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SPIRITUAL VALUESSPIRITUAL VALUESSPIRITUAL VALUESSPIRITUAL VALUESSPIRITUAL VALUESIN THE GITAIN THE GITAIN THE GITAIN THE GITAIN THE GITA

Swami Visharadananda

[An exposition of verses 7-11 of the 13thchapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Condensed from thebook Human Values, by Swami Visharadananda,published by Swami Vivekananda Yoga Prakashan,Chamarajpet, Bangalore, pp.102. It was serialised indifferent issues of The Vedanta Kesari from January2009 to January 2011]

A monk of dashanami tradition, Swami Visha-radanandaji lives and teaches at Vivekananda YogaAnusandhana Mahavidyapith, Prashanti Kutiram, nearJigani Industrial Area, Bangalore, Karnataka.

CCCCCONTENTSONTENTSONTENTSONTENTSONTENTS

1. Introduction 4

2. Amanitvam (Humility) 5

3. Adambhitvam (Unpretentiousness) 10

4. Ahimsa (Non-violence) 14

5. Kshanti (Forbearance) 22

6. Arjavam (Straightforwardness) 30

7. Acharyopasanam (Serving the Teacher) 36

8. Shoucham (Purity) 40

9. Sthairyam (Steadiness) 51

10. Atmavinigraha (control of oneself) 57

11. Indriyartheshu-vairagyam(detachment towards the objects of senses) 61

12. Anahamkara (absence of ego) 68

13. Janma-mítyu-jarà-vyàdhi-duækha-doäanu-daráanam (Seeing theinherent defects in birth, death,old age and disease) 72

14. Asakti (Detachment) 77

15. Anabhishvangah putra-dara-grihadishu(‘giving up extreme attachment to son,wife, house and so on’) 82

16. Nityam samachittatvam ishêanishêop-apattishu [‘Maintaining equanimity of mindin favourable and unfavourable circumstances’] 91

17. Mayi cha ananyayogena bhakti-avyabhicharini [‘by developing unswervingdevotion to Me by the Yoga of non-separation’] 102

18. Vivikta-desha-sevitvam [living in solitary places] 111

19. Arati-jana-samsadi[distaste for the company of people] 116

20. Adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam(Dwelling upon the Knowledge of atman) 119

21. Tattvajnartha-darshanam(Meditating on the reality of Self) 123

IntroductionTurning Within

The Bhagavad Gita outlines many values or virtueswhich a human being should cultivate. Without thesevalues, a human being is not fit enough to be called ahuman being.

All spiritual masters tell us that the human mindis filled with many desires (vasanas). When these desiresare roused, our power of discrimination (viveka shakti)simply goes away. Our mind then acts like a child thatjust wants everything irrespective of it being good orbad. A child is drawn to whatever that looks attractive.A mind too, filled with strong desires behaves similarly,not using its discriminative faculty.

Why do we have desires? Because we tend toidentify ourselves with our body-mind-ego. We forgetour divine nature, our atman-nature which is everfulfilled and free from all worldly needs. We forgetthat whatever we want, we already have that. Do wewant to be a significant person? The fact is that we arealready the most significant being in the world. Thiswhole world exists because of this inner core of ourbeing. Drawing strength from it, the sun and the moonexist. But we do not see the significant nature of ourSelf because we have identified ourselves with our

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body-mind adjuncts (upadhi). It is this wrong self-identity which is the cause of our problems andsufferings.

How does one discover one’s true identity?Through the purification of our mind. The Atman isever pure; it needs no purification. It is only the mindthat has to be purified and not Àtman. When we saywe are impure, it is not about the Atman but the mindwhich has to be made pure. Impurity of mind originatesin misunderstanding our real nature. This misunder-standing has to be corrected. It is not that we have tobecome Atman; we are already that. What we need isto remove the false covering on our true being.

We often miss seeing this simple truth because weare busy seeing something else. We are generallyoutgoing and as a result we assume that only when weget that external object of our choice, we will be happy.Therefore we reject the inner joy (ananda) and run afterthe external objects. Thus our life goes on, endlesslyand eternally—until we turn within. We are like astray dog that goes from door to door, in search forsome left over food. Similarly the mind goes after objectshere and there even when there is plenty inside. As awell known saying goes:

{gÕ_Þ§ n[aË`Á` {^jm_Q>{V Xw_©{V…

Rejecting cooked food, the fool goes begging.

Our mind also behaves in the same way. It goesafter objects here and there even when there is plentyinside. It searches for fleeting joy outside when

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everlasting joy is right within us. How to change thistendency of the mind? By setting right our attitudesand developing a sense of detachment and rightperspective. Instead of running after objects and peopleand making selfish claims such as ‘I belong to them,they belong to me’, we should identify with our highernature. This means that we should loosen the evilpropensities (durvyapara) of our mind and work hard todevelop higher values (sadgunas). The first step incultivating vairagya is to confess that our understandingis wrong and that we need to improve ourselves, byturning within.

In the Gita, Krishna talks about developing humanvalues and enlists a number of divine qualities orspiritual values. When we develop these divine qualities,we get true peace of mind. These values help us tobecome introspective and bring changes in ourpersonality.

The following is an elucidation of these values asgiven in the five verses (13.7-11) in the Bhagavad Gita.These verses are:

A_m{ZËd_Xpå^Ëd_{h§gm jmpÝVamO©d_²Ÿ&

AmMm`m}nmgZ§ em¡M§ ñW¡ ©_mË_{d{ZJ«h…&& 7 &&Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury, forbearance,uprightness, service to the teacher, purity, steadiness, self-control.

BpÝÐ`mW}fw d¡am½`_Zh‘>ma Ed MŸ&

OÝ__¥Ë wOamì`m{YXw…IXmofmZwXe©Z_²Ÿ&& 8 &&

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The renunciation of sense-objects, and also absence ofegoism; reflection on the evils of birth, death, old age,sickness, and pain.

Ag{ŠVaZ{^îd“… nwÌXmaJ¥hm{XfwŸ&

{ZË § M g_{MÎmËd{_ï>m{Zï>monn{ÎmfwŸ&& 9 &&Non-attachment, non-identification of self with son, wife,home, and the rest, and constant even-mindedness in theoccurrence of the desirable and the undesirable.

_{` MmZÝ``moJoZ ^{ŠVaì`{^Mm[aUrŸ&

{d{dŠVXoego{dËd_a{VO©Zg§g{XŸ&& 10 &&Unswerving devotion to Me by the Yoga of non-separation,resorting to sequestered places, distaste for the society ofmen.AÜ`mË_kmZ{ZË`Ëd§ VÎdkmZmW©Xe©Xe©Z_²Ÿ&

EVÁkmZ{_{V àmoº$_kmZ§ `XVmo@Ý`WmŸ&&11 &&Constant application to spiritual knowledge, under-standing of the end of true knowledge: this is declared tobe knowledge, and what is opposed to it is ignorance.

Amanitvam (Humility)Manitvam or pride is an aberration of mind.

Manitvam means ‘adoring oneself’ (ñdmË_{Z nyÁ`Ëd^mdZm).A self-conceited person considers himself as worthy ofeveryone’s respect. He feels that he is somehow specialand holier and wiser than others. The right attitude isthat one need not feel inferior or superior to anyonebut have faith in one’s and others’ divinity.

Self-conceit is based on some imaginary reasonsfor one’s superiority. It can be an assumed superioritybased on lineage (kula), class (jati), wealth (dhana), skill(vidya), knowledge (jnana), beauty (rupa), youthfulness(yauvana) and so on. Once this feeling of being superiorenters the mind, based on some imagined factor, onedevelops a feeling that others should treat him as special.Then one thinks, ‘I am here to be served, others arehere to serve me. If I don’t respect others, it is allright, if others don’t respect me it is a crime.’ Onelooks for privileges and a special status in all walks oflife. He reasons thus: ‘The world owes it to me, I don’towe anything to the world and I am entitled for thisstatus!’ This is manitva or a sense of self importance.

A self-conceited person is also an extremely touchyperson. This is because he thinks he deserves morerespect than what others give. He gets offended forsimple reasons. He has tremendous expectations from

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others. This way his mind is busy evaluating, brandingand rejecting people. Whenever opportunity comes, hethinks of punishing others or retaliates in some way orother.

A self-conceited person (mani) is so occupied withhimself that he does not care or respect even therespectable. This is so because he equates respectingothers with demeaning himself. He thinks even greetingothers is a compromise, a coming down from his status.This results in what poet Kalidasa calls as ‘denyingrespect where it is due’ (pujyapuja vyatikramah). In otherwords, when we do not respect (puja) those who areworthy of respect (pujya), then our personal growthgets obstructed. This is a serious flaw in one’s character.A self-conceited person looks for those who praise him.When somebody respects him, he feels happy and hethinks that here is a person who understands him, truly!He keeps a group of sycophants around, because hewants to listen only to his praise.

If we want peace of mind, then this sense of self-adoration should be removed from our mind. Weshould realize that we are quite vulnerable. If somebodypraises us, we immediately feel so good that we lookforward for such fondling again. As cats like fondling,we like our ego to be fondled. Our ego wants to beappreciated and recognized because we have someemptiness and smallness in our personality. Thatsmallness seeks a cover up through self-importance.This is what is called narcissism or self-love. A self-centred person cannot even think of others’ welfare.

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One of the reasons for this is lack of care and love inone’s younger days.

One can never have peace of mind if one is lookingforward to people who can praise him, boost his ego,and be fodder for this fire of self-importance ragingwithin. He may hunt for peace of mind all his life buthe can never get it until he corrects himself. Peacecomes when one is emotionally independent. If a personis busy evaluating, eliminating and punishing others,where is the time for him to have inner peace?

Our scriptures mention that self-praise (atmashlagha)is not a virtue of cultured people (shishtachar). Says aSanskrit adage:

nwÊ`… ja{V H$sV©ZmV² &

Listening to one’s praise leads to loss of merit (punya).

If we enjoy somebody praising us, we are unawareof our punya thinning down. So, if someone praises us,we have to request him not to do so. Not only shouldwe avoid listening to our praise, we should also desistfrom any attempt at self-praise. Whether others praiseus or we praise ourselves, our meritorious acts diminish(punya-kshaya).

There is an interesting story told in Puranas. Aperson who had a lot of punya went to heaven where,on account of his punya, he was offered Indra’s seat.Indra was asked to vacate his seat. Indra was in a fix.So he played a trick. Indra started praising the manand asked him to give details of his great achievementson earth.

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And the man fell for it. He opened the flood gateof his ego-centric acts. He went on narrating all hisachievements at length. This self-glorification startedreducing all his accumulated punya and when it wassufficiently low, one gentle push by Indra was enoughto send him tumbling down out of the heavens! Themoral of this story is that self-praise is undesirable.

It is bad manners even to listen to one’s praise ormake others speak of one’s deeds. A person who issolid inside does not need to listen to his praise fromoutside. He is convinced about his own strength. Onlywhen one lacks something within that one needsconstant confirmation from others. For example, if oneis not well versed in something and when someonepraises, ‘What a scholar you are!’, one gets excitedbecause one knows that one is not up to the mark andhere is a much wanted help!

The opposite of self-conceit (manitva) is humility(amanitva).

How do we develop humility? First of all we mustvalue it. When we value humility then we will be onguard to protect it. Whenever we are praised, we shouldbecome cautious and be on our guard. Whenever peoplepraise our achievements, we should transfer it to ourteam or organisation or ultimately to Àtman.

Praise can make a person susceptible. Lookingforward to it again and again would be like a drug andit may really make us fools. It will make us believe thatwe possess that which we do not really have. If wetake what others say seriously then we will land into

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serious problems. This feeling of self impor-tance is very deep in us. By introspection, one has tofind out why one has developed this and then carefullydevelop a sense of reality about ourselves.

We should daily check up whether we are movingtowards humility or not. Do we like to hear praise or not? Ifwe like it, is there any basis or not? If there is a basis, how faris it really there? Are we puffed up or are we hurt? In eithercase, is there some problem in us? Just as if there is a pain inthe body, we slowly massage it, giving us a soothing effect.Since that is a sore area we feel relaxed. So also, if we likepraise or are hurt it means that there is a sore area in ourpsyche. Praise is an ego massage. We feel soothed by it. Self-importance shows that we have sore areas in ourpsychological self. Our psyche is wounded and when thatparticular area is touched by praise, it feels good. One needsto come out of these wounds, if one needs true freedom.

Adambhitvam(Unpretentiousness)

Unpretentiousness (adambhitvam) means no desireto show off. Pretentiousness (dambha) is an act ofshowing off one’s qualities or possessions (svadharmaprakati-karanam).

We may have some skill or information or aquality, and we want to exhibit it. We want todemonstrate it in order to exchange it with some profit(labha), fame (khyati), respect (puja) and so on.

A person who is pretentious wants that otherpeople should respect him and call him a great person;he wants to gain fame or profit out of this. This is theintention behind a person’s desire to show off. Forexample, he may be a charitable person, but that is notsufficient; he wants everybody to know that he ischaritable. People exhibit themselves through dress(vesha), language (bhasa), skill (koushala), conduct (achara)and so on.

For instance, one may dress up as a religiousperson, with a long beard, rudraksha mala, vibhuti, andthe like. In itself this is not wrong but once we do it inorder to gain others’ attention and praise, it becomespretentiousness or a kind of exhibitionism (dambha).We are free to possess things but why do we want

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others to know it? What is the intention behind that?We may wear a rudraksha mala. There is nothing wrongin it. But why do we want to show it outside? Is it toshow to Lord Shiva? Even if it is inside one’s clothes,He knows! When we try to impress others with ourreligiousness, we become pretentious and lose sight ofthe goal of life. In Kali Vidambana, it is told

H$m¡nrZ§ ^{gVmbonmo X^mo©éÐmj_m{bH$mŸ&

_m¡Z_oH$mgZ§ M¡d _yI©g#mrdZm{Z fQ²>Ÿ&&

Koupinam (loin cloth), bhasitalepah (ash smeared on thebody), darbha (a particular sacred grass), rudraksa malika(necklace of rudraksa beads), mounam (a pretendedobservation of silence) and ekasanam (sitting in one posturefor prolonged duration)—with these six things even a foolcan pass off his life smoothly.

People may look at him with wonder and say,‘Indeed he is a great yogi, he does not move, he sitslike a stone!’ In how many ways do people show ofthemselves! A learned person, on the other hand, doesnot need to exhibit.

Only if we are introspective, can we spot out ourmistake. We may, for instance, on a given day, examinewhy did we speak in a particular way. When wescrutinize thus, we begin to look into what we reallywant and how to correct ourselves. We realize that itwas uncalled for but still we spoke! When there is apressure inside, we blurt out something at first chance!Then the pressure gets released. We speak outsomething not because others want to know, but we

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want others to know how great we are! Such type ofexhibition is a disease of the mind. We may be quitegood otherwise but we should have maturity andstrength not to exhibit it. If there is an attempt toexhibit, it shows that we need to correct ourselves.

AÝV… gma{dhrZmZm_² ^dË`mS>å~amo_hmZ²Ÿ&

Those who lack inner stuff, they are given to much showoutside.

When there is only little inside, there is an intenseurge to show out; then all pomp and show come out.Empty vessels make jarring noise. A person feels thatunless he exhibits himself, he will be rejected and willnot be taken seriously! To be acceptable in society as aperson of knowledge or an important person, differenttricks are used by the mind. But the reality is quitedifferent! The need to prove oneself comes because ofthe basic need of wanting to be appreciated by people.Both self conceit and pretentiousness are manifestationof the same sickness of mind: a compulsive urge toprove oneself.

So, we should try to fill up this inner vacuum. Weshould examine if we are happy with ourselves. If weare happy with ourselves, then why do we want othersto recognise us? If there is a need to be recognised bypeople, then it shows that we have not acceptedourselves. There is thus a need to set ourselves right.

We should remember that only when we haveintegration of personality that we get true respect. Thosewho are phoney, their fake life cannot be hidden from

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others for long. The best way will be to be transparentand relax. This is the second spiritual value the Gitawants us to develop.

Ahimsa (Non-violence)Ahimsa means ‘not giving pain to living beings’

(pranipida varjanam.) One should resolve not to inflictpain or injury on others. Whether one is ready or notto truly practise this in life, one should make efforts topractise it. Even though one may be merely on the wayto reach a place, one should not despair or lose one’sspirits (margasthah navasidati.) One should have faiththat one will reach the destination sooner or later. Oneshould keep walking (margasthah).

First of all, one should value ahimsa, and avoidhurting others. Hurting others or acting violently takesplace in three ways: physical, verbal, and mental.

Hurting others physically is the worst and thegrossest form of violence. But even before one doesthis, one often hurts others through one’s words. Thishappens when one curses others verbally. To think illof others is mental violence. Thus, hurting othersthrough thinking, speaking and doing, are all part ofviolence. One should keep a check over all these threeforms of violence.

To practice physical ahimsa means respectingothers’ life as one respects one’s own life. This includesnot ill-treating or misbehaving with others. We wantothers to respect our life; we do not want anyone toharm, hurt or harass us. In the same way, we should

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respect and treat others. We might injure othersunknowingly and certain form of violence is inevitablein the course of our daily life. For example, we maystep on some worms; or burning a lamp may kill someinsects or while sweeping a place, we may end upkilling some creatures. All these are unintentional acts.But one should not indulge in wanton killing or injury.As far as possible, we should avoid hurting and causinginjury to others. One should be sensitive towards otherliving beings.

