Nirguna Manasa Puja - Shankaracharya - 2/33 (Place of Practice in Advaita)

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

This may sound repetitive. Yet, let us try to see where we are in

this labyrinthine discussion of the month.

 

There is this wealthy man married with sons and daughters. He loves

his wife and children.

 

The beauty and virtues of his wife make him a proud husband. He is

happy on that count. The exemplary behaviour of his children and

their academic excellence also give him happiness. He is a proud

father.

 

He also owns a beautiful, modern car and other precious possessions

and comforts like bungalows and estates. He is proud of possessing

them too. Ownership grants him very satisfying status and esteem.

 

Then one day things go awry for him. He spots certain deficiencies

in his wife and children. His neighbour buys a better car than his

and gains better riches. All these make him unhappy. He thus

realizes that the things which give him happiness can turn out to be

a source of unpleasantness. He ponders the situation and realizes

that his relationship with them is a matter of give and take. There

was anticipation in it. Fulfillment of anticipation means happiness

and hindrances thereto results in unhappiness. Love and happiness

are, therefore, inseparable.

 

A religious person then tells him that all these mundane

relationships are a matter of sakti and full of ups and downs. They

cause both happiness and unpleasantness. The only lasting solution

is the love for God, which he calls bhakti. So, our guy plants a

God as the object of his love. He has no difficulty getting one as

there are several images around him to choose from. He then gets

into full-time devotional practices like worshipping, meditation,

chanting prayers, visiting temples, reading material of piety etc.

 

No doubt, he makes some spiritual progress that grants him relative

peace. However, one day he pauses to think. Why am I doing all

this? The answer is crystal-clear to him. He is *seeking*

blemishelss love that can give him lasting happiness. He finds a

difference too. The objects of his former love, like wife, children

and car, were known entities, whereas the current one, God, is not

known at all, although there is an objectified image of Him

beautifully attired, armed yet smiling and offering boons. He is

not, therefore, satisfied and sets on a quest to understand more

about God.

 

Advaita comes in now and proclaims to him "That thou art!" – meaning

the object that you are in love with is truly yourself. He thinks

over it and comes to terms with the new understanding. The

implication is very clear to him. It was his own happiness that was

the guiding factor in all his relationships so far – with his wife,

children, friends and ultimately the imposed concept of God itself.

He loves himself only and that he does without setting any

conditions. He also realizes that even while he called himself a

bhakta in the last case, he really was a sakta as he was attached to

his concept of God just for the sake of finding lasting happiness.

 

He plunges into advaita, reads, listens, performs austerities and

ultimately gains a basic vision of himself – a vision that tells him

that he himself is the Truth and all that he was relating so far to –

his wife, children, friends, possessions and the world at large –

are in fact he himself. Mind you, this is just an understanding and

he has no doubts about the logic and truth of it. However, this

understanding demands a certain behaviour from him. He has to treat

everything as himself, which he finds impossible to accomplish due to

the ingrained weaknesses in his personality and his overweighing ego-

centric individuality.

 

He thus concludes that if his conviction of the Truth is really

strong enough, a deliberate practice (abhyAsa) is required to really

live that Truth (jnAna) and be ultimately spontaneous in it.

Otherwsie, the new knowledge that he possesses becomes hypocrisy.

Only such practice can cleanse him of his isolated individuality and

merge him with the whole world with which he has so far been relating

as an objectification outside and totally separate from him. He thus

takes to the path of right action called KarmaYOga whereby the

knowledge (jnAna) that he is everything and as such is in love with

everything without any anticipation of rewards or returns grows on

him slowly. The concept of God – an objectification yet – holds his

hand en route. He understands that that God is his own swarUpa

without any rUpa at the end of the road. HE NOW KNOWS THE

SIGNIFICANCE OF *PRACTICE* IN ADVAITA. (Is any one among us doing

this? If yes, let him/her come out with helpful personal tips to

enrich this discussion at the end of the month.)

 

Ultimately, when he has grown into Oneness with everything, there is

nothing that is apart or separate from him. His initial spontaneous

love now stands transformed into all-consuming Universal Love. In

the Oneness that he is now, he doesn't need different terms like

lover or bhakta or even jnAni to distinguish himself because all such

terms raises questions of a dualistic nature like : Love what?

Bhakti to whom? Know what? He is thus Bhakti that is JnAna that is

Love that is Happiness. The four and himself are not different any

more. There are simply no four. SO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF WE,

THE STRUGGLERS, HE *APPARENTLY* COMPOSES THE `NIRGUNAMANASA PUJA'

FOR OUR SAKE. (Thanks Sunderji).

