Ask Swamiji
We all have questions on a variety of spiritual topics but never
found an answer to them. We wonder, "What is the purpose of it
all?". "Where do we come from?", "Why are we here?"
In order to help aspirants sharpen their knowledge and climb the
spiritual ladder, many challenging queries are answered and masterly
reconciled by our revered Swamiji in discussions forums and by
email.
We have compiled a few of these questions and answers from that vast
treasure, delving deep into the world of Spirituality and Bhakti-Yog.
In the future, we shall aim to bring you as many answers as
possible.
If
you have a question that has not been addressed in this repository, and
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Archives
Q1: If someone is facing
problems (himself/herself) or a family member (or loved one) is
suffering or in trouble, or someone close to you is being mistreated or
victimized and you have done your level best to resolve it or get
justice with no positive results, then should you make more efforts or
leave it to God. Like many people says "Jaisee Hari ki iccha". Now
remember the same person who is in trouble is not because of his/her own
fault and is honest and always helped you and everyone and let's say now
it is your turn and it is your utmost duty to help that person but you
are expressing that you are helpless. Then what is your duty now?
Should you leave it to God and feel that now you have peace. And how
can you concentrate in your sadhna or bhakti or Meditation?
Q2: Today I was listening to your Karm
Yog speech. As you said that "Do your karma, but do not desire". Here I
am not able to understand, Without desire, how can you do karma? I
think it's difficult to implement this in life. Let's take an example:
if any student desires to become a doctor, he can start focusing on
medical study. If he doesn’t desire, it will be difficult for
him to achieve it.
My 2nd Question is the Ramayan states that even
big personalities like Shankar, Brahma and Vishnu cannot know God. The
Bhagavatam states that Shree Krishna cannot be known even by Brahma,
Vishnu and Mahesh. Does this mean that there is some difference between
Shree Krishna and the other forms of God?
Q3: When God is the actual doer why
are the souls subjected to the results of their actions?
Q4: Is Islam basically a defective
religion? Is there any way to judge which religion is a true religion,
and which is not?
Q5: In one of your lecture you said
without knowing God one cannot love Him and again without loving Him one
cannot know Him. Knowing is related to knowledge (gyan) and loving is to
devotion (bhakti). So which is more important for a seeker-gyan or
bhakti?
Q6: Why should we distinguish
between Gyan Yog and Bhakti Yog as two different paths. Such divisions
in the name of religion are the cause of so much of strife in the world,
and the fighting between religions. There is only one entity called
Brahman in existence, so why don’t we stop making distinctions between
different paths?
Q7: Why do our feelings of
closeness, love for God and Guru vary throughout the day? At times,
they are very strong and for a large part of the day or night, there is
no feeling at all. There are many occasions when a sadhak (spiritual
aspirant) has negative thoughts or feelings towards God. Why does this
happen? How does one stop it? Shree Maharajji always reminds us about
the Gopis of Braj. They always had Shree Krishna in their mind and went
about their daily work. How did they manage that ?
Q8: What is the difference
between swanshas, vibhinanshas, and nitya siddha personalities?
Q9: If every single act is planned
by God, and all outcomes happen due to one's Karma, when ill befalls
people, like the terrorist attack in Mumbai, will it be correct to say
"they deserved it” due to past Karma" and blindfold ourselves from the
misery of mankind?
Q10: Some questions arose in
my mind about surrender when I sang this song which ended with “O mind
if you do not surrender to Kishori Ji, whom else would you find so
innocent and merciful, who graces surrendered souls and makes them Her
own without them doing anything at all. What determines one's level of
surrender ? What stops one from this complete surrender? Does one’s
past negative sanskaars and vasanas play a part determining the level
and speed of surrender? How can one overcome then our inherent
negativities and make progress towards self- surrender faster?
Q11: How
does one cleanse or heal his or her soul?
Q12: True
surrender to God and a spiritual Guru is considered only when one
surrenders the (pure) mind completely to God and the Guru. The most
important aspect for any true seva,
sincere devotion, spiritual sadhana and
true surrender to God and the Guru is attaching and surrendering
one's mind completely to God and the Guru. Then a logical question
would be that how can one categorize the mind to be material and not
spiritual, when the only prerequisite for any true spiritual activity,
seva or
sadhana, is surrendering the
mind completely to God and the Guru.
