Vedantic Manifestations
A comprehension
As a layman and a beginner in Advaita Vedanta, something has been bothering me from the beginning. Let me share it with you.
Advaita Vedanta
Whether we like it or not, we are indeed fortunate to have our current life is in this planet as humans. We have been blessed with the extra sixth sense which other living beings are not. For Humans, Life means action with a purpose through the body-mind complex.
Advaita Vedanta therefore says, that “we”(the object), using our body-mind complex, need to think, act, and interact with the world (these actions are called life) to reach “we” (the subject), the end goal. The end goal is nothing but the starting point itself called the “undefinable, limitless, omnipresent, omniscient, beginningless, endless Poornam called “Self”, Brahman, Atma, Ultimate Reality, God etc, etc (these are names anyway, as indicated by our Scriptures).
In other words, an Object (under the illusion that it is separate and without knowing that it is nothing but the Subject) is “moving heaven and earth” (which is what life is all about) to reach itself, the Subject. This is akin to a guy trying desperately to call his own mobile number from his own cell phone. Funny but a fact.
Among us, only few realise this ignorance/illusion particularly at old age, when our body-mind complex start deserting us and it is time to bid farewell to this wonderful world. They turn inward and seek peace at exit. Most of us don’t even realise this, and fight for “survival”. Survival of what? Do we know?
Scriptures also say that removal of this ignorance/illusion is the only mandatory condition for the “object” to realise that it is not an “object” and it is “that” the Subject itself. Nothing else will do, say the scriptures. That realised state is called “Moksha”, “Mukti”, “Liberation” etc etc and is the goal of every human being with sixth sense.
This “jiveswara aikyam” or “Aham Brahmasmi” is to be known and understood by the individual, as per the teachings of a Guru, who will teach, “You are that” (“Tat tvam Asi” based on “Sruti, Smriti” (called scriptures for our purposes)).
The onus of examining, analysing and understanding without any doubt (whatsoever), what the Guru taught (“jiveswara aikyam” or “Aham Brahmasmi”), is entirely upon the individual. After all the Bhagwad Gita lectures in the battlefield , Bhagwan Krishna Himself did not direct or command but advised Arjuna to do what he considers as best for himself.
Challenges
The free will to decide what I need to do is entirely with me alone. Great. No doubts whatsoever!
However, nothing comes free in this world. Using the free will is not free. Authority comes along with Responsibility says professional managers. There are also practical challenges in the current world (by whatever name you call it, kaliyuga, materialistic, self centred, “laukika”, modern world, scientific world etc,etc.):
With the near disappearance of the “Ashrama Dharma” and the “Gurukul” system, one have to access (directly or remotely) the teachings of various gurus mainly through the tools available under the current education methodologies including the validation of the understanding gained, through specifically targeted camps conducted by wisemen and through “meeting of minds” called Satsangs. But, one can quickly dispose off this, by stating that the knowledge acquired thus, is “bookish” (like Adi Sankara calling it “ nahi nahi rakshati dukran karne” in Bhaja Govindam ) and can say that this is not enough to understand and realise the end goal.
The next challenge is to stay in this knowledge gained, for the rest of the life in this world. Here “prarabdha” comes into play. In our philosophy, “prarabdha” refers to the portion of past karma (the net effect of all actions using the body-mind complex) that is responsible for one's present life and experiences, including the physical body, lifespan, and overall destiny. It's essentially the destiny or fate that unfolds in this lifetime as a result of past actions). It is like a released arrow; the guy who released it has no control on the arrow after release.
This “prarabdha” is not the only one to mandatorily and unavoidably influence him; his body-mind complex too with its outward looking nature tosses him around, which unlike “prarabdha”, canbe controlled through his free will. How do we do control that? Tools and techniques taught by the Gurus , can calm the mind, align our focus, control the body-mind complex and ensure that the knowledge gained from Guru “matures and lodges securely in the mind as wisdom”. Now comes the next challenge. Can this “wisdom be integrated with life and issued out in action in our daily life” ? Yes, that is exactly great and rare “souls” called Jnanis do.
The inquiry
Jnanis are exceptions. Our focus is not on these rare individuals. We all fully understand that all of us can’t become a Jnani, only a rare case here and there could become. So we all are “Anjnanis”.
For the rest of us, there are only do’s and don’t’s taught by the Guru for guidance. As most of us are wired to challenge status quo, it is quite but natural to question these guidelines by inquiries such as:
It is ok to quote cases from the Vedic and previous eras. World was different then. We want case studies from the present.Do we have live case studies of successful “Anjnanis” in today’s world?
Can we examine the cases where such attempts by people were abandoned? Can we carry out failure analysis on them and learn from mistakes?
It is very likely that any such detailed study and analysis of an individual could be personal and sensitive.
Recently on an inflight entertainment programme, I happened to watch a video on the King & “numero uno” of Marathon Running - Eliud Kipchage. As I closely listened to his interviews, I was stunned. I got the answers for the issue that was bothering me.
The action plan
It is impossible to find one “Anjnani” who is the embodiment of all the traits that the “do’s and don’t’s” portray. If we find one, he sure must be a Jnani. We can find a few in one, see some other traits in others.
What we need to do, is to pick up the traits predominantly displayed in public by such “successful” individuals and learn from them the relevance of what our Scriptures taught us. Reading Autobiographies and analysing them could be another way. It may kindly be noted that such comprehensions about the manifestation of Vedantic concepts are purely individualistic (in this case mine) and need not reflect the comprehensions of the individual whose case I relate to.
We can then try to understand if there are any common Vedantic threads running across all the case studies. This will enable us to reinforce our faith in these theories and take actions as deemed necessary in the rest of our lives. This methodology is time consuming, yet satisfying our quest for commitment for actions.
Starting with Eliud Kipchage, I will try and relate my Advaita Vedanta learnings and try to comprehend the manifestation of Vedantic Concepts in people who excel in what they do.
Watch out for my next Newsletter shortly.
“Mind Control - A Marathon Effort”
Until then….
Take care. God Bless