Student Queries

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Question Ref: Lesson 14

Q: What is nature of surrender and how do we know we have truly surrendered?

A student asks:
Arjuna had placed the reins of his mind and intellect in the hands of the Lord (Ref: Lesson 19, Pg 11). My question is
1- How do we place the reins in HIS hands?
2- How can we be sure he has taken them?
3- The mind being what it is,it will keep taking and giving it?

Our Acharya replies
1- How do we place the reins in HIS hands?
Devotion unto the Lord- by becoming "mathpara" - Once the love for the Lord begins one has full faith in Him and offers oneself to Him (by dedicating all activities to Him). The Lord becomes primary, the individual becomes secondary

2- How can we be sure he has taken them.
When our mind is quiet and at peace and is not carried away by small pinpricks of life then we are sure that the Lord has taken them

3- The mind being what it is, it will keep taking and giving it?
Once the love for Lord deepens and we have surrendered fully mind cannot take us for a ride. We will become masters of our mind.

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Q: What is meant by dexterity in action?

A student asks - Can you explain what is meant by dexterity in action.

Our Acharya replies-

When one’s action is desire prompted and egocentric it dissipates his mental energy due to undue anxiety for the fruit of action. The quality of the results of such an action will be below expectations .
Hence the karma yogi – he does action with an equipoised mind without any likes or dislikes- with“vyavasathmika buddhi” and “samatva buddhi”. This is possible as the duty is done only for God. Hence due to absence of any agitation all mental energy is conserved and he excels in his actions. These untainted actions lead to higher accomplishments . This is called dexterity in action which in turn liberates him from karma which otherwise binds a person.

[Arvind]

Ref: Lesson 3

Q: What does Sankhya Yoga mean?

A student asks
I want to know the meaning of the word Sankhya and why the 2nd chapter is named as Sankhya Yoga.

Our Acharya replies:

Sankhya means that knowledge which is well determined through the scriptures. "Sam+ khya" = well determined.

Sankhya yoga means the path of Self-Knowledge which is well determined in the scriptures and is the direct means for Realization. It is the main teaching of 2nd chapter and the main purport of the Gita. This path is more commonly referred to as Jnana-Yoga.

Sankhya is the vishaya of the Upanishad- Brahman. The main message of the Upanishad is Brahman and its unity with the individual Self, this is the Sankhya.

The name of the chapter is Sankhya yoga- as this knowledge is the means to unite with Brahman through the knowledge of the self.
(Sankhya = Knowledge; Yoga = joining) - the knowledge that unites the jiva with the Self.

[umakishan]

Q: Tapas and Meditation in Kaliyuga

A student asks:
It is said that tapas and meditation are for the first three yugas not the Kaliyuga. In Kaliyuga is it enough if you can do 'Namasmarana'? Leading a Grihasta life, is it impossible to do it in the right way sitting at home?

Our Acharya replies:
Namasmarana is one of the psychological exercises that will purify the mind and prepares the aspirant for the higher sadhana. In Kaliyuga, a Grihasta is recommended/expected to perform Namasmarana and perform actions dedicated to God. Further to the purification of the mind, the aspirant proceeds to tapas and advanced meditation which will lead him to Infinitude. Preliminary simple meditation must be performed by Grihasta also. Higher meditation like samadhi are only possible by advanced sadhakas who have attained chitta suddhi.

Question: Role of asana in meditation

A student asks:
Can a Sadhaka sit in direct contact with the floor and continue meditation?

Our Acharya replies:
It is recommended to have asana when performing meditation. During meditation, the sadhaka tries to uplift his mind, in the process, it is found that since the gravitational pull acts in the opposite direction, this gravitational forces pulls down the pranic forces.
Hence it is recommended to have asana during meditation.

Q: Posture in Meditation
 A Student asks:
Can a Sadhaka perform meditation by sitting on sofa? Do we need to put something between our feet and floor during meditation on sofa?

Our Acharya replies:
The main criteria during the process of meditation are to keep your body firm and at ease. Of course a Sadhaka can sit on a sofa so long as he does not move his body. It is better to put something under your feet, and sit comfortably relaxed.
However it is recommended that if one is not able to sit on the floor with an asana, one sits in an armless chair, with body and head firm and straight (not stiff )

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Q: Ramification of likes and dislikes

A student asks - Can you explain " It is said one must do action without likes and dislikes. Can you explain why one should not one work with likes and dislikes?"

