A. THE SUPREME VISION OF SANATANA VAIDIKA DHARMA
In the context of Sanatana Vaidika Dharma, the ideal of paropakara (doing good to others) has been raised to the highest point. It shines as the supreme ideal of life and the living of it. So much so that they even said to the individual soul: “O man, you have been given this body in order that you may engage it in doing good to others.”
Vyasa reveals this secret in the brief aphoristic saying, “paropakarah punyaya papaya parapidanam (Doing good to others is virtue and harming others is sin).”
If you want to make yourself the highest, fittest receptacle for receiving the supreme knowledge that liberates, then cast away your egoism and become a doer of good—expecting nothing, wanting nothing, selflessly, egolessly—in a supreme spirit of total dedication. Nishkama paropakara (selfless service) is the secret of obtaining brahma-jnana because it is the only process by which the ego can be eliminated totally. Then there is no longer anything that obstructs the dawn of the fullest manifestation of divine knowledge in you.
60. THE VEDIC VISION OF LIFE
Worshipful homage unto that Reality in whose presence we are gathered together at this moment and in whose presence each one of you lives at each and every moment of your entire life. Whether you recognise it or not, whether you realise it or not, whether you know it or not, it is an unalterable fact that you verily live in the presence of God every moment of your life.
The Vedic vision of man and view of life makes one fearless. It makes one recognise one’s deathless immortal nature, one’s imperishable divine nature—beyond name and form, transcending time and space, without birth and death, supreme, unborn, eternal, imperishable, permanent, never changing.
Established in this view, convinced of this truth, the true follower of the ancient Vedic way of life is fearless. Such a one laughs at death; he knows that death has no meaning for him. It may apply to this physical cage of flesh and bones in which he is imprisoned for a little while, in which he dwells for a little while, but he is ever ready: “Let death come. What do I care? I shall receive it with joy and exit from here exulting in the shedding of the confining limitation of this physical body.”
Thus, fearlessness is the interior of a being who is established in the Vedic vision of himself, the Upanishadic vision of himself. But, nevertheless, he is ever prepared to utilise life to the very fullest for the highest blessedness of himself and for the highest good of one and all: “We are but passing pilgrims here. Therefore, let us do maximum benefit to God’s creation in which we live and through which we pass.”
Thus, there is only this one great intention, one great objective, one great thought: “Let me be a centre of maximum benefit and blessedness to all beings around me.” That is the true Vedic ideal of life—to live and be in this world, not for oneself, not for anything else, but for the highest good of all and the supreme blessedness of oneself.
The follower of the Vedic view accepts life as a great gift. He knows its value, and he tries to utilise it for the highest attainment and for the maximum good of one and all. Therefore, he combines a robust and most practical pragmatism with the highest transcendental idealism— absolutely fearless, laughing at death, knowing that it has no meaning, but absolutely aware of the great worth and value of this brief sojourn and passageway.
“I know that everything is transitory, temporary. I know that all my connections are ephemeral, momentary. Nevertheless, while they are there they are meaningful, very significant and invaluable. Therefore, I shall grasp life with both hands. I shall say ‘Yes’ to life with all joy in my heart, and I shall put every faculty that I have received from God to the highest and best use, having but one view—the happiness of all, the good of all, the service of God in man, the service of the manifestation of the Universal Soul as the Virat Purusha, the Cosmic Being.”
Thus, there is at once a down-to-earth reality and the highest supreme flights of transcendental idealism—a strange, unbelievable combination, but, nevertheless, a most wonderful and most beautiful combination. Caring neither for life nor death, knowing that it is the same; ever prepared to journey forth, to finish this game; but, knowing very well that not all are fortunate enough to be endowed with this insight, with this higher vision; therefore, with great compassion, recognising the relative reality of this earth appearance, this world show, for those who are still in avidya, in maya, in ajnana, one plays the game of life with great dakshata, with great expertise, ever a source of help and service, of solace and happiness, of peace and harmony, of love and friendliness, of sharing and giving, of encouragement, of all that is true, auspicious and beautiful, of all that is divine, for you are divine.
