MIND AND SERENITY - SWAMI TATWANANDA

[Guest guest]

"When a man completely casts off, O Partha, all the desires of the mind and

is satisfied in the self by the self, then he is said to be of steady

wisdom." (Chap.2-Verse55-B.G)

 

Scriptural texts such as Bhagawad Gita enjoin us to look at ourselves.

Earlier in the 2nd chapter, Krishna explained the necessity of knowing about

one's own nature and glorified the efforts one puts in. Later, while

answering a specific question from Arjuna, He elaborately enumerates the

characteristics of a man of wisdom. When He explains the nature and

characteristics of a gnani, He intends to see you as a gnani- the beneficiary

of His revelation. Gnanitvam is your essential nature. You may be playing

many roles in life e.g. as father, mother, employer, employee, etc., but no

role is capable of making this wisdom redundant and non-essential, to be

perfect in that role.

 

First let us try to understand what is a "desire?" Desire is a state of mind

in which a necessity for a second thing, other than oneself is felt. Desire

is not an abstract but always involves a thing. One is desirous of something

This necessity is due to a sense of inadequacy born out of ignorance.

However, this "ignorance" which is without a beginning or cause is very much

available for our observation.

 

Error occurs when ignorance is at work. We commit errors on many things and

in many situations. There is a fundamental error also about oneself. "What

one is" is missed and "what one is not" is accepted as Reality. This twist

creates the sense of inadequacy and at once creates an unquestioned faith in

the objects of the world as the source for one's joy/security, which we seek.

Seeking leads to relationships. Relationships offer experiences that bring

about a change or different mode of mind. If that mode reveals even a

fraction of the Joy/Silence, which is one's innate nature, then one claims

that one is happy. To be happy, now one is dependent upon the modes/moods of

the mind. This leads to a demand for its continuity and repetition. In short,

the memory of pleasant experience and corresponding object become the soil of

desire.

 

When one is desirous, happiness is only a possibility and not an actuality of

oneself. When one is desirous of a second thing other than the self, the

desire involves a scheme depending upon the grace of time and space. Such a

desirous and therefore demanding mind urges for repetition of the mental

impressions into action. These binding desires with their actions and results

cause the cycle of samsar - bondage. But a demand free perception of objects

or memory is not an expression of wanting. This demand to repeat an

experience and the dependency on a second thing ceases to exist for a man of

wisdom. This is liberation as far as the mind is concerned.

 

When the truth about yourself is understood, you naturally become desirous of

yourself. This desire never meets with a failure because to be with oneself

is not the result of time and space. You are always available to yourself.

Atman ("I") cannot be the object of your scheme as it is yourself. Knowledge

of it makes all operations complete. In our scriptures it is termed as

"naishkarmya siddhi."

 

The art of living adequately lies in the capacity to tell the mind not to

prepare schemes and work on it to make you happy, but making the mind to work

on any scheme happily. This sense of adequacy is the origin of all human

activities and not a result of human activities or inactivity. This is

desirelessness in its true sense.

 

The wise man is always desire-free like the screen in a cinema. The screen

never disowns or resists owning up any scene on it. Being free of scenes, it

accommodates all scenes. The context of the scenes is caused by various

factors - situations, opportunities, wisdom, skills, attitudes etc. but

nothing of these adds anything to the screen, which is ever ready to

accommodate/bear, any scene. So is one's true nature-Atman. It is always free

and that is you - the self. Just as the screen never rejects a scene, so the

"I"(Consciousness) never fails to light up the states of the mind caused by

any relative role you play.

 

When this truth - Atman Untouched - is understood, the wrong judgement that

the self ("I") is maintained by experiences is corrected. The desire and

desire prompted action (kama-karma) to seek fulfillment ceases to be.

Awakening to this truth that you are "purna"(full and complete) and the

awareness of this simple fact and its never-ending expanse of benevolence is

desirelessness. Once the mind understands and owns this vision of truth,

which reveals the identity between the seeker and sought all seeking ceases

to be. When you understand that what you have been seeking is nothing but

yourself, you live naturally, spontaneously reveling in the Self.

 

(Excerpted from Swamiji's talks published in Mind and Serenity- 1984)