As to the sensory organs, they are like reins for the horse. The senses have limits. Each sense has a specific function, e.g., the eye is for seeing, the ear for hearing, etc. Each faculty has a particular and limited function. The eye cannot hear, nor the ear see.
We should appreciate the great harmony with which the senses function. The eyes notice something attractive, the mind wants to get it. The legs take you there. The hands pick it up. Its acquisition brings satisfaction and joy to you. You see the co-operation that exists between all the sense organs. Further, see how much mutual sympathy there is between all the sense organs. Also see how much mutual help there is between them and the co-ordination with which they all work. When we are walking along the road, the eyes notice a thorn along the path and the legs instantaneously move aside or cross over the thorn. In case the foot is hurt by the thorn, eyes shed tears. If the eye is hurt, the entire body feels the pain. Thus, the pain suffered by one organ is shared by others. What a great lesson in harmonious living they teach us!
The body is described in the Upanishads as a chariot, the rein is the mind, the senses are the horses, the intellect is the charioteer and the Atma, the Lord, is seated inside.
The mind is like the rein for restraining the horses (senses). Mind is a cauldron of sankalpas and vikalpas (resolves and indecisions). It is a conglomeration of thoughts of various kinds. Sometimes when the thoughts become exciting, it gets upset and throws itself into grief. But in truth, it is just a bundle of imaginings. Just as the many threads’ woven together make up the cloth, so also many thoughts make the mind. No thought, no mind either. A pure mind is the one with good thoughts or God-thoughts. We have to eschew all bad ideas and bad thoughts and harbour only good thoughts. You should exercise your intelligence and discriminate which thoughts are good and which, bad.
Desires create the phantom of the mind
The mind is also referred to as self, the pseudo-self. In truth, it is maya (one’s appearance). Everyone says, ‘I am mentally worried. My mind is troubling me much’. But has any one seen this mind? No one knows what the mind is, but they suffer from the mind, from its illusory existence. ‘The worry which you suffer is your own creation. Fear too is self-created, When we imagine the mind is there, it shows up. Deny it or enquire into it, it vanishes totally. Instead of enquiring, we give the mind undue prominence and allow it to ride over us and subject ourselves to suffering.
On one occasion, someone came to Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and wailed, ‘My mind is troubling and torturing me’. Ramakrishna gave a very witty reply: ‘Oh, is your mind giving you so much trouble? Catch hold of it and bring it to me. I will punish it’. Ramakrishna wanted to stress only that the mind is but his imagination. It is our desires alone that create the phantom of the mind. If desires are subdued, the mind vanishes.
We must delve beyond the body, beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond the intellect and reach the source of all these---the Atman. It is the substratum, basis and source of all else. For everything we see there has to be a base, which we do not see. For the car that is moving, there is the road, which is the stationary ground for the car to move on. The car may swerve but the road does not swerve. If the road also moves, what journey can the car make and whereto? So also, the Atman is the basis for the functioning of the mind and senses and body. Atman is their sole support and basis.
Buddhi stands foremost among the faculties
I have referred to the chariot simile. We have to remember the pre-eminent role of intelligence in the journey by chariot. The horses may have been bridled, the chariot is ready but if the charioteer is not there, what purpose will be served? There is a good motor car. Petrol has been filled in the tank. Air has been filled in the tyres. But if the driver is not there, of what use is the car? The intellect (buddhi), is like the driver of the car. The faculty that decides between good and bad and what course one should take is buddhi. The buddhi has to exercise its discretion in the light of injunctions from the Atman, its Master.
Buddhi is the superior most amongst all the faculties, and its pre-eminence is due to its proximity and closeness to the Atman. The horses are in front of the chariot; the reins are outside equipments, but the charioteer sits close to the master inside. Therefore, amongst the instruments, buddhi stands foremost; below buddhi is manas (the mind), below the sensory organs is the body (gross body). The brilliance of the Atman directly falls on buddhi which derives the maximum benefit and strength from the Atman. Therefore, buddhi can judge aright and choose the right path. Only when a man uses his intelligence properly we call him buddhimaan. If he does not use its direction properly we call him moodha or aviveki.
