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World Life Vs Spiritual Life



For a spiritual aspirant, what should be the motivation/enthusiasm to excel in one's career and day-to-day interactions?

The materialistic field (Pravrutti) consists of the day-to-day interactions. The spiritual field (Nivrutti) consists of the interaction with the Lord. Both these fields are quite opposite like darkness and light. Veda says the same (Duramete Vipareete Vishuchi). This means that Pravrutti and Nivrutti are like North and South poles. They are opposite in the direction.

The goal of the Pravrutti is the happiness of this body and your family members, fame, riches, etc. This goal is temporary and one has to struggle every time in an atmosphere with lot of risk. The goal of Nivrutti is permanent and there is no struggle and risk. The Pravrutti is like doing a job and getting salary every month. If you do not work the salary is stopped.

Nivrutti is like getting interest on the fixed deposit and you work without any binding. The Lord is one and the same for both the fields and acts as the controller for both. But the nature of Lord differs in these two fields. In the field of Pravrutti the Lord is strict and follows the rules of justice. In the field of Nivrutti the Lord is very kind and shows love in solving your problems even without your knowledge.

Now you want to bring the advantage of Nivrutti into Pravrutti. You want to have the result of Nivrutti while keeping yourself in Pravrutti. People in the materialistic field pray God to solve their problems related to this world.
The Lord has invented a way for this line also. He will solve your problems based on your prayers. But He will postpone your evil results to the next birth or to the hell (if the rebirth is not believed) with increased interest. He will draw the good results from the future birth with decreased interest like a pre-matured deposit and hand over to you as happiness. You think that your evil result is cancelled and the good result is given to you without doing the good deed. If it is done in that way the justice is insulted.

Only a rearrangement of the deeds in the wheel (Karma Chakra) is done. By this your future births become full of difficulties and you will scold God in those births. However, if you are not bothered about the future and is particular of the present only such rearrangements are done by the Lord. In the case of some people the prayers are not answered because there is no possibility of even such rearrangement. All the good deeds got exhausted and therefore God keeps silent. You are unnecessarily attached to the enthusiasm in the materialistic field, which consists of bonds with your body and your family members.

These bonds are neither before this birth nor will exist after this birth. They are temporary and therefore, unreal. All your anxiety and enthusiasm is for unreal bonds. This truth will be known if you do the analysis through Vedanta, which is called as ‘Sadasat Viveka’ by Sankara, which means the discrimination of reality from the false-hood. Thus the materialistic field has strict and limited boundaries and you cannot cross the justice.

There is no element of love and kindness in its real sense. If you however get full detachment from this unreality and attach yourself to the reality (God), you have entered the field of Nivrutti. In this field you will have the only real bond with the real God. In such case the Lord crosses the boundaries of justice and attains the nature of complete love and kindness. In this line you are not aspiring for any happiness and your happiness lies only in the happiness of the Lord. You are prepared to undergo any misery if that pleases the Lord. You will realize that the sole aim in your manufacture itself is the entertainment of the Lord. In that state the Lord also becomes your true reflection. He will behave in such a way to maintain your happiness forever. For that, He will undergo all the misery, which is the result of all your evil deeds. As you are prepared for the misery to please the Lord, the Lord is prepared for the misery to please you. In this field people think that the materialistic field is spoiled. It is utter foolishness.

In Pravrutti you have gained ten rupees. In Nivrutti you have gained one hundred and ten rupees but lost the ten rupees in Pravrutti. Therefore, the loss in Pravrutti is very much compensated in Nivrutti. You will find wonders in the materialistic field. All your day-to-day interactions will be so perfect, which will amaze not only yourself but also the entire world. It is a very far superior level. You will be unable to tolerate the benefits of the materialistic field, which will fall on you as mountains. His real devotee is neither insulted in this world nor in the upper world. Your file in the hell is completely closed. Your route is entirely different and leads to the permanent abode of God. The route of the pure materialistic person is towards hell and heaven. Even from the heaven he has to return back into this world where the atmosphere is risky again and you have to overcome the attraction from sin to do good social service. The result of your social service is temporary heaven only. Both these roads are clearly different as said in Gita (Sukla Krishna Gathee….).

At Thy Lotus Feet His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace

I think once you get success in your spiritual life, there do not remain any difference between your outer and religious world. Its imprtant to feel your spiritual experiences in the sky of your being. At one moment you will get familier with inner dance of attention. This experience can be called a No mind situation where one can born with new thoughts about life.

A situation in which the divine knoweldge is learnt from the God in human form and one is able to practice in life; that is the real spiritual situation.

At one point of your spiritual development the energy of the transformation can cause several changes in your life. You get an encounter with several events during your spiritual journey that push you further towards growth.

Spiritual journey of a soul

Initially the Lord attracts the devotee through miracles and creates belief and devotion in the mind of a human being. Thus the human being is converted into devotee. Thus from the stage of human being the soul carries on the journey to the stage of a devotee. This journey is taking place due to the effort of the Lord only. This is called as the “Marjala Kisora Nyaya”, which means the mother cat carrying on its off spring by catching it with her mouth. The effort of the human being is nil in this case. But the human being must have open mind to receive the help from the Lord and to recognize the existence of the super natural power of the Lord and thereby to recognize the existence of the Lord. For such situation the problems and troubles in the life which are due to Karma Chakra (The wheel of deeds) are also helping the soul. Thus the troubles are the real helpers towards the spiritual line. The misery due to the troubles is praised by the Lord in Gita (Aartho….. Udaaraah).

