Live Righteously & Practice Meditation to Ensure Happiness in Both the Worlds
Meditation Sangat:
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{"Do not live even a single day without inner
meditation." -- Baba Devi Sahab}
Make Your Both Worlds Happy by Righteous Living and Practising Meditation
[The following is an English rendering of a Satsang Discourse by Maharshi Santsewi ji Maharaj delivered on the auspicious occasion of his 82nd Birth Anniversary (20.12.2002) at the Satsang Hall of Maharshi Mehi Ashram, Kuppaghat, Bhagalpur in the State of Bihar, India. – Translated by Pravesh K. Singh]
Respected Gentlemen, Mothers & Devout Sisters,
The celebration held on the date of birth of someone is called 'jayanti' (birthday ceremony). We celebrate jayanti of such exclusive persons who are or were blessed with special virtues. Jayanti is also celebrated for sants, great souls. But that who is neither a social reformer, nor one who has rendered a great service to his nation, nor exceptionally strong, nor extraordinarily meritorious, nor extremely rich, nor a king, nor an emperor, does not deserve his jayanti to be celebrated. [Again a statement made in the utmost humility which is so very characteristic of sants. We have seen several other instances of such statements from Maharshi ji in his other discourses - Translator]. I request the office bearers of the General Assembly (of Santmat) not to celebrate my jayanti in future.
The word 'jayanti' is of feminine gender; its masculine counterpart is 'jayant'. In ancient days, after a king conquered another king following a battle or war, his victory was celebrated by blowing clarions and beating drums. This was known as jayanti.
Once upon a time, a Brahmin approached King Yudhishthir (eldest of Pandavas of the Mahabharata fame, who ruled over India with Hastinapur, near modern Delhi, as its capital) for some financial assistance. Yudhishthir was preoccupied with an important work. He asked the Brahmin Gentleman, "Please come tomorrow. I will give you whatever you would ask for." Disappointed Brahmin was returning wearing a glum face. Coincidentally, Bhim (the younger brother of Yudhishthir) who was coming back to the palace saw the morose Brahmin. He began to think, "I have never seen any one returning disappointed after meeting bhaiyaa (elder brother).Why this gentleman appears so sad?" So, he asked the Brahmin, "Why do you look so gloomy, Sir?" The Brahmin replied, "I had come to the King Yudhishthir to beg for some help, but he asked me to come tomorrow. Hence, the disappointment." Bhim told him, "Well, you please wait here for sometime."
There was a place in the king's palace where big drums were kept. Bhim went there and started beating a drum loudly. The sound of the drum which spread far & wide surprised Yudhishthir who asked, "Drums are usually beaten in case of some significant victory in a war, or a moment of remarkable joy. Why this drum is being beaten at this time?" He was told that it was his own brother Bhim who was beating the drum. Yudhishthir ordered Bhim to be called. When Bhim came to him, Yudhishthir asked him, "Why were you beating the drum? Any victory that you have scored?" Bhim replied, "Today I am happy like I have never been before in my life!" "What makes you so joyous", enquired King Yudhishthir. Bhim replied, "My bhaiyaa! Time gulps down all of us, but you have conquered time. Can there be anything more pleasing?" A puzzled Yudhishthir asked, "I could not understand. How have I triumphed over time?" Bhim answered, "You have asked the Brahmin to come tomorrow. Man is not sure of even one breath (whether he would be surely able to take the next breath), while you have brought at least the next twenty four hours within your control!" Yudhishthir realised his folly and said, "Call the Brahmin gentleman at once." And, the wish of the Brahmin was fulfilled.
Well, what I meant to say is that when someone registers a major victory, it is celebrated as jayanti. But, for that matter, sants don't conquer anyone, then why their jayanti is celebrated? You see, we have five organs of action and five sensory organs. The master of these ten 'indriyas' (organs) is 'man' (mind) – "indriyaanaam mano naatho" [Mind is the lord of indriyas or organs]. Sants have conquered this 'man' (mind), and this is why, their jayanti is celebrated. It is this very mind which puts a man to bondage and it is again this very mind which helps in his liberation, too – "man eva manushyaanaam kaaranam bandh mokshayoh" [Mind and mind alone is the cause of men's bondage as well as freedom]. Therefore, if the mind is conquered, everything is conquered.
