Vairagya and Viveka (How to develop Dispassion and Practical Intelligence)

How to develop dispassion and practical intelligence (viaragya & viveka)

 

 

"Paramatman (God) alone is real; This world is unreal. The latter appears as real in man's vision, hearing and thoughts, but it lasts only as long as the things seen in a dream last. There is not even an iota of happiness in this world. Men are born to die and they die to be born again. Therefore all are illusory in this world.”

 

I have developed discrimination and discarded all thoughts of sensual enjoyments. One should know about the deceptive nature of the mind. The mind pictures the world as if it is real. I am trying to find out means which will relieve me from the pains of repeated births. This thought consumes me like a wild fire”

 

Wealth – Wealth cannot give happiness. It is a source of misery. It is temporary and unsteady. It moves from one to another. It makes people evil by tempting them into sin. It hardens the heart of men. It destroys all our good qualities and gets caught us in a trap of desires. The fire of desires has burnt us.

 

Body – This body is composed of flesh, bones, fat, nerves, tendons and blood. It is a home to various diseases and is filled with impurities. Ego lives in this body as the master with greed as the mistress. It is being bitten by the serpent of the ever-increasing desires of the five senses. People without this true Knowledge begin to droop in their minds and thus shorten their lives. I do not rejoice in this life of mine which darts like a flash of lightning in the cloud of delusion and ignorance. The body is like a bubble that will burst at any time. The shining skin is subject to wrinkles in old age.There is nothing so hurtful as this life which is perishable and temporary in nature.”

 

Ego – I am much afraid of this Ego which generates actions, desires, pains and is the source of all evil. Ego is illusory and deludes people. Ego is nothing, but it is everything for the worldly people. Ego is born of ignorance. Pride nurtures it. There is no enemy greater than Ego. Ego has its seat in the mind. Ego makes man commit evil and wrong actions. Ego is a disease. Pride, lust, anger, delusion, greed, jealousy, love/hate are the servants of this Ego. Therefore the real secret lies only in the renunciation of this Ego. Teacher of Great wisdom – Please bless me so that I may free myself from this Ego.”

 

Mind – Mind arises only through Ego. Mind (mind) is tossed about in objects of love and hatred, like a storm. It ever whirls far and wide in vain in sensual objects away from the association with the wise like a strolling dog ; but no results accrue therefrom. This baneful mind does not hold the joy (or enjoy the happiness) within, but whirls at the sight of the superficial outward appearances. This ferocious dog of mind follows its desires and preys upon ignorant. This monster of a mind is more terrible than fire itself, more insurmountable than mountains and more obdurate than a huge diamond. All pains are generated by mind. If this mind is annihilated through discrimination and Spiritual Enquiry, all pains and the illusory world will vanish”

 

Desires – Desire is the enemy of peace.The pack of owls called passion and anger play in the Ether of Consciousness during the night of restless desires enveloped with the intense gloom of dire delusion. Being without a mind of Atma Knowledge, I am enmeshed by them, like a bird caught in a trap and droop thereby. The fire of desires has burnt us. The desires follows people in the hope of inciting them to earn wealth but in vain.

 

Like a dancing woman who, though enfeebled by age, dances in vain without true joy, all my desires (play in me in a similar manner and) afflict me. They will try to encompass things beyond their reach; but even if such things are within their grasp, they will pass over and again long for happiness in other things . Like monkeys, they roam about without any fixed seat..

 

“This body which is composed of the cool intestines, muscles and is subject to changes, being at one time fat and at another time lean, shines in this mundane existence simply to undergo pains.

What more palpably fruitless, painsgiving and degraded thing could be conceived of than this body which oscillates with pains or pleasures through the increase or decrease of the experiences of objects ?

 

Infancy -  The child is in a helpless condition. He cannot convey his ideas. He weeps for nothing. He is ignorant. This period is ever attended with dangers from fire, water, etc. He is easily irritable. How can ignorant childhood be said to be happy state of life?

Youth – At this period, the young man is a slave to lust. His mind is filled with evil thoughts. He commits various sins. His good qualities vanish. The period of youth passes away quickly. The foolishman who rejoices in his temporary youth, is no more than a human beast.

 

Lust – What beauty is there in a woman who is composed of is composed of flesh, bones, fat, nerves, tendons and blood? A woman is charming for a short while. She is the cause of delusion. Where is the beauty in an old woman with wrinkled skin? Women destroy the life of men by causing lust and clouding the power of discrimination. I long only yo attain that state of Supreme Bliss which will put an end to repeated births.

