KARMIC BAGGAGE

  'Karmic Baggage' is what they say? Each and every living being (jiva) comes here on earth with a purpose! The purpose of life, in fact, is the same for all? Wein India, 'Bharata varsha yoga bhumi' is the land of great sages, Rishi Muni and we all belong to one clan led by a great sage ('gotra' named after a Rishi). Hence, we are endowed with certain spiritual powers. It is in our blood, our genes. Even our elders and parents gave us names after devi and devata with a purpose. It is their wish that we should emulate the ideals of great sages and attain to the highest spiritual state! However, the historical misadventures of the invading tribes tried to erase our cultural tradition and imposed their way of life, language and culture to the detriment of ours. In fact, we should have resisted, but none cared? Even now it is not too late to retrace or steps.

     The scriptures advise us  to follow certain rules and regulations. These are not that difficult to follow. But, there are many attractions and distractions that divert our attention and force us without our knowledge to take to diversions! These are the real stumbling blocks. These are materialistic and worldly interests that are like holding carrot before the horse! Following these attractions, the jiva first dreams, develops aspirations and slowly works very hard to achieve the goal. Sadly enough, these dreams and aspirations lose their glamor and value by the time the jiva really attains them! Time eats away the charm and joy of attainments. Many a great achievers, rich and famous, powerful and impressive have died miserably disappointed! Nobody is happy even after getting what one wants? The reason is very simple. It is just the transient nature of the world!

     Only a few blessed jivas keep the spiritual goal and strives to attain it. But, this is not that easy! It requires the guidance of an attained person. Sometimes, even a sentence in a good book can change the life of a person. It is just the divine grace. Some times, one is prone to think "It just happens". May be, it is true. It happens! But it is due to a number of factors, such as, purva punya, carry-over of the past actions. the blessings of the elders and adrushta (luck). Divine grace (daiva anugraha)  does the trick! The jiva is redeemed. It realizes its ultimate goal.

CONVICTION

'Etymology' is a very interesting science that deals with the origin of the words. Those who are interested in the study of the structure of language take to philology. However, not all know the real origin of the sound, alpha and beta of the languages! The ancient scriptures numbering more than two hundred Samhita of Agama shastra give more details about all these subtler aspects! Srividya is full of these secrets! The sounds emanate from the elements due to the friction, vibration and movement of molecular functions. Each and every element has its subtler and most subtle state states that create vibration due to the molecular movements. The sounds emanate from sky, air, fire, water and earth and all that are associated with these! For humans, the sense organs are the recipients. The order of creation depicts how the human beings are structured. The elemental body develop the sense organs to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel! The mind is closely associated with these. However, what we do not understand here is the way these sounds are created within our own physical self! The air we breath create the sounds. the fire and water create sounds within us. These are the functions of the life-force, 'prana'. Thus what is outside is also within us!

   Now, as regards this term 'conviction', it is interesting to find that the humans are endowed with the power of analysis, discern, dissect, discuss, and divulge! We can think and understand the secrets of creation. One such discovery is that "we are all born free but always in bondage!" This bondage is the trick (con) of knowledge (sci).We exclaim! We are Conscious! Con, sci, O, I, us  (am tricked into bondage)! This bondage is eternal. We, the humans are tricked into eternal bondage due to our insatiable desires, dreams and aspirations and unfulfilled tasks! We take repeated births to complete the unfinished tasks and acquire desires again and again an thereby face endless bondage. Each death is like a repeated attempt towards the fulfillment! This is how we become 'convicts', victims of the trick of knowledge. It is actually, ignorance, knowledge covered by desire, that makes us convicts, prisoners! This is the secret of our life. This is simply expressed in the words like Conscience, Consciousness, convicts, etc.!  

 Th same is true of the Samskruta bhasha. The words like ja, jnya, pra, prajnya are all beautiful! They convey us secret knowledge of creation. For instance, 'ja' means 'birth'. Here 'janya' means 'of birth'. the term 'pra' means 'prior'. Thus, 'prajnya' means 'prior knowledge of birth'!  In fact, 'prajnya' means, 'consciousness' (prajnya), 'conscience' (prajnye),  meaning, 'the trick of knowledge that creates'! This is what the great Acharya Shankara, an intellectual, deciphered and stated it as the doctrine of  'jagat mythya/. Al that is created here is an illusion! As our conscience, prajnya, declines, we forget 'who we are, the true self'?

Vasana

   Vasana governs the life. This mortal life is all about 'vasana'. The term 'vasana' (Samsk.) has a hundred connotations! The jiva, living being is drawn, dragged, drowned in vasana. It is instinctive life for all animals. The same continues even when the humans live and work with the help of  inner instruments, antahkarana- buddhhi, manas, chitta and ahankara. There are desires, memory, dreams and aspirations that drive the jivas towards a whirlpool,  abysmal ignorance and the consequent misery! The jiva never understands this. It runs as dragged by the senses, vasana, trail left by traces of memories of past experiences? Ultimately, all these are not going to help the jiva. Each and every sense organ has traces of memories of experiences of all the previous births! For a simple example, we have tasted a delicious dish sometime long ago at a certain restaurant. The taste lingers in the memory and the taste buds crave for repaeated experience of that, but, als, all in vain! By the time we visit that restaurant again, neither the management is the same nor their preparations! We feel immensely disappointed! This happens even with regard to the smell, sight, sound, touch and we feel disappointed when we don't get what we desired! We will never realize or  understand how time (kaal) has devoured everything. Everything changes with time! With the movement of time, ageing process, everything deteriorates and we never notice this! 

   Is there a remedy? No. Yea, there is no remedy for this passing 'Time'. Time is a concept which can never be understood by us! Only a jnyani, a yogi, who transcends this magical element 'Time' will ever know this! Such a realized person will not be affected by Time and the worldly aspects governed by it! tasmaat yogirbhavaarjunaa | is the advise given by the Lord in the Gita.

   The Jiva should realize the fact that it is this 'vasana' that is causing eternal bondage and the repeated births and deaths. The firs task of the jiva is to erase these traces of vasana in order to get released from bondage. Each and every trace of the vasana is a seed for the next birth. How to erase the traces? Trace elements are beyond the control of the jivarashi and, hence the jiva suffers! The Grand Sire Bhishma pitamaha gives a very valuable advise in this regard. Utter the name of the Lord, a vasana is erased! A million utterances of the Lord will erase a million traces and thereby save the tormented jiva! Chant the name of the Lord. It is the only remedy for all the problems of the jiva. It is a panacea. Hence, great sages have taken to dhyana, japa and tapas to get themselves redeemed!