Discover the Joy of God-Realization

Discover the Joy of God-Realization
Birthday Message by Swami Jyotirmayananda

BLESSED SELF in all, Adorations!

The central purpose of life is God-Realization. As­pirants and serious students of life should try to under­stand what is meant by this. What part does God play in our lives? People who have never been brought to satsanga, who lack spiritual sensitivity, or who are over­powered by materialistic culture think that it is rational to ask questions such as: “Is there a God?” or “What is the proof that God exists?”

Some people even believe that in the beginning God created the world. But, when He saw what creation had become, He had heart failure. So now we are left with a world without God. All of this is, of course, childish. Anyone who is sensitive and reflective knows that he is enveloped by a mighty presence — a force beyond his imagination. It is a force that is supremely compassionate to all creation. Everything that you see in creation has emanated from the Absolute Self.

Science goes a long way in saying that everything is energy; it leaves you with the understanding that you can explore more. Spiritual philosophy, however, is intuitional. Sages do not have to depend upon instru­mentation like microscopes, telescopes, or sophisti­cated computers.

Through their intuitional knowledge, they discover that all is Brahman and that the world has proceeded from and is sustained by the Divine Self. They also discover that the world dissolves into the Divine Self. All this implies that each individual is rooted in God; without God, he cannot exist. These are the central teachings of the Upanishads. Find the Knower, the Seer, and the Hearer. Do not think about what God is or is not. Just try to look into yourself and find the source of what you are. You will be led to a staggering experience because you know so little about yourself.

Where were you when you were in deep sleep? What were you doing? How did you sustain the vital forces flowing in your body? What happened to your prob­lems, which you could not cast off when you were awake? How, within a moment, did nature’s magic shut them all out?

As a baby without rational capacity, how were you sustained? Prior to birth, how did your soul find its way through the immensity of the universe. How did it incarnate in a particular family? Did it consult real estate agents? Did it call up travel agencies inquiring about particular space flights to such and such a world? How does this little mud ball of a planet called Earth exist, floating in the vastness of the universe among innumerable planets and solar systems?

In the context of all this, look into your practical life. Your mind has evolved complex relationships, problems and duties to be performed in this practical life. However, when you reflect upon your practical life, you realize that it is just a tiny drop compared to the immensity of the unknown. Your practical life lasts from your early childhood, when you first become aware of yourself, until old age or for as long as your nervous system operates in a healthy manner. Even then, more than half of your life is spent in sleep.

However, Yoga philosophy does not ask you to become impractical, but quite to the contrary, enables you to understand how to succeed in your practical life. What Yoga asks is that your mind turn to God, who can perfect everything you do and give meaning to every experience. If God is not known to be the center and the goal of all your aspirations, then there will be no meaning in your practical life.

There is an eastern parable about a man who goes to a market to buy a horse. While there, he is ap­proached by a crazy horse dealer who tells him that he has the best horse in the whole market for sale. The merchant starts describing the horse and lists for the customer more than twenty-four great qualities pos­sessed by the horse. The customer by this time has become very interested. Just as he is about to ask to see the horse, the merchant mentions that there is just one defect in the animal. The perplexed customer then asks what the defect is and the merchant replies, “The horse is dead.”

Much in the same manner, the description that most people would give of the prosperous and success­ful man is a great deal like the description that the horse dealer was giving to the confused customer. All the good qualities generally associated with worldly success are often cancelled by one fundamental flaw—lack of aspiration for God-realization.

People think that prosperity lies in having a great deal of money, being well educated, and being recog­nized by society. You can observe them rushing after these things with great dedication. For instance, you might have an appointment with a business leader and see all the plaques, trophies, and photographs on the walls portraying the evolution of his business career. He may boast to you of his triumphs in surmounting tre­mendous obstacles in the business world.

But if you were to start discussing the deeper mean­ing of life with him, you would soon come to the conclusion that he did not have the sensitivity to realize God. His revealing his non-acceptance of God is like the merchant admitting at the last minute that the beautiful horse he has spent fifteen minutes describing is, in actuality, dead.

