Chapter 4 : Where do I start?
When a wave starts to rise it needs direction, guide, a goal and intention. Where do I start? I have heard I am consciousness, my true nature is peace and bliss, but I'm far from it! I know I am ignorant and therefore I don't experience it and this supreme state is here and now. The wise say that it's not something I have to work on gradually over time and achieve in the future, it's just an awakening.
The eternal knowledge or consciousness, created the solution before creating the problem so there was a way out once created. The wise enlightened beings have a clear understanding of this knowledge on humans, existence and consciousness.
Root cause: Ignorance
Humans are created with ignorance. This means that I don't know that I am pure consciousness, that I AM peace, bliss, love, complete, whole, everything is me, I am not a separate entity from the rest of creation. If I was a living this state then I won't have the desire to gain happiness and love from outside, or have fear of death. So naturally ignorance brings in desires to gain peace and happiness from external sources. That's the first thing that this knowledge says: 1. Man is ignorant of his true nature. This is the ultimate root cause. 2. Because of this ignorance man has desires.
Amazing! first this cosmic consciousness creates this entire existence as an illusion and then creates man with ignorance, and then then a produces and directs a long movie about removing the delusion to finally see the truth. Sometimes I wonder why was all this created anyway, isn't it a waste of time?
Desire based actions
One of the jewels of this knowledge is that actions prompted by desire will give rise to more desires/greed when fulfilled or anger and frustration if not fulfilled. This cycle continues and we get trapped in it, like a mouse on a wheel. Let us analyze how this happens step by step. What the wise say is that bondage has three sources:
1. If an action gives pleasing results we will be bound to the source and the result.
2. If the result of action is coming from individual – then you are obliged/attached to the person, and if it’s not conducive then we have hatred towards the person.
3. If attached to an action and asked not to do it then it will cause more craving, agitation, and a tendency (Vasana) to do that even more. So patterns get engraved in us. These hidden tendencies/impressions/patterns stay not only in this lifetime but over several lifetimes in our subtle mind.
Ultimately we build up more negative emotions and tendencies and loose our peace of mind because we are consumed by our desires.
Loosing peace of mind
We have so many agitations, distractions, restlessness; the end result is discomfort and sorrow. This is called "Vikshepa", or disturbance. Cause of Vikshepa is impurity and inherent tendencies. Different people adopt different methods to get rid of this, and these methods can be "Tamasic" (impure): drinking alcohol, drugs, medication, but the sorrow doesn't go permanently, there's only temporary relief, and brings more long term problems like addiction and other side effects. "Rajasic" (passion, lust, greed) method to remove sorrow are: turn towards different kinds of entertainment, become a workcoholic, keep busy so one doesn't think about sorrow/distraction. Then there is a "Sattvic" (pure) method to get rid of misery. Cause of disturbance, or sorrow, is that the mind is craving for something, there are hidden tendencies (Vasanas). The Sattic means are devotion to God, praying, yoga, meditation, being in the company of wise men, listening to knowledge to gain peace of mind. Sattiv methods don’t produce new desires or have side effects.
Ignorance (Avarana), Negativities/impurities (Malla), Disturbed mind (Vikshepa)
So here this is the vicious cycle:
Ignorance -> tendencies (Vasanas) -> desires -> actions -> negativity/impurities (Malla) -> a disturbed mind (Vikshepa), and the cycle continues.
Haven't we seen this over and over again? Yet we love to do those things which are either illegal, immoral or unhealthy!
This is also what Buddha said that the cause of misery is desires. Once we have a clear understanding of the cause of sorrow, half the misery drops right there. It also prepares us to receive the solutions proposed.
What is now required of me is that whenever I am unhappy I need to first become aware and then reflect on what is the root cause of my unhappiness. It will trace back to the ultimate root cause which is ignorance.
