"When will we see Datta?"

December 18, 2002

DATTATREYA IS SEEN IN EVERYONE!

Pradyumna Upadrashta <oneinfinitezero

Wed, 18 Dec 2002 09:40:33 -0800 (PST)

JAIGURUDATTA

"When will we see Datta?"

I think the underlying message of all religions is that you don't need to

wait for tomorrow, or for a prophet, or any sort of 'sign' to know god. You

need faith and you can know god now. The truth that is spoken, is not the

eternal truth. The truth that is, exists alone, supremely independent of any

belief, any ritual, any dogma, any rules, any boundaries, or any

imagination. That truth is datta. The avadhuta is the personification of

that truth. Those who fight over "I am hindu" or "I am christian" don't see

the truth for what it is. Datta is neither hindu nor christian. Datta simply

IS.

As Datta Jayanti approaches, my thoughts were called towards the recent

"Datta Jayanti event" being planned here in MN. Discussions arose regarding

the concept of how to tell the story of Dattatreya while making it more

real, or more interesting, or more physical, so to speak. I think one of the

problems when people listen to these stories is that they ignore the point

of the story. They think usually think "what an idiot, if I saw dattatreya I

wouldn't behave like this poor fool in the story"

So, today i'd like to take some time to talk about our ingrained habits and

behavior, and what true spirituality entails. People verbally say "seeing

god is a great thing" -- but I doubt that many people think "how hard is it

really to see datta?" They don't think "Would I actually recognize datta if

I saw him?"

People think they can listen to swamiji's lectures for half-hour on vedanta,

and people say "Oh, I experienced so much bliss". They do poojas and say

"there was so much bliss, so many vibrations." When they go back to their

daily lives, they go back to their same patterns of behavior, their same

prejudices, their same ego, same pride, same dogma. This "bliss" that these

people have experienced then is nothing more than mere "words". The true

bliss destroys (annihilates) everything else.

Suppose you were walking down the street one day (let's say a street in

india), and a beggar walks up to you. His clothes are torn, his hair is

matted, he smells, he has several missing teeth which incidentally are

reddish from chewing too much paan, and one of his eyes has a huge gash

(wound) in it. You can't help but feel sorry for him / his condition; or at

least you'd be frightened by his appearance alone, not to mention his

horrible smell. At the same time, most people who are used to seeing beggars

in the street every day, probably ignore this man. They may "shoo" him away.

They may even physically abuse him because they were having some problem at

work that day and this poor man was conveniently available to take their

frustrations.

Now suppose there is a very great scholar/pundit who memorized every word of

the vedas. He has achieved all sorts of honors for his knowledge. He has won

prizes, awards, and adoration of millions of people. He is well respected

and considered close to god because of his learning. Whatever he said,

people would do, and whatever he spoke, was like vedanta. One day this great

scholar was invited to conduct the Anagha pooja in his local town. He

therefore wakes up early that morning, and brushes his teeth, takes his

bath; carefully selects his clothing; fasts that entire morning; observes

vows of physical silence; and wears vibhuti and kumkum on his forehead

before leaving his house. He is exceptionally careful about not touching

impure things, not eating impure food, and avoiding dirty things. As he is

walking towards the event hall, the above beggar begins walking towards him

with a limp, hoping to get some money or food from this great man. As he

comes nearer, the man is repulsed and he walks faster so as to avoid

touching the beggar and becoming polluted by the smell and filth. As the man

walks faster, the beggar also begins to follow the man ever faster. The man

in his haste, trips over and falls down, causing his new clothes to get mud

all over them. He becomes furious. He begins to yell and shout at the poor

beggar. The beggar then decides to walk away. Now, the scholar decides that

nothing else can be done; he goes back home, he changes his clothes, takes

his bath again; and this time he orders a rikshaw to take him to the event

so that he would not be late. In his urgency, he yells at the rikshaw driver

to go faster. He arrives and begins the pooja on time, he says all the

mantras with exceptional clarity, his voice is loud and booming, his

precision is amazing to watch as he recites verse after verse without a

single flaw in pronounciation. At the end of the day, he has anna danna

prasaada (dinner/food) with everyone at the end of the pooja. He then goes

home, and goes to sleep comfortably pleased with his performance of the

event and the day's activities.

So, why did I tell this story?

