by Sri Bmal Mohanty
VOL No. 21
July. 2002

PREPARATIONS FOR SADHANA -Part 2

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

Even a little vidya which has sipped into your inner being is better than a lot of knowledge that shine superficially on one, like the golden paint on the body of a street performer.

Our efforts should always be towards true swadhyayan and not mere knowledge gathering.

Swadhyayan never ends. One's whole life, not only this life but the lives hereafter are to be utilised for swadhyayan. All great seekers of Bramhan knowledge, even the great saints themselves spend time everyday in swadhyayan. Everytime one reads a scripture or recites a mantra- even if you are repeating it - a new understanding is revealed. As a matter of fact, this new and newer unfolding of different perceptions in a mantra, is a unique characteristic of adhyatma vidya and if you are getting that, then it is a sure test of your mental development. It is a litmus test of the progress one has made. If everytime you repeat a mantra or sing a bhajan, you happen to feel a new facet of meaning in it, know for certain that your sadhana is succeeding.

Like daily meditation or daily prayer swadhyayana is recommended as a daily ritual or nityakarma never to be missed. In Taittiriya Upanishad we have one anuvaka or lesson which the disciples receive from the teacher when they finally depart from the hermitage after completing studies. It is a good compilation of do's and don't's in life, something like a convocation address which students are given on leaving an institution. One of the advices the teacher gives is swadhyayan ma pramadah. Never ever be heedless or stray away from self education. The benefits of swadhyayana, apart from preparing one for sadhana, has many many more advantages. In another anuvaka the same Upanishad inter-alia says that for every need of life the guidance can come from swadhyayana. Have we not all experienced this in our own lives. Whenever confronted with a problem do not many of us run to seek an answer from one of our scriptures and find solace in our hearts? That is the power of swadhyayana. It establishes an invisible link between us and The Lord.

In this context, another often missed point worth remembering is the importance given to retention of knowledge side by side with acquiring of it. Most of us attend many satsangs, read and listen to a lot of spiritual knowledge. However very little of it is consciously retained in our heart and mind. In one of our puranas forgetting Bramhan knowledge after acquiring it has been termed as a great misfortune. You would have noticed that the prescribed method of reading any religious text is to read it loudly many times over. Learning by rote is a mandatory practice. This practical idea is to ensure a large retention of the embedded thoughts which will eventually influence our activities. In Gurukulas of the past students were encouraged to reminiscend on the Guru's words immediately during the next sandhya. (the mandatory three meditations during dawn, noon and dusk).

Sankalpa and swadhyayana then auotomatically lead us to the next which samsuddhabuddhi or purity of wisdom or clarity of thought. It is easy to understand how clarity of thought or mind is essential for sadhana. A mind without clarity is like a mirror covered with dust. He whose mind is not purified is not capable of acquiring atmajnana (knowledge of the self) says Yajnavalkya (III.141) just as a mirror smeared over with dirt can not reflect an image.

The simple way to describe the state of samsuddhabuddhi is absence of ambiguity, or duality of mind. In the final state of samsuddhabuddhi lies in paramahansatva or the state of total annihilation of samsaya.

The path of sadhana which is the path of knowing the unknown is fraught with many doubts of the mind. It is natural because you are exploring something which is yet unknown.

But by constant swadhyayana you have already started getting a glimpse of that desirable knowledge. You have already taken a sankalpa in the beginning that you will not stop until that knowledge stands fully revealed to you. Here the tool which is in your possession which will help you maximum is the viveka or intellect. This is again a great boon to us from the benign Lord. No other creation except the human form has been bestowed with this boon. Only a fool will fail to recognise this and squander away this human birth without aspiring for the higher.

As we said, samsuddhabuddhi or hansatva means elimination of all doubts about the duality - the sansaya from the mind. Elimination of duality refers to unequivocal acceptance of the single truth syndrome. Ekam Brmham, Ik omkar all these and other established faiths subscribe to this concept of a single truth that is all there is.

However the path to this ultimate realisation of ekabramhatva or Bramhan being the only absolute existence is not an easy path. Once this truth is realised, all doubts of the mind stand cleared. That is ofcourse the Visuddha buddhi or the most purified intellect that Bhagavad Gita talks about. However as we said, the road to that state is full of many ifs, buts and whynots etc. One must walk this path step by step. Understanding Bramhan in full measure is so that all sansaya or doubts are removed, beyond all ordinary mortal efforts. What is the practical approach to do this? We have discussed this often before. Without plunging straightaway into the total concept of Bramhan, it is practical to take up and understand some of the qualities of Bramhan, a few aspects at a time before taking up other aspects. This is the classical method of approaching any intricate idea. In methodology of vedic study, this is known as tatasthalakshana or by means of study of important accidental characteristics as opposed to swaroopalakshana or study of essential properties.

From our previous discussions, at the cost of repetition we shall briefly recapitulate some of these important references about Bramhan that will lead us to the ultimate ekabramhatva concept and our buddhisansiddhi.

We earlier talked about six basic and important characteristics of the creation around us and of which we are a part. These have been discussed in some length earlier and therefore we mention just briefly. These are also the six characteristics of The Lord's creation to constantly reflect and meditate upon. These are:-
1. The entire creation is one homogenous entity. Try to see this homogenity in everything around us and the mind will surely proceed to that ekabramhatva concept.

2. The creation itself is indistinguishable from Paramatma, its creator, Therefore if there is one creation, there has to be that one creator.

3. The creation is all encompassing and á matrix structure with every thing linked with the other, the concept of interconnectivity. The structure in its grossness as well as its subtleness has for its support that single concept of Bramhan.

4. Every constituent in the creation is interdependent on each and all, for its very existence. Such a cohesiveness is understandably possible within a single unified entity covering and pervading all.

5. The creation is ever dynamic and yet dynamically balanced without chaos. This does not disintegrate because of a single unified force holding it together.

6. Irrespective of its vastness, the creation moves according to a strict code of procedures based on cause and effect. The enforcer of this code is Bramhan.