Cultivate Good Thoughts, Feelings And Desires

“Unless one gets rid of sloth and slumber 
One cannot find truth; 
Unless one is free from passionate activity 
One cannot attain devotion; 
It is only through Satvaguna 
One can attain devotion; 
This is the truth being revealed.” 
(Telugu poem)

Embodiments of Sacred Atma!
Whatever the mind contemplates upon, the inborn impulse of the same will be retained in the Hrdaya in the shape of Vasanas (tendencies). This is the experience of every human being, who is unique in God’s creation. The thoughts, feelings and impulses of the present form the basis for the future of a human being. Hence, if somebody wishes to lead a life of peace and security in future, it is necessary that he should cultivate good thoughts, feelings and impulses now. They transform themselves into a mighty tree of chintanas (contemplation) at a future date and yield fruit. Unfortunately, nowadays man has become an expert in finding faults in others instead of searching for his own faults. It is a sign of ignorance to think that one can be redeemed and protected by another human being by following him and imitating him. It is necessary that one should realise the truth that one unripened fruit cannot support another. To think so is utter foolishness. In fact, it is the tree that supports all the unripened fruits. One has to realise this truth. A human being is, after all, like an unripened fruit. It is the tree of Atmic power that supports all the unripened fruits, namely human beings.

The great epic Bhagavata occupies a very important place in the history of the Bharatiyas. The author of this great epic in Telugu (Pothana) dedicated his works to God Himself and thus sanctified his life. Even though he was undergoing several difficulties in his house and even suffering for want of proper food and clothing, he was spending his time happily by praying and worshipping his chosen deity Lord Rama, in ever so many ways. His poetic works were of great merit and most sacred. He was a great poet. Under the mistaken impression that he was wasting his valuable poetry by not making use of it for earning riches, his brother-in-law and another poet of repute, Srinatha one day counselled him “Oh! Pothana! you are wasting your valuable poetry. You can dedicate your great works to any king and lead a happy life throughout, with the wealth gifted by him to you. You and your family can lead a luxurious life. Therefore, even now you dedicate your poetry to some great king.” Do you know what was the reply given by Pothana? It was so great, sacred and ideal. In reply to the advice of his brother-in-law, Pothana recited a poem in Telugu, the substance of which is as follows:

“How can I offer the maiden of my poetic work who is so tender and fresh like the sprout of a sweet mango tree, to the wicked rulers and live upon the tainted food gifted by them? I would rather consider it proper for a true poet to lead a godly life as a farmer living on the fruits of his toil in the fields or by sustaining himself and his wife and children on the roots and tubers grown in the forests.”

He further explained “you think that some ordinary mortal like a king will protect us from penury. Never! Lord Sri Rama, the Embodiment of Divine Atma is the only One who would protect every living being, as also me. I am not destined to live upon the charity of these kings and emperors who defile this sacred poetic work, which is none other than the Embodiment of Goddess Saraswati. Come what may, I will dedicate this sacred work to only Lord Sri Rama! Thus, Pothana proved himself to be a great and noble soul, who dedicated his thoughts, words and deeds only to the Paramatma (The Supreme soul). His entire life was dedicated to only God and none else.

Another devotee who had unflinching devotion to God and none else is Goparaju. He was also a devotee of Lord Sri Rama and surrendered himself completely at the Lotus Feet of the Lord. His full name was Kancharla Gopanna. He was working as Tehsildar under the rule of King Tanisha. He dedicated all his work to Lord Sri Rama and was constantly contemplating on Him, whatever activity he was engaged in. He firmly resolved that his life shall be dedicated the service of Lord Rama and not for fulfilling any selfish desire. That was his goal. Inspite of undergoing several difficulties and even physical suffering due to imprisonment in the jail for alleged misappropriation of funds collected as revenue for the state, he did not give up his contemplation on Lord Rama. Finally, Lord Rama appeared before the King Tanisha and paid the amount on behalf of Gopanna and relieved him of the charges as well as his physical suffering. Sri Gopanna’s sacred and dedicated life stands as a monumental example to the truth that Lord Rama always comes to the rescue of His devotee who surrenders himself totally and protects him constantly.

