by Sri Bmal Mohanty
VOL No. 10
 April 2001

CHAPTER ELEVEN – TRANSFORMING OURSELVES

"Based on lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

    When a Sadhaka (spiritual practitioner) advances in the path of sadhana, he brings into the folds of his mind an increasing degree of discipline. Through this imposition of discipline, the concentration increases and the truth gets more and more revealed in a progressive way. Knowledge as we know, has this inherent characteristic. It can only grow. It does not know how to shrink or get diminished.

With more knowledge, comes naturally deeper concentration. Because by that time, the mind is getting more and more focussed. The progress of sadhana which is painfully slow for the beginners is faster for those who are advanced in the path of Jnaana Yoga.

Therefore the problem really is for beginners like you and me. Concentration is difficult to come by. Mind keeps wandering. All kinds of questions keep jamming the thought process.Too many knots of the mind require to be untangled.

The solution to these problems lies in the two influences in our life. The first one is Svadhyaayabhyaasana or the practice of self learning of the shastras or scriptures. Svadhyaayabhyaasana has been given the status of one of the elements of Tapasya or austerity practice by none other than Lord Krishna Himself. In his advice to Arjuna. ( see Shraddhaatraya vibhaaga Yoga 17.15)

ANUDVEGAKARAM VAKYAM SATYAM PRIYAHITAM CA YAT

SVADHYAYABHYASANAM CAIVA VANMAYAM TAPA UCYATE)

Daily reading of Kuran by the muslims, Granth by the sikhs, Bible by the christians and Vedas, Upanishads or Bhagavad Gita by the hindus is Swaadyayaabhyasana. Its purpose is to build up concentration through knowledge which shall assist sadhana.

But the knowledge has to be practiced. The knowledge enshrined in the slokas of our spiritual texts, the kernel or the seed truth can be looked at, understood, and savoured from hundreds of angles. The expansive characteristic of knowledge is best appreciated, when we look at it from different view points and each time, a clearer picture is revealed. “Reveal” is the right word here. All our spiritual utterances are actually called revelations.- as revealed to the seers who have seen. Each revelation has a new facet, a new layer being exposed. It is like a magnificent palace with thousand windows. When you peep into the palace through one after another window, you see more treasures of the palace revealed to you.

Here comes the second influence- the influence of the Guru – that we talked about. The Guru who is weightier than the student in knowledge ( that is why he is called Guru) simply suggests the disciple a different angle for him to see. The act of seeing has ofcourse to be done by the disciple only. The Guru does not see on his behalf. Yet once the Guru says to look at it this way and the disciple obeys, something more is revealed to him.

The beginners need a Guru more from this point of view.

A beginner is like a young student. His mind is full of questions and he is also impatient. In our age-old system of Guru-Shisya relationship, the shisya or disciple is encouraged to submit questions respectfully to the Guru and the Guru explains. Often these explanations take the form of illustrative examples to drive the point home.

                                                                                                               Next