June 16, 2017 archive

Datta maata 22: Walk on path specified by Sadguru to reach ultimate destination

Some people say that God exists and few other say that he does not. We have been listening to such arguments everywhere now. Sometimes, we too get doubts about God’s existence. A teacher teaches his science students that the Earth is round. He tells them that people live in America that lies in a straight line to India. The teacher gives explanation that it is the gravitational pull of Earth that makes the people stay in America without falling. He explains them that even though they are upside down, they do not fall down because of the Earth’s gravitational pull. Few students believe the teacher’s words while few others do not. For them to believe, they themselves have to go to America. There is perhaps no other way. Once they see themselves, they will certainly understand.

Similarly, to get rid of the doubts about the existence of God permanently, we must try to see him perfectly. However, it is not so easy. If we wish to go to America, we obtain the passport, VISA; ask others about the flight charges, etc. Likewise, to experience God, we must follow the path that Sadgurus followed and with their help, we must practice and follow the righteous (dharmic) path. We must not go in the way we want. We cannot argue about going to America without passport, VISA or without taking flight. We cannot go by bus. That is not possible. Those who want to go independently without the help of anybody cannot reach the goal.

You must practice in the way the experienced persons tell you. Only then, you can get the realization. You cannot argue saying that, ‘I will do as I wish’, ‘I will follow only this mantra’, ‘I do not need a Guru’ and so on. If you do so independently, you will not get to know the way. Instead, you can listen to the experienced persons and better yourself in it. Without leaving the friendship of experienced persons, if you share their experience and follow the path, then you can definitely reach the goal.

Instead if you argue that you do not need passport, VISA or flight, you cannot go to America. Same is the case with the spiritual practice. One cannot argue saying that, ‘Why should I do only this?’ Why should I do these many lakhs of mantra?’ ‘Will I reach God only if I do these many vratas (austerities)?’ If you argue so and do as you wish, you can never realize God. Sadgurus will teach the disciples the way they adopted. They will narrate their experiences to their friends and fellow human beings. If we follow them, we will reach the goal we want to. Otherwise, we cannot.

In the spiritual life, by following Guru, we must trust each and every word of him. If we follow each and every step of Guru, we can experience the true bliss and realize God. Only then you will grow spiritually and can certainly see God.

Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-22-by-walking-on-path-specified-by-sadguru-we-will-undoubtedly-reach-the-destination/

Datta maata 21: God is a Self-experience.

Our ancient philosophers have given us four yardsticks to understand and establish truth. They are called means of knowledge (pramāna). They are the five sense organs – eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.

The most important amongst the five is eye. Eye is a direct means to know anything (pratyakṣa pramāna). This is the first yardstick. But there are many situations where our own eye deceives us. To an infant, the moon appears very small. We cannot agree with him. But we tell children that the moon is very big and that is at a far distance and hence it appears small. This means that along with the direct means of knowledge, we also take help of another means which is imagination. It is named as ‘anumāna pramāna’ (obtaining knowledge by means of imagination). This is the second yardstick.

When we listen to few incidents, we feel that they are impossible to happen but we have to agree to such matters when we are shown the examples of similar incidents having occurred somewhere else. We agree only because there is some proof. Hence, an example also can be considered as a means of obtaining knowledge. It is called ‘upamāna pramāna’ (obtaining knowledge by means of an example). This is the third yardstick.

We don’t understand few things without asking anybody. For instance, we do not know our fathers and forefathers. We have to believe somebody who tells us their details. This is the ‘shabda pramāna’ which is the fourth yardstick.

So, the four standards are:
1) Pratyakṣa pramāna
2) Anumāna pramāna
3) Upamāna pramāna
4) Shabda pramāna

To decide the truth of anything, we need all these four yardsticks. But, God is a feeling. How can we measure him? He is beyond the senses and any other standards. In this world that is filled with such feelings, each and every individual is a witness for himself. He himself is the ultimate means of knowledge. This is greater than the four yardsticks that we have mentioned above. We have different experiences. We must analyze all of them and decide which experience is the real one. The science of analyzing the experiences and providing the solutions is known as ‘Tattva shāstra’ (philosophy). The basis of this science is the swayam sākshi (considering the self as the witness). Hence, those who wish to see God must try to put in effort to see God through their own experiences. That is the one and only one way to experience God. Let us all follow that way and cultivate it as the method of practice. Realizing God implies happiness. There is no impurity in that happiness. It does not mean that God comes down to us. Achievement of that live experience is known as satya sākshi (witnessing the truth). We must put in our efforts to experience that happiness. You must read ‘Datta Darshanam’ to understand much about this.

 

Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-episode-21-god-is-a-self-experience/

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