The Way Out?

    There is no doubt that we, as living beings (jivas) are stuck here for an eternal journey in a circle, cycle of birth and rebirths. Moreover, old age, sickness, and death are a certainty. Hence we  are stay-put as troubled souls, atrupta jivas, what is the way out?

   This problem of suffering, inevitable old age, sickness, and death made Siddhartha Goutama take to intense meditation and finally drop the very problem as an insolvable one and 'just sat down discarding the very search'. He kept quiet, not even uttering a word!. This 'nirvana' is probably the only solution to the problem? in other words, it is yoga, contemplating on 'nothingness', the brahmn.  

Are We Stuck Here?

As humans,we were sparks of fire, particles of Light, quantum of radiant energy freely moving in the sky. The ancient sages called this energy as angirasa. Having arrived here on this Planet Earth, we have taken many a different form- from insects to birds, animals and the humans. We have grown from almost invisible energy particles like the elements and compounds and chemical bonds and survive on food. Is this the end? Is there no outlet to get out of here? Should we go on indulging in sensuous life, just eating, sleeping and some recreation?Is it just earning a livelihood, rearing a family and finally depart? Have we learnt any lesson from this life? Is this just a wasteful life? Who will answer? Should we look to somebody else to find an answer to our problems?

   Wisdom lies in understanding what is life and how analyzing how we have lived our life. Most of us are unaware of the fact that we are living a stereotype life, repeating the same and just running chores by habit. It is time we think and keep some time for looking at our self, atmavalokana.

   There are many who argue that this life is for service to humanity. Some argue that one should serve and not expect anything in return. The Gita gives us some clues. But it certainly avoids imposing any solution to our problems.It gives us freedom of choice.Ultimately, it suggests "Just Keep Quiet". It suggests that we should surrender our ego and serve Him, chant His name, always think of Him and He will protect us and take care of us. Why not we just do that. We must close all our account and leave this place just as pure as we arrived here. This state of 'absolute purity', purity of body, mind, thoughts, actions, intellect and ego and even our blemished soul is difficult to attain. There is no way out. We all get stuck here. We go on earning browny points, balance brought forward, and take birth repeatedly only to die and take birth again. If we reduce our burden and cleanse our stains that make the soul appear blemished, we may cross the ocean of sansar. Trust in Him and go ahead.

Monks and the Monasteries

There are a number of Institutions like the Ramakrishna Mission, ISCKON, Buddhist monasteries, Jain monasteries, and thousands of mathas of each and every religion. Most of these people start with simple white cloth for dress and many take to saffron cloth. At least, some do not know why they should have a dress code;however, it is a must. They also wear Rudrakshi and other beads. Some carry out very tedious rituals regularly and follow strict discipline. Some take to study of scriptures and practice rituals as per their tradition. They go on lecture tours and spread awareness of the religious faiths and belief systems. In fact, it is extremely difficult to say anything about monks and the monasteries. It is also not easy to take to asceticism, monk-hood, or the sanyasa. Very few are ordained by divine proddence to take to sanyas. We all have stages in life like childhood, adolescence and youth, married or grihasta and finally vanaprastha (not literally going to forest, but sitting lonely till death calls?). Some people remain single due to family situation (where responsibility after loss of parents) or jilted lover, or may be some reason or the other. This should not be mistaken for sanyas. Sanyas is renunciation. This is not easy unless it is a carry-over of a person's karma. sa(u)m nyasa is total renunciation. Sat nyasa is the right path. Snayasa is taking to saffron-clad lonely life dwelling near God in temple or ashram. Some people cannot overcome their sensuousness and fall prey to worldly life and leave it. Some continue sensuous life even after they get into sanyas and this is dangerous. People who have led a a very fruitful life, happy and contented taking to renunciation in old age is the true sanyas. Others who enter sanyas at young age may or may not succeed in maintaining true sanyas. True sanyas needs nothing but loneliness, joy and happy state of mind obtained not from external objects, but from the fountain of elixir from the soul. This requires atmajnyan, Self-Realaization, Atma sakshatkara. A true sanyasin is one who is simple, true to his self, and unassuming and beyond all religious faiths and belief systems. One has to transcend time, space, causality and all gunas to become a true sanyasi. That's it. Om tat sat iti.