 

We have now reached Maniji's understanding of true bhakti and that is

the end of the road for us.

 

PraNAms.

 

Madathil Nair

[Guest guest]

Thank you Shriman Nair-ji for a very well written post and a

convincing one too !!!

 

i also want to join you in thanking Shri Sunder-ji for initiating the

posting of 33 verses from Adi Sankara's Nirguna Manasa Puja ! After

all, it is a known fact that of all the forms of worship, Nirguna

Worship is the most exalted one.

 

Sunder-ji mentioned 81 types of bhakti from the Narada Sutras. Over

and above the 81 types of Bhakti is Nirguna Bhakti ....

 

here is a sloka that confirms this .....

 

mad-guNa-shruti-mAtreNa mayi sarva-guhAshaye /

manogatir-avicchinnA yathA gang-Ambhaso-mbudhau //

lakshhaNaM bhaktiyogasya nirguNasya hyudAhRtaM /

ahaitukya-vyavahitA yA bhaktiH purushhottame //

 

Having heard about Him, one gets addicted with devotion that does

not see any distinction, without any expectation of results, to

the Purushhottama, who lives in the deepest hearts of all, like the

waves of the ocean that turn back to the ocean everytime it is

thrown on the shore.

 

(courtesy- professor-ji- posted in my group sadhana_shakti)

 

But having said this ... Can one size fit all?

 

Nair-ji is magnanimous in conceding at the end of his post

 

We have now reached Maniji's understanding of true bhakti and that is

the end of the road for us.

 

The key phrase is "Mani-ji's understanding" --- YES !! dear hearts !

MANI-JI'S UNDERSTANDING!! and Nair-ji also uses the phrase "

strugglers" in the concluding para of his post.... i will enhance

that word "strugglers" with another qualifying adjective " struggling

beginners on the path" !!!! Many of us may not be endowed with

maniji's sense of Dispassion and Discrimination ( vairagya and

viveka) .... For such of us , the concept of a personal God/ess and

the saguna worship of such a God/ess is of great significance !!! we

may not have yet graduated to the stage of Nirguna Manasa puja! From

Rupa we progress to Ni-Rupa ( form to formless) , from Sakara to

Akara and from Saguna to Nirguna!!!!

 

Nair-ji gave the example of wife, children and other material

possessions ...YES! how does a Shakta/Bhakta Like Sri. Ramakrishna

approach his wife? Shri Ramakrishna performed "shodasi" puja to his

wife and with this puja he proclaimed more or less to all " None , O

beloved , ever loved the wife for wife's sake, but it is the Goddess

in the wife which is loved." (to paraphrase)... Yes, a grihasta who

became a Renunciate in mind and body ... but is this possible for

lesser mortals like us ?

 

How to conquer all the lowly passions and all the ASHTA VARGAS ?

(eightfold obstacles) - Kama (Lust), Krodha (anger), Lobha

(greed/coveteousness ) , Moha (delusion) , Mada, (pride), Matsarya

(jealousy) , Darpa (arrogance), Dambha (hypocrisy)and the king of

them Ahamkara ( e-go) ? This are the demons in all of us.

 

So, for a beginner , a step by step 'ritualistic' puja is a great

start.... how can one create the 'bhava' of Advaita without

performing the 'kriya' of Adwaita? Attitude comes only after repeated

practice !! Start worshipping 'archa-vigraha' of God/ess and then

graduate to worshipping God/ess in each and every one around you !

The problem with those fanatics situated in Bhakti yoga is e they

worship the Stone image as Narayana but fail to worship the Humans

nas ( nara) a Narayana! and this is where 'attitude' helps! Nara seva

Narayana seva - karma yoga par excellance!!! Gandhiji, Mother Teresa

etc practiced this Bhava of Advaita!

 

and a Parama Jnani is at heart a true bhakta or else how else would

you explain this great devotional verse of Adi Sankara in Sivananda

Lahari?

 

" A man caught in a current seeks the shore; a tired traveler, the

shade of a tree; one caught in the rain, his comfortable home; a

person in quest of hospitality, a householder; a poverty-stricken

person, a charitable and wealthy man; a person in dense darkness, a

lamp; and one exposed to cold, a well fired hearth. In the same way,

O my mind, seek the lotus feet of Shiva – the feet that destroy all

fear. "

 

AS OUR BELOVED THAKORE SHRI RAMAKRISHNA SAYS ..

 

"The whole world is a lunatic asylum. Some are mad after sex, some

are mad after worldly success, others after fame, some after wealth,

and some after powers or salvation in heaven. I too am mad. I am mad

after God. You are mad, so am I. I think my madness is the best."

 

Hari Aum Tat Sat !!!