Three types of Karma
Ignorance and actions driven by desires lead to side effects and after effects. Why? Because every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We start building a bank balance of the effects of our actions. The theory is called "Karma". 1. There are some actions whose effects or results start sprouting now in the present life (Prarabdha Karma). Like today I have a migraine because I had coffee yesterday, so it's coffee Karma! We have reap the fruits of the seeds we have sown. 2. There are some that will start taking effect in the future (Sanchit Karma). 3. And of course our current actions are also adding to the bank balance! (Agami Karma). The intertwining of all these causes and effects is very complicated and can't be comprehended. Bottom line is that we can't gain liberation till we have a Karma account balance of zero. So we have to exhaust all the effects of previous actions and not produce any new ones. This is one reason why there is no instant liberation even when the knowledge is gained.
Muddy & turbulent waters
I like to think in terms of water with is both muddy and turbulent. First of all the mud (impurities, negativities) needs to be removed and the water purified. Secondly, the turbulent waters need to be calmed. Once the water is crystal clear and absolutely still, only then can we see a perfect reflection of our Self.
Ego
What happens when we fall from grace? When an individual is created from consciousness, it's like a wave rising from the ocean, the "I"ness and "Mine"ness gets created, a separate entity from the totality with a name and form. This is what is called "Ego". This illusion of a separate entity, the human, and it loses the awareness of the oneness, the wave forgets it's a part of the ocean, and identifies himself with his body and mind. The ego thinks that "I am doing". If doership is there then one also gets affected by the results, "I am suffering" or "I am enjoying". When I transact in the world whether through good actions or bad actions, from the sense of an independent individual then I am crediting or debiting my Karma account.
"I" and "Mine"
Ego is also the cause of suffering. I have seen that people who are selfish, sad or depressed are so focused on themselves, their family, their job, home, and all that is related to "I" and "mine". If you notice a conversation with that person you will see that the focus is on "me, me, me, my ..., my ..., my ...", the listener slowly looses interest. Such a person has more interest in self and very little interest in others. How long will other people stay with such a person? These people are termed as selfish and are often miserable. We need to shift the focus to others whom we don't consider our own, just a shift of focus, it can be from asking about others to service to others. People think that once I/my family gain something, or when I/my family get rid of this problem, I will be happy. Yet the more I focus on myself the deeper a hole I get myself into. When I am sad or unhappy the best remedy is to make someone else happy. Then there is tremendous growth in happiness. Happiness comes from giving and I truly believe we are here for others. A river doesn't drink it's own water, a tree doesn't eat it's own fruit, the sun shines for everyone else. So humans should also by nature be there for others, right?
Karma Yoga
The scriptures have devised a solution to purify the mind, the muddy turbulent waters, as well as to subdue the ego through "Karma Yoga". Karma Yoga in summary means that one should have a vision of dispassion towards the result of action. For this the virtues of Vivek and Vairagya are needed. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talks extensively about the true meaning of Karma Yoga. It says, do what is the right conduct for you (Dharma) but with a sense of detachment, not with ego, and not be worried about the result at all, only then can one actually do anything 100%. If we are even a little worried or attached to the result of our actions then it suffocates our effort. Have you felt that? Because there is a desire for the result. Therefore, Karma Yoga is not propelled by desires and erases the tendency to act on desires. Then actions will not bind us or create any negative impressions (Vasanas).
All actions should be done with an attitude of dispassion and with full hearted compassion only then will Karma Yoga evaporate the ego. Where there is unconditional love there is no ego. This is such an important point: Compassion. This is the basis, the premise, the fabric, the foundation, on which everything needs to be built.
The other great purifier in terms of yoga is "Pranayama". Breath is connected to emotions, each emotion has an associated breath pattern. Yoga uses the breath to purify emotions through the technique of Pranayama. When we can't control our mind and emotions directly, but we can use the breath to control and purify.
Meditation
Once the muddy and turbulent water is purified the next step is to calm the waters. The disturbance is on the surface. The way to settle the mind is through pranayama (yoga of breath) and meditation. What results is absolute stillness and silence.
