Narayanasramam

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Sanga - Part 2

 

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

 

Question: What is sanga, the innate identification of the mind, and how can it

be removed?

 

How is sanga to be removed from the mind? Proper understanding of the

truth about sanga and the constant culture of pure wisdom are the right means

for it. Suppose you want to get rid of darkness. Is there any meaning in

fighting with it? Bring light, and instantly the darkness vanishes.

 

Sanga arises in the mind and persists only due to ignorance and

delusion. Therefore, if you cultivate spirit­ual wisdom, by virtue

of its merit your ignorance will flee and with that the sanga too will

dissolve in its very source. As long as the efforts for gaining true

wisdom are not taken up and pursued, the sanga will persist in the mind and

continue to assault you multifariously.

 

Suppose a large tree suddenly falls into a river or lake, making a huge sound

and splashing water all around, and two people happen to watch the event, one of

them too young the other old enough. The latter knows all about the tree and

water and hence he will not think of either the water or the tree as hurt by the

impact. He, therefore, looks on, feeling nothing in particular. The former, on

the other hand, gets imbalanced. As if he is himself hurt severely, he heaves

and shrieks. When the tree strikes the water, he feels he has himself been

struck or else why should he show symptoms of pain and grief?

 

If the mental structure of both is studied, you will find that the

presence of the subtle trait called sanga (identification) with the

object concerned, alone makes one feel affliction and agitation.

 

Our life in the world, or embodiment, is truly a process of the Soul

coming into contact with the body (as the water of a river with a piece of wood)

and acting upon it. In this, neither the Soul nor the body is really put to any

disadvantage or suffering. This is the supreme truth, as is the case with water

and the wood.

 

Yet the life in the world causes untold miseries and agitations to man, for he

does not realize the true nature of the Soul and the body. The remedy is to

reflect upon 'the truth' consistently and make the mind absorb it properly and

well. When the mind becomes identified, as it were, with the truth, its sanga

with the world and the things in it will disappear. Here again, what counts

truly is the right understanding and illumination. One who bas removed the sanga

from his mind, becomes instantly liberated. Except the deep-rooted sanga, there

is no cause whatever for bondage and its persistence.