Three Essential Steps for the Spiritual Aspirant

7 August 1984, Bhagavad Gita Series, Bhajan Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam, AP

Published English.

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Tatwena cha Parantapa

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This statement beautifully portrays the ’s gradual spiritual evolution. For a spiritual aspirant, there are three most important steps. The word “” signifies the firm conviction that God exists. This can be acquired either from a teacher or a great soul or by the reading of scriptures. By listening and reading, the is able to develop a firm conviction about the existence of God. Only with that, i.e., by a mere knowledge of the existence of God, he does not derive satisfaction. This is only a preliminary stage. This is the dual or the “” stage. He will not be satisfied with this knowledge. He now wants to see and experience the God whom he believes to exist. Such a type of yearning develops internally in the . Even this simple yearning is not enough. The intense desire to see God must constantly pervade the mind of the devotee. He has to develop a desire to see that form of the Lord about whom he had heard and read before.

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A small example for this. Once, there was a cowherd. Even though he was very pitiably poor, he was having intense devotion towards spiritual matters and God. In the same village, there was a who used to gather some villagers in the evening every day and tell stories to teach them the glory of God and to bring them into the path of devotion. It was not possible for the cowherd to leave his work. Therefore, during daytime, he used to attend to his work and in the evening, after restoring the cattle to their respective places, he used to attend the sessions. On a particular day, the was beautifully describing the form and attributes of . He was repeatedly saying “ is dark in complexion; He rides a white kite; He wears white lines on His forehead; He fulfils the desires of the devotees who worship Him; He also partakes of the food that is offered to Him (), etc., and this is absolutely true.” The also confirmed that those who were devoted to could certainly experience this miracle. This description of made an imprint in the heart of the cowherd. Not only this, the also described that was fond of devotional music and it was possible to earn His grace by prayer and song. The cowherd used to take porridge (“”) daily for his lunch. As instructed by the , daily at noon he used to offer the porridge as naivedyam to and sing thus:

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The cowherd repeated this offering daily for one week. But neither appeared before him nor partook of his offering. Since Vishnu did not partake of the porridge offered by him, he also decided to forego his meal and brought back the porridge to his home daily. When this process was repeated for one week, he became very weak. He made an introspection thinking, “Perhaps I could not sing properly; perhaps I could not please the Lord with my singing.” Then he practised the song for some time and fine-tuned it to melt the heart of the Lord. Thereafter, as usual, he went to the forest taking the cattle along with him. He was very hungry. But he did not want to take his food without offering the same to . Therefore, he started to sing his song again in the tune he practised.

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When the , , and thus unified and flowed into a melodious song, descended. In what form? He appeared before the cowherd as a . The cowherd questioned Him: “Who are you sir? Where did you come from? Are you a traveller?” , in the guise of the , replied, ”I am Narayana. Since you prayed for me, I came to give you .” Remembering that was fond of devotional singing, the cowherd sang:

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“This form bears no semblance to the Brahmin ’s description His features are not those of the Lord’s”

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The boy began to feel sorry that he was not able to see what the Brahmin had told him - that in the dark-complexioned Narayana’s face there will be white lines and He will be riding a white kite, etc., - in this man. This desired to see as , i.e., he wanted to see in the same form as he had learnt about Him from the . But God has no particular form. He is “.” How is it possible to confine Him to a particular form when, in fact, He is with a myriad heads, eyes and feet? But, to please His devotees, God appears in the form contemplated upon, desired for and heard by them. This form is as contemplated by the Devotees, but not His real form. God is “” i.e., He loves the inner feelings of the devotees. He gives His to the devotees in the forms contemplated by the devotees. God, therefore, finally appeared in the form of as contemplated by the cowherd.

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“I heard about God and have also seen His form, but how do I merge in Him?” Thus went on the thoughts of the cowherd. The is not satisfied by simply hearing about God and seeing His divine form. He must merge in Him. Then only he will be satisfied. Here, gave His to the cowherd and disappeared immediately. Keeping the Lord’s form imprinted in his heart, he went home and began to seriously explore the method by which he could reach .

