A Summary of the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapuranam -5.13

05/01/2018

Discourse 5: Naradan Instructs Yudhisthira on Ashrama Dharmam-13.

So, the meditation of a Sannyasin is direct unified experience of consciousness with Reality. This is, finally, the catching of the Universal ‘I’ by the so-called individual ‘I’, in its attempt at unification of its ‘I’-ness with the Universal ‘I’. There are many ‘I’s in this world. You have an ‘I’-ness, I have an ‘I’-ness, and everybody is ‘I’. But these are empirical ‘I’s—physical ‘I’s, as it were, conditioned by physical bodies—and so it appears to us that there are many ‘I’s everywhere.

But these ‘I’s are drops in the ocean of one single ‘I’, which is the ‘I’ of God, of the Universal Being. Catch it! Catch that Supreme ‘I’ which is inclusive of every ‘I’, as drops are included in the ocean. This Total ‘I’ is very difficult to attain or even conceive. Where is this Total ‘I’? It is the pure Universal Subjectivity, and is bereft of even a touch of externality. That is the Supreme ahamgraha upasana, meditation on the great ‘I’ of the universe—the Supreme Self, the Supreme Total, the Supreme unified consciousness identified with the Supreme Being.

Continuous meditation on That, and living for That, is called brahmabhyasa in the scriptures.  Think only That. Whatever be the circumstance of your life, wherever you are placed and whatever you may be doing, do not forget this. Think only That, think only That, think only That.

 If you meet people, speak about That. This is called satsanga. Do not talk nonsense, such as “How are you?” “How is the climate?” Or, “It is raining.” Instead say, “How are you progressing in spiritual life? What is your meditation technique? Please tell me your method, and what obstacles you have faced. I will also tell my difficulties.”

This kind of concourse among students of meditation is satsanga, truly speaking. Speaking only about that.  We enlighten each other. You enlighten me, I enlighten you. We are brothers on the journey, having the same goal, so we ask each other how we are progressing. I will tell you my difficulties, my problems, and you tell me your problems, so that we can find a method to solve them.

Depending only on That, and depending on nobody else. “You are everything.” “Thou art all.” Or, as in the ahamgraha meditation process, we may say, “I am the all.”

This is the duty of a Sannyasin. And a Sannyasin is the benefactor of all people at the same time. The Grihastha is also a benefactor of people; he serves people, gives food to them, does the pancha tapas in various forms, feeds guests, and the pancha mahayajnas are his duty. But the Sannyasin, the true meditator, is a spiritual hero who does service to people by the thought arising from his mind. Whatever such a powerful hero thinks, it will materialise.

If he thinks, “May there be peace,” it shall be there. Why not? Such is the power of the conserved energy that whatever we need will come automatically. We need not say, “Bring it to me.” It will come because the mind is identified with that which it requires.

Truth triumphs always, and the truth being our identity with this total ‘I’, it shall triumph always. In the beginning, we may feel we are defeated, that nothing is coming. Like the poison that arose in the beginning of the Amrita Manthana though nectar was expected, we may also have to face this Amrita Manthana experience and swallow the poison, which cannot be avoided. But we should persist and see that the treasures of life are slowly opened up through our own personality.

To be continued ...

Swami Krishnananda