Showing posts with label Bhagavad Gita. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bhagavad Gita. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Be A Friend To Yourself - Pujya Swami Dayananda
For that (self) who has mastered oneself by oneself, the self alone is a friend of oneself. Whereas, for the self who has not mastered oneself, the self alone would remain in the status of an enemy, like an enemy. (Bh.Gita 6.6)
For that self (discussed in Chapter 6 Verse 5 ), the self is a friend. When? When the self has been won over, jitah. And what self is being discussed here? What atma can be won over? It cannot be satcitanandaatma. Because I can only win over something that I can objectify. And the only object in which I have the 'I'-notion, is the body-mind-sense-complex. It is this complex, then, that is in one's hands and has to be mastered. Won over by whom? By oneself, meaning by one's own inquiry, by one's own discipline, by one's own will and effort.
THE THREE POWERS AT OUR DISPOSAL
The one who has mastered the body-mind-sense-complex is called a vashi and is a friend to himself or herself. The body-mind-sense-complex serves this person with the threefold powers it is endowed with — the power to think, explore, know, and remember – jnana-shakti; the power to desire, to will – icchashakti; and the power to act, to make or do – kriyashakti. These three powers are at the disposal of one who is a vashi, the one who has mastery over the entire body-mind-sense complex.
When you have mastery over the body, mind, and senses, then all their powers are with you. Therefore, the body-mind-sense complex becomes a benefactor for gaining that which is desirable; it can take you anywhere — to brahma-loka or even to Brahman, to moksha. This is the maximum it can do because you cannot become greater than Brahman. You are already Brahman, in fact. As one who has mastery over the body mindsense-complex, you are endowed with the powers — you require to recognise this fact.
Because you can gain punya by following a life of dharma, the body-mind-sense complex again becomes a bandhu (friend). And, for gaining moksha, it also becomes a benefactor to you. Thus, the same body-mind-sense complex, is a benefactor to you all the way provided, of course, that it is won over by you.
Now, suppose this bodymindsense-complex is not won over by you but, instead, is holding you hostage. Then what happens? The bodymindsensecomplex cannot become a bandhu for you. Instead, you are a bandhu for the body, mind, and senses. In this way, the same atma (self), body-mind-sense complex, becomes ripu, an enemy, one who creates obstructions for you, one who puts the proverbial spokes in your wheels.
The person who does not have oneself, in his or her own hands is called anatma in this verse. This is the person for whom the body-mind-sense complex remains as an enemy alone, meaning that the self plays the role of an enemy. Krsihna makes it very clear that there is no enemy other than oneself alone.
Generally, we point a finger at someone other than ourselves and declare that person an enemy. This is done by everyone to some degree or other. And, if no one is available locally, Satan or some other planet will be accused! Everyone feels persecuted by someone or something. Always, there is some imagined fear in people that makes them point at someone as an enemy. By doing this, of course, you are giving the other person a handle with which he or she can disturb you.
No one can disturb you unless you allow them to. Nevertheless, people do have this persecution problem to some extent and they suffer from it. In fact, whenever you point out an enemy with your index finger, your accusing finger, there are three remaining fingers that point back towards yourself. These three fingers, therefore, are said to stand for the physical body, mind, and senses, the kaarya-karana-sanghaata that is oneself, the only enemy, there is. In this way, then, atma occupies the place of the enemy. Just like an external enemy, it is inimical to you.
YOU TAKE YOUR MIND WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO
When you analyse your complaints, you find that they are mental, meaning they are of the mind. You allow yourself to be affected by the world and then, afterwards, you call the world bad and renounce it. You want to renounce this world you have labelled 'bad' and go to a world that you have imagined to be 'good,' which is called fantasy. But, when you go to this good world, you find it is as bad as the one you left behind! Why? Because you carry your mind, the enemy, with you; you do not leave it behind.
The same mind that interpreted the world as bad is not given up and, with that mind, you move to the socalled good world. In this way, then, the mind is carried with you wherever you go. Even if you go to heaven, you will find problems there because the same mind goes with you — it is carried forward and carried over! And having this same mind with you, this same complaining mind, you always find reason enough to complain, whatever the place or the circumstances. This is what Krishna¸a means when he says that one is indeed like an enemy for oneself.
When you carry such a mind with you, mind that is always interpreting given situations according to its own notions, even your guru, considered to be a great bandhu, benefactor, cannot help you. What can any guru do if the person is always thinking, 'My guru does not care about me. I don't think he considers me a good student,' and so on. One makes such conclusions because of that same mind alone. Finally speaking then, you are the only bandhu there is.
