SOME THOUGHTS ON ATMA-71

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Loving SAI RAMs.

 

How to eradicate the impurities of the mind and to reach the absolute good is the topic that has been engaging our attention. In Srimad Bhagavatam, Devarishi Narada explains as to how we can rise above the weaknesses:-

 

 

One should conquer desire by the non-entertainment of fanciful thoughts(asankalpat); anger by renouncing desire(kamavivarjanat); greed by observing calamitous nature of wealth

(artha anarthekshaya); and fear by understanding the Truth(Tattva avamarsanat). What actually creates desire is not mere perception of an object but sankalpa, entertaining fanciful thoughts about an object. For instance, when we go on window shopping , we see many things, but we do not want everything that we see. But in the course of actual shopping, a particular object or commodity suddenly catches our attention and we look closely at it. At that time, a sankalapa arises in our mind. We then inquire about the price and think, " Without this object my life would be incomplete! " and we decide to buy that object. Our attachment to anything,whether it is a material object, a pet, or a human being, is all because of such fanciful thinking. In the

Bhagavad Gita, the Lord says. " No one can become a Yogi without renunciation of sankalpa. Here we need to make a clear distinction between need and desire. When we are hungry, there is a natural need for food. Desire by itself is not a problem so long the desire is natural but not excessive, and is not characterized by increasing amount of indulgence amounting to perversion. Thus, an unhealthy desire is one which is born of our imagination, our superimposition of beauty and joy upon on object, and a feeling that without that object we are incomplete. Consequently, we continuously think about the object of our desire. Another important factor to understand is that desire by itself is not a problem--rather it is the uncontrolled desire for worldly things which is a problem. In the Bhagavad Gita the Lord says, " Oh, Arjuna! I am the desire which is not opposed to righteousness

(Dharma aviruddho bhuteshu kamosmi bharatarshabha). Here we get a definition for righteous desire. It is that desirewhich is not opposed to righteousness or to our own welfare or that of the society.

 

If an object is before us and we do not entertain thoughts about it, there will be no problem. But when a particular object is not present and we start brooding over it, then problems arise. Wewant to get rid of these desires but we are unable to do so because, deep within, we secretly enjoy them. When we run away from temptations, we leave our forwarding address behind! The Gita tells us that one should not entertain fanciful thoughts which create lust, passion or any other kind of obsession that can distarct the mind.

 

(to be continued)

With Loving Sairams,

G.balasubramanian