Teachings of the Bhagawad Gita: karmayoga

3.30
mayi sarvani karmani
sannyasyadhyatma-cetasa
nirasir nirmamo bhutva
yudhyasva vigata-jvarah

3.30 Devoid of the fever of the soul, engage in battle by dedicating
all actions to Me, with (your) mind intent on the Self, and becoming
free from expectations and egoism.

Bhagwaan Shankara's commentary

Vigata-jvarah, devoid of the fever of the soul, i.e. being free from
repentance, without remorse; yuddhyasva, engage in battle;
sannyasya, by dedicating; sarvani, all; karmani, actions; mayi, to
Me, who am Vasudeva, the omniscient supreme Lord, the Self of all;
adhyatma-cetasa, with (your) mind intent on the Self-with
discriminating wisdom, with this idea, 'I am an agent, and I work
for God as a servant'; and further, bhutva, becoming; nirasih, free
from expectations ['Free from expectations of results for
yourself']; and nirmamah, free from egoism. You from whom has
vanished the idea, '(this is) mine', are nirmamah.

This sloka is one of the most important slokas of the Bhagawad Gita,
and carries tremendous significance for reflection as well as
understanding.

The Self referred to here is Vasudeva or Ishwara as karmaphaladaata.

Let us see what is implied and explained.

What is karma? Any action done with an intent.
Whenever we do any action there are two things involved icchashkati
and kriyashakti - the capacity to desire and the capacity to do.
(Now a doubt may arise - suppose I trample an insect while walking
on the street? Is that a karma - i didn't intend to trample it - yes
it is - it is an act of omission - the intent was to cross the
street but in performing that task, care should have taken to not
cause harm.)

So karmas are intentional acts of both commision as well as omission.

Now no action is possible without desire. And desire is always for
the fruit of the action.
A surgeon performs a surgery. It is an act. What is his desire? That
the surgery be successful. Now can he perform the action with no
desire that the surgery be successful? Of course not. Then how can
he be free from expectation? The Lord and Sankara make it clear -
free from expectations of the results for "my"self - nirasih
nirmamah. He wants the surgery to be successful. But he knows this
result is not in his hands. It is in the hands of the Supreme
Bestower of the results of all actions - the Karmaphaladaata - which
is Ishwara. And is this Ishwara sitting in some place and watching
this action(surgery) by live relay - no - the very Laws of the Order
that will determine the results of that action is Ishwara itself.
You jump from a tree - the very law that forces you to hurtle down
at 9.8m/sec is Ishwara.

Now Bhagwaan asks this surgeon to surrender "his action" to Me, the
Supreme Self - mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya. How?? I can surrender
to you something i have with me. You can ask me to surrender my
watch, my money, my food and so on. The results of my action are not
mine - what/how then to surrender? I do have one and only one thing
I can surrender - my attachment to the result for myself. My self
right now is my ego-sense- the sense of insignificance and
separation from Ishwara. Hence the result becomes important to me -
because in that result I falsely see myself becoming a little more
significant a little more complete - by gaining more respect, money,
pleasure, validation, honor, etc.

And these sow the seeds for me to get the results also for myself
alone - and these results can be the same, different or opposite of
what I expected for myself. So by attaching myself to the results of
the action I am setting my"self" up for an unexpected occurence.
This then sets up the lifelong struggle of ups and downs, which we
call samsara. A good result results in elation which is however
shortlived as the next thought is focussed now on either
safeguarding it or repeating it. A bad result results in depression
and frustration. Either way it leads to mental agitation. This is
what the Lord refers to as fever or agitation.(jvarah)

So instead for the good of my own self, the Lord advises me very
kindly - "Look, you do not have an iota of control over the results
of your actions. So why attach yourself to that. Surrender that
attachment to me."

Going back to the example of the surgeon - his attitude would/should
be "O Omniscient Lord. I am a mere instrument in your hands. You
brought me to this world. By your Grace have some small skills been
imbibed my me whereby You have now given me this ability as well as
opportunity to be of some service in a very limited way to one of my
brothers. My performance of this task is for You alone. Let my
skills, which You alone have imparted, not fail me as I perform this
task."

Adhyatma chetasa refers to this attitude soaked in devotion to the
Supreme Self whilst engaged in action.

Now if the surgery is successful or not, the surgeon is prepared.
His mind is at ease, at peace. He can now focus his attention solely
on the job at hand. His entire inner equipments of his mind and
intellect as well as his outer equipments of his hands and eyes are
now completely in sync. His whole being is now focussed wholly and
solely on the action itself - and this lends itself to dexterity in
action - and that the Bhagwan says is what is yoga. "Yoga karmasu
kausalam"

As Swami Chinmayananda-ji puts it so beautifully -
"If hope is the child of the unborn future, ego is the lingering
memory of a dead past. To revel in ego and hope is an attempt on our
part to live, either with the dead moments of the past, or with the
unborn moments of the future."