Next comes practising verbal non-violence. Onecan control causing physical hurt or injury to othersbecause it is visible. But controlling violence throughwords is difficult because one is habituated to speakingwithout being aware of its effect on others. Many peoplewhen they speak, do not care whether their wordshurt others. They utter words which might smack othersin their sensitive areas (marmasthanas). They have alashing tongue and lack understanding of how wordscan hurt others.

In order to practice verbal non-violence, we shouldremember that it is not easy to heal others’ hurt feelingsbut to hurt others is easy. Hence one’s words shouldbe carefully watched and chosen before uttering.Whatever we speak should be good (hita), brief (mita),sweet (madhura) and true (satya).

One should always practice measured speech(mita). One should be to the point. When one makesreferences to needless issues, one commits mistakesand often has to pay for them later. Hence one shouldspeak briefly and only when really necessary.

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While speaking one should be truthful (satya) aswell as pleasant (madhura). When one speaks, it shouldbe soothing to others and not frightening. Others shouldfeel relaxed with us and not uneasy. They should feelas if they are under the shade of large tree, givingthem a feeling of comfort and goodness. One shouldtake care that one’s words do not hurt others. This iswhat Sri Krishna calls as the ‘austerity of speech’ (Gita,17.15).

Speaking ill of others in their absence also amountsto verbal violence. This is so because our criticism ofothers in their absence creates in the minds of listenersan image of the persons criticized and as they are notpresent, they cannot defend themselves. One may speakill of others in a casual way but the listener will forman opinion about them based on one’s words and, ifthe listener is equally immature, he might further relateit to others. Thus, this will build up a negativeatmosphere and make us distrustful of each other. Oneshould avoid this at all cost.

Sarcasm is another very serious form of verbalviolence that needs to be checked. To speak sarcasticallymeans to have a hidden idea to hurt the other personthrough one’s seemingly simple words. To ridiculeothers or laugh at them when they are in trouble isalso a verbal violence. Says one Sanskrit proverb:

gacchatah skhalanam kvapi bhavateva pramadatah, hasantidurjanaha tatra samadadhati sajjanah.If, out of carelessness, someone slips on the way, evil-minded people laugh at him. The noble minded, however,try to console and help him out.

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What is there to laugh about a person who slipsand falls? He is already hurt, and instead of giving hima helping hand, if one laughs at him, one does violenceto him. Laughing in itself is a good thing, but whenone laughs at others’ misfortune it is indeed cruel. Theentire Mahabharata war took place because Draupadilaughed at Duryodhana at the wrong time and thatpierced his heart like a spear. Then he said, ‘I will takerevenge for it.’ What all she had to face as aconsequence of her laughter! She was dragged to courtby her hair by Dushasana. He tried to disrobe her andultimately the war happened! The seeds of Mahabharatawar lie embedded in Draupadi’s laughter.

If one laughs at somebody like that, it hurts thatperson which in turn creates many a problem in life.Even a smile is not always an innocent act; smiling atothers, with a malicious intent, can also hurt others.We have to be sensitive and be aware when to speakand when not. Not speaking may also hurt others.Sometimes when we do not speak, this itself speaksvolumes of our attitude. When one is supposed to saysomething and if one does not do it, it may mean thatone may have something against that person. When aperson needs some kind words and if you withholdsaying them, then it shows you are capable ofwithdrawing what may be a kind of life-support forthe person. This hurts the person. At times, one showstotal indifference by just not speaking. We should be,therefore, careful and understand how in different wayswe are likely to hurt others.

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Hurting others really begins at the mental level. Ifone thinks ill of others, one cannot hide it for long;sometime or other it will come out through one’s wordsor actions. Mental anguish is like a fire. First it is amere spark, a mere idea in the mind. When this ‘fire’grows in intensity, it comes out in words and when itassumes greater form and intensity, it gets expressedin physical form.

Why do we think ill of others at all?

It is because we cannot tolerate, accommodate ordigest others’ prosperity or progress; or it is becauseof some other hateful feelings in the heart. Then only itbecomes a form of violence. A spiritual seeker shouldlearn to introspect and look within, instead of botheringabout others. True introspection and deep thinking alonecan eliminate these things from the mind.

As these faults make one’s thoughts focused onthe negative side of life and makes one unhappy, oneshould learn to understand and correct them at theearliest. Only when we have a clear understanding ofthese inner mechanisms can we understand our divinenature. A mind which is busy thinking of others’ faultsalways is like a housefly looking for a wound andrelishing it. The housefly cannot help it because sittingon the filth is its nature. An impure mind is also like ahousefly, searching for filth outside—others’ faults andweakness. Such a mind cannot have peace. If one iseager to look at others’ shortcomings, one will surelyfind them!

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If a person is violent in this manner, it shows thatthere is a deeper problem in his mindset. Only a personwho is hurt within in some way can think of hurtingothers. He or she cannot be nice towards others if heor she is mentally bleeding inside. Such people condemnothers and want to see them as enemies. They thinkthat the whole world has conspired to put them in badsituation and everybody else is responsible for theirproblems! When everybody else is held responsible forone’s suffering what comes out is only a feeling ofretaliation and anger. They think that others asresponsible for their misery and hence it is good to paythem back!

When one has pain in one’s mind, one spits poison.We cannot expect cool breeze from raging fire. Thewind coming from fire would be hot only. So we haveto first soothe the person within. Then only the mindbecomes soothed and calm.

We should ask ourselves: Why are we hurt? Whyare we wanting to hit others or damage things? Theremay be some unfulfilled desires which may be causingit, and one should attend to it. It is like cleaning up abad wound. The wound has to be surgically openedand the toxic matter, the pus, has to be drained out.Only when it is properly cleaned and dressed that itwill heal. The mind too should be similarly healed.Then only one gets inner peace.

One way of doing this is to learn to accept whatcannot be changed or altered. We often forget that it isour own Karma which comes back to us in many ways.

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We can understand only when our mind is relativelyquiet, secure and educated through right thinking. Butin order to bring the mind to that point, we have to dosome initial work. This means we should learn the artof self-examination.

Violence can be further classified into followingthree categories: ‘done’ (krita), ‘provoked’ (karita), and‘approved’ (anumodita).

Krita or ‘done’ violence is when one oneself hurtsothers by speaking or doing something.

Karita or ‘provoked’ violence is when one doesnot do it oneself but provokes others to do it. ‘Go anddo this; I am there with you,’ one whispers! Supportingviolence in this manner is also violence.

‘Approved’ violence is also a form of violence.One should be alert to this aspect also.

Sometimes we may not wish to support violencebut we may come under pressure for doing it. Wemight contend that we do not have any choice and tryto justify it but this often means that we havesurrendered our discriminative faculty. No! We shouldlearn to use our thinking and our capacity of makingright choices. To bow down before the pressure ofunrighteous will is also approving it. It amounts toapproving injustice. Our society is full with many peoplewho lack strength to stand up for righteous cause. Ifjust a handful of people stand firm, that would maketremendous change in the society.

Non-violence or ahimsa means, in simple words,sensitivity to others. Do unto others what you want

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others to do unto you. As you wish to be treated byothers, do the same to others. If you become the causefor somebody’s tears, somebody will become a causeof your tears in future. What is sin and what is merit?Thus goes the famous adage:

Paropakarah Punyaya, Papaya Parapidanam.

To do good to others is merit or good and meritorious; totrouble others is sin.

Says Mahabharata:

Piditanam anathanam, kuryat asrupramarjanam.

One should wipe the tears of the troubled and the orphans.

This compassion, or non-violence should come andthen only we are truly spiritual.

This means we should be watchful and vigilant atevery step. These days we are so careful about ourweight and keep counting calories. But what about theweight of violence and its attendant evils that we keepadding to our personality? We should be watchful overwhat we think and how we behave. Then only can webe truly non-violent.

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Kshanti (Forbearance)Kshanti or the capacity to forbear is one of the

important values that a spiritual seeker should cultivate.If one wants to realize or experience the atman, orhave the Knowledge of the Self (atmajnana), one shouldfree one’s mind from weakness such as violence (himsa),hatred (dvesha) and anger (krodha). Cultivating highervalues like forbearance and non-violence are needednot only for a spiritual seeker but even a commoneralso needs them in order to live a happy and contentedlife.

Buddha says that if we cannot look after our mind,how can then we gain Knowledge of the Self? If onewants to protect or preserve water in a pot, you haveto protect the pot. A leaky pot cannot hold water.Likewise, if we want knowledge, we should take careof the mind. Taking care of the container (patra) whichwould ‘contain’ the knowledge is essential. As it is saidin Sanskrit:

‘It is not possible to protect what one learns by a restlessmind’ (na shiksha rakshitum shakya chalachittam arakshitam).

Mind, therefore, has to be taken care of first. Onlya mind that has been made strong with all thesespiritual values can become competent to acquire thehigher knowledge. Forbearance makes the mindintrospective and strong. This is what the practice of

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forbearance is aimed at—to maintain a peaceful mind.A calm mind is an important pre-requisite for gainingthe Knowledge of Self.

To be forbearing one should be a strong person(kshama prabhavidu). A man who is weak is devoid offorbearance and cannot attain anything higher, not tospeak of the Knowledge of the Self.

Sri Krishna advices us that one should cultivateforbearance (kshanti) in life. One should not have anyfeeling of ‘giving back in the same coin’. Forbearancemeans that one should not retaliate even when othersbring pain and sufferings.

A spiritual seeker should always try to check thistendency to react or else any passing event will distractand disturb him. In absence of this inner poise, he willhave a complaint against everything. ‘This is not okay,that is not okay, they have no sense of punctuality, nocleanliness, and so on’—if we go on complaining likethis, there will be hundreds of things to complain aboutand our life will be in total disarray.

There are people who want to always correctothers. They feel insecure and weak and cannot allowanyone to take any advantage. They think that unlessothers are quickly punished, they will do more mischiefand become uncontrollable. Unwilling to take anychance, they want to nip everything in the bud—andpunish the wrong doers at once.

A weak person is very touchy about himself. Helikes to keep the people away because he oftenmisperceives others as a ‘threat’ to his security and

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progress. He therefore does not want to take any risk.Forbearance seems meaningless to him.

We forget that even in rajanìti (the art of managinga kingdom), punishment (daëda) is the last recourse.First comes negotiation (sàma), then inducement (dàna)and dissention (bheda) is the third. In dharma nìti,punishment is not even considered. The simple reasonis that to punish, one has to be hard-hearted (kaêhora)which is least desirable in the case of a spiritual seeker.We should punish the wrong doers but there should beno haste in doing it. We must think before we react.

Retaliation or punishment is not the solution toeverything. Although punishment has a place in thetotal scheme of life, we should be willing to give achance to a person to correct himself. If we want toimmediately settle our score whenever someone does amistake, then it means we lack forbearance.

Here we must remember that in administration orin the matters of maintaining law and order, practiceof forbearance has different dimension—that of largergood. And hence, the rule of punishment has a role toplay there. Here we are speaking of a seeker of Self-knowledge.

Why should one practice forbearance?

For our own good. If we keep retaliating for allthe mistakes others commit, we might end up wipingout the whole world! We have to learn to forbear. Ifwe think over all the mistakes that we have committedin life and if we had been punished for all our mistakes,we would not be living today! We have been forgiven

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so many times by so many people that matter to us:parents, teachers, neighbours, friends and so on. It istheir forbearance that is keeping us alive. Reconciliation,and not revenge, makes us grow and healthy in everyway.

We should teach our mind that nobody is perfect;it is okay if someone does a mistake. This means let usgive him a chance to learn and improve. This giving achance is very important. Only strong can forgive andhave forbearance. We can lean on the shoulders of astrong man only. Only a strong person can bear theweight of a weak person. The purpose of practisingforbearance is to help others to grow. It is like providingtemporary support for walking to a man whose foot isinjured. To allow others to lean on us means allowingthem to take a little advantage of our goodness so thatthey can outgrow their weaknesses and stand on theirfeet.

A man of forbearance is aware that one commitsmistakes in order to help oneself to learn from them.He knows that the person committing a mistakedeserves to be punished but he gives him a chance toimprove. For instance, if we do not give money tochildren, they will not know how to use it, but whenwe give it, they may misuse it. What to do then? Wehave to take the risk and give them some money but atthe same time keep a watch over them. If we do nottake the risk, we will not allow the child to grow. Thechild may not learn to understand the value of moneyand its right use and may become either a miser or aspendthrift. So, practice of forbearance in various

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departments of life is like conducting a course in self-development. We have to keep a check on misuse butalso give freedom to others. This is the core of the ideaof exercising forbearance.

Forbearance is the absence of desire to retaliate.A Sanskrit saying tells: ‘For a person who has theweapon of forbearance, what could evil people do tohim? (kshama shastram kare yasya, durjanam kim karishyate).’

This idea is to keep away from all unnecessaryconflicts. If you do not take part in a conflict, the conflictsimply gets discontinued. A quarrel grows when boththe persons keep answering back. Forbearance,however, brings an end to it by breaking the cycle ofaccusations and retorts. As goes the saying:

‘A fire that falls on a place where there is no grass, getsextinguished of its own (atrinate patito vahni svayamevavinashyati).’

If we add to the fire of misunderstanding byrepeating our mistakes, the fire only grows bigger.Hatred cannot be overcome by hatred. Only forbearanceor forgiveness can overcome it. Somebody has to takethe responsibility of putting an end to hatred. And thiscan be done by a strong person and not a weak person.Wherever there is a conflict, responsibility to end it lieswith the strong. If the weak tries to stop it, it is onlybecause of his helplessness.

Another dimension of forbearance lies in the factthat whenever we are disappointed in life, we feelhurt. A hurt person often behaves in irrational ways.We should understand it and learn to forgive the person

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who feels hurt and insecure emotionally. It is like asmall child who comes home from school and startskicking his mother. The mother wonders at hisbehaviour and wants to find out the reason. She thinksof all possible reasons—a quarrel with a friend orscolding by the teacher and so on. She shows all thepatience and begins to cuddle the child and asks himthe reason. And slowly, comforted and accepted, thechild begins to sob and come out with the reason.

If we extend the same motherly approach andunderstanding towards people who misbehave withus, then we can handle them wisely. This requires muchpatience and sympathy. When others upset us, it isonly mirroring our own personality. They are holdinga mirror to us. If we can find out why we are upset orhurt, we will become more understanding and calm.

Forbearance is fundamentally an attitude ofunderstanding towards others. When a child dropssomething, we do not get angry but if an adult does it,we get angry and react violently. If we can see thesame mind of the child inside the adult, grown upbody, then we can be quite accommodating and calm.

Sensitivity is another thing that we shouldremember. Just as the eye-ball that cannot tolerate eventhe smallest of dust particles, and begins to water, soalso a sensitive mind begins to behave badly becauseof some cause. The mind of a spiritual seeker is like aneyeball which requires immediate washing and relief.Since a spiritual seeker himself does not want to doinjustice or tell a lie to anyone, he becomes affected by

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it as soon as he sees it outside. It gets on his nervesand disturbs him. He wants to know why there is somuch of insensitivity in the world. Of course, if hereasons out, he will find that all this is due to somereason—one’s upbringing, fears or wrong attitude.Without knowing these, we go on labelling people andwant to settle the score whenever we find a chance!

An insensitive person is like a person who is drunk.He shouts and misbehaves because he is under theinfluence of liquor. When one is drunk, it takes awayall one’s sense of sobriety and then one is not in one’ssenses. We do not immediately punish a person who isdrunk. He may shout, but we are patient enough toaccommodate him, and wait for his inebriation to comedown. Similarly, when a person is sick, he also doesnot behave normally. He becomes short-tempered andshouts at small, little matters. The people who havehad long illness often become short-tempered becausethey start hating themselves. Seeing others hale andhearty becomes intolerable for them and they becomeirritable. Hence, the more we know the reason why aperson behaves in a particular way, the moreaccommodating we become. If we do not understandit, we react sharply and angrily. Developing this under-standing of the causes underlying others’ behaviour ispart of the practice of forbearance.

Again, not to get disturbed by others is rathereasy but not to disturb others is quite difficult. Wemust have so much of control over us that others donot get disturbed by us under any situation. This self-control is true forbearance.

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We are often very sensitive about others’comments but are not aware of how our commentsaffect others. Maybe we disturb others as much as othersdisturb us! Our behaviour should be such that othersdo not get offended and avoid us. This sensitivity andunderstanding is true forbearance.

5

Arjavam (Straightforwardness)The word arjavam comes from the root íju meaning

straight (or absence of crookedness). When one’sthoughts, words and actions are united it is called isarjavam or the quality of straightforwardness.

When one is psychologically well-adjusted, highervalues come into one’s life of their own. And when aman has higher values in life, he is peaceful. It is likethe case of a well-adjusted camera. When the aperture,lenses and other parts of a camera are well-adjusted,one can take a good picture. Similarly, when the mindis well-adjusted, and is free from distractions, it leadsto introspection and the extrovert nature of the mindis restrained. The mind becomes extrovert because of awrong sense of values (which in turn lay too muchemphasis on external issues in a wrong way). Onlywhen these wrong values are set right, one gets thepeace of mind (atmashanti). This is how arjavam finds aplace in the scheme of life.

Again, the mind adopts different defense mecha-nisms to avoid tension and anxiety. Mental tensionstake various forms of defense. These defenses assumeforms such as repression, suppression and emotionaldependence. All these have to be addressed in orderto become free from these tensions.

