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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Effortless means to liberation

 

CHENNAI, SEPT. 14. The Supreme Being is the abode of countless

auspicious qualities and is of the nature of eternal bliss and

hence there is nothing that is outside His purview that He needs

to satisfy Him. He is served by the eternal and the liberated

souls in His transcendental abode. Can such an omnipotent Being

have any misgiving then? Saints point out that the Lord is

concerned about human beings suffering from the pangs of bondage

in worldly life.

 

The Lord's predicament is similar to that of a king whose son has

left the palace after an altercation with him. The prince who is

used to a luxurious lifestyle cannot command the same outside as

he does not have any means to support himself for he is not

equipped to earn his living. But his ego prevents him from

seeking pardon from his father. The king's situation is very

poignant; he cannot enjoy his royal comforts worried as he is

about how his son is faring. The prince in spite of the troubles

he faces is unconcerned about how his stubborn attitude hurts his

father.

 

Similarly, human beings do not realise how much God is concerned

about their welfare and how He is ever ready to extricate them

from the suffering they face in the world. Like the petulant son,

man does not realise that he is not only suffering himself but is

also causing anguish to the Almighty, who is the father of all

creation, because of his defiant stance.

 

In his discourse, the Jeeyar of Ahobila Math said that blessed as

human beings were with the opportunity to alleviate their

situation, they must take the initiative to regain their orginal

glory, for they rightly belonged to God and not to this world of

bondage. The path of devotion (Bhakti yoga) and Self-surrender

(Prappati, Saranagati) are the means recommended by the

scriptures to realise this end.

 

The efficacy of the path of devotion lies in the efforts of the

spiritual aspirant and will give the desired result only when he

zealously follows the scriptural guidelines prescribed about its

practice. Whereas, the path of Self-surrender can be adopted by

anyone easily because the responsibility of one's deliverance

shifts to God after the performance of Prapatti.

 

One may wonder how an aspirant can hope to attain salvation after

surrendering to God just once without further effort on his part.

The efficacy of Saranagati as an effective means to salvation on

a par with Bhakti yoga lies in the absolute faith the aspirant

reposes in God while surrendering to Him. Lord Krishna has taught

surrender to Him as the final teaching in the Bhagavad Gita and

this is cited as one of the paradigmatic instances of the Lord's

assurance to humanity.

 

 

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[Guest guest]

> Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

>

> Effortless means to liberation

>

> CHENNAI, SEPT. 14. The Supreme Being is the abode of countless

> auspicious qualities and is of the nature of eternal bliss and

> hence there is nothing that is outside His purview that He needs

> to satisfy Him. He is served by the eternal and the liberated

> souls in His transcendental abode. Can such an omnipotent Being

> have any misgiving then? Saints point out that the Lord is

> concerned about human beings suffering from the pangs of bondage

> in worldly life.

_____________________

 

hariH OM!

 

if i may say, this discourse--prima facie--

has the tendency to mislead the reader into

the exlusive throes of dvaita! (note: it is

excellent for the bhaktimarg--which has an

important role/function for those in need of

it...but not for the jnanamarg, which embraces

a strain of bhakti, however *not* exclusively,

in the manner of this presentation.)

 

it does so by the lopsided establishment of

vyavahara *disconnected* from the paramartha.

to say, as it does, that the Lord (isvara)

is "concerned about human beings suffering

from the pangs of bondage in worldly life,"

without giving the counterpart spiritual

fact that *there are no jivas in bondage*,

creates a fundamental duality. the reader

is plunged into the exclusive dimension of

the vyavaharika.

 

now, the paramartha is alluded to in the

title (viz. 'effortless means') as well

as everything stated upto the declaration:

"Can such an omnipotent Being have any

misgiving then?" whereupon the very next

sentence speaks of the Lord's concern about

humans suffering and in bondage.

 

the flow of the presentation comes off more

like a contradiction rather than the inherent

fusion of the nirguna and saguna states of

the paramarthika and vyavaharika, which is

the central message of advaita. and unless

their fusion is made *clear* there will be

undue problems in comprehension of the matter

of the real situation: which is *founded* in

satchidananda, *regardless* of the appearance

of horrendous tamorajasic treachery in/of the

manifest world [or its satvic harmonic beauty

and wonder on the other hand of its relative

conception].

 

my criticism of this article is not substantive

since it does present advaitam *inferentially*.

my criticism is that its *merely* inferential

presentation can easily lead the reader into

the isolated/exclusive dynamic of the battle

between 'this' [wretched] jiva and 'That'

[blissful-yet-suffering-due-to-the-ignorance-

of-the-jiva-in-bondage] Lord.

 

such misrepresentation sets up dvaita [which,

in turn, sets up the idea that the vyavaharika

is also utterly unreal and unrelated to its

source in paramarthika]. the real consequence

of this is the birth of obsessive brooding and

thinking about one's tragic and foresaken lot

in this world. this is effective for the way

of bhakti. not the way of jnana (which, as

stated, is *inclusive* of bhakti, yet goes

beyond it at the same time) however.

 

the real benefits of advaita (interpreted as

the fusion of everything with the nirguna at

its source/foundation), is that the historic

battle within the divided Mind has the best

chance of getting released. how? by ceasing

and desisting the years-accumulated habit of

resisting and/or being repulsed by things

considered disagreeable in the subjective and

objective world of Mind. everything is seen

as brahman *alone*. no exceptions. this is

the ultimate balm and bomb delivered to the

restive, provocative Mind-beast.

 

namaste