by Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL No. 44
October. 2004

QUESTIONS FROM READERS
QUESTION 1 from Ms PARAMITA CHOWDHURY

Respected Mohantyji, Pranam. Where exactly inside me the Lord resides? Where is that ‘cave’, referred to in the scriptures, located?

Thank It is good to have such doubts. After all if I have to find my Lord, I must look for him every nook and corner till I see Him.

At the outset please realize that God is not a gross physical entity. A normal human being seldom tries to look beyond his physical environment within which he is imprisoned and the power of the physical, aided by the sense contacts, plays on this weakness of ours and thwarts all our attempts to raise ourselves to any higher level of existence.

As long as we consider ourselves as only a physical entity, we will keep looking for our questions and solutions for their physical presence. That is the realm of physical science.

But this amazing entity of a human being, as we all are, is not a mere a physical creature. Modern science may take some more time to understand this. We are all a combination or blend of three separate existences i.e. physical, psychic and spiritual. These are three broad catagories with many layers in each category. In each level of our existence we have different levels of consciousness, that regulates us. At each level we have different understanding of truth consciousness and different interplay with it.

Looking for spiritual solutions only at physical or trying to understand psychic experiences through physical tools of the body often ends in frustration.

How do we know, that such higher levels of consciousness exist at all if we have not reached that level of consciousness? We do. Truth by its very nature, is constantly trying to establish itself within each of us. All of us sometime or the other get glimpses of this consciousness – unexplainable psychic or spiritual experiences- in our waking, dream and deep sleep states. This is like the occasional touch of the Divine hand, trying to remind us of our ultimate goal. Unfortunately at the ordinary levels of consciousness, these experiences are too fleeting. We have not yet acquired the power to hold on to it or understand its purpose. But the enlightened sadhakas by virtue of their sadhanA, and with purified mind, can sustain this consciousness and push ahead towards that final stage. So can all of us, once we try and reach that state.

So, the cave that you are looking for, is undefinable in the physical you, but vaguely understood in psychic ‘you’ and well understood in the spiritual ‘you’. Once you are in these higher levels of consciousness (sometimes expressed as our sukshma sarira),you will feel, be conscious and realize the presence of The Lord within. YogasadhnA prepares you for this.

Incidentally the word ‘cave’ or guhyam, do not refer to description of smallness. It refers to the depth and intensity of concentrated focus, hidden within. This cave is indeed all pervading. There is no particular point where the Lord remains hidden. He pervades all inside and outside.

These are wonderful explanations that we have learnt from our seers.

QUESTION 2 from SRI SANDEEPKUMAR

How to love Krishna?

ANSWER

Let us tackle this question from another angle. Why we do not love Krishna? Or why some people cannot bring themselves up to love Krishna? This question can be applicable to all devotees and of all faiths. One can ask ‘why some people do not love God?’

Is Krishna lovable?

By terms Akarsati sah Krishna. Ramate sah Rama. Krishna attracts. Rama pleases. Then why there should be any difficulty in loving God? Let us analyse that.

Whom and how do we love? The essential requirement to develop love towards any object or any one, is knowledge about that person. When a yogi blindly plunges into yoga, (desiring yoga or linkage with God), without acquiring the basic knowledge or understanding, it will be a slow and miserable journey. Not that eventually, the understanding will not grow, but that would mean that we are not making the optimum use of the superior faculties such as mind, intellect and ego – the antahkarana- which as humans we have been provided for this very purpose.

No one can remain ever distanced from God. That is the universal spiritual truth. The mutual attraction between the individual soul and the supreme soul is ever burning in the individual’s heart. But this yearning does not get released until the obstructions of ignorance that engulfs the soul are removed. The jiva or the individual soul is in continuous endevour to remove this ignorance as the fire keeps on fighting the smoke, the embryo fights out the amnion. The jiva fights the ignorance with knowledge, the bhagavat jnana. The key is to acquire the basic knowledge first about the Lord.

This is acquired through Swadhyayana – or studying of scriptural texts, Smarana- Remembering the Lord in your heart and mind. (This is also part of “meditation” and mainly ensures self control, internal purification and truth realization), Japana- Repeating the name of the Lord number of times. (This helps mental concentration). Bhajana- Singing Lord’s praise. (This results in mental ecstacy).

There is no structured curriculum for Love. Once the seed of knowledge has sprouted, it is then a natural process. All that is required from the sadhaka is to surrender himself, whole heartedly and unconditionally to the ways of The Lord. Love flows in our heart as we surrender at His feet. Thenceforth, the journey is fast and unstoppable.

Desire to know the Lord. Surrender your soul to the ways of the Lord. You will soon swim in the ocean of love.

QUESTION 3 from Mr TIM CASSIDY

Comments on pure awareness

ANSWER

:As Pure Awareness/ Ananda:- It is quite understandable why it is not possible to describe it by normal modes of _expression. One can with logic point out the near approximation but never the total definition. This is because we always live in a sort of one dimentional existence. Everything that we see, feel, hear or even think, is dependent on the inputs from our senses and a normal person has no other means of acquiring and disseminating information. The senses are all part of our physical level of existence. So normally for everyone it becomes difficult even to conceptualise anything that is beyond physical. This where scientific logic fails, which is so limited and inadequate.

However every ‘being’ – human and others- are not mere physical entities. All of us have broadly three dimensions or levels of existence. The physical, the Psychic and the Spiritual. We are all three-in-ones. Therefore a total feeling or experience that encompasses all the three levels of our existence can only be experienced and expressed, when our faculties at all the three levels are developed. Trying to reach that state of awareness from only physical level, is futile effort. But with Yoga, when all the levels of our existence get tuned to the absolute consciousness, the realization dawns. Some call it as descent of the divine grace. In practical terms, we can understand this as accentuating the more powerful faculties within us. This great potential that everyone possesses remains dormant within most of us, never getting utilized. But for those, who by yogasadhanA, have succeeded to open this key, the doors open to a vast world of potency, possibilities, knowledge, understanding, consciousness and happiness beyond imagination. The horizon of our consciousness having expanded we can comprehend more. Yoga holds the key.

QUESTION 4 from (Name withheld)

Respected Sir, I believe in God and his goodness. I would like to put all my trust in him. But my life has been such a bed of thorns with so many set backs, so much pain that I find myself completely dried up inside. My trust in God is getting weaker by day. I am losing all hope.

ANSWER:

My dear friend, have you stopped to analyse yourself? After so much of suffering in your life, you still speak of God and of strengthening your trust in Him.

Does it not say something?

Nothing is lost yet. One can not ofcourse escape atoning for one’s past karma (praravdha), and sooner it happens the better. More the suffering, nearer is the Lord beside you. Your trust may appear to be weakening, but His compassion for you is getting stronger. He is guiding you in this process of your atonement, all the time. Your struggle is His struggle too. And for sure, you are not losing out yet. The Lord never loses out.

Do not worry whether your trust is weakening or strengthening. Simply surrender yourself to Him, as a patient surrenders to the care of the doctor.

You have not dried up yet. No one ever does. The Lord knows, where within you, what power lies hidden. From a crack in a dried up stony mountain, there sprouts a sapling, soon to become a tree. Who knows, what nourishment lied hidden inside the crack? Likewise faith sprouts from the stoniest of hearts.

Hold on to the Lord. Miracles happen in everyone’s life. The Lord has never abandoned anyone ever.