The Plot Thickens🔗

1.40 With the destruction of dynasty, the eternal family tradition is destroyed too,

And the rest of the family becomes involved in immoral practices.

1.41 When immoral practices become common in the family, O Krishna,

The women of the family become corrupted,

And from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant of Varshni, arise social problems.

1.42 As these social problems increase, the family and those who destroy the family tradition are cast in hell,

As there is no offering of food and water to their ancestors.

1.43 Due to the evil deeds of the destroyers of family tradition,

All kinds of rituals and practices of caste and family are devastated.

1.44 O Janardana, I have heard that those who destroy family traditions dwell always in hell.

By now, Arjuna had become desperate. His arguments seemed weak, even to him. And we might wonder if they were making any impression on Krishna at all. His next attempt was to broaden the argument to include the tragic impact this war would have on future generations and the entire Kuru race.

Arjuna starts quoting the scriptures of social laws to explain to Krishna the evil his destructive actions would bring to future generations of the dynasty.

The destruction of a noble lineage would bring about the decline in commitment to the rites and rituals that make society civilized and moral.

Arjuna then elaborated upon these immoral and unrighteous acts.

He said that women in the family would become unchaste and that mixing with other castes would follow, resulting in children of mixed castes, which would be undesirable. Those who destroy family traditions would ruin all sacred practices and lead the families into polluted progeny, and such people had no place to go but hell.

To understand what Arjuna said, it is important to understand the origin of the caste tradition in Hindu religion.

At the age of five, a child was given to the care of a spiritual master by the parents in the ancient Indian education system called gurukul. The master became mother, father and teacher to the child. By living in close proximity to an enlightened master, the child's personality and expression was observed. These factors, along with any spiritual experiences before physical maturity, determined how the youngster was trained – either for sanyās (spiritual fulfillment) or for married life. The child's natural aptitudes formed the basis for the caste classification, varṇāśrama. Brāhmanas (priests/teachers), kṣatriyas (kings/warriors), vaiśyas (merchants/tradesmen) and śūdras (agricultural/service) are these four classes.

Even at this level of understanding, the truths expounded in the Gita are about personal transformation. Each verse of the Gita is a sūtra, a technique that can work on your being and transform you.

The essence of the Gita is about the present moment. That is how Krishna brings Arjuna into awareness. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say that the Gita is tagi, a corruption of the word ‘tyāg’ that meant renunciation or surrender. Gita is about surrendering the past and the future to the present.

The vedic gurukul system was not concerned with whether the child's parents were brāhmaṇa or vaiśya. If the guru found that the child had the natural aptitude to learn the scriptures, the child would be trained as a brāhmaṇa. Irrespective of parentage, boys and girls were taught the Gāyatri mantra at age seven, which allowed their natural intelligence to blossom. Those whose ability leaned towards the spiritual path and who expressed this aptitude through personal development and experiences were trained in the scriptures. Others were trained in materially relevant arts and sciences so that they could re-enter the world with a mature, integrated personality.

Such was the origin of the caste system. This system was similar to the Guild system that prevailed in England thousands of years later. It is said to have contributed much to the Industrial Revolution that made England a super colonial power at one time.

Over time, this caste system was corrupted through human greed. Those who believed that they were doing more responsible work, and therefore were more respected, such as the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas, decided to pass on their caste qualification to their children as if it was their birthright. Such a practice had no scriptural sanction.

The son of a brāhmaṇa, who had neither the aptitude nor the knowledge to be a brāhmaṇa, ceased to have the right and qualifications to be called a brāhmaṇa. The son of a śūdra, if he exhibited the aptitude and developed the skills to learn the scriptures and decided to lead a spiritual life, had every right and qualification to be called a brāhmaṇa. That is the scriptural truth.

Arjuna’s doubts about caste pollution had no scriptural base or merit. What he referred to became the societal norm because of human greed. There were many instances of caste mixture even in the great Kuru lineage that Arjuna claimed would be destroyed. Satyavati, his great grandmother, was a fisherman’s daughter who his great grandfather, Shantanu, became infatuated with.

Arjuna himself had wives who were not of kṣatriya lineage by birth.

Arjuna talked as if mired in total confusion when he linked practice of rites and rituals with morality and chastity. He talked about women becoming unchaste as a result of families not following rites and rituals. His logic was distorted.

Rites and rituals, as prescribed in the scriptures, are an expression of one’s inner awareness. They become useful when one is aware. Awareness is not created by blind practice of rites and rituals. How many people we see muttering their prayers and mantra, rolling their rosary beads while thinking of something else! God’s name is on their tongues but their shopping lists are in their minds!

