Spiritual Message for the Day – Spiritual Wisdom by Sri Swami Krishnananda

Spiritual Wisdom (Random Useful Thoughts)

Divine Life Society Publication: - Thus Awakens the Awakened One by Sri Swami Krishnananda

·         The difference between the natures of Isvara and jiva is something like that between the meanings of the words, ‘God’ and ‘dog’. There is no doubt some relation between the two, and yet what a contrast of characters! In the jiva the character of Isvara is completely reversed in a topsy-turvy manner, though the relation between Him and the jiva is, no doubt, there.

·         Dharma is that sustaining universal impulse which conduces to the prosperity of the individual both here and hereafter. This means that the observance of Dharma does not violate the laws of the world for the sake of the Spirit or of the Spirit for the sake of the world. It views existence both in its depth and its width.

·         The mind and the body get identified with each other, like fire and iron in a red hot iron-ball, in such a way that thought cannot be separated from object. There is always a flow of thought with perpetual reference to the body, and all human judgment is thus vitiated by the prejudice that the body is the thinking self. All science and even philosophy cannot help playing second fiddle to this erroneous hypothesis, and thus cut the ground from under their own feet.

·         Hanuman is said to have told Sri Rama: “From the point of view of the body, I am Thy servant; from the point of view of the jiva, I am a part of Thyself; from the point of view of the Atman, I am Thy own-Self.” These three standpoints correspond to the three great systems of philosophy propounded by Madhva, Ramanuja and Sankara.

·         The thought of God is like the centripetal cohesive force in a star or a planet, which drives its constituents to its centre by a pressure of inwardly directed energy, and is strikes a universally attuned equilibrium of the entire personality in relation to creation as a whole, provided the thought is deep enough and is sincerely raised in one’s mind. It produces a thrill beyond words.

·         While Maya follows Brahman, the jiva follows Maya. It seems that while Rama was walking in the forest, Sita was following him and Lakshmana was following her. Maya obstructs the vision of Brahman by the jiva.

·         Forces which constitute the universe react and interact among one another for effecting a higher integration - we may call them men and things, and so on in a state of ignorance. These activities of forces are the history of the universe.

·         The effect of one’s reading and learning can be seen in one’s behavior. If the behavior has not changed, it means the learning acquired is like water poured over a rock, which gets wet only on the surface without allowing the water to seep into it.

·         The four ashramas of life are not four different stages with a jump from the preceding to the succeeding. Each following stage is the flowering of the earlier, a maturing, including and transcending of the past conditions, like the higher and higher standards in education superseding the earlier ones.

·         Death is the law of life. It is the law that requires a constant transformation of all composite elements and a reshuffling of all existent forms. Thus, death cannot be avoided. And it can take place at any time, though it has its fixed time.

·         Just as twenty-five paise are contained in a quarter rupee coin, the twenty-five manifestations of prakriti are contained in the purusha, though invisibly and intangibly. Though the variety of manifestation is manifold, it is all inherent in its cause, like a chair present in wood.

·         The ‘Advaita’ of Sankara is not so much the assertion of oneness as the negation of duality, as the names of his system suggests. God is not one or two or three, for He is above numerical affirmation. He is not anything that we can think of, but, however, He does not involve in any difference; hence He is ‘Advaita’, non-dual. Such is the cautious name of Sankara’s system of philosophy.

·         Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are not three gods, but the one God performing three functions. There can, thus, be no superiority or inferiority among them. They are like the three faces of a crystal where one face reflects the others.

·         An individual has as many organs as are required to fulfil the wishes that are embodied in the prarabdha karma of a given life, and these organs are of such quality and capacity as the needs of the individual concerned. Nothing more, and nothing less is given to us in this world.

·         Every adversity should stimulate more and more strength in us, enough to be able to overcome onslaughts of such types again. Every fall should propel us to a higher aspiration, a longing which should never be dampened, threatened or vanquished at any time.

·         Avidya is the disposition by which one mistakes the non-eternal for the eternal, the impure for the pure, the painful for the pleasant and the not-self for the Self. Avidya is the seed of egoism, craving, hatred and clinging to one’s body, so hard to overcome.

·         When senses trouble you, remember the sages Narayana and Nara. They are the supreme masters over the senses, before whom Indra had to bow his head in shame.

·         There are two greater wonders: The starry heavens above, and the moral law within. Neither of these can be fathomed to their depths, and they will remain a wonder forever. They are endless in their extent and no one can study them as ‘external’ objects.

·         When Maricha cried out: “O Lakshmana, O Sita,” Sita mistook it for Rama’s voice. She could not identify Rama’s voice as different from that of another, though she had lived with Rama for so long. So is the case with the jiva. It has forgotten its association with the Absolute and cannot distinguish the call of the Spirit from the clamors of the senses. This is called delusion.

·         Krishna was a person of great enjoyments. Vasishtha was devoted to rituals. Janaka was a king. Jadabharata was looking like an idiot. Suka was renowned for his dispassion. Vyasa was busy in teaching and writing. But all these are regarded as equal in knowledge. Different forms serve different purposes, but their essential being is one.

·         Man’s conscience in its essentiality is not an accomplice of harm and injury being done to anyone. It is necessary for the evil one intending to destroy others to destroy his own conscience first. The self of the killer is killed much before the act of killing takes place.

·         It is unwise to say that the world is good or bad, for the world is one of the conditions through which the ‘gunas’ - sattva, rajas and tamas - evolve in the course of time. All things can be found always in different places and hence our narrow judgments confined to a limited perception of truth cannot be correct. How can we say that any part of ‘prakriti’ is good or bad?

·         Great men are not those who run fast and speak much but think deep and live wisely. More than doing it is being something - a change of outlook and attitude. We are great, not because we are something to the world but because we are something in ourselves, even if the whole world is not to exist at all.

·         It is impossible to use one’s commonsense when one is in the grip of intense desire; for passions have no commonsense. They have neither reason nor logic, like the overwhelming force of a mighty river in floods, or like a beast caught at bay. Conquest over the human passions is the same as self-control, for the personality of man is but a bundle of latent and patent forces which seek expression in various ways.

·         The Ganga destroys sins; the moon destroys heat; the kalpavriksha destroys poverty. But the company of the wise ones destroys sin, heat and poverty all at once.

·         It is said that when the devotee takes one stop towards the Lord, he is greeted by the Lord with a hundred steps. The Bhakti-Sastras state that the love of God for the devotee is more than man’s love for God. The power of the Whole is intenser than the force of the part.

·         Religion is the reaction of the human mind to its notion of God.

·         Dharma is that sustaining power of Righteousness by which one acquires here prosperity (adhyudaya) and attains in the end eternal blessedness (nihsreyasa). It is the law that maintains the balance of forces in the Universe and dispenses the retributive justice to the individuals in such a manner as the equilibrium of creation is never disturbed.

Excerpts from:

Spiritual Wisdom - Thus Awakens the Awakened One by Sri Swami Krishnananda