Be What You Are Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha -1

Posted in Labels:

















Be What You Are

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha






Narayanashrama Tapovanam
Venginissery, Paralam, P.O. Ammadam
Thrissur, Kerala  
Foreword
The association we seek, in ignorance, with worldly minded people leads to bondage. But the same association, if cultivated with holy men, leads to non- attachment .... [Srimad Bhaagavatam, Canto 3, Chapter 23, Shloka 55]
A distinct urge to seek clear and correct answers to genuine questions is an indication that a person is now ready to tread the path of seeking and eventual fulfillment. The only requirement is that the seeker must develop genuine sraddha (attention) to find answers and do sadhana regularly. In our age-old Guru-sishya parampara (teacher-student tradition), involved in the ancient Gurukula mode of imparting spiritual wisdom, it is enjoined on the students to approach the Guru with utmost humility and earnestness. The Gita says: “With reverential salutations do you approach them- the wise men who have known the Truth. Serve them, and enquire from them with due respect, until your doubts are clarified. These wise men will impart the knowledge of this divine Truth to you.” (Chapter 4, sloka 34).
It is in this spirit that most of the questioners have sought elucidation and clarity and it is our good fortune that Swamiji did find the time to satisfy their spiritual hunger.
The spiritual evolution of each person is a highly individualistic affair, depending as it does on his upbringing, accumulation of samskaras, vasanas and environmental influences. It is the Guru‟s sacred function to fathom the mind of the seeker and administer wisdom in the right measure and at the right time. In a way, it is like the mother looking after a growing infant. Too much or too little food, given at the wrong time, could work havoc with a growing body, even causing serious imbalances in personality development in the
years. It is to their eternal credit that our Teachers have always risen to the occasion and led their disciples along the right path with clarity, focus and compassion.
In this careful selection of letters there are innumerable passages which reflect the mind of the seeker and also reveal the unerring hand of the Guru in the replies given by Swamiji. It is up to each aspirant to study this collection carefully, if necessary more than once, and introspect on the answers given by Swamiji. The path to successful seeking in the Indian system has excellent guideposts – Sravana, Manana, Nididhyasana (hearing, ruminating and deep introspection). Thus is superior Wisdom gained and ultimately consolidated into Vijnana – Knowledge realization. The personality gets enriched, the mind drops all impurities in the form of greed, jealousy, anger, delusion, competition and desire. In other words, the personality becomes wholesome, ever dwelling in the inner core and even closer to the Divine than anything else one has experienced or lived with. This integration takes place at a deeply subjective level and its effects are, by the same token, deep and vast.
It is our fervent hope and prayer that this book will help the committed enquirer to make his journey to the Self satisfying and fulfilling. We are deeply indebted to Swamiji for permitting this collection to see the light of day. May his grace flow to every one who decides to take to this path.
Balan Subramanian
President
Brahma Vidya Centre
Vijaya Dashami, 1991, New Delhi
Publisher’s Note
It is with a deep sense of commitment that we present this book - a compilation of selected correspondence with Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha– an illumined Spiritual Master – on one hand, and a few dedicated disciples and seekers of truth on the other.
A book of this nature carries a certain uniqueness in that its subject matter, spirituality lies not in the realm of dry philosophy but in the din and bustle of the everyday world. Faced by the perplexities and challenges that life and living in this complex world necessarily entail, devotees and seekers have turned to their Guru for answers and help. The Guru too rises to the occasion, adroitly handling the seeker‟s enquiring mind with his sometimes mystic but always brilliant replies, and the answers are gleaned and clarity gained for the seeker from within the flow and turbulence of life itself.
Rarely does History mention silent revolutions of the Heart. It fails to record the battles fought and won within the Mind of Man. Yet, it is these inner conflicts and turmoils that give essence and meaning to a seeker‟s life. Moments of honest doubt, periods of deep despair, events of pain and suffering are all necessary to shape a spiritual pursuit and in the proximity of a benign Teacher these do become a catalyst for the aspirant‟s growth, maturity and eventual fulfillment.
Though this volume covers a wide range of subjects, in order to preserve the natural flow we have deliberately avoided an index or classification. It would be better, we felt, to leave the reader alone on his voyage and let him make his own sudden and spontaneous
discoveries as he turns the pages.
This spontaneous ease and freshness is in itself an achievement in spiritual life. As Swamiji himself once cryptically remarked - “Spirituality is Naturality”. This art of being natural is perhaps best summed up in a special note that he wrote for a close disciple, captioning it „Be What You Are‟.  


