Prof Anil Kumar Questions & Answers Part-3 last...With Youth in Dallas

[Guest guest]

HOW FREQUENTLY SHOULD WE MEDITATE AND FOR HOW LONG?

Youth from Region 1 asks: How frequently does one have to meditate—both in the morning and evening? And for how long, in order to derive joy from it?

This question is put due to your own limited understanding of meditation. The meditation you are thinking about is the one bound by time and space: “I meditate between four and five in the early hours of the morning. I meditate once again in the night between seven and eight,†or whatever you may say. This is only a limited meditation, within the framework of time.

Further, you could say, “This is my meditation room. This is the place where I meditate every day most religiously.†This is the second point of your idea of meditation—referring to space. Space and time are the two binding factors, as you currently understand meditation.

But true meditation is beyond time and space. Time and space are two aspects that relate to the mind. When the mind is off, when the mind is in trance, when the mind is withdrawn in deep sleep, what is the time and where is the space? When you are sleeping in the night, unmindful of what is happening around you, do you know the space where you are? Do you know the time where you are? So, deep sleep is beyond time and space because, in that deep sleep state, the mind is totally withdrawn. Even in this waking state, even now, there can be withdrawal of the mind or true meditation. But if you limit meditation to time and space, it is no meditation at all.

On the other hand, maybe for beginners, it is a good idea to practice like that. One may do it that way initially; but that is not the final form of meditation. In fact, the whole life is meditation. Life is meditation! Whatever you do is meditation. A state when you forget yourself—that is meditation! A state where you get yourself involved and identified with the job totally, that is meditation. If you are a computer man, as you work with your computer, you are totally into it . . . one with that only. That is meditation.

As a doctor, the way he handles a patient—the examination, diagnosis, treatment, prescription, all of that in its totally—is his meditation. A teacher, as he teaches in the classroom, forgets himself, his family, his family problems, and his ailments. He gets lost in the art of teaching, disseminating knowledge to the students who are sitting in front of him. So teaching is his meditation.

The job of a doctor is meditation. The job of a computer engineer is meditation. So meditation means ‘totality of existence’. When you are totally into it, completely into it, losing all sense of time and space, it can be called meditation. That is the very definition of meditation, which you will understand as time passes, and in particular, as you gain more experience.

Therefore, this is not a job or anything like an activity that is limited to morning and evening only. If you look at it like that, then what would you do during the rest of the time? You stop meditation. So, what do you mean by meditation? What you think of as meditation is not meditation in the true sense.

If this meditation, as you understand it, is true, then Lord Krishna should have asked Arjuna, “Meditate, my boy! You don’t need to fight.†Or Rama should have said to Anjaneya (Hanuman), “Please meditate! You don’t need to go to Lanka to fetch Sita.â€

But instead, they wanted them to take to activity. While Hanuman was travelling, he was totally involved in thoughts of Rama; that is all. While Arjuna was fighting, he had nothing other than the command of Krishna in his heart. So in Arjuna’s case, fighting was his meditation; while in the case of Hanuman, the search for Sita was his meditation.

Develop along these new ideas of meditation, so that you never limit meditation to a particular place and a particular time.

 

IS IT FAIR TO DEPEND ON SWAMI TO DO EVERYTHING FOR US?

Youth from Region 3 asks: I have seen people who say every time, “Swami should do everything for me.†How far is it fair to depend upon Swami, without putting forth any effort, rather than trying on our own? Is that fair to depend on Swami? Of course, Swami does things whenever we ask, and even when we do not ask. An example: a student would ask Swami to pass him in the exam, but not study hard to achieve that. Similar is the case with many devotees.

The third chapter Karma Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita gives a correct answer to this question. You cannot be lazy. You cannot live passively continuously. Action is quite natural. You may say, “I am not doing anything.†But you do not know. You may be doing many things without your notice.

You may sit idle, but your mind is thinking. That is action. You may be lying on the bed, but blood circulation is taking place. The heartbeat continues, and the lungs breathe in and breathe out. There is action again. So when you again say, “I am not doing anything,†try to stop breathing, stop thinking, stop imagining, and stop everything! Only then you can correctly say, “I am not doing anything.†But can you actually stop these actions?