Why does a man speak one thing and behave in adifferent way? Why does he deny a problem even

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though the problem is so evident? In one word, whydo run away from life’s problems? The reason is we donot wish to face the reality. We should remember thatit is only by facing the realities of life that we candevelop a resolute state of mind. If we avoid facingreal situations, we will remain weak forever. Hence weneed to look into the causes of the defense-mechanismsthat our mind employs to run away from the realitiesof life. When we face life, we develop true arjavam orstraightforwardness.

To be straightforward means removing the gapbetween what we think, what we say and what we do.This implies that our mind, speech and body should bein consonance with each other. We need to align andintegrate all the three aspects of our personality.

To do this we should try to find out the innerreasons for the lack integrity. Most often we lackstraightforwardness because of many inner pressures.Take, for example, the pressure of overcoming emotionalor social insecurity. If we feel insecure, we feelpressurized to behave in a way that is morally wrong.In such situations, our mind tries to invent dubiousways in order to escape from the reasons that are likelyto cause anxiety and tension.

When the mind becomes tensed thus, it tries tofind a shortcut to solve the problem or else tries todeny the very existence of the problem. Often it choosesto be blind or deaf to the problem. It behaves like a catdrinking milk. While drinking the milk, the cat closesits eyes thinking that others are not able to see it!

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But then accepting the reality does not comenaturally to most people. As they lack strength andproper thinking, they try to find shortcuts and avoidfacing the problem. They think that by not facing aproblem, they have solved it. They forget that notaccepting a problem is no solution to it. They lookforward for some miracle to happen in order to solvethe problem. Facing the problem? Well, they do notfind any wisdom in doing.

Thus the mind develops certain defense-mecha-nisms to circumvent external situations. It either triesto avoid facing the problem or behave in morallyunacceptable ways to overcome it. Let us discuss someof these ways in which commonly people indulge.

Evading the Problem: This is what mind tries todo—as soon as a problem arises, it refuses toacknowledge it. It does not even wish to see it. This islike sweeping the dirt under a carpet. Though externallynothing is visible on the floor, there is plenty of dustunder the carpet and it gives the impression that theroom is clean! Similarly, when a problem arises, theuntrained mind involuntarily wants to throw it out ofconscious mind. It then settles down into the unconsciousmind—like the dust under the carpet. The problemdoes not disappear; only thing is that it is not on theforefront or visible. When a problem is at the surfacelevel, it is felt and experienced. As the mind does notwant to face the problem (because it painful to face it),it just tries to hide or overlook. Such a suppression ofthe real situations pushes our fears and fancies aboutproblems into the subconscious mind. Then our mind

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begins to be controlled by these unconscious impulsesand forces. It wants to postpone all possible solutionsto a future date which, of course, does not come.

It forgets that when even simple problems are notresolved for a long time, they turn into urgencies andcrises. We can overcome problems only by solving them.Rightly does the saying go: ‘a stitch in time saves nine!’A spark left unattended becomes a huge fire. When itis only a spark, it is easy to extinguish it but when it isnot done on time, it is overblown and the resultantloss is enormous. Hence we should overcome thistendency to avoid or bypass or postpone the problems.

Often when do not express something due to somefear, we try to stifle it altogether. For example, sinceexhibiting a bad temper is not a good decorum, we donot express it. But how long can it continue? So oneday the lid gets blown up. If we cannot show anger onother, it begins to show on our own health. It mayresult in peptic ulcer or high blood pressure or eventualheart failure. Hence we should learn to overcome theseinner pressures and face life.

Denying the Problem: Another defense mechanismis denying that there is any problem whatsoever. Takefor instance a person who has a problem. He is worriedand is restless. There is anxiety in his eyes. He is noteven steady while sitting. He pulls at the fingers of hishands, kicks legs, or sighs now and then and yet hedenies the existence of any problem! This is calleddenying the problem. What he does not realise is thathe is fooling himself.

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We indulge in such denials only when we arefeeling insecure and apprehensive. We forget that ifproblems are denied, we cannot solve them. First of allwe have to accept that there is a problem. Since we areweak and timid, we try to deny the existence ofproblems in hundred different ways. Though we areinsecure inside, still we do not admit our insecurity!On the contrary, we go on denying it—so much so thatwe try to pretend that we are strong and wholly secure.

To deny a problem is actually behaving like anostrich. It is said that an ostrich just buries his head inthe sand whenever it sees a predator. Likewise, whenwe are angry with someone, we want to avoid him orher but inwardly dislike him. Unexpressed angercontrols us, though externally we may express that wedo not care for the person we are angry with. Burningwithin but giving the impression that all is calm andgood outside is the root of all hypocrisy. This is howall crookedness of heart takes birth and ruins our morallife.

An example is often given in the study ofpsychology. An alcoholic’s son may keep denying thathis father is an alcoholic. When the father is drunk andhas fallen down, the son wants others to believe thathis father is sick. He may even say that his father is onmedicine. He distorts the reality because he is frightenedto accept it. This is how our mind indulges in variousways and means to avoid the problems of life.

Straightforwardness is just the opposite of all this. Tosay what one thinks and to do what one says is a great

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quality of mind and only a strong mind can do it. When themind is thus integrated, it becomes free from all conflicts andbecomes peaceful.

6

Acharyopasanam(Serving the Teacher)

Serving the teacher means to be respectful andservice-minded towards one’s teacher. This is a spiritualvalue for all students of spirituality.

Acharya means someone who himself understandsand follows (svayam àcarati) the truth—or a value—inhis life and makes others understand and follow thesame (anyan àcarayati) in their lives. He stands as anexample for what the shrutis (the eternal values givenin scriptures) advocate through his behaviour. Heteaches others not only through his words and butthrough his own example. Words coming from a person,who lives and sees the truth, have a direct influence onthe student. To have shraddha and bhakti for such ateacher is necessary for a student. It is at this altar ofservice and humility that the mind learns how to graspthe subtleties of higher life. He needs to keep his pride(ahaëkàra) under check, and for that he should serve histeacher.

A spiritual teacher, however, should be aninspiring person and not a just very knowledgeableperson. Whatever he says, should be reflected in hisconduct. If he says that no problem can affect us, itshould be expressed in his life. He should be an exampleof his own teachings.

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The term acharya also refers to the person whoimparts knowledge (jnana). Service (seva) to such ateacher is a virtue. Seva is an expression of the attitudeof love and respect that one has. How do we expressour attitude? Through our actions. When there isdevotion in our mind, it is bound to get expressed inthe form of service. It is the attitude that becomes anact of service. It is the physical or outer expression ofan attitude. A sense of gratefulness, for instance, is anattitude. One gets that attitude when one recognizesthat one has indeed been helped. One feels indebted tothe other person. Only when one feels or appreciatethat one has received help or timely assistance, onefeels like giving back something in return. This is calledgratitude (upakàra). Gratitude is an effect of the causecalled understanding or recognition that one has beenlent a helping hand and one needs to acknowledge it.

One feels the same way for what one has receivedfrom one’s spiritual teacher or acharya. The spiritualteacher gives the student something unique. The studentwas lost in confusion and was seeking solution to hisproblems. The teacher gave a new direction—or aknowledge that opens up new direction—to thestudent’s mind. The student was searching for solutionto his problem in the outside world. He thought that ifhe could get that something from outside, it wouldsolve his problem. But that solution, he discovered,was temporary. For instance if one gets food, one’shunger is appeased for the time being. But again onebecomes hungry and needs food. Same is true of otherproblems of life. All solutions are relative, temporary,

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subject to improvement. There is no permanent solutionto the deepest problems of life in the external world.

The spiritual teacher, however, turns our mindwithin and helps us find an inner solution to life’sproblems. He gives us the idea that we are indeedalready fulfilled and are divine. We are infiniteknowledge, infinite consciousness and infinite bliss (sat-chit-ananda). All our problems were actually born ofwrong understanding of our true nature. And thatwrong understanding makes us feel that we have aproblem which is actually non-existent! The discoverythat we do not have a problem (or our problem isassumed) takes away all the need to worry. Thisknowledge is so precious and so incomparable that noother gift or gain in the world can take its place.Moreover, such knowledge frees us from the endlesscycle of birth and death. It makes us liberated. Nocoming back to the world (samsàra) again. When onereceives this invincible knowledge from somebody, onebends down one’s head spontaneously to him. One isfilled with respect and gratitude.

The teacher is the person who can solve our deepestproblems of fulfilment and ever-lasting peace. He makesus see our problems in the right perspective—thatproblems do not really exist. He tells us that there is asolution to our problems. It does not mean that webegin to feel that there is a problem and stop worryingover it. He makes us negate our assumed problems.How funny it is that even an assumed problem canmake us miserable! We become as much miserable asmuch real do we think our problem is. For instance, if

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you see a rope in semi-darkness, you may shirk back infear assuming it to be a snake. Snake may be real ornotional but in either case it frightens us. Notionalsnake frightens us as much as the real snake. Likewise,the problems of the world are also notional; the worlditself is notional. But it frightens us and makes usanxious.

This fear, therefore, has to be removed. And thiscan happen only through the instruction (upadeáa)received from a competent teacher. When one sees thathere is a person who can make one see the ultimatereality of life and can help one solve the deepest problemof life and death, one becomes drawn to him and thatis how the inner change takes place.

Serving such a teacher itself is a great virtue whichleads to spiritual growth.

7

Shoucham (Purity)The next value which Sri Krishna speaks of is

cleanliness—internal as well as external.Generally speaking, only when the body is clean

that mind can be clean. Cleanliness has to start fromthe gross level, the body level. Look at the way mostpeople live and conduct themselves. Indiscipline,carelessness and shoddiness are the hallmarks of theirstyle of living. They litter the place with unwantedthings, drop garbage at odd places and even spit hereand there. This speaks of a disorganized mind. Onecan find out the real state of cleanliness of a person byobserving his bathroom! People like to keep theirdrawing room clean since outsiders visit it but to knowtheir actual way of living, one should step into theirbathroom—as it is away from the public view, whocares to keep it clean! Similarly, the top of one’s workingtable may look nice but only when we pull out itsdrawer can we know how organized or disorganizedthat person is. If the drawer is in a state of disorder,overflowing with things, it shows that the user has adisorganized approach to life. He is a lazy person.

A spiritual seeker, however, should be organizedin all his actions and style of living. Being organizedshould become his second nature. He should be cleanand orderly. This is to be done not for pleasing othersbut for one’s own good.

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First comes the external cleanliness. After theexternal cleanliness (bahya shoucham) comes the innercleanliness (antar shoucham). Inner cleanliness meanskeeping the mind clean. We should remember that it isour behaviour which reflects the state of our mind. Theway we speak, react, request or act—everything showsthe state of our mind. At times, we might cleverly hidethe true state of our mind from others, but it surelycannot be hidden from ourselves. Whether one lives ina hut or a palace, it matters little; what matters most isthat we all live in our mind. Our mind is our firstabode. Spiritually speaking, we are caught in the mindfirst and then in the body. It is said that first mind isborn, and it is the mind that shapes the body. Takinghold of the mind is, therefore, very essential in orderto become clean internally.

What is inner cleanliness? Let us look at the generalstate of our mind to understand it. Most of the time,our mind is restless. It is sad, angry and jealous; wehave, as if, a boiler inside us—steaming and burning!We might go to a hill station or river front or a place ofnatural beauty with the idea of having peace of mind.But the external scenery cannot do much unless ournegative feelings like anger, greed and jealousy,simmering within, are got rid of. When jealousy orhatred enters the mind, the person begins to burn inhis mind.

This state of mind needs to be corrected and theprocess of correction is called spiritual practice (sadhana).How do we improve our inner state of being and gettrue peace and cleanliness of mind? Says a sutra fromthe Patanjali Yoga Sutra (1:33):

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_¡Ìr H$éUm_w{XVmonojmUm§ gwIXw… InwÊ`mnwÊ`{df`mUm§

^mdZmV{MÎmàgmXZ_²Ÿ&

Maitrì karuëà mudita upekäàëàm sukha duækhapuëyàpuëyaviäayàëàm bhàvanàtaæa citta prasàda-nam.When one cultivates a feeling of friendliness for the happy,compassion for the miserable, cheerfulness for the virtuousand indifference for the evil, one attains inner peace andcleanliness.

Yoga here tells us how to make the mind peacefuland pure. This method is akin to replacing a burningfurnace by a water cooler. Of course, our mind getsdisturbed by the situations outside us but why do weallow ourselves to get disturbed? We become upsetbecause our mind is not under control. Hence when wedeal with others, most of our reactions are all untrainedand wrong. Let us remember that as long as we live inthe society, we are bound to interact with people. Whatwe should learn is how to deal with them. If we knowhow to adjust our attitude, we can deal with otherswithout getting disturbed. Hence the need to makeproper adjustments.

The above sutra classifies all people into four types:

1. Happy (sukhi)

2. Unhappy (duækhi)

3. Virtuous (puëya)

4. Evil (apuëya)

It also outlines four types of attitude (bhàvana) foreach type:

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1. Friendliness (maitrì)

2. Compassion (karuëà)

3. Cheerfulness (mudità)

4. Indifference (upekäà)

The First type of attitude required to have a cleanmind (citta prasàdanam) is to develop a feeling of maitrì—friendliness towards the happy people. When see ahappy person, we should be happy too; we shouldcheck our mind from becoming jealous or intolerant.Instead of being uncharitable towards others, we shouldaccept them as they are. If we fail to do so, it meansour mind is sick and needs to be treated. If the mind ishappy in somebody else’s happiness that feeling is calledfriendliness (maitrì bhàvanà). To become friendly is toheal the mind of its sickness.

How to cultivate this feeling of friendliness? Givefreedom to others. Allow them to grow and stand ontheir feet and not remain dependent on you. Then,when you will see a person progressing and advancingin life, you will feel happy. If we feel emotionallydependent on others, wanting that others should praiseus or depend on our help, we cannot develop the truefeeling of friendliness. To be friendly is to be happywhen one is not needed. If one is not needed, then oneshould feel happy that one has played one’s rolesuccessfully and other person is now standing on hisfeet. Friendliness is wishing everyone to be independentand happy.

Kalidàsa, the great Sanskrit poet, says in a prayer:

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gd©… VaVw XwJm©{U gdm} ^Ðm{U ní`Vw &

gd©… H$m_mZdmßZmoVw gd©… gd©Ì ZÝXVw &&May all overcome difficulties.May all see what is auspicious.May all get whatever they desire (which will make themhappy, without doing harm to others).May all be happy everywhere.

This is the true spirit of friendliness which aspiritual aspirant should cultivate.

The Second type of attitude is to have compassion(karuëà) for the less-privileged people. Many peopleare deprived of even minimal needs in life. To becompassionate is to have a sincere desire to removeothers’ distress. We should not feel pleased to see thesufferings of even those who are against us or disagreewith us. One should have a feeling of forgiveness andbe able to pardon all. We should never want anyone tosuffer or be miserable. Compassion means having apure heart and wishing good to all.

A compassionate heart is like the gold which hasbeen purified of all dross. Pure gold shines because ithas been heated in fire and all dross has been removed.Likewise a purified mind shines forth because it hasundergone the necessary purification. If we arecompassionate and charitable towards those who aresuffering, then our mind is pure and we are trulyhumane. And then we feel free from all self-centrednessand the anxiety born of it.

The Third type of attitude is the attitude ofcheerfulness (mudità). To find fault with everything and

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everybody is a habit with some people. They think thatit is quite right and justified to pick holes in others andfind out where they err in life. So deeply entrenched isthis tendency in them that they find faults with evenavatars like Rama and Krishna—and what to speak ofordinary mortals! It appears as if the whole world needsto take permission from such persons to function! Theyfeel that others’ faults must be highlighted or else theyhave not done their duty properly! It is a highly self-centred and conceited approach to life.

The problem with such people is that they do notknow how to honour others’ talents and greatness. Tohonour and recognise others’ talents is a kind of worship(pratibha pùja) which should never be neglected. If thereis knowledge and talent in others, we should encourageand support it, and not try to discourage or destroy it.This is true meaning of the worship of the goddessSaraswati.

Similarly, when we see a person with noblequalities, a sattvic person, we should feel happy. Such aperson, through his life and actions, will become a goodexample to others and hence would become atorchbearer of goodness and righteousness. Having afeeling of cheerfulness and generosity (mudita bhàvanà)towards the people who have some talent or greatness(vibhùti) in them makes the mind pure and clean.

The fourth and final attitude is the attitude ofindifference (upekäà) to evil. It is easier to practice maitrì,karuëà, mudità but indeed difficult to practice upekäà.When we deal with the people who are negative

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minded, they get on our nerves, and we lose peace ofmind. We should remember that the people with anegative mindset have been there in all ages and times,including this age. In such people, we see anoverwhelming expression of greed, delusion and anger.They disturb us even though we do not disturb them.Hence the best method is to practice indifference (upekäà)towards them. Should we not correct them? Well, itsounds quite inviting but it is not that easy. Often inthe process of correcting them we absorb their eviltendencies and instead of changing their ways, we mightend up going along the same way! It is thus better tokeep away from them—we should be on our guard butshould not go headlong to correct them. There is ahigher power to do this work.

Hence a spiritual aspirant should try to avoidthem. This does not mean we should hate them but weshould be indifferent to them. It is not easy to changetheir deep-rooted samaskaras born of their past karmas.Instead of talking or thinking about them, it is wise tokeep away from them. By talking and thinking, weunconsciously absorb their evil nature. So we shouldpractice indifference to them.

