Hari OM
Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!
Saadhana-chatushtaya. The four rules of practice. You have read about these here, before. (See label in the sidebar.) The thing is, though, is that these are the workaday tools of practice. Having read them, now use them! Over these four posts of February, then, you will be prompted to make the s-c a part of your daily life, that they become second nature to you and do not remain as just concepts written in words upon a page, but activities within your every thought, word and deed.
मुमुक्षुत्वं किम् मोक्षो मे भूयाद् इति इच्छा। /mumukshutvaM kim? moksho me bhuuyaad iti icChaa. "What is mumukshatvam? 'Let me attain liberation!'...this intense desire is mumukshatvam."
This is not a condition which can be ordered of you. It must rise from within you, following all due spiritual enquiry. It is not a product of cultivation as such, it a springing forth of such strong desire, as if the flame of a lamp. The candle is always a candle, but it is not at all serving as such until it is lit!!!
Mumukshatvam, then, is not a 'practice' per se. It is a sense of purpose which can be best served by the practice of all which has been discussed thus far. However, not all who practice viveka, etc. fervently, necessarily have true mumukshatvam. Some say it is a birthright of those who have exercised spiritual advancement in previous births and that this comes as 'grace of God' - a fructification of karma if you will. It is probably true that to reach the level of commitment suggested by this word, one has to have had some strong spiritual experience to ignite it. Whether that is from past births or from an experience in this life itself matters not.
What matters is that you are aware of the possibility of such a condition and can decide whether you have the deep urge within you to attain such a level of spiritual fervour.
Your saadhana this week, then, is to keep this state in mind and allow some time each day to research those who are exemplars of it; the saints and sages of all ages. Those who dedicate their lives entirely to the pursuit of spiritual research and practice have to have this to some degree.
These are the levels of mumukshatvam. तीव्र /tiivra, super-strong in resolve, only liberation will satisfy the desire; मध्यम /madhyama, middling, keen but still prone to distraction from time to time; मन्द /manda, rather dull and somewhat indifferent to the spiritual pull, postpones practice as life is rather more appealing; अतिमन्द /atimanda, no interest whatsoever in the spiritual goal, even though still happy to associate with those who do. Mumukshatvam is the 'engine' behind the saadhaka but only the one with tiivra will truly attain high levels of spiritual satisfaction. This is not to say the others must give up the chase! Not at all. Every attempt along the spiritual road will be to the positive, thus do not become disheartened!
