by Sri Bmal Mohanty
VOL No. 27
March / April. 2003

ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE BRAMHAN - Part 1

"Based on lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

  QUESTIONS FROM THE READERS

QUESTION 1 from Sri Arun Sabharwal - U.K.

I am supposed to be divine, the source of happiness, already the Bramhan itself. Why then I am experiencing all these difficulties in life? Why have I to struggle so much? Why do I have to work for my happiness? What is the need for all these sadhana?

Ans :All of us must have faced this question sometime or other in our lives? On the face of it, this appears to be a contradiction of sorts. Is'nt it? Therefore we need to clear our minds by going a little deeper to find its true meaning.

When we say we are 'Divine', 'Jiveiva Bramhan na parah- individual souls are no different than the supreme soul' what we are referring to is the essential nature of everything. But until this truth has been realised by our internal psyche, it has very little concrete usefulness. It remains a mere statement and therefore unable to assist us in our day to day life.

A small parable helps us to understand the situation better. There was once a very poor man, so poor that he had no money to even buy his next meal. He was in perpetual unhappiness and struggling. One day a saint came to his door step and asked him why he is so sad. On hearing him out, the saint told him' who said you are poor? You are indeed a very very rich man. Buried deep under your courtyard, there lies a pot of gold. You are richer beyond your imagination.'. The poor man was stunned. 'So I am sitting over my wealth all these years without knowing? I shall dig this out and then I shall have to struggle no more' He thought. But instead of digging straight away he postponed with silly excuses ' I am a rich man. Why should I do this manual work I must hire a labourer.' Again he thought 'no! the labourer may tell every one and the wicked may snatch it away. I shall do it myself'. He still pondered and postponed for nightfall, thinking that in daylight he may arouse curiousity of others, better be it in the dead of night. Then again he thought ' this is the full moon period and there is too much moonlight in the night, better I wait a fortnight for the dark period of moon. Thus he postponed further. A few days later when the saint revisited he was still waiting.

The saint returning to his ashram asked his disciples,'tell me! Is this man rich or poor?'

In this deep thought provoking quotion, lies our answer.

We are not divine because, our scriptures say so, or our Guru has taught us thus. Divinity is not a stamp affixed by Lord on our forehead. It has very little meaning unless our inner faculty, our antahkarana realisses it for itself and in full measure. That poor man has no benefit of the riches, unless he puts in his efforts, digs out the gold and possesses the riches. Our antahkarana will not realise the bliss of Divinity unless we put efforts by way of sadhana and possess the truth. The extent one realises this truth within himself is the extent he remains unaffected by the play of Maya in the shape of suffering and happiness.

QUESTION 2 from Sri Vasant Communication & I.T. Officer Silver Whisper

Dear Sir

Seeking your Blessings, I wish to say a few words: Your Portal is very well developed, and Hats off to you and your team on this Noble project, which is clearly redefining the minds and Inner Persona. It gives great relief to me in going thru the various articles, which are so readily available and to grasp the easy language that you have adopted i.e. plain English. I am an engineer working for a Passenger ship, and when i go and read thru your articles i am so blessed by the Lord himself in spending time here., Thanks to you once again. Before I finish my email, May I ask you please one question if you could clarify me Sir:

Q. Being a Brahman by birth is One, and any person in this beautiful world can be a Brahman by practicing the rituals - they say. How do you I come to an easy understanding with this broad philosophy. Secondly - I wish to know what is the origin of Institutionalisation of MARRIAGES. Namaste.

ANSWER : Thank you for your message and nice words. If any one's effort brings some one else a tiny step nearer to The Lord, then it is His wish that is fulfilled. No, Bramhin by birth is no guarantee for some one to be recognised as a Bramhin. Bramhinhood is a state of mind and life style that is directly related to one's actions that befits a Bramhin. If some one, even if born in a Bramhin family has not been practicing the tenets of Bramhan exploration, then he has already forfeited his identity of a Bramhin. Like wise any one who by dint of his actions is engaged in the pursuit of Bramhajnana, is fit to attain Bramhinhood. Times have changed. Nowadays the Bramhin households are no more places of serious Bramhan worship, which identified them from others in olden days. The culture ran through the generations and enriched the future generations. That is why to be born in a Bramhin household was a great merit for any one. Alas same can not be said now a days in a general way.

There is ofcourse another consideration which can not be overlooked. The complexities of modern life demands that most people have to pursue multifarios dharmas (conducts in life) to cope with life. Therefore most of us switch between conducting ourselves as a bramhan, a kshyatriya, a vaisya or a sudra as the situation dictates. Every one can not take the path of total dedicated involvement, leave alone renunciation. This has both disadvantages as well as advantages. It is indeed a challenge to day to accept the life as it is presented before us and evolve out of its complexities towards that ultimate goal.

That is why the life as it is has to be transformed in its entirity. It is a challenge to every one to walk the path of Bramhin, be a Bramhin and discover the bliss of self. A spiritual approach to life in all situations and at all times is imperative. There is no alternative but for every one to walk the path of Dharma (righteousness) and Dharma alone. Any one who does that is also a Bramhin. As regards marriage - Plesae see AHWAN previous issue (26)

QUESTION 3 from Ms Anindita -Kolkata

Civilised world has realised that war is no solution to any dispute. Amicable settlement through dialogue is to be preferred. Why Mahabharat war did not take this course?

ANSWER : Although Mahabharata is all about war, there is a lot of emphasis and debate interwoven into it, eulogising the importance of settlement of disputes through dialogue. Even if war becomes inevitable between two unrelenting and unreasonable parties drunk with self-righteous complex, everybody knows that war is never a solution. Conflict leads nowhere.

In conflict your mind is always looking for a weaker opponent who can be vanquished. You are already degrading your opponent, wishing all the time that he has to be weaker so that you can win over him. You are starting with a negative attitude.

However if you start with a dialogue, you wish that your opponent is intelligent enough to understand what you are saying and agree with you ( provided you have no ulterior motives). If he has to agree with you , he should be either equal to you or superior to you in intelligence. He can not be inferior. If you look at your opponent that way, you are already starting with a positive attitude.

When you start being positive , the chances are, that when you arrive at a solution, the agreement will last longer. In physical conflict no one wins. Even Pandavas did not benifit in the war of Mahabharata. The lord had promised Arjuna that he will reign the earth if he wins. Arjuna did not reign. From the point of view of both Kauravas and Pandavas it was a useless and rewardless war.

One may ask why then it took place? It took place because all other paths were closed down by the Kauravas. The only point that was in stake was the reestablishment of Dharma, the annihilation of adharmic elements. - which ofcourse at the end was achieved. The Dharma was re-established and continues over the ages, still guiding the mankind. But the pity is at what cost? If a compromise could have been reached even on the lines suggested by Lord Krishna to give five villages to Pandava, who knows how many lives would have been saved? If the adharma could have realised its folly, would not Dharma have triumphed without bloodshed? Lord Krishna knew and tried for it. But Kauravas did not heed the lesson and what happened thereafter remains a lesson for the human race for all time to learn. God bless you.