Who is here as well as there ?

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends, ( I wont call advaitins because I believe everyone is

pure self and shud not be distinguished as vaishnav or shaivite at

least by me who believes the whole world is the manifestation of the

supreme self.)

 

Sorry for that starting lecture, but being a kid on the spiritual

path I have some freedom to do mischiefs.

 

Okay coming to the point. I wanted to share a story which I read and

thought I shud share it with fellow seekers.

 

Once Akbar asked Birbal ( it was his favourite past time , imagine

if Birbal had been now , he would have won the KBC programme).

 

Who is here but not there ? ( here means earth, there means heaven,

upper planets (whatever))

 

Birbal answered; "Ur majesty, the thief and the sinners are here on

earth but they r not there in the heaven. They remain on the earth

for many lives."

 

Akbar asked again;"Okay , then who is there but not here?

 

Birbal answered; "Ur majesty the demigods, the angels, are

physically there whereas the saints and realised beings are mentally

there but not here. They function and shower their blessings being

there."

 

Akbar asked again; "Who is neither here nor there?"

 

Birbal answered;"Ur majesty the beggar and the lazy is neither here

nor there. Because his life on earth is wasted so he neither enjoys

earth and neither there is hope for him to go there."

 

Finally Akbar asked ;"Birbal then who is here as well as therë?"

 

Birbal answered with a wide smile;"My lord, the pious householder is

both here and there. Because he lives and fullfills his duties he

prospers on earth and his heart being always in rememberance of Lord

he attains heaven."

 

No doubt, Akbar was a just emperor. For those who dont know, Akbar

had also visited Vaishnav Devi to have darshan of Goddess Durga.

 

Thats for now,

 

Pailagu to all, Shower blessings plss.

 

Lots of love,

 

Sai.

[Guest guest]

Namaste Saiji,

Akbar Birbal story is thought provoking.

May be we should look at these questions through the eyes of vedanta.

1. Who is here but not there?

HERE - jagat, the present moment.

Who is here - Vyavahara - transactions in the material world. The materialistic who has not been endowed with Shastra vAsana.

NOT THERE - He is not made himself available for the pursuit of knowledge. His pursuit is only artha and kAma and not moxa. May Isvara save him1

THERE if it means heaven. where is it? Its a non- verifiable belief. Its a promise made by the shAstras - shabdha pramANa. There are lokas alright. One reaches these lokas according to their pApas and puNyas.

No dead person has ever come back to describe the lokas he or she has visited or lived. Even if they say so, saying its an experience he/she will be admitted in the asylum.

So experiences are bound to be dismissed. Any description/illustration based on Shabdha pramANa is acceptable to us. For example, there is a piuctorial representation of vaikuntam at Ghostipuram near Madurai where Shri Ramanuja is supposed to have given the collective initiation of 'om namo narayanaya.' The painting skills, the picturisation and the vegetebvle colours used and the preservation skilss are the thoughts that occur at that juncture and nothing more.

Or if my goal is to reach VaikunTa then I get a picture of VaikunTa to the place I aspire to reach. Like a Lonely planet travel guide book about Switzerland.

Swami Dayanandaji jocularly calls heaven as 'penthouse' - fivestar hotel penthouse or the pent house of the earth?

Swamiji says if one dont make use of the opportunity to study Vedanta and assimilate Vedanta now, and if one has accumulated enough puNyam to reach Brhamloka, then one has to learn "AHAM BRAHMASMI" THERE, and the teacher is Brahmaji. He is not going to teach anything else. What a revelation!

2. Who is there but not here.

One who forsakes all his nithya, naimithika karma and lives in an illusionary world of his own, forsaking his duties out of virakti/disgust/hatred. This is not going to help. Such a person needs to be taught Bhagavad Gita - Karma yoga.

3.Who is neither here not there.

A psychologically challenged person, who has been lost to both the HERE and the THERE. He needs to be therapeutically treated.

4. Who is here as well as there.

Balancing this is the most difficult part. This requires enormous patience. GrihastAshrama teaches innumerable lessons and along with the study of Vedanta brings about this balance. But one has to be blessed indeed.

The stithaprajna fits in here.

There is no illwill meant or to hurt anybodys sentiment here. As a student of Vedanta we need to have the courage to analyse all ideas threadbare, to accept the statement of the upanishads "neti- neti".

om namo narayanaya

Lakshmi Muthuswamy

Lakshmi Muthuswamy

 

 

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