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The gathers knowledge about the form and attributes of God by study of the scriptures, from the teachings of the and by hearing from the devotees who had divine experiences. This is “.” A true is not satisfied with this limited experience. This is “” (dualism). From this stage, he will try to reach the stage of “” (qualified non-dualism). What is this? He wants to have the of the Lord now. How? What needs to be done to have His ? Constant contemplation on the form and attributes of the Lord about which he heard before, “.” Whatever is seen, whatever is heard, whatever act is performed, whatever thoughts are entertained, the must become one with the Lord’s form of his choice. In the beginning, he must develop an imaginary picture of the Lord. This imaginary picture then becomes the picture of contemplation and finally transforms itself into the picture of the desired vision (). In the course of time, one fine day, he will be blessed with the divine vision of the Lord directly. Not only that, he will be able to have a dialogue with the Lord. By thus having a direct and dialogue with God, the will attain some satisfaction.

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But a true is not satisfied, even with this experience of and . He wants to attain Divinity. I heard about Him; I had His , but I have to merge in Him – thus continue his thoughts. of the Lord is only “.” Now, it is time for “” (merging in Him). But How? In the stage of “,” the position of the is that he is different from God ( – Dualism). It develops into a feeling that he is part of the Divine, in the stage of ( or qualified non-dualism). Now, the question arises as to how to reach the stage where he and God become one and only one entity ( – Nondualism). The constantly contemplates on this aspect. I must merge in Him or He should merge in me; then only I and He will become one – thus his yearning continues day in and day out, all the time. As long as the river flows, its name and form remain different. Once it merges in the ocean, the river loses its separate identity and attains the name, form and identity of the ocean. Similarly, if one wants to merge in Divinity, he should have only divine feelings, thoughts and actions. Every aspect of his life must become Godly. At this stage, he endeavours to cultivate Divine qualities like selflessness and broad-mindedness. He struggles himself to attain oneness with God, in thought, word and deed. One day he finally succeeds in getting his desire fulfilled. This is the ultimate goal of his life.

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A Simple Example “It is natural for the beings to reach their place of birth.” Only then will man’s life be fulfilled. That is the secret of human life. There are many varieties of Mango fruits in the world. Among them, each one of us develop some special liking for a particular variety, like or . When we hear from our friends that this variety is now available in the market, we feel very happy. But this alone does not give us full happiness. The real joy comes only after we purchase the fruit and partake of the same. That means real joy comes only from our direct experience. In the meanwhile, we are anxious whether the stock will last till we go to the market. We go to the market and see the fruit. We are now happy to see our favourite fruit is available. But, our desire for the fruit is not yet fulfilled. We purchase the fruit and feel very happy to see the fruit of our choice actually available in our hands. What is the reason for this happiness? Because we have developed some special liking for this variety of fruit. This happiness is the reaction and reflection of our liking for the fruit. Our inner feelings seek external fulfilment as well. The objects we see in the external world are all the reflections of our inner being. Some of our feelings are firmly established in our inner being. To seek their fulfilment in the external world, we need to make some special effort. Consequently, we bring home the fruit, clean it, remove the skin and partake of the juice. In fact, we suck the juice happily. Thereafter, there is no fruit separately. The juice in the fruit has merged into our system and become part and parcel of our system. We are now totally happy. In this process, to know that the fruit of our liking has arrived in the market is . After this knowing, we somehow manage to secure money and go to the market to see the fruit. This is . To purchase that fruit and enjoy it is .

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But, are the of the present time following this procedure? We may study a number of books, hear a number of discourses of great men; but we are not making any serious effort to develop an intense yearning to see God. We are content with the mere knowledge that God exists.