 

Old Age – drives away the beauty of people. The old man is treated with contempt by the members of his family. He is helpless and his senses are powerless. He cannot satisfy his desires. He has no good memory. He suffers from various diseases. There is an insatiable desire for enjoyments but he has no capacity to enjoy. What is the good of this miserable routine life subjected to decay and old age?

 

Time – Time is the rate that cuts off the thread of life in the universe. There is nothing in this world that time will spare. The king called Death with the armies of mental and physical diseases march in procession in this world. What bliss can we expect to derive from association with this the old grey hag of dire dotage ? It is very difficult to do away with the desires of old age by getting rid of the three kinds of desires (of son, wife and wealth) very easily.

 

All the pleasurable objects of enjoyment in this world arising through Ignorance in the series of re-births take leave with the arrival of Yama (Death or Time), like a thread nibbled by a rat. There is nothing in this world which is not devoured by time. What is the good of this miserable mundane life which is subject to decay and old age?

 

In enjoyment there is fear of disease; in social position, the fear of falling off; in wealth, the fear of (hostile) Governments; in honour, the fear of humiliation; in power, the fear of enemies; in beauty, the fear of old age; in scriptural erudition, the fear of opponents; in virtue, the fear of traducers; in body, the fear of death. All the things of this world pertaining to human beings are attended with fear; renunciation alone stands for fearlessness.

 

Does this supreme state exist? Is, there not the seat of quiescence? O Respectable Sage! Teach me so that I may become free of grief, fear and worldly troubles and may have the light of truth! Show me the way to attain everlasting peace, eternal bliss and immortality.

What are the four Gatekeepers (Pillars) to Freedom?

 

[Vasistha:]

There are four gate-keepers at the entrance to the Realm of Freedom. They are Santi (self-control or quietness of mind), Vichara (spirit of inquiry), Santosha (contentment) and Satsanga (good company). The wise seeker should diligently cultivate the friendship of these, or at least one of them.

 

When the mind is at peace, pure, tranquil, free from delusion or hallucination, untangled and free from cravings, it does not long for anything nor does it reject anything. This is self-control or conquest of mind.

 

All that is good and auspicious flows from self-control. All evil is dispelled by self-control. No gain, no pleasure in this world or in heaven is comparable to the delight of self-control. The delight one experiences in the presence of the self-controlled is incomparable. Everyone spontaneously trusts him. None (not even demons and goblins) hates him.

 

Self-control, O Rama, is the best remedy for all physical and mental ills. When there is self-control, even the food you eat tastes better, else it tastes bitter. He who wears the armour of self-control is not harmed by sorrow.

 

He who even while hearing, touching, seeing, smelling and tasting what is regarded as pleasant and unpleasant, is neither elated nor depressed — he is self-controlled. He who looks upon all beings with equal vision, having brought under control the sensations of pleasure and pain, is self-controlled. He who

though living amongst all is unaffected by them, neither feels elated nor hates, even as one is during sleep — he is self-controlled.

 

Inquiry (the second gate-keeper to liberation) should be undertaken by an intelligence that has been purified by a close study of the scripture, and this inquiry should be unbroken. By such inquiry the intelligence becomes keen and is able to realize the supreme; hence inquiry alone is the best remedy for the long-lasting illness known as samsara (repeated births).

 

Valmiki

The wise man regards strength, intellect, efficiency and timely action as the fruits of inquiry. Indeed kingdom, prosperity, enjoyment, as well as final liberation, are all the fruits of inquiry. The spirit of inquiry protects one from the calamities that befall the unthinking fool. When the mind has been rendered dull by the absence of inquiry, even the cool rays of the moon turn into deadly weapons, and the childish imagination throws up a goblin in every dark spot. Hence, the non-inquiring fool is really a storehouse of sorrow. It is the absence of inquiry that gives rise to actions that are harmful to oneself and to others, and to numerous psychosomatic illnesses. Therefore, one should avoid the company of such unthinking people.

 

They in whom the spirit of inquiry is ever awake illumine the world, enlighten all who come into contact with them, dispel the ghosts created by an ignorant mind, and realize the falsity of sense-pleasures and their objects. O Rama, in the light of inquiry there is realization of the eternal and unchanging reality; this is the supreme. With it one does not long for any other gain nor does one spurn anything. He is free from delusion, attachment; he is not inactive nor does he get drowned in action; he lives and functions in this world and at the end of a natural life-span he reaches the blissful state of total freedom.

 

The eye of spiritual inquiry does not lose its sight even in the midst of all activities; he who does not have this eye is indeed to be pitied. It is better to be born as a frog in the mud, a worm in dung, a snake in a hole, but not be one without this eye. What is inquiry? To inquire thus: “Who am I? How has this evil of samsara (repetitive history) come into being?” is true inquiry. Knowledge of truth arises from such inquiry; from such knowledge there follows tranquillity in oneself; and then there arises the supreme peace in the Self and the ending of all sorrow.

