Leading a Religious Life - Part 1

Leading a Religious Life - Part 1

As a householder or student and as a person playing various roles in the society, beyond a certain age, every person is challenged with the two fold commitment of duties and responsibilities.A householder be it a mother or a father has responsibility towards the children, and the grandparents, as well as towards other members of the extended family. This includes financial responsibility as well as responsibilities in terms of time.The same person also has duties to fulfill towards the society, towards the nation and so on. As a hindu he has duties towards ancestors and as a human towards birds animals and even the devatAs.The person has to realise that in a life of a householder, it comes with all these different sets of duties and responsibilities.

In this post, I do not wish to expand on the list of responsibilities, but want to emphasise on a key point, that every duty or responsibility is a shared responsibility.

Whenever we perform any task or action, towards a particular result, it is never performed alone. For every task we need the help of other people, material resources, cooperation from others , as well as a host of other factors that are not under our control. Therefore no task is every performed alone, but there is always a shared responsibility.

Just like raising a child is not just the responsibility of mother, but father also has to contribute, same way running the household also, both husband and wife undertake as a joint responsibility.

As a religious person, as a hindu, I am able to recognise that this performance of responsibilites and duties is not only shared by the members of the household, but every action and its result, also preserves the very presence of bhagavan in those actions.

Life is a series of decisions, and every decision or effort comes with a certain result that affects the family. It is humanly impossible, as well as factually Untrue, if the person believes falsely that the Entire responsibility is on HIS shoulders alone.

Not realising the concept of shared responsibility, a family is put under stress of having to take responsibility, not only for performing an action, but also for having to worry over the result of the action. If the results do not go as planned, the person ends up with self blame and guilt and ends up blaming himself and treating oneself as a failure.

Additionally while undertaking decisions, the person does not seem to be able to decide which path to take for the greatest good, and is waylaid by wealth and greed, instead of ensuring overall well being for the family and the society.

Whole jagad is like a pot

Whole jagad including you the jiva is like a pot.
Pot is clay. You are that clay, all pervading consciousness.
You transcend the pot. Whole jagad resolves in clay.

To gain this knowledge, you need the qualified mind, which is silent and available for contemplation. In that steadiness you can see the jagad is mithya, and satyam brahman is all pervading. And satyam brahman is none other than oneself.

Mind cannot be 'made' steady by force, force itself is opposite of steady.

One can however enjoy sammatvam, and be relatively free of rAga dvesAs. This can be developed through karma yoga.
This sammatvam is gained by seeing ishvara as order, and jagad as orderly presence of ishvara. In this order we can relax and gain the neccesary sammatvam or qualification for knowledge.

Role of karma and upAsana

Karma yoga and upAsana yoga are a mandatory requirement for all seekers, in order to gain the necessary maturity for knowledge.
The personality has to be tuned towards receiving the guru Krupa . Guru Krupa is readily available. But due to my own raga dveshas interfering and my own ideas ,come in my way.
Through the attitude of yoga towards karma, which is two fold
1. Appreciating ishvara as dharma that connects actions and results and leading a life of svadharma, knowing fully well that svadharma leads to spiritual punya, or readiness for gnanam, by keeping raga dveshas in control and allowing one to be objective.
2. Seeing that ishvara is in both the knowledge and organs of actions , as well as the results of the action in the form of situations and material , seeing ishvara in action and result, I can relax in this order, which is samatvam. This samatvam gives me the mental leisure to pursue knowledge.

If karma yoga is the machine tool, the upasana yoga is the fuel and the oil that keeps the machine running smoothly. Upasana enhances the bhakti, enables us to have the bhagavatha smarana (remembrance of the lord ) always. Upasana is a part and parcel of a karma yogi lifestyle. Foremost of these is a bhakti towards ones ishta devata. Establishing a relationship with the ishta devata, with the goal of moksa, enables one to effectively gain the benefits and deepen the attitude of karma yoga. Deepen the bhakti, leading a bhakti filled aware life of purpose. Ishta devata removes all the obstructions to gnanam, and also takes care of our general well being (yoga kshemam).

With objectivity and mental leisure, I can make myself available to the pramana, I can surrender to the pramana, my own subjectivity can be dropped and the pramana can operate unobstructed, to transform as though , and to remove the ignorance which makes one think jiva and ishvara are separate.

Sathyam and Mithya

Any and every attribute is nama rupa, what it IS is satyam. The nama rupas gain their glory from satyam. Like air, water , space are all glorious entities.They are positive entities, that exist. Air exists, water exists, when we say 'exists' we should recognise that the 'exists' is non dual. So when you say air you can visualise air, water you can visualise, space you can think of it itellectually in terms of its function, but when you say brahman you cant visualise or intellectualise, as brahman is free of attributes, hence brahman is not another object, but that brahman IS that which lends presence to every object.So when any object is visualised, brahman IS, buthis fact is not recognise by us, until the shAstra points it out or teaches us to recognize.

