by Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL No. 39
May. 2004

ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE BRAMHAN - Part 13

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

QUESTIONS FROM THE READERS

QUESTION 1 from Sri P M ManDal

Sir, I believe I am a religious person. I do regular worshiping, have strong faith in God. If not daily, yet I do meditation quite regularly. But even if I try very hard to understand some of the spiritual concepts- like the ones you are teaching us- they all seem quite beyond my understanding. I do not think I am mentally alert yet to be a spiritual person. Am I missing out something?.

ANSWER: Your honest self assessment is quite touching and that seems to be your strength. The position that you are in today, is indeed from where everybody starts. As a matter of fact you are even a few steps ahead in as much as you are convinced that you are a believer and you are religious. We all come across people who often declare themselves as non-believers and non-religious. These are all hallucinations of mind born out of ignorance as we have tried to explain through the pages of AHWAN..

In the initial stages all faiths are shaky and all religious sentiments are more ritualistic. That is natural. Even if one is in that stage, one does not realize that the nature, dictated by the divine scheme of things is already working on the person, refining him, making him evolve into a higher being. There is no one who does not crave for happiness, peace, bliss, tranquility etc. The environment around us and our own nature keep us assisting to instinctively move in that direction. Our mind keeps on taking stock of the situation we are in and what we seek to be. Slowly and steadily the understanding and wisdom keep seeping in, further enlightening our mind. It is so very natural. For various reasons different people may take less or more time. But knowledge can not be kept away.

What is spirit? What is its nature? These concepts of true happiness, abiding peace and tranquility, the psychic bliss are indeed the identities of the state of absolute consciousness, satchidananda, Lord, God or Bramhan or whatever way one may describe or whatever name one may give it. That indeed is the Spirit. The desire for these never leaves a being. Thus the spirit and the being are never separated. So long as the spirit within, keeps this nature or svabhava alive, all remain connected with the spirit. The link may be strong or weak, but the connection is never snapped.

TSpirit never abandons the ‘being’. Hence all are spiritual by nature.

QUESTION 2 from Ms MAITHILI

Sir, After attending one of your lectures with my parents, I started reading some of your articles on spititual approach to life in www,ahwan.com. Although I understood something, lot of it I could not understand. What do I do? Shall I stop? I am 11 years old.

ANSWER: Dear Maithili! You are a very special child and a very fortunate one too. Most other children of your age do not have any interest in serious meanings of life. They take longer time to develop. Even we adults waste away many precious years. You are also very fortunate to have such parents who have introduced you to this. Remember, The God above makes all things happen for us knowing what is best for each of us..

Not being able to understand things about spiritual philosophy at your age is very natural. Even we adults also are still trying to understand many things. Also remember that this land of ours has also produced many young wise men like Dhruva, Prahlada, Naciketa, Sankaracarya etc. It is all a matter of interest, effort and blessings from God.

Do not tax yourself too much but also do not at all abandon your efforts. Keep trying little bit by little bit. Do not hesitate to ask for help. God first tries to test your sincerity and when He sees your sincerity, wisdom from Him will flow from Him to you, and make you truly wise. The understanding will grow more and more. God bless you and your parents.

QUESTION 3 from SRI SURESH PAHWA

When misfortune strikes from blue, like earthquake destroying some one's house, is it right to think it is all for good? One's karmaphala?

ANSWER:This is the kind of question on which the debate has been going on all the time. This is because our ordinary mind can not comprehend the divine truth that the theory of cause and effect makes everyone responsible for what befalls him. You can reap nothing which you have not sowed. When we look at any event in isolation from its purpose, and its impact on the vital, mental and psychic levels we lose sight of the broader canvas where, each stroke of the brush has a relationship with the total picture. If at some period of my existence, which may be this life or previous lives, I have perpetuated some misfortune on some one and have not yet learnt my lesson to correct myself, then some misfortune will keep on visiting me until wisdom dawns on me. In what form or of what nature that may be, is not important but the principle and its purpose is. We do not know the past. The theory of cause and effect is infallible. Atonement is impossible to circumvent until the lesson has been learnt and antahkarana has been purified.

People ask ‘if I do not know my past, how do I know what I am paying for and how could I have corrected myself? This is superficial thinking. We can relate yesterday’s mistake to today's punishment. Why not yester life's? All it needs is to expand the inner vision by sadhana to appreciate the grand design, the mahayajna and see how everything works for that ultimate purpose, evolution of one and all, by building up understanding and acting upon it..

Then the question comes- ‘past is past and gone. If the die has been cast, do humans get resigned to their fate?’ No. The answer the sanatana dharma provides is very much the opposite. Much of the impact of the blow from the past karma, the praravdha, can be softened and even nullified by kriyamana, the good work that we do in the present life of ours. That is why religions of substance cry hoarse in advocating good conduct, the righteous way of living, the dharmacaran all the time and for everyone. At the root of everything is the right understanding and walking the path dictated by it. That is how one can ward off misfortunes. Duhkham heyam anagatam.

QUESTION 4 from SRI N KRIPA

sir-We compulsarily go through prarabhda karma is there no means to come out of it?

ANSWER:Thank you for your question and your interest in AHWAN. If going through the pages of AHWAN any way helps you in your spiritual quest, that is the Lord’s wish.

Coming back to your question, you obviously refer to the unpleasant effects of prarabdha and our efforts to be released from its bondage.

Yes, the effect of prarabdha has to pass at some time or other, because it is the divine principle by way of which we learn the lessons from our mistakes and is an essential part of our purifying process. There is no way the jiva or individual soul can cheat the system. However prarabdha’s effects can be greatly counteracted by good work that one does in the present life. This is called Kriyamana. That is why all religions of substance have a single refrain in advocating righteous living all the time. Positive kriyamana balances out any negative prarabdha. The jiva develops understanding and strength of character to bear the blow without loosing the balance of mind. Once the lesson has been learnt, there is no prarabdha. Another thing to remember is that prarabdha is not all negative. Good work done is always carried forward also as prarabdha and continues to bestow benefits, leading the jiva in its spiritual progress. The essence of karma theory is an infallible process, going through which the soul progresses in its evolutionary ladder. To understand this concept please read through the following.

AHWAN Vol 3 July 2000issue “Understanding our own position”.

AHWAN Vol 12 July 2001 issue – the question from readers portion.

AHWAN Vol 39 May 2004 forthcoming issue.