Vedanta Vision
Introduction
These are the excerpts of the talks on "Vedanta Vision" that I attended in September, 2003.
Talks were delivered by Swami Parthasarathy. (http://www.vedanta-edu.org/)
For five decades, Swami Parthasarathy has captivated audiences world-wide with a very systematic and logical exposition of Vedanta. His witty and insightful analysis of the scriptures offers compelling ideas on dealing with life’s everyday challenges. Swamiji reminds us that “spiritual practice is not a part-time hobby but a full-time awareness of the truth.” In the twenty verses of Chapter 12 of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna presents man-kind with a very pragmatic approach to God. This approach gives us the power to think for ourselves, to analyze life and discover its essence, thereby opening a pathway to true happiness. It was a rare opportunity to learn from an exceptional interpreter of the Bhagavad Gita.
These are just the excerpts of the talks and it is possible that I am unable to describe his views properly. Also, I would not be able to defend or argue on the points made by him. I enjoyed listening to him and thought that I should share my learnings with others. You may choose to ponder over this or may choose to ignore. My only intention is to share his views and not to judge his views.
The Book
"Vedanta Treatise" is a book by Swami Parthasarathy. I haven't read it but he recommended it to everyone. And all the things that he discussed are covered in details in the book.
Art of Self-Management
A human consists of 3 things -
1. BODY - Physical body
2. MIND - Feelings, Emotions and Likes/Dislikes
3. INTELLECT - Controls mind. Thinks, Reasons and Judges.
Happiness can be achieved if intellect has a strong control over mind.
And intellect can be developed by original thinking & discussion.
Intellect is something which has infinite knowledge and knows what is correct and what is not. Like Intellect knows that it is wrong to hurt someone. It also knows that it is good to exercise daily but if it doesn't control mind fully, we end up doing things like hurting others or not exercising or excessive drinking/smoking etc.
Actually, what is happening is this. People are so busy in their lives that they don’t have time for original thinking and asking themselves questions like why am I doing whatever I am doing? Talking to others, who are also seeking answers to these questions, helps and when we discuss it with others, their views serve as food for our mind and we can do some original thinking.
Most people have the herd mentality and that is why they are unhappy. Nobody asks why should one marry? Why should one have children? Why should one do a job? etc.
There are two things which most people look for in life -
1. Acquisition - There is no limit to acquisitions.
2. Enjoyment - Enjoy the process of acquisition instead of the actual acquisition.
The most important thing is "Living in the present". At any point, your "present happiness" shouldn’t be linked to the future. You get what you deserve not what you desire.
Chapter 12 of Bhagwad Gita - Bhakti Yoga
Arjun asks
Swamiji's explanation - There are
certain people who feel that GOD exists when they go to
CEO-Clerk Example
Like if a company has given an ad for CEO and a clerk and a person comes and asks you
which position should I apply for? Your answer should be "clerk" because a person who
would apply for CEO won't even ask you such a question.
If someone comes to me and asks - Swamiji, should I marry?
I say - By all means you should. Because a person who doesn't want to marry wouldn't even ask me such a question.
That is why
everyone to worship the formless. So, people have to start with a form to go to the
formless GOD.
Following 3 factors will help you in moving from form to formless GOD -
1. Rejoicing in the welfare of all (Imagine yourself throwing a party because your neighbour got a promotion)
2. Practising self-control(which is different from self-denial).
3. Seeing unity in diversity
Why GOD is formless?
Anything that is made out of substance is perishable but GOD is immortal. Hence, HE is formless.
One always functions according to his own Swadharma(Basic Nature). There are people at different level. Some work for their family, some for their company, some for their country and some for the humanity. If you get to know of your nature, you can function better.
Understand your basic nature
Like he gave an example of an angry person. He told that a person and his family came to him and the children/wife complained about the fact that the person is always angry. On hearing this, the person said - "Give me one example of when I was angry." And the family replied - "You are always angry." On this the person angrily said - "I asked you one example and you are giving me a generic answer. Give me one specific instance." And the turned to Swamiji and said in a angry tone - "These people can't even give one example of my anger and they say that I am always angry."
The example shows that an angry person doesn't know that he is angry and if he does, he can deal with it accordingly.
Having a disease is terrible but having a disease and not knowing about it is fatal.
Herd Mentality
When you go to a slum, most of them won't understand what a clean environment is.
This is one reasons why people don't even consider the possibility of a higher truth.
Copernicus, Christ and Socrates were killed because they tried to talk about truths
which were beyond the comprehension of people of their times.
