Hari
OM
Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!
The Narada Bhakti Sutra is our guide for a while… the
nature of Love (with the capital 'ell') and a full exploration of it. As
always, you are encouraged to seek out the full text from Chinmaya Publications
(links in side-bar); but for those who prefer e-readers, this version is recommended. Whilst awareness and interest can be
raised by these posts on AV-blog, they cannot substitute for a thorough reading
and contemplation...and practice!
We
continue chapter 4 section 1, which itself continues to tell who is a fit
student to progress well in Bhakti.
yae
ivivKtSwan< sevte yae laekbNxumuNmUlyit,
inSÇEgu{yae
_avit yaeg]em< Tyjit.47.
Yo
viviktasthaanam sevate, yo lokabandhumunmuulayati,
nistraigunyo
bhavati, yogakshemam tyajati. ||47||
...he who keeps himself in a solitary (quiet) place, he
who plucks off his bondage with the world by the roots; (who) goes beyond the
influences of his gunas (tendencies) and (who) renounces all his anxieties for
acquiring and maintaining…
It
is a very necessary requirement to travel this path that you enjoy your own
company… and Gurudev once said that if you cannot enjoy your own company, then
please don't inflict it on others! Without understanding the basis for such a
quip, it can look harsh. The truth is, though, that those who are unable to sit
in silence for a period of time, or who are all the time restless and wanting
to be doing something, are often those who are least aware of their own
personality and can be, for others, somewhat trying to be around. If you know
and appreciate stillness and quiet, you can carry that with you in the world,
so that even in action there is a sense of repose; such folk are the ones other
folk wish to be around.
Traditionally,
for spiritual research, serious students would go into the forest or up into
the mountains and seek actual solitude away from the disturbance of the world.
The restless and noisy persons who attempt this, thinking that it will help
them alter their personality without effort from themselves, will find that the
restlessness and noise follow them - for it is an internal state!
Knowing
that this is the case, it is not so much that one must retreat to a lonely
place; but that one must find that space of solitude within oneself.
The
fit environment for solitude is not on the mountain top or deep in the forest.
To be alone with yourself, simply sit in you meditation seat and release the
mind from all connection with the external; for the time being you are to none
of the labels you otherwise bear - sister, brother, father, mother, Hindu or
Christian, short, tall, lean, fat, believer, non-believer…. These are nothing
more than names for relationships with the objects of the world. Remember, even
your own thoughts are objects of the world! Detach, detach, detach. Be alone
and find you are nothing but the Higher Self, the Aatman. This is the demand of
this sutra from Narada-ji.
Thus,
as saadhana, go to a spot where there is the least disturbance from your family
and friends; even if just for ten minutes in any day, find that place of
solitude. Throughout all other parts of the day we are acting through our
'labels' and connections and not as our Self. As Gurudev puts it, "to
interview oneself with oneself, and to feel our essential oneness with God, is
resorting to aloneness."
There
are those who are of the Hindu tradition and brought up with lots of ritual
around spiritual matters, particularly in the Bhakti marg - pre-aarti bathing,
arranging flowers, ringing bells, waving incense and such like. All are fine,
but must not BE the devotion. These are all to bring the mind to a focus and to
settle the physical ready for the REAL work, that of meditation upon the
Higher. Even within some Christian communities, much is made of the ritual
aspect. External displays of piety do not of themselves bring the ardent seeker
to the point of union (yoga). The cleansing of the inner being alone is what
will do this and this requires inner hard work. We need to look deep and
discover the roots of all the negatives within us - hence the reference in the
sutra to rooting out our bondages; anything which attaches us to the external
is such a bondage. Anything which prevents us from flying to the Higher is
binding us down. The one who can free themselves from such bondage can begin to
appreciate the Love Divine on a level beyond words.
Beyond
the physical bonds, and often even more difficult to cut away, are the gunas,
the vaasanas; those habits and traits which are intrinsic to our personality.
Often, as we progress on the spiritual path, we discover these 'time bombs' and
they can be daunting. Sometimes, we even uncover some which have not yet been
released in us, but were waiting to trap us as we try to climb the heights of
meditation and devotion. Beware, even spiritual desires and dreams are
bondages!
y>
kmR)l< Tyjit kmaRi[ sNNySyit,
Tatae
inÖRNÖae _avit.48.
yaH
karmaphalam tyajati, karmaani sannyasyati,
Tato
nirdvandvo bhavati ||48||
He who relinquishes the fruits of actions, who
renounces all ego-centric activity and thus becomes free from the play of the
pairs of opposites.
Those
who act with a desire for reward from those acts are acting with a selfish
need. Relinquish such self-interest! In doing so, one can act more freely, and
without fear. This in turn means that we are no longer so freely available to
the emotions which are attached to selfish acts. The extremes of joy or sorrow,
the accolades or the criticisms and such like no longer affect us.
Anytime
you find that you want to claim "I did that" or use the "look
what I did for you/them" as a weapon of guilt upon others you are setting
yourself up for hurt and disappointment. Or, when folk do give gratitude for
efforts, if you claim them and build your ego with them, you are gearing up for
an even greater deflation at a later point. Action for action's sake is all
that is ever required of us. Release the "I"ness in the doing.
Release the expectation of recognition for such action. Even in our daily
employment, the compensation is our wage at the end of the week or month.
Anything else is just part and parcel of dealing with the world and we ought
not to let it wear us away.
There
are some who think that action itself needs to be renounced. This is an error.
We are in the world, therefore action can and must happen. It is unavoidable.
What can be avoided is the sense of "I"ness and "my"ness in
the action. This is all that one needs
to understand.
