Bangalore, India
Hoje é Rakshabandhan então falarei algo sobre isso. É comum acreditar que neste dia, a irmã amarra o laço ou faixa sagrada no pulso do irmão e pede a ele para protegê-la sempre. É comum ouvir ou falar sobre isso, não é? Mas esta não é a essência e nem o espírito de Rakshabandhan! O verdadeiro segredo de Rakshabandhan é que quando a irmã amarra o laço no pulso de seu irmão, este é um gesto de dizer que “eu irei te proteger sempre”. Então são as irmãs que oram e desejam proteção e o bem-estar de seus irmãos. Isto é o que Rakshabandhan realmente significa.
De maneira similar, o Shravani Upakarma (uma cerimônia durante o mês sagrado de Shravan de mudar o laço sagrado chamado Janeu que originalmente é usado na época da cerimônia de Upanayanam) é o ato de mudar regularmente o laço sagrado que uma pessoa usa, ao remover o antigo e usar um laço novo, ao observar todos os rituais prescritos. Na época de mudar o laço, a pessoa entoa o Mantra Gayatri. Gayatri não é uma deusa de 5 faces e sentada em uma flor de lótus. Isto foi transformado em uma crença tradicional muito tempo depois pelas pessoas. O Mantra Gayatri é um Samuhik Mantra (i.e a Mantra como uma oração para benefício de todos e não para a pessoa em si apenas). Na última parte do Mantra é dito – “Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodayat”. Significa orar para o Divino ao dizer – ‘Seja o intelecto de todos iluminado com a luz do Divino’. Não é orar para que apenas o intelecto da pessoa seja iluminado. Não, é para orar para o intelecto coletivo, para que o intelecto de cada uma das pessoas seja libertado da negatividade e seja iluminado com a luz do Divino. O Mantra é entoado na forma plural e não no singular. É por isto que é dito – “Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi”. Significa – ‘Que sua Luz Divina destrua em cinzas todos os pecados da minha mente limitada; e que todos os nossos intelectos sejam iluminados com Sua Luz Divina’. Esta é a oração feita através do Mantra Gayatri. É considerada a oração mais elevada oferecida a Deus, e realmente é. Ela também envolve todos os mundos da criação sutil. Existem sete Lokas (referente às Sete realezas divinas da Criação: Bhuu, Bhuvas, Svar, Mahas, Janas, Tapas e Satya Loka) e há sete Chakras de energia no interior do nosso corpo; cada Chakra é associado com uma Loka específica. Há também sete níveis de nossa existência. Há sete níveis (maturidade ou amadurecimento) de conhecimento. Então através do Mantra Gayatri, oramos para progredirmos e elevemos através dos sete níveis de existência para a Luz do Divino, e que experimentemos a realização e o contentamento em cada um desses sete níveis de nossa existência. É uma oração para ser capaz de aceitar e se tornar um com o Eterno.
Veja, por exemplo, o ar sempre está presente. Quando você toma uma inspiração profunda, você aceita totalmente o ar. Da mesma forma, o Chaitanya Shakti (a poderosa Consciência) está presente a sua volta em todos os lugares e em todos os tempos. Através do Mantra Gayatri, você aceita e se torna um com esta maravilhosa consciência ao seu redor com um profundo senso de honra e total consciência. O que acontece como resultado disso? Todos os pecados são queimados a cinzas, e você é purificado. A palavra ‘Bhargo’ no mantra significa limpar todos os pecados. Então através do Mantra Gayatri, oramos para que ‘eu apoie e mantenha a Luz do Divino em meu intelecto, e que Ela ilumine todas as nossas mentes e intelectos e inspire-nos em direção a nobres pensamentos e ações.’ Esta é a essência do Mantra Gayatri, e este é o Gayatri Upasana também. Não coloque a imagem de Gayatri como uma deusa na mente. Quando você se sentar, lembre-se e torne-se consciente do seu Eu como a luz Divina da Consciência que brilha para sempre em você. O sol normalmente é considerado como a divindade mas não é bem assim. No mantra dizemos ‘Tat Savitur-varenyam’. A palavra Savitur aqui refere-se ao Savitra Devta (uma divindade solar mencionada no Rig-Veda e um dos doze Adityas) considerado como responsável pela luz do Sol. Mas aqui significa: Uma pessoa que ilumina tudo, que purifica a todos e lava todos os pecados, o Paramatma (Alma ou Consciência Suprema),e é o que se entende por Savitra. Então quando dizemos ‘Savitur-’ estamos oferecendo esta oração ao próprio Deus, o Para-Brahman que está aqui denominado como Savitra. Este é o significado mais profundo.
