MAHARSHI'S GOSPEL BOOK I I WORK AND RENUNCIATION

Disciple: What is the highest goal of spiritual experience for man? Maharshi: Self-realization. D: Can a married man realise the Self? M: Certainly. Married or unmarried, a man can realise the Self; because hat is here and no!. "f it !ere not so, but attainable by some effort at some time, and if it !ere ne! and had to be ac#uired, it !ould not be !orth pursuit. $ecause, !hat is not natural is not permanent either. $ut !hat " say is that the Self is here and no!, and alone. D: % salt-doll di&ing into the sea !ill not be protected by a !aterproof coat. his !orld in !hich !e ha&e to toil day in and day out is li'e the ocean. M: (es, the mind is the !aterproof coat. D: So then, one may be engaged in !or' and, free from desire, 'eep up one)s solitude? $ut life)s duties allo! little time to sit in meditation or e&en to pray. M: (es. Wor' performed !ith attachment is a shac'le, !hereas !or' performed !ith detachment does not affect the doer. *e is, e&en !hile !or'ing, in solitude. o engage in your duty is the true namaskar +?,- and abiding in .od is the only true asana. D: Should " not renounce my home? M: "f that had been your destiny the #uestion !ould not ha&e arisen. D: Why then did you lea&e your home in your youth? M: /othing happens except by 0i&ine dispensation. 1ne)s course of conduct in this life is determined by one)s prarabdha +?,.

D: "s it good to de&ote all my time to the search for the Self? "f that is impossible, should " merely 'eep #uiet? M: "f you can 'eep #uiet, !ithout engaging in any other pursuit, it is &ery good. "f that cannot be done, !here is the use of being #uiet so far as realization is concerned? So long as a person is obliged to be acti&e, let him not gi&e up attempts to realise the Self. D: 0o not one)s actions affect one in after-births? M: %re you born no!? Why do you thin' of other births? he fact is, there is neither birth nor death. 2et him !ho is born thin' of death and the palliati&e thereof3 D: Can you sho! us the dead? M: 0id you 'no! your 'insmen before their birth that you should see' to 'no! them after their death? D: *o! does a grihastha fare in the scheme of moksha +?,? Should he not necessarily become a mendicant in order to attain liberation? M: Why do you thin' you are a grihastha? Similar thoughts that you are a sannyasin +?, !ill haunt you, e&en if you go out as a sannyasin. Whether you continue in the household or renounce it and go to the forest, your mind haunts you. he ego is the source of thought. "t creates the body and the !orld, and it ma'es you thin' of being the grihastha. "f you renounce, it !ill only substitute the thought of sannyasa +?, for that of grihastha, and the en&ironment of the forest for that of the household. $ut the mental obstacles are al!ays there for you. hey e&en increase greatly in the ne! surroundings. "t is no help to change the en&ironment. he one obstacle is the mind; it must be got o&er !hether in the home or in the forest. "f you can do it in the forest, !hy not in the home? herefore, !hy change the en&ironment? (our efforts can be made e&en no!, !hate&er be the en&ironment. D: "s it possible to en4oy samadhi +?, !hile busy in !orldly !or'? M: he feeling 5" !or') is the hindrance. %s' yourself 5!ho !or's?) 6emember !ho you are. hen the !or' !ill not bind you; it !ill go on automatically. Ma'e no effort either to !or' or to renounce; your effort is the bondage. What is destined to happen !ill happen. "f you are destined not to !or', !or' cannot be had e&en if you hunt for it; if you are destined to !or', you !ill not be able to a&oid it; you !ill be forced to engage yourself in it. So, lea&e it to the higher po!er; you cannot renounce or retain as you choose.