The Divine Prescription for life
The buddhi should exercise its control over the mind, and the mind over the senses. But what happens generally is that the buddhi does not exercise discrimination; the mind arrogates to itself superiority over the intellect and the senses arrogate to themselves superiority over the mind. And the chariot runs in the wrong direction and the purpose of the journey does not find its fulfilment. To avoid this, buddhi has to act in the Atmic light, and the mind in subordination to buddhi. When buddhi is centered and anchored in Atman, it receives the Atmic light and brilliance and it gains its strength in fulfilling its role efficiently and fruitfully. It is not as if our daily life is different from Adhyatmic life.
In our day-to-day life, if we use the intelligence to discriminate between right and wrong, and follow the dictates of the Atman, then everything will be right. This is the Divine prescription and panacea for life. What is therefore required first is faith in the existence and supremacy of Atman. If one has no faith in Atman, no self-confidence, and if he goes ahead with his egoistic vanity, how can he ever benefit by the divine light and guidance? How can he know the Atmic splendour?
Character and spiritual wisdom are wealth
This created universe has two aspects. One is impermanence (anityam). The second one is unhappiness (asukham). In Gita, Krishna has said: ‘anityam asukham lokam imam prapya bhajasva mam’--- Nothing in this world can give happiness i.e., true and lasting happiness. Mistaking this world as ‘All’ and forgetting the Atman which alone is eternal and is the only refuge, is the greatest folly of man. Today, man is pinning all his hopes on this slippery world and is madly running after amassing and hoarding wealth. Of course, material needs are to be taken care of, but within limits, and not at the cost of spiritual values. Money and mansions are not the only wealth; hoard the wealth of the Spirit. Character is wealth. Good conduct is wealth. Spiritual wisdom is wealth. (SSS Vol. 15, pp. 40-44)
By what trait can we recognise the Atman? By ananda, which is its very Swarupa (nature). This is the reason why it is described as :
Brahmanandam Parama Sukhadam Kevalam Jnana murtim
Dvandva atitam Gagan asadrisham Tatvamsyadi Lakshyam,
Ekam Nityam Vimalam achalam Sarvadhee Sakshibhutam
Bhavatitam Trigunarahitam Sad Gurum Tam Namami.
Brahmanandam Parama Sukhadam (Bestower of Highest Bliss), Kevalam Jnanamurtim (Pure Wisdom), Dvandva atitam (Beyond all dualities), Gagana sadrisham (Vast as space), Tatvamsyadi Lakshyam (Denoted by Vedic axioms), Ekam (the One), Nityam (the Eternal), Vimalam (Blemishless), Achalam (Unaffected), Sarvadhee (All-Conscious), Sakshibhutam (the Witness), Bhavatitam (Unreachable even by the imagination), Trigunarahitam (Attributeless) etc.
The Eternal, with neither entrance nor exit.
The One who neither Was nor Is nor Will-be.
The Immortal Person free from birth and death.
That Ever-effulgent Atman is Sai forever.
(SSS Vol. 10, p. 302&304)
The Vedic sages, out of illumination of their purified intellects declared in Bliss for all mankind to know; Tat Tvam Asi (Thou art That); Prajnanam Brahma (Wisdom is That); Ayam Atma Brahma (This I is that); Aham Brahmasmi (I am That); I am All, I am Everything. I am the Supreme, I am the One, without a Second. When these depth-stirring declarations reverberate in the heart, men awaken to the vision of Truth. The realisation that you are the Atman and that there is nothing except the Atman anywhere at any time - this is Self-realisation, it is the Atma-sakshatkara, the realisation of 1of the Atma by the atma of yourself, by yourself as the Self. This is also called Bhooma, the vast, limitless, changeless, the unaffected by time and space. The Bhumi (this Earth) is limited; it has a past and a future different from the present. So, it can never reveal the Truth. Bhuma alone can reveal it. So, live in the Bhuma, breathe the Bhuma, think, plan and act in the limitless, the changeless that is in you! ( (SSS Vol.7, p. 334)
To realise this Atman, this Jnanaswarupa, there are four obstacles to be overcome: Laya (sleep), Vikshepa (waywardness, ignorance hiding truth), Kshaya (decline, disappearance), and Rasa Aswadanam (enjoyment of bliss). Let ustake these one by one.
