Practice and Dispassion (1)

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Practice and Dispassion, part one

By Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri

 

To practice is to do something or to think about a particular idea or

object regularly. Dispassion or detachment arises from practicing the

constant perception of the harmfulness or worthlessness of something.

This is one way of developing dispassion or vairagya towards our

negativities.

 

Internal disturbance is the most powerful disturbance. Even if there

are disturbances in our surroundings, we can still enjoy peace if our

mind is quiet. Negative emotions are a heavy burden to bear. But we

first have to feel the weight of this burden; only then will we want

to remove it.

 

By overcoming all the defects in our mind and making it pure, we will

attain the supreme state of bliss, an all-knowing and all-powerful

state. Amma says that we should direct our mind towards this goal.

Everyone has defects in the mind; some people have a lot of anger,

some hatred; others may be more impatient or greedy or prone to

jealousy. All of us need to work hard to remove whatever negative

emotions we have.

 

Amma suggests that whenever we are disturbed by a negative emotion,

we should try to substitute it with a positive one. For example, if

you feel hatred towards somebody, try to replace it with a feeling of

love. Try to think about the good things that person, knowingly or

unknowingly, has done to you. In this way, you can slowly reduce the

hatred in your mind. Similarly, if you are angry with somebody, try

to feel compassion towards that person. Or if you are worried about

some failure in your life, think of some successes you have enjoyed,

and be grateful to God for making it possible for you to be

successful. By thus substituting a negative emotion with a positive

one, the negative feelings will slowly lose their strength.

 

But this has to be practiced continuously. It is difficult because

the mind is naturally inclined to look at the bad side. Though we

have enjoyed many successes in life, we still harp on our failures.

 

Amma says that the mind should be like fire. Fire always rises. If

you light a candle and hold it upside down, the flame doesn't go

down, it goes up. Likewise, our minds should always try to look at

the bright side.

 

There are two ways of looking at a rose bush. One way is to behold

the beautiful flowers among the sharp thorns; you completely forget

the thorns and just enjoy the flowers. Another way is to lament the

presence of the thorns. The choice is yours. If you focus on the

flowers, you will be happy; if you focus on the thorns, you cannot be

happy. It all depends on your outlook and perspective.

 

Life is a mixture of success and failure. When we enjoy some success,

we should be grateful to God, not only that we have succeeded but

that we have survived. We could have died in our sleep. This is a

reason why we should always be grateful to God.

 

If we fail or if something bad happens to us, it is the result of our

bad actions in the past, and therefore cannot be helped. But we can

be careful in our present actions so that we can enjoy a happy

future. This is why Amma says that we should try to live in the

present moment. If we think about the past we may get depressed, and

if we think about the future we may feel anxious. By using our

present time wisely, we can be assured of a bright future. If we

always do our spiritual practice and try to be kind and loving

towards everyone, we will be richly rewarded.

 

Whether our experiences be good or bad, there is always something we

can learn from them. If we use our discrimination in the right way,

our lives can be lived constructively. There were many sad,

unpleasant incidents in Amma's life when She was young, but She

always turned them to Her advantage. In those days, She had to labour

non-stop from three o'clock in the morning until 10 or 11 at night.

And because She was treated like public property in the family, Her

relatives often asked Her to help them with their household chores.

Some of them lived far away, so She used to go there by boat. To

begin with, Her parents gave Her money for the fare. In the boat Amma

would listen to the humming of the engine and chant "Om" in

consonance with the sound. After some time, Her parents decided not

to give Her any more money for the boat fare, so She now had to walk

10 to 15 kilometres to reach the homes of Her relatives. But instead

of feeling dejected about this, She was actually overjoyed because

She now had two whole hours to Herself during the walk, and while

walking in solitude along the beach, She had all the more time to

chant Her mantra. This is how She turned every adverse situation to

Her advantage.

 

Similarly, in our own lives there are difficult situations that we

can turn to our advantage if we use our discrimination in the right

way. We cannot decide which experiences will come our way, and which

will not. But we have the wisdom, capacity and willpower to convert

any situation to our advantage. If we read the biographies of the

Masters, we will be given positive hints. For example, years ago many

people were intensely opposed to Amma, even though She had done them

no wrong. They were jealous because they couldn't imagine how a girl,

who was one of their own, could become so great that people from all

over the world would come to see Her. This was something they

couldn't digest. Thus, out of jealousy, they created problems. Their

opposition was so strong that they even tried to kill Her!

 

Sometimes, when She went to the homes of people who had been cursed

by black magic or witchcraft, with the intention of helping them,

people would line up along the road to jeer at Her and throw stones

at Her. But She was not in the least affected. As soon as She reached

the house and went inside, She would sit down and slip into

meditation.

 

At that time it was considered taboo in those remote villages for a

girl and a boy to talk to each other. If a teenage girl happened to

talk to a boy, her parents would get very upset. Nobody would want to

marry that girl because people would start spreading rumours about

her. Because of this, Amma's parents insisted that as soon as the

Devi Bhava was over, everyone should leave immediately. Amma had

three sisters who were yet to be married. We were all youngsters at

that time, so none of us were allowed to hang around after the Devi

Bhava ended. Amma didn't want Her parents to chase us away, but She

couldn't do anything about it because She was still living with them.