Brahman remains as attributeless consciousness in every object name and form but it itself is free of names and forms.
Space is brahman ( borrowed existence from brahman), but brahman is free of spaceness.
Air is brahman ( borrowed existence from brahman), but brahman is free of airness.
Water is brahman ( borrowed existence from brahman), but brahman is free of waterness.

Therefore we talk of two levels of reality. Brahman is sathyam, and all that stands upon brahman with its own attributes and names and forms is mithya.
Appreciate that the mithya object is also brahman, but brahman is not the mithya object. Just like a bangle and a necklace is also gold, but gold is free from bangleness or necklaceness.

The secret to being BIG

Everyone wants to be bigger than the other person. We can't take that we are small, and that I am smaller than someone else. I want to be bigger than someone else in one area or the other. I want to be accepted by someone else by all.
If it is career I want to be at a higher post.
If it is wealth I want to be big in terms of wealth.

If dharma and values are important for me, I want to be an example to others in following values and I want to be respected by others as a person of values. I want values to be respected in the society else, I lose my own value.

If I am a parent I want to be my child's hero, if I am a child I want the parent to consider me as the biggest.

This feeling of wanting to be big is universal, it is the universal need of a human being to be big, to be accepted.

But it is also a fact that in the relative scheme of things I will never be the biggest, there will always be somone bigger than me. If I am Sachin Tendulkar in batting, there is still a better captain than me in the form of ganguly.
If I am a CEO , there is a bigger CEO or else I am a not satisfied and want to be known as a philanthropist and hence seek other ways to become even more bigger.
This search for bigness is a never ending pursuit. There is always someone who is bigger.

This is where shAstra and the vedic way of life puts things in perspective for this individual seeking bigness.
ShAstra and the hindu dharma, offers a lasting, permanent, real ,true and the ONLY solution to the human beings endless quest to become BIG.

In the 10th chapter of the bhagavad gita, bhagavan explains all his vibhuti or glories to arjuna. He says among the mountains I am Himalayan and I am indra among devas I am vyasas among rishis and so on.
This is a very important chapter for a spiritual aspirant since this makes him realize that all the bigNess he is seeking for in the relative world in fact belongs to the lord ishvara , the creator and the material this jagad is ishvara. There is none other who is bigger than ishvara. If ravana thinks he is bigger rama comes and destroys him. If hiranyakashyapu thinks he is bigger narayana comes as narasimha. That lord pashupati sadasiva, who is the whole, the entire jagad is he, he who effortlessly projects and resolves this jagad unto himself, who can ever be bigger than him. So any glory you see in anyone. It is ishvara alone.

Recognizing that all glories belong to ishvara and do not belong to me, does it make me smaller or bigger ?
Earlier I thought I was good at poetry, I have good command over language, I am a great orator, I am a. Basketball player , I am a great mathematical genius etc etc. Now if bhagavan comes and takes away even that glory , by saying any glory is bhagavans, what am I left with ? Doesn't it make me smaller?

No it doesn't make you smaller , says the gita. It makes you bigger. In fact it makes you BIG, in the true sense. Now since all your glories have been taken away by ishvara as his glorie, do you know what he has to offer in return? Do you know the bargain?
He offers you HIMSELF in return.

Yes bhagavan krishna says that those who surrender to me alone, I teach them via the shAstra the knowldge of atma. Atma is non different from ishvara. And knowing thus. The jiva attains to me alone, via aikya gnana.
This jiva knows that he IS and that IS is ishvara.

With the aikyam of jiva within ishvara. All jiva actions are in tune with ishvara. In fact are none other than ishvara. In the final sloka of shiva manasa pooja ,

Aatmaa Tvam Girijaa Matih Sahacaraah Praannaah Shariiram Grham
Puujaa Te Vissayo[a-U]pabhoga-Racanaa Nidraa Samaadhi-Sthitih |
San.caarah Padayoh Pradakssinna-Vidhih Stotraanni Sarvaa Giro
Yad-Yat-Karma Karomi Tat-Tad-Akhilam Shambho Tava-Araadhanam ||4||

Meaning:
4.1: O Lord, You are Atma (me) , Devi Girija (the Divine Mother) is my Buddhi (Pure Intellect), the Shiva Ganas (the Companions or Attendants) are my Prana and my Body is Your Temple,
4.2: My Interactions with the World are Your Worship and my Sleep is the State of Samadhi,
4.3: My Feet Walking about is Your Pradakshina (Circumambulation); all my Speech are Your Hymns of your Praises,
4.4: Whatever work I do, all that is none else but Your Aradhana (Worship), O Shambhu.