Q1: If someone is facing
problems (himself/ herself) or a family member (or loved one) is
suffering or in trouble, or someone close to you is being mistreated or
victimized and you have done your level best to resolve it or get
justice with no positive results, then should you make more efforts or
leave it to God. Like many people says "Jaisee Hari ki iccha". Now
remember the same person who is in trouble is not because of his/her own
fault and is honest and always helped you and everyone and let's say now
it is your turn and it is your utmost duty to help that person but you
are expressing that you are helpless. Then what is your duty now?
Should you leave it to God and feel that now you have peace. And how
can you concentrate in your sadhna or bhakti or Meditation?
-
D.B Singh, New Delhi
Answer by Swamiji:
As long as we are in material bondage,
we cannot hope to be totally free from misery.
We will all grow old, we will all become sick, and we will
all die one day. Who can escape these realities of life?
Besides this, we all have sanchit karmas (the karmas of
endless past lives) that create suffering and happiness for us from
time-to-time. Not even God violates this law of karma.
The Puranas tell us that the Pandavas suffered immensely,
even though they were great devotees of Shree Krishna.
King Dashrath passed away from the
world leaving Kaushalya a widow.
They were the parents of God Ram, and yet He did not
interfere to remove their miseries. As human beings, we are instructed
by the scriptures to help others, and endeavour to mitigate their
sufferings. But we must do it in a detached manner, and leave the
results to God. How do we know, after all, that God is not giving them
suffering for their wellbeing? The "Bhagavatam" states:
Tam bharanshayami sampadbhyo yasya
chechya manugraham.
Here God says, "When I wish to bestow
the highest treasure of Divine Love upon someone, I first prepare the
soul by giving suffering." The Bible states: "God sometimes gives
misery in our lives, to turn us away from sin, and seek eternal life."
At the level of our thinking, material suffering is bad, but in the
Divine plan, it may be necessary for the evolution of the soul.
When we wish to do good to others, we
think of removing their material miseries. This is only a very partial
and temporary solution - you give food to a hungry person, and after six
hours, he is hungry again. I am not decrying the need for doing
material charity to society. But that is not the only kind of charity
that exists. The highest charity is to help someone attain love for God,
and get out of the cycle of life-and-death. The God-realized Saints
engage in this Divine charity. They remove the root cause of suffering
of the souls, which is forgetfulness of God. We are not so elevated
ourselves, as to engage in this Divine charity by ourselves. But if we
help the God- realized Saints in their work, effectively we engage in
the highest charitable work we possibly can.
So, if people are close to you, do try
to alleviate their material miseries. But at the same time, try to
inspire them to strengthen their relationship with God. And remember
that your duty was merely to put in your best efforts, and leave the
results in the hands of God. Therefore, if your sincere efforts to help
them do not yield results, do not be the least bit disturbed.
Best wishes,
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q2: Today I was listening to your Karm
Yog speech. As you said that "Do your karma, but do not desire". Here I
am not able to understand, Without desire, how can you do karma? I
think it's difficult to implement this in life. Let's take an example:
if any student desires to become a doctor, he can start focusing on
medical study. If he doesn’t desire, it will be difficult for
him to achieve it.
My 2nd Question is the Ramayan states that even
big personalities like Shankar, Brahma and Vishnu cannot know God. The
Bhagavatam states that Shree Krishna cannot be known even by Brahma,
Vishnu and Mahesh. Does this mean that there is some difference between
Shree Krishna and the other forms of God?
- Hari Dutt, Orissa
Answer by Swamiji:
Your question is in regard to Karm Yog.
The principle of Karm Yog is to work without desire. But, the question
is that if we give up desire, how can we do any work at all? All work
begins with a desire to achieve the results, and if there is no desire,
there will be no work either.