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It is Only In There Is There are a number of educated people and students in this Assembly. A student is not satisfied with entering into the 1st standard. Every year he wants to be promoted to the next higher standard. If he remains in the same standard for two years, he is disheartened. Not only that. He feels a sense of shame among his classmates. Similarly, if we continue ourselves in the stage only, we are looked down upon by our fellow . They heckle us saying, “This person is a ! He has been studying scriptures, attending discourses and chanting Vedic hymns for many years. What is the use? He is in the same stage as he was.” Hence, one should rise from the (dualism) stage to the (qualified non-dualism) stage. What does it mean? The knowledge about the existence of God gathered through reading and listening has to be converted into a vision of the Divine in our meditation () or chanting of the Name of the Lord () or by any other method of constant contemplation. This is the second stage. But even at this state, we cannot rest contented with the , and with the Lord. We must become one with the Lord. We must merge in Him. We must gain an experience of “I am God,” “I and God are only one.” This adwaitic (non-dualistic) experience must be carefully preserved in our heart. We should not have any rest or peace till we reach this supreme stage. Today, man desires rest for the body and peace of mind; only to that extent. The next stage is to attain peace. When does it come? When the individual self () merges in the Supreme Self (). is ever an embodiment of peace. The river is born out of the ocean. It had taken the form of clouds. When it had thus taken the form of clouds, it had become (dualistic entity). The ocean is different, and the clouds are different. In this form, there is (qualified non-dualistic) form, in the shape of taste. The seawater is salty. When it gets evaporated by the heat of the Sun and takes the shape of clouds, there is sweetness in it. This is . When these clouds of sweet drops of Love for God burst into rain, the river is formed. This river in its turn dances and runs in ecstasy to reach its place of birth, i.e., the Ocean. This is the intense yearning of : “I must reach my original abode. During this journey, I must undergo whatever changes are required to be undergone. Ultimately, I must reach my goal and experience that Supreme Bliss.” With this aim, the river continuously flows and finally merges in the Ocean. This is the ultimate Advaitic stage.

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We are born as human beings and are living as human beings. We started our life’s journey as . We joined the company of spiritual aspirants (). We are listening to the stories of God. This is not enough. We must do to have the vision of the Lord. Even this is not enough. We should not be contented with the , and of the Lord. We must become one with Him. Then only there will be fulfilment to our life. taught thus.

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Realise The True Meaning Of The Names has several names like , , , , , , , , etc. These titles were earned by him by performing various heroic deeds. Several people have several titles in this world; for example – , , etc. Who is giving these titles? These are given by the Government. But, who had given the titles to ? Verily, Himself. What is the last title given by to ? said, "." “My son! You are not '' (son of falsehood); You are verily (Son of the Immortal),” said . He also advised not to give credence to falsehood at all. did penance for a number of years for possessing the bow, , with undaunted courage and firm resolution and, ultimately, tiding over all difficulties and adversities, he could secure it. Since he could thus secure the (bow), he was given the title of , the conqueror of the Bow. The same title “” is pronounced as “” in normal usage. But this word also has a meaning. wanted to perform (the sacrificial ritual of Rajasuya). At that time, , and other wicked sons of were ruling the kingdom. did not have a single in their treasury. Then told “Oh my younger brother! It is no simple task to perform . On one side, wants us to perform this yajna. On the other side, we do not have any money to perform this gigantic task. How to gather the money required for this?” To this, replied, “Oh my elder brother! Why do you worry, we have the (wish-fulfilling tree) with us! When , the protector of the whole universe, is with us, where is the question of dearth of money? If he once blesses me and sends me out for fetching the money, I can bring any amount.” Thus saying, he embarked upon a donation collection mission. When people heard the news about the being performed by , not a single person backed out from donating money. In fact, did not find the necessity to knock at anybody’s doors. The kings themselves volunteered to supply the money required for the purpose. brought this enormous amount of money, carrying it on elephants. Money poured in heaps and heaps. saw this caravan of elephants carrying huge quantities of money and enquired, “! Where from did you get this huge quantity of money?” as if he was not aware of it. Then pointed to and said that it was all because of him. At that moment, called by the name “,” the conqueror of wealth. There is another name, “”, for . Because he is the son of (), he is called “.” In course of time, we shall try to understand more about the meanings of these names of .