Despite all the good qualities you may possess, if the fundamental quality of love for God is lacking then all your culture, studies, and disciplines mean nothing. You are fatally flawed if you do not possess insight into the fact that you are rooted in God, and that you must return to God. Your entire life is just a bubble floating in the ocean of God, a bubble that must burst with great joy. If you have not understood this, if you lack love for God, you are as “dead” as the horse: you will be help­lessly led from one embodiment to another!

Therefore, you should understand that God is sus­taining you every minute of the day, and that your problems are illusory in nature. Where are your prob­lems during deep sleep? God is watching over you even then. You should have an awareness that the Divine presence is behind everything in your daily life. Even in death, the Divine hand is there, guiding your soul to a new embodiment. So, why shouldn’t you begin to relax?

The moment you begin to relax in God, your life will become joyous. The world is described in the scriptures as lila or sport. Once you have the relaxing experience that God is with you and that you are rooted in Him, nothing can go wrong. Nothing can take you from or destroy this Self.

The Gita says that the Self cannot be cut down by weapons or burnt by fire. Neither can the wind blow It away, nor can any catastrophe in the world affect It. You must develop the awareness that you are the Self by allowing your personality to be integrated. If your knowledge of the Self is just intellectual, then you are just at the starting point and will have to follow the process of sadhana to attain intuitional knowledge of the Self.

There are three planes of experiences. The plane of the senses, the plane of the mind or intellect, and the plane of intuition. In the vast majority of people, the plane of intuition has been veiled by ignorance, and one becomes involved in the plane of mind and senses. The world that is revealed to you in the plane of mind and senses is relative. It is maya — not the reality.

It is like a dream in which you are presented with a lot of problems. The only way you can surmount the problems in your dream is to wake up. When you wake up, you do not ask yourself why you did not finish the work that you had taken up in your dream. You never ask, “Why didn’t I finish eating that delicious rice pudding?” or “Why didn’t I dig up the treasure that I found in my dream?” As an intelligent and thoughtful adult you will just discard the dream when you wake up and recognize it as such. Much in the same manner, you should try to step out of the realities of the world. Turn your gaze inward.

Instead of doing this, however, most people are constantly involved in the little trifling things of life. They complain that they didn’t do something in the past that would have made their present life better. They wonder what they should do in the future. They speculate about why God has placed them in a particu­lar situation and assert that if God had given them a better situation in life, they would have attained Self-Realization.

Everyone has a complaint about the world and feels that the sweet and bitter experiences of life are real. This is called maya. Everyone feels that there are so many wonderful things in life, but then there is always something wrong.

People think in this manner because their minds have not been disciplined to understand the majesty of intuition. Just as the past, present, and future of a dream all disappear as soon as you wake up from the dream, so too you can learn to transcend the three periods of time through intuitional awakening. You must develop the art of stepping beyond the world of relativity.

The mind must be disciplined by Yoga. In this process, you must remind yourself that the world of mind and senses is fleeting; it is not reality. Whatever you gain is perishable. Allow yourself to be integrated through Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Jnana Yoga. You should blend selfless action, love of God, reflection, and meditation in such away that your life becomes enriched and enlightened.

The fact that this world is maya does not mean that you should ignore the duties of your practical life. Rather, it should motivate you to explore the internal dimensions of your spirit in order to find true meaning and fulfillment. If you have discovered that internal dimension, if you allow your heart to open a window to eternity, a unique heavenly fragrance will enter your life and envelop your intellect, making it intuitive. This fragrance will touch your mind, and all your thoughts will be elevated. Your senses as well will become satwic. Thus, your entire personality, touched by the fragrance of eternity, will be transformed.

There is an eternal Self in Whom you must abide. This is the ultimate goal of life. As you discover that goal, your life becomes joyous, and you begin to perform your duties with greater skill and concentration. You develop more patience and endurance in dealing with other people. If you do not have God in your life, endurance has no meaning; but when you have a Divine anchor attached to you, you can develop unimaginable patience, endurance, and forbearance.

Therefore, the act of discovering God within you does not upset your practical realities. Rather, it brings a new dimension to everything in your daily life and to all human relations as deeper love wells up in your heart.

Without God, there is just selfish love. Without God, human personality is like a room that is closed up in such away that the same air is constantly being recycled. With God, there is a window in that room that lets a Divine breeze refresh your personality. This opening of the heart’s window is known as nivritti — the path of turning away from the world-process. The secret of nivritti is understanding the art of waking up through intuitional knowledge and not becoming confined to the world of mind and senses.