From a special note written for a close disciple:
If your whole focus in life is upon spiritual seeking and fulfillment - if this is so - then, from now on, do not worry about progress at all. This wholesome focus is called ‘eka-chittata.‟ Generally, sadhana is to accomplish such wholesomeness.
As for liberation, unaffectedness is liberation. Every day you are what you were the previous day, plus what you have acquired or lost that day. Around a constant quotient is built a transmuting quotient both together leading to the next day. Laws of nature will bring factors to your life and also drive your life to the further factors. Your nature pushes, and wide Nature pulls. The drama will go on, endlessly; till embodiment ceases.
Normally, understanding this will not satisfy the seeker; because of some expectations. Expectations must become extinct. Mukti is falling of desires. Desires will not fall the way you want, but will fall. Recognize the place for extinction of desires, and allow them to settle.
As for joyfulness and exhilaration, normally every system must produce it. But each personality has its quality, level and order. Like variations in voice, varying thrills and ecstasy will be of that quality, level and order which your system permits. Rather than seeking anything specially, observe and allow whatever is harmonious to yourself. Be more an observer and helper than a hinderer.
Harmony to be with others and with yourself. Others may include any and all. Yourself will consist of everything and all characteristics.
Rather than attempting at joy, allow the natural joyousness to well forth. Remove all obstacles.
Do not compare seekers and Siddhas. Particularly to determine your status. Bhishma fought and fell; Krishna advised and escaped; Rama abandoned and suffered; Sankara argued and travelled. Some had devotion; some delighted in wisdom; some excelled in dispassion; some sang; some wrote; you will do one of these or even something new that is natural or harmonious with you. If in error it becomes otherwise, that contrast will have to attenuate and become absent. Better avoid such a discrepancy.
In short, be what you are; and find fulfillment in doing so. Rest is all nature and nature‟s motivation and course.
Swamiji

Respected Gurudev,
..... I wonder as to what is the mind. Certainly, it is not matter. It seems that the mind, as the key factor in Self-realization, must be something akin to the Self, if not the Self itself. Or could it be that it is the Self, contaminated and heavy due to the traces of innumerable desires ranging over countless births? When cleansed of the contamination, through the constant pursuit of knowledge, the mind will become thin, light and subtle, so much so that it can be identified as the very Self. Ego is often termed as the lower Self. Now, if Ego is deemed as an offshoot of the mind, then mind would become part of the Self .....
Yours

Dear and blessed ....,
Harih Om Tat Sat.
Mind is truly indefinable, as is God. It can be spoken of as a unique divine energy, or as a very special mystic substance. Various descriptions are given about the Mind and the Soul. One such description is -- Soul plus contamination caused by desires, or conversely, Mind minus contamination is the Soul. Mind can also be said to be something alien to the Soul, which veils the latter in a mysterious manner. It is all a question of which description suits your taste and becomes comprehensible for you. You accept that which agrees with your present state of evolution. But the truth is that although in the first stage, the Soul is differentiated from the body, in the last stage of evolution one has to realize the truth of absolute
Oneness, namely that the Soul alone exists, nothing else. The sadhaka has to identify everything with Truth, as Truth, as Brahman. Of course, here he will meet a lot of contradictions, but he will have to leave all of them aside and make his headway. His own evolution will in due course of time clarify everything for him.
About the ego, read my earlier letter again, and think over the relevant portion. For details about the practice of meditation, you may await the book to be completed....
Yours
Swamiji 1968