If the action is not "my" action, then the result is also not "my"
result.
I do not see myself as the "karta" and hence I do not see myslef as
the "bhokta"
What happens happens in strict accordance Ishwara's perfect order,
and I accept it gracefully as His prasad. Thus a surrendering
intellect gives rise to an accepting intellect.

This can be made applicable to each one of us - whatever activity we
do - we do it in this same spirit of surrender - we surrender the
expectations of the false self at the altar of the true self.

(As a byside - the word yudhyasva - gear up to fight.
Shouldnt we believe in ahimsa? This is where in my humble opinion
the Hindu doctrine and understanding of ahimsa is quite different
from the Buddhist/Jain doctrines of Absolute ahimsa. In absolute
ahimsa you never raise your hand no matter what - no exceptions. In
Hinduism, ahimsa is always with reference to the context. Allowing
himsa to take place to the righteous person without intervening is
not ahimsa - it is as bad as the person perpetrating that himsa.
Hence it is that all our Gods (and even more so our Goddesses) are
always depicted with magnificent weaponry. There are hardly any God-
images we can see which do not have at least one powerful weapon of
massdestruction! This is quite different from depicitions of God in
non-Hindu streams. Why is this so? I think this is because we do not
attach an absolute and nonthinking value to ahimsa.
Battle/war/killing/punishment, etc is very much accepted by us
PROVIDED it is the last and only recourse AND himsa to dharma is at
stake.)

Question:
how to develop and nurture love for God


Answer
To begin with just like you cannot find love, love finds you -
similairly you cannot find bhakti or love for the Lord -
bhakti finds you.

There is a beautiful verse in the Narada Bhakti Sutra

"mukhyatas tu mahat-kròpayaiva bhagavat-kròpa-lesat vaa"

Primarily, however, one develops bhakti by the mercy of great souls,
or by a small ounce of the Lord's mercy. And it goes on to say that
even the association of great souls is through the Lords mercy alone.

What will make me the recipient of the Lords mercy or Grace? My own
prior actions and deeds both in this janma as well as in prior.

What kind of deeds will help this happen?
Basic common sense ethical conduct. For the record the following are
listed
Abhyasa or practice of continuous thinking of God;
Viveka or discrimination;
Vimoka or freedom from everything else and longing for God;
Satyam or truthfulness;
Arjavam or straightforwardness;
Kriya or doing good to others;
Kalyana or wishing well-being to all;
Daya or compassion;
Ahimsa or non-injury;
Dana or charity; and
Anavasada or cheerfulness and optimism.

Now, with what thought process can I solidify my faith...

When you cognize the world what you see around you is pure intelligence. In and through everything, there is perfection. There is a perfect order to everything in this universe. This is what makes it possible for mathematicians and physicists and other scientists to function because nothing is by chance. Every phenomenon is reproducibly precise and can me made use of to make things like rockets which fly us to the moon, electron microscopes and even atom bombs.

When everything you see is in order, you recognize that there has to
be an anuthorship to this order. There has to be a superintelligence
which is able to create this whole show - of galaxies, planets, and
on earth all the interdependent flora and fauna, animals, fishes etc
No bonds between inert elements like hydrogen and nitrogen could have written up a genetic code that is faithfully reproduced for
billions of years. Your own human body manifests infinite examples of sheer intelligence.
Once you recognize that this order has to have a creator, that recogntion is faith.
Recognizing the infallibility of the order, how it never goes wrong,
how everything is right where it should be, how our eyes are so
beautifully constructed right in the mothers womb to see things, our
ears to hear, etc then leads to a recognition of our own selves as
an intrinsic part of that order. And that recognition leads to an attitude of surrender anything and everything that happens to me
now, in the past or future is always going to be in strict accordance with that order.
This is what builds faith.
This is what builds surrender.

There are different attitudes you can use to relate to the Lord
depending on your temperament
These attitudes are of
Shanti - the lord as an abode of peace,
Dasya - an attitude of servitude,
Sakhya - Lord is my friend, and finally
Madhurya - Lord as a lover - in the sense of wanting to
belong him, wanting to be one with him
- there is a Lata song along these lines -

"Agar tum ho saagar mein pyaasi nadi hoon
agar tum ho sawan main jalti kali hoon
muraliya samajhke mujhe tum utha lo
bas ek baar hothon se apni lago na
koi sur to jaage meri dhadkanon mein
ke mein apne sargam se roothi hui hoon"

This form of bhakti is heralded as of the highest form where the only longing one has in
life is to be one with the Lord.

Bhakti can be sakaama or devotion in order to obtain things for
yourself and nishkaama which is devotion to the Lord for the sake of
devotion alone.

As Gibran puts it beautifully

"For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart,"
but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love,
for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself."