Right now our Gurudev (Maharshi Mehi Paramhans ji Maharaj) is not amongst us in his gross or explicit form, but in the subtle or unmanifest form, he is very much here. Great was he, and great was his learning, too. The knowledge or wisdom of Santmat which he taught is the same for all of us. Santmat tells us as to how much of restlessness and chaos is rampant all around in this world. Innumerable despicable acts like torture, rape, robbery, looting etc. are being committed – overtly & covertly. People armed with bombs and pistols are bent upon killing each other. To kill is the nature of violent wild animals like tigers, lions etc., but today man has begun to behave like violent animals. Santmat teaches us, who have been provided with human bodies, also to behave like humans. Murder and looting are demonic acts. Where is humanity in all such deeds? Today material science has registered amazing advancements, and is still developing. Due to this progress we have learnt how to fly in the sky like birds, and how to swim on water like the fish, but (we) haven't learnt how to walk like a human being! Let us first learn to walk on the earth like human beings, only then there will be true development. Bahadur Shah Zafar, who was the last Mughal emperor of India, has said,
"Zafar unako aadmee na kahiyegaa, chaahe wo kitnaa hee shaahefamauj kaa ho.
Jisako aish mein yaade-khudaa naheen, aur taish mein khaufe-khudaa naheen"
[In the opinion of Zafar, don't call him to be a true human being, however royal or kingly he might be, who does not remember or think of God in his happy times and, who is not afraid of God when he is enraged or agitated.]
Once gods, demons and human beings all approached Lord Brahma (the god entrusted with the responsibility of creating the universe). Brahma ji asked them for the reason of their visit. All the three said, "We have come to learn words of wisdom from you." Brahma ji called the three (groups) one by one and said, I ordain you the alphabet (of Devanagri script) 'da'. When gods started taking his leave, Brahma ji asked them, "How did you decipher the letter 'da'?" Gods replied, "We are deities. We desire for objects of senses. Therefore, you have preached us the alphabet 'da' to teach us to do 'daman' of indriyas (meaning suppressing or keeping our organs under control)." Brahma ji, satisfied with their reply, now turned towards the demons and asked, "What did you understand by the letter 'da'?" Demons answered, "We are monsters. Our nature it is to torture, rob, murder etc. We commit violence in the broad day light. So, you gave us the mantra 'da' thereby educating us to be "dayaavaan" (kind or generous) unto creatures." "Rightly so", said Brahma who then asked human beings as to what they construed from the key-letter 'da'. Human beings said, "We are always striving to amass wealth, by hooks or crooks. By sermonising the letter 'da', you have instructed us to give "daan" (alms)". Brahma ji was satisfied with the answers of all the three groups.
Our body is like a chariot. The ten 'indriyas' are the horses (meant to pull it). Keep these organs under control. So long as these ten organs are looking and acting outwardly, you are like "Dashaanan" (the ten-headed monster king of Sri Lanka named Ravan who was killed by Lord Ram in a fierce battle), you are a demon. When you, practicing meditation, collect the current of consciousness scattered in the ten organs and focus it at the Centre (seat of soul within the body, the Tenth Door, the Third Eye etc.), you will become "Dasharath" (The charioteer or the commander of the ten organs, also the name of the famed king of Ayodhya, the father of Lord Rama). When you become Dasharath, the Ram (Incarnation of Lord Vishnu) would naturally be born to you (i.e. you will find divinity or realize god within you). When there will be Ramrajya (the Rule, Reign or Kingdom of Ram), welfare and well-being would naturally be taken care of. When Brahma ji could preach even the monsters to show kindness, isn't this lesson meant for we, human beings, too? Today, man only knows how to amass, to stash, whereas all that we collect so assiduously here is bound to be left here alone on this earth. Therefore, let's give alms. Goswami Tulsidas ji has said, "So dhan dhanya gati jaakee." (That earning or wealth is blessed and sacred which is put to good or noble use.) Alms given out of the hard earned, truthfully earned money bears especially auspicious fruits.
