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Life is One :
'Sarvam khalvidam Brahma' thunder the Upanishads. Everything is
Brahman alone. It is one divinity alone which is manifesting in
multifarious ways. He who realizes this transcendental divinity as his own
Self exudes its fragrance at all his or her levels of personality. Whether
it is the experience of the ever-existent, self-effulgent joy at the level
of mind, the vision of all-pervasiveness of oneself, the realization of the
fact that the Self alone is the real essence behind every process of
creation etc, whether it is acting with a motivation of pure love, or it is
the natural revealing of divine qualities - the Stitha Pragnya - the man of
true knowledge, very naturally exhibits it all. This has to be very obvious
because after all it is one divinity alone expressing in various ways.
A man of knowledge does not have to be all, but discover
himself to be all. During the time of his sadhana he does aligns &
integrates all his faculties to facilitate the realization of this one
non-dual reality, but later just discovers himself to be all, even at the
level of creation outside. He discovers himself to be in the chirping
birds, in the smiling flowers, in the rising sun, in the wafting winds or
in the flowing waters of streams. All are manifestation of one eternal life
- which he knows to be his real essence. The thrust of his sadhana is only
to rectify the errors which were erroneously brought about at the various
levels of his personality. As ignorance also has pervaded at all our levels
so a concerted effort is called for to tackle the problem in a holistic
way.
Integral Approach to
Sadhana :
Strangely enough a fallacious idea about sadhana is prevalent
that there are different paths to the realization of truth. The so called
Gyana Marg, Bhakti Marg, the path of Karma, Raja Yoga etc. All sadhana's
have a role to play. All of them are directed at completely different
levels of our personality. Physical well being and intelligent mind are not
alternates to choose from. Both are important. We have balanced food,
multifaceted education so also has to be the approach in ones sadhana.
There has to be very clear viveka between end & means. Just as before
undertaking any journey we are firstly clear about the nature of our goal
and the available means to attain it, so also before undertaking any
sadhana it is extremely necessary that we are clear about some
fundamentals.
Like a specialist one should first discern the real problem
and the means to handle that problem. There is something called the real
means and secondary means. That which is the real means eliminates the real
problem, while that which is the secondary means helps us to get prepared
for eliminating the real problem. What is our real problem ? It is a sense
of limitation, conditionings of time & space. As this is not natural to
us there is an intrinsic motivation to be free from this limitation. The
pangs of finitude are eliminated only by awakening to the infinite. The
possibility and the methodology of this awakening is revealed in the
Upanishads. They provide us the whole map of this unique journey. Luckily
infinite is something which unlike finite things is present at all places
and times. It is right here & now. It pervades everything, every pore,
every cell, every gene, every thought and every emotion. It is our very
being. Just as water pervades all waves & ripples so also everything is
already pervaded by this eternal truth. That which is already present but
is just not known needs no action for its attainment. It just has to be
known.
Action is a means to attain something unattained or maybe
change that which is attained. None of this is applicable here. Knowledge
alone brings about its so called attainment. There can be no other paths
than this. Self-realization is the only way to God-realization. But in
order to bring about this realization we have to prepare our mind. We need
a particular kind of mind for every kind of knowledge. For Self-knowledge
we need a mind which is highly intelligent, at peace with itself, fully
integrated, sensitive, simple yet very dynamic, daring & fearless. To
bring about such a mind we have to use various sadhana's. There has to be an
integral approach to sadhana.
Role of Different Sadhana's
:
Bhakti plays an important role to make a person sensitive,
selfless & loving. Such a person doesn't have any ego-centric problems.
He is at peace with himself, and has various good divine qualities. The
role of karma is to help purge various vasanas. They are lingering
impressions of our various past experiences prompting their repetition.
The role of Yoga is to help bring about a physical well-being, equanimity,
concentration & integration in the mind. It gives us the ability to
switch off the mind and turn intensely in any direction you like. The role
of gyana is to understand the truth of oneself. Who am I ? What is this
world? How has it come about? etc. Vratas help bring about greater
will-power etc. Every sadhana has a definite role to play, and all are
directed at a different level all together. None of them is an alternate
for the other. So the ideal plan should be to give time for some studies,
practice Yoga, invoke devotion and also learn to actively & positively
do your karmas. Texts like Bhagwad Gita are no super markets which have different
stalls for different sadhakas. It offers a holistic approach to sadhana to
help bring about the integration of all our faculties at the earliest.
Thereafter it is just the realization of the infinite truth. Aham
Brahmasmi.
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