We are constantly challenged by our senses, our worldly experience. What is real, what is unreal? We chant asatoma, the mantra that prays that we are lead from the unreal to the Real. How do we reach that destination, that experience? Do prayers, pujas, yantras, pilgrimages, take us to that far shore of human experience? Does bhakta – devotion, or jnana – wisdom, take us there? The young Rama, astute student, asks.
Questions
Question 60: How does the Universe arise?
The universe arises on account of the binding illusion we are born into. This world is real, yes, we are bound by thoughts, words, actions. Our forming and relating ideas strengthens the binding power of maya to the mind. Hence, we think ‘this is all there is’, erroneously.
Question 57: How does one obtain freedom from these bonds and achieve liberation?
What passes for observance of the real things in life might change as we move through the ages of life: childhood to young adulthood, to parent, on to retirement and finally, seclusion from the world-at-large. We might watch it all go past, and conclude as some do, “sic transit gloria mundi”, thus passes the glory of the world. And “so-called” glory it is; if we become attached, we return again and again until we learn that everything is Brahman.
Question 51: What attributes should a seeker have to realise Atma?
“From the Unreal, lead us to the real” says the eternal prayer that rises nightly from the hearts of millions. The world is the unreal, and when the mind is turned towards the world, dissatisfaction arises. Suffering arises, and the cycle of death-birth-death-again is assured. We must arrive at the discovery that our minds are our instruments, not our master. Turn it towards the world, you have discontent and suffering; turn it towards the heart, the home of the inner resident, you have peace, contentment.
Question 46: How is Atmagyan obtained?
What is that one thing, which, when known, all other things are known? It is taught that religious principles must be experienced, and their validity tested. By what inquiry, which path do we take to arrive at the knowledge of that by which all is known in all universes?
Question 41: What is Contentment and who gets it?
A popular perception of contentment is that contentment is an emotional state of satisfaction that can be seen as a mental state, maybe drawn from being at ease in one’s situation, body and mind. Perhaps, even, settling for a little bit less is a milder and more tentative form of happiness. It is a pity these definitions exist, for they do not speak of the mind, desire, nor discontentment. What is contentment in relation to purushartha, the goal of life?
Question 40: What should we think of?
In this world of duality, of shape and form, of light and dark, of heat and cold, what is real, what is unreal? How do we discern the unreal from the real? What should we think and make reference to in our journey through life? Dharmam moolam jagat, the Universe rests on eternal order. How do we know this path of eternal order? How do you tell the snake from the rope?
Question 37: What is Contemplation and when is it developed?
Contemplation and concentration deal with attention and where our attention might go – especially where spiritual pursuits are concerned. It seems that contemplation has a shakti of its own, which enables us to examine and discard the cacophony, the useless, the sheer noise of this world of illusion, and to refine our vision, our attention, our concentration on that which matters: the Soul itself.
Question 35: How to control the mind?
Ramji asks a question that – probably – does not occur to many: control of the mind. Most humans – embodiments of the Divine – are not aware that they are not the body, not the senses, not the mind. For many, the mind takes over subtly, and they are caught in the noose of attraction and aversion, of pain and pleasure, satisfaction and suffering. Religious principles have to be practised in daily life and their validity experienced. This how we learn we are not the mind.
Question 34: What is the true form of this Universe?
There are those who posit the Universe is real and God is not, viz.; “there is no such thing as a soul”, blah, blah, blah. Such persons are firmly centred on their experience, that is, the experience delivered by the senses, the karmendriyas. See, hear, touch, taste, smell, like this. They are ignorant of the other senses, the jnanendriyas, the internal senses of knowledge. There is much to be known, by which, all else is known, as Vasishtha hints.