Respected Swamiji,
..... For half-a-dozen years I have been struggling hard to gain spiritual knowledge and realization, and for that purpose I have been studying a good number of philosophical books. Now through your guidance and grace, I have achieved a little of my object. Experience has taught me that the one who implicitly follows the instruction of his Guru alone, can ascend the true spiritual apex. It is through intuition that real wisdom dawns in an aspirant. In order to transcend the deep sense of duality and then to reach the oneness of the Absolute, I feel the guidance and grace of the Guru is essential. But the ego plays havoc by standing in the way of the disciple surrendering at the Guru’s feet. The aspirant has, therefore, to nullify his ego before he can reap the benefit of surrender. With the nullification of the ego, Guru’s grace will flow in abundance. Now-a-days, I have no agitation about my dhyana (meditation), or any other sadhana. I feel that where there is constant remembrance of the ideal, there would be no occasion for perplexity or fear ....
Your disciple.....
Dear ....,
Harih Om Tat Sat.
Yes, years of reading and manana (cogitation), ultimately followed by dhyana (meditation), are needed for gaining a little of spiritual vision and realization. I am very happy you feel that you have gained only “a little” of your aim. To think that you have gained only “a little” is always good, nay even necessary. Such a feeling alone will enable you to gain more and more in the days to come. “Yasyaamatam tasya matam, matam yasya, na veda saha” Such are the words of the Upanishad. It means “The Self is known to him, who thinks that he knows it not. It is really unknown to him who thinks that he has
known it in full.” So, your feeling must gain for you more and more of true knowledge and realization.
What you say about nullification of the ego, pride, is true. While the ego-sense is indispensable for the conduct of life, in the later stages of spiritual evolution, it is verily a curse.
To bid good-bye to it, and take to surrender, particularly at the feet of one‟s preceptor, is indeed very very rare, and hard for ordinary people. This only shows how deep-rooted, strong, deluding, and hard to obliterate is the ego.
It does not matter if some are unable to dissolve their ego completely. If their minds refuse to accept total surrender, they can at least take the Guru as a benefactor and guide. Later on, when the sadhakas realize the mystery of the mind and the truth about its notorious habit of persistently wandering helter-skelter, its vicious and binding inherited tendencies, they will automatically take to surrender, regarding it as the most effective means for purifying and refining themselves and thereby becoming truly fit for spiritual evolution. The Guru however, will not have any difficulties with the ego-full disciples, as the ego-sense will not be in him. Whatever be the hurdles placed by the ego, remember that even the least effort made in the spiritual direction, no matter however imperfect it be, is always ennobling and will surely bring monumental results.
As for your sadhana, continuous remembrance of the ideal is, no doubt, the best saving factor. However, this should not make you complacent and breed neglect and indifference. So, be careful and vigilant.
All asis for your mangal.
Yours
Swamiji 1968
  
Respected Gurudev,
Thank you for the letter. Now that the meaning of the Sangh Programme verses is clear, there is enhanced interest in reciting them. The importance of Gayatri-japa is now fully understood. It is a cleansing agent for the mind.
The year 1968 has brought in its wake happy tidings for me in more than a dozen ways, the most important of them being the newly acquired craving for spiritual enquiry. Taking stock of the accrued benefits, I find that this one development alone has brought me considerable happiness and peace of mind. What was instrumental in leading me into the orbit of your influence, I wonder. It could only be fate, I think. I was a reader and devotee of Gita and you now have taken me a step nearer to the Ultimate Reality. To know that good forces are working for me is quite reassuring.
Your Disciple....
Dear and blessed ....,
Harih Om Tat Sat. Your letter was duly to hand. But only now I could get time to reply. I am happy that all of you find more interest and purposefulness in going through the Sangh Programme. When minds join together and work in unison, that in itself will be a mighty force. It will also afford the participants greater interest and enthusiasm in their efforts. May your meeting be successful in every way. May it also spread as much as possible. Our hearty congratulations and blessings to you all.
‘Like attracts like’ is an unfailing law, particularly of the human mind and nature. Hence, the innate good or bad of one must, and will, find
a corresponding response from every quarter. I think you can apply this law to yourself for finding an explanation to the series of developments which have favoured you this year.
Life, more so in its spiritual aspect, is truly an unfoldment. The unfoldment will take place as days, months and years pass by. There will be newer and higher awakening as your zeal and purity increase. After all, the only purpose worth mentioning in the life of a noble soul is the discovery, or say the rediscovery, of his true nature, the re-obtaining of the lost awareness about him-Self. The re-discovery will not, of course, be a sudden process. There is bound to be delay. The reason for it is that man is not just a mental or intellectual being. He has in him a physical counterpart also. Hence, along with the purity and refinement of the mind and intellect, the physique too has to be developed, refined and purified. The development and bringing about sublimity in the physical set-up will generally take a long time, a series of acts, events, etc. All of them are good and are a sheer need for his fulfillment. Finally, when the propitious hour comes, the necessary mental tuning too will come to pass. Thus, it is all well-planned by Nature to suit and fulfill every soul individually. On your part, you must thank God heartily, and be devoted to Him more and more, for whatever He has done already and will do henceforth towards your spiritual progress and fulfillment.
Every one will, no doubt, have his share. It is only a question of time and the maturity which the seeker has attained.
Yours
Swamiji 1968