If we meditate without first removing the impurities then meditation will not yield long term results. We will be peaceful while meditating and then still have negativity later. That is why I have seen this dichotomy in me, I am spiritual yet not pure. I have seen so many people who have been meditating for years, some for more than 20 years, but they still have so much ego, anger, and other negativity in them. I feel like telling them to have some compassion first, otherwise what's the point in being "spiritual". When there is unconditional love, compassion for others, negativity is reduced and only then can meditation can yield results. It is good to get feedback from others to see what they perceive and know how much spirituality has integrated in us!
"Mind at rest is the Temple of Joy. So long as it is gurgling with its desires, passions and attachments in its stormy surface, the signature of joy gets ruffled out."
~Swami Chinmayananda
Four goals of human effort
See how the clarity in this knowledge classifies what humans strive for in their lives. It says that there are four main goals we work towards:
1. Dharma - the effort towards righteous conduct as per natural law.
2. Artha - the efforts towards material prosperity, wealth, fame, power, but without greed and as per Dharma.
3. Kama - the fulfillment of physical and emotional desires for happiness, but without lust and as per Dharma.
4. Moksha - the self-effort for liberation.
The ancient sages who wrote the guidelines for living life knew that most people will lead a materialistic life and very few will seek liberation. There is nothing wrong in having these desires as long as we follow the guidelines to achieve them. The Vedas provide the code of conduct for attaining these. As long as we have the desires to fulfill the first three goals of Dharma, Artha, Kama, we will not be interested so much in attaining Moksha. That is like Maslow's need hieararchy, a human being can have aesthetic desires only about the physical, mental and emotional needs are met. For those who still have Dharma, Artha and Kama as the goals the scriptures say engage in the efforts towards these goals through "Right Action", that is Karma and then engage onself in "Spiritual Practices", which is Upasana, to fulfill all these goals.
Knowledge of Dharma and Brahman
The Vedas have two main topics:
Dharma: Knowledge on the universal natural laws govering the individual, the world, the creator and their interrelationships, and the knowledge on Karma by which a person can lead a successful worldly life. Therefore Dharma is also known as desire management. This part of the Vedas is call the Karma Kanda and Upasana (spiritual practices) Kanda.
Brahman: the knowledge on consciousness and ultimate truth. It answers the basic human questions like "Who am I", etc. It's this Self knowledge that liberates us from the limitations of worldly existence. This portion of the Vedas is called the Jnan (knowledge) Kanda, Upanishads or Vedanta (the conclusion of knowledge or spiritual path).
The 3 portions of the Vedas, Karma, Upasana and Jnan deal with the 3 basic problems: impurities (Malla), mental disturbances (Vikshepa) and ignorance/veiling (Avarana).
An individual who doesn’t have desires doesn't need Dharma, he’s directly qualified for Brahman. There are three types of desires: Vitteshana (related to money, job, home), Putraeshana (related to children), Lokeshana (related to fame, power). For all these there are instructions in the Vedas. The first portion of the Vedas deals with a person who has desires and how to rise above them. I do have desires but very few materialistic desires at this point. What if I don’t have desires? Then I can start with the Jnan portion.
For me all of the above is a synopses of the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita.
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When a wave starts to rise it needs direction, guide, a goal and intention. Where do I start? I have heard I am consciousness, my true nature is peace and bliss, but I'm far from it! I know I am ignorant and therefore I don't experience it and this supreme state is here and now. The wise say that it's not something I have to work on gradually over time and achieve in the future, it's just an awakening.
The eternal knowledge or consciousness, created the solution before creating the problem so there was a way out once created. The wise enlightened beings have a clear understanding of this knowledge on humans, existence and consciousness.