We need to change our habit of correcting others.To correct or control others has become second naturewith us—so much so that if we fail to correct others,we feel disturbed. We should learn to drop a few thingsin life. This does not mean dereliction of duty. Theidea is that what is not in one’s area of activity, oneshould not be poking nose into that. Let us stick to our

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svadharma and not try to step into others’ svadharma.Correction or punishing others is the svadharma of aleader or a reformer, and not everybody needs to takethe law in his hands. We should understand the issuein the right perspective. It may sound like runningaway from responsibility, but surely it is not so. Ourresponsibilities are defined by the type of role that wehave taken up. A spiritual aspirant’s responsibility isnot to go about correcting the society but become anexample of moral and spiritual virtues. And by becomingan example, he corrects the society. He brings a silentchange in others through his own life.

To purify the mind, thus, means developing thesedifferent kinds of attitudes and be adaptive in ourapproach. It is not the objects or persons or evensituations that disturb us, it is our attitude or responsetowards them that really disturbs us. It is our mindwhich matters most. We are not bothered by what ishappening in other parts of the world. We are botheredabout what is happening to us—or our reaction to whatis happening to us. So, what we need is an adaptiveapproach to situations and persons.

Making the Mind Calm and Clean

Yoga is not an easy chair philosophy; it deals withthe problems of life, teaching and guiding us how tomaintain equanimity of mind (samatvam). In all situations,one has to keep the mind calm. In reality, no situationis good or bad in itself—everything is relative. Itdepends upon how we look at it. Instead of feeling

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victimised, we should look at tough situations asopportunities to make us more mature and sensible. Byundergoing pain and misery, we learn to understandthe nature of our mind and the world. We becomemore thoughtful and responsible. This in turn leads tothe purification of mind (citta prasàdanam)

We should own up our karma and take things intheir stride. We have the inherent capacity to convertevery situation into a positive one. Even if things arebad outside, one can change one’s outlook. If a situationis tough, one should carefully review it. We suggest toour mind to be strong, humble, simple and remainrighteous and good. This is how it becomes a processof understanding the life better.

Normally we think that we have no choice in thematter. But to be happy or miserable is our choice.The key is in one’s own hand.

Whenever we get negative thoughts, we shouldraise opposite and positive thoughts. When anger, lust,greed and other inner enemies of ours raise their head,we should raise thoughts contrary to them. If, forexample, mind is possessed with greed or desire for aparticular object, one should ask: ‘why am I so attachedto this? Is it going to make me happy really?’ We willsoon discover that the real source of happiness lieswithin. External happiness brings a lot of bondage. Weshould analyse our mind and learn to see theconsequences of temporary happiness that we want.Thus the mind will slowly become free from allattachments and become pure.

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Let us conclude with a story.

Once, the king of a certain country wanted tochoose a successor. His idea was that the successorshould be capable to manage the affair without anypartiality. This meant that he should be free from alltemptations.

In order to make the right selection, the king hitupon an idea and announced that the candidatesaspiring to be his successor will have to a reach nearthe palace at an appointed time.

Meanwhile, he ordered the setting up of amakeshift market, with numerous shops and glamorousscenes with many objects all around. Many temptingthings were kept on display and everything was free—no one had to pay for anything that he wished to have.All the candidates were required to pass through thatwonderful place in order to reach the palace. Theywere asked to reach the palace before a certain point oftime. Many people entered the market place but mostof them got lost on the way—forgetting themselves inenjoying various objects, dance and music. Only oneperson withstood all the temptations and reached thepalace on time. The king was glad that he had foundthe right man.

Such is the case with the ideal of seeking a pureand clean mind, too. If one has an appointment withthe king of inner peace and purity, one should notwaste the time in the market place of temptations onthe way! We have a purpose in life. We want to becomefree and spiritually enlightened. Hence we should be

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willing to let go all the temptations on the way or elsewe will not reach the goal.

Keeping the mind pure and clean is the greatestvirtue in life.

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Sthairyam (Steadiness)Sthairyam means the sense of consistency and

perseverance in whatever one does. It is a well-knownfact that no real work can be done by fits and starts.One should be consistent and steady. In order to dothings consistently, a person should be convinced aboutits importance and the need to do it. And in order tobe convinced, one should have the right company. Inthe context of living a spiritual life steadily andconsistently, one should live with the people who areconvinced that God- realization is the purpose of life.One should talk to them and ask them how to go aboutwith life. This should be done with great earnestness.

To be steady is a sign of a stable state of mind. Inthe Gita one finds Arjuna asking Sri Krishna repeatedlyabout what is the best of actions in life. Krishna tellshim that moksha alone is the best, and sannyasa is theway. But sannyasa is the best only if one is competentand qualified to take it. If one is not qualified, doingkarma in the right way is the method. Having knownthat moksha is the ultimate goal of life and the path ofsannyasa is the best, Arjuna was fair enough to realisethat he was yet not qualified for it. Sri Krishna knewthis too. Hence, Krishna tells him to fight the battle oflife. In other words, instead of taking a formal sannyasa,Arjuna should do work; or be a Karma Yogi.

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Arjuna was born in a kshatriya caste and thus hada body-mind constitution full of rajas (the quality ofactivity); he was best suited to do Karma even thoughhe wanted spiritual knowledge. Self-Knowledge anddoing Karma, as some believe wrongly, are not opposedto each other, but are two links in the same chain.Karma, rightly done, leads to purity of mind which isthe primary condition for gaining Self-Knowledge.Arjuna understood this scheme of life clearly. Thescheme is this: do your duty (svadharma), which willpurify the mind (chitta shudhi) and then finally givingup external action, one will deeply reflect and meditateover the Vedantic Truths. These are the well-knownthree steps about sadhana: first listen to the truth(shravana), then deeply reflect over them (manana) andfinally, having cleared the mind of all doubts andimpurities meditate on the truth (nididhyasana). Throughthis process one gets established in the knowledge aboutthe truth and finally becomes fit to attain jnana or Self-Knowledge.

After understanding the scheme clearly, the personhas to find out where he stands in that scheme. Insome cities or large campuses, they show the road mapof entire place and then mark out ‘You are Here’.Having known where we stand, we then chalk out thepath to our place of destination. Similarly we shouldknow where do we stand in this the cycle of worldlyexistence (samsara chakra). This means evaluatingourselves, the state of our mind, the state of ourmaturity, our emotional strengths, our understandingof the ways of the world and our mind and so on. The

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scriptures tell that once we realize where we are, nextwe should take the path best suited to us at that stageof life. We must keep to this inner order of steps. Forthis we should know what we need now and bedetermined (purusharatha nischaya) about it.

As life is short and has many pitfalls andtemptations, we have to quickly decide what we want.Do we want to spend our life only struggling with the‘outside’? Correcting others or correcting ourselves? Ifwe think that we need to change before changing others,then we should turn within. This approach is differentfrom others who are busy correcting others. It is likebecoming an athlete. If one wants to be an athlete, heshould spend his time building up his stamina, doworkouts, do exercises and jogging, toughen his bodyand be willing to face challenges in the race. He shouldnot be blaming others and correcting the ground forhis running. Similarly, the mind of a spiritual aspirantshould be taught how to adjust itself to the life’ssituations by repeated preparations. When the goal(lakshya) becomes clear then the way (marga) too becomesclear. If one is not clear about the goal, the mind keepsshifting from place to place and learns nothing. If yougo on digging a well at several places, you will not getwater anywhere. On the other hand, if you keep diggingin one place, you will get the water. One should thusbe steady in one’s efforts.

To be steady or committed to one way of life, oneneeds clarity of understanding and clarity cannot comewithout deep thinking and analysis. Says a Sanskritverse:

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H$mð>mX{¾Om© Vo _Ï`_mZmV², y{_ñVmo § IÝ`_mZmV XXm{VŸ&

gmoËgmhmZm§ ZmpñV AgmÜ § {H${#mV²,_mJm©aãYm… gd} `ËZm… \$bpÝVŸ&&

When two pieces of dry twigs are rubbed, fire is ignited(kaäêhàt agnirjàyate mathyamànàt).If earth is dug, it gives out water (bhùmiæ toy am khanyamànàtdadàti).If there is enthusiasm nothing is impossible (sotsàhànàm nàstiasàdhyam kiñcit).[Hence] If you start towards the right direction and keepworking, you will reach the goal (margàrabdhàh sarve yatnàæaphalanti).

The point is that we should not waste our effortsin constantly changing our loyalties. Human life is soprecious and the time allotted to us is so limited. Weshould not waste our efforts and time in trying ourhands at different places and doing things sporadicallyand inconsistently. It could be a great subject to studyhow human beings start and leave things half done!

Again, merely taking an initiative is not sufficient.We should have commitment to it and that comes whenour emotional self is one with our intellectual self. Theintellectual-self only makes an intellectual decision thatit is good to do something but to put it into practicebecomes possible only when our emotional-self comesinto picture. Intellectual-self may be compared to afather and emotional-self to a mother. Hence we haveboth father and mother in us. Since our emotional-selfimplements the decisions made by the intellectual-self,it will be good if the emotional-self takes the decisionsas well.

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How to make the emotional-self take decision? Todo this one should think deeply and analyze. This willlead to the conviction that ‘This alone I have to do, Icannot waste my time anymore’. This is how steadinesscomes in life. And once one becomes steady then onedoes not need external support and motivation.

A clear mind is the source of steadiness. If I knowvery clearly what I want in my life, commitment isbound to come. How committed are people to money,power or popularity! They keep thinking about themand cannot even sleep. Being convinced that they needthese things, they are forced by their own mind towork day and night. Similarly a person, who isconvinced that he wants moksha or spiritualtransformation, will spontaneously work harder. Onlywhen we apply our mind consistently on our spiritualgoal can we really work to reach it. No matter in whatcondition we are placed, we should not give up ourstruggle. Says a verse:

aËZ¡_©hmY£Z© VwVyfwX}dm…Z o{Oao ^r_ {dfoU ^r{V_² Ÿ&

gwYm§ {dZm Z à` y{d©am__² Z {Zí[MVmW©mV² {da_pÝV Yram…Ÿ&&

When the great ocean was churned (samudra manthanam)by gods, it gave rise to many things. Along with numerousattractive objects, dreadful poison also came out. Poisoncould not frighten gods nor could precious gems temptthem from their efforts. They continued to churn the oceantill the nectar (amrita) came out.

This is the ideal of steady effort. Once we arecommitted to our goal, we should go on working inspite of difficulties—until we reach our desired objective.

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If we stop before gaining that, we will have to start allover again. We should know that no great result canbe achieved without persistence and consistency.

In summary, let us remember that only when weknow where we stand can we know what our duty is.In acquiring wealth (artha) and the means of enjoyment(kama), our past karma (prarabdha) play a decisive role.Doing one’s duty and striving for moksha alwaysinvolve conscious self-effort (purushartha). But we tryto see things otherwise. For getting money and forfulfilling our desires, we work so hard but when itcomes to fulfilling duties or doing noble actions andseeking moksha, we say past karmas or the will of Godwill take care!

Self-effort is required for all self improve-ment and that includes becoming more steady andconsistent in our thoughts, words and actions.

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Atmavinigraha(Control of oneself)

The word atman has several meanings. Generallyit means the innermost Spirit or the Indestructible Selfpresent in every living being. It could, however, alsobe used to mean physical body, or mind, or senses andeven the pure sense of being (pratyagatman).

In the present context, the atman stands forupadhis—limiting adjuncts or traits that create a senseof separateness from our Divinity. To ‘control oneself’thus means bringing one’s various upadhis undercontrol. The divine core of our being, the atman residingwithin us, is ever-free but the upadhis make it looklimited and impure. In order to regain one’s true stateof being, one has to get rid of or at least keep undercheck these upadhis. To control, however, does notmean troubling the body, but making it cooperative inthe process of regaining our divine identity.

Acharya Shankara in his commentary on the termupadhi defines it as ‘something contrary to our state ofliberation’ (moksha pratikula). One gets Self-Knowledge(aham brahmàsmi jnànam) only when one’s senses andthe mind are disciplined and obedient. By their verynature, the senses and the mind are not obedient.Moreover, they try to argue against all ideas of our

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being eternal, pure atman. The senses try to convinceus that we are not atman; our body tries to convince usthat we are not atman; our mind too tries to convinceus that we are not atman. The mind argues that if weare the brahman, then lift this mountain! Leave alone amountain, lift this stone! When we cannot lift even astone, how could we be the all-powerful atman? Themind will tell us all this.

Such arguments have to be properly an-swered. The scriptures do not say this human body isall-powerful. The scriptures say that atman is all-powerful. And we want to test the all-powerfulnessthrough the body! We could strengthen the body butcannot make it all-powerful. That is against the laws ofnature. But if we continue to advance our argumentsabout the all-powerfulness of the body, we will getdisappointed. And then we will say that scriptures arewrong!

Our upadhis want us to buy the idea that we arelimited and weak. If we want to fight against this idea,we should discipline our upadhis through propertraining. We will have to do it in such a way that oursenses, body and mind should become friendly andcooperative towards realizing our real nature.

We can grasp the truth about our real nature onlyif we do not reject what the Upanishads tell us aboutit. Why do we reject the Upanishadic truths? The simplereason is that we are attached to our body and allother upadhis. We take our upadhis as real and thetruth of Upanishadic teachings as unreal!

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It is like our taking side with strangers andrejecting the real owner of a house. Atman is the realowner, upadhis are strangers or visitors. We shouldtherefore correct ourselves and make our upadhis obeyour higher nature, and discover our true nature.

The Yoga scriptures aim at making these upadhiscooperative and obedient. Practice of asanas (yogicpostures) helps us to make the body cooperative. Thepractice of pranayama (regulated breathing) helps us tomake the mind cooperative. So do the other steps ofyoga like pratyahara (‘gathering in of thoughts’), dharna(‘fixing on an object’) and dhyana (‘absorption’) help usto make the mind cooperative. All these yoga-steps tryto harmonize the various inner and outer instrumentsthrough which the atman manifests itself. When ourbody-mind is calmed down, then the power todiscriminate between the self and the non-self becomespossible. Then only do we understand that atman isever-detached and eternal.

This is what atmavinigraha finally aims at: payingattention to our body and mind and making them agreeto obey our higher impulses. This cooperation cannotcome automatically; one has to work for it. We have topay attention to what they are doing. If we do not payattention, they will go out of control. If one is restlessand cannot sit quietly for five minutes during theyouth—when we have the strength to do so—then howcan we do so in old age? Capacities of our senses andthe mind decline as we age. Sri Ramanujacharya saysthat we should draw a boundary line around the mind.Then only it can follow spiritual disciplines. The mind

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should not step out of this boundary line. Hence, weshould introspect; we should check our mind’smovements; check its likes and dislikes, and hold itsteady on one point and learn to meditate.

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Indriyartheshu-vairagyam(Detachment towards the

objects of senses)Detachment or vairagya means a spirit of being

non-attached (viràgasya bhàvaæ vairàgyam).

Ràga means attachment. A person who is free fromall mental attachments is called ‘detached’ (viràgì). Tonot to have any attachment or attraction towards objectsof senses is called detachment (vairàgyam).

How can one not get attracted to objects whenthey are so seducing, stimulating, exciting and thrilling?Can it be done? Neither these objects nor our sensesnor our mind takes permission from us before doingtheir job! When we are in such a messy situation, howcould there be any detachment?

Well, there is a way out.

One can develop detachment by a special type ofthinking called dosha darshanam or ‘seeing defects in theobjects of senses’. To see the defects in the objects ofsenses is to look at the price tag attached to the thrilland pleasure which the objects offer. And what a priceit is!

When we indulge in senses pleasures, temporarilyall our worries and disappointments seem to disappear

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from the scene. Under the spell of excitement, we seemto forget our problems, even though they have notbeen solved. This is what exactly the drugs also do.The nervous system is stimulated and is forcibly madenumb through the chemical present in the drug, leavingaside all thoughts for the time being. Similarly webecome slave to the sense of thrill, leaving aside reallyimportant issues of life. Indulging in sense-pleasure isalso same as taking drugs.

Whenever we enjoy an object of enjoyment, itcreates two types of reactions: favourable orunfavourable. When we are enjoying an object of senses,it gives us some pleasure, makes us forget our problemsand gives a good feeling about it, then we think it asfavourable; we develop an attachment towards (raga)it. When an object gives us an unpleasant feeling, wethink it as unfavourable, and develop a sense of dislike(dvesha) for it.

These raga and devesha emotions are rousedwhenever we come in touch with those objects again.Our old memories (samaskaras) are thus aroused andrepeated experiences in turn create these memories andtendencies of likes and dislikes. A mere thought ofobjects can stimulate the mind even though the objectsthemselves may not be present. This is the psychologybehind the strong likes and dislikes which people have.All sufferings are caused by raga and dvesha.

In order to overcome this, the only way is todevelop distaste towards all sense-pleasures. We shouldpractice indifference towards the sense-objects by

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looking at the misery they create later. We shouldassociate some dosha or defect with them. To see adefect is seeing the limitation inherent in the object.We often think that every sense-object is all-powerfuland attractive! We should remind ourselves that it isnot so. It is like coaxing a child. He does not see theconnection between an object and its painful result. Hedoes not realize that eating wrong stuff will make himfall sick later. He just runs after it.

Same is the case with the untrained mind—like achild it goes on asking for the objects of senses. Thischildishness is present in everyone. It does not want tolisten to any reasoning. What we have to do is to makeit see the connection. To see the connection between anobject or a tendency and the resultant misery, is called‘seeing the defects’.