 

One day, after the Devi Bhava had ended, I remained behind waiting

for somebody. When Amma saw me, She came over to speak to me. She

asked if there was any problem and why I was sitting there. As soon

as Amma's mother saw Her talking to me, she began verbally abusing

Amma, and then she took Her away into the house. I felt very bad that

Amma had received such a severe scolding because of me. I was also

upset by the harsh words that Amma's mother had used against Her. A

little later, Amma came out again and went into the temple. I was

still there and I hid myself. After some time, I went into the temple

and saw that Amma was meditating as if nothing had happened. I, on

the other hand, couldn't meditate for a whole week after that,

because I felt so pained by the words Amma's mother had used against

Her.

 

You can see this same attitude in any Master: Nothing will affect

them. They have a perfect insulation around their minds, which can

withstand the highest voltage. Of course, we cannot really blame

Amma's parents for the way they behaved. It is only natural that they

wanted to get their daughter married. Also, they didn't know who or

what Mother was; they didn't have the spiritual background to

understand Her or Her states. But gradually, after reading the books

about Her and meeting the devotees, they changed. Now you can see

Amma's mother and father prostrating to Her.

 

Maybe it was Amma's sankalpa (resolve) that this should happen, to

show the world that, if one is really committed to the goal, no

problem is so great that it cannot be surmounted. It is a great

lesson for us: we cannot use our problems as an excuse for not doing

our spiritual practice and reaching the goal. This is why Amma

says, "My life is my message."

 

We may wonder why Amma doesn't manifest miracles the way Krishna did.

Even as a baby, He killed several demons with His divine powers. But

if Amma had done the same sort of thing, we would surely say, "Well,

everything is possible for Amma because She is superhuman! We, on the

other hand, are not." That would be our excuse. This may be why Amma

chose to be born into a simple family in a remote corner of the

world. From that level, She rose to become what She is today. Amma's

life is a tremendous inspiration to us all.

 

In the Bhagavad Gita, it is said, "Holding onto the Truth, elevate

yourself." That is a beautiful line, and it means that you should try

to elevate yourself with your own Self. Do not think badly of

yourself or condemn yourself. Even if you seem to be a total failure,

don't ever condemn yourself, because the infinite Truth is within

you. Develop a strong mind. Your Self or atman can be realized by the

mind. That is your birthright.

 

This has been clearly demonstrated in Amma's life. Though Her life

was difficult, She faced it with dedication and determination. By

observing Amma, we have all derived so much inspiration to proceed on

the spiritual path. A true Master is a constant source of inspiration

on the path. No matter what happens to us in life, we can always draw

a parallel with some instance in Amma's life. Even though She is not

ordinary by any means, She has lived like an ordinary person. Amma is

the perfect example for everyone.

 

Amma never became upset when She had to face difficulty after

difficulty. Her family, the whole village, everyone was against Her,

but she remained strong throughout, in the midst of all this

adversity. Now she gets upset when she sees that any of Her children

are sad. She is as hard as a diamond, but She is also soft as a

flower, because of Her love for Her children. Our sorrows are

reflected in Her mind; this is why She feels sad on our account. This

is what God is like. God is very concerned about His devotees. And so

is Amma. She was never affected by anything in Her life -- until Her

children started coming to Her; then She was saddened by their

suffering. She feels for us because She has come to this world only

for the sake of Her children. And this is why She is still retaining

Her body. There was a time, at the age of 19 or 20, when She wanted

to give up Her body, not out of frustration or desperation, but out

of Her contentment and fulfilment. But She heard a voice within Her

say, "I dwell in the hearts of all beings and have no fixed abode.

You were not born merely to enjoy the unalloyed bliss of the Self,

but to comfort suffering humanity. From this time on, worship Me in

the hearts of all living beings and relieve them from the suffering

of worldly existence."

 

This is why She has retained Her body. All that She does is done for

our sake only.

 

Even when she shows love, anger or other emotions, She does so only

to help us. She displays certain human emotions to make us feel

closer to Her. We tend to judge Amma when She gets angry. Some people

may ask, "Is She like us?" But there is a great difference. When Amma

gets angry, She can hug us with infinite love a moment later. We are

not able to do that. It may take 10 days or a month for us to cool

down, especially if we get angry with someone we consider our enemy.

But Amma is not like that at all. With Her own hands She fed the

person who tried unsuccessfully to stab Her. There wasn't even a

trace of anger or resentment in Her mind. Her emotions are like a

mark on water. If you write something in water, does it stay there?

No, a moment later it is gone. In the same way, emotions do not make

the slightest impression on Amma's mind. One moment She may seem to

get angry; the next moment it has vanished. Our emotions make a deep

impression on our minds; they may even remain in our minds for

several lifetimes. But this is not the case with Amma. She uses

different emotions as Her tools, whereas we are used by our own

emotions. That is the hallmark of someone who is established in the

Self. She doesn't relate to anything but the Self. She remains

focused on and established in Her own Self, which is not affected by

anything in the world.

 

So, if you ask why the mind should be trained, the answer is that in

this way we can be unaffected and totally detached to anything that

happens around us. And yet, we will have pure love in our hearts.

Just as light and heat is the nature of the sun, love and compassion

is the nature of those great souls who are established in their own

Self.