The answer to this question is that
desire is very basic to the nature of the soul, just as heat and light
are basic to the nature of fire. A state of desirelessness is as
impossible for the soul, as is the state without heat and light for the
fire. Now, Karm Yogis stop desiring for their own happiness, but that
does not mean that they become desireless. They desire to love God, to
please Him, and to attain Him. This spiritual desire to serve Him is
the motivation behind all their works.
Since their work is for the pleasure
of God, they are not attached to the fruit of their work. If after
putting in their best, they do not get their endeavoured fruit, they
remain undisturbed, for they accept it as the will of God. On the other
hand, their work had been motivated by personal attachment to the fruit,
then whenever the desired result was not attained, they would have
gotten disturbed.
Your second question is regarding the
various forms of God vis-a-vis Shree Krishna. The Vedas clearly state
that God is one: "ekamevadwitiyam brahma". So there is no question of
any one form being bigger than the other. However, the Ramayan states:
"Ram cannot be known even by personalities as big as Shankar and
Brahma", and the Bhagavatam states: "Shree Krishna cannot be
comprehended even by the likes of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh". This is only
a way of emphasising the point that even the biggest personalities
cannot know God through their intellect. This statement should not be
taken out of context, or it can lead to confusion.
Best wishes,
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q3: When God is the actual doer why
are the souls subjected to the results of their actions?
- Amit Mehta, Gujarat
Answer by Swamiji:
The concepts karm and karmphal need to
be understood separately for two categories - before surrender to God
and after surrender to God.
As long as we are not surrendered to
God, we are under the grip of the unforgiving ego that makes us feel
that we are the doers. Also, we harbour personal desires independent of
the will of God. In this state, God is not the doer of our actions. He
gives us the power to act, but leaves the utilization of that power to
us. This can be compared to the power house that supplies us with
power, but leaves its utilization in our hands. Once we have performed
actions with our own free will, then God notes our karmas, keeps an
account of them, and gives us the fruits at a suitable time.
Now consider the second category.
When we surrender to God, we are released from the ego of being the
doer. Also, we make God's desire as our own desire. In this state, the
soul becomes the non-doer, and God becomes the doer for that surrendered
soul. Hence, the God- realized souls are able to say:
Na main kiya na kari sakaun, sahib
karta mor.
Karat karavat aap hai, tulasi tulasi
shor.
The Saint Tulsidas says: "I neither
wrote the Ramayan, nor do I have the ability to write it. Shree Ram was
Himself the writer, yet people are saying that Tulsidas has done it."
We must bear the distinction in mind
that the above statement applies only to God-realized saints; it does
not apply to materially conditioned souls. If God were the doer for the
materially conditioned souls as well, then the law of karma would have
no meaning. We would not have to bear the karmphal of karma that God
performed through us. Again, there would be no need for the scriptures
to explain to us what to do. All the Vedas would have finished in a few
sentences: "O Souls! God is the doer of all your actions. You do not
need to understand what is right and what is wrong." So before
God-realization, we do in fact perform karmas with our free will.
The path for moving from the first
category to the second category is to perform actions as if they were
dependent upon us, and at the same time, to internally practice to think
of God as the doer. Sage Vasishista has expressed this very beautifully
in the "Yog Vasisht", when he says:
Karta bahir akarta antara vihara
raghav.
The Sage Vasishita says, "O Ram! Act
carefully, as if the results are dependent upon you. But from within,
practice to think that God is the real doer." So at present, we will
have to act, keeping both principles in mind.
With best wishes,
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q4: Is Islam basically a defective
religion? Is there any way to judge which religion is a true religion,
and which is not?
- Aarathi Rao, Singapore
Answer by Swamiji: First let me make this clear that
there is only one person who has the right to pass judgement, and that
is God. Our judgements are often based on inadequate data and
understanding. All the prophets in history delivered their message in
accordance with the time, place and circumstance in which they were
preaching. Without understanding this principle, we could jump to rash
judgements on their teachings. The Hindu scriptures declare that the
Buddha was God Himself. And yet He preached a religion that accepts
neither the concept of God nor the soul:
Sacchita pariyodapanam etam
buddhanushasanam.
