Wrestle against Finitude-what is vairagya?

[Guest guest]

PraNAms to all - I am posting here in response to a

post by shree Sriram in advaitinL list, since I felt

the urge to share in this list. I included adviatin

list address in my original response, but for some

reason reason it did not come. I am posting now, with

little bit of typo corrections, separately to the

list. If we get duplicate posts, my apologies.

Hari Om!

Sadananda

-------

 

Shree Sriram

 

To me, vairaagya is nothing but clear understanding of

priorities in life and going after that, which is the

most important in Life. We do this all the time. If I

have to achieve something and am willing to strive for

it, that should become my top priority. If I want to

succeed even in the world, I should have the

discipline to go after that, what is prioritized, and

reject the other things that take my mind away from

what Iwant to achieve. This is taught even in work

place -prioritize what need to be done for that day,

for that month, and for that year, etc, for efficient

management at work place. Discipline, which is part of

Shat sampatti, is essential to go after that we have

been prioritized, as the most important thing.

 

The problem arises when viveka, the discriminative

intellect, is not developed enough to know what is the

most important in Life, that which is eternal vs that

which is is ephemeral. This comes with samskaara -

the Munduka sloka emphasizes this -

'Pariiksha lokaan karma chitaan brahmaano...'-

after examining that by finite actions one cannot

achieve that which is infinite, one is advised to

approach a teacher who is shotriya and brahmanishhTa.

Capacity to recognize that the worldly

pursuits do not give me what I am seeking, which is

the eternal inexhaustible happiness, makes me mature.

That discriminative mind that can discriminates what

is the most essential in life, is called viveka, and

is required to recognize the problem in order to reset

the priorities in my life right.

 

Then, vairaagya comes naturally when one has

determined that the worldly pursuits do not give the

eternal happiness that one is longing for. The more

one is convinced of this, the more he redirects his

life pursuits towards this higher goal. It is not

based on disgust but is based on what is the most

important in life.

 

Frankly, there is nothing that is disgust about the

world. This does not mean, there are no disgusted

actions by the ignorant and the selfish individuals.

Nature does not have any disgusted things; but man

makes them so. World is what it is. It is also not

different from Brahman. That understanding is what is

required; but to see that Brahman in and through the

world requires a discriminative intellect. When we say

He is the upaadaana kaaraNa, the world is nothing but

He alone, in all forms and shapes, with all His glory,

emanating everywhere. Recognition of His presence in

the beauty of the flowers, in the abundance greenery

everywhere, in the flying of the birds, in the

squeaking sounds of the insects, in the smile and

crying of the babies, in the love of the mother, in

the affectionate pat of a friend, in the smile of a

passer by, in the good and the bad and the ugly, in

the good Samaritans who are ready to help others, and

even in those who are so called bad, who complain or

who cause others to complain, in the working of the

whole world, some selfish and some selfless - by

seeing the whole drama of life by standing apart and

looking at the whole life as bystander - that is

discrimination intellect, recognizing that which is

substantive Brahman vs. that which is superficial

superimpositions on that Brahman - that is vairaagya

born of viveka - giving up the unnecessary superficial

baggage by recognizing that enlivening entity in all,

that something that is very precious and the

substantive of that is seen, heard, and felt. The

giving up, viaraagya, I mean, involves looking beyond

the superficials, recognizing the beauty even in those

as part of His leela, as witnessing agent enjoying

beauty of the creation as His play – ‘pasyam me yogam

iswaram - Look at my glory Arjuna - All are in Me, but

I am not in them’ - understanding the essence of that

statement of Lord Krishna. Till that discriminative

intellect develops - it develops by constant study of

the scriptures with the help of a teacher and

reflecting on it and contemplating on it - shrotavyaH,

mantavyaH, nidhidhyaasitavyaH - the vairaagya also

comes. Any forced vairaagya with the mind not fully

convinced will back fire later because vaasanaas have

not been sublimated, through karma yoga and jyaana

yoga.

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda

 

--- Sriram Krishnamurthy <asksriramjobs

wrote:

 

> Wrestle against Finitude

> Note how Vairagya arises in the mind. The transitory

> and perishable nature

> of all things creates a sort of disgust in all

> minds, and in proportion to

> the depth and subtlety of nature, this reaction from

> the world works more or

> less powerfully in the mind of every individual. An

> irresistible feeling

> arises in our mind, viz., that the finite can never

> satisfy the Infinite

> within us, that the changing and perishable cannot

> satisfy the changeless

> and deathless nature of ours. When you are fully

> aware of the magnitude of

> human sufferings in this miserable, relative world,

> you will naturally begin

> to discriminate between what is Real and what is

> unreal.

>

> Om Tat Sat Brahmarpanamastu,

> Sriram