Vivekachudamani, the celebrated text onintrospective thinking, says that five types of creaturesget killed because of their attachment to a particularobject of enjoyment:

1. Deer are attached to sound. Hence, the hunterplays sweet notes of music on a flute; the deer comeattracted to the source of music, and get trapped. Oncea monk saw that a hunter was chasing a deer whichran faster than the hunter. Then keeping his bow andarrow down, the hunter took out a flute and began toplay it. Mesmerized by the sound of flute, the deerturned back and came running to the hunter. Then thehunter kept the flute down and killed the deer. Soundkilled the deer!

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2. A moth goes after a flame, attracted by its rupa(colour and form). It does not see the burning natureof fire. It comes near the fire, touches it, and once itswings are burnt, it falls down. Moths rush to fire,without knowing that they are going to die, becausethey are fascinated by rupa.

3. The elephant has a great weakness for the senseof touch. A bull-elephant gets excited when it sees acow-elephant. It rushes towards her, not seeing thetrap of covered trench between him and her. He stepson it, falls into the trench and becomes imprisoned forlife. Even though a mighty animal, an elephant loses itsfreedom forever, because of its weakness for touch.

4. Similarly, the fish goes after the bait and getshooked. The fish looks at the bait as a piece of food. Itgoes to bite it and ends up losing its life.

5. So is the case with the bee. A bee, while enjoyingthe fragrance of lotus, gets inside it and remains insideit even after sunset and gets trapped in it when thepetals close. And then it gets crushed to death by wildanimals which may happen to trample upon the flowersat night.

Each of these creatures meets its end due to itsweakness to a particular sense; and then what to talkof the fate of human beings who have weakness for allthe five senses! If this fact is seen and seriouslymeditated upon, we develop detachment towards senseobjects. However attractive an object may be, if thepotential danger accompanying it is understood, it losesits attraction. Just a drop of poison makes milk

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inconsumable. Fear takes away the attraction. But thatis not an ultimate solution. It is only a temporarysolution.

The scriptures tell us it is not sufficient that weshould pursue our goal of self-improvement (ishtasadhana); it should make us feel happy. This is what themind wants: a guarantee against misery. But we getdeluded again and again! We should learn to see thetemporariness of the happiness derived from the senseobjects. If one can recognize how one loses one’sfreedom by indulging in sense-pleasure and the never-satisfying nature of these pleasures, then one developsdetachment. Detachment comes from deep thinking(vichara) and this mental analysis should be supportedby meritorious actions (punya karmas). One gets truedetachment only if one has done meritorious actions.

This can be seen in the life of the great poet saintTulasidas. Just one sentence from his wife directed himtowards love of Lord Rama, and detachment towardsthe world. He must have heard similar statements manya time earlier but they did not produce any effect onhim. But when the right time came (his meritoriousactions started working), his wife’s simple wordsbrought a U-turn in his life and he became a saint. Thetime had to ripen for the words to become effective.

Many people get such detachment in life by hearingjust one single sentence or a single incident like that. Ithappens because of their meritorious actions done inthe past. Deep thinking alone will not bring the desiredresult of becoming detached.

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We should analyse what happens when a particularsense brought in touch with its object is withdrawn.The mind becomes disturbed. To remove thisdisturbance, we search for the object. Once we get theobject, we become happy. This is solving a self-createdproblem! So we should examine whether it is the objectthat gives happiness or is it the settling down of mentaldisturbance created by the object that makes us feelhappy. Simple truth is that we become happy becauseour mind becomes quiet. The mind was quiet before itgot used to such a like for the object. It gets disturbedin between and after it gets the object, it becomes calm,creating an impression that the object gives happiness!

A Sanskrit proverb says that the shade of a treegives a pleasant feeling to a person who comes under itafter walking in the hot sun. The one who is alreadysitting under that shade may not enjoy it so much! Is itthe shade that gives happiness or the happiness is dueto the fact that one had been walking in the hot sun?Similarly, when the mind wants something and is thusagitated, it becomes happy when the cause of itsagitation is removed. But why allow an object to createagitation at all? If we do not allow the mind to becomeagitated, then we will be naturally free and calm. Webecome agitated because we think that our happiness isdependent on that object. Think of the slavery of adeer or an elephant to their objects! Freedom fromwant is the source of natural state of happiness.

As most of us already have so many desires, whatis the way then?

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First thing to do is to not to create a fresh baddesire and habit. The old habits can be got rid of bypractising deep thinking and by developing a sense ofdistaste for them. For the first few days, one will haveto struggle to overcome that old habit. It may be un-comfortable, but after sometime, the body and the mindwill start getting adjusted to that pleasure and startbehaving properly.

Let us remind ourselves the fact that life is veryshort. We cannot continue to squander away our time.No one knows when the bubble of life is going toburst. If we understand that bhoga [enjoyments] createsa harmful samskara in the mind, then we will not indulgein them. Objects of senses may look tempting but theyare like villains in the form of smart looking people.We must be on our guard and develop a sense ofdetachment based on deep thinking.

Vairàgya should be for both—the seen (díäêa) andunseen (adíäêa) enjoyments. Objects of senses createbondage. They take away all vitality of body and mind,and in turn make us slaves to those enjoyments. Laterthese samskàras knock at our door again and again andmake us helpless and miserable. Viveka-cùåàmaëi says that the sting of an object (viäaya) is moredangerous than that of a poisonous snake.

To sum up: let us look at the price tag attached toan object before we think of enjoying it. We should seehow sense-enjoyments are a trap and take away all ourindependence. If freedom is taken away what elseremains in life? A person who values independencewill develop vairàgya soon.

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Anahamkara (Absence of ego)Aham means ‘I’ or ego. Ego is at the root of our

earthly existence (samsàra). It is also the cause of senseof superiority or separateness from others. To keepone’s ego in check is an important spiritual value. Whena person is egoistic (i.e., has ahamkara), he develops anair about himself. He then finds it humiliating to respectothers because he equates respecting others withdisrespecting himself! Being distorted in his thinkingthus, he becomes insensitive to others’ feelings and hasno consideration and sympathy for others. Even behindhis cloak of apparent sympathy is hidden his sense ofarrogance and superiority.

Some people are so obsessed with themselves thatwhen they speak, they use the ‘I’ ten times in everysentence. They cannot talk without referring tothemselves. But if we examine this ‘I’, we will discoverthat it is a false entity. Work that we do is done by anumber of factors but it is our ‘I’ which takes away allthe credit. There are many factors, seen and unseen,which come together to make any work possible. Butwithout recognizing their contribution, we jump up andsay, ‘I have done it’, ‘I am the author of this situation!’A matured and honest person, however, will onlyattribute all his success to a combination of many factorsand be modest about the role that he has played in it.He will not make any tall claims for himself.

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Why do we become arrogant? Because we do notexercise our discriminative faculty. We think too muchof ourselves and fail to see how other factors haveplayed a pivotal role in all our actions. All our sense ofsuperiority comes because we lack a broader perspectiveof life. For example, when we dig a well, we only digthe earth; water is already present in the earth, and wetake credit for the drinking water that comes out of it!

Likewise we sow a seed, it sprouts and becomes atree and bears fruits; and we claim, ‘I have producedthe fruits’. At the very face of it, it is a false assertion.We did the sowing of a seed but its sprouting, growthand the coming of fruits come from a power inherentin it. We do not create flowers or fruits; Nature doesit. On a closer examination of the whole issue, we willfind that our contribution is indeed very little. Neitherwater nor manure was created by us; we only broughtit together. We are mere agents of action. When wethus analyze our claims, all our egoism begins to meltaway. Egoism is like a harmful virus—something whichshould be removed from our mind.

We are mere instruments in the hands of a HigherPower—we are like a pen which has no right to say, ‘Iwrote this letter’; whatever is written, is done by thewriter and not the pen. Good or bad—it is all writtenby the writer. Similarly body, mind, and our senses aremere instruments. Minus them the person is nothing.And these instruments are in the hands of the Divine.

As stated above, for an event to occur, innumerablefactors are involved. When we put all these factors

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together, it is called Ishwara. With His thousands ofhands and feet, Ishwara performs all the actions of theworld and we take the credit for it. How foolish andthoughtless of us! In absence of introspection, egobecomes even more crystallized.

Egocentric people look upon everything as aprestige-issue. Whenever anything becomes an issue ofprestige, it creates a situation of point-of-no-return. Aprestige-conscious person thinks: ‘My way or no way’.He does not care whether it may cause inconvenienceto others or whether it is necessary to do that work; hejust wants to fulfil his sense of false honour and prestige.This creates discontentment and being discontent andunhappy, one then tries to control others to fulfil hisselfish agenda. A happy and contented person enjoysothers’ happiness and does not try to control them. Heenjoys giving freedom to others and does not try topossess them.

In order to satisfy their ego, many people areready to even do harm to others. But with deepintrospection, we begin to see things more clearly.Success or failure in any context depends on so manyfactors. By chance, we too participate in that process orhappening. We can never be sure of the final result ofour actions because the result is not in our control; wecan only do our actions. We can only play our role andnot appropriate all the results.

An arrogant person, on the other hand, feels badif the credit of doing something is not given to him.And sometimes without doing something, he wants to

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have the credit! The remedy lies in seeing or recognisingthe Universal Will, the Ishwareccha, behind all our actions.If we can recognize the Universal Will, our egoism willvanish. Egoism is an unending problem of the jiva [theembodied soul]. From time immemorial, we haveallowed our ego to flourish and dictate terms; it willnot, therefore, change its ways overnight. We will haveto be vigilant and detect its workings and slowly sizeit up. Mere intellectual understanding is not sufficient;one should actually go beyond all sense of duality.When we begin to discover that we are mereinstruments, we then see the hollowness of all ego-driven actions and claims. This is the practice ofanahamkara or egolessness.

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Janma-mrityu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-doshanu-darshanam

(Seeing the inherent defects inbirth, death, old age and disease)

Darshanam means ‘seeing’. Anudarshanam means‘seeing again and again’. In the present context, hence,it means that we should see the defects inherent in theimpermanent nature of life. Repeated seeing is necessarybecause we tend to forget what we have seen. Weshould recognize the duækha (pain or defect) in janma(birth), mítyu (death), jarà (old age) and vyàdhi (disease)—again and again.

There are six vikàras (modifications) of the upàdhicalled ‘life’: jàyate (‘is born’), asti (‘exists’), vardhate(‘grows’), vipariëamate (‘undergoes change’), apakáìyate(‘degenerates’) and vinaáyati (‘perishes’). These are thesix forms of changes which body is subjected to. Inevery one of these stages, there is duækha.

As long as one is identified with the upàdhi, onehas to suffer duækha. Whether healthy or unhealthy, allliving beings undergo these changes and the resultantduækha. It is said that misery starts the moment we areborn. But nor does the heaven idea solve the problemof duækha. After enjoying in the heaven, one has to

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vacate one’s place there because sooner or later theeviction notice in the form of the end of punya-karmaphala(merit born of good actions) will be served and wewill be reborn on earth! And then again we have to getinto a womb (garbhavàsa)—filled with filth and muck.What can be a greater misery than this!

The Garbhopanishad says that when one is in thegarbha (womb), one keeps praying to the Lord to takeone away from that situation. One prays for mokshaand promises to do sadhana when released. In thewomb, one is bundled up, cramped and trapped andhence prays for release. But once one emerges out ofthe womb, one forgets all misery of life in the womband gets caught into the same world of appearancesagain!

Duækha, thus, begins right when one is born andthat is why babies start crying when born. This cryingcontinues the whole of our life, but as we grow, welearn how to carefully hide the crying—it then continuesinside. Crying at birth is like the inauguration of thelong, unending chain of problems!

In old age, shoka (sorrow) and moha (delu-sion) further fill the mind. Old people often keepthinking, ‘I should have done like this and I shouldhave not done that’. They brood over the past and itbecomes a kind of their pastime. The bus that onemissed in life is remembered repeatedly. Again, in theold age, our senses become weak; the immune poweris undermined and one becomes prone to diseases. Atthe time of death, it is atiduækha, great duækha. Whenpràëa (life-force) readies to depart, it is extreme duækha.

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The point is that one should understand andremember the limitations of life, body and all ourphysical faculties. This reality needs to be remembered—not forgotten. We have to ‘repeatedly see’ them.

When young prince Siddhartha went out in achariot into the city for the first time, he was shockedto see a diseased, old person with his stomach swollen.He asked, ‘What is jarà, old age?’ Ashwaghosh’s BuddhaCharit describes it thus:

énñ` hÝÌr ì`gZ_² ~bñ` emoH$ñ``mo{Z… {ZYZ§ aVrZm_²Ÿ&

Zme… ñ_¥VrZm§ [anw[apÝÐ`mUm_²Ÿ Efm Oam Zm_ `W¡f ^½Z…Ÿ&&

That which kills beauty, decreases strength, is a source ofsorrow, robs one of all sense-pleasures, destroys memoryand is the enemy of senses—such a shattered state [of body]is called old age.

In old age, one becomes unimportant in his ownhome! When one is young, one has the power andrules the house and the same person, now in the oldage, is nobody. It is a shock for the mind. One becomesunhappy because earlier one used to derive happinessthrough sensory-enjoyment (indriya bhoga) such aseating, seeing, hearing, and so on. But in old age thatcapacity to enjoy is impaired. If one overeats, one getsstomach problem and that stays on for days together!Eyesight is weakened and one has to strain to hear,and has little energy in doing things. One forgets andkeeps asking the same question again and again. If welive that long everyone has to go through that phase. It

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is said that this body is a temple of diseases (eara§ ì`m{Y

_pÝXa_² ). It is like a living-place for all diseases.

Human beings suffer duækha more because inaddition to physical pain, there is also emotional pain.The emotional pain is not so much felt in birds andanimals because they do not have complexes and donot make comparisons. Their competition is restrictedto filling the stomach and fulfilling their other basicneeds. They do not have the problem of possessingand accumulating. But human beings have all complexessuch as ‘I am small, inferior and ignorant’, and thatmakes them suffer more.

One should therefore be prepared to handle oldage which takes away the beauty, energy, power ofbody and mind and as a result of which one feelsdejected. One should develop a matured and balancedoutlook towards life. When one is not wanted by others,one should have the balance of mind to accept it. Insteadof feeling morose that ‘nobody cares for me’, oneshould feel good that people are ‘so strong andindependent now and do not need me any more’.Generally people care for the one who wields powerand when it is lost they do not bother about him. Thisis the way of life. If one is mentally prepared then oldage is not a problem. On the contrary, old age, ifproperly handled, can become a congenial factor to docontemplation and prayers (atmà anu-sandhanam).

No one can experience uninterrupted happiness inthis world; change and sorrow are inherent in life. Onehas to rather face it with a right mindset. A man of

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discrimination (viveki) sees that everything has bothpleasure and pain inherent in it. And what appearspleasure to the ordinary mind, the same has pain, too,to the man of discrimination. It is because he sees thefuture and does not get restricted to the present only.With his power of discrimination, he can place thingsin the right perspective and learn to be happy.

This is how the practice of ‘seeing the defects repeatedly’leads to spiritual and moral perfection.

Asakti (Detachment)The word sakti comes from the root saj—‘to be

associated or to be attached.’ Asakti is the absence ofsakti or saîga—attachment.

The term attachment implies, in the spiritual sense,a kind of mental stickiness. It is close to the term sneha(which also means love) which means something that‘glues things together’. Our mind has the problem ofgetting glued to objects and people. There are manythings and beings in the world but only some are specialto us and others are not. This is attachment.

Attachment is the unseen bondage (bandhana) thatbinds the mind with the external world. It is a ‘cordmade of attachment’ (snehamayi-tantu) which connectsthe external objects with internal mind. This attachmentdistracts the mind.

Associating with others or with objects is not aproblem in itself. While one associates with them, onehas to play a role, and in the process of playing therole, one gets attached. An attached person is nevercontent with this doing something; he wants to havemore and wants to retain what he has. One can playone’s role in a detached manner, with a sense of moralduty, but often fail to do so.

One develops a taste in pleasing others out of amorbid sense of attachment. But then pleasing others

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depends on many things: the other person may havemany high expectations in terms of getting something.And in spite of doing everything, one may not be ableto please others. This disturbs the mind and thisdisturbance comes from a sense of attachment. Anattached person is always disturbed.

The Mahabhàrata says that attachments are like nails.As many attachments one has so many nails are driveninto one’s heart. The more attached we are, the moretroubled we are. Even if we have pleased a hundredpersons, if only one of them is unhappy, our mindbecomes disturbed. One need not be cross witheveryone; just one person is enough to disturb the mind!When our relationships are attachment-based, and mostoften they are, they becomes a problem.

How to recognise an attachment? The simple wayto recognise an attachment is when one starts missingthe object and feel sad because of it. In attachment, thekey to one’s happiness is handed over to the otherperson. The other person or the object gets a remotecontrol of our happiness! And the fun is, we oftenhand over this ‘remote’ voluntarily—not to only oneperson or one object but to many persons and objects.Any one of these can press a button and we have todance according to their fancies. It is like one TV setbeing operated by many ‘remotes’, each one wantingto view one’s own channel. Most of us are like that.Attachment to others gives an opportunity to others tocontrol our mind. If we are not attached, we can controlour own system. Claiming the ‘remote’ back and takingcharge of it is called ‘detachment’.

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Attachment is an obstacle in spiritual mattersbecause our mind keeps thinking of pleasing others. Ifsomeone to whom we are attached is unhappy, ourmind then keeps thinking how to make him happy.Making others happy becomes the priority rather thandoing introspection and self-reflection. We lose ourliberty and try to justify it. All our times is then spentin trying to make others happy rather than goingdeeper into our mind and discovering the real sourceof happiness—the Self within.