The third example of total surrender to Lord Sri Rama is that of Saint Tyagaraja. He also dedicated his everything –– his thoughts, words and deeds to Lord Rama and spent his life constantly singing the glory of the Lord. He did not care a straw for the fabulous riches offered to him as a gift by a King and rejected them outright as inconsequential when compared to the wealth of grace showered on him by Lord Rama. In fact, he inquired into himself “Oh! Mind! Please tell me the truth –– whether these riches confer great happiness on me or the Divine presence of Lord Rama.”

What could be the motivating factor in these three devotees, due to which they could develop such complete surrender to God? Undoubtedly, the mind. The entire world is dependent upon the mind. Without the mind, the world has no existence at all! It is, therefore, very essential that every individual shall strive to channelise the mind in the right direction, experience divinity in whatever activity he undertakes and thereby sanctify his existence as a human being. The same mind when it takes to wrong path, can cause havoc and bring down the human nature to abysmal depths. Another quality of the human mind is to find faults in others, ignoring their merits. But, who is really competent to search for faults in others? Only a person who has no faults in himself. One who is guilty himself, is not competent to find faults in others. In fact, a person who is faultless and of impeccable character will not try to find faults in others. Hence, it is the first and foremost duty of a Sadhaka to try to remove his own defects and faults.

For example, can we sleep peacefully, when a snake has sneaked into our bedroom? No. We will make untiring efforts to drive away the snake or catch hold of it or kill it. Till then, we will not rest. But, today man is trying to enjoy sound sleep even though the poisonous snakes of Visaya dosa (sensual desires) have set their mounds in his heart and proliferating. What a wonder! The foremost duty in our sadhana is, therefore, to bring out these poisonous snakes and drive them away from our heart. As long as they remain there, we will not have peace of mind or be happy. We will also not be motivated to tread on the sacred path.

Embodiments of Divine Atma! Human life itself is a great wonder. What we consider and know to be wrong, we try to follow. What we consider and know to be good, we do not make an effort to put in practice:

“Punyasya phalamichchanti 
Punyam nechchanti Manavah
Na papaphalamichchanti
Papam kurvanti sarvada" 
(Sanskrit verse)

We are not inclined to receive the fruit of our sinful actions, but we come forward to undertake sinful activities. We certainly wish to enjoy the fruits of meritorious deeds, but we do not at all be eager to perform meritorious deeds. We desire something, but work for something else. Where is the guarantee that we derive proper result in such an effort? Hence, it is our duty to put in the necessary effort to achieve the desired result. For this purpose, we have to train our mind properly, in the first instance 

We are born in this world. What for? We are born only for not being born again. But, we are not making any effort to understand the secret of our birth. It is said "Jantunam nara janma durlabham" (The human birth is very difficult to obtain). It is only when we realise the import of this statement and consider that the human birth is a rare gift of God granted to us in consideration of the accumulated merit over a number of previous births that we will make an effort to sanctify our life as a human being. Eat, drink and be merry –– is this the be all and end all of human life? Khana (eating), pina (drinking) sona (sleeping) and marna (dying) –– is this the purpose of our life? Certainly not. Why are we born in this world? Why are we living? And, for what purpose we desire the sacred liberation? These must be enquired into, at least to a certain extent. In order that we may take up this enquiry, the mind must be trained in the proper way. It must be engaged in sacred thoughts. We must recognise the truth that the mind is responsible for both good and bad deeds. This fact must be clear to us, beyond any shadow of doubt. We must, therefore, make an effort to engage the mind in the contemplation of Madhava (God), undertaking sacred and selfless service to the society and cultivating good behaviour. We may not be able to put into practice the standards laid down in the scriptures, epics and legends; we may not engage ourselves in Vaidika Anusthana; but, we must be able to understand the nature of the mind and lead a righteous life, atleast to some extent. During these ten days, we must try to enquire into the nature of the mind and its Key components, its mystery and its goal. We must also try to unravel the mystery behind its dual role.

Embodiments of Divine Atma! We must make an effort to control the mind so that it may not get disturbed on account of emotions and agitations and remains calm and steady. Whatever difficulties, losses, scandalising and hostility we may encounter in the outside world, we should not loose our mental balance. We should not be unduly disturbed and agitated. These are only reflections of the mind. We must consider ourselves as only a witness (Saksi) in such situations and should not be carried away by them. The basis for all the emotions and agitations of the mind is Apeksa (expectation or desire for worldly objects). As I had already explained to you yesterday, it is only our Apeksa that pulls us down and Upeksa that elevates us to a higher state of consciousness. We must, therefore, rise to a level where we transcend these two.

To realise the nature of the mind, we have to recognise the truth that the mind is based upon Sankalpas (resolutions). We have also to control the mind so that it may not stray into wrong path or will not commit the mistake of finding faults in others. It must be realised that there is no greater sin than searching for faults in others. By doing so, we are actually accumulating more sin and wasting our precious lives. Therefore, the Sadhakas who wish to lead a pious and godly life must desist from finding faults in others and strive to cultivate sacred and pure vision. Unfortunately, we are unable to realise the true nature of the mind, in spite of our doing Sadhana in the spiritual field for a number of years, participating in satsang and taking up a number of service activities beneficial to the society. As long as we are unable to realise the nature of the mind, any number of sadhanas or performance of rituals like yajnas and yagas will not help bring about peace of mind, rest, purity of consciousness and sacred thoughts in us. It is impossible to attain inner purity by external activities. We cannot achieve success in any of our endeavours, without developing self-confidence and purity of consciousness. Hence, we must develop faith in God and self-confidence, in the first instance. Then only we will be able to achieve purity of consciousness. By developing purity of consciousness, we will be able to achieve godliness as well. We must desist from interfering in the affairs of others and help them to the extent possible, without finding faults in others. The most important duty of a Sadhaka is to try to cleanse the impurities accumulated in his mind.

There is only one mind in every human being, even though their thoughts, words and deeds vary. The mind is prone to run after objects in different directions. To make such a fickle mind concentrate on a single thought, feeling and direction is called meditation or Dhyana. If we analyse carefully the principle of unity in diversity and diversity in unity, it would be clear that it is not merely a slogan, but a natural and sacred phenomenon in God’s creation. The objective of Dhyana is to meditate on this principle. We should not allow Ahamkara (ego) to enter our mind. The principle of Aham (I) exists, however, in every individual. This “I” principle is eternal, pure and the Embodiment of Truth. The Ahamkara, however, is transitory, meaning, it comes and goes. We should not attach much importance to this transitory Ahamkara. We should give value to the eternal principle of Aham. When we are able to realise the truth that the “I” principle in every individual is one and the same, there is no chance for Ahamkara to set in. This 'karamu'* (the later part of the word Ahamkara) is troublesome! It can never give us happiness. The underlying meaning in spiritual sadhana is to control the mind and channelise its course in right direction, so that we will be able to realise the true nature of Aham. Whether it is Rakti (attachment to sensory pleasures) or Virakti (detachment) or Bhukti (earning our livelihood), whatever may be the field of our endeavours, the attributes of the mind play an important role.

Hence, it is the duty of every individual to understand the nature and attributes of the mind and try to subdue the agitations of the mind. I am very enthusiastic and eager to explain the nature and attributes of the mind to you during these ten days and thereby try to set the world in order to a certain extent. I, therefore, propose to give discourses on this topic and try to develop a positive and broad-minded approach in you. We generally think that we need to know more about Saksatkara (God realisation), Anugraha (God’s grace), Moksa Prapti (attaining liberation) and such topics. This is not true. What we need to know is the mysteries of the mind. If you are able to unravel these mysteries, Moksa and Saksatkara will come to you automatically.