SOME THOUGHTS ON ATMA-59

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SAI RAM Dear Brothers and Sisters,

(continued from Posting no.58)

 

Each one of us need a different type of Guru. Ordinarily, it is difficult to for us to judge a real Spiritual Guru from an impostor. We are apt to misunderstand a power of eloquence for the Knowledge or a studied affectation for equipoise. Such being the case, a seeker would do well to hold on to his devotion to the Lord. It is said that when in true devotion and sincere fervour, with an attitude of alertness and receptivity, the devotee prays ,requesting for the guidance ,the Ishta Devata (Lord of the heart) Himself , in the form of a Guru, will appear to guide the seeker from time to time. Such an assurance is contained in our Sastras. As long as we do not get a true teacher, no creditable progress in Self-Realization is possible. And till such time we get the right type of Spiritual Master, we must live in devotion and surrender to the chosen Lord of our heart.

 

By the mere contact with men of knowledge and by the association of the good (Satsangha), one can gain, almost effortlessly, the qualifications necessary for a successful spiritual life. Mind grows in the direction in which it is engaged. If the ideas and ideals are low and sensuous, the low mind comes to throb with sensuousness, and in the end ruins the life of an individual in lascivious excesses. If the companionship is established with noble hearts , high intellects, moral men of discretion, spiritual saints of integrity etc., the individual`s mind comes to live in an atmosphere of their inspired ideals and it grows in that direction to discover ultimately a fuller and more meaningful contentment in life.

 

 

Here are some of the tips for achieving Self-realization . They are in the form of certain qualities expected of a seeker if he were to progress successfully in the spiritual path. These are Discrimination (Viveka), Detachment (Vairagya), Qualities of calmness etc. (samadi gunasallenah) and a burning desire for liberation (Mumukshutvam).

 

Viveka is the capacity to discriminate between the real and unreal, between the true and false, between the permanent and impermanent. It is a faculty which we employ in almost all our day to day decisions but when it is brought to play into the inner constitution of the individual, it is called

Viveka. Discrimination between the Real and unreal calls for a firm convictionof the intellect that Brahman alone is Real and the phenomenonal world is unreal. Truth or Reality is that which is changeless and ever-present. When we enquire into life and try to understand it in its pure essence, we come to experience that Life which is present everywhere at all times. This Universal Factor, the Substratum is what is meant by the word "

Brahman " in Vedanta. To come to a logical understanding and arrive at a complete intellectual appreciation of the fact that this Permanent Substratum alone is ever-existent, changeless,formless and therefore immortal, is to understand that

Brahman alone is Real and the world of plurality that we now cognise is unreal and imperfect, although it be Its magnificient and wondrous manifestation, changeable, impermanent and joyless. To build life in this correct perspective and to live it on the basis of this value is called

Viveka in Vedanta.

(to be continued)

With Loving SAI RAMs,

G. Balasubramanian