Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
There was a question asked last week. In effect, it sought the 'quick fix' version of the Vedantic remedy to life's sorrow - and Vedanta says there IS a quick fix. Recognise the folly of "I"ness and free yourself of its bondage. However, as with all 'quick fixes' most folk don't get results. Why?
}anmek< sda Éait svaRvSwasu inmRlm!,
mNdÉaGya n janiNt Svêp< kevl< b&ht!.30.
Jnaanamekam sadaa bhaati sarvaavasthaasu nirmalam,
Mandabhaagyaa na jaananti svaruupam kevalam bRhat ||30||
The One Pure Knowledge always shines in all the states of experiences. The unfortunate are not aware of their Real Nature, which is homogenous and infinite.
The vast majority of us are, quite simply, too caught up in our "I", our ego selves and the world which is projected as a result. The answer has been given, but, like tourists who have gone all the way to Nepal in order to see Mount Everest, we say 'oh it's there', click a selfie, then return to our home and nothing changes from that experience.
Seeing and knowing about Mount Everest is one thing. Climbing is quite another. Only a very few people in the world even attempt it. Far fewer succeed in the attempt. It is not for the faint of heart, the casual traveller.
Vedantic philosophy, indeed any spiritual pursuit to the highest level, can be equated to an attempt upon Everest. Just getting to the foothills and setting up base camp is an achievement in itself. Yet, even this much, most people are unwilling to do, because it means surrendering their creature comforts. Never mind unplugging from our online sublife. We might, good heavens, have to go without a shower for some time and bathe only with snow-melt! Our food will be simple and limited, designed for the fuel it provides and not for gluttony. There will have to be discipline and teamwork.
When we go to a movie, we are so enamoured of the moving illusion, we forget all about the substratum upon which it plays. Without that screen, there could be no film for us to see.
This shloka bemoans the fact that we go around in life not seeing The True Self upon which all this plays out. We are nothing but dream elements to that Total Consciousness, and even when we intellectually become aware of this fact, we still deny ourselves the chance to walk fully into that light, so entrapped are we by the delusion and allure of individual existence. The Srimad Bhagavatam (c1.ch1.t10) even laments "mandaaH sumanda-matayaH manda-bhaagyaaH hyupaddhRtaah"… 'Oh learned one, in this Iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.'