Kunti asked for constant troubles from the Lord. In this stage though the effort of the soul is nil, the soul must have flexibility and open mind to recognize the helper, the Lord. The impartial Lord gives this opportunity equally to all the human beings but the atheist due to absence of open mind and due to foolish rigidity does not accept the existence of the Lord even after such help. Thus though we say that the effort of the individual is nil in this case, to have open mind to realize the truth is also considered as the effort of the human being. When the effort of the human being exists, it is called as “Markata Kisora Nyaya”, which means the off spring is holding on itself by catching the womb of its mother-monkey. Thus both these lines always co-exist and are mutual to each other.

In the sacred book “Yoga Vasista”, the preacher Vasista preaches spiritual knowledge to Rama. In the very beginning itself Vasista emphasizes on the effort of the individual soul (Purusha Prayatna). Without the effort of the soul if the Lord has to carry on the devotee by His grip only, then the Lord has to carry on all the souls of the creation. Then only the Lord can become impartial. If that is done there is no meaning of the creation because the thrill of love disappears. The love of one in millions cannot be tasted by the Lord. If all the students in the class get cent percent and if all are given gold medals, then there is no thrill. But the teacher puts his effort equally on all the students and every student has equal opportunity to get the gold medal. When one gets the gold medal we cannot blame the teacher to be partial. The teacher wishes and puts equal effort on all the students and aspires every student to get the gold medal. But the fact is that only one gets the gold medal.

The aspiration of the teacher and his practical effort without any partiality is completely different and the actual fact that takes place is all together totally different. You cannot link these two contradicting extreme facts. It is true that the teacher wishes that every student should stand first and he puts equal effort on every student without any trace of partiality. At the same time it is also equally true that only one student stands first. From the point of the teacher we have to appreciate the way of mother cat. From the point of the student you have to appreciate the way of mother monkey. The teacher tries to carry on every student to the goal like the mother cat. But only one student reaches the goal because of his strongest grip. Thus both the lines are equally important from their own angles. The teacher is always like the mother cat. The off spring should be always like the baby monkey.

I think for a true success in the path of our spiritual journey, we must need a true faith on our master (God). Several people fails to reach their goal as they lost their patience due to problems and difficulties of life which one should accept as necessary tools to reach God.

Sadhana means attaining the grace of the Lord in human form by serving Him.  Upasana is attaining something, which is very much near and similar to the Lord.  In Upasana you cannot serve the Lord.  Upa means near.  Asana means attainment.  In Upasana you can understand the nature of the Lord through a model (Prateeka), which has some similarity with the Lord.  Veda says that the Sun or the mind etc., should be meditated as the Lord (Adityam Brahmeti Upaseeta, Tam Mana Iti Upaseeta).  The Sun removes the darkness as the Lord removes the ignorance.  The mind creates several forms in dream as the Lord creates several forms in the world.  The Sun and the mind are only the models to understand the Lord.  When you meditate upon the Sun and the mind you can only understand the nature of the Lord.  But you cannot serve the Lord.  Hanuman meditated upon the Sun and understood the nature of the Lord.  Then He met Lord Rama and served Him.  Therefore Sadhana is greater than Upasana.  Upasana is the beginning stage and Sadhana is the final stage. 

Sadhana (Spiritual effort) without Guru is like a blind bull running in the field through out the night  and was unable to reach the village since the farmer guide is not  associated  with it.  Guru means He who removes the ignorance and shows the right path.  Without Guru you will be wasting lot of energy and lot of time without reaching the goal.  If you recognize the Lord in human form and serve Him like Hanuman and Gopikas you can attain the highest fruit.  All this is known only through the preaching of the Guru.  If you are serving the statues you will end in misery only like Tyagaraja.  The blind bull spends all its energy through out the night without any use.  Had it been in the hand of a guide it could have reached the village in ten minutes by spending very little energy in walking.  (Swami sang the following song spontaneously here). 

Oh! Blind horse ! – Hear the Guru |

You don’t see the way – But you are running with vigor ||

How many wives – How many husbands – How many Sons and How many daughters ---- You had for the past millions of births!
Don’t be trapped by the sweet words and sweet love of these family members |

They are your real enemies in your Sadhana--You have stolen their money in the previous birth and they have come now to get it from you with interest ||

They have come not only to collect their loans – but also to revenge upon you--By spoiling your Sadhana ||

Your energy and time are limited – they cannot save you when the death attacks you |

They will leave you after their revenge--They have come to you for food and shelter – Help them as per your duty |

But be brief with them without wasting time and energy ||

Hear Me, See Me, Speak about Me and Think about Me only |

Your senses caught by these bonds will not allow you to come to Me-----The blind bull ran and ran through out the night and was in the field only----It was dissociated from the guide – Therefore catch the Guru at once ||

Holy Jesus told in the Bible that if one does not hate his family members he cannot become His disciple.  I am explaining the reason of His statement.  Your family attracts you by love and becomes an obstacle for your love on the Lord.  Guru is very important in Sadhana.  Nobody is more than Guru (Na Guroradhikam, Guru Saakshat Para Brahma).  You must not limit the service by serving the Guru personally only.  You must digest His preaching.  Can you pass the examination if you have paid the fees regularly to the teacher?  But today the Guru is concentrating on the fees but not on the student.