Jnana Vahini - Post 21

Panchadasi says, 

"Thath chinthanam,

thath kathanam,

anyonyam thath prabodhanam,

ethath eka param thwam cha,

Jnanabhyaasam vidur budhaah".

"Thoughts dedicated to Him alone,

speech devoted to Him alone,

conversation centered on Him alone,

this one-pointed existence is referred to by the wise as the Discipline of Jnana".

This is the lesson taught in the Gita by Krishna. 

"Math chiththaa

mathgatha praanaa

bodhayanthah parasparam,

kathayanthi cha maam nithyam

thushyanthi cha ramanthi cha".

"They fix the mind on Me,

they survive only because they breathe me,

they inform each other about Me,

they talk only of Me,

they are happy and content with these only".

This ceaseless thought of the Lord is also referred to as Brahma chinthana or Jnaana abhyaasa or Atma abhyaasa.

The mind pursues exterior objects only either because of the pull of the senses or because of the delusion caused by superimposing on the external world the characteristics of permanence etc. So it has to be again and again brought back to travel to the correct goal.

The recalcitrant mind can be slowly turned towards Brahma dhyana if at first it is shown the sweetness of Bhajan, the efficacy of prayer and the calming effects of meditation. It must also be led on by the cultivation of good habits, good company and good deeds. 

Dhyanam will, as it proceeds further and further, give rise to greater and greater keenness. Thus the mind has to be caged in the cave of the heart.  

The final result of this discipline is no less than Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the Equanimity that is undisturbed.

This Samadhi is really speaking Brahmajnana itself, the Jnana that grants release or Moksha. The discipline for this consists of three exercises:

·       the giving up of craving,

·       the elimination of mind and

·       the understanding of the Reality. 

The instincts and impulses or Vasanas are too strong to yield easily; they make the senses active and greedy and bind the person tighter and tighter. 

Attention has therefore to be paid to the sublimation and subjugation of the senses and the promptings behind them, to the development of self-abnegation, the relentless pursuit of reason and discrimination in order that the mind may not get mastery over man. When the mind is won, the dawn of Jnana is heralded.

The Jnani or the liberated person will be unaffected by joy or sorrow, for how can any event produce reactions in him who has wiped out his mind? It is the mind that makes you 'feel'; 

When one has taken a drug that deadens the consciousness, he feels no pain or joy, for the body is then separated from the mind. So too, wisdom, when it dawns, separates the mind and keeps it aloof from all contact.

Love.