Writings or poems such as these are very inspiring and serve as
pointers to what bhakti or love for the Lord is all about.
Another favorite of mine is the genius kavi Bharat Vyas's song again
sung my Lata - I am translating for the benefit of nonHindi readers

Tum gagan ke Chandra ma ho
Mein dharaa ki dhul houn
Tum Mahasaagar ki seema
mein kinaare ki lahar
Tum Mahasangeet ke svar
mein adhoori saans hoon

Tum ho kaya mein houn saaya
Tum shhama mein bhul hoon

You are the resplendent Moon in the sky,
I am the dust on the earth
(as in awaiting your cool rays to save me from the scorching heat)
You are the limit of the Boundless ocean,
i am a small wave on the banks
You are the notes of the Divine Song,
I am an incomplete breath
You are the substratum
I am the shadow (!)
You are Forgiveness
"I" am the error (!)

Hope i was able to express to you some idea of what love for God is,
what faith is, and what a truly great wonder it is to have that in
ones heart!

Not four paths, but One path.

It is commonly held that there are four paths to enlightenment - karma,yoga,bhakti and jnana.
From my standpoint there is only one goal - moksha and there is only
one path - the spiritual path.

Pursuing the spiritual path will always entail an evolution in multiple facets of our personality all of which will hopefully result in an annihilation of our ego-sense and our false
sense of separation from the whole.thinking, feeling and willing, which are the faculties of the human mind on which these yogas are based do not exist in the human mind in isolation from one another. The human mind is a whole constituted of these faculties and so all these faculties have in some way or other to enter into all these yogas.

Karmayoga is taken by many to mean service to the needy and the
poor, etc. This is not karmayoga. No doubt mahatmas like baba amte
and vinoba bhave etc are referred to as "karmayogis" but nobody can
do "karmayoga". Karma yoga is an attitude that I adopt to attain
chittanaischalyam and chittashuddhi for MYself. I am the one who
needs help,(not the so-called deprived people whom I feel need MY
help) - it is my ragadveshas that are out of control and I am the
one who finds it difficult to focus on contemplation, study, or
prayer, etc and it is MY mind that is wandering off in a thousand
directions. So I develop an attitude of surrender and dedication to
ishwara. "Yad Yad karma karoti tad tad akhilam shambo tavaradhanam" -
that is the attitude. "I am sufficiently deluded O Lord that even
though I am you and you are me, I still wonder where my next meal is
coming from, I still worry about mundane things in life, I still
allow lifes little worries and anxieties to prevent me from
contemplating on the only thing that will help me cross this Ocean
of Samsara. But O Benovelent Ishwara, I have come to You alone with
this recognition, and hence it is that as even I am performing all
these actions, I am dedicating them at Your altar."
With this attitude if I do my duty - be it a clerical job at a bank,
or overseeing a corporation as a CEO, or cleaning the streets as a
municipal worker, etc then that is karma yoga.
"mayi sarvani karmani
sannyasyadhyatma-cetasa
nirasir nirmamo bhutva
yudhyasva vigata-jvarah"
Now tell me how can karma yoga be possible without bhakti? It will
be a contradiction of the very idea of karmayoga.

With regards to disciplining the mind by Yoga, then is there any
progress possible in our spiritual journey before first developing
(what Patanjali so beautifully outlines as) yama (ahimsa satya
asteya brahmacharya aparigraha) and Niyama (saucha santosha tapas
svadhyaya and AGAIN Ishvarapranidhana) Asanas and pranayama can be
considered optional but dhyana and dharana are prerequisities for
both bhakti as well as jnana sadhana.

With regards to bhakti, only the higher Bhakti which involves
devotion to the Lord for the sake of knowing the Lord alone, with no
selfish ego-centric desires, is the only Bhakti that we refer to in
this context. Now how different is bhakti where-in there is an
intense longing to know the Lord different from mumukshutvam. It
isn't.

Ultimately it is Ishwara who blesses you with selfknowledge. How is
he going to do it - by presenting Himself in front of you in the
form of a Guru, a shrotriya brahmanishta.

If we do not recognize Ishwara in the form of a Guru, and are
awaiting a darshan in the form of a shanka-chakra-gada etc image
to "deliver us" - then that is an exercise in futility.
Lord krishna need have only shown his darshan to Arjun in that case.
At the same time if we do not regard the Guru, the shruti, our own
capacity to understand, - all these as Ishwara and His Grace, then
any philosophical contemplation or scholarly bookknowledge is an
equal exercise in futility.

Not recognizing our own teacher as Ishwara, who is rewarding us for
our bhakti, by giving us the message of "tat tvam asi" is mere
ignorance.
Claiming that our own selfeffort alone will get us moksha by intense
contemplation via the marga of "jnana yoga" is sheer arrogance.

What needs to be resolved is the false duality that my egosense has
superimposed - only Ishwara can remove that - no doubt about it -
but the only means available even to Him is to impart the teaching
of tat tvam asi - no doubt about this either.

Which of these aspects of our personality needs to be sharpened or finetuned depends on the stage of our spiritual development.

