The Path to Final Liberation

Divine Life Society Publication: God as Mother by Sri Swami Chidananda

Om Sri Sadguru Paramatmane Namah

Salutations to the great Mother through Whose Grace alone the Knowledge of the

Ultimate Reality dawns upon the consciousness of earnest seekers.

Salutations to the great Mother who keeps up this mysterious divine Drama of creation, preservation and destruction. May Her grace be upon us all.  

Today is the last day, the ninth of the nine-day worship of the Mother. It is through Her supreme compassion and grace that we have been given this precious opportunity and occasion for expressing our devotion and adoration of Her Divine Feet, by doing which we elevate our minds and our consciousness and take one more step forward towards the ultimate goal of Atma-Sakshatkara.

Her grace is infinite. Her compassion and love for all human beings and especially the seekers and aspirants is simply indescribable.  We are all wanderers, children who have strayed away from our original home, the Supreme Abode of Satchidananda. To realise that we have strayed far away and long enough and to once again desire keenly to regain that original home of Satchidananda is the entire meaning and the process of the spiritual quest. This is spiritual life and this is Sadhana Marga.

As we know, the great Mother is both Vidya-Maya as also Avidya-Maya. In both these aspects, She has Her play upon this world-stage in Her threefold forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Yesterday we saw how Mother in Her Supreme Sattvic aspect as Saraswati, the Omkara-Rupini, the Nada-Svarupini, was manifest upon the external field of human activity in Her Pravritti aspect.

Predominantly Mother Saraswati is Vidya; and in Her glorious Vidya-Maya aspect, She manifests Herself variously upon the Nivritti, the inward life of the Jiva. For Pravritti we have seen She is all creative activity. We have seen how She is all constructive activity. She is at the beginning of all things. She is the research faculty of the scientist. She is the poetic faculty of the votary of the muse. She is the artistic talent of the musician, the painter, the sculptor and all the followers of fine arts. Thus, Mother appears variously in the outside world.

We touched upon a few of Her aspects in the inward, reverse process, the Path of going back from the many into the Supreme Source, the Transcendent One, the Absolute. In the Nivritti path which is the inward life of the aspirant’s soul, which is the inward life of the Jiva on the path of Yoga and Sadhana, we saw how She manifests as the Diksha of the Guru. She is also the Mantra and the Japa of the Mantra, the Sadhana with the Mantra like Anushthana, etc. We have seen how Mother Saraswati is a radiant mass of purest Shuddha Sattva, how She is the purest Sattva embodied as it were. These are symbolised by Her spotless white raiment, as also Her own dazzling fairness.

Mother As Supreme Sattva

As Sattva She manifests in the heart of the spiritual aspirant and as the Grace of Saraswati dawns upon the aspirant, his entire life undergoes a transformation. All the grossness and bestiality that is in him is slowly and gradually, but surely, cast aside.

In the spiritual life of the Sadhaka and the seeker-disciple, Mother is the Yoga and Sadhana and ultimately She is the unfoldment of the consciousness into the radiance of Jnana. As Sattva in the individual activity of the Sadhaka, She manifests Herself as Sadachara. Sadachara as we know is the very basis of success in the entire spiritual life. It forms the foundation. The Yama-Niyama of Raja Yoga are the most scientific expressions of Sadachara.

Guru’s Word Is Gospel Truth

To the aspirant the words of the Guru must be gospel-truth. For they are as Mantra to him: Mantra-mulam Gurorvakyam. Therefore, we must be very cautious in our attitude towards the Guru’s words, to this aspect of the Mother, that they represent. If only we take them in the right spirit and receptivity and carry them out diligently, then the Grace of Mother Saraswati would be utilised properly and profitably.