Our Acharya replies-
When one's motive of action is only pleasure – he develops likes and dislikes for the action and gets attachment to certain actions and aversion to others. This in turn leads to kama (desire), krodha (anger), moha (delusion) ,and lobha (greed) which agitates the mind and subsequently one gets bound .Human being`s goal is to go beyond these likes and dislikes and just look at the world very objectively .

On the other hand, if one dedicates all his actions to the Lord without any classification of good or bad action and accepts all results as Prasada from the Lord – he will exhaust all his old vasanas and will not accrue new vasanas which in turn will pave the way to liberate him .

The Jnani`s world are like that only, they have no preferences, no likes or dislikes, just accept for what they are.

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Q – Svadharma

A student asks- What is svadharma ? Can you please explain what is benefit of doing our svadharma ?

Our Acharya replies-
Svadharma means one’s own duty. The word dharma denotes duty. Another meaning of dharma is that which holds together different aspects and qualities of an object to make it whole. It is the law of being.
Duty involves in a broader sense the Pancha yagnas -duty towards deva,rishi, pithru, fellow beings and all living beings of the world. It is not just the duty towards immediate family members.
A duty thus performed helps one to evolve, duty is the means to evolve by making our minds purer and calmer. This shows that the duty is to be performed in an integrated manner considering material, emotional, ethical and spiritual needs.

Student -What determines ones duty?
Acharya-it is the type of work one does as per the mental texture and inborn /natural taste and not the one imposed up on an individual due to birth in a particular caste or family. Our duty is determined by vasanas accumulated by poorva janma samskaras which in turn expresses as desires leading to actions in the selected directions . Again our duties vary according to time. For eg when one is a student ones dharma is to study and when he grows up he will have to take a different role as per the circumstances.

Student-How do we know we are performing svadharma and not actions prompted by desire?
Acharya-While performing an action if one is free of agitations and gets inner peace it is an indication that we are doing our svadharma. On the other hand if work leads to agitations it shows it is desire prompted.

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Q: Deeper import of the term "Work" or karma

A student asks : "Student asks - Why is the creative urge in human beings termed as karma? " (Ref: Ch 8)

Our Acharya replies:

As per Gurudev, "THE TERM ' work' CONNOTES SOMETHING DEEPER, SUBTLER, DIVINER. THE CREATIVE URGE THAT IS BEHIND EVERY ACTIVE INTELLECT, WHICH ULTIMATELY FULFILS ITSELF IN THE CREATION OF THINGS AND BEINGS, THAT SUBTLE SPIRITUAL STRENGTH IS CALLED 'KARMA'

The Supreme is Akarta and Abhokta. The creative urge in it- Iccha sakthi- to become many activates its own Maya Sakthi and its sakthi spandana gives rise to the apparent creation of things and beings. (visarga).
Actually nothing is born. Sakthi or prana chalanam manifests as things and beings. So if one sees karma in the world, it is nothing but the chalana of the creative energy of the infinite. This peculiar potency is the reason behind the manifestation of diversity.

Since karma becomes the means to unfold the divinity in ourselves, all such creative work used for the larger good is called as "karma". As Gurudev puts it
all other work is mere sheer labor.

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Q- Our attitude while performance of duties
A student asks-
What should be our attitude while performing our duty ?

Our Acharya replies-
According to Lord Krishna our duty is to act only without expecting any fruits before or while acting. The fruit of your action is decided by the Lord, taking into consideration various factors unknown to us. We try to correlate a particular action with a particular result. I have done this much and so I should get this result .
Karma pahalas does not work like that, one sometimes suffer even if one's actions are perfect, because of one's past karmas, the fruits of the present action may yield results later. We should perform action with an attitude of Iswararpana buddhi (equanimity of mind while performing the action) and while we get the result accept it with Prasada buddhi. (equanimity of mind at the end of the work).