This has also been clearly marked out by Bhagwaan Krishna

"mayy eva mana adhatsva
mayi buddhim nivesaya
nivasisyasi mayy eva
ata urdhvam na samsayah
atha cittam samadhatum
na saknosi mayi sthiram
abhyasa-yogena tato
mam icchaptum dhananjaya
abhyase 'py asamartho 'si
mat-karma-paramo bhava
mad-artham api karmani
kurvan siddhim avapsyasi
athaitad apy asakto 'si
kartum mad-yogam asritah
sarva-karma-phala-tyagam
tatah kuru yatatmavan"

Fix the mind on Me alone; in Me alone rest the intellect.
There is no doubt that hereafter you will dwell in Me alone.
If, however, you are unable to establish the mind steadily on Me,
then, O Dhananjaya, seek to attain Me through the Yoga of Practice.
If you are unable even to practise, be intent on works for Me.
By undertaking works for Me as well, you will attain perfection.
If you are unable to do even this, in that case, having resorted to the Yoga for Me,
thereafter renounce the results of all works by becoming controlled in mind.

The atman is already shining in its pristine purity! It is
our own ragadveshas that are blinding us. Bhakti to Ishwara can
certainly help reduce this, but the cure for avidya, the root cause
of these raga dveshas to begin with, can only be jnanam. And this
jnanam will be "given to us" by Ishwara if our selfeffort is sincere
our faith strong.

So where is the question of there being four paths or yogas?
There is no jnanayoga without bhakti, yama,niyama, etc and initially
developing an attitude of karmayoga as we begin and progress on this
one path.


Asato Ma Sat Gamaya
Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyor Ma Amrtam Gamaya

Ishwara

The srshti we cognize is in perfect order.
Everything here has perfection, is perfect.
As even you are reading these words there are perfect rods and cones
depolarizing in your retina, there are electric potentials generating
along your nerves with multitudes of gated ionic channels opening and
closing along the way to a perfect tune, with a perfect depolarization
occuring in the occipital portion of your cortex and at the same time
memory cells and other portions of your brain registering all this and
recognizing what is being said and what it means, all in a matter of a
flash of a second.
As even this is happening your heart is beating in perfection to keep
your brain cells perfused and your lungs breathing in and out to
maintain oxygen at a constant.
Whose timeless rhythm is all this orchestrated by? Whose is this
wondrous power?
Wherever you see you see only perfection.
Who is the author of this perfection?
Every blade of grass has infinite perfection.
Everything is where it should be and everything is the way it should be.
The potential power inherent in all the elements witnessed graphically
by us as typhoons and tsunamis - who lends His power to that?
How does the fetus in the womb of the mother know what organs to equip
itself with prior to coming out?
The wonder of the double helical coil faithfully transmitting the
codes of life across billions of years - who is that code-writer?
The majestic mountains of the himalayas - whose power created these
Infinite jivas coming and going as it were in accordance with the
perfect doctrine of karma - whose laws are these and who governs their
perfect functioning?
this infinite expanse of the earth - so vast - with oceans, mountains,
trees - selfsufficient - with the right temperature and water to
support life - circling like a tiny top around itself and around the
Sun - who is supporting it in space.
Who lends the power tot he Sun to generate heat and light for billions
of years?
Nothing in srshti could ever have been created by chance, as a freak.
If so it could not have been perfecter than perfect.
There is without doubt an Ishwara who is the srshtikarta.
"vistabhyaham idam krtsnam ekamsena sthito jagat" declares Bhagwaan
Krishna in the Gita. (Ch 10 42)
Encompassing this entire world by a fragment f My power, do I abide,
eternally
Bhagwaan Shankara's commentary:
vishtabhya visheshatah stambhanam krtva idam krtsnam jagat ekaashena
ekaavayavena sarvabhootasvaroopena ityetat; tatha cha mantravarna
"paadosya vishwa bhootani - (TU 30.12 RV 10.90.3) iti; sthitah aham iti
"Steadying the whole world with but a part - a quarter - that has
assumed the form of all that exists, do I abide forever"

Does advaita really say there is no Ishwara?
Let us examine it.

