Surge 87
RISING TO RAMA CONSCIOUSNESS
People are found to be living in conflict, in this world, irrespective of their chosen way of living. The majority who believe in pursuing pleasure are constantly chasing the mirage of fulfillment. They find it is wild goose chase, leaving them tired at the end. Many questions haunt them, “Where did we go wrong, if at all we did?” or “Would we have been happy if such and such thing had not happened in the year 2002?” A large number among them continue to believe that objects of the world can give them lasting happiness, provided certain conditions exist. They do not see that those conditions are just not possible. They are indeed in the grip of ‘moha,’ the worldly delusion. Happiness comes from outside, is the summary of their misunderstanding.
There is a minority, not too small in numbers, who think they are religious. They repeat statements from scriptures and they are always going through a struggle – of combating their very demanding senses. They try to deny pleasure to their eyes, palate and other organs of perception (indriyas). This denial is mostly a failure and these people often end up as hypocrites. They are penny-wise but pound-foolish. They save a little energy by their less indulgent lifestyle but lose much more through their inner conflict and unrest.
The senses laugh at all of us. We let them indulge, we are in sorrow in one way. We suppress them, we suffer in another way. Merrymaking (bhoga) is one face of delusion (moha) and immature control (viveka-rahita-samyama) is its second face. We are miserable either way.
The great saint Sadashiva Brahmendra praises Sri Rama in his well-known poem, khelati mama hridaye sri Ramah, “You help us go beyond the ocean of moha1.” Rama represents the bliss of clear understanding, where there is neither indulgence nor suppression. When we realize Him, we are not in the field of attraction or repulsion2. It is a quantum leap, transcendence. We do not strive to attain peace here. We are at peace. Sita, of the nature of peace, is by Rama’s side3. We rise to a different plane. The scriptures refer to it sometimes as ‘residing in the inner space of dahara4’. We must inquire into our usual approach in sadhana (spiritual practice), where we employ a means (sadhana) to arrive at an end (sadhya). This special space or the higher plane is marked by the absence of the division of the means and the end.
Therefore it is said, “Be still.” The advice again is, “Awareness is the way to awareness.” A Zen greeting card said, “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” Maharshi Ramana remarks5 that the way to remember (or think of) the Supreme is simply to stay in it. Be in it and be it. Let thought subside. Let all activities of the mind, rising from its (limitless store of) memories, cease. All duality (dvaita) is created by the mind (manah-kalpita). Can we stay away from this old habit of remembering something, and then taking a position of being the desirer. Employing thought, I become the desirer; something becomes the object desired. I become the seeker; something is sought. The ego is a creation of (psychological) memory. {To remember the route to a friend’s house is functional memory. To remember how he had insulted me once, and to let this memory go further to build an image of mine, is psychological memory.} When we discard psychological memory and stay with just the functional mind, we are like the mythological swan (hamsa) that can separate milk from water.
The saint pays a tribute to his guru, calling him the Supreme Swan6, and remarks that we realize (and become one with) Sri Rama whose nature is Existence, Awareness and Bliss7. When we shed our ego, not by indulgence or suppression, but through right understanding and intense awareness, Lord Sri Rama plays in the field of our hearts.
Swami Chidananda
Varanasi, April 2, 2012
End Notes:
1 moha-maharnava-tarana-kari
2 raga-dvesha-mukhasura-mari
3 shanti-videha-suta-sahachari
4 dahara-ayodhya-nagara-vihari
5 tasya smritis-tatra dridhaiva nistha (Saddarshanam verse 1)
6 parama-hamsa-samrajya-uddhari
7 satya-jnana-ananda-shariri