This should be changed. Through proper thinking,we begin to see the truth of our attachment and thenthe idea of changing our ways comes to us. We have todevelop a sense of detachment to objects of senses andpersons.

We should not forget that it is our mind thataccompanies us beyond this life. The body dies butuntil we attain moksha, the mind continues to live,joining us birth after birth. We see only the ‘hardware’(the body) but fail to take care of the software (thesubtle body—sùkäma áarìra—or the mind). We shouldlearn to go deeper and seek to set right the software,the mind stuff. Our real personality is not our physicalbody but the mind behind it.

When one begins to address the sùkäma áarìra, onebegins to address the fundamental questions of lifesuch as life after death, the idea of bondage andliberation, and so on. But if we are bothered only aboutthe physical body and its comforts, the deeper issuesof life, and the values that should guide life, do noteven come to us.

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The Gita says that we have two types of innerriches—the divine wealth (daivi sampat) consisting of allhigher values, and the demonic wealth (asuri sampat)consisting of all animal instincts and lower drives. Weshould look into our mind to know how much of sattvaand rajas and tamas we have, and how much ofrighteousness and unrighteousness we have. We mustdevelop the habit of studying the subtler aspects of ourlife. Only then we can understand and improve ourlife. Then only the importance of cultivating the mind(sùkäma áarìra) becomes an issue with us.

However much we may take care of our physicalbody, it all ends in just a handful of ashes—and allashes are same! Ashes of a tree, an animal or a humanbeing are one and the same to look at. Thus, under-standing and attending to the subtle body is needed,and that is developed by asakti.

We keep thinking and worrying about the house,husband, wife, children and so on. We think all dependson us. We forget even if we are not there, the worldwill go on. Moreover we have to die one day, leavingaside all our achievements and possessions. Why thenthis morbid attachment? We must recognize this factand try to develop a sense of detachment. We shouldconsciously try to cultivate an attitude of not beingaffected by others and the objects of senses. This kindof attending to mind brings about a qualitative changein our life and leads to the development of sattva.

Attachment drowns the person in samsara andmakes him miserable. Such is the power of delusion

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that although we have been miserable in this andprevious lives, we do not learn our lessons. We ratherthink that our attachment is a blessing!

Detachment is not running away from the worldor the objects. By just maintaining physical distance,we cannot overcome our attachments. We may run awayphysically but mentally we may be still thinking of thesame objects. We are tied to the world through ourmind, not by people or objects. We must learn to trainthe mind and then only we can practice true detachment.Readiness to walk out from any situation comes fromdetachment. We should always keep our inner accountssquared up and be ready to assert our spiritual freedom.

There is another side to detachment. We shouldlearn how not to bind others. We should discover thewonderful joy of giving freedom to others. Our lovefor others should blossom in making others emotionallyfree, and not our slaves. This means keeping the mindfree from all expectations.

We have to meditate on these values. Only whenwe have absorbed them mentally, we can see themoperating in our lives. This requires effort, sincere andconstant effort. To cultivate higher values is a battleagainst our lower desires (vàsanàs) and lower values.Our vàsanàs are like the downward flow of a river, andcultivating spiritual values is like giving a u-turn to it.One needs tremendous introspection, inner skill andpatience to do this.

Anabhishvangah putra-dara-grihadishu

(‘Giving up extreme attachmentto son, wife, house and so on’)

Anabhishvangah means ‘too much attachment’.Attachment means deep, inner hankering to possess anobject and feel miserable in its absence. An attachedperson wants his object under his control always.Abhishvangah means getting completely identified withthe object of attachment. Abhishvangah is chronicattachment. So intense is this attachment that if theperson with whom we are attached falls sick or isunhappy, we too feel sick and unhappy. It is like saying,‘If my son is destroyed, I am destroyed. If my son isnourished, I am nourished.’

In other words, one is so attached that if a personwhom one likes is honoured, one feels honoured, too.If he is criticised, one feels criticised, too. This kind ofdogged attachment is found with regard to one’s son,wife, house and so on (putra-dara-grihadishu).

The phrase putra-dàra (son-wife) stands for allrelations—husband, children, parents, brothers andsisters. It also refers to possessions such as car, electronicgadgets, house and so on. When we are deeply attached

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to a house, if a nail is driven in the house-wall, onefeels as if it is being driven in one’s own body!

Such deep attachment becomes an obstacle inspiritual pursuits. Even in worldly matters, suchattachment can produce pain and misery. Suppose twopeople are deeply attached like this. They may beattached but, based on one’s past training or experience,our views may not always agree. In such a situation,our attachment becomes a source of pain. Normallyeven one’s own children, wife or relatives do notunderstand or agree to each other fully in all matters.Complete, perfect understanding is a rarity—at anyrate.

Though it is true that we all want freedom, only amatured person is fit to handle freedom. An immatureperson lacks proper understanding of the ways of life.In order to become mature, one needs to take up someresponsibility and carry it on sincerely. Throughdischarging one’s duties, one becomes matured andresponsible. Often maturity comes only when there issomeone who is dependent on us, needing our careand attention. In this sense, for most people enteringinto a householder’s stage of life is the best way toinculcate sense of responsibility and maturity. Learningto take responsibility helps one to grow wiser andthoughtful. One, who is unable to handle freedom buthas yet not learnt to become responsible, he shouldtake the responsibilities of a householder’s life.

As one grows, one begins to realise how the mindworks. We strike a relationship with other but any

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relationship can become a bondage. What appears likea need at first becomes an obstacle later. Spiritualstriving becomes possible only when one is free fromattachment to the objects of desire (persons, things,situations, etc).

Getting too much attached to things does not helpanyone. A true well-wisher is he who wants the personof his affection to be free, independent, strong, wiser,and ultimately a mukta purusha—free person. Inhousehold situations, people want others to bedependant on them, tied down to them. Even wife andhusband want each other to be around and each iseager to look after the other!

But most relationships are self-centred. In orderto be free from insecurity, people come together. Theywant to fulfil their self-created needs and when that iswithdrawn by prarabdha karmas, they cannot bear it.This is because by now, they have become deeplydependant on each other!

A sàdhaka [spiritual aspirant] needs time for sàdhanà[spiritual practices]. In order to keep up innermotivation, he needs company of like-minded people.But that is not found normally. Life is a transit pointbetween two junctions. It is like waiting on a platformfor a few hours before each one catches one’s train! Wehave to part our ways. But parting is good when ourtime comes. Till then we all stay together like friendson a platform. All relations are like waiting on a railwayplatform. We live for a few years together until ourname is called out. We keep changing the vehicle of the

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body from time to time, according to our prarabdha. Aspiritual aspirant has to see life as a transit point whilehe is in between relationships. Our social life is likemeeting some people in the water-huts [piyaoo, in Hindi,a small roadside room where free drinking water ismade available to the travellers; a practice common inmany parts of India]. There people halt for drinkingwater, and after some verbal exchange, leave! That islife.

But we are too much concerned about our familymembers. Their care and concern only occupies ourmind, and the idea of God never enters. Yajnavalkyasays in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad [II. IV.5]: ‘It is notfor the sake of the husband, my dear, that he is loved,but for one’s own sake that he is loved.’ This meanswe should go to the atman-level, and there is the realsource of our being. The relationships at the body-mind level are superficial and temporary.

We like the ‘world’ because it makes us happy. Aslong as people make us happy, we love them. This factis too hard to swallow, but it is the fact with most ofus. People love one another because of their mutualusefulness. The day one ceases to be useful, he/she isdiscarded.

A spiritual seeker should recognize this fact andaccept it. We should acknowledge the reality of ourmundane existence. For example, it is a commonexperience that an earning member gets more attentionin a family than a non-earning one. The earning son ismore useful and makes parents happy. They may not

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say it openly but even in a family, people are ultimatelyselfish. It sounds unfair, but it is a fact which cannot beignored.

One can see people in their true colours when oneis in real trouble. A true friend is one who stands byone’s side at the time of need. When we recognize thisfact, then comes the question: why should we lose timeand life for such people! In our scriptures we have theexamples of seekers giving up those who are notconcerned with our spiritual growth. For example:

Prahlada gave up his father for the sake of LordNarayana.

Bharata gave up his mother (Kaikeyi) for thesake of dharma.

Vibhishana gave up his brother Ravana for thesake of dharma.

It is necessary to accept this bitter fact: when aperson dies, no one else goes with him. All of us camealone and will also be going alone. This is certain. Wefool ourselves thinking that we are together, one well-knit family always! No! It is not so. Mind has tounderstand this and see the higher purpose of life.Only then will vairagya come.

You may recall the story of Ratnakara whobecomes Valmiki, the great saint-poet. He was a dacoitwho used to rob and loot people not knowing that hewas accumulating demerit (papa) for his actions. SageNarada removed all his misconceptions and guided himto remember God intensely. Thus Ratnakara, the dacoit,became Valmiki, the enlightened author of Ramayana.

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The fact is that when we earn money throughunethical means, demerit or sin stays with us whilewhatever material wealth is earned, goes to others!This is the result of our attachment. Our attachment isthe cause of our own misery. We do not see how themind gets carried away by emotions and becomeshelpless. We need to be strong inside. One can live inthe society without getting affected by it by beingemotionally independent.

It is said in Bhagavata that one should live like aguest in one’s own home. If one can do so, then one isthe happiest person. Whenever mind is emotionallyentangled, one’s freedom is lost. Emotionalentanglement makes one dependant and dictates one’slife.

Why do we become so attached? The reason forthis deep attachment has a psychological basis. Often ithas roots in one’s childhood. When our legitimate needs[such as attention, respect and trust] are not fulfilled inour childhood, then later in life if someone showssympathy towards us, we become attached to him. Wethus become vulnerable to exploitation. Such a deprivedperson is ready to do anything for the sake of getting asmile! If that smile is withdrawn, he will feel as ifoxygen is withdrawn! A person can feel abused merelyby a raised eyebrow! Even a small gesture becomesvery important for an emotionally starving person. Andwhen the mind is emotionally dependent, the capacityto think loses its edge.

The best thing is that even while living with others,we should be emotionally independent and secure. In

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order to get this inner freedom, one has to train themind. For being secure, one should reduce one’s needs.It should be a project of life to be independent. Priorityof life should be to simplify one’s needs anddependency, rather than stretching one’s hand beforeothers. Thus independence is directly proportional tominimizing needs.

When one lives in one’s own house as a guestthen one learns how to de-link oneself from matters. Aguest does not interfere the household or the personalmatters of the house. It is left to others as to how theyconduct themselves. Everyone lives in a particular placefor some time (months or years), which is a short timein Cosmic Time. Then why should mind be so possessiveat all?

We think we are the masters of what we haveinherited from previous generations. The fact, however,is that we are not the masters but merely caretakers ofwhat we have inherited. After the head of a family isgone, other members will use the wealth and propertyhe leaves behind in their own way. If this is so, whynot then allow them to have their own way while weare alive? Why not teach them the proper use of ourwealth? We have to learn to give freedom to other.We are just a guest in this house called life. Guests donot control a house. This spirit of being a guest has tobe cultivated while living with people. One shouldpractice dispassion, knowing fully well that the worldis going to go its own way, and should accept differencein opinions and ways of life.

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If we accept this diversity in life, we become lessburdened. Detachment relaxes the mind. Thus we shouldlearn to develop a value for being non-involved butnot being indifferent. Indifference means even whenothers need help, we do not respond. Whereas beingnon-involved means that whenever there is a need,one comes forward without getting attached.

Generally our mind is oriented towards possessingthings. But if we analyse, we will see that ‘possessing’is only a notion, a mental concept. Really speaking,nothing belongs to anybody. A piece of land has beenclaimed by millions of people since the time immemorialand millions are going to claim it in future too. Courtsare full of land disputes, because people are so possessiveand think that what they possess will remain with themalways. One does not possess even his own body orbreath! These have been provided by God.

If one’s breath goes out during exhalation, thereis no guarantee whether it is going to come back. TheSanskrit saying has it that there is no guarantee thatwhen we breathe out it will also return! (nishwase naivavishwasa). When one’s breathing itself is not in one’shand, how can property be in one’s hand? All ideas ofpossession, hence, are just notional. When we aredeluded, we do not see the impermanence anduncertainty of life. A person thinks that a house is his,his garden, his property, his people are his! But heforgets the fact that even his own body is not his—hehas to leave it behind!

We need to extricate our mind from whatever it isstuck to. We get attached to events and persons and

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suffer. Thus our mind gets agitated and restless. Whenthings do not go our way, we grumble and brood overit and experience pain. We should remember a wellknown Sanskrit maxim: ‘This world is like a magician’sshow in sleep’ [svapnendrajàla sadíáaæ khalu jìvalokaæ].

Just as one does not take things seriously in amagic show and rather enjoys it, we should also learnto be spectator and enjoy the magic of life.

This is the true spirit of detachment.

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Nityam samachittatvamishtanishtop-apattishu

[‘Maintaining equanimity ofmind in favourable and

unfavourable circumstances’]Life is a mixture of favourable ishta and

unfavourable (anishta) circumstances. Keeping the mindcalm regardless of external situations is called equanimityof mind (samachittatvam).

Why Do We Get Disturbed?

By nature, the human mind tends to run afterexternal objects and in the process lose its balance. Themind has its own self-importance (maana) and pretendsto be something special (dambha). We have to curb thesetendencies in order to maintain calmness of mind.

Again, we have only one mind! It has to be eitherextrovert or introspective. In the pursuit of innergrowth, we need to train the mind to be introspective.This means not getting swayed by external objects.But, in the first place, why do we get carried away bythem? Because we attach great importance to them.

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Ish means to desire. Ishta is its past participle.‘Desirability’ is a brand, just a label on an object. Objectsappear desirable sometimes and undesirable at othertimes—like warm clothes are desirable in winter, andundesirable in summer. When a situation changes, themind changes too, followed by change in our mood.Objects in themselves are neither desirable norundesirable; we become impatient to possess or get ridof them; the moment an object appears desirable, wewant to grab it. But if we are patient enough, we willrealise that the object is not what it appears; then wewill not run after it.

Desirability and undesirability of objects isprovisional, and not an ultimate conclusion. Situationschange; they are not always same. A so-called goodsituation can be a step towards a horrible event. Thingscan be bitter in the beginning but ultimately can bringa happy ending. Seeing things in their entirety is whatis important.

It is our attitude that makes us happy or unhappy.Attitude, in turn, is dependant on how we view things.If our view is based on a limited view of life, then wequickly become upset. We should think well before wejump to a conclusion. There is no one who is happy allthrough his life nor is anyone unhappy all his life. EvenLord Rama and Krishna were no exceptions. Rama hadto weep like an ordinary person. Even after he becamethe king of Ayodhaya, Rama had to banish Sita to theforest, and later undergo mental suffering. Sri Krishnatoo did not have continuously happy situations. Howmany times he had to fight the demons and adversaries!

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And then he had to be a part of the great war ofMahabharata. This understanding makes a person atapasvi—a man of introspection and forbearance.

Learning from Difficulties

One of the meanings of the word tapas is ‘toleratingthe pain of body’ (kaya klesha sahanam). When we get apainful situation, we should learn to accept it—for ourself-improvement. Why? Because only when we arefaced with a difficult situation, we begin to think deeply.For instance when a child’s behaviour is difficult,parents pay attention to it. A silent child does notdraw anyone’s attention. Hence, in order to correctanything, we need to pay attention to it. When facedwith difficulties, we should suggest to ourselves thus:‘Let me forbear it; God has given me this opportunityto exercise my will power, so let me welcome it.’

Tough situations give a chance to toughenourselves. Sharpening a knife cannot happen on a butterslab! Only on a stone or an iron, where there is grinding,sharpening happens. When everything is smooth, noone tells a lie. The real test lies when one is in a morallytrying situation. In such situations, our strength istested. And when without becoming sentimental andaccusing others or situations, we stick to truth, webecome matured and wiser.

Let us recall the incident of Atmadeva who washarassed by his foolish son. Instead of becoming angrywith his son, Atmadeva goes to the forest, does tapasand gets Self-knowledge. He thanks his son for being

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rude to him! Had Atmadeva acted differently, he wouldnot have got Self-knowledge and never learnt of higherdimensions of life. When Bhartrihari was rejected byhis wife, he began to think: ‘One, who is always in mythoughts, is indifferent to me!’ Though it came as ashock and he felt deeply hurt for being rejected by hisown queen-wife, he thought over the whole matterand developed genuine dispassion. Later he told her,‘O Pingale, you are my guru! So many gurus came andtaught me about dispassion to the world; it made noimpact on me. But you have taught me without anyformal teaching! You have opened my eyes, whichothers could not.’ Later, he goes to the forest to dotapas and attains Self-knowledge.

We cannot say for certain which situation isfavourable and which is unfavourable for us. There isan interesting story to illustrate this point. Once therewas a farmer who owned an unusually strong and fasthorse. The king of the country took interest in it andwanted it for himself. The farmer refused the king’soffer saying he would not part with it, since he wasdeeply attached to it. The villagers rebuked him forlosing the opportunity to sell it to the king for a goodprice. After a few days, the horse got lost in the jungle.Villagers sympathised with the villager for his bad luck.One day the horse returned with some wild horses.Now people applauded him for his luck. After fewdays, the farmer’s son, while taming the wild horses,broke his leg. Now villagers pitied him. After sometime, a war broke out and all the youngsters werecalled by the king to fight in the war. All followed the

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order except the farmer’s son who could not walk dueto his leg injury. Most young soldiers died in the war.Now, once again, the villagers admired the farmer forhis good luck—to have a lame son, at least. During allthese events, the farmer only nodded his head andnever took the turns of life seriously. That is maturity—to accept life.