Whenever any advaitic text mentions that there is no Ishwara, it first
mentions there is no jiva.
Take a well known example of Kaivalyopanishad - we have the student
who has attained brahmavidya exclaim
"Mayyeva Sakalam jaatam Mayyeva sarvam pratishtitam Mayi Sarva Layam
yaati Tad brhamaadvayamasmyaham"
I me alone is everything born in me does everything rest and in me is
everything dissolved. I am that Brahman the secondless.
Same thoughts in the Ashtavakra Gita as well..
"kva maayaa kva cha samsaaram kva pritih viratih kva vaa kva jiva kva
cha tad brahma sarvadaa vimalasya me"
So there is neither jiva, nor jagat nor Ishwara - there is just I the
self - this is true. What it really means - there is no jiva jagat and
Ishwara as separate entities - the sat vastu underlying them all is
Brahman and that Brahman is Ishwara minus his Ishwaratvam!
When at the culmination of knowledge a jiva realizes his true self,
then there is more concept of separation of seeker, world and Ishwara.
The emphasis is on the word separation. There is no more Ishwara for
him because he the jiva doesnt exist separate from the whole - what is
the whole - brahman or Ishwara. Brahman and Ishwara are not two
different things. Brahman is nirguna from the Ultimate standpoint of a
realized one, and saguna or Ishwara from the standpoint of a seeker.
A realized seer does not "dismiss" or reject Ishwara - what he has
successfully dismissed is his own ego-sense of a false identity
separate from the whole - once that is negated then he is Ishwara,
like milk in milk or water in water. There is no demarcation where he
ends and Ishwara begins - there never was - only now by Ishwaras own
grace he can see it for himself.
To say Ishwara is a concept is incorrect.
Ishwara is Brahman. Brahman is Ishwara. Only the standpoint is
different. Is He with attributes - Yes. Is He without attributes -
Yes. How is that possible? Because He is incoceivable for me with my
limited intellect. How will I know him if he is inconceivable -
because in His infinite mercy He allows you to - How? by knowing your
"innermost" self.
The shruti I read, the intellect I use to understand it, the health
-physical and mental - that I take for granted while studying the
shruti or meditating, the meditation itself, my background,
upbringing, coming in contact with a Guru - limitless are the factors
that are working their ways so I the deluded jiva understands my true
nature - all this is possible needless to even mention only and only
because of Grace.
Every Upanishad starts with a invocation, a shanti mantra - why? - for
the same reason. The same upanishad declares
"shraddhabhaktiyogaadavaihi"! through faith devotion and yoga alone do
you come to know it yourself!
Why would a text that is about to dismiss a concept demonstrate its
own acceptance of that concept.
The same sentences often dismiss the Guru also "- guru naiva shishya"
- so this teaching asks you to reject the Guru - the very ocean of
mercy who taught you the truth about yourself - of course not - it
only means I reject my sense of separation from my Guru - i am Him and
He is me - in fact there is no me, a student, and hence there is no He
- a guru - at this deepest level we are one with the substratum, we
are one with Ishwara.

If Brahman is Ishwara and Ishwara is Brahman, what does it matter if
we do not recognize Ishwara or reject Ishwara as a concept? Why not
focus on self-enquiry alone and try to ascertain my identity with Brahman?
First of all for any expedition on your part, you require Grace.
Recognizing the need for Grace is the first step towards acquiring it.
Why do I need Grace? Because I am limited. There are only a minute
number of things I have control over. I need a healthy body, a healthy
mind, the capacity to see, read, hear, assimilate, memorize, intuit,
etc etc I need Grace to find the right Guru, and the Grace to
recognize him and his teaching as my saving discpline.
That Grace can only be obtained by my effort - and that effort
consists in prayer.And this prayer can be to any God or Godpriniciple
- it matters not if it is Christ, Allah, Krishna, Shiva, Durga,
Mahavira, etc etc. He knows when you call His name!

In a big cyclonic storm a mother sits with her 2 year old child in a
poorly lit room. The wind is blowing hard, the waters are poring down
violently. The mother is highly anxious. The child is playing with his
toy. Why? Because he has his mother sitting with him. As long as his
mother is with him, he has unshakeable faith that nothing untoward can
happen to him, he is protected. In this case, that faith is not
exactly wellfounded because the mother really is in position to save
eiter of them should the levee break. In our case too, there is the
potential for violent thunderstorms at all times. And we do not even
have a weather channel to warn us of upcoming inclement weather.
Illness to us, diseases for our near and dear ones, even death,
personal loss, financial loss or even gain, natural calamaties can
befall us - rather very likely will befall us at sometime. In these
circumstances, maintaining chittanaischalyam may prove impossible -
what saves you from that? - faith. Just like that 2 yr old, if we
develop unshakable faith and shraddha in our Divine Mother, then no
matter what the happenings in my life are I know they are not going to
touch me beyond a point - i have Ishwara in my corner.

Even if I am an so called advanced vedantic student - I have read all
that is to be read and understood all that is to be understood - if I
have not attained nishta in brahman, it means I am still lacking in
Grace. I am still lacking in effort to not deserve that Grace. Only by
His will can you enter His domain. He will reveal his innermost self
to you, and you will see it to be your own self.

Ramana Maharshi puts it beautifully -
"veshahaanatah svaatmadarshanam ishaadarshanam svaatmarupatah"

By removal of these costimes there is appreciation of ones own self
and that is the vision of Ishwara as ones own essential nature!!

"Asitagirisamam Syaat Kajjalam Sindhu Paatre
Surataruvarashaakhaa lekhani patram urvi
likhati yadi grheetva sharada sarva kaalam
tadapi tava gunaana eesha param na yaati"

If no less than Ma Sharada, the goddess of knowledge, uses each and
every one of all the great trees of the world and fashions a pen and
uses the ink from every drop of water in the majestic pacific atlantic
and indian oceans and keeps writing on the entire earth as the writing
leaf, and that too for eternity - till the end of time - even then O
Isha, your glories will remain unsung, the limit of thine virtues will
not be reached!!

The mirage of mortality

Mortality is our lot - repeated births and repeated
deaths-as long as we are in samsara. We do not seek it but that is
our lot.

We are all terminal cases and death is just around the corner.
And we are not even in line - it is like a token system and any
moment our number will be called and that is it.
Your ego-sense will survive to see another life-form which you
consider to be a good thing because at least "it" will remain alive.

