5. Responsibility of enlightenment
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Understand, enlightenment comes with a tremendous responsibility. It comes with a tremendous 'pressured' compassion. 'Pressured' is the right word to use! Your whole being will be vibrating with an intense compassion, with a very deep compassion. Let me tell you one incident:
Early one morning, Vivekananda suddenly got up and said, 'I have a deep pain in the right hand.' At that time he was lying down on a bed. He said, 'On this side of the ocean, some country is suffering from some natural calamity.
Please find out where we are needed, and send our swamis6 to go and do the relief work.' The next morning they received the news that there was an earthquake on a nearby island. All the swamis rushed to do the relief work.
Shirdi Sai Baba - An enlightened master worshipped by Hindus and Muslims alike. Lived in Shirdi near Nasik.
Karma yoga - The path of Self Realization by fulfilling one's responsibilities without attachment to anything.
Swami - A honorific term used for a sannyasi, a monk.
Vivekananda was sensitive to and actually felt the pain felt by people so many miles away! With enlightenment, practically the whole cosmos is felt inside your body. A deep pressured compassion lands on you along with the enlightenment experience. Understand, it is a great responsibility. It is not just freedom. It is a great responsibility too.
5.1 State, not status Most of us wait for the status to come in order to take up the responsibility. Be very clear, it doesn't work that way. Only if you take up responsibility will the status come. Those who wait for the status will not take up responsibility even after they get the status! They will simply find another reason or excuse, that's all.
Be very clear, responsibility is a consciousness. Many people think that if they get enlightened, they will get a golden throne. They think that somebody will give them food and a place to stay.
They think that people will worship their photograph. If you see the status of the enlightened master and try to achieve enlightenment for that, you will feel cheated! If you see the state of the enlightened master and try to achieve it, you will be successful. You will be happy. You will enjoy it. That is the difference between state and status.
Exercises:
- What is responsibility?
- Brief on Ego Vs Responsibility
- Explain the term 'Cognitive shift' with a suitable example
- ‘Shraddha Saburi’ denotes what?
- What is difference between state and status?