Because the beggar whom this man yelled and screamed at was really

dattatreya himself. The poor scholar with his pride in himself and his

orthodox ways, did not recognize datta. The man who had memorized the text

of the vedas line by line, did not see the master of the vedas when he

approached him in this form. What use were all his habits? What use was all

his preparation? What use was all his learning... when he could not

recognize the supreme lord who had visited him that day in the form of a

beggar.

Perhaps next time, you will all think twice, when you see a beggar on the

street, or when you pass judgement on another person because you think you

are somehow better than they are; maybe you are pure, maybe you practice all

the rituals; maybe you wear vibhuti and kumkum like a good hindu; maybe you

preach philosophies to people who are "ignorant" in your view; maybe you

have memorized all the prayers; maybe you even say your prayers ten times a

day; maybe you go around giving lectures; maybe you avoid all unclean

things; maybe you eat vegetarian food; but when you cannot recognize the

lord, what use is your austerity? When you waste time arguing with one

another over which religion is correct, and which religion is the true path

to god, and how you should conduct a ritual, or what is proper, you are

wasting the same time which could have been spent in seeing god. How sad.

Let us then all pray to Sri Swamiji that we have the wisdom, courage,

awareness, and proper mental/spiritual attitudes so that when we see

Dattatreya in the street, we are actually able to recognize him.

Jai Guru Datta!!

______________________________

The centipede was happy quite

until a bird said, in fun,

"Which foot goes after which?"

This raised his mind to such a pitch

he lay distracted in a ditch

considering how to run.

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December 18, 2002

how about a pure heart?

as far as i know, according to Swamiji the intellect, however clean it may

be, is of no avail when it comes to understand the spirit of God. Manasa

Datta said so in Dusseldorf, and it is in the Bhagavad Gita as well, Heart to

Heart and other books.

and if bahe had been Datta, would you have recognized him?

Jai Guru Datta

> So much of description on how the Pandit looked, dressed and decorated his

> forehead is definitely out of context. I feel for one to recognize the

> Datta Bhagavan one has to have a clean mind, for mind is the most powerful

> sensor we have. When it is filled with useless information and bias, it

> definitely canâ€™t reflect in itself the Datta Bhagavanâ€™s image even when

> the Bhagavan stands right in front of it.

> Vegetarianism, Cleanliness, reciting mantras with at most devotion and

> concentration are nothing but ways of cleaning body and ultimately the

> mind. In spite of all such practices, if some one is unable to find Datta

> Bhagavan, indicates, there is great scope in mending ones ways.

>

December 18, 2002

all the better ;-) your words in God´s ear as we say in Germany

Jai Guru Datta

> I feel, a clean mind develops and lives in harmony with a clean heart. They

> are inseparable.

> Jai Guru Datta

>

December 18, 2002

I think the underlying message of all religions is that you don't need to wait

for tomorrow, or for a prophet, or any sort of 'sign' to know god. You need

faith and you can know god now. The truth that is spoken, is not the eternal

truth. The truth that is, exists alone, supremely independent of any belief, any

ritual, any dogma, any rules, any boundaries, or any imagination. That truth is

datta. The avadhuta is the personification of that truth. Those who fight over

"I am hindu" or "I am christian" don't see the truth for what it is. Datta is

neither hindu nor christian. Datta simply IS.

As Datta Jayanti approaches, my thoughts were called towards the recent "Datta

Jayanti event" being planned here in MN. Discussions arose regarding the concept

of how to tell the story of Dattatreya while making it more real, or more

interesting, or more physical, so to speak. I think one of the problems when

people listen to these stories is that they ignore the point of the story. They

think usually think "what an idiot, if I saw dattatreya I wouldn't behave like

this poor fool in the story"

So, today i'd like to take some time to talk about our ingrained habits and

behavior, and what true spirituality entails. People verbally say "seeing god is

a great thing" -- but I doubt that many people think "how hard is it really to

see datta?" They don't think "Would I actually recognize datta if I saw him?"

People think they can listen to swamiji's lectures for half-hour on vedanta, and

people say "Oh, I experienced so much bliss". They do poojas and say "there was

so much bliss, so many vibrations." When they go back to their daily lives, they

go back to their same patterns of behavior, their same prejudices, their same

ego, same pride, same dogma. This "bliss" that these people have experienced

then is nothing more than mere "words". The true bliss destroys (annihilates)

everything else.

