Help on the Quest for Self-realization-Reminders-36

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Help on the Quest for Self-realization-Reminders-36

 

Purification of the mind

 

76 Since purity of mind is indispensable for any kind of

spiritual practice, it possesses an eminence of the highest order.

 

77 The greatness of chitta suddhi [purity of mind] is that it

is the mother of all virtuous conduct. Realizing this, examine your

mind every day.

 

78 It is natural for a mind that behaves with outstanding

rectitude to obtain a firm and focused tranquility.

 

79 The melting of the mind [towards God] and the compassion [it

exhibits towards creatures] are the means for purifying the mind.

 

80 Consciousness, one's real nature, is extremely subtle, so

subtle that it cannot be known by speech, mind or intellect.

 

81 It is therefore proper and necessary that they [speech, mind

and intellect] should first be reformed through reflecting upon the

grace-consciousness of God.

 

Vasanas (mental tendencies; the latent desires and feelings that

compel one to behave in a particular way)

 

82 The nature of thoughts that arise in the mind will be in

accordance of the old vasanas.

 

Bhagavan: Vasanas themselves are the mind. If there are no vasanas

there is no mind. That which is, is sat. Sat is Brahman. That is

self-luminous. That is Atman, and that is the Self.

 

83 The disturbing agitation of mind that occurs when one

attempts to get firmly established in sadhana is a normal occurrence

that is prompted by the rising of the vasanas.

 

84 If at that time you hold tightly to the power of the grace

of the parasaki that has possessed you, the vasanas that agitate

your mind and distresses you will be completely destroyed.

 

"The power of the grace of the parasaki that has possessed you" is a

reference to the inner feeling of "I am" since this feeling is often

referred to in Muruganar's writing as tiruvarul, the divine grace

that will lead one to the Self.

 

85 Unless the destruction of [all] the vasanas is accomplished,

it will be possible even for Iswara to bestow the state of

liberation.

 

86 The felicitous state of immoveable peace that never falters

will be attainable only to those who have destroyed the ancient

multitude of vasanas, putting an end to all attachment.

 

Question: Since realization is not possible without vasana-kshaya

[destruction of vasanas], how am I to realize that state in which

the vasanas are effectively destroyed?

 

Bhagavan: You are in that state now!

 

Question: Does it mean that by holding on to the Self, the vasanas

should be destroyed as and when they emerge?

 

Bhagavan: They will themselves be destroyed if you remain as you are.

 

87 Pramada [not keeping one's attention on the Self], whose

association with one is detected in the culminating phase of

sadhana, is the mind's original, deluding vasana.

 

88 Achieving Atmanishta (being fixed in the Self) through

sadhana is to arrive at a life that is free from the misery caused

by the scorching vasanas.

 

Bhagavan: Just as water in the pot reflects the enormous sun within

the narrow limits of the pot, even so the vasanas or latent

tendencies of the mind of the individual, acting as the reflecting

medium, catch the all-pervading, infinite light of consciousness

arising from the Heart and present, in the form of a reflection, the

phenomenon called the mind. Seeing only this reflection, the ajnani

(unenlightened person) is deluded into the belief that he is a

finite being, the jiva.

 

If the mind becomes introverted through enquiry into the source of

aham-vritti [the "I"-thought], the vasanas become extinct, and in

the absence of the reflecting medium the phenomenon of reflection,

the mind, also disappears being absorbed into the light of the one

reality, the Heart.

 

This is the sum and substance of all that an aspirant needs to know.

What is imperatively required of him is an earnest and one-pointed

enquiry into the source of aham-vritti.

 

89 Destroy the world vasanas. Sow the vasana of chidakasa [the

expanse of consciousness] in your Heart.

 

The destruction of vasanas

 

90 Expelling the accumulation of evil [vasanas] from you

Heart, garner in copious quantities the wealth of God [which is

grace].

 

91 Through the momentum gained by the practice of bhakti

(devotion to God)-yoga, which is loving Iswara, attain the

destruction of vasanas in your Heart.

 

92 Truly, vasanas are association [sanga]. You should therefore

know that their extinction is the total abandonment of all

association.

 

Guru Vachaka Kovai, verse 912, Pozhippurai: Only the collection of

vasanas present in the Heart deserves to be despised and discarded

by the wise as an association [sanga] that constitutes the obstacles

to Self-abidance. If one initially remains in solitude, patiently

practicing Self-abidance, and consequently gets the mind to subside

completely, then, in whatever environment the one who possesses the

eminence of a vasana-free mind may happen to live on account of his

prabdha, no blemish will accrue to him.

 

Vilakkam: Unless the vasanas, the inner attachments, are already

present, the outer attachments cannot pull the mind, making it

wander here and there, preventing it from getting established in

Self-abidance. Therefore those who possess the greatness of a

stilled mind do not incur any blemish irrespective of the

environment they may reside in. The implication is: only inner

attachment is truly attachment; outer attachment is not the problem.

 

93 Establish yourself in the Self so that the vasanas, the

impurities, are rooted out and destroyed. That is the true course of

action.

 

Question: What are the obstacles that hinder the realization of the

Self?

 

Bhagavan: They are habits of mind [vasanas].

 

Question: How to overcome the mental habits [vasanas]?

 

Bhagavan: By realizing the Self.

 

Question: That is a vicious circle.

 

Bhagavan: It is the ego that raises such difficulties, creating

obstacles and then suffering from the perplexity of apparent

paradoxes. Find out who makes the enquiries and the Self will be

found.

 

Question: Can there be Self-realization before the vasanas are

entirely destroyed?

 

Bhagavan: There are two kinds of vasanas: (1) bandha hetuh, causing

bondage for the ignorant, and (2) bhoga hetuh, giving enjoyment for

the wise. The latter do not obstruct realization.

 

94 Like cotton in a fire, everything [meaning all vasanas] in

the hearts of those in whom the divine grace, the fire of jnana

(direct knowledge of Self), has been kindled will be completely and

simultaneously destroyed.

 

NOTE: TAKEN FROM "PADAMALAI", EDITED BY DAVID GODMAN, PAGES 246 TO

249