Om Tat Sat
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Be A Friend To Yourself -Pujya Swami Dayananda
May one lift oneself by oneself, may one not destroy oneself. For, the self alone is one's benefactor (and) the self alone is one's enemy. B. Gita 6.6
This verse makes it very clear that you have to save yourself, that you should not destroy yourself or allow yourself to be destroyed. Why? Because oneself, is a great helper, a great benefactor, for oneself. In other words, you yourself are the benefactor. And who is the beneficiary? Yourself. Therefore, you are both the beneficiary and the benefactor. Krishna also goes on to say that you are also your own enemy, which means you can become a great friend, a benefactor, or an enemy to yourself.
A person who is a man of meditation, a renunciate, has saved himself or herself totally from all that is undesirable — in other words, from the life of samsara, just as one saves oneself from drowning by pulling oneself out of the water. In fact, all of a person's activities are meant only to save himself or herself. The person wants to become secure, to be free of all problems, including loss of money or power, loss of health, old age, and death, which means that he or she wants to save himself or herself from insecurity. Thus, everyone is busy working for his or her own safety. Whether we call it self‑safety, self‑security, or self‑welfare, there is no question that the pursuit is ‘self‑ish’ — for the self alone.Seeking an alternative life‑style is not what is implied here. Rather, the person is seeking answers to some very fundamental questions. Certain questions arise in the person, however vague they may be, which tend to disturb the usual activities that people naturally absorb themselves in. The questions themselves give a certain direction to one's life until the person comes to understand that he or she is under the spell of likes and dislikes, to use the language of the Gita. One begins to recognise that the natural pursuit, that everyone engages in, is out of these likes and dislikes — ‘I like it, I want it. Therefore, I do it.’ All one's responses arise from these likes and dislikes alone.
And, within this particular sphere of reality, everything becomes right; anger is legitimate; sorrow is legitimate; pain is legitimate. This, then, is where we get confused. Where anger is legitimate, it is legitimate to get angry. Therefore, if someone says you should not get angry, you get even angrier. Even if you do not get angry, you run into problems! Once the legitimacy is accepted by you, you can move ahead without disturbing your natural activity. But, when you begin questioning the very activity itself, you question the very life you are living. Only when you really question, when the flame of inquiry is proper, can you come to understand the fundamental problem.
There is a mature way of approaching this problem and also an immature way of approaching it. And, in the light of what we discover, there is something that can be called a prayerful life, a life of enlightened prayer, not blind prayer. There is a prayerful attitude or disposition, which is KarmaYoga. Karma yoga implies the acceptance or appreciation of the Lord, and living a prayerful life. This is what brings about the capacity to be contemplative, meditative. Such a life creates this kind of a disposition naturally, a disposition in which knowledge of oneself, takes care of itself. Thus, it is very clear that because of Karma yoga one can gain knowledge.
HELPING YOURSELF
In this verse, the word atma refers to you, the individual, who, by nature, is already in the ocean of samsara. You did not suddenly slip into this samsara ; you were born into it, along with it. And how do you get out of it? By your own will, atmana you turn yourself about; you question yourself and your values. By questioning yourself, you re‑estimate the whole value structure and whatever there is about it that is confusing.
All problems are primarily due to improper priorities. Therefore, we have to reorganise our value structure and, in the process, our priorities will become proper. This inquiry, vichara into one's value structure is done by oneself alone, atmana eva ; it is an inquiry into right and wrong, what one is to do and not to do. Because of this vichara, your vision undergoes a certain cognitive change. This, then, is one stage of the inquiry.
The next stage of inquiry is also done by oneself alone. By one's own inquiry, one appreciates one's helplessness in certain situations. This itself brings about a prayerful attitude on one's part. A given situation raises certain doubts in you; then, afterwards, there is an appreciation of Ishvara and then there is prayer. This makes a person a vashi one whose body, mind, and senses are together — all of which is done by one's own efforts alone.Going to a teacher to gain the knowledge is also done by oneself and implies a certain effort on the person's part. In all of these ways, the person pulls himself or herself up. This is why Krishna says here that one's benefactor is no one else but oneself — atma eva atmanah bandhuh.
AN ENEMY TO YOURSELF
To have been born a samsari itself is destructive. If your mind is not in order, however, if your value structure is confused, then your entire life and the lives of those around you will be confused. Thus, Krishna also says that you are your own enemy. When your own mind, atma , your own will, is abused, or when it is not used at all, then it naturally becomes your enemy; it stands against you, it destroys you. The mind is where all the notions that, this or that will save us, originate. These ideas are indicative of a will that has been fooled — by itself and by others — because one allows oneself to be fooled. This means that the final fool is myself alone. Because I am a fool, I can be fooled! I allow myself to be fooled; therefore, I am my own enemy. What is the use of blaming anyone? I myself am an enemy to myself — atma eva atmanah ripuh.