Our life is like a coin. We see one face of the coin at a time while the other face is hidden from us. We don't call a coin genuine if its only one face is genuine. We check the other side, too, and only after we find this also to be genuine, we accept it as a legal tender. Similarly, there are two halves of our lives, too. The life with this body is manifest, explicit, and, hence, visible to all. The other life is that which will remain, even when this body of ours will be no more. We make herculean efforts, try to earn happiness for the life with this body; but we must ponder over what we are doing for the sake of the long life that is to follow after this body will be left or shed here? If we are making no efforts for the after-life, then the (coin of) our life is not genuine, it is not complete. How will we remain happy there (in the after-life)? Just as all of us surely do something for this life, do some trade & commerce, jobs etc., exactly in the same manner we must do some meditation & prayers for our next life, too, so that both this worldly and the other worldly lives may be blissful! In the other world, the meditation alone is our companion; but who will teach us (the art or the right way of) this (meditation)? Sant Kabir Sahab has uttered,
"Bin Satguru nar rahat bhulaanaa.
Khojat firat raah nahi jaanaa."
[In the absence of a True Guru, man keeps on wandering aimlessly here & there without knowing or finding the right path (leading us unto the desired destination).]
Without seeking the refuge of the Guru, man keeps on wandering in search of God, gets 'pareshaan' (worried, stressed, annoyed or vexed) in search of true wellbeing, but without any success. Who becomes 'pareshaan' ('pare' + 'shaan')? He who forgets 'pare' (He who is beyond everyone & everything) and remains falsely mesmerized in his own 'shaan' (glory or attainments) remains 'pareshaan'. Where is the true happiness, peace, well-being? Whatever we may get here is temporary, passing happiness, evanescent peace. If we place all our joys and sorrows (experienced by us in our lives) separately on the two pans of a weighing balance, we will find the pan with miseries on it to be the heavier of the two. How can we get happiness after all? You have earned everything in this world – a lot of wealth, a lot of respect, a beautiful spouse – even then your life is ultimately dominated by sorrows or miseries only. Explaining the right way to get the truly blissful peace, our Gurudev (Maharshi Mehi Paramhans) says that when you are in 'jaagrataavasthaa' (physically awakened state), you are with fourteen 'indriyas' or organs (five organs of action, five organs of senses, 'man' (the mind), 'buddhi' (the intellect), 'chit' (that which renders the feeling of consciousness in us) and 'ahankaar' (ego)), so that a large variety of anxieties or worries keep on haunting your mind. When you transit from the awakened state to 'swapnaavasthaa' (the state of dream), only four organs (the mind, the intellect, the chit and the ego) are there with you and naturally, therefore, there are significantly less worries in that state. However, when you move further from the 'swapnaavasthaa' to the 'sushuptaavasthaa' (the state of deep dreamless sleep), only one organ ('chit') remains. Going into this state, you forget even your pains & pleasures that existed in the state of dream. You have a sound slumber and on waking up you feel calm & happy and say, "Today I had a good, uninterrupted sleep". That means that we get pleasure, relief and peace on detaching ourselves from our 'indriyas' (organs). Even in the state of deep sleep, there is still one 'indriya' left. However, sants tell us that when you move even beyond these three states (awakened, dream and deep sleep) into the fourth state, 'turiyaavasthaa' (the state of pure consciousness), all the 'indriyas' are left behind or fall apart. Tulsidas ji says,
"Teen awasthaa tajahu bhajahu bhagwant.
Man kram vachan agochar, vyaapak vyaapya anant."
[Meditate upon God (who is beyond the reach of mind, worldly actions and faculty of speech, and is infinitely pervading as well as pervaded) by rising beyond the three states.]
God, being all-pervading, is there within you, too, and you yourself are also within you. If you(, for instance,) want to meet someone who is present in this very Satsang (spiritual gathering) Hall, you don't have to go out of this hall to do so. You can meet him while remaining in this hall only. Similarly, the Absolute Lord resides within us (our bodies) and we too live within us (our bodies) only. Then why all this wandering in the outside world to search for Him? Learn the right way or technique from a Sadguru or a true teacher, walk within yourself, and rid yourself of all the worries, all the stresses &strains, all the sorrows by meeting and merging with the Supreme Soul. In accordance with the Mundak Upanishad, we can say,
"Ek vriksha par do pakshee, ati sakhya bhaav se the rahate.
