Why Penance?🔗

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THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

The above mentioned threefold austerity (of thought, word, and deed), practiced by yogis with supreme authenticity, without a desire for the fruit, is said to be in the mode of goodness

Let what may happen, happen

Only when it is in the nature of total surrender, with no expectation of any results, it is in satva and of spiritual value.

Austerity performed with foolish stubbornness or with self-torture or for harming others, is said to be in the mode of ignorance

No one but an Enlightened Master can curse, and an Enlightened Master cannot curse. He can only bless.

Kṛṣṇa defines austerity of deeds, words and thoughts. Tapas or penance is the austere, simple way of living, the mode of aparigraha (simplicity). It is based upon what one needs and not what one craves for. One who successfully practices this is a tapasvi.

Kṛṣṇa explained earlier and repeats here that tapasya, austerity or penance, doesn't mean inflicting pain or torturing oneself and others. This includes not merely physical torture and pain, but also takes into account pain through words and thoughts. Penance undertaken in this manner is abusing oneself and the God who resides within, forgetting that the body is a temple of God.

Penance performed out of foolishness and self-torture destroys or injures others. Please understand, such acts are done out of ignorance. That's what I explained earlier with regard to black magic. No black magic can be done. No evil spirit can be sent to you. No one but an Enlightened Master can curse, and an Enlightened Master cannot curse. He can only bless.

Bhagavan Kṛṣṇa says that the people who are in rajas carry out sacrifices for the sake of respect, honor and worship. When they do penance or sacrifice in this manner, it is unstable. When people don’t respect them, they stop doing it. They do it as long as people fall at their feet. If the respect is lost, they stop their tapasyā.

Penance performed with the view of obtaining any result, even a noble ideal like Enlightenment is a result…is in the mode of rajas, aggression or passion. Only when it is in the nature of total surrender, with no expectation of any results, it is in satva and of spiritual value.

As long as I struggled towards Enlightenment in my spiritual practices, it eluded me. I was able to realize myself only when I threw away my rudrākśa (energy beads) and the photograph of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa that I had with me all those years, and sat down in meditation, with the feeling, ‘let what may happen, happen.

Helping students understand the right context of tapasya.

BEFORE AND AFTER

MATERIALS NEEDED:

PROCEDURE:

• Put on your smock. • Using your painter's tape, make a border around your canvas folding your tape so half is on the front and half is on the back. • Using your painter's tape, divide the canvas in 4 equal sections • In the 1st square, sketch young Swamiji practicing penance in India • In the 2nd square, sketch Swamiji in His moment of self-realization • In the 3rd square, sketch your self-portrait before knowing Swamiji • In the 4th square, sketch your self-portrait now (after knowing Swamiji) • Paint the background in each square • Carefully paint the portraits. If you paint over your pencil lines, don't worry-you can go over them with a thin permanent marker after the paint has dried • Ask the children to share their drawings and to share the before-after transformations they notice. • Ask the children to share what they feel is the fastest what to self- realization

INFERENCE:

In Swamiji's Own Words: When I talk about my tapas during my days of wandering all over India, I did difficult things. I realize now that many of these could have been dispensed with. I experimented with ten thousand keys before I found the key to unlock the door to Enlightenment. I tell my disciples that they do not need to go through that. There is an easier, faster and simpler way!

MATERIALS NEEDED

PROCEDURE:

Ask the children to pair up and to write a short script of two people practicing penance, (one from a space of total surrender and the other one from a space of ignorance). Ask the students to act their script in from the group. At the end, ask students to describe who is a tapasvi and to explain why.

ROLE PLAY

INFERENCE:

Kṛṣṇa explained earlier and repeats here that tapasya, austerity or penance, doesn't mean inflicting pain or torturing oneself and others. This includes not merely physical torture and pain, but also takes into account pain through words and thoughts. Penance undertaken in this manner is abusing oneself and the God who resides within, forgetting that the body is a temple of God.

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

TOPIC OF DISCUSSION:

YOU CAN ASK STUDENTS QUESTIONS SUCH AS:

Encourage them to discuss their understanding or to ask questions if they are unsure.

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

In Swamiji's Own Words: As long as I struggled towards Enlightenment in my spiritual practices, it eluded me. I was able to realize myself only when I threw away my rudrākśa (energy beads) and the photograph of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa that I had with me all those years, and sat down in meditation, with the feeling, 'let what may happen, happen.

BOOK XVII, VOLUME VIII