(Adapted from Swami Paramarthananda’s
talk)
All human beings are divine as all of them have Athma as their Real self and Athma is same as Brahman. But only few people know this and of the few who know still fewer succeed in manifesting their divinity through sadhanas and they are revered as Mahathmas. A rock from the mountain gets transformed into a beautiful figure of a deity through the skill of a sculptor. Here, the sculptor goes through three stages. First he uses gross and very big chisel and removes big chunks of rock because it is totally out of shape. He removes big chunks of rock and then you get some kind of a shape resembling a person. There afterwards, he uses a little bit subtler chisel and removes minor chunks of rock or stone. Then, it has become a finer one but still, he has to make fine adjustments. Eye lids, nose, nostrils, ear and ear holes he has to bring out. Finally, he uses the finest chisel to remove the last layer of minor stone pieces.
Human beings are like the
rock with divinity incorporated in them.
To bring out the divinity, one need not acquire anything. One has to only remove extra coverings, extra
impurities, and extra encrustations like the sculptor working on the rock. When the extra impurities are removed, then
the ordinary human being’s divinity comes into manifestation. So, one’s entire sadhana to bring out
the divinity is not acquiring things but removing the extra coverings. The scriptures point out to three layers of
covering. The first layer is called Malam; the second layer is called Vikshepa
and the third layer is called Avarana. So, divinity in persons is covered
by three layers of obstacles; Malam, the grossest one, Vikshepa, the
next subtler one and Avarana, the subtlest covering.
One has to remove the three
layers of obstructions through three types of yoga. The first one is Karma yoga, to remove
the grossest layer of obstacle, Malam.
The next one is called Samadhi yoga or Ashtanga yoga, to
remove the second layer of obstacle, Vikshepa. The third is called Jnana
yoga, to remove the finest layer of obstacle, Avarana. As one removes each layer of obstruction by
appropriate sadhana, the divinity in one becomes more and more manifest.
Malam
literally means dirt or impurity. The
dirt is to divide the world into two parts and label one as the cause of sorrow
and the other as the cause of happiness.
This sows the seeds of raga and dwesha in one’s mind causing
attachment and aversion in one's behaviour. But as scriptures point out world is
neither source of joy or sorrow because no object is universally loved or hated
by all at all times. It is all one’s
attitude and reaction to objects and events that bring about joy or
sorrow. Karma yoga sadhana
cleans the mind of this impurity and gives Chitta Suddhi.
Karma yoga can
be defined as proper action plus proper attitude. The scriptures divide the actions into three
types, Satvic karma, Rajasic karma and Tamasic karma. Satvic karma is that which is
beneficial to all while Rajasic karma is selfish action and Tamasic karma
is harmful to others. And proper action
means Satvic karma in which Rajasic karma is less and Tamasic
karma is avoided. Performing action
with an attitude of offering to Lord called Iswarpana Bhavana and
accepting the result whether beneficial or not as a gift from the Lord called Prasada
Buddhi constitute proper attitude.
Therefore Karma yoga is doing Satvic karma with Iswararpana
Bhavana and Prasada Buddhi.
This Karma yoga sadhana removes the grossest layer of impurities called
Malam.
Second layer of impurity is
the subtle impurity of Vikshepa, the wandering mind. When the mind wanders, the sense-organs it
controls and co-ordinates, function disharmoniously. Through Ashtanga yoga, concentration
of mind on the work on hand is achieved.
Through concentration of mind, coordination of the functions of ten
sense organs under the control of mind is achieved. This is called integration of
personality. Even in the material field
be it sports, arts etc. all the senses functioning in harmony under the control
of mind with concentration is necessary for perfection in performance and
success in achievement. In the spiritual
field it is all the more necessary as the subject matter is subtle and not
external while the tendency of the mind and sense-organs is to wander in the
external world. With the integration of personality through Ashtanga yoga,
Vikshepa is removed and one is enabled to perform with Chitta
Ekagrata, single pointed mind.
The third and
subtlest impurity is Avaranam. Avaranam
is nothing but self ignorance. Self ignorance means that one does not know, whatever
one has been seeking in life is already within oneself and keeps looking for it
elsewhere. We all have got an eternal, permanent, non-drying source of Ananda
within ourselves in Athma as Self.
Not knowing that the source of happiness and security is within oneself,
one is going after external sources of happiness and security. Lord Krishna states in Gita (3-17) that the one
who feels fulfilled and is happy with himself is not dependent on the world for
anything like happiness, as follows:
Yastwaatmaratir eva syaad
aatmatriptashcha maanavah I
Aatmanyeva cha santushtas
tasya kaaryam na vidyate. II (3-17)
That person who rejoices
only in the Self, who is satisfied in the Self, who is content in the Self
alone, verily has no action to perform (as he has no requirement to fulfil).
The scriptures
point out that one needs to have the guidance of a competent Guru to gain the
Athma Jnanam that reveals that one is source of one’s own happiness and
security as one’s true Self, Athma, is none other than Brahman. Guru guides that seeker with Chitta Suddhi
and Chitta Ekagratha through the three stages of Jnana yoga i.e. Sravanam,
Mananam and Nitidyasanam to acquire doubt free Jnanam and derive
the benefit of the Jnanam through internalising it. One acquires the scriptural knowledge through
Sravanam and has his doubts in the acquired scriptural knowledge removed
through Mananam and internalises the doubt-free knowledge through Nitidyasanam. And that person who is happy
with himself and who is not disturbed by whatever happens in the creation is a
liberated person, Mukta Purusha.
“Aatmanyevaatmanaa tushtah sthitaprajnastadochyate..(He is
satisfied in the Self by the Self and is said to be one of steady wisdom!)”
remarks Lord Krishna in Gita (2-55). When
one through Jnana yoga removes the third impurity of Avaranam also after
removing the impurities of Malam and Vikshepa he enjoys Purnatvam
as the person who has discovered his Divinity.
Such a person is not only a source of joy for himself but also becomes a
source of joy for the other people also because he helps other aspirants to
discover their divinity by becoming a Guru.
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