Our dear Swamiji,
Humble pranams at your holy feet. Your writing to me in English is much helpful, in that I need only read it out directly to G, for the latter’s understanding. Otherwise, I would have to translate every syllable of what you write and satisfy G. Yes Swamiji, G is much more evolved now and seems to be fully contented. It is a very pleasant surprise to hear G talk some of the rarest philosophical truths.
My husband and myself are doing our sadhana punctually with sraddha. The various pieces of advice you gave us, I am trying with all zeal to live and practise.
The experiences about which I wrote to you last are those that I felt during some of my sittings (meditation). The rare and fine experiences which come to me sometimes, whether I be in meditation or not, are incomparable and ineffable. Certainly I do not have the power or means to describe them. While reading inspiring philosophical books as well as your letters, often I find myself unable to go ahead with the reading because a lot of divine sensations fill me to the full.
One day G told me of a unique experience felt during G’s japa. The body, G felt, was emitting forth thick hot flames, so much so that G thought it wise to stop japa and get up so that the experience might attenuate. The significance and meaning of this and similar experiences have already been explained by you at different times. However, I have a feeling that G’s experiences reflect the salient spiritual truth, in a very large measure. What do you say, Swamiji?
About my fear, I refrain from speaking, because I am afraid I would be found guilty on that account. Last week there was a death in a nearby flat. The
person died while in the bathroom, chanting God's name. I went there, saw the whole affair, particular the sorrowful face of the children and then returned home. My condition, needless to say, became worse after this event, sleep receding from me again for a long time. I am really ashamed of my weakness. But I am sure you will shower your grace and help me overcome my fear complex.
Pranams again to your holy feet.
Your disciple.....
Dear and blessed sadhika,
Harih Om Tat Sat. Your letter to hand today. I am happy G has evolved and feels fulfillment and contentment. Emission of heat from the body during meditation is nothing unusual. It is the expression of Rajo Guna, the Rajas content in the person‟s make-up. Meditation is a purifying process. At the same time, it will also give some powerful realization to the sadhaka. In meditation, the meditator becomes convinced of the existence of the Self, its untold potential and wonderful nature. Let such experiences come and go. Do not become attached to them. When too much of heat is felt, and it is unbearable, sip a little cold water. Take sattvic diet. Do not over-think about spiritual experiences. Moderation is necessary in all matters.
There will be experiences of opposites too at times during meditation. Mind will rise in a tempest. Too many thoughts may crowd up. This is but natural. You are a product of the world, in the world, for the world. So, that nature cannot be fully shed. Let the worldly thoughts too come up and then subside in their own natural manner. Try to remain unruffled during their onslaught with patience and faith in God and yourself. If G has so much of devotion towards the Guru, it is good indeed. May G rise sky-high in his ideals and aims, and succeed in fulfilling the chosen role in the family and the
world. My hearty Sivasis. I appreciate your feelings about G. May they be richly rewarded.
I am happy that you and your husband are regular in your saadhana, and that you feel some unique experiences, not merely ananda, in some of the sittings. They must be encouraging you more and more on your path. O.K. Carry on. Do not worry much about the distractions you meet. They too are of help, in that they tell you repeatedly that your sadhana has not ended and that it has to be continued further and farther. Even an adept swimmer will be put to fatigue at times while swimming, seemingly more at times. It is just like your experiencing more difficulties and hindrances sometimes. Ours is a poorna (complete) abhyaasa (practise), and in it every kind of experience, pleasant as well as unpleasant, is welcome. Everything has got its own unique place contributing to the sadhaka’s evolution. Everything tends to make you poorna and take you to the knowledge of poornatva. So nothing need be avoided or resisted. Let Nature herself give as well as take as much as she likes. You be just a witness, not a possessor. A mere partaker, not the causer.
About your fear: Ah, great and curious it is ! Yet it is no wonder. Everyone‟s mind is a compound of three basic forces – namely love, hatred and fear. Raga or attraction, is the force to fall off first. Then falls dvesha (hatred). And bhaya (fear) is the last to vacate the mind. Every jeeva (soul) will have one or the other of these three working in him predominantly. In your case, the most pronounced seems to be the last, viz. fear. You have to recognize this fact and then patiently act upon it. What you should do is to concentrate your efforts for eliminating fear, although the process may take quite a long time. Think always in terms of fearlessness. Practice fearlessness by repeated vichaara. Argue yourself against the upsurge of fear. Reassure yourself that you are resting on God‟s lap, the most secure fortress imaginable. Remain conscious of his hand of protection.
When He is there, why should I fear, think thus. It may take long for you to succeed in overcoming fear but now qualify yourself for the success by beginning your efforts
About the recent death, it seems that too many deaths take place around your residence, and their one purpose apparently is to molest you in all ways! As I can think, death generally affects that person who dies, whom it has befallen. Why should it grab your peace in the process? Really, it puzzles me that you are becoming a constant prey for Death, in spite of the fact that you are alive. Next time when I meet Yama, the God of Death, I shall catch hold of his wrist and then insist for an answer. Until then, wait in peace and steadiness.
Swamiji 1968
  