The emphasis is only on cleansing your
mind. Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj explains that at the time of
Gautam Buddha, people were over-indulging in the ritualistic aspect of
the Vedas. They were engaging in animal sacrifice. The Buddha preached
a philosophy that helped the people to rise from the platform they were
at. Buddhism was the perfect philosophy for the people in that
situation at that time. Now, if we were to say that Buddhism is a bad
religion because it does not mention the existence of God, how far from
the truth we would be.
Similarly, Christianity too may seem
elementary in comparison to the Vaishnav philosophy, yet it has served
humankind for two millenniums. If we read the writings of Thomas Kempis,
St. John of the Cross and St Francis of Assissi, we will feel humbled
before their fervour for devotion, their zeal for preaching, and their
complete intoxication for God.
The same holds true for many Sufi
saints, like Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, and Moinuddin Chisti. When I was
a child, there was a Hindu girl in our neighbourhood who used to read
the Namaz, without ever having learnt it from anyone (she forgot it by
her sixth year). It is possible that she was a good Muslim in her
previous life, and God arranged for her to continue the journey by
giving her an appropriate Hindu
birth in this life. So God alone is aware of the full
importance of
Islam in the development of humankind, and its impact on
the development of culture, architecture, literature, music, etc. A
religion carries an entire civilization on its back for ages and ages.
How then can we reject Islam as a bad religion? The Bible says, “Judge
not lest ye be judged.”
The beauty of our Vedic scriptures is
that they give us a broad vision of humankind, where we do not look upon
ourselves as going to heaven and all others as going to hell. Jagadguru
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj shows this spirit by quoting from all the
religious traditions of the world. Shree Maharajji also says in the "Prem
Ras Siddhant (Philosophy of Divine Love)" that often followers of one
path consider themselves to be superior, and look down upon all other
religious organizations, Gurus and denominations as being inferior.
This is a Naamaparadh, or a spiritual transgression. Intense faith is
one of the most important weapons in the spiritual armoury of a sadhak.
When blended with broadmindedness it flowers into wisdom, and becomes a
lethal combination to cross over maya and attain Divine Love.
With warm regards,
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q5: In one of your lecture you said
without knowing God one cannot love Him and again without loving Him one
cannot know Him. Knowing is related to knowledge (gyan) and loving is to
devotion (bhakti). So which is more important for a seeker-gyan or
bhakti?
- Jayesh Patel, USA
Answer by Swamiji:
The topic “gyan vs bhakti” is one of
the most intensely debated topics in Indian philosophy, and followers of
advaitvad, dwaitvad, visishtadvaitvad, vishuddhadvaitvad, achintya
bhedabhedvad, all hold strong opinions on either sides of the topic.
It is difficult to do justice to this
topic in brief. gyan and bhakti are definitely inter-related. For
example, if someone gives us a piece of jewellery, and we have no
knowledge of its worth, we will have no love for it either. But if we
come to know that the gold is 24 carats, and the diamond studded in it
is worth a million dollars, we will immediately develop immense love for
our new possession. Similarly, as we get knowledge of the glory of God
and our relationship with Him, our devotion towards Him will also
increase. So true knowledge definitely leads to bhakti. And as we
engage in bhakti, God seated within the heart gives us deeper and newer
realizations. Thus, bhakti leads to knowledge. Gyan and bhakti are
thus intimately inter-related: gyan increases bhakti, and bhakti
increases gyan.
However, Gyan Yog or the path of gyan
is different from this. It suggests that the soul is itself God, and so
by situating oneself in the knowledge of the true self as atman, one
will attain liberation. Such knowledge is incomplete without the
understanding that soul is only a tiny fragment of God, that it has an
eternal relationship with God, and that it needs to surrender to God, to
attain His grace. Consequently, the meditational styles of the Gyan
Yogi and the Bhakti Yogi are quite different. The Bhakti Yogi meditates
on the Supreme, all-powerful God, and relates to Him in a personal form
as his ishta dev. However, the Gyan Yogi considers meditation on God as
inferior, and aims to still the mind by meditation on the breath, or the
eyebrow center, etc. Such meditation aimed at merely stilling the mind
is not only exceedingly difficult, it is also bereft of the grace of
God.
