[Advaita-l] Wrestle against Finitude

[Guest guest]

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 becomes 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 other things that take my mind away from what I

want 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.

 

The problem arises when viveka, the discriminative

intellect is not developed enough to know what is the

most important in Life, what is eternal and what 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 is the

eternal inexhaustible happiness makes me mature. That

discriminative mind that can discriminate what is the

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

look at the whole life as by a stander - 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 some thing that precious and substantive. 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