Doing these natural things but externally, outwardly not doing anything is the surest sign of a lazy man, an idle person, and a fit-for-nothing fellow. So one must take to activity, jump to activity, which is absolutely necessary.

The second point: what does “letting Swami do everything†really mean? You have to do your job, but leave the results to Him. “Swami does everything†means “Let Him grant me the results that I deserve, which are in my own interest, in my best interest. Let Swami grant me the results.†That is in the hands of the Divine. However, proper effort is in your hands.

As a youth, sometimes one is attracted to ask this question. I can understand that. But if Swami does everything, my dear young man, let me put this question: why do we have a mind then? Can you think with your mind? Then, why have the intellect? Can you decide what needs to be done without the intellect? Why the body? Is it not for action? So there should be thought at the level of the mind. There should be decision at the level of the intellect, and there should be action at the level of the body. You are given all these for specific purposes.

You cannot say, “I don’t do anything; let Him take care of everything.†It is laziness. Baba gives one regular example for this. What is it? You are very hungry, so a chapatti is served on a plate with sabji, the vegetable curry. The food is ready. It is now for you to eat. You cannot say, “God, You have given me food. You also see that I eat.†Can you say that? You have to eat.

Therefore, opportunities of service, opportunities of work, opportunities to come up in life, opportunities to struggle hard, still aiming high, are all the many number of things that God has granted us. Plus He has given you a sharp intellect, He has given you a sound mind, and He has given you a healthy body, which has got to be used. If God does everything, you yourself will say, “Oh God, I don’t have freedom. Can I manage myself?â€

At home, if parents do everything, the children feel that they have no independence. They feel, “Can’t I do this?†Right from childhood, we crave for freedom. This yearning for freedom will grow more and more as we age. If God takes care of everything, we will complain.

Therefore, man is endowed with freedom to choose this way or that way. Come on, act! Proceed in the field of action, and then when you say, “Swami does everything†it means that He will grant you the results depending upon your own efforts. That is what I understand regarding this question.

 

Where should questioning and enquiry lead us?

Where should questioning and enquiry ultimately lead us?

We question because of certain factors. Doubt may prompt you to question. Suspicion may prompt you to question. Distrust may lead you to question. Emotional imbalance may lead to question. Ego may be the cause for questioning. The spirit of domination, superiority complex, or inferiority complex, whatever it is, may be the cause for questioning. However, if none of these factors are the cause for questioning (like doubt, suspicion, distrust, domination, ego complex), then further questioning takes you to enquiry.

True questioning, which is free from all the factors I listed till now, is correct enquiry; otherwise not. True questioning is the path of enquiry, which will take you to the point of your true being, the centre of your life—the supreme Self.

True questioning means turning inward. True questioning is what we call meditation. This type of questioning that gets transformed into enquiry is investigation and exploration into one’s own Self. Such enquiry will end up in Self-revelation, revelation of the Self, or experience of the Self.

Questions based on doubt, distrust and other factors will take you to confusion confounded. On the other hand, questions which are independent of these factors will help you to meditate, reflect, ponder upon, and take you to the experience of Self, conferring supreme non-dual joy.

Therefore, a question is a challenge when it is turns one inward. A question is sadhana, taking one along the spiritual path, if it is an enquiry. True questioning is an eagerness to search, a yearning to learn, when turns one inward. Questioning helps you find an answer for the birth of a human life and the goal of human life. But if this questioning is based on other silly factors, turning one outward, it may be a foolish, idiotic, meaningless question, one which wastes time.

You cannot go on questioning everything that comes up. Why? Certain basic things in life also cannot be questioned. For example, your mother loves you. Do you question that? A flower is beautiful. Do you question that? The sunrise is also so beautiful. Do you question it? So, certain facts of life are unquestionable. Likewise, the Divine is unquestionable.

So, taking an unquestionable position will take your life from question to quest. Quest is different from question. Question ends when the answer is given, while quest goes on continuously, eternally. Therefore, a question which turns you inward becomes a quest, a pathless land and an eternal journey!

Ram ChuganiKobe, Japan