God equally pervades the entire universe – ‘maya tatamidam sarvam’ (Gita 9/4), ‘Samoham Sarvabhooteshu’ (Gita 9/29). If a striver wants to attain Him, he should not think of anything. He, Who is all-pervading, cannot be thought of. If we don’t think of anything, we are naturally established in God. Therefore the main spiritual discipline to attain God is – not to think of anything, neither of God, nor of the world, nor of anything else. The striver should get established where he is because God equally pervades there. An action is performed to attain that which is away from the view-point of space, time and thing etc. But what action is required to attain That Who pervades all spaces, times, things, persons, states, circumstances and incidents etc.?
To become silent, to keep quiet, to do nothing is a very good spiritual means, which many people don’t know. If we do something, the world is gained but if we don’t do anything, God is attained. The image of the world is action (labor) and the image of God is inaction (repose). Every actions begins and ends while the actionless Divinity remains the same. Not only this, but from that actionless Divinity only, all actions are born and they merge in that Divinity. By action there is exhausting of energy (power), and by inaction (actionless), energy is restored (accumulated). Therefore a striver should be silent (free from thought) before the action and after the action. If he first keeps silent and then listens to the discourse, he will understand it well and if he studies the book after keeping silent, he will understand it well. If he keeps silent after listening to the discourse or after studying the book, he will get power to preserve it. An action causes oddity which inaction causes evenness. Therefore in the performance of actions even two men can’t be equal, but in inaction millions of people become one (equal). Men may be learned or foolish, rich or poor, sick or healthy, weak or strong, worthy or unworthy. All become one in inaction, all get established in God. It means that if we think of anything, we get established in the world, but if we don’t think of anything, we get established in God. In fact, we are naturally established in God, but we don’t realize it because of thinking (reflection). Therefore the Lord in the Gita declares –
Shanai shanai paramedbudhyaa dhrutigruheetaya
Aatnasabstham manh krutvana kinchitdapi chintayet ||
(Gita 6/25)
‘By having patience, having fixed intellect firmly, one should become indifferent to the world and with the mind centered on God, one should not think of anything’.
It means that by Sattvika intellect and Sattvika firmness, a striver should gradually become indifferent to the world which consists of actions and objects. He should not make haste because haste does not bear good fruit. Only God as truth, consciousness and bliss solidified pervades everywhere – having this resolve, a striver should not think of anything else, God is more solid than stone or glass. In a stone or glass, fire can enter though the needle does not prick it, but in God nothing can enter. If a striver thinks of such a totally solid God, he gets away from Him. Therefore a striver should form the habit of keeping silent from within and without where he is (by giving up sleep-indolence). This is a very easy and excellent spiritual means. It will provide great peace and all sins and burning sensation will end.
‘To be indifferent’ means to be free from the pairs of opposites such as attachment-aversion, joy-sorrow, pleasure-pain etc. For example, when we go somewhere on the way there may lie a stone or a log or a piece of paper, but we have nothing to do with it. Similarly we have nothing to do with any action or object – ‘naiva tasya krutenaartho naakruteneh kachan’ (Gita 3/18). We should remain indifferent to them. ‘To remain indifferent’ is an art. If a striver performs all actions by being indifferent, he becomes detached from the world. If a striver remains indifferent to profit or loss, honor or dishonor, pleasure or pain, praise or blame, he will attain God. But if he has attachment or aversion to them, he becomes happy or sad, pleased or displeased with them, he will be a ‘Bhogi’ (pleasure-seeker), not a Yogi (equanimous). A pleasure-seeker does not attain salvation –
Tulasi mamata ram saun, santa sab sansaar |
Raag na resh na dosh dukh, daas bhaye bhava paar ||
(Dohavali 94)
In the Gita the Lord declares –
Aarurukshormuneryogam karma kaaranmuchyate |
Yogaroodhasya tasyai tasyaiv shamh kaarnmuchyate ||
(Gita 6/3)
‘To be contemplative soul (muni) who desire to attain to the height of Karmayoga (in the form of equanimity), action without motive is said to be the means. For the same person when he masters Yoga, serenity is said to be the means to God-realization.’
Serenity (tranquility) means – to do nothing. So long as a striver has to do anything, he is related with ‘Prakriti’ and as long as he is related with ‘Prakriti’, there is disquietude, suffering, birth and death. The relationship with ‘Prakriti’ (Nature) will perish by inaction. The reason is that actions and objects – both belong to Prakriti. In Divinity there is neither action nor object. An action is transitory, while inaction (actionless) is eternal. An action begins and ends, but inaction ever remains the same. Therefore for God-realization ‘serenity’ i.e. ‘to do nothing’ is the means. But if this serenity is enjoyed, it will not lead to God-realization. ‘I am serene’ – by having this egoistic notion and ‘there is great serenity’ – by being pleased with serenity, serenity is enjoyed. Therefore he should not mix individuality in serenity, but he should hold that serenity prevails naturally. If serenity is enjoyed, serenity will not persist. It will be replaced by volatility or drowsiness. But if it is not enjoyed, it will naturally persist. Without action and without pride, the peace which prevails is ‘Yoga’. The reason is that there is neither any doer nor enjoyer, there is ‘Bhoga’. When there is ‘Bhoga’, the striver gets established in the world.
