Bhagwad Gita- Post 155

Quality # 24

Santushto yena kenachit

Silent, content with anything

A true seeker of wisdom becomes a man of few words --- not only physically but even mentally.

Silence within is real silence (Mouna)
. 

People are seen observing Mouna vratha, keeping silent for some time during the day/ during important festivals. It is good to observe silence like that, but what is required is the mental silence, un undisturbed mind, a mind with no agitation, no restless, disturbed flow of thoughts.

Swami Says,

“Silence is not a matter of resolve. It is always there. Silence is the constant, endless flow of pure God into you, while in the world.” 

When we go deep into Bhagawan’s quote  given above, we can relate it to a true devotee. 

When he has discovered the “endless flow of God” as “ Pure Love” within him, how will that mind get disturbed/ agitated/ restless with any worldly thoughts??

Let us see what Sri Ramana says on silence.

"What exists in truth is the Self alone. The self is that where there is absolutely no "I" thought. That is called Silence. The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is "I"; the Self itself is God."

"The inner silence is self-surrender. And that is living without the sense of ego. Solitude is in the mind of humanity. Silence is ever speaking; it is the perennial flow of "language." It is interrupted by speaking; for words obstruct this mute language. Silence is permanent and benefits the whole of humanity. . . . By silence, eloquence is meant. It is the best language. There is a state when words cease and silence prevails."

Quality # 25

Aniketah

Homeless

A sage writes on this quality thus:

“Home is generally that which provides shelter from the external vagaries  of weather, for the resident who is dwelling under its roof. 

The man of spiritual realization is one who is trying to pull down all his conditionings and striving to free himself from all sense of possession and material shackles.

Living under a roof, in itself, does not make the place a home. To spend a night on a railway station, or in the retiring room at an aerodrome, does not make the place the traveler's own home. 

It is only along with a sense of possession, reinforced with a sense of happiness and comfort, that the place under a roof becomes a home. 

Kaviraj Shailendra wrote, 

" Maana apne jeb se faqir hain, phir bhi yaaron dil se hum amir hain"

May be that I don't have a penny in my pocket but as far as my heart is concerned, I am very rich ! 

(in terms of the treasure of pure, expanded, universal love)

A true devotee has merged with  the All-Pervading source, and therefore, his mental condition is indicated here by the simple pertinent word 'homeless.'

In short, the inner state if such a devotee can be better stated as “ Having nothing to own ( at worldly level, home being one of them which he does not have/own) but the whole world, as though, is his own ( Having realized God, he as SELF/God, pervades the entire universe, his love  had expanded and covered the entire creation). 

Readers may wonder, how he is writing not owning and owning both together, whereas both are contradictory.

Not owning anything is at worldly level and owning everything is at spiritual level!

He may be a beggar at worldly level but internally, He is the “uncrowned king” of his own “ Swrajya Samrajya” as Sankara writes in viveka chudamani. 

He is King of his  independent, sovereign, Kingdom ( of Love, of Bliss!!)

Love

Bhagwad Gita- Post 154

Quality # 23

Tulya nindaa Stutir maunee  

Equal in censure or praise

Ninda and stuti mean the same thing to him. “You are the worst of fellows”— “all right, accepted”. 

“There is nobody like you in the whole world”—"that is also good, fine”.

He takes both of them as prasad. 

Chinmaya writes,

“A situation is judged by the intellect as honorable or dishonorable with reference to its own existing values and cultivated habits of thinking. 

That which is ordinarily considered dishonorable can itself come to be estimated by the same person as honorable in a new pattern of circumstances ordered by a change in time and place. 

On the whole, these are all different tides in the intellect; and those who are living in that realm  ( of BMI) are affected by them.”

Dear All,

When the world praises you or curses you, actually what is that they are praising or cursing?? 

They are looking at you as a person, as an individual, with a BMI, with a personality of your own, a nature of your own, acting in the society with desires, expectations etc.  

This is the world of beings , they can look at you only with their limited mind , their limited vision of seeing you with limitations, since they see themselves also with limitations.

Here is the true devotee who has surrendered to the lord, who takes up no action with expectations, which we have understood in earlier qualities. 

He exists moment to moment, acts moment to moment, propelled only by intuition and not by Ego, hatred, attachment  or inherent tendencies. 

So, when any praise or any dishonor/censure is showered  at him, he is not able to even recognize that they are pointed towards him, as he does not exist as a human being.   Will the SELF that he exists as, have any mind  to grasp any praise or censure??

Sri Chinmaya , in  his commentary  on a verse in viveka chudamani on Stitaprajna writes, “Adoration and censures, flowers or a garland of slippers, when heaped on him/ presented to him, all of them, the praises as well as censure, disappear from his bosom in no time  and there , he exists, rooted in consciousness (Stitaprajna).

How wonderful is it to note that all the qualities described as that of a true bhakta in this chapter, exactly matches all the qualities of a Jivanmukhta, in Jnana!. 

The path is different but the  culmination, the end result , the inner state of the one who has pursued path of devotion and reached the goal or a sadhaka who pursues the path of jnana and reaches the goal, are  exactly the same.

Love

Bhagwad Gita- Post 153

Quality # 21 

Na sochati na kaangkshati  

Neither grieves nor desires

Grief is generally experienced while parting with a beloved object, and desires are entertained when one yearns to have and to possess something unattained at present. 

Needless to say, the root cause is again “ EGO”.

A Man of Perfection is one whose beloved object, the Self, can never be apart from him. ( Hence, no GRIEF)

And he has no sense of attachment with any other object. (Hence no Desire)

Having attained the Self, the inhabitant of his heart, he has such a complete sense of fulfillment that he has no more any desire for attaining anything that he has not attained. The Self being the All, he has attained everything.

With all the understanding gained by us so far, shall we re arrange the line as " No desire and hence, no possibility of grieving ever"?

Quality # 22 

Shubha Ashubha parityagee          

Renouncing good and evil

The happenings in the world around us can fall under these two categories, according to whether they arouse in us a feeling of joy or sorrow. 

To any person who is living away from the realm of the dualistic experiences, and who has learnt the art of drawing inspiration from something beyond, none of the happenings, here at the level of the mind and the intellect, can be of any serious consequences.

A verse from Ashtavakra Gita is recalled here, which applies to all dualities dealt in the 26 qualities of devotee in this chapter as much as it applies to the present quality- “Renouncing Good and Evil”

Janaka uvāca 

ākāśavadananto'haṃ ghaṭavatprākṛtaṃ jagat 

iti jñānaṃ tathaitasya na tyāgo na graho layaḥ  

Janaka says to Ashtavakra,  

“I am infinite like space, and the natural world is like a jar. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, nor acceptance or cessation of it.”

Dear All,

This verse also beautifully aligns to the talk posted for devotees in an Oman Sai centre, where, through different analogies, it was expounded by the author, “You are the space, ( pure consciousness), unaffected by anything that exists in you, anything that goes in in your mind, good or bad"!!

Janaka says that in His state, he has nothing to accept and nothing to renounce as he has risen above the level of any object awareness to accept and renounce any object in this creation. 

He exists like the space in this creation which is like a jar. Inside the jar, surrounding the jar, prior to the jar being made by the potter and after the pot is broken, in and through all  situations, he exists as pure space- pure consciousness. 

Love