DO NOT LOOK DOWN UPON YOURSELF
Therefore, Krishna says, ‘May one not destroy oneself.’ May you make use of the will and change, which does not happen without your undergoing some kind of inner revolution. This inner revolution is a quiet revolution; it is not the creation of a lot of conflicting ideas. Rather, a quiet, inner revolution takes place in one's way of looking at things, in one's understanding. Therefore, ‘do not look down upon yourself,’ is another way of taking the expression, atmanam na avasadayet, because to do so, is to destroy yourself.
In this process, you may sometimes have to mother the child within you and thus take care of it. If as a child you had been neglected then you have probably picked up some problems along the way. And who has to care for this ‘child’? Who is the friend to this child? You alone, as an adult, have to mother the child within. This is what Krishna was trying to convey when he said here, ‘May one lift oneself up .’
The verse can be taken in an absolute sense in that, at every level, one can say, ‘May one not destroy oneself ; may one lift oneself up.’ Since one has to take care of oneself at every level, in the final analysis, there is no other force, nothing external to yourself, that can help you. Oneself means one's own body‑mind-sense-complex. This body-mind-sense complex, along with the will, is both the friend of the self and the enemy of the self. In other words, you can be either your own benefactor or your own enemy.
This means that to become free of this samsara, another person cannot become a friend, a benefactor, for you. Only you can do what is to be done. To grow or to mature within the samsara, another person may be helpful to you, but to get out of the samsara, you have to release yourself. In fact, where moksha is concerned, the very person who was previously your benefactor could very well become an obstruction to you. Bandhu implies affection and friendship, which can also be binding, even though such qualities may be quite helpful to one's emotional growth. Therefore, in the final analysis, in terms of gaining moksha, you are the only one who can be a friend to yourself. And unless you become a friend to yourself, you become inimical to yourself and become your own enemy.
Om Tat Sat
Friday, June 19, 2009
Bhagavad Gita in Daily Life - 1
Om Namo Narayanaya
BG in Daily Life is the topic of our discussion here for a few weeks. First, let us look at what is meant by ‘daily life’ and then see how Bg is relevant in our daily life.
What is Daily life The daily life of human beings is characterised by actions. Actions are performed by all beings. But there is a difference between actions performed by human being and other than human beings. We find that other creatures act according to their instincts. They are programmed to respond to situations in a certain way. Like humans, they have certain basic instincts of hunger, thirst, self-preservation and sense-gratification.
However other beings act instinctively in response to situations. They do not have a choice in responding to a situation other than the the way they are programmed. A cow has no choice but eating grass. It does not have this kind of question , should I eat grass or should I eat meat. A dog will bark if it feels like. A donkey will kick if it feels like and kick its owner too
A human being on the other hand has a choice. When we go for a buffet – should I eat this or that, or this and that. In ashram we have choice of food with spices, food without spices. So many people who say we will tke food without chilly and then they find they haveto mix! Choices are always there.
Action determined by choice, deliberate action, premeditated action - is what is special about human beings. So we have choice, a freedom of not performing action. I have a choice of not doing something even if I feel like it. That is our privilege – kartum shakyam, akartum shakyam, anyatha va kartum shakyam meaning to do or not to do or to do it differently ( do it as I please)! CLAP YOUR HANDS!....
Summarising So this is what our daily life is – the performance of various actions as determined by our choice..
What determines choice
Behind our choice of action there is ALWAYS a PURPOSE. Our actions are not just random and purposeless – we perform purposeful action. Purpose above beyond, just satisfying hunger and thirst, which are the natural instincts. As I said earlier, these natural instincts are also shared by humans and other creatures also. We also have hunger and thirst, self-preservation and sense-gratification. But over and above above fulfilling these instincts, we have some other kind of a need also and it is that need which motivates many of our actions. What is that need?
The need to be happy, the need to be free.
When is that we have a need? Analyse and you will find that we have a need for something when either
1. We really do not have that which we need
2. Or we conclude that we do not have it.
So if you analyse the need to be happy, the need to be secure, the need to be free – you find that behind the need is the conclusion that I am not happy or that I am not as happy as I like to be, I am not as free as I like to be, I am not as secure as I would like to be.
There is therefore a desire on my part to be happier than what I am, or to be more free than what I am, or to be more secure than what I am.
Thus I find my actions are prompted by desire. To perform desire prompted actions is the privilege of a human being. And this what we may call the daily life of a human being.
The various activities that we do from morning to night are prompted by our various desires.. Everybody has desires. A poor person also has desire. A rich person also has desires. A young person has desires and a old person also has desires. And in the past thousands of years ago people had desires and in future also people will have desires.
Thus I find myself a desiring person. I desire security, I desire pleasure, I desire adequacy, I desire long life, I desire condusive situations for myself, I desire freedom. These various desires prompt my actions and that is what my daily living is all about.
‘Desire’ - an expression of discomfort
So why do we need Bhagavad-Gita in this.
