DIVINE DISCOURSE: 26-9-79
Discrimination
and detachment are the first and the second steps that man has to
take in order to reach the Eternal Atmic Truth. The mind can be steadied
only by means of the mastery of desire, the quality of unwavering
Detachment. Once the mind is still, peace reigns and bliss prevails.
Detachment or the giving up of the tendency to pursue what attracts
the mind, is often misconstrued as asceticism which renounces social
and family life and escapes into the loneliness of the forests. But,
it involves, more than anything else, awareness of the basic blemish
in all material things. Without this inquiry and this discovery, all
claims for detachment or renunciation are false. No one can have real
detachment in their absence. The sense of dislike that results from
the recognition of the temporariness and triviality of pleasure is
best called `practical detachment'.
The
giving up of external struggle is not enough, nor is it a great achievement.
The real struggle is internal - the withdrawal of the extrovert senses
into the mind and making them ineffective through the exercise of
the intellect or discrimination. Investigate each material object
that entices the senses by beauty, fragrance, sweetness and softness.
Realise that these are all momentary, depending on your mental condition,
physical health and emotional balance. Man is enamoured of such fleeting
phenomena; he accepts them as valid and valuable. He is entangled
in these unrealities and he strays far away from the path of liberation.
This is really not man's goal.
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When
we are drawn towards some source of pleasure, we examine it
carefully and analyse the pleasure that it promises to give.
Imagine that you have longed to eat a particular sweet dish.
You have got it cooked and served on your plate. You are anticipating
all the while the relish it can confer. But while about to place
it on the tongue, the cook rushes in and informs you that a
lizard had fallen into the vessel in which it was cooked, and
so, your favourite food is fouled and poisoned. This creates
disgust and your attachment disappears.
So
too, when you examine the quality of the pleasure you hope to
derive or the fame you toil to earn by your struggles, you will
certainly blame yourselves for being so serious about them.
It may be asked: we build a house for us to live in; is that
not a source of joy? We listen to fine music; is that not a
source of joy? Does it not fill the heart with tenderness? In
the same manner, are not these worldly pleasures real? Consider
for a moment, whether even fine music will give uniform joy,
if listened to continuously for hours! Even the heavenly musicians,
Narada and Tumburu will tire a listener if they hold forth for
too long, however mellifluent be their voice. Sweetness too
is bound to be disliked after some mouthfuls. After the limit
is reached, every additional mouthful gives less and less pleasure,
while disgust intervenes. |
The classical
poet-philosopher Bhartrhari asks, "How can medicine, resorted
to for the sake of curing an illness, be deemed a luxury, a desirable
pleasure?" Hunger is a `disease'. Food is the medicine that
cures the disease. That is the plain fact but no one recognises it
and behaves accordingly! They have made it a costly ritual, a futile
feast, a fertile source of further diseases! For, they cater to the
whims and fancies of the tongue and behave like slaves of the senses.
The King was hunting in the depths of a forest from dawn until early
afternoon. He was afflicted by intense thirst. At last, he found a
hermitage where he took refuge. The inmates gave him cool clear water
to drink. That was the medicine which he needed most. It made him
fresh and fine. If the drink intoxicates him, robs him of reason and
degrades his personality, it is the cause of many other diseases.
Discrimination will reveal the dangers lurking in becoming a bond
slave of the senses.
The special instrument
that God has allotted man, namely, Buddhi or the Intellect, has to
be used by man to become master of these down-dragging senses. The
Intellect has to be used to judge and decide the means for the upliftment
of the human to the Divine. It has to help man to realise God and
nothing less. Nevertheless, it is now misused in finding others' faults
and belittling others. It is like using a mirror, not to improve one's
appearance, but to ridicule the appearance of others!
The Antahkarana
has four instruments that prompt man. Of these, Buddhi is two-faced;
it draws light from the Atma to which it is closest; it illumines
with that light, the mind and the senses. It regulates the passions
and emotions, the impulses and instinctive reactions. Some perverse
minds confront with questions, like, "Is not ensuring the safety
and happiness of our wives and children our duty? How can you declare
that it is not desirable?” Yes. But remember the prime purpose
of the education you earn in this life is to concentrate on your Atmic
Truth. Do not be diverted from this fundamental duty. Other activities
must smoothen and straighten this Path. They must be contributory
Sadhanas for this basic purpose of man.
