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by
Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL
No. 57 October . 2005
"SUSTAINING
GOD CONSCIOUSNESS."
"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"
QUESTION 1 FROM Ms ANITA SAUKAR
Respected Mohantyji! I am a regular reader of AHWAN and am greatly influenced
by the Spiritual Approach to Life. After completing my training, I am
starting my career as a teacher in a senior school. ….. I seek some
spiritual advice from you.
ANSWER: Your message gladdens the heart. Now a days
there are very few teachers, educationists or even parents, who appreciate
the wisdom that spiritual values form the kingpin of any education and
developmental process of any young mind. Without the spiritual strength,
all education is fragile and hollow. Every student problem of today exposes
the weakness in their spiritual foundation.
As advice, I can do best by drawing your attention to Sri Aurobindian
philosophy on integral education, which applies not only to formal education
but also to a child’s spiritual growth.
There are three principles, which a teacher should never forget. Firstly,
nothing indeed is ‘taught’ to any one. A teacher should not
cultivate the vanity that he or she is imparting knowledge. All the knowledge
is within every one, hidden deep inside. A teacher’s job is to work
as a facilitator, a guide, a helper and even a co-learner with the child,
so that the child discovers for itself this knowledge.
It is similar to receiving spiritual enlightenment. No one imparts enlightenment
to any one. Every one is enlightened by nature but covered with veils.
A Guru simply helps the veils to be lifted and shows the way.
Secondly no child can be forcibly moulded or hammered to any form or shape,
without his mind ( more specifically his antahkarana consisting the mind,
the intellect and the ego-self) actively participating and choosing the
best result for itself. The freeness of growth of the student’s
mind is the key. Individual minds chose individual paths. The teacher
must study and recognize this, and be truly a friend, philosopher and
guide.
Thirdly, the teacher must have belief and trust in the final destination
of all human life. Recognise the potential of every material – the
student- who must be assisted towards that destination.
What is the true reward for a teacher? Not when one of her students becomes
a president, or a billionaire, or a social stalwart, but when someone
turns out to be a truly higher ‘being’.
Does this sound simply idealistic and impractical? Not at all. There are
many examples in the world even today of a true teacher, a conscious educationist,
a responsible parent. God bless you.
QUESTION 2 FROM Sri A Narasimhan
Whatever little spiritual awareness I have gained, if I stop meditating
and break my sadhana, would I lose them all and have to begin all over
again?
ANSWER: No you would not. Benefits of sadhana, once
acquired are never lost. The Lord carries all your gains for you. The
setbacks due to mistakes committed are temporary losses and the result
is retardation in the journey. The antahkarana (mind, intellect and ego-self)
by nature is always in the self development mode. For any reason if the
individual soul comes under delusion (mohAgrasta), the lapse causes delay
and may bring more suffering and pain. But once the jiva remembers the
Divine connection he is back on the right track and builds upon all past
gains. Retardation may last some years, one life time, or many life times,
but eventually the path is regained. The progress never stops. We have
many illustrative examples in our puranas to drive home this point. Like
the one about the great saint Narada who inspite of his great achievements,
fell for the sensual pleasures of the world, spent twelve years as a householder.
But once he remembered, he discarded all and was back at the feet of The
Lord. The moral of the story is, one should never feel that everything
is lost when one falls prey to desires and should never condemn his self
as an incorrigible sinner. At the same time, one should be ever in remembrance
of the Lord, who has this assurance; na me bhakta pranshyati – my
devotee is never lost. This topic has been very well explained in the
Dhyana Yoga chapter in The Bhagavad Gita.
QUESTION 3 FROM SRI HARPREET SINGH
Why do good people die young and bad people seem to live longer?
ANSWER: This is a common defect in our thinking.
The death of our bodies takes place due to entirely different considerations.
As we have discussed earlier, this body is a tool obtained by us by the
grace of The Lord, with the sole purpose of using it for our developmental
purpose, for our evolution from the state of our present ‘being’
to a higher ‘being’.