The mind is a product of the material
energy of God, and it cannot be conquered without His grace, no matter
for how many ages we may endeavour. Hence, the writer the "Yog Darshan",
Sage Patanjali, has mentioned in three places in his brief treatise:
Ishwara pranidhanat – for success in meditation and for conquering the
mind, surrender to God. Bhakti thus becomes essential in the path of
gyan as well.
There is yet another kind of gyan,
called shabdik gyan, which means dry intellectual knowledge, without
concurrent practice. Such gyan, without realization leads to pride, and
does more harm than good. It has thus been criticized by the
scriptures.
We must thus acquire the right
knowledge of our eternal relationship with God, and then endeavour to
put it in practice. That knowledge will then help us increase our
devotion, and devotion will increase our knowledge, and knowledge will
increase our devotion, and devotion will increase knowledge, and so
on....
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q6: Why should we distinguish
between Gyan Yog and Bhakti Yog as two different paths. Such divisions
in the name of religion are the cause of so much of strife in the world,
and the fighting between religions. There is only one entity called
Brahman in existence, so why don’t we stop making distinctions between
different paths?
- Neeraj Jajoria, USA
Answer by Swamiji:
We must definitely try to see the
wonderful form of God behind everything sentient and non-sentient.
Everything in creation has emanated from God; it is situated in God; and
it is a manifestation of the energy of God. That is what bhakti teaches
us to do. Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj expresses this sentiment
repeatedly in his kirtans:
Char achar mein lakhahu apano ishta
kahan nita pyare.
"See the form of your ishta dev in all
animate and inanimate entities." The lack of this vision of unity is
what leads to animosity and hatred, of the kind witnessed in the
senseless killings in Mumbai recently. The perpetrators of this
violence apparently have a world view, in which they see people not
subscribing to their beliefs as enemies, who can be killed without
compunction. Unpleasant divides in this world are created when we fail
to see the connection between God and His creation.
However, this unity does not mean that
we must neutralize all the diversities in the world. There is unity in
diversity, and also diversity in the unity. That diversity is the
greatness of God Himself, who creates innumerable species of life, and
innumerable varieties within each species..
Is it possible to live without seeing
the diversity of creation?
I am reminded of a story in this
regard. A king was the disciple of a great Saint. He heard from the
Saint that there is only one entity in this world, and that is God. The
king found this philosophy very convenient. He began loving the
maidservants in the palace. This was brought to the notice of the
queen, who asked her husband for an explanation to his characterless
behaviour..
The queen was very annoyed. She
accosted the king’s Guru, “What philosophy have you taught my husband.
He has begun engaging in adultery.” The Saint was amused at the
interpretation of advait by his disciple. He taught a rejoinder to the
queen.
When it was time for lunch, the queen
put faeces on a plate and served it to the king. He exclaimed, “What is
this you have brought?” “O King! This is a tasty delicacy.” The king
retorted, “What rubbish!!
This is stool.” The queen said, “Dear
husband. So you are able to see the difference between stool and
delicacies! You were saying there is no variety in this world.”
People in developed countries commonly
use GPS navigators. This means they distinguish between different
roads, else they could have thought them all as one, and taken any road
that caught their fancy..
Similarly, there are various paths
leading to the goal of life. All these paths are manifestations of the
infinite variety created by God. We must definitely not create any
ill-feeling or ill-will towards anyone. However, we must clearly
understand the pros and cons of each and then make an intelligent effort
to attain God.
Gyan and bhakti are both praiseworthy,
but that does not imply that there is no distinction between them. We
must clearly understand the difference between both, and the
relationship between both. And then we will be in a position to take
advantage of both to reach our ultimate destination.
With best wishes,
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q7: Why do our feelings of
closeness, love for God and Guru vary throughout the day? At times,
they are very strong and for a large part of the day or night, there is
no feeling at all. There are many occasions when a sadhak (spiritual
aspirant) has negative thoughts or feelings towards God. Why does this
happen? How does one stop it? Shree Maharajji always reminds us about
the Gopis of Braj. They always had Shree Krishna in their mind and went
about their daily work. How did they manage that ?