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Topic
The world folds up and unfolds at the end and beginning of each 100-year life span of the creator, Brahma Lesson 15 para 9.3 (2)
Commentary of Pujya Gurudev - Shloka 8.18: “From the unmanifested all the manifested proceed at the coming of the day; at the coming of “night” they dissolve verily in that alone which is called the unmanifest
A Student asks - Kindly clarify the concept of dissolution of manifest into unmanifest

Our Acharya replies- Dissolution of manifest back to unmanifest is called Pralaya . The significance of pralaya is to highlight the idea that the entire universe including creator Brahmaji is ephemeral and Brahman alone is eternal .There are 4 types of pralaya
Nithya pralaya- when one goes to sleep the sukshma sarira folds into karana sarira and unfolds when one wakes up. This is the pralaya at individual level.
Naimittika pralaya- This happens during the night of Brahma. Bhur buva, svaha are destroyed but maha,jana,tapa,brahma lokas remain. This is equal to night time of Brahmaji. Next morning new creation by Brahmaji starts.
Prakritha pralaya- Entire universe goes into cosmic unmanifest which corresponds to the end of brahmajis life span - 100 Brahma years. Next creation will be done by a new Brahmaji
Athyanthika pralaya- Attained by knowledge .This is the Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithya jnana attained by a Jivan Muktha . The World is no more there for him as a separate entity apart from Brahman. His individuality is dissolved into Brahman.

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A Student asks- Can you explain the concept behind these 2 statements whereby the Lord says that the whole world is in Me as well as not in Me? Is it not an apparent contradiction?

Our Acharya replies - There is no contradiction in these two statements.
The world we see is subject to constant changes – ( birth , death etc) for these changes to happen there should be a changeless substratum.The only relation possible between the two is that of the substratum and the superimposed. Here substratum is the absolute truth and world is an appearance on it .
From the stand point of absolute Truth there is no world. The Lord alone is( they are not in me)
From the stand point of the world - the world has come from Lord, sustained and goes back to Lord . The Lord is the ultimate cause- abinna nimitha upadana karanam.-(the whole world and all beings are in me)
Look at the example of rope and snake. It is brought out that the vision of snake “exists” because of rope and rope does not exist in the snake.From the stand point of rope there is no snake.

Hence there is no contradiction in these apparent contradictory statements. They are to be understood from different standpoints.

[Arvind]

Q: Living the Gita way of life and our attitude towards difficult people.

A student asks
Gita advises us to follow a life without pride, attachment etc.So, as an individual I will have to make efforts to practise these values. However what should be our approach in the following situations/

1. When we have to deal with close relatives who are arrogant. We are dealing with such people regularly. We are in a position to talk to them about their negativities. However, there is a fear that it might spoil the relationship. What is to be done in this case? 
2. When we have such rajasic / tamasic friends with whom  we cannot take liberty to talk freely. Should we ignore,  tolerate or try to influence through some common friends?

Our Acharya responds:

1. Any relationship with others is possible only with unconditional love and forgiveness. Instead of judging people a Vedantin should be able to accept them with all their faults and forgive them whenever they hurt you. As there are few perfect persons in this world, one can keep away or else one should be able to forgive and accept people as they are by showering love on them. This is great sadhana a spiritual seekers should cultivate. Now how is that possible? By performance of our svadharma, for in svadharma there is no scope of bringing our likes and dislikes.
That is why the Lord describes duty (svadharma) as that which has to be done without attachment or aversion. Duty is to be done for duty's sake. In performance of our duty we meet difficult people. But if the duty is done for God (and not for one's happiness), then the duty is performed without being judgemental. This helps us to purify our minds.

2. Regarding friends - One is choosing one's own friends. Why should one choose them if their values are different from ours? One must not try to change anybody with advice. The philosophy insists that one should try to be better person with lots of love towards all. 'Don`t judge anyone lest you be judged' says the Bible.

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Topic Supreme devotion, jnanam and vijnanam

A Student asks - Acharyaji can you explain the significance of supreme devotion- Is jnani superior to a supreme devotee?

Our Acharyaji replies- Jnanam is intellectual understanding of the supreme truth- where vijnanam is experiential knowledge- being established in the self or realization.
In Gita chapter 7 the Lord explains jnana as advaitha darsana- brahma satyam jagan mithya
Vijnana is seeing Lord's presence in everything when ones attention is shifted from the gross to the subtle.
jnanam at its perfection is vijnanam.

Supreme devotion is seeing the Lord in all Vasudeva sarvamithi. This is not a mere intellectual understanding but it is living the truth.so it is vijnanam.

A supreme devotee is in no way different from the Realized Master . An example is the life of great masters like Tulsidasji who was not only a supreme devotee but also a jnani for his knowledge was vijnanam and not just jnanam.

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Topic: Cause and Effect Theory Is only in the realm of plurality. The Absolute Truth transcends Cause and Effect
A student asks
At some places when explaining the source of Creation it is said that God is the cause of creation. The analogy of the mud and the mud pot is given to establish this, the mud being the cause and the mud pot being the effect.
At other places it is said God is beyond Cause and Effect.
Which of these is correct?