Well if I was happy and comfortable with this daily living, there would be no need for Bhagavad-Gita.
The question is AM I REALLY HAPPY AND COMFORTABLE WITH THIS DAILY LIVING?
All our daily activities are for the sake of gaining happiness. We already saw that. We have a DESIRE TO BE HAPPY, DESIRE TO BE SECURE and it is to FULFILL THESE DESIRES that we do our daily activities. When we analyse what is behind the DESIRE, we find that it is the CONCLUSION that “I do not have happiness now. I do not have secirty now. I am not happy. I am not secure.”
When do I have a desire for security? When I have concluded that I am not secure. When do I have a desire for adequacy? When I have concluded that I am not adequate. I CAN HAVE A DESIRE FOR SOMETHING ONLY WHEN I HAVE CONCLUDED THAT I DO NOT HAVE THAT.
So behind my desires is the niggling ever-present sense that “all is not well with me”. It is like a woman with high-heeled shoes who has a pebble in her shoe. Can she rest until she gets rid of it? She may try to ignore it – but finally she has to bend and remove that pebble.
So too there is the ever-present sense of “I am wanting”. It makes one restless, uncomfortable with oneself. I cannot be happy with myself and it expresses itself as the constant sruti “I want… I want…. I want…”. I think I need something outside of myself to become comfortable and so there is this constant seeking to make myself comfortable through various sitautions and objects in the external world.
I think that my discomfort is caused by the things and beings around me. But really if I look at it I find that I am basically uncomfortable with my own self. It is that discomfort with myself, not recognised by me, makes me conclude that my discomfort is because of other people, other things and other people.
Therefore I am not comfortable because
1. my income is not adequate enough.
2. my house not big enough.
3. my car is not expensive enough.
4. because .. whatever .. house children, family, friends are not quite what I want them to be.
I have concluded that my discomfort is on account of these things around me and therefore I keep on trying to re-arrange them all the time. I make re-arrangements in in my place of work. I make re-arrangemnets in my home. I make rearrangements in the family. I make re-arrangements in my place of work, in my friends and even my furniture!. So when you go to someone’s house, the furniture is also newly arranged. TV is in a diff place, carpet is changed, some deck has been added. You find that now he is having moustache, after 6 months he does not have it. And now his hair is long, and then it is short – all these changes happen!! And every season there are new kinds of clothes.
Self-Consciousness the cause of discomfort with oneself
Why do I have this sense of discomfort? Becauuse I am a self-conscious being – I am aware of myself. I am a self-conscious being. Conscious of myself and conscious of the world around me. We say ‘he is a very self-conscious person’. Some people are always aware – they sit very carefully, as though posing for a photo. Some people are very careful that their shadow also should not look ugly.
{Illustrations of animals not having self-consciousness} Buffaloes and cow are not aware of themselves – they are aware of themselves in some way –but not like we are aware of ourselves. Buffaloes don’t feel a sense of injustice. Cows are worshipped and gives very little milk and very little used. – buffaloes gives a lot of milk. So buffalo should feel that I am doing so much and nobody respects me –and this cow is wandering all day in the field and does not give anything and is considered to be worshipped! Buffalo does not seem to feel a sense of rejection. A buffalo does have awareness in the sense it relates to another buffalo in a certain way, and to a dog in a certain way. But the feeling that a bigger buffalo, a smaller buffalo, a more important buffalo, less important, more respected one, less respected one – they don’t seem to have.
As for me, I am always conscious of myself. I am always aware of who I am and that is where the discomfort comes, because I find that I am not quite what I like to be.
The discomfort is centered on “I”
Being essentially dissatisfied with myself, I have various desires, fulfilling which which I think will make me comfortable. My desires keep on being satisfied one after the other but still the desirer does not seem to go. And one desire seems to be replaced by another desire.
So I have desire for a house – it gets satisfied when I get a house. Then I have desire for a car – it gets satisfied when I have a car. I have another desire for something and I spend all my energy getting it satisfied. And one thing remains constant – it never goes – that is the desiror. The desirer seems to remain. Who is the desiror? The one who has concluded that “I AM WANTING .. I AM LACKING”.
A wise person also has desires. The wise person abides in his own fullness and so a wise person’s desires are not from the wanting self and therefore not binding.
But generally speaking, a desire is from a sense of lack or discomfort.
Pravritti and Nivritti
Desire prompted activities can be looked at as having a two-fold nature –called in Sanskrit as pravritti ( acquiring something) and nivritti- (getting rid of something). Pravrriti means seeking out something. Nivritti means getting rid of something. So this is what I do. Acquiring something that I think will make me more comfortable than what I am, or getting rid of something which I think makes me uncomfortable. Acquiring and getting rid of. Every body does both. As Swamiji says, what one fellow gets rid of, another fellow acquires.
