Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.

The thought that comes to me today is also something very important, fundamental, even ultimate.

See, a devotional mind will always try to pin its faith, its expectation, hope and confidence all upon God. Naturally the question arises, this God is a second factor or an external factor? He is having his faith, belief, expectation, dependence on God. But this God is different from him - very distant, invisible. He is not able to establish any communication or interaction with Him. This difficulty you will have to agree. You may say that “No, Swamiji. I believe in God and my God is present everywhere.” If He is present everywhere you must be able to see Him everywhere. So whatever you may say, God is invisibly and infinitely distant.

When you try to understand the subject and you know more and more about it, even the faith in God is actually an act, an expression of your mind. When the mind believes in, only then God comes. The mind has to believe. And the intensity of the belief will determine the effectiveness of God for you. Intensity of the belief will determine the effectiveness of God for you in the matter of doing whatever you wanting to do. So can you not reflect upon this fact and then say that even while believing in God and completely depending upon Him, that belief in as well as dependence both are expressions and creations of your mind? So even there, what is the factor which counts? It is the mind. Mind is yours and you know what it is, where it is etc. Once you understand even in the so-called faith in God, the determining factor, the denominator is actually your mind.

This mind is not unavailable, it is not distant, it is not a second or external factor. So you will be able to work upon this mind and improve the faith, intensify the faith. Actually you believe that “I am intensifying my faith in God.” That “in God” you take away. You are intensifying your mind’s faith. So it becomes a subjective, personal exercise and pursuit. When you understand it this way, don’t you think devotion becomes more practical, nearer to you and more functional and fruitful?

The invisibility and infinitely distant nature of God seems to be a negative factor in our devotion. On the other hand, we look to our own mind for improvement. I don’t know whether you understand what I say. I will give you an example which I have quoted earlier also.

Ekalavya went to Dronāchārya. Dronāchārya said “I cannot accept you as a disciple.” Ekalavya murmured within himself. “My dear āchārya, I have come to you and I want you to accept me as a disciple. But you say you will not. But so far as I am concerned, I have accepted you as my teacher and you alone are my teacher. There is nobody else. Because you are not accepting me, I go back. Though I am going back, you are not going to be away from me and I cannot be separate from you.”

So he made a clay model. You should listen to me with one thousand ears! A clay model he made. And he started worshipping the clay model of Drona and practicing archery all by himself! But, but, interacting with the clay model – which means what? The clay model is his creation. Considering it to be his living teacher, interacting teacher is also his mind’s creation. He went on practicing.

Years later, Arjuna found Ekalavya to be excelling himself. He goes to the teacher and then says “See, teacher. You told me I am the best disciple. But I find somebody else.” Immediately the teacher goes to him and then says “You are my discipline you say and I am your teacher.” Then he says “Give me your thumb as a Gurudakshina.” Without any doubt or reluctance he cut his thumb and gave him. Now, I am not going to discuss that aspect of it.

Is this not a very clear instance where Ekalavya’s devotion to Drona was not known to Drona himself? Mr. Drona had nothing to do there. He did not know that Ekalavya was there and he had made a clay model and he was practicing his devotion. The living teacher is elsewhere but the dummy teacher was the one who taught him and that teaching excelled what the living teacher taught Arjuna. What do you understand from this? Every one of you should think and give me an answer.

The living teacher did not know at all anything! But the dummy teacher made all the wonder and it was a surprise to Dronāchārya when he came, when Arjuna told him this. Is this not very clear proof that devotion is an attitude of your mind and everything about devotion rests upon your mind? You feel there is a God, you rely upon him and you rely upon him absolutely and this absolute reliance works. In what way is God involved here? Was Dronāchārya  involved?

In the same manner, I am using this to drive home the truth that in all our spiritual and religious exercises the only factor that works is our mind, our intelligence. Once you know this, will it not mean a great twist, a change in your devotional life? The invisibility and infinitely distant nature of God suddenly vanishes and you feel your devotion is a vibrant, mento-intellectual pursuit. To make it fruitful, effective, successful, wholesome, it is completely depending upon you and you cannot say “God stands in my way.” This is the message that I want to convey.

Our mind is the source of devotion. Our mind is also the source of the concept of God. Apart from God as a concept what else do you have? What about the alphabet that you have learnt A-B-C-D? Can you tell me where are they? Where are the numerals? Is there anything like numerals in the creation? Is there anything like alphabet in creation? What about our zero and infinity? Has anybody seen zero? Have you ever understood or seen infinity? What about then God? God is another infinity. Infinitely resourceful, infinitely powerful, infinitely creative, infinitely dissolving.

Now when this truth or fact is known, will it not make your devotion more meaningful, stronger, deeper and you will be able to handle it and make it reach anywhere you want. If there is a failure you recognize that “The failure is in me. I am not able to blow up this devotion in the same manner as I want.”

It is just like I give you two matchsticks and a matchbox. And indigenous ovens are made ready for you. Not two, even one matchstick. Say, you rub, produce fire and then ignite your oven and then cook this food. Somebody tried. They rubbed it in such a manner that the tuft in the matchstick, that chemical part, it fell. He rubbed the other side, that also fell. Another person rubbed, it started burning but by the time he took it to the oven and put it into the fibers there, it extinguished. A third man, he was very careful, he rubbed it very well after looking into the matchbox which place will have the maximum rubbing effect, he rubbed it properly, it burnt, he took it gently. Before the stick burned in full, the fibrous substance in the oven had already caught fire and it started blazing. He cooked the food.

You tell me, was fire graceful to him but not graceful to the other man? “Oh, there is something else.” What is the truth here? We differ in our potentials, we differ in our possibilities but to the extent it is possible everybody can do. But because it is a subjective factor and not an objective pursuit, in the matchstick also you have the stick, you have the rubbing, you have the fire, you have the ignition, but in the case of God and devotion nothing objective is there. The whole thing is subjective. And that subjectivity makes it hundred percent resting on the individual.

That is why we hear about a poet Kalidasa who was the worst fool the world had ever seen. He was sitting on the branch of a tree and cutting the bottom of the branch. Can you imagine a man more foolish than this? And these Brahmins found him, “There is no greater fool. So let us get him married to that proud princess.” And poor girl, she started asking him questions. They told him “You never open your mouth. You only show whatever you want.” So he started showing. And all these the Brahmins were interpreting. And finally she admitted he was a great man and got married.

After marriage she understood that this man of no knowledge, absolutely ignorant. You can imagine! All of you are reporting about mis-marriages. But I think that princess must have been the most miserable. Then Kalidasa went away from here, he also felt bad. And what all things he did we don’t know, we only know that he worshipped Goddess Kali and finally Kali blessed him.

Then you know? When he went back this girl asked him “Asti kaschit vāgarthaḥ.”

“Have you gained any meaning of words?”

“When you see a word, can you get the meaning?”

He went away and he composed three mahākāvyas, great poems beginning with these words

“astyuttarasyāM diśi devatātmā” – Kumarasambhava.

“vāgarthāviva sampruktau” – Raghuvamsha.

“kaśchit kāntāvirahaguruṇā” – Meghadhoota.

Three poems he composed with the first word of the sentence, enquiry, the wife made.

You tell me now, where lies the truth? So you have got a mind, a heart, an intelligence by the combined application of which anybody can reach anywhere subjectively.

Now the point I want to emphasize is by coming to know of it, this truth, are you standing to benefit in your devotional life or it makes it all very dull and indefinite?

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.