Arjuna voiced the sentiments of organized religion and priesthood, which derive their power and monetary base from such rites and rituals. They use these rites and rituals, and their sole authority to perform them, as a factor of control over the masses. This is how, in each culture and religion, the power of the priestly class was established, as if they were the sole mediators to God.

Arjuna talked about ancestral worship and implied that the offspring of mixed caste have no right to make offerings to their ancestors, leaving them lost in the realms beyond death. It is the confusion that has prevailed over the ages that Arjuna captured and presented. He raises doubts on behalf of mankind and seeks clarification. The dilemma was not only Arjuna’s, but also of mankind.

There are no ancestral spirits waiting to be pacified by us. If the spirit is enlightened it merges with the infinite energy. If not, it gets reborn within three kṣaṇas, three moments. Spirits do not hang around waiting to be pacified. Nor do they go to hell if they are not pacified.

There is no hell or heaven in the sense that we have been taught. Hell and heaven are in our minds. They are psychological spaces, not geographical places. We are in hell when we are depressed, guilty and in suffering. We are in heaven when we feel and express love, joy and gratitude. We pass through hell and heaven even as we live, day-to-day, hour-to-hour and minute-by-minute. We do not have to wait for our death to taste hell or heaven.

Religions and religious authorities have created the concepts of hell and heaven, to insert guilt and motivation in people, to control others. They have also created the concept of sin. There is no sin in true spiritual terms. Where there is sin there is also merit. It is the principle of Tao. There can be no good without evil, and no evil without good. The only sin we are in, the original sin, is the ignorance of our own divinity.

Arjuna is not a fool. He understands all this perfectly. Yet, he voices his doubts as if ignorant, as if confused. He acts out of compassion for humanity when he articulates these doubts so that the divine Krishna can answer, to everyone’s benefit.

A thoughtful man like Arjuna cannot talk about the lack of chastity of women without blaming the men who are equally responsible. He reflects here the superior attitude of men over the ages, those who have treated women with undue superiority. The doubts he voices are those of the society he lives in, and those doubts have not changed in thousands of years.

Q: How does an enlightened person react to the physical environment?

He responds in the same way as an ordinary person.

There is a beautiful Zen statement: before enlightenment, a mountain is a mountain, a tree is a tree, a river is a river. While seeking, a mountain is not a mountain, a tree is not a tree, a river is not a river; one is confused, and searching for meanings and significance everywhere. After enlightenment, again a mountain is a mountain, a tree is a tree, a river is a river!

Although the enlightened being reacts the same way to the different things around us, after enlightenment he sees it all from a different plane. A normal person always sees in a distorted way, as he wants to see it.

A small story:

Two elderly women met after many years.

One of them asked, 'What happened to your son?'

The other woman replied, 'My son? He is so unlucky. Unfortunately he got married to a girl who won't do any work in the house. She won't cook, she won't sew, she won't even wash or clean. All she does is eat, sleep and read in bed. My poor son even has to bring her breakfast to her bed.'

'That's very bad! And how is your daughter?'

'She is a lucky girl! She has married a very nice person. He won't let her do a thing in the house. He does all the cooking, sewing, washing and cleaning. And every morning he brings her breakfast to the bed. All she does is sleep for as long as she wants and spend the rest of the day relaxing and reading.'

Just observe how we see things! Same situation, same person, but the reactions are different depending on whether its the son or the son-in-law who does the house work! This is what we mean when we say we see according to our perception. But an enlightened person sees things as they are, with neither attachment nor detachment.

An enlightened being takes life as it flows. He does not attempt to change it according to his convenience. He is passively active, not lazy.

How do we distinguish between letting life flow and laziness? In laziness you will always be tired. The more you rest, the more you will be tired; you will become tired from resting. Letting go and allowing life to flow, you will be bubbling, alive, fresh and radiating energy. If you are confused, you are in laziness. The moment you surrender, you will have no confusion, and automatically you will cooperate to let life flow. You will only be in ecstasy.

Q: People wonder whether they need to be qualified to be enlightened. Do they need to do good deeds? Do they need to be scholars? Do they need to belong to a particular caste or creed or religion?

Someone in India asked me if those in the 'untouchable' caste could ever find enlightenment?

As long as you have an idea that you are untouchable, and you are unfit, you can't find enlightenment. The moment you drop that idea, you can find enlightenment. Nobody is untouchable. The idea is wrong, and happens due to some inferiority complex. If somebody claims you can't touch him because he is holier than you, then be sure only he is the untouchable one.