We do not know what is in store for us; hence weneed not be too critical in our opinions. SwamiAkhandananda Saraswati used to say, ‘Do not praisetoo much; you may have to criticise it. Nor be toocritical; you may have to praise it.’ This meansdeveloping a sense of proportion and patience. Evenwhen a candle is turned upside down, its flame remainsupwards; flame will not go down. Likewise, we shouldkeep up our spirit. This is called dhairya vritti—‘thetendency to go upwards’. If one has dhairya vritti, theneven if one is thrown into waters or is left in the deepforest, one will still be able to keep one’s spirits high.Keeping one’s mind calm and balanced, one should tryone’s best to convert all situations to one’s personalbetterment.

Theory of Karma

If a situation is unpleasant, we should understandthat it is so because of our own karma. Such anunderstanding will make even unpleasant situations alsobearable. It is only the results of our actions whichmake us happy or unhappy. We are responsible for our

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happiness or misery. To say somebody makes me happyor unhappy is foolish.

When others cause misery to us, they are onlybearers of our own karma. It is our unmeritoriousactions which return to us as pain and misery. It is likea postman delivering us a money order or an ATMmachine giving us cash. Neither the postman has writtenus any letter nor is the ATM doling out us any money.We are getting what is ours. Hence we cannot eitherpraise or blame them. Likewise, only our karma comesback to us. We should learn to view others as onlybearers or instruments to carry our own karma to us.In this way, our approach to life will be more maturedand we would be able to maintain an unperturbedattitude towards life.

Acceptance and Remedies

The problem is that we lack the ability to accept.We grumble: ‘Oh this should not have happened tome.’ Yes, one can try to avoid the pain which is yet tocome but what has already come, one should facevaliantly. For instance, birth and death are not in ourcontrol. The dead can never come back. We have toaccept it. As the Sanskrit saying goes: ‘If happiness hascome let us enjoy it; if unhappiness has come, let usface it. Like a wheel going up and down, happinessand unhappiness come in life by turn.’

There are certain difficulties in life which areinevitable. What is that which can be called inevitable?When even after trying, situations do not change, they

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are called inevitable. We should try our best to remedya difficulty and then accept whatever comes.

When we try to remedy something, it often opensnew possibilities to go further. Our scriptures give manysuggestions in this regard. For instance, if it requirestremendous effort to correct a situation, one shouldexamine if such a step should be taken at all. Sometimesaccepting a situation is easier and wiser than correctingit. If we try to correct or improve it, we may end upcreating more suffering. If by correcting something wecreate disharmony, then it is better not to correct it.

We cannot, for instance, change our parentage;we have no choice about the type of parent we haveafter being born to them! Hence we have to acceptthat. If we do not accept that, we are fighting againstthe inevitable. That kind of resistance is meaning-less. To exercise our power of discrimination does notmean changing the impossible. Nor does it meanaccepting everything without question. Let us keepmoving in our path of spiritual struggle. Whatever bethe situation we get into—good or bad, beautiful orugly—we should use our capacity to analyse andunderstand things in a larger context.

We should understand that even after we are dead,society will go in its own way! So let us do our bestand let go things which are not in our hand. If wewant a lasting peace of mind, we should be introspectiveand handle ourselves with greater sense of disciplineand commitment. If we get into a difficult situation, letus not give up our struggle. Often we drop our daily

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meditation by such silly reasons: ‘Today it is hot; howcan I meditate!’ Or, ‘It is so windy today; how can Imeditate!’ We should not stop our practice of meditationunder any circumstance. This is called maturity. Whetherit is hot or cold, do we not eat our meals! Why com-promise with our meditation then?

Sri Krishna says in the Gita that irrespective ofany situation, we should keep moving. If mind isdisturbed, we need to ask, ‘Why is it disturbed? Howto rise above petty issues.’ We cannot be always ingood health. Nor are all people friendly or situationsfavourable. Let us accept life and keep moving.

Our mind often plays tricks with us and wants usto relax our spiritual practices. We have not beendeprived of basic conditions for living such as water,air, space and earth. Only sometimes certain facilities,which are very superficial, may not have been available.Whatever is essential to live that much all of us have.Hence we should continue our struggle even withoutthose things.

The mind gets into some kind of mental dependencyand emotional entanglement. And when that facility iswithdrawn, mind gets disturbed. For instance, ifsomeone is not friendly, what difference does it make?Should I stop doing my spiritual practice on thataccount? That person was not known to us earlier! Afew years later he will not be there, and in between ifhe is not friendly, so what? Let us accept it. If weknow how to tone down our expectations, then lifebecomes a smooth sailing. It may be unpleasant, butnot unmanageable.

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People worry that they may lose their job andindulge in all kinds of fanciful imaginations. It onlymakes the matter worse. Instead of such fancy thoughts,we should learn to look beyond. Life itself is uncertain.Impermanence alone is the permanent truth of thisworld. Moreover, when we were in the womb, wewere taken care of. When we were a baby, we weretaken care of. Birds and animals have no bank balanceor house, yet they are happy and alive. We humanbeings, having sense organs, mind to think, why willwe starve? Our karma, which is the source of this bodyand other things we have, will also bring necessarythings in future. We worry because we do not trustourselves and God. Many things we get in life unasked—things we never dreamt of. Likewise, many things havedisappeared from our life even when we tried our bestto keep them. If we were really the ‘controller’, thenwhat we wanted would have not disappeared and whatwe did not want would not have come. It only showsthat there is a higher power playing a role in our lives,and let us have faith in that.

Remedy Suggested by Vedanta

Steadiness of mind, regardless of externalsituations, is a prerequisite or a value necessary forSelf-knowledge or Higher Truth. To cultivate this, weneed to be introspective and be analytical. Good orbad situations should not make us disturbed and excited.We should know how to handle the mind and remainfree from excitement and depression.

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Vedanta gives us a vision by which we can retainthe equanimity of the mind under all circumstances. Itis only the external situations which change and notthe atman or Divine Self which is ever the same. If weare in tune with the atman, then external changes willnot affect us. At present our mind is tuned to externalsituations and it rides on the wave of external changes,and suffers. When we shift from the external world tothe Internal Core of our Being, the atman, then welearn to be happy always. Whether one has a horribledream or a pleasant dream, the atman is merely awitness and never undergoes any change. If one takesdream seriously, mind gets disturbed. ‘When it wasnot present before and will not be later, then why beworried about the present?’

If we seek Self-knowledge, we should use ourpower of introspection and self-analysis. From self-analysis comes dispassion and dispassion makes uspeaceful. This means change of attitude. Let us takeourselves as a big tree and our body as a mere leaf.What if one leaf is lost; we are a large tree! Let usthink of ourselves as the Cosmic Self—virat rupa. Behindthe apparent loss, there is a gain, and behind apparentgain, there is a loss.

We should not forget the purpose of life—Self-Knowledge. As long as our journey towards the goal isnot disturbed, a little wave of self-importance (mana),insult (apamana), humiliation (ninda), and praise (stuti)need not distract us. They only add some fun or spiceto life. A Sanskrit verse says, ‘While a yogi walks onhis path of sadhana, someone says he is weird; some

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say he is learned, some call him an ascetic, some agreat yogi. None of these comments touch the yogi. Heis neither angry nor elated. He keeps moving aheadlike an elephant even while dogs bark.’

An elephant does not stop to congratulate orretaliate. It moves in its own direction. People will bewhat they are. We too should be like that and goahead.

When we do not have big things to think of, thensmall things become big and quarrel starts. Let usbecome so big that even big things become insignificant.Only by becoming big, we drown the differences. Ifwe remain small, world is overwhelming. If we becomebig, difficulties disappear. This is how inner calm(samchittatva) is attained.

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Mayi cha ananyayogena bhakti-avyabhicharini

[‘By developing unswervingdevotion to Me by the Yoga of

non-separation’]Bhakta—a Sattvika Bhokta

There are two adjectives used with the term bhaktior devotion to God in the above phrase. These twoadjectives are: unswerving devotion to Me(avyabhicharini) and Yoga of non-separation(ananyayogena). Let us understand these terms.

We, the embodied beings (jivas), have a strongsense of enjoyment of worldly objects and desires(bhoktritva). But as spiritual seekers, we have to changeour approach towards life. Thus the enjoyer (bhokta)has to transform this worldly tendency to ‘enjoying’God. This is how one becomes a devotee (bhakta). Whenone becomes a devotee, one’s craving for sense-enjoyment (bhoktritva) becomes weakened and oneprogresses towards freedom from desires. This innerredirection of approach is the best way to change one’stendencies.

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Most people want to enjoy objects of senses; theywant to use every available thing for their own selfishpurpose. The attitude of a devotee, on the other hand,is entirely different. He does not want to use anythingfor himself; he feels happy to serve God and Hisdevotees. He feels delighted if he can help others. Hefeels happy by serving and not by being served. This isstill being an enjoyer but a sattvika enjoyer. A grossbhokta thus becomes a sattvika bhokta.

One has to learn that by giving an upper hand tosense enjoyment (bhoktritva), one only becomesmiserable.

Can anyone be happy with a demanding, bossingperson? Bhoktritva is to be like such a person: it makesstrong demands and imposes itself on one’s own mind.A mind demanding enjoyments can never be easy withitself. It only makes one frustrated. Expectations andfrustration are inter-related. If mind expects more, itwill be more frustrated! A crude bhokta expects a lotfrom people, and hence gets more miserable too. Heswings between the extremes of depression and elation.One can enjoy playing on the swing as long as it issmooth. If a swing rises too high, there are twitches inthe stomach and sickness is the result! Playing on aswing is enjoyable only when it is gentle. At the sametime too slow a swing also does not give joy. Mind islike a swing, and our lives, hooked as they are tomind, too experience the same up and down as that ofa swing.

We have to realise that holding to strong likesand dislikes, or strong opinions and judgments, is like

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the movement of a swing—rising high, hitting the roofone moment, and the next moment bouncing back tobang on the ground! As we develop bhakti towardsGod, we learn to swing in a balanced way. Then weare not affected by strong likes and dislikes and becomemore peaceful.

Cultivating BhaktiOne has to become a devotee in the true sense of

term. A true devotee is sincere to the core. Of course,one can pretend to be a devotee, putting marks onone’s body such a tilakam, chandanam, and vibhuti. Butthese do not matter to the Lord; a true devotee of Godis one who is selfless and self-sacrificing.

Bhakti is a relationship formed in the mind betweenoneself and God. Through Bhakti our mind learns tobecome subordinate to the object of devotion. In worldlylife, our ego does not want to submit to anyone. Rather,it wants to take the driver’s seat. It wants to dominate,manipulate and exploit others. On other hand, in bhaktiour ego learns to humble itself, by taking the back seatand submitting to God. It learns to keep its likes (raga)and dislikes (dvesha) aside, and fill the mind with holythoughts.

We all have emotions. If we do not direct theseemotions towards God, we will direct them towardsthe family and friends. Bhakti is directing our emotionstowards God. It is depending on God instead of others.

A bhakta learns to practice respectfulness towardsothers. By respecting others, he learns to get rid of his

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cranky likes and dislikes. These likes and dislikes arethe source of all negative emotions. To have stronglikes and dislikes is like having a notorious terroristinside. It dictates terms to us and says, ‘I want this anddo not want that!’ And like a slave of likes-dislikes, wefollow every word of what we are told by the innerterrorist! What could be more miserable than this?

But one can overcome this by directing the mindtoward the altar of God. By devotion one becomes asattvika bhokta. A sattvika bhokta does not transgressdharma and accepts life as it comes. Whatever life brings,he receives it as God’s prasadam.

When an action is done with devotion, it becomesspiritually rewarding. A bhakta does not wait to enjoythe fruits of his action later; he enjoys even while doing.He sees every opportunity to serve as a privilege andnot a job to be done. This brings him back his posi-tive emotional self and when that happens it makes lifejoyful, free from all drudgery.

Many times we do not want to do some particularwork yet we cannot help it and finally become tiredand exhausted. In other words, while working thisway our emotional self is full of negative thoughts andfeelings. But when our emotional self becomes positive,we do not become tired, and remain enthu-siastic always. Life, then, becomes a sweet melody,and all discordant notes vanish. A sense of gratitudefills the mind. Mind sees how it has received so much,and in gratitude, wants to give back something. Andone begins doing so to the best of one’s capacity. Our

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vision expands then, and we start seeing the Lordeverywhere.

Sadhana—the Path to Freedom

Sadhana or spiritual practice is a path towardsfreedom. We have limited time at our disposal. If ourmind runs after wealth or worldly fame, we shouldremind it that all these would be left behind when weleave the body. Only our mind, its purity and impurity,will go with us. We should try to make our mindbetter through cultivating the divine qualities(daivisampatti).

By always complaining about things which we donot have, we are expressing our lack of gratitudetowards Lord. One keeps asking God to give an endlesslist of things. Of course, to ask things from God is notwrong. If one has to ask, then one should ask God andnot any mortal being. When we approach God to fulfillall our needs, this it called ‘unswervingdevotion‘(avyabhicharini bhakti). A Sanskrit proverb(subhashita) says:

The legendary Chataka bird is very self-respecting. Itdrinks only the rain water. When it is thirsty, it wouldhave water directly from the (clouds) only and from noother source, even if it dies of thirst.

The point here is that to a devotee God alone isthe provider of everything. Why should he thenapproach anyone else? A person who approaches othersfor his needs does not have an unswerving devotion.

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Unswerving devotion means asking God and Godalone for my needs. Whatever is my need, I willapproach only God—that is the attitude of a bhakta.He is devoted to God only. Such an attitude bringssteadiness in one’s spiritual efforts. Or else, one will belike a housefly which sits everywhere and partakes ofall kind of things. A bhakta, on the other hand, is like ahoney-bee that sits only on flowers. It is called ‘one-pointed devotion’ (aikantika bhakti).

A person with unswerving devotion approachesonly God to solve his problems and God rescues himfrom a precarious situation. Such a devotee does notask for favour from anyone else.

Bhartrihari, a great Sanskrit poet, says,

O friend please listen carefully to what I say. So manyclouds come in sky; some pour water, some roar and goaway. People are also like that. All are not going to fulfilyour desires. When desires cannot be fulfiled by all, whydo you go on telling them to all? If at all I ask, I will askGod only. When He cannot fulfil them, even others cannot.If it is not in our karma, nobody can do anything, so whyshould not one ask God only? If He gives, fine, and, if not,I accept it!

The Purpose of Spiritual Practices

The purpose of all our spiritual practices is toremove our self-centredness. As an enjoyer, one triesto use everything for oneself. But as a seeker of God,one becomes aware of one’s higher purpose of life, and

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hence instead to using others for one’s purpose, onedevelops an attitude of service and humility. One shouldfirst of all be aware of one’s worldly tendencies. Thenonly can one amend oneself and give a spiritual turn tohis tendencies.

How to change one’s attitude? Throughintrospection and self-analysis. We have to realise thatwe cannot be happy by just manipulating others. Bymanipulating others we only make others miserable,and that cannot bring happiness. It is only by makingothers happy that one becomes happy. Thisis a kind of enlightened self-interest—to seek one’shappiness by seeking others’ happiness.

We keep complaining about things which we donot have. When we are thus busy with our complaints,we overlook the presence of things we already have.What we are privileged to have is the precious humanbody—out of millions of other things which we couldhave become, we are born as human. But we just donot look at this privilege; we only complain. If only wecould focus on what we have, we will feel grateful forit.

This feeling of gratefulness does not come easilybecause of our complaining attitude. We need to realisethat everything is not provided to everybody. Ifsomething is provided to us, something else is absentin our life. Everyone’s life is a permutation andcombination of presence and absence; everyone getscertain things and does not get certain things accordingto one’s past actions. It is said that people who have

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teeth do not have groundnuts (that requires chewing)and those who have groundnuts do not have teeth.That is life!

Reversing Our Roles

It is always said that of all the sadhanas, bhakti isthe best sadhana (uttama sadhana). Ultimately, Supremebhakti (para-bhakti) and Self-knowledge (jnana) are oneand the same. An ordinary man’s life is ego-centred.Bhakti melts down the ego. In bhakti, the attitude is ‘OLord, what is yours, only is offered to you’ (tvadìyamvastu govinda tubhyameva samarpaye),

Thus, through bhakti, the ego becomes a secondaryenjoyer (gauna bhoktritva). Then Ishwara/Guru/elders/others become more important than oneself. This isakin to the working of a professional cook. Though hehimself enjoys what he cooks, the primary purpose ofhis cooking is to please the master. So also a driverenjoys his driving but he essentially drives for themaster. This is the case of a secondary enjoyer.

If we apply it in life, ego becomes purified andultimately disappears. In the path of devotion it is saidof ego: ‘I and Lord both cannot be there. Either He canbe there or I will be there.’

Bhakti is a slow and gradual melting down of ourego. It is realizing the fact that we are merely aninstrument in the hands of God. When this feeling(bhavana) becomes permanent, a change takes place inour personality and we become free from all angu-larities and pain.

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In bhakti one begins with the assumption ‘I amdifferent from the Lord.’ But as one progresses, onediscovers that one is not different from the Lord. ‘Iand the Lord are not different.’ This is calledananyabhava. The term anya means ‘different’ and ananyameans ‘not different’. One has to ultimately discoverthe Lord as his own self (svarupa). One begins one’sjourney by accepting the difference until the oneness isdiscovered.