So Arjuna too says the same thing in the Gita. But that is how the Truth is. Truth is multi-dimensional, and not just one-dimensional or one-faceted. This is why different ways and expressions are needed to say or express that multi-dimensional Truth. So, Lord Krishna asks Arjuna to step on one ladder, and then asks him to set foot on a different ladder and so on. He never tells Arjuna to stay fixed or rooted onto one ladder alone. The Bhagavad Gita reveals the unique art (of the Lord) of leading a person step by step from one ladder through another to the Divine. Now you might be tempted to ask, ‘If you wanted me to step onto some other ladder, why did you ask me to set foot on this one in the first place?’ This is exactly what Arjuna also tells Lord Krishna. But that is not the way. So Lord Krishna makes him step on one ladder, then move to another one.
This is the speciality of the Bhagavad Gita. This is how a mature and profound scripture should ideally be. It is only through one contradiction after another that the final Truth gets unveiled. Though wherever there is no contradiction or conflicting thought to be found, that is also fine; it is knowledge at a primary (basic) level only. In primary education one does not find any complexity or contradictions. For example, you will not find anything confusing or contradicting when you learn the alphabets A B C D etc. But you are sure to find confusion and contradictions in a profound scripture. Why is it so? It is because this world is multi-dimensional. The world is round, like a sphere.
Many years ago, a gentleman from Iran had come here. This must have been some 10-15 years ago. He was an Imam, and a close confidante of the Ayatollah Khomeini (a religious head of Iran), and was second-in-command to him. He was quite old, some 75-80 years in age. In those days I used to stay in the Shakti Kutir in the old Ashram. So, one has to climb the stairs to come up to the Kutir. When the gentleman climbed the stairs and came to me, he said, ‘Gurudev, you are known to be most merciful. You know that there is a question that has been troubling me since many years now. I want to ask you – ‘If there is but One Truth, then there should also be one and only one way to know it, isn’t it? There is only one right answer to a question. There cannot be four or five different correct answers to the same question. So if there is One Truth, then there should also be only one true religion for it. Why are there so many religions in the world? All the other religions should be false. There can be only one true way to the Truth’. I immediately understood what he was trying to convey. He was basically trying to say that Islam is the only true religion and the way to God, while all other religions are fake or false. So basically this is the question that he had in mind, but he was asking me in a different way. He said, ‘Gurudev, people often say that all religions are good and worth honouring, but that is just not possible. It is a common saying that there is One God, but there are different ways to reach Him. But that is not possible. There is only one genuine religion, the rest are all devised by man and are false’. I smiled to him and said, ‘Please have a seat first. Then I told him that to come to the Ashram, there can be different routes or directions. One direction can be to come straight from the Ashram gate and turn right at the end. Then, another way can be to go straight and then turn left and reach the Ashram. Yet another way can be to not turn anywhere but follow a straight road and come straight to the Ashram. Now what do you think? Are all these routes not correct in their own way? They are all correct. When someone is coming from the Bangalore city area towards the Ashram, they would be told to come straight and turn right for the Ashram. But if someone is coming from Kanakpura area, then they would be told to go straight and take a final left turn for the Ashram. So that route is also correct. And if someone is coming from the Bannerghatta area, they would be told to keep coming straight without taking turns anywhere. And that route is also true. So all routes are true. One has to see the way from where one stands in life. In the world, man has been at different stages in life, and different regions or cultures at different points in time. So, according to the position or place one was in, different ways have been shown to reach the Divine. That is what it is’.
Our ancestors, ancient seers and sages knew this very well and so they told all the possible ways (religions) one could take to reach the Divine. The Sanatan Dharma (another term for Hinduism) is so vast and elaborate that it confuses you a lot, but it also shows the way to the Truth. According to the Sanatan Dharma, this is right and that is also right. If there is a religion in which all ways of realizing the Divine are accommodated, it is this ancient tradition (of Sanatan Dharma). That is because it was not created or given by any one particular Rishi (wise sage or seer) or any person in particular. Thousands of wise sages and seers have contributed to this tradition and enriched it with their knowledge and experiences. So all their wisdom and knowledge has come together in this ancient tradition of the Sanatan Dharma. The Imam was very happy upon hearing this and liked it very much. He said, ‘Gurudev, today I have found my answer and I am very content’. Saying this, he took leave and left.
