Attain Peace🔗

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THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

|12.1|

Knowledge is better than mere practice. Meditation is superior to knowledge. Renouncing the fruit of actions is better than meditation. After renouncing the fruits of actions, one immediately attains peace.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Surrender is even better because the moment we hand over our expectations regarding results of our actions to the Divine, inner healing and peace happens.

Kṛṣṇa gives so many possibilities. Step-by-step, He gives options. Actually, these are not only for Arjuna’s mind. These are for all kinds of minds.

Let me tell a small story from Ramaṇa Maharṣi’s life: Somebody goes to him and asks, ‘Bhagavān, what spiritual technique should I use?’ He says, ‘Do ātma-vicāra, Self-inquiry. Start questioning — Who am I?’

After a few days, the devotee comes back and says, ‘It is difficult to do Self- inquiry, can I just meditate?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do meditation.’

After a week, the person returns and says, ‘Meditation is also difficult. Can I do japa, repetition of mantra and recitation of verses?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do that.’ A few days pass and he is back again saying, ‘Japa is also difficult. Can I do pūjā, the ritual worship?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright. Do pūjā.’

Within a week the man is there asking, ‘Pūjā is also difficult. Can I start going only to the temple?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do what you want.’ Masters do not want to close the doors for anybody.

They do not give up on anybody. Please understand, they give possibilities for everybody. Here, in these verses, Kṛṣṇa deeply enriches giving options to everyone.

We need to have tremendous spontaneity to understand this. Only with spontaneity will we be able to handle these instructions. For example, if you don’t feel like meditating and are in a low mood, don’t try sitting in a room with closed doors, forcing yourself to meditate. Just go out, go to the temple. Spend some time freely walking and moving around. It will relax you. Then you can enter into meditation.

We need spontaneity to decide what we need and what to do at each moment. Actually spontaneity is a spiritual quality. Only a man who is not caught in his past, who is able to slip away from his past, can be spontaneous.

'Today just because something is said to me I will not change. I cannot! I am not going to change.' Then we can never be spontaneous and complete! We will miss life and miss it miserably. The quality of life updates itself. It can be called intelligence only as long as it updates itself. Intelligence is living energy. The Saṁskṛit word dhī means 'that which is alive'. In Saṁskṛit, the word for intelligence is dhī. Dhī is energy that is alive, which continuously updates itself.

Can you make me listen to you?' I said, 'Please come nearer Sir. I cannot hear what you are saying.' When he came nearer I said, 'Please come to this side and repeat what you said Sir.' He moved to that side. Then I said, 'I think there is a table in the way, please move to the other side Sir.' He moved and came nearer. Then I said, 'You have already listened to me three times. Now sit and listen to what I have to say!'

When you have spontaneity, nothing can stop you. Spontaneity is a great spiritual Quality. Here Kṛṣṇa gives four different instructions. Either you can establish yourself in Bhakti Yoga - Path of Devotion, or live a regular life of spiritual routine, or sacrifice all the fruits of action to God, or live in consciousness and act. You can do whatever you want. He says, 'If not this, do this. If not these, then that...'

Somebody asked me, 'Swamiji, why do we have so many gods in India or in the Eastern religions?' All Eastern religions have many gods, whether you consider Hinduism, Buddhism or Jainism. They all have many gods, so many saints and so many gurus, while Western religions have only one God. Why?'

Vivekananda puts it across beautifully in one discourse. Freedom is the basic condition for growth. In any field, if growth has to happen, freedom is the basic condition. In the East they have had inner freedom. No one disturbs your religion here. Spiritual practice is an option. That is why we have the concept of iṣṭadevatā, your favorite god. Iṣṭadevatā means you can worship whatever form suits your mind.

You may think superstitions exist only in relationship to spirituality. A lot more superstitions exist in science. At least in spirituality the masters do not have any vested interests in declaring something. Nothing significant will be added to their personal lives. They are still going to eat only that much and are going to wear only those few pieces of clothing.