Understand that saints and sinners are both the same distance from enlightenment. The saint has no advantage so long as the sinner has the same craving for enlightenment as the saint.

People often ask me why we are not working on projects such as environment improvement, population management and stopping wars. A socially correct answer would be, 'Yes, we must work for global peace, a better environment, equal distribution of wealth and so on.' But my honest answer is this: transform yourself. Only individual transformation can ensure all these at the same time. You can't do otherwise.

If society could do anything else it would have done it by now. Let us be honest that we are not able to do anything much socially. We always feel the world is totally spoiled now and that in ancient times the world was beautiful.

From the Harappa-Mohenjodaro culture, which is thousands of years old, they found writings crying about the state of affairs at that time itself. They have unearthed writings from those days that say, 'There is so much war, society is deteriorating, but in olden times society was much better.' Even thousands of years ago, people thought that the past was better!

There was no such time when only good prevailed! The idea of a golden past is used only to postpone accepting reality. Maybe the news did not reach others so people did not know about it. But both good and bad existed in the past and will always exist in future also. If you awaken yourself, you can go beyond it. If you become enlightened, you can take yourself out of the collective negative consciousness, thereby reducing it. Everybody wants to spread peace according to his own perception, not according to others' perceptions.

I was in an inter-religion conference where one person was preaching, 'All of you accept and convert to my religion so that we won't fight.' The very statement clearly misses the whole thing! The point is not to convert everybody to your religion but to acknowledge that all religions are one and go beyond that also into pure spirituality. The problem is, every religion takes the sword to spread peace! But no revolution will help. It will only make matters worse. Only individual evolution will help, because as you raise your consciousness, you add to the collective positive energy on earth and diminish the collective negative energy.

I often say that what you need to evolve in is consciousness, not conscience. People ask how I can make such a statement when Hitler, Saddam and serial killers have no conscience, and cause havoc. They ask me if it is not essential to have a conscience that tells us what is right and wrong.

Please understand, a person who has real consciousness, cannot hurt others or kill others, because he feels others to be extensions of himself. A person with conscience may not kill with the knife, but he will kill with words because his being can still be violent. With conscience, you will be socially nonviolent, but with consciousness, your being itself will be nonviolent.

According to me, morality should be based on consciousness, not on conscience. Conscience is a poor substitute for consciousness. In our meditation program called Nithyananda Spurana Program, also called Life Bliss Program Level II, we help people experience at least one glimpse of consciousness, so they can start living with consciousness instead of conscience.

Anything based on conscience is skin deep. It is not eternal. Anything based on consciousness is eternal. We should work for a conscious experience. Just because we have not had a conscious experience, we should not compromise and settle for having only a good conscience.

Our morality, understanding, lifestyle, everything, should be based on consciousness. When it is based on conscience, it is based on fear and greed. If the idea that you should not speed is based on fear, when you don't see a cop's car you will speed. It becomes tasty to break laws and you feel courageous also. Whenever any rule is followed because of fear and greed, you will be waiting for the chance to break the rule. Children saying 'no' to parents is because they feel good breaking rules. It makes them feel they have proved themselves. If morality is based on conscience, you will always do something to violate it, directly or indirectly.

Consciousness is the guru, the master; conscience is not. With conscience, always a set of do's and don'ts will be given, and you will always be fighting it. The more conscience you have, the more dead you will be; the more schizophrenic you will be. With consciousness you will never have a doubt. You will just do what has to be done.

People ask, how does one know that one is enlightened?

The moment you become enlightened, the doubt itself disappears! Just as you have no doubt that you are seeing me, enlightenment is a clear experience, and the question itself disappears. As long as the question is there, you are not enlightened.

Then the next question is, 'How does one become enlightened?'

It is as simple as 1, 2 and 3:

1. Start meditating

2. Continue meditating

3. Continue meditating!

Meditation is the only key to the experience that you are enlightened. Start with some meditation technique. Surely you will see the ultimate truth. Even though you don't believe you are a lion, you are a lion.

In fact, you are already enlightened! That is your true nature. You are not aware of it, that is all. So, enlightenment can never be a goal to work towards, because you are already there.

Awake, arise and stop! You have arrived! Drop your doubts.

Surrender to the Divine by saying, 'You are the one who gave me belief and doubt. You keep both and let me be free.'

A part of you believes in you, a part of you has doubts about you. Surrender both the doubt and the faith to the Divine. You want to keep only belief, but leave the doubt. That's where the trouble begins. Surrender both, then you will go beyond both. You will experience nityānanda, eternal bliss!