How to become Spiritually Awakened

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It is a truism that the only thing certain in life is death. That man

is mortal is a distressing fact of life that we have to come to terms

with sooner or later. Has anyone achieved the state of physical

immortality? Although it is possible to prolong life, as every

intelligent person should, through having the right diet and

practising hatha yoga, including pranayama, has any human being ever

succeeded in escaping from the jaws of death? As soon as we leave the

womb we are destined to the tomb, and during the intervening period

the inexorable process of decaying and ageing keeps going on from

moment to moment. Why then do people nowadays want to disguise their

decrepitude by undergoing expensive cosmetic surgery? Why bother

using any make-up? Why this desire to decorate this dirty and dying

lump of flesh and bones?

 

Buddhists who are serious strive to free themselves from attachment

to their bodies. They practise The Meditation on the Five Components

of the Body, understanding that the body is just a temporary

conglomeration of separate constituent elements that can all fall

apart at any moment and result in death:

 

Matter is similar to a lump of foam,

 

Sensations are comparable to bubbles,

 

Perception is analogous to a mirage,

 

Mental factors are somewhat the same as a banana plant

 

And consciousness is like an illusion.

 

Much in the same vein, they also practise Meditation on the

Impurities of the Body, realising that genuine renunciation of the

world consists in freedom from bodily cravings:

 

This body of mine consists of hair of my head, hair of my body,

nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart,

liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, stomach,

excrement, brain, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, lymph, tears,

serum, saliva, nasal mucous, synovial fluid and urine.

 

Much more precious than skin-deep beauty is the inner beauty of

saints who have cast aside their egos. Thus purified, they have found

freedom from resentments. Untroubled by negative thoughts and

emotions that originate in fear, worry, anger, jealousy, hatred,

malice, violence or spite, they radiate an elusive beauty that has an

ethereal quality. No words can describe the immense beauty and inner

peace that radiated from Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's austere face and

eyes. Deep was his absorption in the Eternal. Being so detached from

mundane matters, he most probably considered his external appearance

too trivial.

 

The early Christians were remarkable in that they shunned the things

of the world and led extremely simple lives. It is significant that

they were not outward-looking but inward-looking. Why did Jesus

denounce the teachers of the law and the Pharisees? Let us reflect

deeply upon the following resounding rebuke from Jesus: " You are

similar to whitewashed tombs that appear beautiful on the outside but

on the inside you are full of the bones of dead men and everything

that is unclean " (Matthew 23:27).

 

- Swami Yatiswarananda

 

to be continued...