We are all on a journey. Where do we get off? What is our destination? If you ask this question, most people cannot reply. Life is an opportunity. It is a rare opportunity. Human birth has infinite possibilities.
jantunam narajanma durlabham – It is very difficult to get a human life.
When we have come in this human form what is our goal? In the words of Adi Shankara, we face the following questions:
“kastvam? koham? kuta ayataha? kame janani? kome tataha?”
“What am I? Who am I? From where have I come? Who is my mother? Who is my father?”
If we sincerely search and get to know the answers to these questions, most of our problems in life will be solved. Think about it. Lahiri Mahasaya said, “If your goal is fixed, if you know your destination, then you know you have stepped into the path of liberation.” Once you have put your feet upon this path it will lead you to your destination.
The Goal Life has a purpose. Life without goal is not really a worthy life but becomes a chaotic existence. Do you know why you have come to this Seminar? We all come with a purpose.
When I asked, “Why have you come to this Seminar?”
Some said, “To learn Kriya Yoga.”
“Why do you want to learn Kriya Yoga?”
Some said, “For God realization.”
“Why do we need God realization?”
Some said “For peace and happiness.”
Are we not peaceful and happy? We are sometimes happy and sometimes unhappy. We search to be continuously happy. This, then, seems to be the goal – we want happiness and peace, and it should be continuous. The real goal, for all of us, is endless happiness. The Taittiriya Upanishad teaches, “All creation was started with ananda (bliss). We were born in a state of bliss, and we live in bliss. The end of life is bliss.”
If this is the goal, is it attainable or not? Yes, it is possible. How do we know? From the teachings of gurus we have seen that a few have attained this permanent state of happiness.
What are Happiness and Peace? Happiness is a natural state. Happiness is a state of mind, a state of satisfaction and contentment, a state of fullness and completeness. Happiness is a state of mind that is free from desires.
Ordinarily, when a desire is satisfied, we are happy for a while until another desire or expectation comes, and the state of happiness disappears. This is known as conditional happiness.
Lahiri Mahasaya defined this state of happiness in the following way; in Sanskrit happiness is called sukha. It is a compound word consisting of two parts: su and kha. Kha means the vacuum, sky, emptiness, and nothingness, God. Su means beautiful, good or appreciation. Sukha means appreciation of the complete vacuum, complete emptiness, and complete nothingness. Happiness is called sukha and unhappiness or sorrow is called dukha.
su+ kha = sukha means happiness.
duh + kha = dukha means unhappiness.
kha is common to both, only the prefix changes. kha means akasa or brahman. If you are far (duh or dura) from kha it causes dukha and if you are near ( su or samipa ) to kha it causes sukha.
Where is akasha?
The sthula sharira, or the gross physical body, is pancha bhutatmika – is made up of 5 elements - prithvi (earth), apah (water), teja (fire), vayu (air) and akasha (sky or ether). These five elements remain in a subtle way in the five chakras in the spine, in the muladhara (bottom center or earth center), the svadhishthana (second or water center), the manipura (food or the fire center), the anahata (heart or the air center) and the vishuddha (the neck or the ether center).
The sky element is in the throat, and there are different layers of akasha- chidakasha, parakasha, daharakasha, atmakasha and mahakasha from the neck to the ajna charka, or the midpoint of the eyebrows. Of the five elements, the one that takes up the most volume in the body is akasha or space. The human body, just like a pot, is filled with space.
tasmat atmano akasha sambhuta, says the Upanishad.
Above these five charkas, we have the ajna or the soul center, the seat of the guru, and the sahasrara or the fontanel, the place of the formless God, where there is no play of the elements.
If the mind can be kept above the throat center, (closer to God) happiness will be experienced more. Some devotees use a rosary around the neck, just like a dog’s collar, and the Master holds the chain. This is a constant reminder that we are all in the hands of God.
Peace or shanti is samyati, which means to bring peace. The root word for shanti is shama (self-control or discipline). A regulated mind gives a regulated life style.
A verse in the Gita explains the relationship between shanti - peace and sukha – happiness.
nasti buddhrayuktasya na ca yuktasya bhavana
na ca bhava yatah shantirahsantasya kutah sukham
“One who is not in the state of union is not in the state of yoga, is not intelligent and cannot rightly contemplate on the self. One who cannot contemplate on the self cannot attain peace. When one cannot be in the state of peace, how can one achieve happiness?”
One who is not united (with the soul) is devoid of good intellect and cannot think in the right way. Happiness is a higher state than peace. Peace (shanti) is shama, and happiness is the derived effect. If the cause is good, the effect will also be good.
Ayukta comes from the word yukta, a is always a negation. To understand ayukta, we have to understand yukta, which has the same root word ‘yuj’ as in yoga. Yukta is therefore to be in a state of yoga. To desire happiness is not enough. In order to be successful in life, we need some effort. A sleeping lion catches no deer.
How to attain the maximum amount of happiness for the maximum people during the maximum time? niravachinna nirantara sukha – Happiness should be a continuous and unbroken state.
bhumaiva sukham na alpa sukham asti
Bhuma means ‘absolute’ or ‘great’. Real happiness comes with the achievement of something great, not in small things.
How to reach the goal? Is the goal inside or outside? The path is not outside it is inside. First of all let us examine who is undertaking the journey.
Who is Traveling? We have three aspects – body, mind and soul.
There are three boundaries: gross, subtle and causal. Death removes only one boundary. The other two boundaries remain after death. The gross body is the physical aspect. The journey is not of the gross body. However healthy and beautiful the body might be, death is the end of the physical body.
The soul is pure consciousness, immortal and full of bliss. There is no perfection of the soul. The soul is, and cannot move. The mind is the one that has to undertake the journey. The mind lies between the body and the soul, the journey is of the mind.
mana eva manushyanam karanambandha mokshayo ...
Each human life is a new playground of the mind. Spiritual life is designed to train the mind. We have a higher mind, and a lower mind. One who is not in a state of yoga cannot aspire to a higher mind.
Ordinarily, if we take a close look at our life, we become familiar with the condition of the mind. Mind has tremendous speed, and can travel faster than light, but if it does not go in the right direction, there could be an accident. The path is to introvert the mind. In which way can we achieve this and what is the preparation needed? (To be continued...)