Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta
SAADHANA PANCHAKAM.
FIVE VERSES ON SPIRITUAL PRACTICE. Written by Sri Adi
Shankaraachaarya. Please click on the relevant label and ensure to review the
posts till date.
In summary we have seen that daily readings of worthy writings are
to be undertaken, giving due consideration to instructions therein and
inspirations provided. We must attend to daily activities and duties with
devotion, in a spirit of love. Seek to cleanse our inner selves and lessen our
dependence upon the external, exercising discernment and dispassion.
It is not that vedanta alone points to the misdirected attention of
the mind. Any deep thinker in all
societies comes to similar concepts This verse from the English poet T S Eliot
addresses exactly this condition;
“The
endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless
invention, endless experiment,
Brings
knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge
of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge
of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our
knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our
ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But
nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is
the Life we have lost in living?
Where is
the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is
the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles
of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us
farther from God and nearer to the Dust."
Shloka One; Paada Seven.
Seek the Self with consistent
endeavour. The essence of this
was strongly hinted at end of last paada. Now the single aspect itself is being
given, emphasising the importance of clearing the mind of all the external
temptations but then, because mind abhors a vacuum, give it a new purpose in
the contemplation of the nature of Self, the spring of consciousness within us
which we call The Divine.
सत्यं ज्ञानं अनन्तं ब्रह्मा/satyam jnaanam anantam brahmaa is a vedic chant often quoted here;
that the ultimate knowledge is the truth of the eternal nature of Brahman, The
Self, Existence-Conciousness-Bliss. It is the 'spiritual carrot' dangled before
the inwards seeker.
Stating this point so clearly then, Bhaashya-kaara is asking that
the saadhaka now fully commits to the search which brings its own joys along
the way and, if fulfilled, results in the ultimate happiness. The term many are
familiar with for this is 'nirvana'. Make a solid promise to yourself to return
to Self. Stray not from that path. If you trip up, pick yourself up and
continue. A rest now and then to assess
the process, but cease never from the endeavour!
Paada Eight.
Escape from the bondage of 'home'.
To most of us the term 'home' means the bricks and plaster place we have built
as a shelter, as a place of collection of people we call as family and
friends. It is a safe place from which
we can interact with the world then return to for rest and safety. Spiritually, the BMI, our physical body and
its equipments of interaction, constitute the home of the Self for now, from
wherein we gather our experiences. At
this moment, in our identification with this 'home' (BMI), we behave as though
we are only this, a physical, mental and intellectual personality (PFT/the
ego-self). Thus we become tyrannized by attachment to this body and its lusts,
this mind and its passions, our intellect and its restlessness.
The guru here begs us to consider the possibility that we can end
our PFT attitude and work our way up to the infinite awareness - God
Consciousness.
Here ends verse one of the five gems of saadhana...but where the
words end experience must arise, contemplation must take place, instructions
acted upon. At the close of last week's
post there was mention of how these verses can tie in to the passage of life
called dharma. What must be understood further is that there are some who are
born already with vaana-prastha in their hearts. A sense of the spiritual and search for the mystical
(in its original sense - we are not talking magic here!) can arrive in
childhood. Then again there are folk who
ride through the entirety of a life and deny anything beyond the material
existence. Each is valid for that person because praraabdha is at play, the
payment of karmic debt. This will be
addressed at another time. What is
attempted here is to put the Saadhana Panchakam into context for the reader.
It has been written such that, depending on your current spiritual
awareness, even this one verse alone offers much. Indeed, in the eight sentences, it offers
everything! It encapsulates the full essence of a life lived rightly up to and
including the beginnings of the deeper search and purpose of life.
These few short writings are not the end, but merely the beginning!
The daily readings alone, applied as instructed, will bring much into
life. Adjusting ones actions, finding
contentment in the exercise of duties and keeping the Higher always in mind
will, without doubt, bring a sense of purpose and relief. Taking control of
one's sense and mind, once the habit is established, brings about a tranquility
which will get noticed. When the
automatic withdrawal from excess activity, the dropping away of old,
destructive habits, takes place we quite often find that the unnecessary
relationships also drop away. We discover who has true heart and who was along
only for the ride. This is natural and not to be lamented. Where gaps have been
left, they will be filled, but now with relationships more fitting to our
purpose as we enter fully the stage referred to as vaana-pastha. In this we are taking up more fully the
spiritual path. It can be done even
whilst still on 'active duty'.
Indeed, in this modern world it becomes imperative in order to reset
the balance and keep us from sinking in samsaara. The next shloka, then, is
addressed to the V-p in us all; the one who would seek to swim more strongly
and not be blown off course.
SAADHANA;
Continue as given to date and keep noting your personal progress in
your books.
