Digital Blackboard – February 01, 2008

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Conviction and the True Devotee

Any completed work is not worth its name if you are not sure of yourself. The entire world is swept away by the current of doubt. Sureness or conviction is meant to be about our being the Self. One must be sure of what one is. Otherwise, everything is useless. We are the Self, but without being definite about it, what is the use of talking about it? We must be sure in our mind and then we may do whatever we want. If the disciple's heart is very pure with respect to one's Master, only then will further study be useful. It is that confidence in the Guru that is going to give one the fruit of spiritual efforts. All other talk is non-sense. Of course, we feel that without being certain, everything is a travesty. But what is the point in speaking about it? There will be no benefit in such talk. Where there is Knowledge without any doubt, there is Contentment. This "Contentment" is not dependent on anything. This Contentment is not the product of any rituals or actions that one has done. Contentment that is dependent on such things is not the Real Contentment. Independent Contentment is possible only by Self-Realization. When you are convinced about being Brahman, that itself is Contentment. Contentment is an indication of the achievement of Reality. The absence of doubt should be known as the indication of Contentment.


The listener asks to be told what is the sign of conviction, and the Guru tells him to find out who is the One Absolute Almighty and to be sure about it. God is that Power by which this world has come into being. You have now in you "That" by which the whole world moves, and you are using it now. By "That" only, you are experiencing yourself, and the world. See what you have! The world "is" because of It. By "That" this world is fed and nourished. By "That" the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and the five elements (earth, water, fire, wind, and sky) are made. All of this is happening without any trouble, without a lot of hard work to construct, or destroy. Such "Power" (Chaitanya) is within you. It is by this Power that you are getting the experience of the world. However, as long as you are not convinced about it, your mind is not at rest. The Gods made of copper and brass are not Gods. What do the various incarnations of Gods (Avatars) in the mythological books, like Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahadev (Shiva) mean? What is the extent of their Godliness? Only so long as the "Power" enlivens them, are they Gods.


What is the sign of a Devotee (Bhakta)? He has to recognize God, he has to Realize who he is. What are we? We are nothing. By leaving the attachment to the body, you should remain only "That," Brahman. Where the "me" is, there is bondage. When "me" disappears, bondage goes away. Whom should we call a Devotee? One who is searching himself, and is finding out himself, is the Devotee. We inwardly search our Self, and by its speech, we meditate on God. We are engrossed in our Self-search, and by spoken words, we are busy meditating on God. When we find the Self, we eliminate everything else, and select that which we are. We become convinced about our Self, and we are sure. Sure about what? About Reality. Here complete certainty was possible because of the spoken word. Thus, the grand moment of God-Realization has come! The Ocean is as it is. Only the wave arises and disappears. What is Freedom? To know one's Self is Freedom. The elements are born through the elements, but they are also born from the Life-Energy, Chaitanya.


Both the persuasion and the discrimination approaches are contained within this Life-Energy. The primary approach contains the discrimination and elimination method (sifting the unessential from the Essential). This is stated in order to prove that all that has an appearance, is false. In the Siddhanta or final statement, it is said, "All is Brahman." The four basic states of consciousness (manas, buddhi, chitta, and aham), the three states (waking, dreaming, and deep sleep), the three qualities (Raja, Tamas, Sattva), and ten organs of the senses (and the various things and the various ways in which the things are enjoyed or experienced) all taken together, are nothing but the Chaitanya, which is dnyana, or Knowledge. That same "One Knowledge" is experienced as the entire world, at the time of "knowing." The Knowledge is experienced, and beyond this you cannot experience or renounce it, nor can you arrange to artificially nullify it. At the time of knowing, that experience is possible only because of the Self-Existent Chaitanya. When by very keen, minute observation there is certainty and definite conviction, this is called Siddhanta, or "Final Truth." Then very serenely, there is certainty about God. There is the Realization that there is only One, and nothing else. However, by the insistent attachment to the physical body, that peace and contentment is destroyed. For this you should say, "Tell me who I am!" The demon of doubt should be asked, "Tell me who I am!" However, then he keeps quiet, because how can he show anything other than Brahman?




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