- Lata Shrivastav, UP
Answer by Swamiji:
Radhey Radhey,
For the mind to oscillate due to the
three gunas is very natural. If it remained at the highest
consciousness all day, there would be no need for sadhana. To fight
with the mind and the intellect is what sadhana is all about. Though
the mind may wish to relish the world, yet we force it into the
spiritual realm with the intellect. We must reinforce the intellect
with the tattvagyan of the Guru, and then use the intellect to control
the mind.
Initially, this may seem difficult,
but with practice it will become easy. Just as driving a car is
difficult initially, but with practice it becomes natural..
The problem in this process is that we
do not see the mind as different from ourselves. And so when the mind
presents a disturbing thought, we feel, "Oh! I am thinking in this
negative manner." We begin to associate with the poisonous thought,
allow it to reside in us, and damage us spiritually. To the extend that
even if the mind presents a thought against God and Guru, we accept the
thought as ours. If at that time we could see the mind as separate from
us, we would be able to misidentify ourselves from those negative
thoughts.
We could then chastise the mind, "You
may generate whatever thoughts you wish, but I will have nothing to with
any thought that is not conducive to my devotion."
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
says:
man ko mano shatru isaki sunahu jani
kachu pyare.
"Declare war on your mind. Do the
opposite of what it says, and soon it will stop bothering you." Adi
Shankaracharya had said the same:
jagad jitam kena. mano hi yena.
"Who will conquer the world? He who
has conquered his mind." Tulsidas ji has repeatedly and severely
chastised his mind in his bhajans in "Vinay Patrika". So put on the
spiritual armour (tattvagyan) given by your Gurudev, and begin the
fight.
With best wishes,
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q8: What is the difference
between swanshas, vibhinanshas, and nitya siddha personalities?
- Ravi Chauhan, New Delhi
Answer by Swamiji:
Radhey Radhey,
Swanshas are expansions of Shree
Krishna who are non-different from Him. They are all governors of
Yogmaya, such as Narayan, Ram, Shiv, etc. In other words, They are all
God.
Vibhinanshas are fragments of the Jiva
Shakti of Shree Krishna. They can never be governors of Yogmaya. If
they turn their backs towards God, they are overpowered by the illusory
energy, maya. However, if they are surrender to God, then they are
released from maya forever, and henceforth, they are governed by Yogmaya.
Nitya siddhas are those souls who
never had their backs towards God. They have eternally been with Him,
serving Him in his Divine Pastimes in His Divine Abode.
With best wishes,
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q9: If every single act is planned
by God, and all outcomes happen due to one's Karma, when ill befalls
people, like the terrorist attack in Mumbai, will it be correct to say
"they deserved it” due to past Karma" and blindfold ourselves from the
misery of mankind?
Answer by Swamiji:
The law of karma is so complex that it
involves multiple factors. God has an account of all our karmas in
endless lives. This is called sanchit karma. At the time of birth, we
are given a portion of it, to enjoy or suffer in this life. This is
called prarabdh karma. Within this life, we have a freedom to act, and
the actions we perform is called kriyamaan karma. The prarabdh is
fixed, while the kriyamaan is within our hands and can be changed.
Now, the results we get are dependent
on a number of factors, including:
-
Our prarabdh karma
-
Our kriyamaan karma
-
The Will of God
-
The karma of other people present
in that situation
-
Chance events (or events in which
we happen to be present by chance)
Since, only the effort is in our hands
and not the results, we are given the famous edict in Bhagavad Geeta:
karmanyevadhikaraste ma phaleshu
kadachana.
“You have the right to the efforts,
but not to the fruit of your actions.” The aphorism we are given is:
prayatna mein savdhan, phal mein
santusht.
“Act responsibly, as if the results
depend upon your actions. But when you do get the results, be contented
thinking that was probably your karma or the will of God.”
Now the question whether the deaths of
the people in the terrorist attack were because of their karmas or not.
It is possible that they were destined to die, and a matter of chance
that they died in a terrorist attack. It is not for human beings to
know which of the above five factors was responsible at which time.