Thus the Vedic vision and insight grants us the supreme privilege of fearlessly moving through life knowing that we are ever free, but, at the same time, most beneficially moving through life with universal goodwill and a ceaseless, selfless giving of oneself for the happiness of one and all. This is the strange and beautiful end-product of the rightly recognised value of the supreme experience of the Vedic sages.
May you all live life endowed with this knowledge and vision, with this inner light and insight, and thus live to enrich God’s creation, enrich the life of each and every one whom the Supreme Being brings you into contact with. Be a light in the darkness! May God’s grace abide in you!
61. THE HARMONY BETWEEN GRACE AND DIVINE POWER
The advent of great spiritual teachers who come with a guiding light to lead mankind from misery to joy, from asanti to santi, from ignorance and bondage to illumination and liberation is the working of cosmic grace. They are a manifestation of divine grace.
In the context of the Indian philosophy of qualified non-dualism, whose greatest exponent was the great bhakta- vedantin, Sri Ramanujacharya, the Divine Mother is regarded as the symbol, the very embodiment of that divine grace. Even as Jesus said, “No one can come to the Father except through Me,” even so the devout qualified non-dualist will say: “It is impossible to attain the feet of the Lord except by the benign grace of Divine Mother Lakshmi. It is only if you surrender to Lakshmi that She, through Her compassion, takes you and graciously presents you before the supreme Narayana.”
In contrast to this, in eastern India, in Bengal and other places, the Divine Mother is regarded as the great cosmic Power. The Saktas regard Her as Adi-Sakti, the primal Power, as Para-Sakti, the transcendental Power, as Maha-Sakti, the great Power. It is She who has brought about the multifariousness of the phenomenal existence of countless universes. And so it is the Divine Mother’s power that is the object of worship, the highest supreme factor in spiritual life and liberation. She is the grantor of liberation in the context of the Sakta philosophy.
Is there a conflict, a self-contradiction, in these concepts of the Divine Mother, who is the dynamic aspect of the actionless, supreme parabrahman who, being all-full, is beyond all action?
Can these views be harmonised, reconciled and shown to be perfectly valid and tenable with no element of self-contradiction? Can the concepts of grace supreme and the great intelligent power that brings about everything in a marvellous way—creating, preserving, destroying, guiding, binding and at the same time liberating (binding as avidya maya, liberating as vidya maya)—be reconciled? Yes, they can be.
Even the very high, superfine, penetrating intellectual analysis and the keen perception of recognising the true need of a guru and becoming aware that you are recognising such a need can only come when grace makes you aware that there is no one standing in your way except yourself: As long as the “I” in any form, whatsoever it may be, persists, that itself becomes the one factor making liberation a far cry. Even this penetrating, very subtle analysis is also an exercise of sakti.
Because sakti need not necessarily be something gross, something external. It is sakti alone that enabled Albert Einstein to expound the Theory of Relativity. All exercises by great thinkers are manifestations of the Divine Mother. It is sakti in a very highly subtle form, but it is sakti. It is not only the movement of the hands and feet and the body that constitutes an exercise of force, but even the subtlest of all Vedantic enquiries is also but a manifestation of the primal sakti.
Therefore, it is grace working—in the form of this inner movement towards light, towards immortality and liberation. It is grace working—in the form of your penetrating analysis, your discrimination, viveka, and enquiry, vichara. Thus, you find that the movement of power within you and the concept of grace in your life seem to be identical. They perfectly coalesce to form a certain twin stream of the same plenum.
The ultimate declaration of the Yoga Vasishtha, the Bhagavad Gita and of all modern teachers is: “Liberation does not come to one who longs for it but fails to implement his longing in the form of self-effort.” Self-effort is a manifestation of sakti. It is what they call purushartha. The will to satchidananda, the will to fulfil all the conditions, everything that is required to be done for liberation, is a manifestation of sakti.