Our Acharya responds
The cause and effect theory has been given from a lower level of understanding. It is valid in the empirical plane. But at the same time from standpoint of the Absolute Reality it does not stand good, for Reality is beyond cause and effect.
When we perceive the world (effect)and ask enquire for its cause, then we talk of a cause as the Creator. Like when we we say the cause of the mud pot (the effect) is the mud. Both the mud and the mud pot have in this case the same degree of reality, as the Creator and the Created.
But when we inquire in its Absolute sense, Brahman or Existence pervades both Cause and Effect, it is beyond both of them. From such an Absolute Cause no effect can actually come out for it does not transforms itself into something , for Brahman is immutable. All we can say is that Brahman alone is and the world is only an appearance.
So both are valid- that God is the cause of Creation, as well as God is beyond cause and effect Creation. It depends from which standpoint we are asking this question.

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Topic : Difference in Jiva and Isvara with respect to their adjuncts
An individualized ego (the jiva) is under the control of avidya (Ignorance ) while Maya is under the control of Iswara.

A student asks
Can you explain why there is difference between iswara and an individual inspite of their unity from the Consciosuness stand point?

Our Acharya replies
Consciousness associated with Total Mind is called Iswara. Whereas Consciousness associated with individual mind is called jiva. The Total Mind is here not all minds put together numerically, but what we mean is identification with the entire cosmos, then he is called Isvara. But a jiva is identified with only his limited individual mind. So though Consciousness is same in both, because of the limiting adjunct (association) there is the difference of Isvara and jiva from the upadhi level.

How? The upadhi of Iswara has predominance of sattva – with very little of rajas and tamas. Hence the total expression is of pure satvva so Isvara has the qualities of Lordship, all knowership . He never gets deluded, Maya is in his control so he is Mayapathi.

The upadhi of jiva is –malina satwa pradana-satwa overpowered by rajas and tamas. So qualities of finitude, ignorance are there as he is under the control of maya. Avidya is predominantly tamasic, which is of the nature of ignorance, which binds jiva, who forgets his true nature and identifies with gross and subtle bodies and live as a finite creature.

Hence even though there is unity between the two- Consciousness associated with both are same , still there is a difference when we look at their updahis (limiting adjunct).

[umakishan]

Q:Happiness Formula
A student asks:
Can you please elaborate on the Happiness formula i.e. Happiness = No. Of desires fulfilled / No. Of desired entertained.

Our Acharya replies
The mathematical equation clearly says that, as long as we entertain desires, we have few of them fulfilled and few of them unfulfilled, applying this equation to individual the amount of happiness varies, At the highest level of dispassion, when the denominator i.e. number of desires entertained is Zero, then mathematically only Happiness remains.

When you divide the number of desires fulfilled by number of desires entertained, the result is the peace percentage.
In our life, we think by increasing the top (numerator/desires fulfilled) we can increase our happiness, but in reality when we are trying to increase the numerator, the bottom (denominator/desires entertained) also keep increasing and peace percentage goes on decreasing.

Thus we end up not getting any happiness. To get absolute happiness, we have to go desire less or minimum desires.

[umakishan]

Question: Adhistana / Substratum

A student asks:
What is meant by Adhistana / Substratum with reference to Vedanta?

Our Acharya replies
For any change to take place, there should be a Changeless entity. For instance to see a movie, we require a Changeless screen without which we cannot run the movie, in the same manner, God is the Changeless substratum on which appears the world. The world will keep changing, we keep changing, but God will remain the same. Or for any change to take place, there has to be a Changeless substratum. To be aware of any change, there has to be a Changeless Substratum, this is the rule.

The same when we apply subjectively to ourselves, we arrive at the substratum as Brahman or God. How?
We perceive the world with the mind, which is nothing but flow of thoughts, thoughts are illumined by Consciousness (God). Without this Consciousness or Awareness , no perception is possible. However whatever the thoughts may be the illuminator(substratrum) is not affected. The substratum remains Changeless, that is God, our true nature on which the changes are perceived.

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Topic-BG II.45 The world of action, is nothing but the 3 Gunas.

Student asks- Wrong identification alone being the problem; my understanding and acceptance is that the Jiva is identical in nature to Ishwara and it is Ishwara alone that is the ‘karta’. But Ishwara is Action-less being but the Witness. Therefore the question is: who or what is seemingly acting?