Mostly people think that this is what life is all about. Afterall this is what everyone seems to be doing. So they also continue to do without giving it a thought. As long as I don’t give a thought so long I don’t come to Vedanta.
It is only when a person finds that somehow this is not leading me anywhere. What’s going on? What for all this is meant?. What for is this life? They ask ‘is there a purpose in life’. They have not found a purpose to what they are the doing, the way they are doing. Is there a purpose? Only when this question arises, and we happen to be in the right place, the whole direction can change.
Enquiry because understands that pravritti and nivritti does not solve the problem
And so Mundoko Upansihad says – parikshya lokan karmacitaan braahmana nirvedam aayaat nasti akr tkrtena
A brahmana, a contemplative person, a thinking person (parikshyalokan) enquiring into, analysing into all the achivements that he has made in his life. Analysing achievement, taking stock of my life. And there are of course many things to be proud of in my achivemnets. But still he thinks “now I have more education than what I had before, I am wealthier than before, more respected than what I was, better known than what I was – no doubt better than what I was before.
But in terms of the sense of comfort or with myself or the sense of lack I carry around with myself am I any better than what I was before? Am I better in terms of the wanting self, the inadeqaucy, the discomfort with myself, am I any better than what I was before?”
This is pariiksha, the enquiry. Although the Upanishad says he deliberates on his achievements, really speaking he deliberates on himself.
Usually we equate ourselves with our achievements and so there seems to be an equation in my head – that the more I have the more I am. My idea of success up to now has been this, to be successful, I should have more.
I equate myself in terms of what I have, what I do. Yet that equation maybe shaken when I ask myself questions that in terms of the person that I am, am I a more content person, am I a better person, a more compassionate, a more giving, more sharing, more forgiving person than I was before - am I better off than before as a person or have I remained the same person inspite of various achievements.
Vedanta is not against achievement
The section in the Vedas on Self-knowledge is called as Vedanta. Vedanta has nothing against achievement. Vedanta only asks is for us to understand for ourselves the nature of achievements, what is behind our pursuits of our various activities. Vedanta only asks us to understand ourselves.
However usually this does not happen easily, because generally we are extremely preoccupied with the things, situations and people around us and so there is almost no desire to understand myself. That I need to understand myself, that kind of a thought also does not occur to me. I just take it for granted that this is what life is for. After all everybody is leading the same life and so this is what life is all about – making money, having more and more things for myself, getting married, having children, having grandchildren, having a few hobbies so I spread my basket of interests as it were.
When I start questioning the purpose of my life, only then I may come to Vedanta, or for a class on Bhagavad-Gita in Daily Life.
Vedanta questions our conclusions.
What our scriptures point out is that our conclusions about ourselves have been formed without proper enquiry. I am not what my wealth is, I am not what my house is, I am not what my car is. I am not what my job is. I am not what my name and fame is.
Pariikshya lokkan karma citaan brahmana nirvedam aayaat Naasti akrta krtena. When this person in fact inquires into the conclusion about himself he asks himself
‘Has my conclusion about myself changed inspite of all the achievements in my life? I have no doubt all these achievements to my credit. But do the conclusions about myself go inspite of all my achievements? My conclusions that I am an inadequate person, a wanting person – has it gone from me, inspite of all my achievements? Will my conclusions about myself change if I go to heaven or I become the President of America?”
Swamini, why should these conclusions go? If they went there would be no progress at all. Because we feel dissatisfied with ourselves, we are able to progress. Forget about progress. Let us worry about ourself.
Am I happy being inadequate? Is anybody ever happy being sad? Do we ever congrajulate a person who is sad – Go up to him and say “Congrajulations! It is wonderful to see you so sad”. Never. We know what it is to be sad and so we sympathise with another person who is sad. Again we never console a person who is happy saying “I am so sad that you are happy”.
Unhappiness is nothing but a discomfort with myself. When I am uncomfortable with myself, I just want to get rid of it, I cannot bear to have it. I have to get rid of it. I cannot be comfortable with my own sense of want, or need, of discomfort. It is like a live, healthy, active bug with wings that enters my ears. Can I be comfortable with it there? Like a speck of dust in my eyes. I cannot be comfortable with it – so too I can never be comfortable, I can never be happy, with the sense of lack
This desire to be free of the sense of dissatisfaction with myself is really behind all our desires for wealth, for fame, prestige, power, money. It is behind my needs from relationships too. I want the approval of people because I don’t approve myself. I need relationships where I can get love from people because I have not loved my self. Through the fulfillment of various desires I want to see myself as different – as the satisfied me, the pleased me.
Nasti akrta kritena - and really speaking no achievement has made me comfortable with myself. It has given me some ego nourishment but has not made my discomfort go away and made me the a satisfied person that I want to be.