Root cause: Ignorance
Humans are created with ignorance. This means that I don't know that I am pure consciousness, that I AM peace, bliss, love, complete, whole, everything is me, I am not a separate entity from the rest of creation. If I was a living this state then I won't have the desire to gain happiness and love from outside, or have fear of death. So naturally ignorance brings in desires to gain peace and happiness from external sources. That's the first thing that this knowledge says: 1. Man is ignorant of his true nature. This is the ultimate root cause. 2. Because of this ignorance man has desires.
Amazing! first this cosmic consciousness creates this entire existence as an illusion and then creates man with ignorance, and then then a produces and directs a long movie about removing the delusion to finally see the truth. Sometimes I wonder why was all this created anyway, isn't it a waste of time?
Desire based actions
One of the jewels of this knowledge is that actions prompted by desire will give rise to more desires/greed when fulfilled or anger and frustration if not fulfilled. This cycle continues and we get trapped in it, like a mouse on a wheel. Let us analyze how this happens step by step. What the wise say is that bondage has three sources:
1. If an action gives pleasing results we will be bound to the source and the result.
2. If the result of action is coming from individual – then you are obliged/attached to the person, and if it’s not conducive then we have hatred towards the person.
3. If attached to an action and asked not to do it then it will cause more craving, agitation, and a tendency (Vasana) to do that even more. So patterns get engraved in us. These hidden tendencies/impressions/patterns stay not only in this lifetime but over several lifetimes in our subtle mind.
Ultimately we build up more negative emotions and tendencies and loose our peace of mind because we are consumed by our desires.
Loosing peace of mind
We have so many agitations, distractions, restlessness; the end result is discomfort and sorrow. This is called "Vikshepa", or disturbance. Cause of Vikshepa is impurity and inherent tendencies. Different people adopt different methods to get rid of this, and these methods can be "Tamasic" (impure): drinking alcohol, drugs, medication, but the sorrow doesn't go permanently, there's only temporary relief, and brings more long term problems like addiction and other side effects. "Rajasic" (passion, lust, greed) method to remove sorrow are: turn towards different kinds of entertainment, become a workcoholic, keep busy so one doesn't think about sorrow/distraction. Then there is a "Sattvic" (pure) method to get rid of misery. Cause of disturbance, or sorrow, is that the mind is craving for something, there are hidden tendencies (Vasanas). The Sattic means are devotion to God, praying, yoga, meditation, being in the company of wise men, listening to knowledge to gain peace of mind. Sattiv methods don’t produce new desires or have side effects.
Ignorance (Avarana), Negativities/impurities (Malla), Disturbed mind (Vikshepa)
So here this is the vicious cycle:
Ignorance -> tendencies (Vasanas) -> desires -> actions -> negativity/impurities (Malla) -> a disturbed mind (Vikshepa), and the cycle continues.
Haven't we seen this over and over again? Yet we love to do those things which are either illegal, immoral or unhealthy!
This is also what Buddha said that the cause of misery is desires. Once we have a clear understanding of the cause of sorrow, half the misery drops right there. It also prepares us to receive the solutions proposed.
What is now required of me is that whenever I am unhappy I need to first become aware and then reflect on what is the root cause of my unhappiness. It will trace back to the ultimate root cause which is ignorance.
Three types of Karma
Ignorance and actions driven by desires lead to side effects and after effects. Why? Because every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We start building a bank balance of the effects of our actions. The theory is called "Karma". 1. There are some actions whose effects or results start sprouting now in the present life (Prarabdha Karma). Like today I have a migraine because I had coffee yesterday, so it's coffee Karma! We have reap the fruits of the seeds we have sown. 2. There are some that will start taking effect in the future (Sanchit Karma). 3. And of course our current actions are also adding to the bank balance! (Agami Karma). The intertwining of all these causes and effects is very complicated and can't be comprehended. Bottom line is that we can't gain liberation till we have a Karma account balance of zero. So we have to exhaust all the effects of previous actions and not produce any new ones. This is one reason why there is no instant liberation even when the knowledge is gained.
