Devotee: I have been anxious for a long time to ask You some things and to learn the answers from You. Today, I have the chance. This mind (manas) and its principle are unknown categories. Their meanings don’t get fixed and clear without actual experience. But Swami, this delusion of the objective world (samsara) overpowers us, thick and strong, like the darkness of clouds in the rainy season. What is this mighty force that drags us along? This is what has been bothering me. I feel that people like me should understand these things clearly in the very beginning. Will you kindly enlighten me?
Swami: Well, my boy. What am I to say? You are suffering from fright, imagining a tree stump seen in the park to be a person. That is, you are mistaking the non-dual (a-dwaitha), the full (purna), which is Brahman as a separate incomplete soul (jiva) and suffering from that error. That delusion is the cause of all your sufferings.
Devotee: How, then, did this delusion come about?
Swami: You slept...
Binding actions and liberating actions
People have to be doing some action (karma) or other from the moment of waking to the moment of sleeping - that is to say, from birth to death. They cannot sit quietly without doing action. No one can avoid this predicament! But each one has to understand clearly which kind of action to be engaged in. There are only two types: (1) sensory or binding actions (vishaya karmas) and (2) actions that liberate (sreyo karmas).
The acts that bind have increased beyond control; as a result, sorrow and confusion have increased. Through these, no happiness and peace of mind can be gained.
On the other hand, the actions that liberate yield progressive joy and auspiciousness with each single act.
They give bliss to the Self (Atma-ananda) and are not concerned with mere external joy! Though the acts may be external, the attraction is all toward the internal. This is the right path, the true path.
Actions that bind include all activity in relation to exterior obj...
Always enjoy the peace that is the result of the stoppage of all mental agitations. Do not allow the mind to run after this and that. Train it to keep quiet. Keep away and afar the mental reactions caused by contact with the external world. Then, you can become the very Being (sat). That is the state of the sage or the state beyond the realm of the senses, where their fiat does not run. That is the real self-realization that is the goal of life.
“Practice silence (mounam bhajasva),” it is said. But what is silence? Not simply keeping the mouth shut. It means getting beyond the influence of all the senses and getting established always in the consciousness of one’s own reality. Perpetual bliss is also perpetual peace. When the mind withdraws from the external world, the tongue also becomes silent; all senses follow suit, that is genuine silence.
This stage cannot be described in words; it cannot be communicated to others as “such and such”. It belongs to the realm of experienc...
The very first step to ensure peace and harmony to mankind is for each one to observe the code of conduct (dharma) laid down for them in their own religion. If one holds one’s own faith and its essential principles mandatory, one can serve oneself best and also serve others well. Dharma in this context means action in accordance with the traditions of the culture of the land. In every facet of the dharma of this country, the ideal of world peace and world prosperity is immanent.
“Now, for the inquiry into activity (athatho karma jijnasa)” - thus begins the intellectual probe into the mystery of activity (karma), which in our scriptures extends over vast fields. For example, to give away in charity and as a gift is a very proper type of activity, but one must be aware that egotism can pollute it and make it improper. It is laid down that plentiful charity now will ensure happiness in a future life, so that consideration of this advantage for oneself might well lead one to good act...
Devotee: Swami, last time you spoke of the Mahabharatha war; in the same manner, does the Ramayana also happen in everyone’s heart?
Swami: Undoubtedly! It takes place systematically and in the same sequence.
Devotee: Then, in what form does Rama come in this?
Swami: The Atma is Rama. He has come, in the character of the soul (jivi), wearing the dress called body.
Devotee: Then, being one whose will prevails, and being omnipotent and all powerful, why does He suffer so much?
Swami: It is all play, His sport (leela). What can be joy for Him? And what can be suffering for Him? He is the embodiment of bliss (ananda-swarupa), who knows neither. By His will, He can produce everything. He enacted the Ramayana on the stage of the theatre of the world, with Himself taking a role and showing each quality (guna) as a separate form. Such a Ramayana is taking place, in every heart. The Rama in the heart (the Atmarama) is observing everything, as witness.
Devotee: But the inert material (jada), an...