There definitely were people present in that situation who got saved
miraculously. There were people who were scheduled to attend meetings
that those very hotels, and for very strange reasons they missed their
meetings. And there were others who happened to come there equally
accidentally.
Let us leave this question to God.
There are many mysteries in creation that will remain mysteries until we
become God-realized.
Swamiji
Go to Top
Q10: Some questions arose in
my mind about surrender when I sang this song which ended with “O mind
if you do not surrender to Kishori Ji, whom else would you find so
innocent and merciful, who graces surrendered souls and makes them Her
own without them doing anything at all. What determines one's level of
surrender ? What stops one from this complete surrender? Does one’s
past negative sanskaars and vasanas play a part determining the level
and speed of surrender? How can one overcome then our inherent
negativities and make progress towards self- surrender faster?
- Kamala, Singaporee
Answer by Swamiji:
Just as devotion is a broad term that
has been defined from varied perspectives and in innumerable ways by
Saints, similarly surrender is also a broad term that encompasses many
aspects.
At the very outset, surrender means to
give up our independent desire, and to desire in accordance with the
will of the Supreme. “Thy Will be done”. A natural corollary of this
is to utilize our body, mind
and possessions in the service of the
Supreme.
We have discussed in other places, the
six aspects of surrender:
-
To desire in accordance with the
Will of God.
-
Not to desire against the Will of
God.
-
To have firm faith that He is
protecting me.
-
To always realize His grace in all
things.
-
To feel that all we have belongs
to God and our Spiritual Master.
-
To give up the ego of having
surrendered.
It is not easy to judge our level of
surrender, since it is such a broad term. Only God and our Guru can
know how much we have truly advanced. However, a simple parameter that
can give us some idea is to see how much our mind is detached from the
world, and how much it is attached to God. This is the rule of thumb to
measure our advancement.
When we develop love for God and Guru,
this surrender becomes natural and automatic. Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji
Maharaj explains that in the state of complete surrender, the feeling
“HE ALONE IS MINE” will always remain in our mind. So
all our thoughts and actions will be in consonance with
that feeling.
Surrender is not a one-time process.
It is not that we surrender once, and we are done with it for ever. We
have to keep surrendering at every moment. In this process, there are
innumerable obstacles.
Our mind is made of maya and it
naturally runs towards the world. We need to beat this mind with the
intellect. We also have sanskars of endless lifetimes that need to be
countered. And then, we have the ignorance or agyan within us, that is
the source of all the problems.
The solution was nicely explained to
Lord Ram by Sage Vasishta:
karta bahir akartantara raghava.
“O Ram! Externally try your best. And
internally, keep increasing your dependence on the Grace of God.” We
must cleanse our intellect with the spiritual knowledge given by our
Guru, and train the mind to think “He alone is mine." At the same time,
we must call out to God and Guru, firmly believing that Their grace
alone can help us perfect our surrender.
To speed up the process of surrender,
keep working on the emotion, “He alone is mine.” And remember
Maharajji’s verse from the "Bhakti Shatak":
Sau baatan ki baat ika dharu
Muralidhar dhyan,
Badavahu seva vasana, yaha sau
gyanana gyan.
“Fix your mind on Muralidhar, and
keep increasing the desire for seva. This is the most powerful weapon
for conquering the mind and maya.”
With best wishes,
Swamiji
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Q11: How does one cleanse or heal his or
her soul?
Answer
by Swamiji: You are the soul, which is a part of God, and
hence by nature you are perpetually Divine. The problem is that the
soul is identifying with the body, mind, and intellect, and so, when
the mind feels tormented, the soul experiences the misery. For
example, if someone cuts our head in our dream, even though the
dream is not a reality, we experience the misery until we wake up.
Similarly, the Divine soul experiences the miseries of the mind in
the materially conditioned state, because it identifies with it.
So, when you say that the soul takes a beating, what you mean is
that the mind takes a beating, and the soul experiences the pain
vicariously.