Whatever I wanted and I achieved, thinking it will make the sense of lack around myself go away – I still find myself lacking, I still find an emptiness in myself. Now this man understands, no action, no achievement seems to make me happy, make me secure with myself and so nirvedam ayaat – he becomes indifferent to that mode of achievement.
If this is recognised, direction of one’s life changes. This how Bhagavad-Gita begins.
CONTEXT of BHAGAVAD_GITA
The problem of conflict, of insecurity and inadequacy is as old as humankind. It is the problem faced by Arjuna, in the Gita. Arjuna was a warrior-hero of fantastic achievements and a disciplined intellect, who was nevertheless overwhelmed by personal conflict and a feeling of helplessness. Lord Krishna taught him to recognise the adequate self and when he did all his conflict and sorrow were resolved.)
The Gita is not meant for any one person, or creed or nation; it is meant for humanity. It speaks to a mind that is dissatisfied with constant want, that is alert and thinking, that has fought in life.
Om Tat Sat
BG in Daily Life is the topic of our discussion here for a few weeks. First, let us look at what is meant by ‘daily life’ and then see how Bg is relevant in our daily life.
What is Daily life The daily life of human beings is characterised by actions. Actions are performed by all beings. But there is a difference between actions performed by human being and other than human beings. We find that other creatures act according to their instincts. They are programmed to respond to situations in a certain way. Like humans, they have certain basic instincts of hunger, thirst, self-preservation and sense-gratification.
However other beings act instinctively in response to situations. They do not have a choice in responding to a situation other than the the way they are programmed. A cow has no choice but eating grass. It does not have this kind of question , should I eat grass or should I eat meat. A dog will bark if it feels like. A donkey will kick if it feels like and kick its owner too
A human being on the other hand has a choice. When we go for a buffet – should I eat this or that, or this and that. In ashram we have choice of food with spices, food without spices. So many people who say we will tke food without chilly and then they find they haveto mix! Choices are always there.
Action determined by choice, deliberate action, premeditated action - is what is special about human beings. So we have choice, a freedom of not performing action. I have a choice of not doing something even if I feel like it. That is our privilege – kartum shakyam, akartum shakyam, anyatha va kartum shakyam meaning to do or not to do or to do it differently ( do it as I please)! CLAP YOUR HANDS!....
Summarising So this is what our daily life is – the performance of various actions as determined by our choice..
What determines choice
Behind our choice of action there is ALWAYS a PURPOSE. Our actions are not just random and purposeless – we perform purposeful action. Purpose above beyond, just satisfying hunger and thirst, which are the natural instincts. As I said earlier, these natural instincts are also shared by humans and other creatures also. We also have hunger and thirst, self-preservation and sense-gratification. But over and above above fulfilling these instincts, we have some other kind of a need also and it is that need which motivates many of our actions. What is that need?
The need to be happy, the need to be free.
When is that we have a need? Analyse and you will find that we have a need for something when either
1. We really do not have that which we need
2. Or we conclude that we do not have it.
So if you analyse the need to be happy, the need to be secure, the need to be free – you find that behind the need is the conclusion that I am not happy or that I am not as happy as I like to be, I am not as free as I like to be, I am not as secure as I would like to be.
There is therefore a desire on my part to be happier than what I am, or to be more free than what I am, or to be more secure than what I am.
Thus I find my actions are prompted by desire. To perform desire prompted actions is the privilege of a human being. And this what we may call the daily life of a human being.
The various activities that we do from morning to night are prompted by our various desires.. Everybody has desires. A poor person also has desire. A rich person also has desires. A young person has desires and a old person also has desires. And in the past thousands of years ago people had desires and in future also people will have desires.
Thus I find myself a desiring person. I desire security, I desire pleasure, I desire adequacy, I desire long life, I desire condusive situations for myself, I desire freedom. These various desires prompt my actions and that is what my daily living is all about.
‘Desire’ - an expression of discomfort
So why do we need Bhagavad-Gita in this.
Well if I was happy and comfortable with this daily living, there would be no need for Bhagavad-Gita.
The question is AM I REALLY HAPPY AND COMFORTABLE WITH THIS DAILY LIVING?
All our daily activities are for the sake of gaining happiness. We already saw that. We have a DESIRE TO BE HAPPY, DESIRE TO BE SECURE and it is to FULFILL THESE DESIRES that we do our daily activities. When we analyse what is behind the DESIRE, we find that it is the CONCLUSION that “I do not have happiness now. I do not have secirty now. I am not happy. I am not secure.”
When do I have a desire for security? When I have concluded that I am not secure. When do I have a desire for adequacy? When I have concluded that I am not adequate. I CAN HAVE A DESIRE FOR SOMETHING ONLY WHEN I HAVE CONCLUDED THAT I DO NOT HAVE THAT.
So behind my desires is the niggling ever-present sense that “all is not well with me”. It is like a woman with high-heeled shoes who has a pebble in her shoe. Can she rest until she gets rid of it? She may try to ignore it – but finally she has to bend and remove that pebble.
So too there is the ever-present sense of “I am wanting”. It makes one restless, uncomfortable with oneself. I cannot be happy with myself and it expresses itself as the constant sruti “I want… I want…. I want…”. I think I need something outside of myself to become comfortable and so there is this constant seeking to make myself comfortable through various sitautions and objects in the external world.
I think that my discomfort is caused by the things and beings around me. But really if I look at it I find that I am basically uncomfortable with my own self. It is that discomfort with myself, not recognised by me, makes me conclude that my discomfort is because of other people, other things and other people.
Therefore I am not comfortable because
1. my income is not adequate enough.
2. my house not big enough.
3. my car is not expensive enough.
4. because .. whatever .. house children, family, friends are not quite what I want them to be.
I have concluded that my discomfort is on account of these things around me and therefore I keep on trying to re-arrange them all the time. I make re-arrangements in in my place of work. I make re-arrangemnets in my home. I make rearrangements in the family. I make re-arrangements in my place of work, in my friends and even my furniture!. So when you go to someone’s house, the furniture is also newly arranged. TV is in a diff place, carpet is changed, some deck has been added. You find that now he is having moustache, after 6 months he does not have it. And now his hair is long, and then it is short – all these changes happen!! And every season there are new kinds of clothes.
Self-Consciousness the cause of discomfort with oneself
Why do I have this sense of discomfort? Becauuse I am a self-conscious being – I am aware of myself. I am a self-conscious being. Conscious of myself and conscious of the world around me. We say ‘he is a very self-conscious person’. Some people are always aware – they sit very carefully, as though posing for a photo. Some people are very careful that their shadow also should not look ugly.
{Illustrations of animals not having self-consciousness} Buffaloes and cow are not aware of themselves – they are aware of themselves in some way –but not like we are aware of ourselves. Buffaloes don’t feel a sense of injustice. Cows are worshipped and gives very little milk and very little used. – buffaloes gives a lot of milk. So buffalo should feel that I am doing so much and nobody respects me –and this cow is wandering all day in the field and does not give anything and is considered to be worshipped! Buffalo does not seem to feel a sense of rejection. A buffalo does have awareness in the sense it relates to another buffalo in a certain way, and to a dog in a certain way. But the feeling that a bigger buffalo, a smaller buffalo, a more important buffalo, less important, more respected one, less respected one – they don’t seem to have.
As for me, I am always conscious of myself. I am always aware of who I am and that is where the discomfort comes, because I find that I am not quite what I like to be.
The discomfort is centered on “I”
Being essentially dissatisfied with myself, I have various desires, fulfilling which which I think will make me comfortable. My desires keep on being satisfied one after the other but still the desirer does not seem to go. And one desire seems to be replaced by another desire.
So I have desire for a house – it gets satisfied when I get a house. Then I have desire for a car – it gets satisfied when I have a car. I have another desire for something and I spend all my energy getting it satisfied. And one thing remains constant – it never goes – that is the desiror. The desirer seems to remain. Who is the desiror? The one who has concluded that “I AM WANTING .. I AM LACKING”.
A wise person also has desires. The wise person abides in his own fullness and so a wise person’s desires are not from the wanting self and therefore not binding.
But generally speaking, a desire is from a sense of lack or discomfort.
Pravritti and Nivritti
Desire prompted activities can be looked at as having a two-fold nature –called in Sanskrit as pravritti ( acquiring something) and nivritti- (getting rid of something). Pravrriti means seeking out something. Nivritti means getting rid of something. So this is what I do. Acquiring something that I think will make me more comfortable than what I am, or getting rid of something which I think makes me uncomfortable. Acquiring and getting rid of. Every body does both. As Swamiji says, what one fellow gets rid of, another fellow acquires.
Mostly people think that this is what life is all about. Afterall this is what everyone seems to be doing. So they also continue to do without giving it a thought. As long as I don’t give a thought so long I don’t come to Vedanta.
It is only when a person finds that somehow this is not leading me anywhere. What’s going on? What for all this is meant?. What for is this life? They ask ‘is there a purpose in life’. They have not found a purpose to what they are the doing, the way they are doing. Is there a purpose? Only when this question arises, and we happen to be in the right place, the whole direction can change.
Enquiry because understands that pravritti and nivritti does not solve the problem
And so Mundoko Upansihad says – parikshya lokan karmacitaan braahmana nirvedam aayaat nasti akr tkrtena
A brahmana, a contemplative person, a thinking person (parikshyalokan) enquiring into, analysing into all the achivements that he has made in his life. Analysing achievement, taking stock of my life. And there are of course many things to be proud of in my achivemnets. But still he thinks “now I have more education than what I had before, I am wealthier than before, more respected than what I was, better known than what I was – no doubt better than what I was before.