However what is in its lot is more suffering.

Now lets examine the ego-sense. All it is is a sense of limitation,
and that too a false one.

The problem for the ego is of wanting to escape death.
The problem for the ego is of dealing with a perpetual sense of small-
ness.

This Universe is immense and I am so small.
No matter how much I acquire I am still small.
No matter how healthy I am today I am going to die tomorrow.
No longer how long I live I feel I have barely lived.

Why does this bother me? Because my true nature is both complete and
immortal.

Until that sense of false limitation that the ego-sense feels is
resolved, your life can never be fulfilling.

You may acquire health, wealth and progeny - but you are still a
limited individual. The reason you seek anything is not for its sake
but because of this peculiar habit of your mind to attach itself to
something or some object,gaining which you feel momentarily happy.
The happiness you experience however is from you alone and
unfortunately as even the happiness you temporarily experience is
settling in it is immediately gone. That instant of acquisition you
were happy not because of any property of that object but because
your false sense of selflimitation was temporarily - very
temporarily - resolved.

So you go on chasing things and what you are chasing is a mirage.
What you acquire does not deliver the goods. You are perennially
dissatisfied because no matter how hard you chase, happiness seems to
run farther and farther away. This is "life".

When Vedanta talks about dropping the ego - at the same very same
instant it talks about gaining what is the one thing that you
desperately seek- a sense of fullness, of being complete, of not
wanting.

The loss is of an illusory source of limitation
The gain is realizing truth and your real nature - the Absolute.

Sounds too good to be true?? It is the only thing that really IS too
good to be true - because it alone is true!

And this is possible only in this rarest of rare births - the human
birth.
Not even the gods have this privilege our scriptures tell us.

Once this wanting me is resolved then nothing else matters. I am
still me. But this false ego-sense that was "wanting" is dead.
Now there is no "me" that wants anything that fears anything not even
death!

Death then no longer is relevant. Once I know who I really am then I
realize I am complete. Nothing can ever take away from my sense of
completeness. I can be with or without money, with or without
relations, this body can go through sickness or suffering, EVEN
DEATH, but that does not affect ME, because I am complete. I am
nonseparate from HIM. Then even if there were a hundred more janmas
to take(there wont be but supposing) it does not bother me - why -
because i KNOW for a fact that I, the WHOLE, will remain WHOLE.

This is moksha. Your sense of limitation dies. Let it
die - it was never worth keeping alive to begin with! Then, as the
commercial says "You are now free to move about the country!"

Na Karmana Na Prajaya Dhanena Tyage Naike Amrutatva Manasuhu!!

True/False

Nothing false can ever be a source for anything true.
Nothing true can ever be a source for anything false.

The "primal" source can never be false.

The primal source is.

It is neither primal nor is it a source. It is.

The source of the falsehood is the Error, and this error has no
beginning - i.e.it is not a primal error(as in having a beggining)
but like any error it has an end.

I am.

Truth.
Knowledge.

Eternal.

Who is God?

I shall use the synonym Ishwara to indicate God.

In advaita Ishwara ultimately is the One, non-dual entity.
From a jiva's standpoint we can understand Him at two levels.
One level is as Bhagawan, as Prabhu, the Lord and Master of all
beings, as the bestower of the fruits of ones actions – karmaphaladata.

This level of understanding is indeed common to all dualisitic faiths
and philosophies and has its own degree of paramount importance in
ensuring the growth of the individual and ripening his ego for the
higher truth.

Another level of understanding Ishwara is as the substratum or truth
about Everything and Everyone and that includes me, meaning He is the
none other than the Truth about me, or I the Self am non-different
from Him – he is Akshara Purusha, or Parabrahman or Paramatman, or
Atman or Brahman – all synonyms.

Let us use the dream analogy to try and understand this.
I weave a vast world in my dream. This dream is created out of myself
and takes place in myself and ultimately resolves into myself. I am
the efficient cause of this dream. I am also the material cause for
this dream. Every river, mountain, planet, star, animate and inanimate
objects in this dream all are Me, the substratum alone. Yet while
these are in Me, I am unrelated to them. Thousands of these dream
universes can arise in me and can resolve unto me, millions of big
bangs can come and go, yet I the Creator/Sustainer/Destroyer am
completely untouched.

Now for an individual in the dream, I am the Lord of the Dreamworld.
If I had control over the activities in the dreamworld, then I am the
only recourse for anyone in the dream. I am the only One who can save
them and the entire world's activities are governed by laws
orchestrated by Me alone.

How do I the uninvolved One create as it were this dreamworld. By a
power that is both intrinsic and nonseparate from me – this power is
Maya. Maya is not a "separate" thing and hence does not enjoy
independent existence. You cannot distill Maya out of me and try to
see how I am without Maya or how Maya is without Me. On the other hand
Maya is not nonexistent as long as the dream enjoys its existence
either in an expressed or potential latent form.