Contentment is another gate-keeper to liberation. He who has quaffed the nectar of contentment does not relish craving for sense-pleasures; no delight in this world is as sweet as contentment which destroys all sins.

 

What is contentment? To renounce all craving for what is not obtained unsought and to be satisfied with what comes unsought, without being elated or depressed even by them — this is contentment. As long as one is not satisfied in the self, he will be subjected to sorrow. With the rise of contentment the purity of one’s heart blooms. The contented man who possesses nothing owns the world.

 

Satsanga (company of wise, holy and enlightened persons) is yet another gatekeeper to liberation. Satsanga enlarges one’s intelligence, destroys one’s ignorance and one’s psychological distress.

 

Whatever be the cost, however difficult it may be, whatever obstacles may stand in its way, satsanga should never be neglected. For, satsanga alone is one’s light on the path of life. Satsanga is indeed superior to all other forms of religious practices like charity, austerity, pilgrimages and the performance of religious rites.

 

One should by every means in one’s power adore and serve the holy men who have realized the truth and in whose heart the darkness of ignorance has been dispelled. They who, on the other hand, treat such holy men disrespectfully, surely invite great suffering.

 

These four — contentment, satsanga, the spirit of inquiry, and self-control — are the four surest means by which they who are drowning in this ocean of samsara can be saved. Contentment is the supreme gain. Satsanga is the best companion to the destination. The spirit of inquiry itself is the greatest wisdom.

And, self-control is supreme happiness. If you are unable to resort to all these four, then practice one: by the diligent practice of one of these, the others will also be found in you. The highest wisdom will seek you of its own accord. Until you tame the wild elephant of your mind with the help of these noble qualities, you cannot have progress towards the supreme, even if you become a god, demi-god or a tree.

 

Therefore, strive by all means to cultivate these noble qualities. He who is endowed with the qualities that I have enumerated thus far is qualified to listen to what I am about to reveal. (II:11)

 

When the mind is at peace and the heart leaps to the supreme truth, when all the disturbing thought-waves in the mind-stuff have subsided and there is unbroken flow of peace and the heart is filled with the bliss of the absolute, when thus the truth has been seen in the heart, then this very world becomes an abode of bliss. (II:12)

 

[King Janaka:]

 

O unsteady mind! This worldly life is not conducive to your true happiness. Hence, reach the state of equanimity. It is in such equanimity that you will experience peace, bliss and the truth. (V:11)

 

Rooted in equanimity, doing whatever happens to be the appropriate action in each given situation and not ever thinking about what has thus befallen you unsought, live non-volitionally — doing yet not doing what has to be done. Consciousness minus conceptualization is the eternal Brahman. (V:13)

 

[Bhaktha Prahlada to Lord Vishnu:]

 

Whatever comes, let it come; whatever goes, let it go. Let notions of diverse experiences either arise or set in the body: I am neither in them nor they in me.

 

Even as steel cuts the steel-beam which has been heated, I have subdued the mind with its own purified state. I have cut asunder cravings, ignorance and foolishness by their opposites. Egolessly, my body functions with its inherent energy. The past tendencies, mental conditioning and limitations have been

completely destroyed.

 

I begin to wonder: how was it that for such a long time I was caught up in the trap of ego-sense! Freed from dependency, from habits of thought, from desire and cravings, from deluded belief in the existence of the ego, from the coloring of pleasure-seeking tendency and from revelry — my mind has reached a state of utter quiescence. With this all sorrow has come to an end and the light of supreme bliss has dawned! (V:35)

 

[Lord Vishnu to Bhaktha Prahlada:]

Even though you are in the body, since you do not have the body, you are bodiless. You are the observer which is immaterial intelligence: just as, though air exists in space it is not attached to space, and hence it is free from spatial limitation.

 

Enlightened men, though they be constantly engaged in activity, do nothing: it is not by means of inaction that they reach the state of non-action! This very fact of non-action frees you from experiences: for there is no harvest where there is no sowing. When thus both notions of I do and I experience have ceased, there remains only peace; when that peace is firmly grounded, there is liberation. (V:40)

 

Without self-inquiry and the consequent inner tranquillity, neither devotion to Lord Vishnu nor self-knowledge is possible. Hence resort to self-inquiry and the practice of the End to distraction and thus adore the Self: if you are successful in this, you have attained perfection.

Aum Namo Narayanaya
Aum Namo Narayanaya
Aum Namo Narayanaya