Basanth 2006 Talks - Morality by Dr. M.Keshava Reddy

In the sphere of Spirituality, Character development has a special place, the importance of which is in no way less than that of Spiritual Welfare itself. Our Revered Lalaji Maharaj always laid emphasis on the special importance of character in the area of spiritual development. In one place he has written ‘I tell every human being, Every seeker from the very beginning try his best to maintain and improve the condition of his personal character. No word should leave the mouth which is likely to be objectionable to anyone. Nor should any such act be indulged in as likely to be unpleasant to others. I am not as much a lover of spirituality as of character. If a seeker has achieved the Dhruv Padh but character weakness still exists in him, my understanding is that he has not understood the True Philosophy.’ [ They have lost the ocean . SDG 175]

Message by Sri Ramchandraji our Master at Madurai on 30 April 1977 on the Eve of his 78 th Birthday Celebrations: The basis of yoga’s has always been the right moral and proper behavior. That is why my Master Guru Mahatma Ram Chandraji of Fatehgarh (U.P) had laid very stress on this point. He always emphasized on cultivating principled character. The way of life should be pregnant with high moral. If it is not there a person is not capable of having the fine type of spirituality, which is beyond everything and is worth having. Freedom we want but we do not know its definition. Suffering is the root and results are flowers which every associate should strive hard to have.”

Sri K C Narayana garu, Bodhayanti Parasparam.

“To have high morals is not an easy thing as we do not want to have any pain or suffering associated with one adherent to high morals. “One of the meanings of Sanskrit word ‘saha is to endure, to go patiently through hardships without rebelling.” The process of enlightenment has always been held as an unquestionably painful process. This enlightenment (‘TRUE Viveka’) comes only after disillusionment about the permanency of objects and relationships we have somehow got involved with. Sahaja therefore would mean that which arises from enduring the suffering process accepting everything as a gift of God. The attitude of taking miseries as blessings for our good is cultivated only through assiduous practice.”

One should develop Truthfulness, COMPASSION, NON-VIOLENCE, santhushti, brahmacharya, courage, and fortitude.

It is not the royal robes alone that make a real king; similarly it is not the form or the dress that makes a real saint or a real yogi. External physical features are not the sure indicators of the heart within. A man of heart can be discovered only by one who is inspired with the feeling of true love. There is a vast difference between theory and practice. By repeatedly reading scriptures you can become a philosopher or a learned man but you can NOT BECOME A YOGI WITH ACTUAL PRACTISE with love and devotion. (ERY).

Truthfulness

It really implies the sense of presenting ones own self in its own true colors. This is the state at which a man exclaims spontaneously ‘it is as it is’. No words however can express the condition in anyway. This is the state, which in true sense is the reality. Even to call it as a state is to blemish its true character. The word that applied to it is not appropriate. This is in fact the point at which all the powers are drawn in and accumulated at the time of pralaya-dissolutuon and nothing about absolute reality remains in existence. If we call it as a power even then a material cloak is set around it. It is almost inexplicable. If you use the word negation for it even then a faint reflection of it remains in you. Now existence is the only word left for conveying the sense. But if you fix our thought on it even then the faint idea of something persists and thus the same consciousness of materially is revived to some extent. If we banish both these views even then something remains at the root. Nothing can thus express it except for the words ‘it is as it is’. We cultivate a habit of truthfulness so that our actions and dealings may be in consonance with the state related above and just as it is in the dealings of the nature. Devotion now starts from this point and it remains a devotee of his devotional duties and the master’s remembrance gets implanted upon his mind.

As sri K.C. Varadachari says The Lord loves us so much that every opportunity is provided for us to grow. When we ask for strength he provides us difficulties to make us strong. When we ask for prosperity he gives us the brain and brawn to work. When we ask for courage he causes danger to overcome. When we ask for love he sends us troubled people to help. When we ask for wisdom he gives problems to solve. The way of instruction of the lord is difficult to understand. But when we understand of the joy of awareness of love has no bounds, the lesson of truth that we learn is very great and what a loving teacher (Sri Ramchandraji) we have.