Svadhyaya: Its Practical Value

In addition to these, She is also manifest in two special aspects of spiritual Sadhana. We have said that Mother Saraswati is actually an embodiment of the Vedas. Vedas mean transcendent knowledge of the Supreme Being. Upanishads are the highest reaches of the Vedas. We have been told how the very quintessence of these Upanishads was given to humanity in the form of the Bhagavad Gita. Therefore, Mother is present to the aspirant in the form of this unique universal scripture, Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Therefore, all great spiritual teachers, Acharyas, have enjoined upon the seekers to regularly, daily, study the Gita.

We find that when an aspirant tries to do Dhyana, the mind wanders. In the beginning stages of Dhyana, this wandering is very powerful. There is one very undesirable thing here; when it wanders, the field of its idea in which this wandering takes place is all sensual, gross and worldly. This wandering cannot be arrested except by gradual practice and Vairagya. But in the meantime a change can be brought about; even if the mind wanders, provided that a whole set of powerful spiritual ideas are daily pushed into the mind through Svadhyaya, the field of ideas through which the mind wanders in its Vikshepa becomes gradually Sattvic.

Speak Little

Let us come to the actual conduct, the Achara, of the spiritual aspirant. Mother, we have seen, is speech. She is manifest in all beings as Vak. She is Vakshakti. As long as the Vak is spent outward, the mind becomes outgoing,—one cannot do the same intense Vichara and introspection. But when the Vakshakti is conserved through Mouna it becomes capable of being utilised for inwardness, for introspection and the practice of Viveka and Vichara.

Speak the Truth

We have to safeguard the sanctity of the power of Mother Saraswati in the form of Vak. We know that falsehood is unspiritual, unclean. Therefore, the aspirant who would aspire to realise the Ultimate Reality, the Transcendent Truth, should always diligently try to manifest that truth in his speech. Truth is the greatest Yoga; it is the greatest Tapas and austerity in this iron age. A man who has got truth has got God. Let us always bear in mind this supreme importance of the Mother as truth. Let us meditate upon it. Let us reflect upon it. Let us always try by every possible means to gradually approach nearer and nearer to an absolute perfection of truth in our thoughts, in our words and in our deeds. May the Grace of Mother help us to achieve this very necessary, but very difficult task.

Speak Sweetly

Language can be used to construct and to build as well as to destroy and to annihilate. We have seen how the great Mother as Saraswati is the essence of all constructivity. Harsh speech, speech that pains, should be completely eliminated from the speech of the aspirant. One should speak sweetly. When it becomes difficult at any juncture to speak sweetly, it is better we remain silent. Of course, the next best, the third class, would be to immediately make up for any harsh word spoken, by expressing regret at once and trying to ask the forgiveness of him towards whom this harsh word is uttered. We should always aspire to belong to the first grade, Uttama Adhikari; our speech should always be sweet. Bear these three in mind: Mita-Bhashana, Satya-Bhashana, and Madhura-Bhashana.

Guard Your Tongue

Once again, as the constructive force in the world, Mother Saraswati should be used for helping others through our speech. If we speak, let us speak about the Lord, about the great ideal things, and also in order to console, to encourage, to inspire, to enlighten, to educate or to help in any way those with whom we have to speak with the power of Mother Saraswati. Idle-gossiping should be completely eliminated, in the life of spiritual Sadhana and the spiritual quest after Reality. Idle-gossiping is an insult to the Mother, as She is manifest in us as the mighty force of Vak or the spoken word.

Declare: “I am neither mind nor body; Immortal Self I am.” “Shuddhoham, Buddhoham, Niranjanoham, Samsara Maya Parivarjitoham,” “Deho Naaham Jivo Naaham Pratyagabhinna Brahmaivaaham,” “Satchidananda Svarupoham.” These declarations are the spontaneous utterances of the seeker who has adored Mother Saraswati with all his heart and obtained Her Grace and has become illumined with the transcendent light of the Supreme Atman whose First Emanation Mother Saraswati is.

Note: Navarathri 2015 – Oct 13-Oct 22

Om Tat Sat Brahmaparnamastu

 Excerpts from: The Path to Final Liberation - God as Mother by Sri Swami Chidananda