You also develop the feeling that the Divine Self is the reality all around you and that you are worshipping God in every action. You are able to do this as a student, a householder, retired person or a sanyasi (a person of renunciation), or through whatever type of life you are leading or duties you are performing. Through those duties you are worshipping God.

When you encounter adversity, turmoil, dissension, and misunderstanding in your dealings with otherpeople, and you feel that your heart is pinched and that you are churned up inside, you should be able to see aDivine purpose and meaning behind the unpleasantness. The Divine plan is gradually leading your soul to the highest goal; nothing is out of place.

This does not mean, however, that you accept pain without exercising any self-effort for preventing it or negating it. In fact, it implies possessing a deeper insight through which you develop more self-effort and more freedom to mold your destiny in practical life. With God within you, you can change yourself beyond your understanding. You can terminate pain and enjoy boundless bliss.

According to the Upanishads, От (the Divine Name) is the bow. The soul is the arrow. God is the target or goal. Put the arrow on the bow and shoot it. Let your soul shoot forth to God! You must understand that this is possible only when you calmly retire within yourself and look at the world of thoughts, feelings, and sense- perceptions as a witness. All of this does not affect the reality within you, much in the same way as clouds do not affect the sky. Stay apart from all these even for a short period of time every day. Thus, open the windows of your heart to God.

The Scriptures say that when you practice Brahma-vichar (reflection on God) even for a little while, you have gained more merit than if you had visited all the pilgrimage centers of the world and had plunged yourself in many sacred waters. That you can touch God within your heart is a most thrilling message. As you touch God, the duties that you do in the world and the life that you lead, all are enriched.

Yoga is not a world-negating philosophy. Lord Krishna taught this mystic art to Arjuna. Recall that Arjuna had a cowardly attitude at first and did not want to perform his duties. But then he enlightened himself, recovered his sense of duty, and fought the battle.

In the same manner, when you realize the Divine basis within you, you live in the most majestic way possible. You will be able to unfold all the Divine potentialities that you have. Without God, all your Divine potentialities remain cramped. So much time and energy are spent worrying about meaningless, trivial things. Remember what Krishna uttered in the Gita: “Oh Arjuna, you are grieving for things that are not worth grieving for.” When you fail to realize your oneness with the Absolute, you are grieving over things that are worthless.

When you are not rooted in God, you waste so much mental energy and so many complications develop. Once you allow God to enter your heart, you will be ushered into a transcendental dimension where the goal of your life becomes clear and you become a benefactor of all beings. The movement towards God is not a selfish project, but rather the source of the highest culture.

Such movement should be the goal of all educa­tional systems. As long as that goal is not understood, humanity will linger in darkness. But if that goal is understood by even a few people, then a process lead­ing to the richest kind of culture is established, because one person or a group of people moving towards God becomes a dynamic source of energy and inspiration for countless others.

It is just like the effect that an atomic bomb blast has on living things far from ground zero. Its radiation penetrates even the very chromosomes of creatures and thus can radically alter their inner structure. If this is so with reference to an atomic bomb, think of the fallout from a spiritual bomb. When you have developed intu­itional vision and your heart pulsates with God’s heart, you have manufactured the greatest bomb that human­ity can conceive of. It destroys ignorance, and its radia­tion is so powerful that it goes on affecting aspiring souls for countless generations.

Many Sages have discovered that bomb. Jesus had such a bomb, and when he detonated it, the explosion was so immense that we are still feeling its radiation today. Buddha also had that bomb. All of you have that bomb within your hearts.

The spiritual movement is not just a passive belief. You should not have the attitude that God may or may not exist. You should not say, “All right I will believe in God as long as He makes me pass my examination or gives me success in the business world.” You should come to an understanding that God is the philosophi­cal, scientific truth of your being and that by realizing and moving towards Him, you enrich yourself, and you make your life and the lives of people around you joyous. The Upanishads say that there is no other way to happiness but through the attainment of God-Realiza­tion.

May God bless you with increasing as­piration and spiritual strength to attain the goal of life even in this very embodiment!

“International Yoga Guide” Vol. 34, NO. 6, February 1997

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