All sadhana is a manifestation of sakti and grace combined. Whether it is jnana yoga sadhana or bhakti yoga sadhana or karma yoga sadhana, it is at once a combined manifestation of grace (what is it if it is not grace; if it is anything at all, it is grace) and the Divine Mother as a dynamic movement towards liberation.
Here they perfectly harmonise. There is no contradiction. They are two-in-one. Both are equally present. At one time, this grace looks like dynamism. At another time, the dynamism is felt and known to be grace. Uttishthata jagrata prapya varan nibodhata is a rousing call for purushartha, to stand up, be awake and do all that is necessary to attain illumination. It is a call to manifest sakti within you, and responding to that call, standing up and shaking off the slumber of ignorance is a manifestation of grace.
It is only when grace is there that when the call comes one responds. If grace is not there, even if this call is blared into your mind and heart a hundred times, it will be a mere call in the wilderness. No one will respond. However, if grace is there, it manifests as immediate wakefulness, immediate needful action.
We are the product, therefore, of this mysterious, indescribable combination of these twin factors of grace and dynamism. And in the ultimate analysis they are not two. They are but two aspects of one. Divine activity proves the presence of grace. Grace manifests as divine activity.
And the source of all this is the indwelling Divinity within you—your eternal companion, your never-failing guide, friend and philosopher, who is ultimately known to be your own Self. All power, all grace reside within you as the centre of your spiritual being. You live, move and have your being in that Being. And that Being ever indwells you as the very centre of your existence, as your antaratma. This is a great mystery. We should ponder this great mystery and become the field for the play of this sakti, become the field for the manifestation of Its grace.
The manifestation of these twin factors, two-in-one aspects, is fully manifest in the life of each and every one of you. That is why you happen to be here considering these lofty, sublime truths. Had it not been for grace dynamically manifest in your life, you would not be here today. Just think of it! Just think of it!
62. THE INDIAN HINDU EXPERIENCE OF THE PERSONAL GOD
Worshipful homage unto the supreme, imponderable, transcendental Absolute Reality, whose manifest personal aspect is an ocean of compassion and forgiveness, an immeasurable ocean of justice, love and mercy. The personal cosmic Spirit Divine is sometimes hailed as Grand Mercy. It is addressed as kripa-nidhana ( a treasure house of kindness), as daya sagara (an ocean of mercy or compassion).
The Impersonal Absolute may be transcendental Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Absolute, but the uniqueness, not so much of Indian Hindu philosophy and metaphysics, but of the Indian Hindu experience is that it not only experienced the Great Reality as a transcendental, absolute Truth—non-dual, One without a second—but at the same time it was also revealed to it that the Unmanifest can and does also become manifest; the Impersonal can and does also become the Personal for the sake of the sincere seeking soul caught in the tangle of desires and longings and lack of discrimination and enquiry.
Falling into this pit of ignorance, the human individual laments when it realises its blunder and calls out for help. Due to its handicaps and limitations, it cannot get out of the entanglement into which it has fallen. Therefore, Someone from above has to bend low and extend a hand to grasp the hand of the one who is struggling to get out of the pit.
There is a painting of God—a great Being with a flowing beard, ancient, hoary, ageless—extending a hand with a finger pointed out for His human family to grasp and thus be saved. Had the Impersonal not also been a great Cosmic Person, whose name is Grand Mercy, having infinite love, compassion, grace and a feeling for our helplessness, man would not have as his concept of God one who will run to his rescue, who will help and save him. Man cries out to God in extremities, and God answers and comes to his rescue.
And thus, the uniqueness of the ancient Indian Hindu experience was the coexistence of the Impersonal Absolute—the transcendental Reality—and the manifest Personal Being—a relative Reality to which one can relate oneself in terms of a beautiful spiritual relationship, mystical relationship.
The narrative of the Srimad Bhagavatam Purana is but a recital and exposition of the mysteries, beauties and the variegated, compassionate activities of this manifest Personal Divinity. Even when seemingly Its love and grace manifest itself as avenging wrath, even then, underneath this seeming avenging wrath is compassion.