Suppose you were walking down the street one day (let's say a street in india),

and a beggar walks up to you. His clothes are torn, his hair is matted, he

smells, he has several missing teeth which incidentally are reddish from chewing

too much paan, and one of his eyes has a huge gash (wound) in it. You can't help

but feel sorry for him / his condition; or at least you'd be frightened by his

appearance alone, not to mention his horrible smell. At the same time, most

people who are used to seeing beggars in the street every day, probably ignore

this man. They may "shoo" him away. They may even physically abuse him because

they were having some problem at work that day and this poor man was

conveniently available to take their frustrations.

Now suppose there is a very great scholar/pundit who memorized every word of the

vedas. He has achieved all sorts of honors for his knowledge. He has won prizes,

awards, and adoration of millions of people. He is well respected and considered

close to god because of his learning. Whatever he said, people would do, and

whatever he spoke, was like vedanta. One day this great scholar was invited to

conduct the Anagha pooja in his local town. He therefore wakes up early that

morning, and brushes his teeth, takes his bath; carefully selects his clothing;

fasts that entire morning; observes vows of physical silence; and wears vibhuti

and kumkum on his forehead before leaving his house. He is exceptionally careful

about not touching impure things, not eating impure food, and avoiding dirty

things. As he is walking towards the event hall, the above beggar begins walking

towards him with a limp, hoping to get some money or food from this great man.

As he comes nearer, the man is repulsed and he walks faster so as to avoid

touching the beggar and becoming polluted by the smell and filth. As the man

walks faster, the beggar also begins to follow the man ever faster. The man in

his haste, trips over and falls down, causing his new clothes to get mud all

over them. He becomes furious. He begins to yell and shout at the poor beggar.

The beggar then decides to walk away. Now, the scholar decides that nothing else

can be done; he goes back home, he changes his clothes, takes his bath again;

and this time he orders a rikshaw to take him to the event so that he would not

be late. In his urgency, he yells at the rikshaw driver to go faster. He arrives

and begins the pooja on time, he says all the mantras with exceptional clarity,

his voice is loud and booming, his precision is amazing to watch as he recites

verse after verse without a single flaw in pronounciation. At the end of the

day, he has anna danna prasaada (dinner/food) with everyone at the end of the

pooja. He then goes home, and goes to sleep comfortably pleased with his

performance of the event and the day's activities.

So, why did I tell this story?

Because the beggar whom this man yelled and screamed at was really dattatreya

himself. The poor scholar with his pride in himself and his orthodox ways, did

not recognize datta. The man who had memorized the text of the vedas line by

line, did not see the master of the vedas when he approached him in this form.

What use were all his habits? What use was all his preparation? What use was all

his learning... when he could not recognize the supreme lord who had visited him

that day in the form of a beggar.

Perhaps next time, you will all think twice, when you see a beggar on the

street, or when you pass judgement on another person because you think you are

somehow better than they are; maybe you are pure, maybe you practice all the

rituals; maybe you wear vibhuti and kumkum like a good hindu; maybe you preach

philosophies to people who are "ignorant" in your view; maybe you have memorized

all the prayers; maybe you even say your prayers ten times a day; maybe you go

around giving lectures; maybe you avoid all unclean things; maybe you eat

vegetarian food; but when you cannot recognize the lord, what use is your

austerity? When you waste time arguing with one another over which religion is

correct, and which religion is the true path to god, and how you should conduct

a ritual, or what is proper, you are wasting the same time which could have been

spent in seeing god. How sad.

Let us then all pray to Sri Swamiji that we have the wisdom, courage, awareness,

and proper mental/spiritual attitudes so that when we see Dattatreya in the

street, we are actually able to recognize him.

Jai Guru Datta!!

______________________________

The centipede was happy quite

until a bird said, in fun,

"Which foot goes after which?"

This raised his mind to such a pitch

he lay distracted in a ditch

considering how to run.

Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now

December 18, 2002

So much of description on how the Pandit looked, dressed and decorated his

forehead is definitely out of context. I feel for one to recognize the Datta

Bhagavan one has to have a clean mind, for mind is the most powerful sensor we

have. When it is filled with useless information and bias, it definitely can’t

reflect in itself the Datta Bhagavan’s image even when the Bhagavan stands right

in front of it.

Vegetarianism, Cleanliness, reciting mantras with at most devotion and

concentration are nothing but ways of cleaning body and ultimately the mind. In

spite of all such practices, if some one is unable to find Datta Bhagavan,

indicates, there is great scope in mending ones ways.

Jai Guru Datta.

Pradyumna Upadrashta <oneinfinitezero wrote: