2. Message of P. Guruji

Message from Poojya Guruji

Information and Awakening

So many people are inspired by the declaration of adhyatmic scriptures that we all are basically poorna, and thus regularly go for satsang, try to get a deeper insight into this proposition. However, even after years of study and shravan something remains lacking. They still continue to seek. They continue to have insecurities and all the related pangs of pain & grief. The objective of satsang is not merely to get information but to help us wake up, and discover ourselves to be complete - one, non-dual, infinite truth - the so called Brahman. Intellectually we know so much about Brahman, but deep down we know that we are still basically an insecure individual. What has gone wrong & where?

In the Mundakopanishad (3/2/3), the great Angira Rishi reveals the cause and solution of this problem to his shishya Shaunak. While it is true that by knowledge alone one gets mukti, but as the saying goes, the devil lies in the details, it is about knowing the implication of this ‘knowledge’. It is here that the root of problem lies. Initially knowledge has to be informative alone. In this we come to know the possibility of such a proposition, and also get appropriate information of the nature of self. Informative knowledge is to give us a direction and also motivation - to go deeper. Remaining what we are, if this new found information just gives us some inspiration, a new name and also a new belief to feel about something divine, then we know that fundamentally nothing has changed. Knowldge has to be ultimately aparoksha, not just paroksha. We need to ask this question to ourselves as to who is trying to feel, who is it who is trying to know, who is it who wants to be free? It is the same old me. The same individual who is so-and-so in the world, who is still father or son of someone, husband or wife of someone, the same me who has had a childhood and all its struggles and joys, the same me who has fears of the lingering old-age, diseases and death, etc. If we directly & definitely know that we are still basically all this, then on what basis do we say

that I am that. Brahman is definitely not a limited fellow. So deep-down remaining what we were, we start a new game of becoming. This effort of becoming something else has been the bane of our life till now. This individual very clearly knows that we are not complete and that is why all the sadhana, enquiry & efforts. Aparoksha Gyana implies that I now know that I am not an individual, but its very substratum. In this process there has to be ‘complete’ dissociation from and thus the negation of our individuality. From your point of view you cannot continue to remain the same son or daughter of so-n-so etc.

The Upanishad tells us that while the only sadhanas for this are Sravana, Manana and Niddidhysana alone, and for that we need to do very deep shastra-adhyayana, literally become a vidwaan; we also need to have enough medha shakti to remember all what we have realized till now; and also have great clarity & confidence to share and discuss this knowledge with others. However, the motherly shruti warns us that even after all this study etc, the chances still remain that we may still miss the bus, because you can and may do all this as an individual. So there are various suggestions: 1. See the fact that till now we have been operating as an individual, and the problem is this individuality itself. The thrust should be to appreciate the very content and composition of this very individual. Individuality, as we all know, develops & crystallizes slowly, it was not there from the beginning. So in shravan one comes to know the story of the genesis of individuality. Jiva is basically a composite entity, admixture of two things - consciousness and matter. Go deep into all this and realize its truth. Study of shastras is all about discriminating between what is Atma, and more importantly what is Anatma. Vivek is like doing the dissection of the individuality, and after vivek - I cannot remain the son or daughter of so and so. The perception of others about me doesnt matter at all, only my own perception about myself matters. Remember it is self-knowledge. 2. It is thus extremely necessary that when we tread on this path, then we should be ready to give up our wordly identity completely, with all its associated relationships and also preferences - completely, after all we aspire to go beyond this limited dream-like entity. This is called Sanyas. Give up the old, to wake up to the new. Those who cannot be a sanyasi will continue to remain an individual. 3. Even after taking sanyas, there has to be an intense proactive passion to not only be free from all our ‘roles’, but also to realize the truth of ‘actor’. The shruti says that the intensity of this yearning has to be something like that of your love. You dream of that, pray for that, and even while all alone, you are never alone.

Only such people wake up, others remain like that proverbial donkey who was carrying gold but did not know it and thus continued to remain a pathetic & poor donkey. Om Tat Sat.