This subtle point is brought out in the story of the destruction of Hiranyakasipu by the man-lion Personal God, Narasimha. After tearing open Hiranyakasipu’s abdomen with His claws, He also tears open his heart. Do you know why? He was looking for some factor in this wretch that would make him deserve mercy—forgiveness from the hell fires which he fully deserved. He was looking for some redeeming feature: Is there one iota of kindness or compassion in his heart?
Therefore, symbolically, He wanted to find some reason to let him off, something that would mean that he didn’t deserve total punishment. He was in search for something on the basis of which He could manifest His mercy, His compassion. Thus, even in this seeming retribution, vengeful act, He was trying to find some reason, some cause or excuse for exercising compassion.
Thus, in the most mysterious, non-understandable manner, the manifest Personal God of the ancient Indian Hindu experience is ever working in order to bend down and grasp our hands and take us up out of the self-created bondage, self-created net, in which we are caught. For in the ultimate context, the Lord never punishes, the Lord never destroys. The Lord is never retribution. We heap coals of fire upon ourselves by our acts.
There is a saying in Hindi that one need not fear either God or the devil. What one has to fear is one’s own actions—mental, verbal and physical. We must be aware of our own actions. If they are auspicious and good, we have nothing to fear. If they are of a contrary nature, we bring destruction upon ourselves; we bring terrible consequences upon ourselves.
No one punishes. We create our own punishment. We create our own retribution. We create, ultimately, our own spiritual destruction. If there is durbuddhi (evil mind), it becomes our destroyer. If there is sadbuddhi (virtuous mind), grace, salvation and liberation are sure and certain. They are as sure and certain as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
Api chet suduracharo bhajate mam ananya-bhak. Sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah. Kshipram bhavati dharmatma sasvacchantim nigacchati. Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati (Even if the most sinful worships Me, with devotion to none else, he too should indeed be regarded as righteous, for he has rightly resolved. Soon he becomes righteous and attains to eternal peace. O Arjuna, proclaim thou for certain that My devotee is never destroyed).
Thus, if even the most fallen of beings turns around, mends himself and turns towards the Lord, he must be regarded as a holy person, and he will never be destroyed. Soon he will become a good man, full of dharma and then attain supreme peace. The Lord gives this promise.
This is God. God never punishes man. There is nothing to fear from God. He is love, compassion, justice, all goodness, all auspiciousness, all blessedness. But we create our own difficult situations by our own folly, by our refusal to receive the wisdom teachings of the scriptures and the saints, seers, sages and gurus who are our greatest well-wishers.
So, let us realise this and go to the scriptures for light and wisdom. Let us also walk the way of light and wisdom and bless ourselves forever by our own right actions, by our own righteous living and by our own divine life. Be it so!
Thank God that in Kali Yuga mental sin is not taken as a karma. Otherwise, we would all go to hell. But because of God’s great compassion, He has so ordained it that in Kali Yuga mental sin is not counted against a person. It is the grace of God. Wrong thinking is not counted against you, because although you harm yourself by harbouring such wrong thoughts, no harm is done to others. Therefore, it is not considered as sin.
But such is His grace, that in Kali Yuga if you think of doing good to someone, it is a mark in your favour, it is counted as a merit. But any evil thought or wicked intention is not taken as a minus. Otherwise God knows where we would be.
63. THE LIFE BREATH OF SANATANA VAIDIKA DHARMA
Worshipful homage unto the great, eternal, all-full and all-pervading Reality that is the one immediate fact of our life! That one great Reality is absolute and non-dual; It is present everywhere as all that exists. That great Reality is not something remote, not something inaccessible, not something unapproachable, not something unattainable.
Its immediacy, Its omnipresence, Its attainability was very touchingly brought home to us by beloved Gurudev in the concluding words of his song, Immanence of Ram: “Approachable by faith, devotion and prayer is Ram. Accessible through sraddha, prem and bhakti is Ram. Attainable through japa, kirtan and meditation is Ram. Goal ultimate of one and all is Ram.”
