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Posted on: Mar 12, 2014
Part – 4
The 'D' Continuum Leading to Duty
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BP: The other thing you mentioned Giridhar is that we need determination. But I feel that determination and will power can come only when you have led a life of discipline. You have to strengthen your being and your will power.
Many times people know what is good and what is wrong but are not able to exercise the will power to go in that direction. It is because we have not disciplined our life and we have not strengthened the inner self. All the years before he met Rama, Hanuman had disciplined his life doing only namasmarana. He was constantly focused on the Lord, he had no family or anything else. He was sincere in his sadhana.
It was because of his steadfastness that he could do Rama Kaarya. When he went to Lanka looking for Sita and he had to enter into the palaces and inner rooms. But he didn't cast his eyes on anything unholy.
Even with regard to the respect he had for elders, it is said that Hanuman would always bend his head and kneel down in front of the Lord. He didn't want to give even the slightest of inconveniences to the Lord; he felt there should be not even a little physical discomfiture to the Lord when He was communicating with Him. He was always at the Lord's feet.
SG: In fact in order to bind Hanuman, when Indrajith shot the Brahmastra or the weapon of Lord Brahma, only to give respect to Lord Brahma Hanuman got bound by the astra.
DA: He bowed down to the satwic authority — to that position of great satwa. In sharp contrast to what he was when he was in Ravana's court.
SG: Yes. When he came across such rajasic or tamasic authority like Ravana and the likes of the demons in the court, he breaks the shackles in front of Ravana to show that it was not Ravana who had bound him but that he allowed himself to be bound out of respect for Lord Brahma.
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In fact on a very lighter note, when we talk about slothfulness and discipline I am reminded of the Sports Meet again. We need to get up early and do our warm-ups because rigorous exercises are involved. So we get up early around 5.15 or 5.30 and hit the Hill View Stadium for jogging and exercises. There are specific rigorous routines for the events.
Boys who are slothful and are influenced by the tamasic qualities come a little late. It's interesting to note the punishment given. These are so-called punishments because in Swami's University punishments are more of corrective measures. They are not to really punish the person in the sense of taking revenge on them; no such attitude is there. It's so beautiful that even the punishment should benefit the student. The typical punishment given to those who succumb to sloth in the mornings of the Sports Meet practice is to go all the way up to Hanuman, touch his feet and come back.
DA: To gain inspiration!
The Five Ds Which Lead to Divinity
SG: Yes. On to how to overcome tamasic qualities. That is a very beautiful anecdote on how to overcome tamas. When boys do that once or twice, they don't want to be climbing the Hanuman hill every day. So they overcome the sloth on their own and slowly discipline sets in.
Discipline is paramount. In fact the way discipline leads to duty or doing Rama Kaarya is fantastic. If you have to quickly sketch the journey from discipline to duty, these are the 5 Ds, the first is discipline.
When you have a disciplined life it helps you with discrimination. If you have an undisciplined life it becomes difficult to make choices because you don't have the necessary will power to make a clear choice on the right thing to do. So discipline helps in discrimination.
When you have both discipline and discrimination it helps in detachment. Discipline and discrimination with determination helps in detachment. What is detachment? Swami says detachment doesn't mean that you leave the whole world and run into a Himalayan cave.
Bhagawan says, “Imagine yourself holding God with one hand and the world with the other.” Circumstances come such that the world is pulling you so much and you tend to leave even the other hand and go towards the world. Detachment means to leave the world and hold on to God with both your hands.
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BP: Discrimination helps you to know this is the world and this is God. Determination gives you the will power to hold on to God. Then comes detachment.
SG: Yes. Detachment from the world is nothing but attachment to God. And attachment to God means to follow His words. In life when we are faced with ethical or moral dilemmas and problems, do we have the determination, the will power and the discrimination to follow the instructions of the Lord? Follow what pleases Bhagawan. That is attachment to God.
BP: Follow the Master.
SG: Right. It's very easy to get carried away in the worldly sense. Detachment from the world which is attachment to God grows as we grow in discipline, discrimination and determination. When we slowly detach ourselves from the world — we live in the world, we work in it, we enjoy the world but we don't go by worldly ways, rather we go by Godly ways or the ways that Swami has described to us, then we grow in devotion to the Lord.
So discipline, discrimination with determination leads to detachment. Such detachment from the world and increased attachment to God leads to devotion. You can see this journey in Hanuman's life. Such devotion to the Lord will enable you to be an instrument like Hanuman in doing His duty or Rama Kaarya. That is the real duty.
- Team Radio Sai
What do you think about this discussion? Please let us know by writing in to h2h@radiosai.org. Do not forget to mention your name and country.