Khaate ek falon ko the, aur ek binaa khaaye hansate."
(The meaning of the above couplet is that) two birds, named 'Jeevaatmaa' (individual unliberated soul) and 'Paramaatmaa' (The Supreme Soul or The God), live together in a tree (called 'shareer' or 'kaayaa' or our body). God is like an onlooker who does not eat the fruits (of the tree) himself and keeps smiling at the 'Jeevaatmaa'. The 'jeevaatmaa', on the other hand, eats (reaps) the fruits and suffers from the (alternating) pains & pleasures. If you want to save yourself from this agonizing state of affairs, you will have to purify your mind by keeping it detached or removed from the sensory objects. Maharshi Mehi Paramhans ji says,
"Guru jaap maanas dhyaan maanas, keejiye dridha saadhakar.
Inakaa pratham abhyaas kar, shrut shuddha karanaa chaahiye."
[The right way to meditate first consists of purifying our surat (meaning our individual soul here) by rigorously or firmly practicing the 'maanas jap' (mentally reciting or chanting –without using or moving the lips or the tongue – the sacred mantra given by the Guru repeatedly with the fullest attention) and the 'maanas dhyaan' (fixedly gazing at the imagined form of the Guru within us, keeping our eyes closed)]
At another place (Maharshi Mehi says),
"Prathamahi dhaaro Guru ko dhyaan.
Ho shruti nirmal, ho Vindu jnaan."
[Focus your attention, in the first place, on your Guru's image. This purifies the 'surat' and takes us to experience the 'Vindu' (the primeval perfect refulgent point from which all the grossly & subtly visible creation has come to be formed.]
So, firmly practice attentively chanting of the holy name or mantra of the Guru and meditating upon the Guru's form. Thus the 'surat' will be pure and you will get prepared for practicing 'Vindu Dhyaan' (Yoga of Divine Light). Maturing in or becoming adept at 'Vindu Dhyaan', you would move from Darkness into Light, from the Gross (Realm) into the Astral (Realm). There are three layers, namely the Layers of Darkness, Light and Sound, which keep shrouding our soul. Therefore, our Gurudev said further,
"Ghat tam prakash va shabd pat traya, jeev par hain chhaa rahe.
Kar drishti aru dhvani yoga saadhan, ye hataanaa chaahiye."
[The 'jiv' (the individual soul) is enveloped by three layers of Darkness, Light and Sound. To remove these shells hiding the soul, we should practice 'Drishti Yoga' (Yoga of Divine Light) and 'Dhvani Yoga or Shabda Yoga or Naad Yoga' (The Yoga of Divine Sound).]
Practice 'Drishti Yoga' (Yoga of Light) and 'Naadaanusandhaan' (Yoga of Sound). This will enable remove the layers of Darkness, Light and Sound (that conceal your Soul from the Supreme Sovereign Soul i.e. God). You will, thus, get to know "Who You Are?" And, when you know yourself, you will also know God. Therefore walk within yourself, not without.
And for this, there is no need to quit your household, family or job. Living in your house with your family members and making an honest, truthful earning, you can attain to Him by meditation. This meditation can be done by all alike – rich or poor, learned or illiterate, male or female, kid or aged. (Maharshi Mehi Paramhans ji says,)
"Jitane manush tan dhaari hain, prabhu bhakti kar sakate sabhee.
Antar va baahar bhakti kar, ghat – pat hataanaa chaahiye."
[All the human beings are capable of performing devotion to the God. One should do inner or internal meditation (by practicing the 'Maanas Jap', 'Maanas Dhyaan', 'Drishti Saadhan' and 'Naadaanusandhaan' as discussed before) as well as outer or external meditation (seek the company of sants and reading and/or listening to Sacred Scriptures).]
Believe in One God. Have firm, unwavering, indefatigable faith in that He shall be found within (us). Do some honest earning for meeting your and your family's needs. Donate some portion out of your earnings to some righteous, noble cause. This will do well to this world as well as the other world (of yours). Thus, I explained to you the gist of my Gurudev's teachings. I thank you all and end my talk.