From the throne of imperial Bharatha, Parikshith ruled his dominion, adhering to the principles of justice and morality, lovingly fostering his subjects and guarding them from harm with parental care and affection. Whatever the task, Parikshith didn’t move a step without calling to mind Krishna and his grandfathers and praying to them to crown him with success. He prayed to them morning and evening to direct him along the correct path of virtue. He felt as if he was the heart of his people and as if they were his body.
Throughout his empire, the very wind was reluctant to displace any article for fear of being implicated in theft. There was not the slightest fear of thieves. Nor was there any trace of injustice, immorality, or ill will. The kingdom gained great fame thereby. At the slightest sign of any such evil, Parikshith overcame it by means of terrific punishment and instituted preventive steps that decidedly scotched it. Since dharma was thus fostered with love and reverence, e...
The father’s pointed words inflicted great pain on Sringi’s tender heart. They fell like sword thrusts or hammer strokes.The poor boy could bear them no longer, and he fell on the floor, grasped his father’s feet, and wailed, “Father pardon me. I was overcome by anger that the king himself should behave so outrageously, so insolently, so irreverently, so inhumanely. I couldn’t control my resentment at the insult hurled on you. It isn’t proper for a king to behave like this, in this most inappropriate manner, having come to a hermitage; isn’t that right?” Destiny destroys reins of reason Seeing his plight, Samika, the ascetic, took the son beside him and said, “Son, the compulsion of the moment is inescapable. The dictates of reason are often brushed aside by man, due to that compulsion. The drag of destiny will destroy the reins of reason. The force of the moment faces man with all its power, and he cannot but yield. This king is a staunch theist, a deep devotee. He h...
Q. Swami, you say that one has to do some things and that one shouldn’t do some others. How are we to know which is which? What is the authority?
A. The scriptures (sastras) are the authority. The “Laws of Manu (Manu-smrithi)” itself declares, for example, that castes (varnas) and stages of life are only for physical purification and that they don’t affect the gaining or losing of the Highest.
Q. If that is so, why all this bother of caste and stages of life and the rules and regulations binding them?
A. Ah, they are required until you become free from attachment. Until then and for the sake of that, the regulations, limits, and rules have to be obeyed to the very letter. The medicine has to be taken as long as the illness persists. Each type of illness has a special medicine for its cure, doesn’t it? And a different course of diet and a special regimen. After one has gotten rid of the illness, one can partake of a feast with the rest. Without accepting this, if the well and ...
When Rama heard from Angada what had happened at Lanka and learned from him the attitude and alertness of the enemy, he called together the chief leaders and commissioned them to decide how best to lay siege to the four gates of the city. At this, the ruler of the monkeys (Sugriva), the ruler of the bears (Jambavan) and the ruler of the demons (Vibhishana) met together; they decided on the division of their forces into four, under commanders and guides; then, they fell at Rama’s feet and, enthused by his blessings, gave orders for attack.
With Rama in their hearts and armed with boulders and trees, the monkeys rolled forward in terror-striking floods. Lanka was reputedly impregnable, but Rama’s blessings helped them to break into it. The Eastern Gate was stormed by the forces under Nala; the Southern Gate was breached by the millions under the command of Angada; the Western Gate fell before the onslaught of the army led by Hanuman. The Northern Gate was guarded by Ravana himself, a...
Judged properly, India (Bharatha-desa) is the holiest of all countries. The meaningful Vedic sacrificial rites (yajna) and devotional practices (yoga) that originated in India, as well as the way of life followed by its people, are not found in any other country or in the history of any other people. Such intensive cultivation of the spirit, such supremely useful spiritual literature, arose out of the experiences of the people of this country! It holds the very first place in this field.
The four Vedas, the six principal systems of philosophical vision (darsanas), the eighteen epics (Puranas), and the commentaries (bhashyas) of the great adepts of theory and practice all arose in India. Also, the disciplines and methods of spiritual practice expounded by the great souls (mahatmas), who have answered questions like the following. What is meant by life? What is the meaning of God? What transformations in the individual soul (jivi) take place on death?
No other place is so congenial for s...
