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.
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.