But in terms of the sense of comfort or with myself or the sense of lack I carry around with myself am I any better than what I was before? Am I better in terms of the wanting self, the inadeqaucy, the discomfort with myself, am I any better than what I was before?”
This is pariiksha, the enquiry. Although the Upanishad says he deliberates on his achievements, really speaking he deliberates on himself.
Usually we equate ourselves with our achievements and so there seems to be an equation in my head – that the more I have the more I am. My idea of success up to now has been this, to be successful, I should have more.
I equate myself in terms of what I have, what I do. Yet that equation maybe shaken when I ask myself questions that in terms of the person that I am, am I a more content person, am I a better person, a more compassionate, a more giving, more sharing, more forgiving person than I was before - am I better off than before as a person or have I remained the same person inspite of various achievements.
Vedanta is not against achievement
The section in the Vedas on Self-knowledge is called as Vedanta. Vedanta has nothing against achievement. Vedanta only asks is for us to understand for ourselves the nature of achievements, what is behind our pursuits of our various activities. Vedanta only asks us to understand ourselves.
However usually this does not happen easily, because generally we are extremely preoccupied with the things, situations and people around us and so there is almost no desire to understand myself. That I need to understand myself, that kind of a thought also does not occur to me. I just take it for granted that this is what life is for. After all everybody is leading the same life and so this is what life is all about – making money, having more and more things for myself, getting married, having children, having grandchildren, having a few hobbies so I spread my basket of interests as it were.
When I start questioning the purpose of my life, only then I may come to Vedanta, or for a class on Bhagavad-Gita in Daily Life.
Vedanta questions our conclusions.
What our scriptures point out is that our conclusions about ourselves have been formed without proper enquiry. I am not what my wealth is, I am not what my house is, I am not what my car is. I am not what my job is. I am not what my name and fame is.
Pariikshya lokkan karma citaan brahmana nirvedam aayaat Naasti akrta krtena. When this person in fact inquires into the conclusion about himself he asks himself
‘Has my conclusion about myself changed inspite of all the achievements in my life? I have no doubt all these achievements to my credit. But do the conclusions about myself go inspite of all my achievements? My conclusions that I am an inadequate person, a wanting person – has it gone from me, inspite of all my achievements? Will my conclusions about myself change if I go to heaven or I become the President of America?”
Swamini, why should these conclusions go? If they went there would be no progress at all. Because we feel dissatisfied with ourselves, we are able to progress. Forget about progress. Let us worry about ourself.
Am I happy being inadequate? Is anybody ever happy being sad? Do we ever congrajulate a person who is sad – Go up to him and say “Congrajulations! It is wonderful to see you so sad”. Never. We know what it is to be sad and so we sympathise with another person who is sad. Again we never console a person who is happy saying “I am so sad that you are happy”.
Unhappiness is nothing but a discomfort with myself. When I am uncomfortable with myself, I just want to get rid of it, I cannot bear to have it. I have to get rid of it. I cannot be comfortable with my own sense of want, or need, of discomfort. It is like a live, healthy, active bug with wings that enters my ears. Can I be comfortable with it there? Like a speck of dust in my eyes. I cannot be comfortable with it – so too I can never be comfortable, I can never be happy, with the sense of lack
This desire to be free of the sense of dissatisfaction with myself is really behind all our desires for wealth, for fame, prestige, power, money. It is behind my needs from relationships too. I want the approval of people because I don’t approve myself. I need relationships where I can get love from people because I have not loved my self. Through the fulfillment of various desires I want to see myself as different – as the satisfied me, the pleased me.
Nasti akrta kritena - and really speaking no achievement has made me comfortable with myself. It has given me some ego nourishment but has not made my discomfort go away and made me the a satisfied person that I want to be.
Whatever I wanted and I achieved, thinking it will make the sense of lack around myself go away – I still find myself lacking, I still find an emptiness in myself. Now this man understands, no action, no achievement seems to make me happy, make me secure with myself and so nirvedam ayaat – he becomes indifferent to that mode of achievement.
If this is recognised, direction of one’s life changes. This how Bhagavad-Gita begins.
CONTEXT of BHAGAVAD_GITA
The problem of conflict, of insecurity and inadequacy is as old as humankind. It is the problem faced by Arjuna, in the Gita. Arjuna was a warrior-hero of fantastic achievements and a disciplined intellect, who was nevertheless overwhelmed by personal conflict and a feeling of helplessness. Lord Krishna taught him to recognise the adequate self and when he did all his conflict and sorrow were resolved.)
The Gita is not meant for any one person, or creed or nation; it is meant for humanity. It speaks to a mind that is dissatisfied with constant want, that is alert and thinking, that has fought in life.
Om Tat Sat
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