Tuesday 22 March 2016

The Secret of Life

   Life in all its grandeur is magical and fantastic, meaning, a fantasy. We never realize the magic of life till the end and by the time we realize it is too late. However, the magic or the secret of magic remains no more a magic or secret the moment its true nature is realized. Once we realize this truth we can live better!
    But, the, what is the secret of life? It is a secret that will never be known! The childhood passes in no time, without our knowledge, since we are engaged in play and studies. The adolescent period also disappears in teens! And, before we even know what is happening in the hurry bury of life in middle age the senility sets in and we are totally helpless. Old age, sickness and death await us. We never know what is all this and there is nobody to explain it to us since all are sailing in the same leaky boat in the thunderous stormy sea of sansar, as said in the Gita ... ..vaayur naavamivambusi | Only Lord Shree Krishna should help us. Indeed, He promises to help us if we look at Him, saying ... yogakshemam vahaamyaham |Do we have unwavering faith and firm trust in Him? This is the secret. Surrender to the lord and do your duty in the name of the Lord for the welfare of the living beings at large. loka sangrahartha nirapeksha jivanam | sarva loka sukhino bhavantu | is the mantra.
   Now the scientific version of the secret of life is just very simple.It is hydro-carbon (Energy, vaishvanara agni deva) and carbohydrates (annam). Ever since a spermatozoa gets impregnated in an egg cell and gets embodied in an elemental body, the physical growth is conditioned by food and the mind is influenced by the food (the three qualities- tama, raja  and the satva). The entire life is one of constant feed in breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner and live a sensuous life and sleep; sleep takes away almost 40 to 60 per cent of life time. Much time is spent in earning a livelihood. Nobody has any time to even to look at the path in which one is moving, let alone know whether it is right or wrong. It is a mad mad rush.
 The Vedanta gives a better answer to this, what seems to be a meaning-less life. It simply says the human form is a gift of the Lord. It is a great opportunity to visualize brahman within. Brahman is in a way nothingness, nirvana, a sort of dynamic silence. Whoever realizes this nothingness at the earliest gets out of the rut called sansar. It is just being in a state of equillibrium, a state of calm or un-perturbed mind, nishchala manah | A mind devoid of desires and wants is a mind of serenity, calmness. The true nature of the jiva is indeed, of a sthitaprajnya. This state is explained in the Gita. sangaat samjayate kaamah | kaamat krodhobhi jayate | krodhaat bhavati sammohah | sammohaat smruti vibhramah | smrutibhramshaat pranashyati || 
    Everything starts with association (sangah). Hence, the Lord says, "sarvarambha parityagi" is dear to Me. In Kashmir Shaivism "Shivo'ham" has a song- nirvana shatka often narrated by Sri Shankaracharya. It explains the beauty and serenity- the truth, satyam, shivam sundaram as one of solitude (nissangatvam), detachment (nirmohatvam), pure minded (nirmala chittam), unwavering in adhering to principles (nischala tattvam), and the ultimate realization of the principle- "I am That". The principle of I Am, ("so'ham") or Shivo'ham, meaning, I Am Shiva, the undisturbed pure state, the undifferentiated parabrahm principle (tattva). 
   So, I Am That undifferentiated brahmn is the ultimate realization. Aham brahmasmi | 
This is the secret of life. Once a person arrives at this state of pure consciousness, undifferentiated unity consciousness, he/she realizes that, I, the Self, only exists- as a state of both existence (sat) and non-existence ('asat'). This is the much talked about 'brahmn'. The yogins realize that there is nothing besides 'Me' and everything is within Me. Here, The perceiver and the perceived are One only. One should remain in this state of 'unity consciousness'- samyak-prajnya in order to be the Buddha- all-knowing but not interested in anything!
(To be contd.)

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