Everyone is entangled in "Samsar"(Material World) and follows the herd. Everyone gets married and has children. He said that there are 6 reasons to marry(which he didn't talk about because it was beyond the scope of discussion.) but most people don't know about it.
He gave examples of piegons, sparrows, etc who follow the herd. And he gave examples of lions, tigers and eagles, etc who don't follow the herd. This doesn't mean that lion/tiger/eagle are more spiritual than sparrows/pigeons. It only means that they are
self-sufficient. :-)
Swamiji stressed on the importance of Sanatan Dharma(Eternal Religion/Principle).
When Christ/Krishna/Mohammad said - Come to me and I will save you. They didn't mean "me" but "self".
When they said “you forgot me”, they actually meant “you forgot yourself”.
Questions you should ask yourself
Analyze why should you marry? Who are you? Where are you? Where are you going? Why do you believe that you are going to live for another 20-30 years? Analyze why does a child sleep on the dining table? You are blissfully unaware of all the things that you take for granted and enjoy. You eat food and enjoy and don't even realize the efforts that went into creating/digesting the food.
Attachment
Attachment causes all the trouble. Animals are extreme example of that. If you even get close to their children, they will kill you. Some people get attached to the materialistic goods, some to business, some to religion and some even get attached to their Guru.
One does only 2 things in life - Acquisiton & Enjoyment. And having acquired, one wants to enjoy. And this goes on and on because demands are endless.
List of demands is endless
He gave an example of a person who is very smart, intelligent and athletic and went to GOD to select a wife for him. GOD said - "OK. Do you want anything else?" He said no to it and returned to earth. He got a beautiful girl and married her. They didn't have any child for 5 years. His wife forced him to go back to GOD and ask for a child. GOD said - "OK. Do you want anything else?" He said no to it and returned to earth. They got a child within a year but the child was deaf and dumb. His wife forced him to go back to GOD and ask for the child's voice and hearing but the person said no to it. He said - "I have realised that you and I don't know what we want to ask. When I went to
him to ask for a wife, I actually wanted a wife who could give me a child with no disabilities. And there is no end to my demands. What if I ask for this today and he becomes a drug addict after a few years. I think we should be happy with whatever we have got."
Taking insurance beforehand
He also talked about a family who came to him and told that they were devastated because they had lost their children. It was very tough to console them because they were so attached to their children and didn't realize that the attachment causes all the pain.
He gave an example of a person who went to an Insurance company and asked for Insurance there and then. The agent said that it is not possible to do it over the weekend and it can only be done on a weekday. He said - "I can't wait because my building is burning right now."
That is why he stressed on the importance of having insurance beforehand. If one realizes that attachment causes all the trouble, when you are deprived of material goods, you won't be in pain.
Start thinking. Analyze yourself. You must know what you are doing. In order to get the result, you must concentrate on the action and to concentrate on the action, you have to renounce the fruit of your action.
Few quotes by Swamiji
1. A person went to Socrates and asked him if he should marry. Socrates said you should. If your wife is good, you will be become a happy man and if she is not, you will become
a philosopher.
2. People who fight over religion forget one basic fact that Christ was not a Christian &
Buddha was not a Buddhist. Imagine a Hindu and Muslim fighting over religion and then imagine that they were born in the same ward of the hospital few years back and got exchanged by mistake.
3. After the lecture if you ask people about me, different people at different levels will have different thoughts.
1. Physical Level - He must be 60 years old but he has maintained his body well.
2. Mental Level - He is very logical/illogical.
3. Emotional Level - He is nice or not nice.
4. A man went to a Guru and asked him to make him his disciple. Guru asked him if he drinks. He said - I do. Guru got very angry and asked him to stop doing that. Then Guru asked him if he smokes. He said - I do. Guru got very angry and asked him to stop doing that. After about 3 hours, Guru and the person came up with a list of 25 items which he will have to drop before becoming the disciple of the Guru. In the end, the man decided to keep the 25 items and dropped one item - The Guru. :-)
5. The greatest Jehad is the conquest of self.
6. Having a disease is terrible but having a disease and not knowing about it is fatal.
7. If you don't fall asleep in 30 seconds, there is something fundamentally wrong with you.
8. Don't expect failures. That is pessimism. But prepare yourself for the failures.
9. Demands are endless.
10. If you feel insecure, you are self-centred and selfish.
11. Bhakti is the path to happiness.
12. The way to gain anything is to lose it. Joy appears in the mask of sorrow & viceversa.
Example - An object is red in color because it gives away red.