Dear Swamiji,
..... Mind, when purified or stilled is Atman. This is what I feel. In such a still state, you are in yourself in your real nature. Is it not so? Perhaps, it is for a second or so that I am able to remain in such a still state. At that moment, nothing exists except myself ...
A sadhika
Dear and blessed sadhika ....,
Your understanding is correct, no doubt. But I say it has to be much more deep and firm. Stillness of mind is the goal, true. It is the way as well. When the mind is stilled and at the same time wakefulness is not hampered, it is almost wakeful slumber. In that state, as the mind does not break itself to form thoughts or vrittis, no foreign stuff is or can be felt or cognized. It is the unitary state of Consciousness - the state in which the Chaitanya within the body remains single and aloof from every worldly entanglement of duality or dvandvas. The realization then obtained can only be of the Self, of yourself. True.
But surely it is not for seconds alone that you can experience such a state. If you do your sadhana consistently, patiently and with faith, it will repeatedly come in, hold you in its warm embrace for minutes together, even up to half or three-fourths of an hour at one stretch. Only then the sadhana triumphs and then alone, the divinity and forcefulness of your initiation will become clear to you.
So keep doing your sadhana and practice vichaara also. Attenuation of desires, knowledge of the Reality and then the dissolution of the mind, at first temporarily while doing meditation; all these three must
bless you simultaneously. Only then will your spiritual efforts be crowned. It is for effecting the former two that I asked you to do vichaara. Satsanga will be an unfailing help for all these. But all sadhakas cannot have its benefit to the required degree, occupied as they are variously. The further stages of spiritual realization, I don‟t hint at now. Let them be reserved until you, inspired by your own sadhana, question me or otherwise make me divulge.
Sivasis to you all. May your lives be fulfilled the soonest.
Yours
Swamiji 1968

