Lighting the Inner Lamp Part-1

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*Lighting the Inner Lamp*

 

 

To keep a small oil lamp burning on its altar is an age-old, sacred practice

in every Hindu shrine. The *pujari* or *purohit* (the worshipper or the

priest) or his assistants take turns to tend its flame—adding oil and

trimming or replacing the worn-out wick whenever necessary. In the shrines

where resources are meagre or the paucity of time plays a role, the altar

lamp is lit only in the morning and evening or at least once a day. Lighting

the altar-lamp is an essential part of maintaining a shrine; in its absence

the shrine is incomplete and deficient.

 

Like a shrine without a lamp, human life without the light of devotion and

faith is incomplete. Sometimes this inner light is compared to

Self-knowledge which reveals the real nature of our being and the true

purpose of life. Sri Krishna says in the Gita that to those devotees, who

are unwavering in their devotion, 'out of sheer compassion for them, I,

abiding in their hearts, destroy the darkness in them born of ignorance, by

the luminous lamp of knowledge.' Elucidating what Sri Krishna means by the

'luminous lamp of knowledge' Acharaya Shankara says,

 

'characterised by discrimination; fed by the oil of contentment due to

Bhakti; fanned by the wind of absorbing meditation on Me; furnished with

wick of pure consciousness evolved by the constant cultivation of

Brahmacarya and other pious virtues; held in the reservoir of the heart

devoid of worldliness; placed in the wind-sheltered recess of the mind,

withdrawn from the sense-objects, and untainted by attachment and aversion;

shining with the light of right knowledge, engendered by incessant practice

of concentration.'

 

In other words, when a person lives a life of devotion, purity and is free

from all sense-cravings, he develops a kind of inner faculty that guides and

illumines his intellect and all his life. It is like coming across a

self-help book, easy to access and make use of.

 

Inner lamp is the lamp of *viveka* (discrimination) and *shraddha* (faith

and devotion). When a person begins to rise above his lower nature which

consists of considering sensory pleasures—gross and subtle—as the highest,

and living a self-centred life, he soon realises the need for a more

reliable source of guidance than what he had been following till then. His

search for a higher source begins only when his higher nature becomes

active. Sri Krishna speaks of two persons (*dva imou purushou

loke*)2residing in every person. These two persons refer to two

natures that every

human being naturally inherits as a human being. The lower nature is

ego-driven and holds enjoyment of senses as the *only* way to become happy.

It is the cause of all misery, of all crimes, of all tragedies and all pain..

Lower nature manifests itself naturally.

 

The higher nature, though inherent in every human being, awakens only when a

person is disillusioned with the false promise of happiness that lower

nature lures him into. It is the source of all strength and happiness,

wisdom and kindness. It is this higher nature which really makes a man

great, worthy of human admiration and emulation.

 

Taken from : www.sriramakrishnamath.org

 

Regards

 

Prasanna Kumar