Dear All,
Stage 3 - Gratitude of sadhaka turned seer, towards his Guru who removed all his delusion
It comes from within to get more deeper into the
verse already concluded in previous post.
Verse 73
Arjuna
said:
Destroyed
is my delusion as I have gained my memory (knowledge) through Thy Grace, O
Krishna! I am firm; my doubts are gone. I will act according to Thy word.
This one verse
reveals the entire travel of a sadhaka from Moha
(Delusion) to Smriti ( Knowledge
) through the teachings imparted by Guru / God and then the final whisper which
comes from the inner heart of the sadhaka, now turned seer (Seer is the one who
has known / experienced the mergence of Knower and Known, mergence of the
creator, himself and the creation).
A whole book can
be written based on this single verse.
Moha / Delusion is the strongest
weapon of Maya to take the Jivas in
Her clutch. It is born of ignorance. It is the cause of the whole evil of Samsara.
The whole aim of Sadhana or spiritual practice and the
study of scriptures is the annihilation of delusion and the attainment of the
knowledge of the Self.
When one gets it,
the three knots or ties of ignorance viz. ignorance, delusion (desire) and
action (Avidya, Kama, Karma) are
destroyed, all the doubts are cleared, and all the Karmas are destroyed.
The words tvat prasadan means by your grace. By the Grace of Lord Krishna all
illusion was dispelled. The word tvat
is derived from tvatvam meaning
eternal spiritual verities.
The word smriti means wisdom, enlightenment concerning the absolute nature
of tvatvam. By the Supreme Lord's
Grace this was bestowed.
Smriti consists
in knowing that the atma or immortal
soul is distinct from matter, that the atma
is different in nature from matter, that the SELF is cognizant and
existing equally in all jivas, SELF
is an infinitesimal, eternal part of the Supreme Lord Krishna, is dependent
upon Him, under His direction and always in allegiance to Him.
In knowing that the ultimate
reality of Lord Krishna (as much as all incarnation) is He that is
described so gloriously as the goal of the Vedic scriptures and in knowing that
He is knowable by the Vedic scriptures.
Let us live the three stages in
spiritual sadhana through few
glimpses from treatise.
Stage 1 - The state of a
jiva, blinded by delusion
The
disciple said: O Merciful Master! I bow to thee. I have fallen into the
dreadful ocean of birth and death. I am afflicted with the three kinds of
Taapas. Save me, O Lord. Teach me, how I should cross this ocean of Samsara.
(Moksha
Gita by Swami Sivananda)
The disciple approaches the Guru.
This is the starting-point of Brahmavidya.
The aspirant after equipping himself with the Sadhana-Chatushtaya, i.e., the ethical discipline necessary for the
purification of the heart before entering into the field of Brahmavidya proper or the Science of the
Ultimate Reality, goes to the Spiritual Teacher for higher Knowledge.
Humbler than a blade of grass,
filled with the fire of renunciation born of discriminatory understanding, the
seeker bows down to the Guru who glories in the majesty of Brahmic
Splendour.
Not as the present-day student of
the school or the college, but as an earnest votary of Life's Grand
Destination, roused up by the consciousness of suffering in pluralistic
existence on earth, fully aware of the affliction of mortal living,
cheated by chance, tormented by thought, defeated by the forces of nature,
oppressed by the massive weight of worldly duty, shocked by the horror of
death, dreaded by the consciousness of future lives where the tragedy of
existence will be repeated, finding no way of escape from the prison of
terrestrialness, the aspirant opens his eyes and looks up towards his Great
Duty, the duty of Self-realization.
Stage 2 – How Guru
removes delusion and gives Knowledge
Paramahamsa Yogananda writes,
"A guru, ordained by God to help individuals in response to
their deep prayers, is not an ordinary teacher; but is a human vehicle whose
body, speech, mind, and spirituality God uses as a channel to attract and guide
lost souls back to His home of immortality.
A guru is a living embodiment of scriptural truth and an agent
of salvation appointed by God in response to a devotee’s incessant petitions
for release from the bondage of matter.
Delusion is destroyed by good company, by the
company of saints, and by devotion to the messengers of God.
My Master said to me: “I will be your friend from now through
eternity, no matter whether you are on the lowest mental plane or on the
highest plane of wisdom. I will be your friend even if you should err, for then
you will need my friendship more than at any other time.”
When I accepted my Master’s unconditional friendship, he said:
“Will you give me the same unconditional love?” He gazed at me with childlike
trust.
“I will love you eternally, Gurudeva!”
It was only after we had made this spiritual pact that I began
to understand fully the significance of a guru to a disciple. I never found
complete satisfaction, comfort, and God contact until I attuned myself with
unconditional loyalty and devotion to the divine consciousness of my Guru.
To the world God speaks only through His enlightened devotees.
Therefore, the wisest of all actions is to tune in with the will of the guru
who is sent to you by the Lord as a response to your soul’s desire. He is not a
guru who is self-proclaimed as such; he is a guru who is asked by God to bring
others back to Him. When there is a little spiritual desire, the Lord sends
books and teachers to further inspire you; and when your desire is stronger, he
sends a real guru....
Stage 3 - Gratitude of sadhaka turned seer, towards his Guru who removed all his delusion
Salutations
unto Thee, O Venerable Guru! Thou hast saved me from the wheel of birth and
death. Through Thy grace I have attained Immortality and eternal Bliss.
All my doubts, delusion and ignorance have vanished. Crores of
prostrations unto Thee, O Merciful Lord.
(Moksha
Gita - Swami Sivananda)
O Guru! Without Thy infinite
compassion, no Self-realization is possible. Thy grace comes in the form of
self-effort and meditation and Thy grace alone removes my ignorance. Sadhana is
possible only with Thy blessing. If thou turnest away from me, Truth will turn
away from me. Thou hast illumined me, O Lord! Prostrations to Thy Lotus-Feet!
(How grateful, how infinitely
grateful is the author to his Sadguru, his divine Guide, his Lord, Lord of
Lords, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba who took the role of
Guru as explained in this post and took him through Delusion to
Deliverance )!!!!!!!
There are teachers who expect
their followers to be always at their beck and call, ready to obey instantly;
and if they don’t, the teacher becomes angry. But a spiritual teacher who knows
God and is truly a guru never thinks of himself as a teacher at all.
He beholds God’s presence in
everyone, and feels no resentment if some students disregard his wishes. The
Hindu scriptures say that those who tune in with the wisdom of a true guru make
it possible for the guru to help them. “Comprehending that (the wisdom from a
guru), thou, O Arjuna! wilt not again fall into delusion.”
Arjuna's words in this
verse- 'I am firm', reminds us of the state of the Sthitaprajna (sage of firm wisdom)
mentioned at the end of the second chapter.
Hari Aum
Tatsat
Love.