D: $haga&an said yesterday that !hile one is engaged in search of .od 5!ithin), 5outer) !or' !ould go on automatically. "n the life of Sri Chaitanya it is said that during his lectures to students he !as really see'ing 7rishna 8Self 9 !ithin, forgot all about his body and !ent on tal'ing of 7rishna only. his raises a doubt !hether !or' can safely be left to itself. Should one 'eep part-attention on the physical !or'? M: he Self is all. %re you apart from the Self? 1r can the !or' go on !ithout the Self? he Self is uni&ersal: so, all actions !ill go on !hether you strain yourself to be engaged in them or not. he !or' !ill go on of itself. hus 7rishna told %r4una that he need not trouble to 'ill the 7aura&as; they !ere already slain by .od. "t !as not for him to resol&e to !or' and !orry himself about it, but to allo! his o!n nature to carry out the !ill of the higher po!er. D: $ut the !or' may suffer if " do not attend to it. M: %ttending to the Self means attending to the !or'. $ecause you identify yourself !ith the body, you thin' that !or' is done by you. $ut the body and its acti&ities, including that !or', are not apart from the Self. What does it matter !hether you attend to the !or' or not? Suppose you !al' from one place to another: you do not attend to the steps you ta'e. (et you find yourself after a time at your goal. (ou see ho! the business of !al'ing goes on !ithout your attending to it. So also !ith other 'inds of !or'. D: "t is then like sleep-!al'ing. M: Like somnambulism? ;uite so. When a child is fast asleep, his mother feeds him; the child eats the food 4ust as !ell as !hen he is fully a!a'e. $ut the next morning he says to the mother, <Mother, " did not ta'e food last night<. he mother and others 'no! that he did, but he says that he did not; he !as not a!are. Still the action had gone on. % tra&eller in a cart has fallen asleep. he bulls mo&e, stand still or are unyo'ed during the 4ourney. *e does not 'no! these e&ents but finds himself in a different place after he !a'es up. *e has been blissfully ignorant of the occurrences on the !ay, but the 4ourney has been finished. Similarly !ith the Self of a person. he e&er-!a'eful Self is compared to the tra&eller asleep in the cart. he !a'ing state is the mo&ing of the bulls; samadhi is their standing still 8because samadhi means jagrat- sushupti, that is to say, the person is a!are but not concerned in the action; the bulls are yo'ed but do not mo&e9; sleep is the unyo'ing of the bulls, for there is complete stopping of acti&ity corresponding to the relief of the bulls from the yo'e.

1r again, ta'e the instance of the cinema. Scenes are pro4ected on the screen in the cinema-sho!. $ut the mo&ing pictures do not affect or alter the screen. he spectator pays attention to them, not to the screen. hey cannot exist apart from the screen, yet the screen is ignored. So also, the Self is the screen !here the pictures, acti&ities etc. are seen going on. he man is a!are of the latter but not a!are of the essential former. %ll the same the !orld of pictures is not apart from the Self. Whether he is a!are of the screen or una!are, the actions !ill continue. D: $ut there is an operator in the cinema3 M: he cinema-sho! is made out of insentient materials. he lamp, the pictures, the screen etc., are all insentient and so they need an operator, the sentient agent. 1n the other hand, the Self is absolute consciousness, and therefore self-contained. here cannot be an operator apart from the Self. D: " am not confusing the body !ith the operator; rather, " am referring to 7rishna)s !ords in the =>st &erse, Chapter ?@""" of the Gita +?,.
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< he 2ord, 1 %r4una, d!ells in the *eart of e&ery being, and *e by *is delusi&e po!er spins round all beings set as if on a machine<.

M: he functions of the body in&ol&ing the need for an operator, are borne in mind; since the body is jada +?, or insentient, a sentient operator is necessary. $ecause people thin' that they are jivas, 7rishna said that .od resides in the heart as the operator of the jivas. "n fact, there are no jivas and no operator, as it !ere, outside them; the Self comprises all. "t is the screen, the pictures, the seer, the actors, the operator, the light, the theatre and all else. (our confounding the Self !ith the body and imagining yourself the actor, is li'e the seer representing himself as an actor in the cinema-sho!. Imagine the actor asking if he can enact a scene without the screen 3 Such is the case of the man !ho thin's of his actions apart from the Self. D: 1n the other hand, it is like asking the spectator to act in the cinema-picture. So, !e must learn sleep-!a'ing3 M: %ctions and states are according to one)s point of &ie!. % cro!, an elephant, a sna'e, each ma'es use of one limb for t!o alternate purposes. With one eye the cro! loo's on either side; for the elephant the trun' ser&es the purpose of both a hand and a nose, and the serpent sees as !ell as hears !ith its eyes. Whether you say the cro! has an eye or eyes, or refer to the trun' of the elephant as 5hand) or 5nose) or call the eyes of the serpent its ears, it means all the same. Similarly in the case of the jnani +?, , sleep-!a'ing or !a'ing-sleep or dream-sleep or dreaming-!a'efulness, are all much the same thing.