But when it concerns scientists, whatever they declare is going to give them name and fame, money, and additional comfort in their lives. So naturally they have vested interests. With spiritual people, the more they renounce and the less they enjoy the outer world comforts, the more they are respected. So naturally, whatever truths they declare, whatever research they do will not add anything new to their personal lives. The respect they are given is based upon their lives, not their words. With scientists, it is based on their words. So in science, there is a greater possibility for superstitions than in spirituality.

And when more and more people take to this spiritual life, there will always be one or two superstitions that result. Just because of this, we can't say that religious freedom or spiritual freedom is wrong. There is a lot of good in it also.

For any growth to happen freedom is a basic necessity. Here, with these four options, Kṛṣṇa is expressing spiritual freedom for us. He says that there are so many paths, and tells us to choose whichever one suits our mentality, and to practice at least one option. It is not so important which option that we choose. It is essential only that we choose something !

Here Kṛṣṇa gives Arjuna the spiritual freedom to choose and of course, not only to Arjuna, but through Arjuna, to all of us. If you cannot practice the regulations of Bhakti Yoga, try to work for Me because by working for Me, you will enrich yourself and come to the perfect stage.

Then one by one He gives all enriching options and finally says, ‘If you can’t follow these practices to enrich yourself, engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge.’ He says, ‘At least collect all these life solutions.’ Cultivation of knowledge means collecting solutions to life’s mysteries, such as how to avoid depression, how to be more courageous, how to be strong, how to avoid unwanted desires and how to prevent emotional blocks. This kind of knowledge that you can collect as life solutions can help and protect You. In the USA, you are taught about earthquake kit, that water bottles and other vital safety things should be a part of the kit. Western society prepares people for these eventualities. But we also need to prepare people to face the earthquakes that happen within, the emotional imbalances that occur within. Just like preparing for an earthquake, one needs to be equipped with an inner earthquake kit. This inner earthquake kit is what I refer to as ‘life solutions’ or knowledge. Collect these things now so that when you face depression, you will be prepared. All of us will face some sort of inner earthquake at some point in time.

Have an outer earthquake kit in your car, and an inner earthquake kit in your heart.

We can have an earthquake kit in our cars and an inner earthquake kit in our hearts or inner space. Never take inner earthquakes lightly. Taking inner earthquakes lightly means we are acting out of ignorance. When quakes come in the outer world, we can blame somebody and be rid of the responsibility. But when it comes to the inner world, we can't blame anybody. Each of us must take responsibility for everything happening in and around us.

You must help yourself ascend. You must raise yourself by yourself. If you can help yourself ascend, then you are your best friend. Otherwise you are your worst enemy.

He gives enriching possibilities, among the different paths like practicing, cultivation of knowledge, meditation or renunciation of the fruits of actions, karma phala tyāga. Among these paths, one is better than the other. First, He mentions that the path of meditation, dhyāna is better than knowledge, jñana— jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate. Better than meditation is offering every-thing at the feet of God—dhyānāt karma phala tyāgaḥ. He says that by renunciation of the fruits of action one can immediately achieve peace—tyāgāc chāntir anantaram (12.12).

When we renounce ownership to what we do and hand over the ownership to the Divine, peace and bliss descend upon us. There is true liberation in giving up attachment to the results of what we do. This liberation comes from not having expectations of any kind. We are detached from the results of our actions. That allows us to focus totally on what we have in hand, in the present moment of completion. Staying in the space of completion is peace, bliss, liberation, or mokṣa.

❖ What is Social Freedom?

❖ What is Inner Freedom?

THREAD ART

MATERIALS NEEDED

PROCEDURE

Put blobs of different paints on a plate. Dip each thread in a different colour blob of paint. Then lay out one thread on a sheet of paper. Fold the paper in half. With one hand press the folded paper down and with the other hand pull the thread out. Unfold the paper to find a unique pattern. Repeat the pattern using threads dipped in different colours.

PROCEDURE

Be spontaneous. Be totally focused on what you are doing. The results of thread painting are always unique and surprising.

PROCEDURE:

INFERENCE:

Topic of discussion is "Meditation is better than Knowledge"