The following letter was written by Swamiji in response to a seeker’s enquiry regarding the apparent contradictions which are found in our scriptures as well as in the utterances of authoritative exponents of spiritual truths.
Dear and blessed seeker,
Harih Om Tat Sat. You must have received the short reply I sent some days back. I had promised to send another detailed note answering some of the points you have raised. Well, I wish to answer you, but it is a great problem to give all the replies in the form of letters. These are things which can be better discussed in person and cleared. Next time when you come home, be here in the Ashram for some time. Your quest must be fulfilled. However, I give you some things to cogitate upon and understand.
No knowledge is simple and easy to have. More so the adhyatmic knowledge. In adhyatmic wisdom, there is a definite end, a finality, unlike in other areas of knowledge. Self-fulfillment is the consummation of spiritual seeking. This fulfillment is sufficiently broad and covers all spheres. Freedom, absolute lightness of mind, composed nature, absolute clarity and freedom from doubt, exhaustion of all karmas, these are some of the main results and effects of fulfillment. You will become doubt-free only when you become a Self-knower, you become TRUTH, you gain liberation. Until then doubts will and must assail you, if you are an ardent seeker. When you get some doubts cleared, the effect will only be partial, temporary. Doubts hinder, they also help. Avoid the hindering effect, cling on to their helpful aspects. So do not be drowned by the doubts you have. Reserve them safely, give them a safe corner, and march on.
Remember the verse:
Bhidyate hridayagranthih chidyante sarvasamshayaah.
Ksheeyante chaasya karmaani tasmin drshte paraavare..
See what the last line states. Be patient and wait for that paraavara darshan, glimpsing the truth in its absolute aspect, in the high and in the low, in the gross and in the subtle.
Contradictions are a singular feature of the entire Prakriti. To understand these contractions, to harmonise them, to remain one and unaffected by them, is the real spiritual struggle. Where contradictions meet and dissolve, there spiritual freedom results. Keep this truth always in view.
Contradictions there will be, when a seer utters truth. Our scriptures are the words of seers. So they contain great contradictions. How can I avoid contradictions then? As the truth is, so too I am. I cannot be otherwise.
See the Vedas. They begin with many Gods but after a time question their truth - the fact of many devatas. Then they say there is only one.
The Vedas also refer to heaven and hell. They do so for a purpose - to influence men towards right. Later they invalidate heaven and hell and lay down the truth of the One Omnipotent, Omnipresent Self. “Know this Self and be liberated. Heaven and hell are unsound. Karmas are frail boats. Only the fool believes in them. Be wise and discard all thoughts of future and past. Be concerned only with the present. The present body alone is the sure possession. Make use of it. Before you drop it, know the Truth, for knowledge of Truth alone bestows liberation”, are the ultimate words of the Vedas. Dear soul, be discerning, use the sword of viveka, real wisdom, and cut across the bushes of doubts. Clear your way and reach the Spiritual Garden ahead.
Think. Where do the scriptures end now? Let them begin anywhere. To think, we must have a basis, a prop. We alone make a stick and give it the strength to help us. It is not the stick that walks, but we. In logic also there should be a foundation or a help. In mathematics theorems are proved using the help of axioms and assumptions or hypotheses. In the same way we have to proceed in the spiritual field also.
All souls must have been free in the beginning. Somehow they earned bondage. Our business must be to undo this bondage. To undo the bondage, different branches of thought and thinking are evolved and suggested. Each may take hold of that which suits him the best. Once it serves your purpose and you reach the goal, as you lay down your stick on reaching the destination, lay down, keep away the thinking also. The freedom you get will be so stable, profound, profuse and absolute, that you will never fall from it. Oh, wise seeker, would you resent to have that freedom, that lofty abode?
To have the high, one has to leave the low. To climb the higher, you have to step out of the lower. To reach the highest, even the higher has to be ascended, cast off. I am trying to take you to the highest. The child cries when it is asked to walk alone, to walk independently, and the father refuses to give his finger to hold. But that cry should not be heeded. After a time the same child will laugh and dance for having learnt to walk alone and be free. Your doubts and murmurs are just like the child‟s cry, they are a passing show.
In Mandukya karika Goudapada says:
(1)Na kaschit jjayate jeevo sambhavo’sya na vidyate…
(2)Na nirodho na chotpattih na baddho na cha saadhakah…
(1) No Jiva is ever born, the birth of this samsara is also not real. This is the ultimate truth, where nothing is ever born. The birth-death-less state of things alone is the truth.
(2) There is neither dissolution, nor evolution. There is none bound, none struggling for liberation. No jiva seeks, nor is anyone liberated. This is the uncontradictable absolute truth.
Think well, O Soul of wisdom, and reach the highest abode. Next time, come to me in leisure and in patient fervour. I shall clear all your doubts. Listen and read about truths, keep them as ideals. Years of seeking and saadhana will be necessary before full knowledge and freedom are realized.
Let there be mangal and peace for you.
Love and sivasis,
Yours
Swamiji 1966

 






Om Tat Sat
                                                        
(Continued) 
 

 




(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of H H Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha ji  for the collection)

0 comments