Vedanta talks of oneness of the individual with the Lord, writes SWAMI DAYANANDA SARASWATI
The vision of Vedanta is an equation of the identity between the jiva, individual, and Isvara, the Lord. This vision of oneness, aikya, is not available for perception or inference. Nor is the oneness that is unfolded by Vedanta contradicted by perception or inference. Oneness is purely in terms of understanding the equation. Vedanta does not promise salvation to the soul. In its vision, the atman, the soul is already free from limitations. Freedom from limitation is a fact and the release of the individual from this sense of limitation is the outcome of understanding the equation, therefore, the entire teaching of Vedanta can be expressed in one sentence — tat tvam asi, that thou art. All other sentences in the Upanishads are only meant to prove this equation.
Demystifying Vedanta
The proofs consist of a number of methods, prakriyas, adopted by the Upanishads, and by the teachers in that tradition, to communicate the vision of the mahavakyas, tat tvam asi, the sentence revealing the oneness of the individual and the Lord. To unfold this identity between the jiva and Isvara, Vedanta employs these prakriyas.
If a system of philosophy is formulated based on these prakriyas, the whole purpose of Vedanta, which is to reveal the reality, vastu, is defeated. Therefore, Vedanta is a pramana only to reveal the oneness of atman, the self, with Isvara. Vedanta is not a pramana to prove the existence of atman, for the only self-existent, self-evident thing in this world is oneself, atman…. Read the rest of this entry
Chronic Fatigue
Chronic fatigue is not due to overwork — we do not work nearly so hard as our ancestors did — but rather due to a scattering of our forces.
Ours is not a “focused” age. Countless influences pull us in conflicting directions. We find ourselves trying to do a hundred things hastily, rather than one thing at a time carefully and well.
We measure achievement by numbers rather than by excellence. A result is the exhaustion one finds written on the faces of so many in our bustling cities, where strangers pass one another with never a smile or even a glance of greeting.
Fatigue is also a direct result of a loss of interest. Our energy supply depends not primarily upon food and other external causes, but our capacity for smiles, for enthusiasm. People lead “one-horsepower lives” when they forget how to smile, when they over-complicate their daily routine, and clutter their minds with the debris of useless desires and preoccupations.
The person who can simplify his life and marshal his energies to do a few things well, instead of scattering his forces restlessly, will find that he has more than enough strength for whatever he has to do.
Be willing in everything you do, for willingness begets energy. My guru Paramhansa Yogananda used to say, “The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.” Read the rest of this entry
Swami Venkatesananda on Consciousness
SWAMI VENKATESANANDA explains the concept of pure consciousness in his commentary on the YOGA VASISHTA
Shiva spoke thus: Consciousness thinks falsely ‘I am happy’. Just as one who is not dead wails aloud ‘Alas, I am dead’, because of perverse understanding, even so consciousness falsely imagines it is miserable and limited. Such imagination is irrational and unfounded. Due to the false assumption of ego sense, consciousness thinks that the world appearance is indeed real. It is the mind alone that is the root cause of experiencing the world as if it were real; but it cannot be truly considered such a cause since
there can be no mind other than pure consciousness. Once you realise that the perceiving mind itself is unreal, it becomes clear that the perceived world is unreal, too.
Even as there is no oil in a rock, in pure consciousness the diversity of sight, seer and scene, or of doer, act and action of knower, knowledge and known does not exist. Similarly, the distinction between ‘i’, and ‘you’ is imaginary. The distinction between the one and the many is verbal. All these do not exist at all even as darkness does not exist in the sun. Opposites like substantially and insubstantiality, void and nonvoid are mere concepts. On enquiry, all these disappear and only unmodified pure consciousness remains.
Significance Of Self-effort
Consciousness does not truly undergo any modification nor does it become impure. The impurity itself is imaginary; imagination is the impurity. When this is realised, the imagination is abandoned and impurity ceases. However, even in those who have realised this, the impurity arises unless the imagination is firmly rejected. By self-effort, this imagination can be easily rejected: if one can drop a piece of straw, one can with equal ease also drop the three worlds! What is it that cannot be achieved by one’s self- effort? Read the rest of this entry
Bribery Culture of India
1) Religion is transactional in India. Indians give God cash and anticipate an out-of-turn reward. Such a plea acknowledges that favours are needed for the undeserving. In the world outside the temple walls, such a transaction is named- ‘ Dakshina’ (bribe). A wealthy Indian gives not cash to temples, but gold crowns and such baubles. His gifts can not feed the poor. His pay-off is for God. He thinks it will be wasted if it goes to a needy man. In June 2009, The Hindu published a report of Karnataka minister G. Janardhan Reddy gifting a crown of gold and diamonds worth Rs 45 crore to Tirupati. India’s temples collect so much that they don’t know what to do with it. Billions are gathering dust in temple vaults. When Europeans came to India they built schools.
2) Indian moral ambiguity towards corruption is visible in its history. Indian history tells of the capture of cities and kingdoms after guards were paid off to open the gates, and commanders paid off to surrender. This is unique to India. Indians’ corrupt nature has meant limited warfare on the subcontinent. It is striking how little Indians have actually fought compared to ancient Greece and modern Europe. The Turks’ battles with Nadir Shah were vicious and fought to the finish. In India fighting wasn’t needed, bribing was enough to see off armies. Any invader willing to spend cash could brush aside India’s kings, no matter how many tens of thousands soldiers were in their infantry. Little resistance was given by the Indians at the “Battle” of Plassey. Clive paid off Mir Jaffar and all of Bengal folded to an army of 3,000. There was always a financial exchange to taking Indian forts. Golconda was captured in 1687 after the secret back door was left open. Mughals vanquished Marathas and Rajputs with nothing but bribes. The Raja of Srinagar gave up Dara Shikoh’s son Sulaiman to Aurangzeb after receiving a bribe. There are many cases where Indians participated on a large scale in treason due to bribery. Question is: Why Indians have a transactional culture while other ‘civilized’ nations don’t? Read the rest of this entry
Economics & Spiritualism
Socialism, communism, capitalism or any other “ism” that you can think of is a product or a subject of economics. Everyone understands income & expenditure, purchase & consumption etc. and their interconnectivity for managing the individual’s life. It however gets complicated progressively when it comes to managing lives collectively – of families, groups, societies and even a nation at large.
We all know that the urge to survive drives all our thinking and actions – but it cannot be viewed in isolation for an individual alone – as the individual is also dependent on others and external factors for survival. Now, that individual cannot have capitalism for self and strongly advise socialism or communism for others – being the part of whatever the ism he prefers as a member of that society. Luxury for self and austerity for others will not stand or work for too long – without creating problems. The wealth that provides security will need security to sustain & maintain – making you a security guard for it finally!
This drives us to the conclusion that preference for any ism is situational and no ism is perfect in itself – as people behave differently in different situations and that too quite non-uniformly! Economics is defined as the judicious management of scarce material for optimal utility. Wealth means the ownership, authority & control over large quantum of material. Survival is enhanced by wealth and threatened by the absence of it. Pleasure is pro-survival & pain is contra survival. Wealth is the means to pleasure and poverty is the cause for pain. Can you see the growing conflicts & complications?
What is the solution? The unquestionable answer is – “Spiritualism”. Read the rest of this entry
MSR Ayyangar's Blog 