D: $ut !e ha&e to deal !ith a physical body in a physical, !a'ing !orld3 "f !e sleep !hile !or' is going on, or try to !or' !hile asleep, the !or' !ill go !rong. M: Sleep is not ignorance, it is one)s pure state; !a'efulness is not 'no!ledge, it is ignorance. here is full a!areness in sleep and total ignorance in !a'ing. (our real nature co&ers both and extends beyond. he Self is beyond both 'no!ledge and ignorance. Sleep, dream and !a'ing states are only modes passing before the Self: they proceed !hether you are a!are of them or not. hat is the state of the jnani, in !hom pass the states of samadhi, !a'ing, dream and deep sleep, li'e the bulls mo&ing, standing, or being unyo'ed, !hile the passenger is asleep. hese ans!ers are from the point of &ie! of the ajnani +?,; other!ise such #uestions !ould not arise. D: 1f course, they cannot arise for the Self. Who !ould be there to as'? $ut unfortunately, " ha&e not yet realised the Self3 M: hat is 4ust the obstacle in your !ay. (ou must get rid of the idea that you are an ajnani and ha&e yet to realise the Self. (ou are the Self. Was there e&er a time !hen you !ere not a!are of that Self? D: So, !e must experiment in sleep-!a'ing - or in day-dreaming? M: 82aughs9. D: " maintain that the physical body of the man immersed in samadhi as a result of the unbro'en 5contemplation)A of the Self, may become motionless for that reason. "t may be acti&e or inacti&e. he mind established in such 5contemplation) !ill not be affected by the mo&ements of the body or the senses; nor is disturbance of the mind the forerunner of physical acti&ity. Whereas another person asserts that physical acti&ity certainly pre&ents samadhi or unbro'en 5contemplation). What is $haga&an)s opinion? (ou are the abiding proof of my statement. M: $oth of you are right: you refer to sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi and the other refers to kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. "n the latter case the mind lies immersed in the light of the Self 8!hereas, the mind lies in the dar'ness of ignorance in deep sleep9; and the sub4ect ma'es a distinction bet!een samadhi and acti&ity after !a'ing up from samadhi. Moreo&er, acti&ity of the body, of the sight, of the &ital forces and of the mind and the cognisance of ob4ects, all these are obstructions for one !ho see's to realise kevala nirvikalpa samadhi.

he !ord, contemplation, is often used loosely as referring to a forced mental process, !hereas samadhi lies beyond effort. *o!e&er, in the language of Christian mysticism <contemplation< is the synonym in&ariably used for samadhi, and it is in this sense the !ord is used abo&e.

"n sahaja samadhi, ho!e&er, the mind has resol&ed into the Self and has been lost. he differences and obstructions mentioned abo&e do not, therefore, exist here. he acti&ities of such a being are li'e the feeding of a somnolent boy, perceptible to the onloo'er but not to the sub4ect. he tra&eller sleeping in the mo&ing cart is not a!are of the motion of the cart, because his mind is sun' in dar'ness. Whereas, the sahaja jnani +?, remains una!are of his bodily acti&ities because his mind is dead, ha&ing been resol&ed into the ecstasy of chidananda +?, 8bliss of the Self 9. Note: he distinction bet!een sleep, kevala nirvikalpa samadhi and sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi can be clearly put in a tabular form as gi&en by Sri $haga&an: Sleep Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi >9 mind ali&e A9 sun' in 2ight Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi >9 mind dead A9 resol&ed into the Self B9 li'e a ri&er dis- charged into the ocean and its identity lost C9 a ri&er cannot be redirected from the ocean

>9 mind ali&e A9 sun' in obli&ion

B9 li'e a buc'et tied to a rope and left lying in the !ater in a !ell C9 to be dra!n out by the other end of the rope

he mind of the Sage !ho has realized the Self is !holly destroyed. "t is dead. $ut to the onloo'er, he may seem to possess a mind 4ust li'e the layman. *ence the 5") in the Sage has merely an apparent 5ob4ecti&e reality). "n fact ho!e&er, it has neither a sub4ecti&e existence nor an ob4ecti&e reality.