Laya: Sleep; when the mind withdraws from the external world, it enters into deep sleep of Sushupti, on account of the overpowering influence of Samsara. The Sadhaka should arrest this tendency and attempt to fix the mind on to Atma-vichara, or the Inquiry into the nature of the Atman. He must keep watch over the mind, so that he may keep aware. He must discover the circumstances that induce the drowsiness and remove them in time. He must start the process of Dhyana again and again. Of course, the usual producer of drowsiness and sleep during Dhyana is indigestion. Overfeeding, exhaustion through too much moving about, want of sufficient sleep at night, these too cause sleepishness and drowsiness. So, it is advisable to sleep a little during noon, on those days when you wake up after a sleepless night, though generally all those who engage in Dhyanam should avoid sleep during daytime. Do not eat, until you feel proper hunger. Practise the art of moderate eating. When you feel three fourths full, desist from further eating; that is to say, you will have to stop even when you feel you can take a little more. The stomach can be educated in this way to behave properly. Over-exercise too is not good; even walking can be overdone. You can walk until you conquer drowsiness; but remember, you cannot plunge into Dhyanam, immediately after you have warded off sleep.
Vikshepa: Waywardnes; the mind seeks to run after external objects and so, constant effort is needed to turn it inwards, away from the attractions of sensory impressions. This has to be done through the rigorous exercise of the Intellect, of Inquiry. Discriminate and get the conviction driven into you that these are evanescent, temporary, transformable, liable to decay, and, therefore, unreal, Mithya not Satya. Convince yourselves that what is sought after as pleasurable and avoided as painful are only the fleeting products of sensory contacts; train yourself in this way to avoid the distractions of the external world and dive deep into Dhyanam.
A sparrow pursued by a hawk flies in despair for shelter into a house; but, it is anxious to fly again into the outer world, isn’t it? So also, the mind is anxious to go again into the outer world, from the Atma where it takes refuge. Vikshepa is this mental attitude, the urge to run back into the world from one’s shelter. The removal of Vikshepa alone will help the concentration of the mind in Dhyanam.
Kshaya: The mind is drawn with immense force by all the unconscious impulses and instincts of passion and attachment towards the external world and its multitudinous attractions. It therefore experiences untold misery and might even get lost in its depths. This is the stage called Kshaya or Decline.
The state of inertia into which one is driven by despair cannot be called Samadhi; or, one might even indulge in daydreaming in order to escape from present misery; or, one might start building castles in the air. All this is due to attachment, to the temptations of the outer world. There is another type of attachment too, the attachment to the inner world... the planning within oneself of various schemes to better oneself in the future as compared to the past. Both these form part of what is called Kshaya. The basis for both is the attraction of the outer world. Attachment brings about desire, desire leads to planning.
Rasa-aswadana: When Kshaya and Vikshepa are overcome, one attains the Savikalpananda, the Bliss of the Highest Subject-Object Contact. This stage is what is called Rasa-aswadana or the Enjoyment of Bliss. Even this is not the Highest of the Supreme Bliss, which one does not attain or acquire, but simply IS, becomes aware of, so to say. The Rasa, or the sweetness of the Subject-Object Samadhi is a temptation one has to avoid for it is only the second best. It is enough joy to act as a handicap. The joy is as great as that of a person who has just deposited a huge load he has been long carrying, or as that of a greedy person who has just killed a serpent guarding a vast treasure he wanted to grab. The killing of the serpent is Savikalpa Samadhi; the acquisition of the treasure, that is the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the highest stage. When the Sun rises, darkness as well as the troubles arising from it disappear. 5imilarly, for those who have realised the Atman, there is no more any bondage, nor the sorrow arising from the bondage. Delusion comes only to those who forget their bearings: egoism is the greatest factor in marking people forget their very basic Truth. Once egoism enters into man, he slips from the ideal and precipitates himself from the top of the stairs in quick falls from step to step, down to the very bottom floor. Egoism breeds schisms, hatreds and attachments. Through attachments and affection, and even envy and hatred, one plunges into activity and gets immersed in the world. This leads to embodiment in the physical frame and further egoism. In order to become free from the twin pulls of pleasure and pain, one must rid one self of the body-consciousness, and keep clear of self centred actions. This again involves the absence of attachment and hatred; desire is the enemy number one of Liberation, or Moksha. Desire binds one to the wheel of birth and death; it brings about endless worry and tribulations. (JV, p. 3)