What gives each individual in the dream a sense of separateness from
the whole, and an inability to perceive a nondistinction between
himself and the world that this dream individual perceives? It is
ignorance about himself. What to the individual is ignorance or avidya
is none other than the same principle responsible for the dream itself
which is Maya. The former pertains to the poor helpless individual in
the dream, the latter pertains to the "Creator" of that dreamworld, Me.

Now if the entire concept of the dream, the Creation is removed, then
what exists is Me alone.

This is a helpful way to understand Ishwara.
Ishwara is a mayavi in the sense of being a wielder of Maya –
understand again though that this Maya is not a "separate" thing that
He wields like a sceptre.
The world that we seemingly cognize and have to deal with is mithya –
not in the sense of an illusion, but in the sense of not having a
substantive reality other than its material cause which is Ishwara.
What is mithya is our seeing it as different with such surety and with
no second thought whatsoever in assuming its validity. This is the
power of Maya.

This world is not a haphazard mutant entity. It is sheer intelligence
in and through.
You take any phenomenon in this world and what you find is infinite
layers of intelligence.

An infinitelsmally small cell has such complexly intricate
intelligence interwoven into every facet of its structure and function
that if every scientist in the world were to spend every living moment
trying to analyze it with every ounce of effort time and resources for
the next hundred years they would still be where we are today – an
infinite distance away from understanding it. That is the beauty or
marvel of infinity – or Divinity – it is always "ten fingers yonder"

Now, one has to account for this order. This is the basis for the
famous watchmaker analogy. A Design implies a Designer. If you asked
me how did a watch get built and I tell you pieces of glass and metal
just got built by itself and started ticking along with meticulous
precision, you will (hopefully) wish me luck with my future therapy
sessions.
And yet when it comes to the most amazing design spectacle ever, some
people still have a hard time coming to terms with accepting an
efficient cause.

Having said that to assign this status to a "person" only, be it
Krishna or Shiva or Vishnu, and giving a separate status to everything
other than this personality is also immature.

The example Vedanta uses is that of a spider – urnannabhih – just a
spider creates a web and is both the efficient and material cause for
the web.

Why is this important? Once we expand our understanding to this, then
everything in Creation becomes sacrosanct. A flower is now not "just"
a flower – it is saakshaat Ishwara – hence it is in our tradition that
a flower as Prasad is first applied to the eyes before the lady will
put it in the hair – it signifies that this flower is as sacred to me
as my own eyes.

Acknowledging Ishwara in the manner in each and every facet of
Creation one appreciates that nothing – neither here nor yonder – is
separate from Him. "Ishawasya idam sarvam" And in this acknowledgement
is sown the seeds of surrender – because if nothing is separate from
Him, then I am certainly not separate from Him. In fact the only thing
that separates me from Him is my own notion of separateness, which is
none other than that 600 pound gorilla, my Ego or I-sense. This is
what I need to transcend by acquiring the right knowledge about myself
– and in this Ishwara and his Order which again is Ishwara alone will
come to my rescue. "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my
deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and
the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."

In His own words - "Manmanaa bhava madbhakto madyaajee maam namaskuru;
Maamevaishyasi satyam te pratijaane priyo'si me" Always think of Me
and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus
you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are
My very dear friend.

SURRENDER

Surrender involves the surrendering entity and a thing
that this entity currently possesses and can or has
the capacity to surrender.

So when we say "Surrender to God" it is easy to
understand who is doing the surrendering - it is of
course me, the jiva.
But what can I surrender?

Let us see what i have, what is mine?
This body is certainly not "mine" - i had nothing to
do with its creation

The wealth and possessions i have belonged to someone
else and just happen to have come my way. Being a very
temporary "borrower" of them, i certainly cannot claim
them as mine to be surrendered.

When this body itself is not mine, my relations are
certainly not mine.

Is there nothing that is mine that can then be
surrendered?

Fortunately there is.
It is the very sense of "mine"ness or "i"ness
This is most certainly mine.
The consequences of this "I"ness such as smallness,
fear, desire, anger, jealousy, sadness, despondency,
etc are also certainly mine.

So, yes, there is one thing "i" can triumphantly lay
claim to be mine, - and can happily surrender to
Ishwara - and that is this ahankara. In fact this
simple fact is what all of spirituality and sutras and
teachings and preachings all boild down to

surrender the finite i-ness
and
gain the infinite.

How to surrender this ahankara.
It is an illusory thing - in the Ramayan Ravan while
praying to Lord Shiva, cuts his head off repeatedly
only to find another pop back-on. This indicates the
seeming difficulty in "surrendering" the i-sense.

Well there are three levels of doing this..
Action, words and thought - kaayikam vaachikam and
maanasam.

Surrender in action is by means of karmayoga.
Surrender in words is by means of upasana.
Surrender in mind is by means of atmavichara.

