MIND AND SERENITY - SWAMI TATWANANDA

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Sri Ramakrishna said, "Tie the knowledge of non-duality to a corner of your

cloth and do what you want in this world "

 

Om,

 

Anand

 

 

On Wed, 26 Apr 2000 04:26:55 Sundayaso wrote:

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

>in revealing your innate nature- Satchitananda svarupa.

 

 

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"The tormenting senses O son of Partha, do violently carry away the mind,

even that of a striving man of wisdom." (Chap.2-Verse 60-B.G.)

 

 

The spiritual aspirant, who is well informed that the right vision in life is

Knowledge of Self, makes sincere efforts in discriminating and controlling

the mind and senses in terms of right and wrongful demands. However, the

influence of the past living, where many things were made necessary for the

mind to be active and happy, may cause restlessness in the mind and urge the

mind to seek those enjoyments. Unless the mind is alert and aware of the

emotional values for such "rasa," the mind can be carried away by the

impulses.

 

An informed mind, which is alert in the confirmation that Atma alone is the

"ananda vastu" learns to be steadfast in that and not be swayed by the

earlier wrong judgements imbibed by the mind. By negating the dependency upon

the compulsions that arise in the mind due to erroneous understanding, the

mind becomes capable to be established in Truth.

 

Dawn of wisdom removes the "ignorance" but does not cause the destruction of

anything in this creation. The world continues to be as it was even after the

recognition of Truth. The five great elements (space, air, fire, water and

earth) in their subtleties constitute the world of enjoyment for the sense

organs. Hence they are termed as "indriyarthas-objects of senses." They are

understood as sound, touch forms, taste and smells. The variety of

experiences offered by the intermixture of the great elements remain always

the same - irrespective of the fact whether one is a seeker or not. The world

is still capable of satisfying the senses; just as water quenches thirst,

rose emits the same fragrances, fire continues to be hot, breeze refreshes.

 

As such, the seeker must clearly understand that in spite of wisdom, wisdom

based vision, vision based attitude, and the attitude oriented mind and the

mind borne experiences - the world continues to be what it is!

 

Therefore, as an active being in this pursuit, even if there seems to be

moments that drag you forcibly into the realms of sense enjoyment, do not get

discouraged. As a seeker you analyze and discriminatingly understand that

this creation of names and forms can offer only temporal satisfaction. But

this dispelling of the dependency is done in terms of understanding and not

in terms of experience. Your inquiry does not destroy the perceptible nature

of this creation but it negates the reality of it being the "ends and means"

for your fulfillment.

 

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