Introduction to Vedas and Vedanta - Part 23

VAIRAGYA contd....

When Vairagya appears in the mind, it opens the gate to Divine Wisdom. 

From dis-satisfaction (with the sense-objects and worldly sense-enjoyments) comes aspiration. 

From aspiration comes abstraction.

From abstraction comes the concentration of the mind.

From the concentration of the mind comes meditation or contemplation.

From contemplation comes Samadhi or Self-realisation.

Without dis-satisfaction or Vairagya, nothing is possible. 

Just as water, when it leaks into the rat-holes, instead of running into the proper channels in agricultural fields, becomes wasted and does not help the growth of plants, grains, etc., so also, the efforts of an aspirant become wastage if he has not got the virtue Vairagya. He gets no spiritual advancement. 

Enemies Of Vairagya 

The Curse of Affection 

Delusion proceeds from affection. It is a common observation that a person is distressed, if the cat eats his domestic fowl; but when his affections are not touched, for instance, if the cat eats a sparrow or a mouse, he expresses no sorrow. 

At the back of affection and love, there is grief and sorrow. 

Affection is mixed with sorrow.

At the back of pleasure, there is pain. 

Pain is mixed with pleasure.

Man sows the poisonous seed of sorrow under the name of love, from which quickly spring up shoots of affection which contain a fire dangerous as lightning; and from these shoots, grow trees of sorrow with innumerable branches which, burning like a heap of covered straw, slowly consume the body. 

The knot of affection is strengthened by long indulgence. Affection has entwined its threads around the hearts of men. 

The principal means to get rid of affection is to consider that this is a fleeting existence. 

In this wide world, how many millions of parents, wives, children, uncles and grandfathers have passed away. You should consider the Society of Friends as a momentary flash of lightning and, revolving this often in your mind, enjoy felicity. 

Hope and Anticipation 

Hope and Anticipation are the opposite of Vairagya and Tyaga. They fatten the mind. To be perfectly hopeless is a very high state for a philosopher. 

They always say with contempt: "He is a hopeless man". Worldlings and philosophers move towards diametrically opposite poles. 

Swami says "Life is lost in dreaming, BEING is lost in becoming".

Man spoils a perfect today by thinking about future, planning for the future, hoping for better things in future. 

As long as man continues to hope to get more and more in worldly aspects, he gets lesser and lesser capable to develop dispassion / vairagya.

How many times, on how many occasions, the author has talked / given sessions to so many, on this viveka and vairagya!!

Other than the sessions, whenever Viveka, Vairagya topic has been taken up spontaneously by the author while conversing with many beings, their conscience from within says "YES" to whatever he advises / tells them.

But Maya is so powerful, they get caught up in Maya which binds them to the world and its glitter that the VIVEKA required does not arise and stays!!!

The call of conscience from within that "this is real and this is unreal" (viveka) and the momentary feeling for discarding want is unreal (vairagya) is what is called in common parlance as "masana vairagya" or "prasava vairagya".

Masana vairagya - When we see a dead body being burnt in the ghat, intense vairagya crops up from within "chi, what is this world, what is the significance of this body, once prana leaves the body, see, how my own dear friend / relative's body is getting burnt there. Why do we give so much importance to our body and this world" and there comes the uttering of "God is the only Reality"!!!

The intense vairagya stays only for the 13 days from the death of our near ones. After that, we are back to this world, dreaming and losing our vairagya.

Prasava vairagya - The word is self explanatory. The pregnant woman during the labour pain cries out, "enough, enough, no more children, can't bear this pain" and there, after few months, her husband conveys to his Father in law, "Be blessed and happy to know that your daughter is pregnant (AGAIN!!)”.

Continued........

Love.