Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Bhagwad Gita- Post 156


Quality # 26
Sthiramatir                                         
Steady mind

He is not agitated, and is established in understanding. Such a devotee is the beloved of God.
Devotees have deep conviction in the supremacy of God’s position in creation and in their eternal relationship with Him.  

They are also firm in their faith that if they surrender to Him lovingly, by God’s grace they will achieve the highest realization.  

Steady mind is a rare quality to be found in Bhaktas / spiritual seekers in today's world.

We participate in satsangh, visit puttparthi, participate in bhaans and activities there, fill ourselves with firm resolve to pursue spiritual sadhana and then, even before reaching the airport, during the journey in cab itself, our mind gets drawn to Samsara!!

With Samsara pulling them strongly, they sway from here to there, they are not steady even in sticking on to one God/one Guru/one path in their spiritual sadhana.

Devotional resignation and exclusiveness will have to make the mind and intelligence resolute and stable. Like drdhaniscayatva mentioned earlier (12.14), sthira-matitva also emphasizes spiritual firmness and resolve. This means that the seeker is free of all doubts, desires, ego and possessiveness.
 
They indeed, who follow this 'Immortal DHARMA' (Law of Life) as described above, endowed with faith, regarding Me as their Supreme Goal --- such devotees are exceedingly dear to Me.

To realize the Self and live in that wisdom at all our personality levels --- physical, mental and intellectual --- is the fulfillment of the life of a true seeker. It is not sufficient that he understands this, or reads regularly his scriptures, or even explains them intelligently. 


He must be able to digest them properly, assimilate them fully, and become Perfect. Therefore, Bhagawan says that he must be "ENDOWED WITH FAITH". 

Here, the term 'faith' means "the necessary capacity to assimilate spiritual ideas into ourselves through subjective personal experience." SUCH DEVOTEES ARE SUPREMELY DEAR TO ME !!






Let us  quickly recapitulate the 26 qualities .

1
Advestha sarva bhhotanam
Hates no creature
2
Maitrah, Karuna
Friendly
3
Nirmamo
Free from attachment
4
Nir ahankarah
Free from ego
5
Sama Dukha sukha
Balanced in pleasure  and pain
6
Kshamee
Forgiving
7
Santushta   satatam
Ever content
8
Yogee
Steady in meditation
9
Yataatmaa dridhanishchayah
Possessing form conviction
10
Madbaktah
Mind and intellect dedicated to the Lord 
11
Yasmaan nodwijate loko
By whom world is not agitated
12
Lokaan nodwijate cha yah
cannot be agitated by the world
13
Harshaam arshabhyod wegair Mukto
Free from joy, fear, envy, Anxiety
14
An apekshah
Free from wants
15
Suchi
Pure 
16
Daksha
Expert
17
Udaseeno
Unconcerned
18
Gatavyatah
Untroubled
19
Sarva arambha parityagee
Renounced all undertakings and all commencements 
20
Yona hrishyati na dweshti
Neither rejoices, nor hates
21
Na sochati na kaangkshati
Neither grieves nor desires
22
Shubha Ashubha parityagee
Renouncing good and evil
23
Tulya nindaa stutir maunee
censure, praise equal                                               
24
Santushto yena kenachit
Silent, content with anything
25
Aniketah
Homeless
26
Sthiramatir
Steady mind
  
it will be  extremely useful if we make a  monthly calendar, list down these 26 on the first column, insert the 30/31 dates column after that in our diary and before retiring at night, quickly run through the list and just put a "tick"  for the qualities in which we passed that day and a " cross" for the qualities in which we failed that day and then, over the next 3 months, see how many "x" have been converted to “ ✅  ”

With this we conclude  the 12th chapter.

Love