Part - 2
Subtle is the story, and few would follow:
I crave to see that Divine Image in my mind
Day by day I strive and struggle in vain,
So far I’m not blessed with His sight.
- Nishkulanand Swami
All men want happiness. Man’s acts of piety or sin have their origin in his desire to be happy. He seeks happiness but the happiness he gets from these acts is only short-lined; the pleasure vanishes in a moment and pain follows.
He, who gets rid of his desires one by one and unites himself in meditation with the Image of the Lord Shree Hari, would always find his life full of happiness, divine joy “Anand”. The Lord is the source of all happiness. The Vedas and the Upanishad describe the Lord as Sat-Chit-Anand – True and Transparent Unclouded Happiness.
Sorrow is defined as separation from the Lord. The world is full of sorrows; the Lord is the source of complete happiness. Sorrows create rift in man between his body and his conscience. Happiness takes him towards his inner self. A man who is an atheist would deny the existence of God but would he able to deny the existence of happiness, joy? Certainly not. That is the proof that God exists.
There are two kinds of believers, theists, in this world. One kind seeks happiness in the objects of pleasure that this world offers. The other kind seeks happiness in the spiritual bliss. One who is an atheist is really a theist in his relation with the world! But when he comes to realize that the joys he seeks are evanescent and they are followed by sorrows and miseries he would lose his faith in the world. Thus, his only inclination would be towards the Lord Shree Hari. Everyone knows that Lord Shree Hari is the true source of happiness but he is precluded from achieving this happiness because he is misguided by four enemies, Mana that is mind, Buddhi that is intellect, Chitt that is consciousness and Ahamkar that is self-consciousness.
These four are your bad companions,
Mind and ego, intellect and sentience
They will distract you from the vision of the Lord
In your ignorance you think them your friends
But truly they are your secret enemies
You are cheated by these your intimate friends.
- Nishkulanand Swami
There were two friends who decided to go on a pleasure trip on a moonlit night. They took intoxicating drinks before they reached their boat on anchor at river. They went on paddling their boat all night long. They thought they were making progress. Tired of paddling and under the influence of drinks they fell asleep. It was dawn. Sweet breezes from the river woke them up. They looked around and saw that still they were at the same strand where they started. There was no progress at all during their night of hard rowing. Here in this parable the intoxicating drink stands for the ignorance of sins of previous births. The morning breeze that awoke them is symbol of the meeting of a true saint, a divine guide. This vast ocean of life can be traversed only by those who have conquered their ignorance, are awakened by the divine grace and are ready to row their boat to their destination.
Here I quote the words of Shreeji Maharaj from Vachanamrit – Panchala 3: “See the way the English deal with the criminal. They arrest him and make him stand in the cage before the judge. He is tied up before he is interrogated. They don’t have him free, lest he should run away. They don’t trust him. The same should be our approach to our senses. We should hold them in the cage of the Five Rules of Religious Practice and hold them in bondage. Don’t ever trust your senses and allow them to roam about free. You must always hold your senses as suspects.”
If the inner self has no occupation then the Mind should direct all its attention to the divine Way of Life led by the Lord Shree Hari. The Intellect should be pressed into the contemplation of the Divine Form. The sentience should be made to meditate on the life of the Lord Shree Hari. The Ahamkar should be pressed to be a humble devotee of the Lord Shree Hari and advised to assume that the self is also a part of the Divine Self.
Thus, these four should be pressed in the service – Bhakti, of the Lord Shree Hari. This approach gives happiness of the Sight of the Divine Form of the Lord and makes us touch the Divine. If these four intimates mislead us into the temptation of the worldly pleasures, we would be ruined. They must be made helpmates to meet the Lord Shree Hari. It is, those four bad companions, our enemies within who hinder us from being one with our Lord and Master. If we follow where they lead we would not be able to participate in Life Divine. Mere outward worship is nothing but rowing the anchored boat that does not move.
Design & Concept : Jnan Baug, Vadtal www.harismruti.com
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