It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and looking at the newspapers earlier in the morning had brought a great sense of peace. So much so, that the daily breathing exercise was given up in favour of tea and breakfast. It seems that brought some guilt with it, or maybe all things are transient anyway, so the great peace which came via a look at the newspapers was lost and the present author was just a bit sad at noticing that. Then it was time to try some time tested tactics and tricks on the mind because, believe me, they do work many times. Most of the times, I think. So the mental tricks were attempted - for example, trying to tell the mind not to crave an experience as J Krishnamurti has said. Of course, so have others. Some time later, it seemed clear that the problem today was perhaps more biological than mental. So after some partial success with the mental method, one great biological device was put to use - looking out the window at the calm Sunday noon sunlight! It was clear to me that the trick would work, and I am not surprised it actually did. Half of the peace felt in the morning was back instantaneously.
A few months ago, a copy of the Ashtaavakra Gita was graciously gifted to me by the grace of the elders in the family. Actually, it is a lecture series given in the early nineties by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Since the Ashtaavakra gitaa is a pure non-dualistic text, it often goes into the deepest Advaitic ideas which are not easy to verbalize. To those who have not been reading such texts, it can give the impression that the world is being called meaningless and that it is therefore only for the monks. Sri Sri provides very detailed comments on some selected points and makes sure that we don't go back with misconceptions like the idea that non-dualism means favoring laziness or un-creativeness or being unenthusiastic. So the book is more a lecture by Sri Sri and I will here refrain from saying anything much about the Ashtaavakra text itself. Of course it is a text in the loftiest of the Advaitic traditions and surely we need all the help we can get to apply these ideas in life.
I found three points very illuminating in the book, and perhaps there would have been many more had I not read Advaitic texts many times before. In other words, being exposed to these ideas for many years now, I did not find many of the ideas "new" and so the ideas I have selected below are simply the ones which appealed the most to me. Each of us might find many other ideas and explanations in the book very illuminating and so all are invited to read the lectures for themselves.
1. The first is a sentence somewhere in the book where Sri Sri says that when we get agitated, we can see that the unconscious mind has started to chatter. Conscious awareness of someone's behaviour does not cause much agony, but when unconscious chatter starts, the mental problems multiply. Later authors like Eckhart Tolle have of course brought home the importance of conscious awareness extremely clearly, and so do other texts on yoga allude to this point, but somehow, something clicked when I read this sentence in the Sri Sri lectures too.
2. The second idea is in a chapter named "Honoring the secret", and that is the idea itself. Being used to thinking of open sharing of knowledge as the best thing, this idea was a bit different from my usual ones, but upon reading the chapter, all my doubts were put to rest. Honoring the secret does not mean that spreading knowledge is bad. All it means is that the true understanding of these matters is revealed when heart and soul is put into serious efforts and Sadhanaa to realize the truth of what is being said. The secret is that it has to be discovered, and to practice the methods requires some inner respect for the ideas. By constantly falling prey to contrary ideas, the practitioner will prevent those very actions from being undertaken which can help him understand what is being said. So putting some effort into correctly understanding is better than constantly allowing opposite thought patterns to take over. Speaking without understanding may be another such behaviour pattern, although the book is mostly talking about contrary thought patterns which need to be dropped in favor of right understanding. To that extent, occassionally not speaking, at least before understanding, might also be helpful, and so, honoring the secret is far from preventing the spread of knowledge - it is rather exhorting people to understand better instead of falling prey to contrary impulses. It is common knowledgebin India that gurus give to disciples what is right for them and that can be different for different disciples. That is another reason to honor the secret, but the recommendation here is a positive one, not a negative one. It helps create the right psychological framework to put the ideas into practice. This is no negative rule to prevent the spread of knowledge.
3. The third idea which appears in some other lectures of Sri Sri too, is that words coming from the Guru are not special in themselves and need not be uncommon. Rather, it is the blessings which come along with the words which are important and which are supposed to help the practitioner in different subtle ways. How one person receives those can differ from another. Whether it will be a dream for one or a wave of bliss in meditation for another is difficult to predict, but the words have power and that then makes the words special. Hence, the practitioner is advised not to think of how simple or complex is the mantra given to him or her, but rather honestly get involved with the practice so that he (or she) may understand.
Sadanand Tutakne
A few months ago, a copy of the Ashtaavakra Gita was graciously gifted to me by the grace of the elders in the family. Actually, it is a lecture series given in the early nineties by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Since the Ashtaavakra gitaa is a pure non-dualistic text, it often goes into the deepest Advaitic ideas which are not easy to verbalize. To those who have not been reading such texts, it can give the impression that the world is being called meaningless and that it is therefore only for the monks. Sri Sri provides very detailed comments on some selected points and makes sure that we don't go back with misconceptions like the idea that non-dualism means favoring laziness or un-creativeness or being unenthusiastic. So the book is more a lecture by Sri Sri and I will here refrain from saying anything much about the Ashtaavakra text itself. Of course it is a text in the loftiest of the Advaitic traditions and surely we need all the help we can get to apply these ideas in life.
I found three points very illuminating in the book, and perhaps there would have been many more had I not read Advaitic texts many times before. In other words, being exposed to these ideas for many years now, I did not find many of the ideas "new" and so the ideas I have selected below are simply the ones which appealed the most to me. Each of us might find many other ideas and explanations in the book very illuminating and so all are invited to read the lectures for themselves.
1. The first is a sentence somewhere in the book where Sri Sri says that when we get agitated, we can see that the unconscious mind has started to chatter. Conscious awareness of someone's behaviour does not cause much agony, but when unconscious chatter starts, the mental problems multiply. Later authors like Eckhart Tolle have of course brought home the importance of conscious awareness extremely clearly, and so do other texts on yoga allude to this point, but somehow, something clicked when I read this sentence in the Sri Sri lectures too.
2. The second idea is in a chapter named "Honoring the secret", and that is the idea itself. Being used to thinking of open sharing of knowledge as the best thing, this idea was a bit different from my usual ones, but upon reading the chapter, all my doubts were put to rest. Honoring the secret does not mean that spreading knowledge is bad. All it means is that the true understanding of these matters is revealed when heart and soul is put into serious efforts and Sadhanaa to realize the truth of what is being said. The secret is that it has to be discovered, and to practice the methods requires some inner respect for the ideas. By constantly falling prey to contrary ideas, the practitioner will prevent those very actions from being undertaken which can help him understand what is being said. So putting some effort into correctly understanding is better than constantly allowing opposite thought patterns to take over. Speaking without understanding may be another such behaviour pattern, although the book is mostly talking about contrary thought patterns which need to be dropped in favor of right understanding. To that extent, occassionally not speaking, at least before understanding, might also be helpful, and so, honoring the secret is far from preventing the spread of knowledge - it is rather exhorting people to understand better instead of falling prey to contrary impulses. It is common knowledgebin India that gurus give to disciples what is right for them and that can be different for different disciples. That is another reason to honor the secret, but the recommendation here is a positive one, not a negative one. It helps create the right psychological framework to put the ideas into practice. This is no negative rule to prevent the spread of knowledge.
3. The third idea which appears in some other lectures of Sri Sri too, is that words coming from the Guru are not special in themselves and need not be uncommon. Rather, it is the blessings which come along with the words which are important and which are supposed to help the practitioner in different subtle ways. How one person receives those can differ from another. Whether it will be a dream for one or a wave of bliss in meditation for another is difficult to predict, but the words have power and that then makes the words special. Hence, the practitioner is advised not to think of how simple or complex is the mantra given to him or her, but rather honestly get involved with the practice so that he (or she) may understand.
Sadanand Tutakne
