Chapter V
People are engaged in various forms of cultivation, but the most important of these is cultivation of spiritual experiences. All cultivation is based on spiritual cultivation. It is the king of cultures.
The king makes laws, but
he is above and beyond them. So too, all rules and laws, all distinctions of
right and wrong, of sin and virtue, of joy and sorrow affect only the
individual soul (jivi) that
attaches importance to the inexperienced mind (manas) and intellect (buddhi) and not to the Atma.
So, cultivation of the
Atmic experience, which is pure, convincing, and self-transcending, is
essential for all. It is also easy, for the Atma is as the mother of all, and
hearkening to the Atma is like the child hearkening to the mother. Everyone is
competent to have that experience; in fact, it is everyone’s right to have it.
That is why the Atmic discipline is being treated by me as so important.
The primary qualifications
The Atma is also known
as Brahman, so learning the Atmic knowledge or Brahman knowledge (Atma vidya) is to be considered as the objective by
every student.
Such students have to
earn some primary qualifications. Then only do they deserve the status of
studentship. These qualifications are: discrimination (viveka), renunciation (vairagya), and the six qualities that constitute a good
character. Aspirants who have these qualifications can hope to attain the Atma
with confidence and without much difficulty.
Introspection by a
devotee
We have had couple of dedicated sessions/satsangh
exclusively dealing with these 6 qualifications that Swami has mentioned here -
Sadhana Chatushtaya!!
The same are explained in many posts
under different theme in the blog. Readers may search with “sadhana chatushtaya”
and they would be able to go through commentary on these 4 virtues/ primary
qualifications.
Lead a dharmic life
The highest Atma (Paramatma) has six chief characteristics:
1. Complete wisdom (jnana),
2. Complete renunciation (vairagya),
3. Divine beauty, the
fullest splendour of power (Aiswarya), undiminished
fame, and inexhaustible fortune.
4. His nature is full existence (sat),
5. Full knowledge (chit)
6. Full bliss (ananda).
These are also related
to people through the Atma in them. So all humanity has a right to realize and
enjoy these characteristics and this nature. That is its ordained duty. The
travail of the world today is due to people not performing this ordained duty.
In daily life, the
common person acts quite contrary to the dictates of the dharma of the
householder (grihastha).
People do not follow the path laid down by the scriptures (sastras) and by the law texts of Manu (Manusmrithi).
They do not have an iota
of truthfulness in them. Truth is the most holy virtue. So, leading a primitive
type of life, people lose courage at the slightest upset and give up the
adventure of life. People develop a kind of pseudo-renunciation.
If only they would enter
upon the householder’s life with the attitude of performing their duty, they
would not need to run away from it and seek caves and forests for escape. Each
can realize the Lord in their assignment of duty, in their dharmic life.
Introspection by a
devotee
Those who have been into sessions for
many years, may actually wonder as to how Swami is writing/ speaking the same
lines as their Preceptor who has been giving sessions for the last 10 years.
They have been taught of their dharma in
various ashramas in which human beings exist at different phases of life and
since most of them are in Grahastha ashrama, they have been taught very well on
their dharma as householder and not once have they been told/ taught/ persuaded
to leave any of their duties as householder.
It is a total misapprehension that
evolving spiritually, getting intensely into spiritual sadhana will take an
aspirant away from his relations, his kith and kin , develop a detachment
against those with whom the aspirant has to live in this world as a Grahastha.
In fact, proper understanding of one’s
dharma, keeping all dharma within the over all, single dharma which is Atma
Dharma leads one to practice total love with total detachment. Love and
Detachment being apparently contradictory terms, it is difficult to understand
as to how to practice love with detachment, unless one really evolves spiritually
and experiences this “Love with detachment” without any deliberate efforts for
the same.
Love.
