Introduction to Vedas and Vedanta - Part 27

TITIKSHA

(Continued…)

Some saints make Titiksha the goal of life. Till the end of life they stand on one leg in cold water in winter and in the hot sun in summer. Some remain naked in winter, some stand on one leg raising their hands above, some stand in water waist-deep and do Japa, some stand in the hot sun, some hang from a tree head downwards with a fire lighted below, while some sleep and sit on a bed of nails. They develop will-power, but such endurance by itself may not be able to secure the highest human end.

Foolish austerities of a rigorous kind are condemned by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. "The man who performs severe austerities unenjoined by the scriptures, wedded to vanity and egoism, impelled by the force of their desires and passions; unintelligent, tormenting the aggregated elements forming the body and Me also, firm in their resolves...".

Some ignorant people think: "If there are no diseases in this world, if there is no burning heat in summer, if it is always winter, if there is no pain in the world, if this world is free from tigers, cobras, scorpions, centipedes, flies, mosquitoes, bugs, etc., it will be a veritable heaven on earth. 

A wise man never grumbles. He tries to fix himself up in that unchanging, permanent, witnessing consciousness which is hidden in his heart and which is beyond all the pairs of opposites, and then watches the movements and the phenomena of this universe with an unruffled mind.  

He now understands the reason for the existence of pain, snakes, scorpions, tigers, etc. This is true of Titiksha based on knowledge. The practitioner can endure any kind of difficulty or catastrophe and is not shaken even by shocking news of heavy sorrow. 

He is superior to those who have trained themselves by physical torture, because the latter will show signs of failure when confronted by serious disasters.

Wherever you go you carry your own mind, subtle desires and innate tendencies with you. Attraction and repulsion are everywhere, even in the caves of the Himalayas. Create your own world and environments from within, then alone can you be happy anywhere and under any circumstances.

The best of all virtues is even-mindedness. Therefore, develop this virtue with patience and perseverance. Other virtues will cling to you by themselves. Bear difficulties patiently. 

To an aspirant who wrote of difficulties in his work Swami Sivananda replied: "Are you the Atman or mind or body? Even though you have read my writings hundreds of times, you identify yourself with mind and body and lose the balance of mind when a trifling criticism is made, so strong is your egoism. People can criticize your body and mind. 

You yourself dislike your body and mind. Those who criticize your body and mind become your friends. Then why do you get agitated, my dear friend? You are still weak. You have not grown spiritually. Ignore criticism. 

Why do you brood over past events? This is a very bad habit. You can't have peace of mind. Rise above criticisms and petty remarks and stand firm like the rock. Do good to those men who attempt to poison or hurt you. Put this in practice".

"Do not be afraid of insult, disrespect, dishonour, abuse, or harsh words. Wear them as ornaments on your body".

Love.

Sri Aurobindo

Dear All,

Another yogi, Swami Krishnananda ji writes, 

"God is the Supreme Reality and is the only goal of life, towards which every atom, every blessed thing big and small, every soul is gravitating. 

As rivers rush in to the ocean, all souls move towards God – rush towards God, as it were – because the goal of all life, all creation, whatever be its form, is the realisation of God, the Supreme Being, the Absolute."

How beautifully this aligns with today's quote of Sri Aurobindo!!!

Man, in his ever lasting search of happiness, runs from pillar to post, jumps from one desire to another like a monkey. Though such  craving for desire fulfillment may be condemned at the outset, this continuous search for happiness and the lack of fulfillment man experiences on each desire fulfillment , by itself, is a subtle indication  that he has to logically move towards God, step by step, birth by birth, as God is the only attainment which can grant ever lasting Joy and fulfillment to man.

Why?

Because, only in God attainment, only in realizing God, Man finds his true identity which he had forgotten in his ignorance and in that ignorance, he had been running hither and thither, birth after birth, not knowing that in him the pure consciousness, exists the reservoir of universal joy!!!

The impotency of each and every object in this world to grant eternal joy to man itself is the clue to man's rushing from lower to higher levels in his pursuits, ultimately to find God, like Mira found Krishna in herself!!

O man, O devotees, please sit for a moment in deep silence. Through out the week, you have been running, working tirelessly from dawn to dusk only to get moments of fleeting/ passing happiness but do you not get that one minute or few minutes of real bliss/ joy/ inner satisfaction ONLY when your eyes are closed while you are seated in the bhajan centre, tuned to HIM??

Cant this one single factor awaken you to the real truth that you can get the real joy, real happiness ONLY IN UNION WITH GOD?.

Sri Aurobindo keeps God attainment as the pinnacle in the evolution process in the earth!!

So true !!

Like the evolution process has improved and evolved and has been evolving continuously over thousands of years, like a nation has now announced that it plans to take off for a travel to SUN, man's evolution is also a continuous process, from Devil him to the Divine God!!

A poet wrote, 

" Aji Hum se bachkar kahan jayiyega?

Jahan Jayiyega, Hume payiyega". " 

(My beloved, where you will go, escaping from me, for, wherever you go, you will find just me and me alone".)

Moodamathe, if you ( the mind), has realized that at last, at the pinnacle of  your evolvement, you have to reach Him and merge in Him as He has called you and sang, " Wherever you go, how ever far you may go, ultimately, you have to find me and me alone, then, why you delay this merger with God birth after birth??? 

How many more births will you still believe that the impermanent objects in this world, those which are perishable by their very nature, can bestow upon you, permanent and imperishable Joy????

Why your bright intellect, your shrewdness, your  highest level of smartness is rendered impotent when it comes to realizing that your salvation is only in God realization????

Why your mind fails to convey to you that only He the God is the Prema sagara, the never drying ocean of love which can merge you in HIM for you to eternally exist as the same ocean of love??

Think, O mind, Think!!!!!

Love