Like any tool, as long as we continue to make the right use of it, the
tool will retain its usefulness and continue to give us service. We have
only two choices. Either we misuse it and squander away this gift or make
proper use of it, take good care and use it for raising ourselves in the
evolutionary ladder.
In either of these cases, the time comes, to change the tool. If we have
failed to make optimal use in our ignorance, we need, may be an inferior
tool, more appropriate for our competence and consciousness level. At
the same time if we have used it well, time comes for a better tool that
will assist us better to accentuate our development. The Lord with his
love and compassion is always ready with another opportunity for us.
This process goes on till the final destination is reached.
This condition of death of the body or change of body for the soul, is
not the result of just one life- the present life- that we usually judge
by, but the sum-results of all the past lives. The sancita, prarabdha
and the kriyamana karmas all play their roles. We do
not know of them, hence in most cases term deaths as unfair and untimely.
Death is never untimely nor is unfair. Every death presents the soul with
a new opportunity for the better, more conducive and more appropriate.
In sanatan philosophy, death is described as sadgati-
a movement in the right direction.
When you grieve for some one’s death keep this in mind that the
soul has moved ahead in the right direction.
(suggested further reading – AHWAN Vol 3 July 2000, Vol 5 Oct/Nov
2000, Vol 20 June 2002 etc.)
QUESTION 4 FROM Mr P OBEYA
If all faiths believe in one God, why we have not resolved our differences
even till today? Why has not the world changed?
ANSWER: You have made a very important observation
in understanding the human nature and the way spiritual progress takes
place.
We must appreciate certain aspects first. The whole world can not be painted
with one single colour. While lack of spiritual consciousness is seen
around us, there are also pockets of understanding floating in the sea
of humanity and groups of people – however small they are –
who are convinced of the truth and in their own way working to assist
the others to see the light. What is their usefulness? Judge for yourself.
They are the ones who still make the real difference and divine qualities
still influence the human mind amidst all the chaos.
On the other hand, we do speak about one God concept. But as we know,
to speak about it and realize it within the heart of hearts are two different
things. It takes time and does not come easily.
Caught in this predicament, what is the humanity doing? It is continuously
and instinctively striving to chart its own course for truth. Every individual
is by nature trying to move towards a state of bliss or Ananda.
(read more about it in August and September 2004 issues of AHWAN). As
he moves along, it ushers in a change in himself for the better, from
what he is and what he should be. The world is not going from bad to worse,
but moving from worse to bad, and from bad to good.
This progress again, is greatly dependent on individual efforts. While
working within collective (samasti) one draws assistance, the
realization of truth dawns at the individual – vyakti-
level, not undermining the individual effort or tapasya. God
realization can not come from outside like swallowing a pill. A Guru points
the direction, explains the hazards and benefits, assists the preparation,
but the journey is all for the individual.
Therefore each individual is undergoing his own sadhana in realizing
for himself the Divine. Until that state is reached most are all groping
in darkness. It has always been so. The ill effects of ignorance will
have to be encountered until the light breaks through.
This uneasy state of things are part of the developmental process, the
hazards of the journey. It should not divert the mind from the destination.
No one can ever abandon search for happiness. As we go along we pick up
the benefits that each step of progress provides.
That is the eternal motivation. The world has changed a long way. Comparisions
between past and present, worry about state of affairs, are academic if
not useless. It is the ultimate objective about which the wise remain
concerned and focused. If that is done with sincerity the present automatically
gets adjusted for better.
QUESTION 5 FROM Ms Angeline Selazar
Our Kingdom of heaven is like a hidden treasure. Have you found it? The
more the Lord reveals to us, the greater our humility must be.
ANSWER: That is true. The kingdom of the Lord with
its invaluable treasure, which is unlimited bliss (ananda), lies
right within us. The Lord reveals that to us only when we seek for it
by putting efforts, with utmost and unalloyed sincerity and consecration.
We succeed only through the Lord’s grace. As more is revealed to
us we realize the greatness of his love and grace. Humility is the natural
outcome of the aspirant’s gratitude. If you have been reading the
past issues of AHWAN this has been dealt on more than one occasion. (especially
‘on meditation’ and ‘attempts to describe Brahman’)
