Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.

Last night during the satsang, somehow the subject of self and self-realization came up. And I was speaking to some extent on the subject. I would like to complement the discussion with a significant clarification. Do not think that the understanding about the self and realizing it solely rests upon the intelligence of a man. We are living as an embodied creature. The word 'embodied' certainly means we are living in a body. This body is a seat for five knowledge senses and five action senses. In other words, the body is a seat for all the senses to be present and to function. But the senses cannot function by themselves. Right from the start to finish, the senses have to be animated and activated by the mind. I can open my eyes only when the mind wishes and wills it. The mind employs the eye organ, sees the objects, takes an impression of the object and it preserves and remembers the impression.

So, every experience, memory and knowledge, all are seated in the mind, sourced in the mind. So our life is primarily and ultimately mental. The role of intelligence is only to collect the information, collate it as collected by the mind and then to derive knowledge and give the necessary direction and guidance to the mind. Basically and ultimately, mind is the fulcrum point for our life.

There are people who do not have intelligence. Even then they carry on. We, first and last want contentment, peace and fulfillment of the mind. This can be obtained only by self-knowledge is another fact.Why I say this? Any attempt at self-realization should be a process of purifying the mind, taking away the constrictions of the mind and instilling more and more expansion, purity, refinement and sensitiveness to the mind. This process of mind purification as we call it, is something indispensable. Unfortunately, many people who take to the self and self-realization either are not aware of this fact or they neglect it even if they come to know of it. The seekers are not able to complete their sadhana and get the fulfillment only because they are not able to build the necessary purity in the mind.

Whenever the mind has to be purified, it necessarily implies that our sensory activities and interactions will also have to be reformed. We cannot behave like animals, birds and reptiles. We have a mind to think and intelligence to understand. So, all the sensory activities should be subject to the stable dictates and inspirations of the mind in which the intelligence plays a very important role.

Satyena labhyas-tapasā hyeṣa ātmā: This ātmā, this self can be obtained only by adhering to truthfulness, a mental discipline.

Samyak jñānena brahmacaryeṇa nityam: Also by the right guidance from the intelligence in the form of knowledge and direction.

Brahmacaryeṇa: By the practice of celibacy.

Anta:śarīre jyotirmayo hi śubhro: Within the body in the nature of brilliance and splendor, the self is constantly shining. It is being eclipsed by the impure functioning of the mind and the unbridled activities of the senses. That is why we are not able to get at the splendour of the self within.

Yaṃ paśyanti yatayaḥ kṣīṇa-doṣā: The striving souls when they become free of the defects or evil, vice, so the process consists in eliminating and eschewing all the vicious traits in you. They can be bodily, sensory, they can be oral, they can also be mental. So in the mind level, articulational level, sensory level, whatever impurity and evil are there, they have to be discovered and eliminated. That means you have to choose your sensory indulgences, bridle them.

Similarly, you have to be very selective and pure in your talk. Mean or display no harm to the others. The mind has to expand, including all the other people also in it. Don’t think that: “I am alone, my family is alone.” I am a member of the family, family is a member of the society, society is a member of the nation, the nation is a member of the globe, globe itself is a member of the whole universe. As I am concerned about myself, I have to be concerned about the world and the society. Now, this is an expansion - Getting free from the natural and inborn constrictions of the mind and allowing it to grow. This kind of a growth, purity, expansion and refinement of the mind, this is what is going to determine the success of your approach to self-realization. There is a play of intelligence there, but primarily it is to bring about with a note of compulsion and inspiration, the purity and sublimity of the mind. One should remember it.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.