Acharyaji answers-
From the standpoint of empirical Reality we say Isvara is the karta. But from the absolute sense, he is a action-less.
Gunas indeed are the agents and that I, the Self, am beyond the BMI, am totally unbound by any limitation of time, space and object .BG XIV.19 “When the seer beholds no agent other than the Gunas…”

To understand that Self, in Topic-BG XVI the Lord has enumerated 26 divine qualities that are to be inculcated and 6 demoniacal qualities that need to be rejected.

Student asks-Can you explain how these divine qualities help one to get out of this bondage

Acharya replies- It is the guna (functioning through mind) which binds us and it is the guna which liberates. As you know, once we reach the suddha-sattava, limit of maya is over as there will be no more mala(tamas) and vikshepa(rajas) which is cause of samsara. So all sadhana we can really do is to reach the state of suddha-sattava. Therefore greater effort needs to be put in to being patient, being silent when one is agitated/provoked.
It is here that the proactive initiative has to be intensified whenever the mind gets deluded and identifies with the BMI, always remembering that all this happens in ignorance and not to the Self.

Student asks-How to do that?.who and what is there to change when everything is Brahman
Acharya replies-As long as one identifies oneself with body mind equipment –he is in the realm of duality and one has to put self effort to inculcate divine qualities and to get rid of demoniacal- in Gurudev's words “Divine estate leads to release and devilish to bondage”-Only by constant practice – by study of scriptures, reflection and meditation one will be able to dissolve the deluded mind in to the self and abide in it.

One should not misunderstand the means to be the goal. So all sadhanas are means towards the supreme goal .
Once a person reaches the goal then this is true- there is nothing to be changed and there is no one to be changed.Brahman alone is.

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Topic : Beyond Sat and Asat (Ref Lesson 22, 13.8.2 )

A student asks
The known can be something manifested ('Sat”) like a statue carved from the marble -
In verse 2-16 Bagavad Gita “ Sat” is defined as Real – the self and further it has been eloberated “Real is that which defies all changes and remains the same in all periods of time".
Can you explain why "sat" is described as changing entity- like a statue carved from marble when essentially it is changeless?

Our Acharya replies
Here the word sat is used in different context – unmanifest to manifest. Statue which was in the unmanifested form in the marble manifests when carved out.
Sat /asat are also used in other contexts like Gross- subtle ,Seen-unseen and known-unknown

From the Relative standpoint 3 categories are there
(1) “ sat” is that which remains through past, present and future without any changes. Only Brahman the Self falls in this category
(2) “asat “ is that which is not there at all. Eg- horns of hare
(3) “mithya” - When you perceive something which is there only at the present ,was not there in the past, will not be there in the future it is called mithya- a mere appearance. Eg- Enitre world of names and forms.
But at the ultimate level, all these come under Mithya and Atma alone is the “Sat” and asat remains only as a concept.

[lakssg]

Topic- Function of the Mind
A Student asks -Kindly tell me what is the function of the mind

Our Acharya answers-
Mind is a part of subtle body. Tattwabodha says "sankalpa vikalpaatmakam manaha".Desires,ambitions etc.arise in the mind.For example, mind says "should I eat chocholate or not ".Intellect says,"No,bcz it will increase your sugar".
Mind functions through the Physical Brain just as Netrendriya functions through gross eye.Physical brain and physical eye are called "Golaka" through which the subtle body functions,just as government functins through its officers. Mind contains thoughts which are not decisive in nature.
Sometimes,the word "mind" indicates the whole "Antahakarana" which includes
Manas- aspect of indecisiveness
Buddhi - aspect of decicivness,
Chitta - memory aspect
Ahankara- ego -iness.

[lakssg]

A student asks- Kindly tell me who lives the life- mind, body or the soul?

Our Acharya replies-:Who lives the life ? We live the life ! Who are we ? Are we body,mind or soul ? Of course we are the soul ! So,answer is "soul lives the life ".Now here soul means Jivatma i.e the pure self identified with mind and body. Pure self is not living the life.It is just a witness of everything. Our real nature is this. But by wrong identification we have taken ourselves to be body and mind. So,we are called the Jivatma-who lives the life. Jiva uses the body and mind for doing his karma & experiencing the fruits of actions. But the duty of Jiva is to understand that actually he is the pure soul,pure sat-chit-ananda Atma and not the limited individual(jiva).