Muddy & turbulent waters
I like to think in terms of water with is both muddy and turbulent. First of all the mud (impurities, negativities) needs to be removed and the water purified. Secondly, the turbulent waters need to be calmed. Once the water is crystal clear and absolutely still, only then can we see a perfect reflection of our Self.
Ego
What happens when we fall from grace? When an individual is created from consciousness, it's like a wave rising from the ocean, the "I"ness and "Mine"ness gets created, a separate entity from the totality with a name and form. This is what is called "Ego". This illusion of a separate entity, the human, and it loses the awareness of the oneness, the wave forgets it's a part of the ocean, and identifies himself with his body and mind. The ego thinks that "I am doing". If doership is there then one also gets affected by the results, "I am suffering" or "I am enjoying". When I transact in the world whether through good actions or bad actions, from the sense of an independent individual then I am crediting or debiting my Karma account.
"I" and "Mine"
Ego is also the cause of suffering. I have seen that people who are selfish, sad or depressed are so focused on themselves, their family, their job, home, and all that is related to "I" and "mine". If you notice a conversation with that person you will see that the focus is on "me, me, me, my ..., my ..., my ...", the listener slowly looses interest. Such a person has more interest in self and very little interest in others. How long will other people stay with such a person? These people are termed as selfish and are often miserable. We need to shift the focus to others whom we don't consider our own, just a shift of focus, it can be from asking about others to service to others. People think that once I/my family gain something, or when I/my family get rid of this problem, I will be happy. Yet the more I focus on myself the deeper a hole I get myself into. When I am sad or unhappy the best remedy is to make someone else happy. Then there is tremendous growth in happiness. Happiness comes from giving and I truly believe we are here for others. A river doesn't drink it's own water, a tree doesn't eat it's own fruit, the sun shines for everyone else. So humans should also by nature be there for others, right?
Karma Yoga
The scriptures have devised a solution to purify the mind, the muddy turbulent waters, as well as to subdue the ego through "Karma Yoga". Karma Yoga in summary means that one should have a vision of dispassion towards the result of action. For this the virtues of Vivek and Vairagya are needed. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talks extensively about the true meaning of Karma Yoga. It says, do what is the right conduct for you (Dharma) but with a sense of detachment, not with ego, and not be worried about the result at all, only then can one actually do anything 100%. If we are even a little worried or attached to the result of our actions then it suffocates our effort. Have you felt that? Because there is a desire for the result. Therefore, Karma Yoga is not propelled by desires and erases the tendency to act on desires. Then actions will not bind us or create any negative impressions (Vasanas).
All actions should be done with an attitude of dispassion and with full hearted compassion only then will Karma Yoga evaporate the ego. Where there is unconditional love there is no ego. This is such an important point: Compassion. This is the basis, the premise, the fabric, the foundation, on which everything needs to be built.
The other great purifier in terms of yoga is "Pranayama". Breath is connected to emotions, each emotion has an associated breath pattern. Yoga uses the breath to purify emotions through the technique of Pranayama. When we can't control our mind and emotions directly, but we can use the breath to control and purify.
Meditation
Once the muddy and turbulent water is purified the next step is to calm the waters. The disturbance is on the surface. The way to settle the mind is through pranayama (yoga of breath) and meditation. What results is absolute stillness and silence.
If we meditate without first removing the impurities then meditation will not yield long term results. We will be peaceful while meditating and then still have negativity later. That is why I have seen this dichotomy in me, I am spiritual yet not pure. I have seen so many people who have been meditating for years, some for more than 20 years, but they still have so much ego, anger, and other negativity in them. I feel like telling them to have some compassion first, otherwise what's the point in being "spiritual". When there is unconditional love, compassion for others, negativity is reduced and only then can meditation can yield results. It is good to get feedback from others to see what they perceive and know how much spirituality has integrated in us!
"Mind at rest is the Temple of Joy. So long as it is gurgling with its desires, passions and attachments in its stormy surface, the signature of joy gets ruffled out."