The point I want to say here is that wherever one finds contradiction or apparently conflicting thoughts and approaches, one also surely finds the light of Truth there as well.
The scientists today have proved that reincarnation exists. What else remains to be said then? In some religions, it used to be believed that the Earth is not round but a square. Some religions believed that the Earth is stationary and it is the Sun that revolves around the Earth. When scientists stood up against this (religious) belief, they were hunted down and burnt alive. Some were hanged to death. This happened in what is called as the Spanish Inquisition. In Spain, at the time of the Middle Ages, each and every scientist was hunted down and was considered to be a form or messenger of the Devil, and they were murdered. It is not too long ago, it happened some 100-200 years ago. Today those same religions have become more scientific in outlook.
India always maintained a scientific and practical outlook from the very beginning. No scientist or researcher was ever killed here. In fact, even an atheist school of thought like Charvaka was honoured in our country. Its followers were allowed to follow and propagate their principles and philosophy here. The ancient Indians would think that if the limited intellect of the Charvaka school of thought is only this much, then that too was alright and accepted by them. They would often say, ‘if this is what your limited intellect can grasp and understand about God and the Creation, then that is fine as well. As your intellect matures, you will gain more knowledge and understanding in time’. India is the only country in the world that has never attacked another country. It has never plundered or conquered any other country in history. Yet India was looted and plundered so many times in history by foreign invaders. It was attacked many times in history, and we remained slaves (to foreign rule) for 1000 years. Despite all this, we have continued to rise higher and progress.
However, our country is currently in a very dangerous situation. Product prices are rising, and the Dollar is rising against the Indian Rupee, which is falling every day. There is such rampant corruption everywhere. People today are shamelessly indulging in corruption. It is so shocking. In the earlier days, if some place was found to be corrupt, people would resign and leave that organization or post. But today so many malpractices are happening in our country. During the organization of the Commonwealth Games in India, a few ministers were charged with bribe and corruption and were put behind bars. But after some time, they were released on bail and allowed to sit in Parliament. In the 2G scam that happened recently, a few government officers were jailed on charges of corruption. But they were let go after a few days and they went back to the Parliament. Though they were put in jail, they became healthier during their stay before leaving. Probably they went there to digest whatever (money) they had consumed earlier (Laughter). After that they were freed to go out once again. Files of these accused people get ‘mysteriously’ burnt in natural disasters in Maharashtra (meaning that actual evidence is destroyed on false accounts of natural disasters). A government office where such files and evidence is stored catches fire and is burnt completely. The people’s hearts are burning on seeing such incidents. You know, some files are kept in an area where there is actually no chance of fire at all. Yet files go missing or get burnt in such places. Close to 175 files related to the Coal-gate scam suddenly went missing one fine day. This is shocking indeed. Such incidents never used to happen at all in our country. Nowadays people freely steal and then destroy all evidence that can prove them guilty of crime. It is finished. This is truly a downfall in our country and is a serious cause of concern. Whenever such downfall happens, people of the country unite and rise together against corruption. The time for that has come. Is it not so? What do you all say?
Maharishi Ashtavakra says, ‘There is no one happier than a lazy person’. He makes such lofty praises about laziness. He says, ‘Become so lazy that you stop desiring for anything in your mind’. You will run towards the kitchen or a restaurant only when you feel hungry. I would say stop doing even that! (Laughter) Even if you feel hungry today, you (postpone) and eat food tomorrow, or may be even next month. If you feel thirsty now, what is the hurry to drink and quench it? You can drink water later. Relax and keep lying down. Water will come to your mouth by itself! (Laughter) Similarly, be lazy even in getting angry or cursing someone. If you feel like doing some wrong deed or a scandal out of greed, then be lazy about that. But you do not act lazily in such things. In fact you do such things so quickly. If you have to curse someone, you do not think even for a moment. You do it immediately. You do not feel lazy at all in such moments. Is it not so? So if you become 100% lazy (in all aspects of life), then you have truly become wise. Then you have become a Nishkaam-Karma Yogi (one who acts without getting attached to the action or its results). But I tell you, this is the most difficult thing to do. It is very difficult to become totally and 100% lazy. Just as you cannot become an atheist 100%, in the same way you cannot become 100% lazy. It is next to impossible.
That is why there is a saying in Sanskrit – ‘Pratya-bhigya Hridaya’. It means to recognize that inner light, to become aware of the light from within.
