Conversations with Bhagavan

[Guest guest]

Swami Madhavathirta: In the Vedanta of Sri Sankaracharya, the

principle of creation of the world has been accepted for the sake of

beginners, but for the advanced, the principle of non-creation is put

forward. What is your view on this matter?

 

Maharshi: " There is no dissolution or creation, no one in bondage, nor

anyone pursuing spiritual practices. There is no one desiring liberation nor

anyone liberated. This is the Absolute Truth. "

This sloka appears in the second chapter (the chapter on falsity) of

Gaudapada's Karika (a commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad). It means that

really there is no dissolution and no creation. There is no bondage, no one

doing spiritual practices, no one seeking spiritual liberation and no one

who is liberated. One who is established in the Self, sees this by his

knowledge of Reality.

 

Swami Madhavathirta: Is not surrender the chief sadhana?

 

Maharshi: The sadhana of surrender is accepted no doubt. But when

surrender is complete, there will be no distinction. Often when a disciple

gets initiation into a mantra from a Guru and believes that he has

surrendered, his surrender is not real. In surrender, one has to give up

one's mind, and after the mind is given away, there will be no duality of

any kind. He who remains separate from God has not surrendered.

 

Swami Madhavathirta: If all actions and their results are surrendered

to God, will the mind be controlled or not?

 

Maharshi: By doing so, the heart will be purified but the mind will

not die. Suppose a drunkard thinks that he has surrendered his karma and its

fruits to God, and in his drunken state, if he commits a mistake and someone

beats him with a stick for that mistake, he must surrender this beating also

to God. But no one acts like that. His state changes at the time he gets the

beating. Thus by surrender, the mind is not completely destroyed.

 

Swami Madhavathirta: It is believed that if we surrender to Guru or

God, then the reality of the individual goes away, and in exchange we get

the support of a bigger better Reality and Divine power shines in us.

 

Maharshi: To expect to receive a bigger Divine power after

surrendering is not the true attitude of surrender.

 

 

(From the chapter " Conversation with Bhagavan II " in " Surpassing Love and

Grace " )