All actions and objects belong to the world and are for the world. Therefore a Karmayogi, without regarding them as his and for him, uses them to sere the world. By doing so, his affinity with the world in the form of actions and objects is renounced. Prakriti is in the form of ‘action’ while God exists in the form of ‘repose.’ Therefore a ‘Jnanayogi, being detached from actions and objects, accepts repose. ‘Acceptance of repose’ means – to realize one’s natural establishment in Divinity. But a Bhaktiyogi accepts dependence on God Whose fragment that Divinity (existence) is. By service and repose, salvation is attained and by dependence on God, Love (devotion) is attained.
This is a rule that the all-pervading Divinity is not attained by any action. As soon as we perform an action, we are separated from God. If we don’t perform any action, we’ll remain established in God only. Therefore a striver should form the habit of keeping silent every time while moving about and performing actions.
The main obstacle that a striver faces for keeping silent is – useless reflection. When a stiver having completed a piece of work, wants to keep silent, then different types of thoughts pertaining to space, time, things, persons, and incidents etc., crop up which are related with the past or the future. This is useless reflection of ‘not’ because the happenings of the past and the future are not now. The thought of the thing which is gained by performing an action is also useless and the thought (reflection) over the thing which has no independent existence is also useless.
One reflection (thinking) is done and the other one naturally crops up. When a man feels thirsty, he has not to think of water, but water is naturally thought of. Similarly the thought of God should naturally come in a striver because God is his real need. But the condition of a striver is that he has to think of God while the thought of the world crops up naturally. In order to wipe out the useless thought, he tries to have useful and meaningful thinking (to think of the Lord’s holy name, form pastime etc. and to think of the self). The result is that the effect of the forcible thinking is marked in the mind and useless thinking also continues to crop up. It is a principle that useless thinking is not wiped out by meaningful thinking. On the contrary a stiver feels proud that he practised the spiritual discipline for so much time and for so many years. But when he honestly thinks of his condition, he becomes disappointed that even on having practised so much of spiritual discipline, he could not attain peace. So long as useless thinking prevails, a striver neither attains peace nor Self-realization nor love. Not only this, but a striver, by getting disappointed feels helpless Because of this helplessness he happens to do what he should not do and is unable to do what he should do. Because of this helplessness, he forgets his duty, his self and God Whose fragment he is. In order to wipe out this helplessness, repose is needed and to gain repose, it is necessary to wipe out useless thinking.
Now let us think over the causes of useless thinking and how to rectify it –
- Not doing necessary work – When essential work is not done, then useless thinking prevails. Therefore a striver should do the necessary (essential) work, which ought to be done, which he can do and which is necessary to be done at present.
- Doing unnecessary work – If unnecessary work is either done or one thinks of it as to be done, then useless thinking ensues. Unnecessary work is that work which should not be done, which can not be done and which has no connection with the present. Therefore a striver should never do unnecessary work nor he should think about doing it.
- Having Sense of Mine – The person or thing in which a striver has the sense of mine i.e. which he regards as his and for him, its thought comes to his mind. Therefore a striver should think over, how can that which is acquired and lost be his?
- Having Desire – Whatever desire a person has, it’s thought naturally prevails. In order to wipe out the desire, a striver should reflect on the following – A thing is not acquired merely by having a desire. Acquisition of a thing depends on fate, rather than a desire. Even if a thing is acquired, it does not stay. The reason is that it is a cosmic law that whatever is acquired, is lost. Union certainly changes into disunion. A man is never satisfied with the thing desired. If one desire is satisfied, another new desire is born. Thus desires have no end.
- Identification of the self with the body – By assuming the body as ‘I’, ‘mine’ and ‘for me’ a striver can not escape useless thinking. To call ‘this’ as ‘I’ is against one’s power of discrimination. The reason is that ‘this’ (body) can never be ‘I’ (self). The division of the body is quite different from the division of the self.
- The effect of the pleasures enjoyed and unenjoyed – The pleasures which a striver has enjoyed, or the pleasures which he wants to enjoy, have their effect on his mind, which is revealed in the form of useless thinking. In order to annihilate this effect a striver should neither support nor oppose the useless thinking. He should neither assume it in him nor regard it as true. If he has attachment and aversion to worthless thinking or accepts it in him, it gets existence. Therefore a stiver should become indifferent to the worthless thinking. By being indifferent to it, it will naturally end. The reason is that worthless thinking is not natural but unnatural and is caused by mistake. When worthless thinking comes to an end, then peace i.e. repose is naturally attained (revealed). The reason is that repose is spontaneous, it is not accomplished by effort. By repose a striver gets power to perform his duty, to know the self and to accept the existence of God, having accepted which the human life becomes successful.
Narayana ! Narayana !! Narayana !!!
From “For Salvation of Mankind” by Swami Ramsukhdasji
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