Let us take karmayoga first.
In a nutshell,
“yad yad karma karomi tad tad akhilam shambo
tavaradhanam”
- any action I do is not for my sake but for the sake
of Ishwara, as a token of worship to Ishwara.
So whatever it is that I do as a active member of
society, the various roles I am called upon to play,
are opportunities for me to be an instrument in His
hands. And if am His instrument, then let whatever I
do have the fragrance of the deep love and gratitude
that I feel towards Him.
If at this point in time I am called upon to be a
parent, then let me understand that role to me an
instrument of Ishwara entrusted with that duty; if it
is an employee in an organization, then let me
understand that role to me an instrument of Ishwara
entrusted with that duty. The Sun is an instrument,
the Seas an instrument, and I, this infinitesimal
jiva, an instrument, of the Order that is Ishwara. So
everything I do has two aspects, an unchanging aspect
that has to do with the action being dedicated to my
Self, the antaryami, Ishwara. Then what needs to be
done needs to be done. And what will happen will
happen. This frees me from a sense of ownership in the
action and in turn frees me from the results of that
action. What accrues to me will be in perfect sync
with the Order that is Ishwara, and is nothing else
but his “prasada” his Blessing.

In upasana I praise Him and His creation. Why? Does
Ishwara need any praise? Of course not. But in
praising Him I acknowledge His Omniscience, His
Omnipresence, His Omnipotence and in this
acknowledgement the “I” that is my Ego progressively
gets sublimated. This is the true spirit seen in any
sahasranama – for example in the famous Vishnu
sahasranama “Bhoo padau yasya nabhir viyadasuranila
chandra suryau cha netre Karnavasa sirodhaumugamabhi
dhahano yasya vasteyamabhdhi; Anthastham yasya viswam
sura nara khaga go bhogi gandharva dhaityai, Chitram
ram ramyathe tham thribhuvana vapusham vishnumeesam
namami”

I bow before that God, Vishnu Who is the lord of three
worlds, Who has earth as his feet,Who has air as his
soul, Who has sky as his belly,Who has moon and sun
as eyes,
Who has the four directions as ears,Who has the land
of gods as head, Who has fire as his mouth,Who has sea
as his stomach, And in whose belly play and enjoy,
Gods, men birds, animals, Serpent men, Gandharvas and
Asuras.
Thus we describe (and visualize) Him as the Viraat, as
the sky, the moon, the sun, the sea – and what about
me? When all this is nothing but Him, then do I even
stand a chance? Thus alone does my ego slowly melt
away in the incandescence of bhakti or devotion.

Finally sharanagati at the mental level. This is none
other than atma vichara – an enquiry into the Self.
This being a subtle exercise, the ego already needs to
have ripened by both surrender in action as well as
surrender in upasana. Now the ego is ready to face its
final and complete annihilation, and that is by a
direct enquiry into its very core, a questioning of
its very existence. And in this we are once again
helped by the benevolent Mother Shruti who in stating
a fact “tat tvam asi” helps us understand the eternal
truth about our true and only Self. This very
understanding when crystallized into selfrealization
renders our false Ego lifeless and formless. This then
is the Ultimate surrender. The Ego is dead. It
realized it was never born to begin with. What Is is
what ever Is.
“Na Mrityu Na Shanka Na Me Jati Bhedah Pita Naiva Me
Naiva Mata Na Janma
Na Bandhur Na Mitre Gurur Naiva Shishyah Chidananda
Rupa Shivoham Shivoham
Aham Nirvikalpo Nirakara Roopaha Vibhur Vyapya
Sarvatra Sarvendriyanam
Sada Me Samatvam Na Muktir Na Bandhah Chidananda Rupa
Shivoham Shivoham”
“I do not have fear of death, as I do not have death.
I have no separation from my true self, no doubt about
my existence, nor have I discrimination on the basis
of birth. I have no father or mother, nor did I have a
birth. I am not the relative, nor the friend, nor the
guru, nor the disciple. I am indeed, That eternal
knowing and bliss, Shiva,love and pure consciousness I
am all pervasive. I am without any attributes, and
without any form. I have neither attachment to the
world, nor to liberation (mukti). I have no wishes for
anything because I am everything, everywhere, every
time, always in equilibrium. I am indeed, That eternal
knowing and bliss, Shiva,love and pure consciousness.”

Thus sharanagati (surrender) and sharanagati alone is
both the path and the destination for this hapless
jiva.

Isavasyam idam sarvam yat kinca jagatyam jagat : All this manifest Universe is enveloped by the Divine, the Lord

why self knowledge?

what is to be gained by knowing myself?

after all i know who i am.

i am a limited entity.
i am never at peace.
i am mortal - i was born, and i am going to die.
i am never complete, and am ever lacking.
i am always missing in one thing and somehow no matter how often i get that "one thing" after a long struggle, it mysteriously gets replaced by the next "one thing" that i start seeking next!
i am happy, at times.
i am not able to steadily hold onto that happiness.

i am certain that a sense of lack cannot be intrinsic to me - if so, why would i at times be happy? if so, why would i not be comfortable with it?

i am at a loss.


this is where self enquiry sprouts.
this is how a journey begins.
a journey into my self
i start with me
and
i end at my self.

Godavari, Nashik, Sinhastha Kumbha Mela

who am i?