That great Reality pervades everywhere like the light of the sun pervades this solar system of ours. It indwells all things as their immanent principle just as space is present everywhere. All the great religions proclaim these truths. The Vedic religion declares: “isavasyamidam sarvam yat kimcha jagatyam jagat (All this whatsoever in this universe that moves or moves not is indwelt by the Lord).” Islam declares: “The Light of Allah dwells in the created human being.” Christ said: “The Kingdom of God is within.” Judaism teaches: “God created man and breathed His spirit into him.”
The breath of God, the spirit of God, indwells created beings especially so the intelligent creature called man. It dwells in him as that principle which makes this human creature know everything, cognise everything, solve the mystery of all things.
Therefore, the Upanishads declared that this principle of knowing, by which man knows all things, shines at the centre of his being— prajnanam brahma. It is that by which the eye is able to see and you can recognise form and colour. It is that by which the ear is able to hear and you can distinguish sounds. It is that principle by which you are able to feel and smell. It is that, lacking which all senses would be as non-existent. By That alone the mind is able to think, the heart is able to feel and the intellect is able to reason, enquire, analyse, discriminate, investigate and move towards knowledge. That principle verily is Brahman.
It shines in the spiritual heart as the first knowledge, the primal knowledge. Before you can cognise anything, before you can know anything, you first know: “I am. I exist, therefore I know.” The ancient Upanishadic seers said: “Without a knower, knowledge is not possible. The fact that we know something proves beyond the least shadow of a doubt that there is someone who knows.” They realised the central, most immediate fact: “I exist and I know that I exist because I am there knowing it.” The consciousness of existence is the most immediate and primal manifestation of prajna.
This primal self-awareness is known as bodha. Bodha is awareness of one’s existence, knowledge. When one awakens one is in that state: nitya suddha, nitya buddha, nitya mukta, nitya paripurna atma. You are the eternally pure, spotless atma tattva, the eternal, pure knowledge, eternally awake and aware. In this form, therefore, brahma tattva shines within us as the light of Allah, as the breath or spirit of God, as the ever-present immanent Reality, the one great, tremendous Fact. And that immediate, all-pervading, omnipresent, indwelling Reality is peace, is that which can never be effaced, which is eternally present. Other than That nothing else exists. It is all that is auspicious, blessed and beautiful, and It dwells within you as the one and only thing present therein.
This knowledge is knowledge. Anything else other than this is ignorance. All knowledge that interferes with this one and only knowledge is ignorance. To know this is to free oneself from the thralldom of what they call samsara, prapancha. To know this is to become instantly free. Attaining That one becomes full, perfect, liberated from all sorrow. One attains fearlessness and freedom, the supernal state of paramananda and indescribable peace.
The great ones spoke of sadyo-mukti (instant liberation); they spoke of jivan-mukti. Not without reason because they were in that state. When they entered into this light of awareness, light of knowledge, jnana jyoti, that very instant they were liberated and free, engulfed in light and peace and joy.
The experience of this Reality is central to that religion we call Sanatana Vaidika Dharma. It is the very essence, the very life breath, the very soul and the central fact of this great way of life, this great view of life, this great state of knowledge. It is a state of illumination, of enlightenment, of basic, fundamental knowledge. It is a state of ever-present experience.
That Light of Consciousness is the eternal Reality; it is the Light of lights which shines beyond all darkness. It shines in the centre of your being as the very core of your own consciousness. It shines within you as the unaffected witness of all things that take place before It, both within and without in this drama called life.
May that great Reality, to which we pay homage every morning, shower grace upon you and manifest Itself as this effulgent wisdom awareness. May peace be unto you and the joy of this state of illumination, which is coextensive with Sanatana Dharma, which is Sanatana Dharma, ever abide in you.