In another sense, in the path of bhakti one learnsto de-identify oneself from one’s upadhi—our falsepersonality. Our body and mind are controlled objectsand Lord is the controller. God is our Inner Controller(antaryami) and He makes us function. One shouldslowly find out the deeper dimension of one’spersonality. We should pray to the Lord to give usdispassion and strength to see our oneness with Him.

Finally, let us remember that we live in our mindonly—whether in this life or the next. Hence it is betterto clean it up. Let us clear up all the garbage of anxieties,worries, ego-struggles and wrong notions, and cultivatepurity of mind and devotion to God. Once that happens,peace, shanti, enters into our life.

Vivikta-desha-sevitvam[Living in solitary places]

Vivikta-desha means a solitary place. Vivikta-desha-sevitvam means retiring to a quiet place in order tohave a conducive state of mind. For a spiritual seeker,living in solitary places is a great help. The place shouldbe congenial to mind (manonukula). It should be freefrom anything which can cause worry and anxiety andshould be helpful in withdrawing the mind.

The ideal place for contemplation (mananam) is theplace where one has no internal or external pulls andwhere one can remain within oneself without distraction.However, Adi Shankara, in his commentary on the Gita,says that such a place should not be just secluded butalso auspicious place (punyadesha), having holyassociations and a good location.

But just retiring to a secluded place is not enough;one should be mentally prepared for it. A preparedmind truly benefits from living in a peaceful place. Butif one goes to such a place unprepared, one only endsup starting a samasara [get involved in worldly activities]there!

A Sanskrit saying (subhashita) says:

vane api doshah bhavanti raaginaam,jitendriyanaam graham tapovanam

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To a person attached to worldly things, even a forest isfull of distractions whereas to a man of self-control, evenhis house is a place of holiness and self-control[tapovanam]!

The Inner Solitude

An attached person makes enemies even in aforest. Enemies and friends are everywhere. Whereverwe go, our mind travels with us.

While there are many problems in life, the problemof fear is one of the basic problems. Whatever we areafraid of, we carry it in our mind. If we are afraid ofghosts and scorpions, for instance, we carry them inour mind. We make them a part of our mental baggageeffortlessly! It is as if a crowd is always on move withus, and wherever we go, this crowd is following us. Itis the crowd of things we are afraid of.

Another thing that we carry with us is ourexpectations from others or from places. Theseexpectations throw open the doors for other undesirablethings. Fear and expectations are the two doors throughwhich the world enters our mind. If we do not sortthem out, we cannot really benefit from living in asolitary place. Vivikta-desha-sevitvam becomes feasible andfruitful only when we have sorted out these internalissues.

We should keep our mind free from all externalobjects. Outside objects should remain outside. If weopen the door of our mind to them, we invite these

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objects inside and with them come all related problems.And once these objects enter within, it is not easy tovacate them. Where is the idea of having seclusionthen? One should be free from all distractions andexpectations. Then only one gets serenity of mind. Orelse, our going to seclusion becomes just a publicitystunt!

Some people seek solitude because they cannotmix with others. To avoid people and feel lonely isactually a kind of personality disorder; it is not spiritualseeking.

Inner Preparation Required

One should first prepare for living in seclusion.And this has to be done before one goes to a secludedplace. One does this by living among people yet beingmentally withdrawn from them. One should developan attitude of detachment (udaasina bhava). If one wants,one can always find time for oneself to sit andcontemplate for some time. A tendency to eagerly lookforward to having time with oneself is the true essenceof living in a solitary place. Once we get this inclinationof mind, then we will naturally want to examineourselves—and that is the beginning of our preparation.

We should introspect and examine as to what wehave achieved in life. Human life is just a short span oftime and one cannot gamble away with it. Life rolls byand after a few years, old age takes over. What thenare we left with? What shall we carry with us when we

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die? Where were we before birth? It is only when weask such questions that we would like to take sometime for ourselves and try to do some contemplation.We should take out at least some time occasionally, ifwe cannot devote ourselves to introspection as fulltimers. Alternatively, one can spend some time in thecompany of the wise.

When we do some good work and help others insome way, we earn some merits (punya karma). Thesemeritorious acts give rise to noble and good tendenciesin the mind. Hence we should always keep an eye ononeself, and daily scrutinize and critically examine ourown conduct and do only that which is good and noble.The cumulative effect of such a habit helps greatly inpreparing us for higher life.

Most of us are busy in solving self-createdproblems! We do things with great thoughtlessness andthen spend much time in solving them rest of our lives.That is how most of our life is spent. But much can beset right if we form the habit of regular self-examination.There should be constant self- observation which shouldbe done along with whatever work we do. If a part ofthe mind keeps observing us always, we will not indu-lge in impulsive actions. This will serve as an internalcheck and a constant reminder.

Self-Introspection

Many evils in life can be avoided through self-examination. If we live mechanically, without self-

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introspection, we might pick up some bad thought orhabit somewhere, and it will become part of our life.But if we are aware and change our attitude, we willfind a change taking place in our lives. All self-changehappens through change in our thoughts and that takesplace through self-introspection. When we begin ourdaily habit of introspection, initially it may not bequalitative. But as we stick to it, it will become keenerand deeper.

To begin with, we should try to hold such intros-pection-session at least once daily—when we get up inthe morning or before we go to bed or sometime inbetween these two. We will surely find this practiceuseful and then we will naturally find time for doingit.

To do this self-introspection is true living insolitude. It should be done in a place where mindbecomes easily calm. The mind becomes quiet whenthe surroundings do not distract it and it can forgetthem. One becomes involved in a situation if it impingeson him. If there is joint pain, for example, one cannotforget the existence of the body. So one should choosea proper place and time to deepen one’s introspection.

Before resorting to solitude, one should valuebecoming a ‘nobody’. Then the world will not attractus. Or else we will grow in worldly attachments, unableto live in solitude. Our mind should be made like a‘shock absorber’, absorbing all jerks of life, making thevehicle of life to run smoothly.

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Arati-jana-samsadi[Distaste for the company of people]

Rati, in Sanskrit, means ‘to enjoy’. Arati meansabsence of enjoyment. Jana-samsadi refers to the companyof people. So, arati-jana-samsadi means ‘the absence ofenjoyment derived from the company of people’.

Of course, some people cannot live without thecompany of others. They feel connected and acceptedby being in others’ company. Their mental wellbeingdepends on their acceptance by others. They need peoplearound them without whom they become anxious andworried.

But let us listen to what Adi Shankara says:

Praakritaanaam purushanaam samsadi aramanamPrakrata Purushas are those who do not have the

spiritual bent of mind.

Of course, associating with the like-mind-ed people is very helpful and highly recommended.One should seek holy company (satsanga).

A person with a spiritual bent of mind will beconsidered a misfit amidst worldly people. He will bean odd man out there because his goal is differentfrom the worldly minded people. What is valuable forhim is not valuable for others and vice versa. There are

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no common values between him and others. He wantsknowledge, devotion, and noble qualities (daivisampatti)and the worldly people shun all this stuff. Their interestlies in name, fame, wealth, popularity, power and soon. Hence getting along with such people is not easy.

Worldly people, again, do not mean what theysay. They utter sweet words out of formality. Andsuch formal people cannot become close and touch ourhearts. And unless there is a heart to heart relationbetween us, we cannot enjoy others’ company.

So two things necessary for cultivating spiritualvalues are:

1. Keep holy company (sadhu sanga)2. Give up bad company (durjana sanga)Whatever company we give it, the mind adapts to

it. Mind absorbs the colour of the company in which itis placed, it is like salt added to water to make itsaline, or sugar added to water to make it sweet.

Likewise, the human mind is susceptible and vulne-rable. If we realize that mind is vulnerable and externalsituations are powerful, then we can consciously protectit.

Whatever company we keep, we have to like whatthey like to think, eat, do and so on, and also dislikewhat they dislike. And in course of our associationwith them, we adapt those habits and thought patterns.We should be, therefore, careful in choosing ourcompany.

Further, our scriptures say that one should notbecome psychologically or emotionally dependent on

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others. If that is not possible, then one can lean upongood, noble people (sat purushas). When we have tochoose, let us choose right type of people to associatewith. Good people are like a stick which is used whenour foot is injured. Good people help us stand on ourfeet. They give us support only to make us independent,and not to make us dependent on them.

Take for example the hoary teacher-disciple (guru-shishya) relationship. A Guru frees himself from theworld and frees the disciple also. He helps the personto know his own strength and helps him to be free.One cannot be free by borrowed strength. Guru showshow one is already everything that one wants to be.He removes the ignorance about inner potential andshows the light. He does not want to make the discipledependent on him.

Not to keep the company of worldly people butkeeping the company of good people is essential forone’s spiritual growth. To keep away from the societyof men means be away from the worldly people.

We need a conducive atmosphere in order tomeditate and introspect. Keeping the company of anunderstanding person and being in a convenient placego a long way in doing this.

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Adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam(Dwelling upon the Knowledge

of atman)Adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam means dwelling upon the

Knowledge of atman or the Self, i.e., thinking deeplyand analysing the true nature of ‘I’. One should spendsome time daily on the subject of atman and the anatman(non-self). One should try to find out what is the realityof atman. ‘I’ does not mean only the physical body;there is an indwelling Self which resides, as it were, inthis, with all the traits and adjuncts (upadhis). Thephysical body is merely a dwelling place for that mightyessence or Being. There is a subtle body behind thephysical body and beyond that is the true basis of ourpersonality. We should learn to separate the Indwellerand the dwelling place through proper discrimination(viveka) and detachment (vairagya).

Again, we can compare body and mind to a chairor a sofa which one uses for sitting and enjoyingsomething. Body is called the ‘seat of experience’ (bhog-adhisthanam). We should find out who is the ‘enjoyer’(bhokta). When our mind is preoccupied with the objectsof enjoyment, with senses, with people and consumergoods, we do not see the ‘enjoyer’. Holy Company(satsanga) and scripture (shastra) draw our attention to

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the ‘enjoyer’ and make the mind rise above the body-consciousness. The mind, hence, should be trained tosee the Indweller, the Self, and a corrective be made inour thinking.

The Journey of Life

Let us remember that parents do not create thesubtle body (sukshma sharira). The parents only providea dwelling place for the embodied being (jiva). Beforethis ‘dwelling place’ (the body) was created, wherewas the embodied being? It is only the physical bodywhich comes into existence at the time of birth. TheIndweller, the Self, was not absent when the body hadnot been created nor will this become absent when thebody dies and one goes to the next body. It is likeshifting a house or moving into a new house. The sameholds true of the embodied being. A seeker shouldlearn to see himself as an Indweller of the body andnot as the body. All our worldly relationships are basedon the belief that we are body.

What is your real identity? Who is the ‘being’ thatcomes and goes? According to Hindu scriptures, inprevious lives too, we had a body and were attachedeither as husband or wife or son or daughter. We wereattached to property, money, power and so on in thatlife and are attached in this life also. But when weleave or give up this body, we will be reborn in a newcircumstance, create fresh relationships, freshattachments and we develop the same sense ofpossession (mamabhava), and self-centredness(ahambhava), and good (punya) and bad (papa) results of

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action will be accrued. That is how the embodied being,has been travelling on, birth after birth.

The mind, however, is more interested in knowingwith whom the embodied being has been travelling ratherthan seeing who is travelling.

But we begin to feel a sense of independence,when we go deeper and feel how we are differentfrom our body. Physical body is like a dress and thesubtle body is yet another dress, worn beneath it. Evenour subtle body undergoes change. The subtle body ismade up of thoughts, feelings, impressions and so on.When our thoughts, feelings and values undergo achange, our subtle body also undergoes a change. Theyall keep changing but the ‘I’, the seer and theexperiencer, who sees all these changes, remainsunchanging. When one discovers this aspect of oneself,one begins to enjoy how free he is—he is neither grossbody nor subtle body.

No matter what one does, the physical body isgoing to wither away like a flower. Just as it is ridiculousto expect a flower not to dry up so also it is pointlessto expect that the body will not deteriorate; it is definite.Why then should one spoil the mind with vain hopes?Wife, sister, mother, father, husband, friend—all areimportant till one ‘occupies’ the body. All relations existas long as one is in the body; no such relationship ispermanent. Nothing can make the body eternal:medicine, wealth, name or fame—none. Let us acceptthis simple truth.

The subtle body, again, is also a combina-tion of various elements such as—five organs of action,

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five organs of knowledge, five vital energies andmindstuff. Inside it is the atman. The embodied beingis the experiencer, being the 17th ‘element’.

The Inner Nature of HappinessThe key to be happy or unhappy lies within us. If

we decide to be happy, the external world cannotdisturb us. Certain circumstances may take away anobject or a person we love but being established in ourreal self, we can still remain happy.

We should control our mind which is the sourceof our happiness or unhappiness. This is what wediscover when we think deeply. Vedanta does not saythat everything is fine outside but it gives a betterunderstanding of our happiness and misery. If wechange our mind, the whole world looks different.

The Vedanta gives a capacity to protect our mentalhealth, and not just to go on changing the externalworld. With a better understanding, the world no longerfrightens us. We then develop the capacity to acceptwhatever comes and take things in their stride. With achange of vision towards life, all situations in life becomenegligible and we see the glory of the atman, our realSelf. The body-mind in which we ‘live’ may be smallbut that which dwells in them is infinite. We then findour real nature which is ever perfect, pure, strong andwise. This is what the scriptures teach us.

Once we learn this truth and our attention isalways fixed on this, it is called adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam.

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Tattvajnartha-darshanam(Meditating on the reality of Self)

This is the last of the spiritual value enumeratedhere.

Tat means ‘that-ness’. Tattva is Knowledge ofReality. If you see a mirage and conclude that there iswater, then that is called an illusion (bhranti). To realizethat it is a mirage and not a water-body is called tattvajnanam. What is tattva of atman?

The Vedantic scriptures tell us that atman isUltimate Reality (Brahman or tattva). It is never born,never dies, and is changeless. But then what do mostpeople think of the self? What do we refer to wheneverwe say ‘I’?

Tattva jnanam means to find out the reality of Self.What is the benefit if we find It out? Suppose we findout the height of a mountain or find out how manyleaves are there on a tree, what do gain from it?Similarly, if we know that nature of the Self, what willwe get out of it?

Such a knowledge solves the problem of life anddeath. We suffer from many problems such as a senseof helplessness, inferiority, impatience and so on. If welook deeper, we will find that in reality these problemsare results of our conclusions about us. We are troubled

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by these conclusions and hence become unhappy. Oncea person concludes that he is small or limited, he furtherfeels that he is insecure. This sense of limitation is thedoor through which all wrong conclusions enter. Buthappiness comes to us when our conclusion about the‘self’ is set right. A mind bogged down with fear,anxiety and panic cannot be happy.

Since we think we cannot get out of this viciouscircle, we carry on with our old ways. If we know thatthere is a way out, we would be eager to know it andour scriptures tell us that there is a way and that wayis the Knowledge of the Self. Self-knowledge leads tofreedom from misery.

How to ‘See’ the Self

The issue is how to ‘see’ or ‘know’ one’s own Self!Although we may arrive at the conclusion we are theGreat One, we feel we are small. Although we knowthat we are the Beautiful One, we feel we are ugly.Although we know that we are the Wise One, we feelwe are ignorant. Well, we have to change our attitude.

How? Through discrimination or viveka. We haveto clean up the mind, and develop our discriminativefaculty.

Alongside, we should also develop dispassiontowards praise and blame, name and fame and so on.We should value the Self, and let go all names andforms.

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Developing viveka means understanding that ourphysical form is different from our true nature which isEternal and Ever-present. It is to know that we areExistence, Knowledge and Bliss. But the difficulty is ifwe are so, why do not we ‘see’ it? The answer lies inour emotional and psychological inadequacies to graspthis truth. Even though we seem to want this truth, weare unwilling to let go our pet and long-cultivated ideasabout our limitations. As we equate our attachments tohappiness, giving up our attachments becomes givingup happiness. And who wants to be unhappy!

‘Attachment only brings destruction’ was the lessonBhagavan Dattatreya learnt from a family of birds. In aforest fire, their baby bird perished and seeing the lossof their baby, the mother and father too give up life.Dattatreya then wonders how attachment causesdestruction. If helplessness brings about destruction, itis understandable. But here helplessness comes due toattachment and that cannot be explained. Likewise, wetoo suffer because of our attachments. We forget theeternity of atman and get busy with our ‘my name, mybody, my wife, my family, my job’ and so on. Thesuffering thus comes from our attachments and notfrom outside.

Of course it is not easy to change our attitude.That is why we have to cultivate all the spiritual valuesenlisted in these virtues. Human values like humility,non-violence, purity, control of sense and so on help usto change our mind and prepare us see things as theyare and be ready for the highest knowledge. Wedevelop a larger view of life and our emotional

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attachments to people, ideas, objects and other thingsdrop away slowly.

And then comes the realization that atman isBrahman and that alone matters. As long we use theword ‘I’ along with its adjuncts (upadhis), we cannotknow the Ultimate Reality. Hence one needs vivekaand vairagya to know the Reality. That realization ofthe Reality leads to wiping out of all misery and painof life. This is ever-lasting peace what Self-knowledgebrings to us. As the Upanishad says, ‘A Knower of Selfgoes across the sea of misery’ (shokam tarati atmavit—Chandogya Upanishad).