Sri KCN: Truthfulness for others mean that we affirm that our oneness to all and create a bond of mutual trust. In the unity that exists we can never speak the truth unless we trust the other person and that is possible only when we know the oneness with the person with whom we are speaking. Every child is capable of speaking truth to the mother as there is a natural oneness it experience with mother. Truthfulness is capable of expanding our consciousness which enables us to break the barriers of body limitation and we start experiencing our true self. Through truthfulness we develop positive image of ourselves that is essential for any healthy mind. It is true that certain times truth speaking leads us to a situation where harm to others is done but the nature of goodwill that we develop to others also provides a solution out of the situation. Trust in master in such a situation enables us to perform our dharma without essentially harming others. More than anything else, in sadhana we can assess ourselves better when we are truthful to ourselves. It is said that truthfulness when establishes, makes or words and actions become effective.

Grand master Sri Lalaji and our beloved master used to say that ‘it is good to be put to worries. The home is the training centre for submission and endurance. It is the great form of penance and sacrifice’. (Path to Perfection). ‘If we go through the history of ancient sages we find that they sacrificed all the comforts of life for the sake of attaining reality. They led a life of austerity and penance, undergoing every kind of hardship and trouble for the sake of object so dear to their heart. The intense longing of the goal made them blind to everything else and they remained firm on the path and not minding the difficulties and reverses that came across their way. Such an intense longing for the object and an iron will to achieve the goal is absolutely necessary to ensure complete success. (Dawn of Reality). Master adds: service and sacrifice are two main instruments with which we build the temple of spirituality, love of course being the fundamental basis .any kind of service if done selflessly is helpful. Service to fellow beings is service to god in the real sense if it is done without any selfish motive. (dr). Universal love then becomes predominant and we begin to love every being of the god’s creation with out any feeling of attachment with it. It leads us to devotion and sacrifice.

Master says ‘I had the pain- longing, craving or restlessness as one may please to call it so dear to my heart that for it I could sacrifice even thousands of life of mine. I wish to have the same pain in me again which no joy or bliss can ever match (silence speaks). Master explains that true determination arises only when you gird up your loins to sacrifice your rest and pleasures and say good bye to lethargy.

COURAGE

What is the call of the present day nothing but the energy issuing forth from the centre? Either it should burn us or it should embrace us. That should be our thought if we really want our transformation for which we should come forward like a warrior in the field to test our own bravery for the task. The courage starts when confidence is there and confidence is there when you have will to reach the destination. (SDG). Firm resolve and dauntless courage are the essential features of a manly character that is what is required for the final success.(ss)

Discipline is the elementary step of surrender. If it is not possible to adhere to mental discipline in the beginning one can take up at least the physical discipline to start with. The next important thing to be kept in mind is the moral discipline which every one must be very particular about. He must never do a thing which might bring a bad name to him-self or to sanstha he belongs to. His way of living and dealing with others should be simple, unassuming and cordial, inspired with a feeling of love and sympathy for others. This will be a source of satisfaction and peace to him as well. One should lead a simple and pious life absorbed in constant divine consciousness discharging properly at the same time all his worldly responsibilities and duties.

Pain

When master got access to sri lalaji’s feet he submitted himself entirely to his will. ‘Soon I developed a peculiar state of mind which continued for a considerable period of time. After that I developed a feeling of impatience in me which persisted. It soon developed into a sort of restlessness and pain .after a time the pangs of pain had aggravated so much if any body else not in touch with spirituality had it he might have inclined to commit suicide. But the feeling ‘let thy will be done’ which was deeply rooted in me gave me courage and consolation to bear it.(SS).

SRI K.C. NARAYANA EXPLAINS The home and work place equally assist us in our Divine way that is we can live a life of contentment and, paradoxically with greater effectiveness.

