, mastering first the senses, do thou slay this thing of sin, destructive of wisdom and knowledge. It is said that the senses are great; greater than the senses is the mind; greater than the mind is reason; but that which is greater than reason, is He. Thus understanding Him as greater than reason, restraining the self by the Self, slay thou, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome." Ch. III-36-43.
Desires can never be satiated or cooled down by the enjoyment of objects. But as fire blazes forth the more when fed with butter and wood, so it grows the more when it feeds on objects of enjoyment.
If all the foods of the earth, all the precious metals, all animals, and all beautiful women were to pass into the possession of a man deluded by desire, they would fail to give him satisfaction.
Raja Yayati said: "O son, I have enjoyed with your youth to the full extent of my desires and to the full limit of my powers and according to their seasons-but desires never die. They are never satiated by indulgence. By indulgence they flame up like sacrificial fire with ghee poured into it. If one becomes the sole Lord of all the earth with its paddy, oats, gems, beasts and women, still it will not be considered by him enough. Therefore the thirst for enjoyment should be abandoned. The thirst for enjoyment which is difficult to be cast off by the wicked, which does not fail even with the failing of life, is truly a fatal disease in man. To get rid of this thirst is real happiness."
Understand that desire that is born of the quality of Rajas is man's enemy in this Samsara. The real enemy of the whole world is desire. It is from this desire that all the evils and miseries come to human beings. When desire manifests, it goads man to action and so he commits sins of various sorts. When a man's desire is not gratified, when one stands in the way of its fulfilment, he becomes angry. The desire gets transmuted into anger. When one is under the sway of anger, he will commit all sorts of sins. He loses his memory, intellect and understanding. An angry man commits murder. He himself does not know what he is exactly doing. He becomes very emotional and impulsive. All evil actions and evil qualities proceed from anger.
When desire gets hold of a man, it hides the knowledge of his true nature from him. Desire enshrouds wisdom, just as smoke enshrouds fire. He becomes egoistic. He gets deluded. He becomes a slave of passion and gets miseries of all sorts.
The Indriyas or senses bring the man in contact with external objects and the desires are thereby created. But the senses are not all-in-all. If the mind co-operates with the Indriyas, then only is mischief wrought. Mind is more powerful than the Indriyas. Mind is the commander. Reason is more powerful than the mind. Even if the mind brings a message into the mental factory by its association with the Indriyas, the pure reason can reject it altogether. Reason is more powerful than the mind. Behind reason is the Self who is the director and witness of reason and who is superior to reason. Desire is of a highly complex and incomprehensible nature. Therefore, it is very difficult to be eradicated or conquered. But with the help of pure reason all desires can be eventually destroyed. There is no doubt of this. Then you will get knowledge of the Atman which brings immortality, supreme peace and eternal bliss.
Arjuna said: "But, dragged on by what does a man commit sin, reluctantly indeed, O Varshneya, as it were, by force constrained?" The Blessed Lord said: "It is desire, it is wrath, begotten by the quality of mobility, all-consuming and all-polluting-know thou this as our foe here on earth. As a flame is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an embryo is wrapped by the amnion, so this is enveloped by it. Enveloped is divine wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise in the form of desire, which is insatiable as a flame. The senses, the mind and the reason are said to be its seat; by these, enveloping wisdom, it bewilders the dweller in the body. Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, mastering first the senses, do thou slay this thing of sin, destructive of wisdom and knowledge. It is said that the senses are great; greater than the senses is the mind; greater than the mind is reason; but that which is greater than reason, is He. Thus understanding Him as greater than reason, restraining the self by the Self, slay thou, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome." Ch. III-36-43.
Desires can never be satiated or cooled down by the enjoyment of objects. But as fire blazes forth the more when fed with butter and wood, so it grows the more when it feeds on objects of enjoyment.
If all the foods of the earth, all the precious metals, all animals, and all beautiful women were to pass into the possession of a man deluded by desire, they would fail to give him satisfaction.
Raja Yayati said: "O son, I have enjoyed with your youth to the full extent of my desires and to the full limit of my powers and according to their seasons-but desires never die. They are never satiated by indulgence. By indulgence they flame up like sacrificial fire with ghee poured into it. If one becomes the sole Lord of all the earth with its paddy, oats, gems, beasts and women, still it will not be considered by him enough. Therefore the thirst for enjoyment should be abandoned. The thirst for enjoyment which is difficult to be cast off by the wicked, which does not fail even with the failing of life, is truly a fatal disease in man. To get rid of this thirst is real happiness."
Understand that desire that is born of the quality of Rajas is man's enemy in this Samsara. The real enemy of the whole world is desire. It is from this desire that all the evils and miseries come to human beings. When desire manifests, it goads man to action and so he commits sins of various sorts. When a man's desire is not gratified, when one stands in the way of its fulfilment, he becomes angry. The desire gets transmuted into anger. When one is under the sway of anger, he will commit all sorts of sins. He loses his memory, intellect and understanding. An angry man commits murder. He himself does not know what he is exactly doing. He becomes very emotional and impulsive. All evil actions and evil qualities proceed from anger.
When desire gets hold of a man, it hides the knowledge of his true nature from him. Desire enshrouds wisdom, just as smoke enshrouds fire. He becomes egoistic. He gets deluded. He becomes a slave of passion and gets miseries of all sorts.
The Indriyas or senses bring the man in contact with external objects and the desires are thereby created. But the senses are not all-in-all. If the mind co-operates with the Indriyas, then only is mischief wrought. Mind is more powerful than the Indriyas. Mind is the commander. Reason is more powerful than the mind. Even if the mind brings a message into the mental factory by its association with the Indriyas, the pure reason can reject it altogether. Reason is more powerful than the mind. Behind reason is the Self who is the director and witness of reason and who is superior to reason. Desire is of a highly complex and incomprehensible nature. Therefore, it is very difficult to be eradicated or conquered. But with the help of pure reason all desires can be eventually destroyed. There is no doubt of this. Then you will get knowledge of the Atman which brings immortality, supreme peace and eternal bliss.
Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in the Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.
Put your heart, mind, intellect, and soul even into your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.
Beings
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