64. THE GREATEST DISCOVERY OF OUR UPANISHADIC SEERS
Worshipful homage unto the supreme, eternal Cosmic Being, that pervades and indwells all things and whose mysterious, inexplicable and incomprehensible divine power creates, preserves and dissolves countless universes each second, and whose same incomparable power casts, as it were, a veil of non-perception or a veil of delusion over all created beings, so that the Creator who shines amidst them all, who is nearer to them than anything else, who is dearer to them than all things put together, who is more their own than any other single thing created by the universe, that Being is not known.
Being closest to us, we feel Him not. Present everywhere, we perceive Him not. This non-perception, this situation, this strange, extraordinary, inexplicable phenomenon has been given the metaphysical term maya. Due to maya, the ever present in not recognised, the ever proximate is regarded as being remote, far off, to be reached only with great difficulty. Thus we search for that Being who is ever found.
What exists is One without a second— ekameva’ dvitiyam brahma. One and one alone and non-dual is that great Reality, eternally existing, ever present, infinite. There is no second, there is one and one alone. Whatever exists inheres in that One without a second.
The term maya, therefore, is only a term to describe an extraordinary, inexplicable state of that Universal Being, which being one and non-dual is everywhere present, yet is not recognised nor comprehended. This state of imperfect consciousness is designated as maya. It is nothing but a mysterious something emanating from Brahman Himself. It is His effulgence that seemingly hides that radiant, effulgent Reality.
The relevance and importance of this great discovery of the Upanishadic seers and sages is that it tells the seeking soul that there is no problem outside of him. There is no obstacle obstructing his path apart from him. There is no such dichotomy as God and Satan or Allah and Saitan. There are no twofold eternal principles such as Jehovah and the Devil. You are not to contend with anything outside of you, because there is nothing outside working against your liberation.
Whatever is is within you. All problems emanate from within you. All solutions are to be sought and found and applied within you. Everything is there. Only perceive. Open your eyes and perceive. This makes one fearless. You do not have to fear a devil, fear a malefic, malevolent power which seems to be so powerful that one cannot escape.
You do not have to tremble. You do not have to fear. You do not have to run to take shelter in any other power. There is no need to attribute things to the work, to the diabolical machinations, of some being who is as mysterious as God, seemingly all-powerful and who holds all created beings in its grip and thralldom.
Such a concept is non-existent in the context of the Vedic religion. Even the dichotomy of dharma and kali purusha, the power of righteousness and the spirit of this Iron Age is only a temporary concept—a provisional working method, something to start with. Even the dichotomy of daiva and asuri sampada is only temporary.
So, they say: “Wake up from this dream. You are never bound. You are never imperfect. You are nitya suddha, nitya buddha, nitya mukta, nitya paripurna, anandamaya atma tattva.” What a tremendous discovery this is! What a bold and brave assertion this is! What a great truth! If you ponder it, you are inspired, you are filled with exultation, you rejoice immensely. How can there be any imperfection in me? How can there be any weakness in me? How can there be anything but one hundred per cent pure Divinity in that which I am. I am ever free, ever full, ever pure.
This is to be fully grasped and absorbed. This is why Gurudev in his bold, positivist utterance said: “Come, come! Liberation, perfection, bliss is your birthright. Why do you prolong your bondage unnecessarily? Supreme perfection and divine experience are your birthright. Claim your birthright right now, at this moment, not in the distant future.” In these bold words, in this rousing manner Gurudev affirmed this wonderful fact that there is nothing that can prevent you from achieving that which is yours already.
There is no power on earth, no power in this universe, that can come in the way of your affirming your reality, of your asserting your fullness and perfection. It is yours! Only, you have to shake off lethargy, shake off negativity, shake off indifference and wake up, stand up and boldly claim your birthright and be what you are, be what you already are.
Therefore, focus your mind upon Brahman. Then maya will disappear. The moment you take your mind away from Brahman you are in maya with all this delusion, all these problems and complications, all the woes of the jivatman. All these miseries arise because we do not seek to know the ever-present Reality by daily introspection. We are so busy with the world around us that we have no time for the world within. Almost all transformation, almost all commencement of a new life begins with self-searching, s