That is why Master has said this system is for a grihasta (house holder). Contentment or Trpti is one of the important attributes of a spiritual person. Contentment is defined as "happiness with one's situation in life." A person is contented if they are "satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are what so ever they are. So contentment seems to involve having an accepting attitude toward whatever is occurring. A prerequisite for contentment appears to be a willingness to let things be: rather than trying to make them be different. It is a state of nonattachment to outcomes, having no expectations for how things "should be. This is essentially what yielding to the Divine Will would mean.

But our challenges are very many. Our lives are complex in that everything seems to involve an ever-changing balance between opposites: good and evil; pain and joy; health and sickness; and so on. We feel like a ball being batted by too many players. How do stop being the victim of this "back and forth" pressure? Contentment is the answer; and that is easy to say. But with the help of the yielding attitude to the Divine Will in all matters the attitude of just watching is possible. We have seen this with Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur. Why we are not able to like that is our Will is not aligned to the Divine Will to the extent His was. It is our duty to align our will with the Divine.

When we are not happy and contented we find there is at play one of the following two causes. One is that we are unhappy due to an ego-based expectation of how things should be...yet no one is truly being abused. In this case no action is required.

The second possibility is that we are discontented because we perceive harm is being done to ourselves or others and we feel we must set boundaries and fight against such a wrong. This is question I have heard many persons who feel they are righteous and correct in their stand point.

The Commandments of the Master have given sufficient clues to deal with the problems and it is the illusory Ego/Self that is the cause of discontentment. We should discern the source of our discontent. The experience of our Masters teaches that we should learn to listen deeply to inner wisdom which gives us the Divine Will in the matter and subordinate our will in its favour.

With all this if there were to be a case for conflict and action against some one or some purpose. How to be contented then? To my mind I find the answer in the great wisdom teaching, the Bhagavad-Gita that addresses exactly this situation. We can choose to be grateful to Life for bringing us this perfect opportunity to discern wisely and act from love. We can dedicate our action to the highest and best outcome for all concerned. What we cannot do is to walk away. Master says that it is not wrong to fight for just cause. However the point is, is it for personal good or universal good that we are taking up the swords.

Thus we take action when it is needed. We take it decisively. And then we let it go. We release the outcomes to the Universe.

And through this attitude of mind and heart we can remain content in the midst of all things. Content while doing. Content while not doing. Content in good times and in bad. We can strip away our attachments to what is unimportant. And we can act appropriately on what is important. We can feel the energies within us rise and fall. We can discern when to move and when to wait. We can act from Love and Inner Wisdom. And then we can let it be. And all the while we can smile.

How can we learn to hear this inner wisdom? We can develop this ability by dutifully aligning our will with that of the Divine Will. That is a standpoint where the individual is totally null and it is only the Divine that has its way. That enables us to learn to live with "the serenity to accept the things we cannot change; the courage to change the things we can; and the wisdom to know the difference"

Forbearance :

Sri Ram Chandraji says: We must cultivate the habit of forbearance and torn and rebukes of others. Feeling ourselves to be at fault. This is not too great a sacrifice for the attainment of the great goal. If my view seems to be appealing to you please try to follow them, this will bring you greater peace, if you find yourself inefficient for it then you should resort to prayer with a supplicant heart. Do this and see whether you will be able to overcome anger or not. (SS)

When there is no end of difficulties we have no other alternative but to bear them up patiently. There were saints in the past who had courted miseries and afflictions.

By following the commandments of Sri Ramchandraji, we will develop character and morality as suggested by Sri Lalaji, our grandmaster

Meditate on the points that are the discovery of Sri Ramchandraji. I am sure we progress well in the path.

The trainers, abhyasis and preceptors should put into practice the ancient teaching.

“There is nothing for me that is ‘mine’; What little there is, is ‘Yours’. Herein lies all that is good for all of us”.[SDG 181]