13. Knowledge is better than Practice.
14. A Guru is like a "Sign Post" which shows you direction. Don't hang on to them. :-)
15. You are not a custodian of other people's conscience.
16. Forgiveness is the fragrance that violent releases when foot crushes it.
17. I had no shoes and complained until I met a man who had no feet.
18. For him in vain the envious seasons roll, who bears eternal summer in his soul.
19. You can make a heaven out of hell and a hell out of heaven.
20. The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft astray.
Qualities of a person who is loved by GOD
1. Doesn’t hate anyone -
Devotion is nothing but love. If you get something slaughtered and eat it, you can’t be loved by GOD. A chain is as strong as its weakest link. No matter how many people you love, all that matters is how many people you hate. Christ was crucified but he still loved everyone and forgave all.
2. Friendliness – Impersonal Affection. Not biased.
3. Compassion – Genuine consideration of others.
4. Without mine-ness – Not having a feeling that a particular thing is mine.
5. No egoism
6. Understands that life is a procession of joy and sorrow – Doesn’t hang on to joy/sorrow.
Life is made of opposites. Joy can’t be achieved if you don’t know what is sorrow?
It is not the people/objects who cause pain/sorrow. It is how you contact them.
Like a woman who may be hated by a person so much that he wants to divorce her and another man may be dying to marry her.
You can make a heaven out of hell and a hell out of heaven.
7. Capacity to Forgive – He is not a custodian of other people's conscience.
Buddha and his disciples were going to some place. A guy came and started abusing Buddha. Disciples got angry and wanted to hit that guy but didn’t because Buddha didn’t say anything. In the evening, the disciples went to him and asked why he didn’t say anything at that time. Buddha said – “He gave me insult but I didn’t receive it. You guys received it, so you handle it yourself.”
Forgiveness is the fragrance that violent releases when foot crushes it.
8. Contentment at any stage – List of demands is endless.
I had no shoes and complained until I met a man who had no feet.
There is nothing wrong in achieving but at any moment, your present happiness shouldn’t be linked to your future achievement.
9. Yoga – Pursuing self. Says NO to anything that disturbs his pursuit.
10. Having firm conviction – Having focus, disciplined, self-controlled.
Please note that – Self-control is not self-denial.
11. Mind dedicated to self
12. Intellect dedicated to self
13. Doesn’t agitate the world –
Why do people have pets and plants instead of partners? A pet is someone who doesn’t agitate their world. Plants are better than pets because they don’t even complain if they are hungry. They have no demands. They are not ego-centric. That is why they are welcome in home.
14. Can’t be agitated by the world – Self-sufficient. He doesn’t depend on the state of the world. Change of seasons doesn’t affect him.
For him in vain the envious seasons roll, who bears eternal summer in his soul.
15. Free of envy, joy, anger, fear, greed and anxiety –
All these things agitate mind.
16. Free from wants – He is like an ocean. An ocean doesn’t care what goes into it and what goes out of it.
17. Cleanliness – Keeps every aspect(environmental, mental and physical) of himself clean.
18. Skillful – In whatever he does, he is smart, expert, prompt and punctual.
19. Indifferent – He possesses disinterested interest and dispassionate passion.
Like a businessman who plays with his children over the weekend but he is not concerned about the results of the game because he is at a higher level.
20. Untroubled – He is untroubled by the worries of the past or the expectations of the future.
21. Renounces the concept of having started anything –
Everything in this world has no beginning. You don’t initiate anything. You just play your role.
22. Does not rejoice
23. Does not hate/dislike –
Like a teacher doesn’t cater to your likes/dislikes. A teacher caters to your growth.
A person is a bundle of likes/dislikes. One needs to realize that the world doesn’t cater to your needs. You can’t have summers throughout the year; no matter how much you like it. World is constantly moving.
24. Doesn’t grieve for the past
25. Doesn’t crave for the future
26. Renouncing good and evil
27. Alike to friend and foe – Leads an impersonal life. He realizes that summer has to be hot and winter has to be biting cold. Similarly, people also behave according to their natures. Hence, there is no reason to like one more than the other. By understanding things as they are, he doesn’t try to change things.
28. Free from attachment –
Whenever there is attachment, there is tremendous sorrow.
The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft astray.
29. Equal in sincere praise – Not dependent on what others think about him whether it is good or bad.
30. Content with the things that he has.
31. Homeless – A dis-possessive attitude towards his belonging.
Like people don’t care if a coffee spills on the carpet in the hotel but if it is in their house, they care.
32. Firm Mind – Doesn’t let emotions surface.