Correspondence 2:
24 Aug. 1994
Poojya Swamiji,
Pranams. My stay in the Ashram was very absorbing and educative. My inherent habits haven’t somehow, surprisingly, turned up during the retreat. Laziness and anger are two such defects in me. I have been working against these traits without much success. During the retreat they seemed subdued by the environment. If the retreat were to be of ‘life-time’ duration, I don’t know how I may fare.
I finished the first reading of ‘Brahma Vidya Abhyasa’. The book took me to the realms of thought I never dreamt about. After going through your explanation on laya and vikshepa of the mind, I have one question lingering in me: Swamiji, is the attainment of mind of such calmness and singular nature a necessary condition for Self-realization? Is not logical understanding, backed by sruti-vakyas, of the transient nature of the world sufficient to come to a definite conclusion?
The ‘Aparoksha Knowledge’ being immediate it must be ‘immediate now’. That means ‘I’ is present even when isolated from the world – that is a definite knowledge which does not belong to the category of objective knowledge comprising of the ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ things of the world or similar thought processes. It definitely precedes the thought process. Then why this stress on mind’s absorption? Swamiji, I am confused about the method and about the Truth. I wish I could get better clarity. Pranams.
Be with me always,
Yours, R.
22 Sep. 1994
Dear and blessed Soul R,
Harih Om Tat Sat. Your letter of 24th Aug. arrived here in time. You have written about the mind, aparoksha knowledge, the precondition in which the fruitional state will result, etc. Thoughts and findings will have to be more simple and wholesome.
Vāsanās are of three kinds – lokavāsanā, dehavāsanā and śastravāsanā. All the three are hindrances and are to be dealt with & eliminated. Earnest will to eliminate them will arise in you when you look at them with viveka. Viveka can be triggered by an exposure from the words of scriptures or of a Mahātmā. How it triggers is not so much important. The question is whether it has. Association with the Wise is the way by which viveka, vairagya are inculcated easily, naturally and effectively.
You say that you are confused. When you approach the Truth, it will look clearer. And clarity will often be with drastic, revolutionary change in the pre-formed ideas. The mind which is standing between the Self and the world, hindering your enlightenment, will itself be the medium of enlightenment. The impure mind is like the muddy slushy water; the pure mind is like crystal clear water. The impure mind never permits any inward vision. The pure mind shows and reveals the Self. Here, is the Self important, or the vision of it through the pure mind? The emphasis is on the mind’s purity and impurity. The Wise say: The pure mind itself is God. Is it not true?
How will the mind become pure? By loving Truth, dwelling on Truth, contemplating on Truth, which is as well the Self. This is the most direct method. On the inward mind, what can have direct effect except an inward process? Of all inward processes, contemplation or meditation on the Self is the most effective. Like bath to the body, it purifies our inner being. But it should be done for purification. Meditation is at times attempted not for mind-purification, but for objective indulgence and worldly gains also. See, the same effort can take one away from the goal or towards it.
So the zeal, fervour, intensity and the propriety and correction in these, are very important.
To sum up: Mind, given to plural thinking must be led to akhandakara vrtti (single association) and that should attain stability. In the next stage of sādhanā, this akhanda vrtti itself will dissolve, dissolving its custodian, the mind, along with it. It is called Vrtti-vismarana. That is itself samādhi. (See Brahma Vidya Abhyasa.) This samādhi cuts short the seeking greatly. The next task will be to transcend samādhi, and become harmonious and ever uniform. Interactional sublimation is then to be gained. As you will reach samādhi, you should then outlive it too. Have no difference between samādhi and asamādhi. What does this mean? The mind should become so pure, transparent and stable, that whether the samādhi composure dawns or interactional sequences prevail you will not feel any sense of loss, deflection or distraction.
Here it is the mind, the inner instrument, that reflects this overriding note of oneness or uniformity – something it did not know earlier. The change is not for the Self or the World. The mind contemplating upon the Self and its comprehensiveness, starts perceiving the world in the new light until at last the outer world and the inner Self become the same. It is a dexterity, in one sense. It is equally the result of great sublimation.
The intelligence helps this sublimating process, through introspection, for which the Brahman becomes the base! Whatever was first there as additional content in the mind as desire – the kartr-bhoktr-bhāva and the like – have to fall off. Whatever is not there, like gracefulness, piety, love, compassion, etc. will have to be imbibed. How one accomplishes this twin goal is different. One may achieve just by mere exposure to truths. Another may resort to some specific practices. Others may imbibe them effortlessly by the association with the Wise or Guru.
Swiftness in the process, depth, completeness and the like are the individual traits, which may vary widely. The world’s variety, the law of plurality, will prevail in this sphere also. Individual’s make-up also thus vary greatly. You have your place, which can be improved, no doubt. Anger, you complain about, is one such. You can sublimate it, gradually, primarily by recognising it and striving to sublimate it. Change of focus from the external to yourself will help in sublimation. Do not complicate matters unduly. In ancient times, people had no other job than to be occupied with intricacies of learning. Learning was taken up as a lifelong pursuit. It was a competition, a vying excellence! Love for fame in scholarship was also there. It need not be so now.
The emphasis should be on the mind, which works between the objects outside and the consciousness inside. It brings reflection of plurality, and makes the Self also appear plural. The ground underneath the river-flow is not mixed up with the reflections of the multi-branched trees up above. The Truth, reflected well, will clear the confusion. The external plurality will not disturb. Instead, it will display the great power and potential of the One. The change is but in the mind.
Love and aśirvād,
Your own Antarātmā
Swamiji
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