When the mind is sufficiently
cleansed, the soul will be able to perceive the distinction between
itself and the mind, and rise above the dualities of the mind. Hence,
to cleanse or heal the mind is the paramount goal of a spiritual
aspirant.
maya,
which is God's energy, and it cannot be conquered merely by
self-effort. We can permanently and totally heal the mind only by the
Grace of God.
Bhakti.
That is the verdict of all the Vedic literature, and the essence of all
religion. Shree Krishna explains in the Bhagavad Geeta that maya has
three gunas
- sattva,
rajas, and tamas. These three
gunas,
or modes, are also present in the mind, and hence the mind oscillates
between them. Whatever atmosphere one gets or wherever one attaches the
mind, the corresponding
guna
becomes dominant. However, God is beyond these there
gunas.
He is Divine, and so if we attach our mind to Him, it too rises beyond
the three
gunas and becomes Divine.
Prem bhagati
jal binu Raghurai, abhi antar mal kabahuṁ na jāyi
"Until we wash our mind in the water of
love of God, its dirt will never go."
The Shreemad Bhagavatam states:
Dharmaḥ satya dayo peto...
"We may follow all the rules of proper
conduct, we may perform severe austerities, and we may accumulate the
most esoteric knowledge, but with devotion to God, none of these
practices will be sufficient in cleansing the mind."
So, do try to sincerely
understand and practice the various facets of the Science of
bhakti, or devotion to God, and
very soon you will experience the mind being elevated and cleansed from
endless lifetimes of impurities. If you have the book "Prem Ras
Siddhant - Philosophy of Divine Love" by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji
Maharaj, please read the chapter on Bhaktiyog, where he has lucidly
described the science of
sadhana bhakti.
Use that knowledge to attach your mind to God, and experience the Bliss
of Divine Love.
Swamiji answers selected questions related to Yog, Spirituality and
Philosophy every month on our e-Magazine.
Go to Top
Answer
by Swamiji: Very often, confusions in philosophy arise not
because of haziness in concepts, but because of duality in the
meanings of words and expressions. Some of your confusion seems to
be for the same reason. The categorization of the mind as spiritual
or material can be done in two ways:
1. Whatever is connected with God is spiritual and whatever is
not connected with Him is material. So if the mind is engaged in
worldly thoughts, the consciousness and the mind are material. But
if the mind is engaged in thinking of God, then the consciousness
and the mind are spiritual.
2. Whatever belongs to the realm of the material energy,
maya, is material. And
whatever belongs to the realm of the Divine energy,
yogamaya, is spiritual.
From this perspective, before God-realization, all of us possess a
material mind. It will become spiritual only at the time of
God-realization.
When God instructs us to surrender the mind to Him, He does not
expect us to surrender a spiritual mind. He knows that we do not
possess one. For example, when a primary school teacher evaluates
her students, she does so according to their level, and not
according to college standards. She does not say, "Why did you not
write as well as students in college do?" Similarly God too does not
say, "You will attain Me only when you surrender a spiritual mind to
Me," for He knows that all we possess is a material mind.
This material mind is made from the three modes of material nature,
sattva guna, rajo guna, tamo guna,
or modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. Because of the
presence of these three gunas,
it is considered impure. However, even such a material mind has the
capacity to think of God, and harbour devotional sentiments towards
Him. That is all that God asks us to do in the scriptures:
manmana bhava
madbhakto...(Bhagavad Geeta)
Shree Krishna instructs
Arjuna to, "Always think of Me." And when we follow His instruction,
God begins adding His Divine energy into our mind. That is called
shuddha sattva or
yogamaya. This Divine energy
first destroys the modes of ignorance and passion, and then at the stage
of bhav bhakti, it destroys the
mode of goodness as well. Then the mind becomes pure, or spiritual, and
the vessel is ready for the ultimate Grace. In that vessel of the
spiritual mind, God bestows Divine love to the soul, and destroys the
bondage of maya for the rest of
eternity.
In this manner, whatever may be the present state of the mind, we must
engage it, to the best of our efforts, in devotion to God. This will
gradually transform its nature from material to spiritual. Once it is
spiritualized, we will not have to take it towards God; it will be
united with Him permanently. I hope that clarifies your doubt.
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