By: C.S. Dinesh
Seeing the world around you fall apart, and all endearing bonds wither away like blossoms hitting their age of senescence in the autumn’s fall, you have witnessed the brutality of death. You never knew how fragile life is until the pandemic swung you like a pendulum, compelling you to oscillate between life and death. This must have certainly raised questions like: ‘Does God even exist?’ ‘Who am I?’ ‘What is beyond life and death and if at all will I be liberated from this vicious loop?’
Let this fire of dispassion be the torch on your path of exploration. Direct it as the ultimate fuel in your search for absolute knowledge.
“I tell you, whoever takes my name with love, I will fulfil his wishes and increase his devotion.” – Shri Sai Baba (Chap 3, Ovi 11)
More than ever, it is today that man needs the antidote of wisdom after being savagely hit by the pandemic. In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna guides Arjun through the labyrinth of the apparent world, saying: ‘Yatha dipo nivata-stho nengate sopama smṛita; yogino yata-chittasya yunjato yogam atmanaḥ.’ A flame does not flicker when it is placed in a breeze-less place; similarly, a yogi, who always remains steadfastly absorbed in divine remembrance, his mind remains still without the quiver of even a single thought. No breeze of desire disturbs the quietude of such a stilled mind.
Sai Baba says
“Abandoning all the million clever and cunning ways, recall always ‘Sai, Sai’.You will be able to cross the worldly ocean. Have no doubts.”- Shri Sai Baba (Chap 10, Ovi 135-136)
At a deeper level, you are the flame, the light of awareness that never extinguishes. But such is your state that the very embodiment of light is wandering aimlessly, stumbling, in ignorance and attachment. You were and you are the supreme Brahman, but you have no inkling of your reality. Desires agitate your mind; they throw your mind into turmoil. Be alert, don’t let desires drive your mind into turbulence. The Lord further says, ‘Yatroparamate chittam niruddham yoga-sevaya; yatra chaivatmanatmanam pashyann atmani tuṣhyati.’ When, through the practice of yoga, the subconscious mind has been stilled and abides in complete repose, when one experiences the supreme divinity through the refined intellect, which has been purified through remembrance of the Lord – thus seeing the Self by the Self, the yogi is contented in his own Self.
The entire journey of spirituality has been condensed in this one verse. Through the practice of yoga, the subconscious mind becomes still and is in total repose, with neither passion nor dispassion for the material world. This stillness and total repose of the subconscious mind will be attained through the practice of yoga. There are several well-defined paths: Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Hath Yoga, Raj Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Laya Yoga, and Mantra Yoga. Practice judiciously under the guidance of a master. Once the subconscious mind is stilled and in complete repose, then the experience of the pure Self will happen through the refined and purified intellect. Jnana cannot be comprehended by an impure intellect, and it is only the purified intellect that has transcended the senses which absorb the boundless bliss.
The Gita should not be mistaken for a mere read, it is a classic piece of Vedantic philosophy that bestows each reader with the discriminating wisdom of right and wrong. If confusion, depression, anxiety, or loneliness corner you in your weakest moments, grab your divine armor and let Krishna’s sword of knowledge vanquish your illusionary demons to dust.
“Whoever frequently repeats My Name his sins will be burnt. I consider him more virtuous than the virtuous, who constantly hums My Name.” – Shri Sai Baba (Chap 27, Ovi 85-91)
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