~Swami Chinmayananda
Four goals of human effort
See how the clarity in this knowledge classifies what humans strive for in their lives. It says that there are four main goals we work towards:
1. Dharma - the effort towards righteous conduct as per natural law.
2. Artha - the efforts towards material prosperity, wealth, fame, power, but without greed and as per Dharma.
3. Kama - the fulfillment of physical and emotional desires for happiness, but without lust and as per Dharma.
4. Moksha - the self-effort for liberation.
The ancient sages who wrote the guidelines for living life knew that most people will lead a materialistic life and very few will seek liberation. There is nothing wrong in having these desires as long as we follow the guidelines to achieve them. The Vedas provide the code of conduct for attaining these. As long as we have the desires to fulfill the first three goals of Dharma, Artha, Kama, we will not be interested so much in attaining Moksha. That is like Maslow's need hieararchy, a human being can have aesthetic desires only about the physical, mental and emotional needs are met. For those who still have Dharma, Artha and Kama as the goals the scriptures say engage in the efforts towards these goals through "Right Action", that is Karma and then engage onself in "Spiritual Practices", which is Upasana, to fulfill all these goals.
Knowledge of Dharma and Brahman
The Vedas have two main topics:
Dharma: Knowledge on the universal natural laws govering the individual, the world, the creator and their interrelationships, and the knowledge on Karma by which a person can lead a successful worldly life. Therefore Dharma is also known as desire management. This part of the Vedas is call the Karma Kanda and Upasana (spiritual practices) Kanda.
Brahman: the knowledge on consciousness and ultimate truth. It answers the basic human questions like "Who am I", etc. It's this Self knowledge that liberates us from the limitations of worldly existence. This portion of the Vedas is called the Jnan (knowledge) Kanda, Upanishads or Vedanta (the conclusion of knowledge or spiritual path).
The 3 portions of the Vedas, Karma, Upasana and Jnan deal with the 3 basic problems: impurities (Malla), mental disturbances (Vikshepa) and ignorance/veiling (Avarana).
An individual who doesn’t have desires doesn't need Dharma, he’s directly qualified for Brahman. There are three types of desires: Vitteshana (related to money, job, home), Putraeshana (related to children), Lokeshana (related to fame, power). For all these there are instructions in the Vedas. The first portion of the Vedas deals with a person who has desires and how to rise above them. I do have desires but very few materialistic desires at this point. What if I don’t have desires? Then I can start with the Jnan portion.
For me all of the above is a synopses of the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita.
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Now for some comic relief.
A top executive on vacation at a Mexican beach watches a fisherman everyday get up late, work a few hours, eat lunch, sleep in the afternoon and party in the evening with his amigos (friends).
The ambitious executive is very restless so he asks the fisherman: Why do you go fishing only for a few hours?
Fisherman: I earn enough for my family, I'm happy...
Executive: Well you can work double the number of hours, earn double, get 1 more boat, then 2, then open a company...then take the company public...then you will be so rich!
Fisherman: Ok. How long will that take?
Executive: About 10-15 years.
Fisherman: After all that hard work then what?
Executive: Then you can retire!
Fisherman: Retire and do what?
Executive: Then you can get up late, do some fishing, eat, sleep and party with friends....
Life is short, life is a play, be happy and have fun!
So where do I start? Karma Yoga to remove impurities, or pranayama/yoga/meditation for peace of mind? Should I be happy with my devotion (Bhakti), or should I start with knowledge to remove my ignorance? As the cup of Karma yoga fills and overflows into the empty vessel of Upasana I become still...silent. This vessel so full...spurts a fountain of sweet devotion, quenching this thirsty heart! Overflowing with love, intoxicated with ecstasy the soul sings and merges with the divine! What blossoms is that unfathomable bliss, the lover and the beloved are one, there is nothing but radiance, no space, no time, just eternity...
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