by Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL No. 31
September. 2003

ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE BRAMHAN - Part 5

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

QUESTIONS FROM THE READERS

QUESTION 1 from – Sri RAGHUVEER SHARMA- Pune

Respected Sir, I am in a sort of dilemma and seeking your guidance. I desire to move away to a secluded place and do my sadhana. However my family members are dead against it. I also feel that sometimes they need me much and I do not wish to leave them. I am old and time is running away. What should I do?

ANSWER: Too often we associate our spiritual quest (Bramha Sadhana) with a secluded ascetic life away from everything and everyone. We seem to understand that world renunciation is what spiritual quest is all about. This is ignorance and at the root of it lies an over simplification of the meaning of sanatanadharma as well as ignorance about sanyasa, vanaprastha etc. Especially in India,we see an abundance of sadhus and swamis with flowing beard, scanty clothing, no family attachments etc and our mind rushes to derive a hasty conclusion, that one must immediately do the same. This is not what is a spiritual approach to life is, as the sanatana philosophy teaches us.

The concept of final renunciation of all attachments with the world, for devoting all the time in pursuit of satchidananda, is indeed the pinnacle of sadhana but it has to be a natural passage for the self (jiva), after progressing through the entire process of learning without ignoring its worldly obligations. Living through the world is in itself the preparation for the final mode of existence. The phenomenal world and the life itself provide us our only classroom of learning. The importance of the phenomenal universe and the world that we live in with our lives, should be understood as essential requirements for our spiritual evolution and are the grandest gifts from the Lord to assist the pilgrim in his progress. While attachments to them is to be shunned, rejecting them without understanding and learning from them with the right perspective, is equally detrimental to progress., A fit stage for total renunciation can not be forced into life. Acquiring a fit state of mind for this stage comes after many lives of preparation, gathering the right sanskaras spanning may be many many lives of righteous living. As and when the right time comes, the circumstances become so conducive and without much hindrance, that the passage becomes an experience of ecstasy.

The individual self (jiva) is in no position to chose his own right time and must patiently wait for the inevitable divine grace. It comes in many ways, like a compelling inner voice which can not be denied or in the form of the advent of a true Guru in one's life, etc. Till such time one has to simply keep following the path of dharma with right spiritual approach to life.

Time does not runaway for any one. Live life constantly remaining in Yoga. (Yogastha kuru karmani). Leave to the Lord to judge your preparations and decide what is best for you and when.

QUESTION 2 FROM Sri ATUL BIST

If God is so benevolent why does He punishes man for his sins? If I have committed any sin, am I only responsible?

ANSWER: What a profound question. It addresses one of the most unique aspects of Sanatan Dharma. At the outset let us clarify this vexed question of sin (paapa) and virtue (punya), which is often wrongly interpreted by even the followers of sanatan philosophy, what to talk of other religions and philosophies. The very concept of sin is often described in dreadful and exaggerated words by some, and fearful outcome is predicted. The purpose may be to force the grossly ignorant people to refrain from the path of dharma and somehow remain on the right path out of fear. But fear is the last thing the sanatan dharma preaches.

However as one rises in the level of one's consciousness and knowledge, one automatically understands the true meaning of sin and virtue.
Once the ultimate aim of life is understood, virtuosity is recognised as the means to attain it. Dharmaacaran or the pursuit of righteous conduct is seen as imperative. Any deviation from virtue (which is understood as sin) thus brings setbacks. So the wise say 'walk the path of dharma, commit no sins.

Yet as we have discussed elsewhere on the pages of AHWAN, man due to ignorance , borne out of sense dictated desires, often forgets this. He runs after preyas (temporary pleasures of sense gratification which eventually end in further dissatisfaction) and does not seek shreyas ( the ultimate good that brings permanent bliss).

It is simply a mistake committed.

Does the Lord punish us for this? No he does not. Then why do we suffer?

Whenever we are about to commit a sin(?), or mistake, our inner voice, which is the voice of the Lord, working through our mind and intelligence (buddhi and viveka) sends out signals to refrain, or atone the mistake and from committing it again. If, shedding our ignorance, we are able to listen to this inner voice, then we learn the lesson. That is what mistakes are for- to teach the lesson for future. It is like an ignorant child putting his finger to a burning candle. The pain is the lesson.. If the child learns, he will not again bring his finger to the burning candle. On the other hand, if we fail to understand and fail to learn the lesson, the nature with the divine purpose, creates further circumstances - if necessary again and again- till we learn the lesson. As we learn, we shed the ignorance and evolve into a better being.

Mistakes or sins should be understood by the wise as nothing but lessons to learn from. Until we have learnt, we keep on burning our finger. We call this suffering.
Why should the Lord punish us? What pleasure does He get from our suffering? On the other hand if we believe ourselves to be His children, all our suffering is His suffering really.
Sometimes it does appear to an ignorant mind that he is suffering due to no fault of his. He holds others responsible for his miseries. This is ignorance. Whatever is happening to me, good or bad, I am the originator of that. Every action of mine produces a rippling effect that sooner or later returns to affect me. At what point of time, what action of mine, has worked upon whom and under what circumstances, and finally transformed into the present state of affairs, is a matter beyond my comprehension. This is because my knowledge is limited. Being an inseparable entity of the creation as every one and everything in the universe are, we all become agents to all happenings in the creation, directly or in a remote way. We are all like actors on the stage through whom the purpose of the play unfolds.
If in the first place I had acted in conformity with dharma or virtue, I would not have faced a situation of suffering. That is why all religions of substance urge us to walk the path of virtue relentlessly. By that you commit no sins and at the end be united with The Lord - our ultimate purpose.

If anything can be called a sin (paapa) it is our lack of efforts to come out of the darkness of ignorance. And the greatest virtue (punya) is to be able to embrace the light of knowledge and be part of it. That is why we do yoga sadhana. Yoga is meant for nothing else

QUESTION 3 From Sri KANUBHAISARKAR

Respected Sir, Please give me a reply that if every action of ours is predetermined, then how my deeds are judged as good or bad?

ANSWER: Please also read the preceding question and answer above. When you say your actions are predetermined, please do not forget that we are the perpetuators of all our actions. Everything in God's creation is governed by the principle of cause and effect. What is affecting me now, has been caused by me only, by some action committed by me in the past. Good work brings good results and bad deeds result in unhappiness to us. The entire evolutionary process is a learning process for the jiva. To avoid unpleasant happenings for ourselves, the simple dictum is that never create unpleasantness to any one. All major religions of substance teach this.

To know what is good action, bad action etc, the simple rule is, anything that keeps us in the path of Dharma is good. Anything contrary is to be avoided as bad. For advice, one should fall back on the sayings in our scriptures which spell out what is good and what is bad. I would suggest that you please spend some time reading the two articles on the pages of AHWAN on Dharmacaran (What is righteous living Ahwan Dec 2000 and January 2001 issues).