MIND AND SERENITY - SWAMI TATWANANDA

[Guest guest]

"He is said to be a sage- who is free from the clutches of pain and

pleasure and so from attachment, fear and anger."(Chap.2-Verse-56-B.G.)

 

 

Once you understand the message of Vedanta, the whole creation is useful only

in revealing your innate nature- Satchitananda svarupa. The entire series of

situations simulate a continuous replacement of mirrors, which reflect the

nature of self as -peace/joy, love/compassion, accommodation/understanding

and so forth. The world and its situations which earlier existed either as

"ends" or "means" for some "unseen ends" (heavens etc.) cease to exist as

such. However, they continue to be a series of opportunities to reflect one's

own nature and maturity of one's mind. This vision, in spite of perception,

is the culmination of all teaching.

 

The core and content of happiness is Consciousness ("I"). This self-knowing,

self-revealing Presence is interpreted by the "body and mind" as pleasure and

pain respectively. These two media not only reveal the presence of

Consciousness but being product of matter (ignorance) is constantly changed

by the changes of the world. As such their interpretative revelation of

Consciousness also changes.

 

No situation is created by us We, the jivas, have the freedom to be conscious

of a situation and get the maximum joy out of it. That means we are active

beings also. When one is aware of a situation and involves in it for a

purpose, one's efforts may bring about the desired or opposite results. While

facing adverse situations there is an unsettlement in the body and mind and

this is generally termed as pain/sorrow. The relief is found in the light of

understanding about the situation and the efforts guided by such

understanding.

 

Man is limited in terms of time, space and quality. None of us have the

capacity to surmount all the limitations and own an imperishable body and an

unfailing media of pleasure alone. Let not the temporalities of life,

however, cause depression in us. The river of life brings many things at your

feet (unasked) and many more things far away from your access. Let them all

move towards their destination. This freedom from craving needs wisdom. This

does not make a person, however, deflated of his ambitions in life. It rather

offers him enough strength to act upon a situation. To act upon a situation

is the natural responsibility expected from a living human being.

 

One definite message from Gita is "Act -you can and you should." Man has the

freedom to act and he has the precondition that he is not the author of the

result of his own actions. But no result is thrust upon him without relation

to his action. Each action performed irrespective of one's likes and

dislikes, produce results, which may or may not be up to one's expectations.

One does not know what converts action into result. All that we observe is

that it is -our action plus "something."

 

The result is but a modified situation and there is no result free of

physical situation. And there is no situation, which is not a result. These

ripples of events giving birth to another, constitute the field of activity

and field of enjoyment for man If one feels what happened in his life is less

of his expectations, again he has one more situation to act upon to find the

desired result.

 

A man of wisdom, however, understands that the strength is not in things and

relationships but in the way one has understood them. The positive or

negative aspects of situations make no change in him. He neither clings on to

a situation because it is fulfilling nor does he despise because it is

failing to do so. The object of his happiness is the indivisible Self. In the

perception of Oneness there is no fear, because fear is caused by the

mistaken divisive perception of One. Further such a mind is not provoked to

anger, unlike a mind which is restlessly active (rajasic) impelled by the

stranglehold of desires. Thus when one is free of binding desires, that

steady mind is free of attachment, fear, and anger.

 

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