By Master : “you were asking me about self realization. Longing is the means of realizing Atman. A man must strive to attain God with all his body, with his entire mind and with all his speech. Because of an excess of bile one gets jaundice. Then one sees everything as yellow: one perceives no color but yellow. Among you actors, those who take only the roles of women acquire the nature of women. Just so, by thinking day and night of God one acquires the nature of God.”
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Vol I Page 429
——————————————————————————————————————————————
A hot day and it was sultry. Perhaps it was raining somewhere nearby, so we decided to sit under the neem tree and spend the evening. My friend had brought some peanuts. So we started eat-talking. He started from where he had left yesterday.
He: Yesterday I was asking why there are different congenital minds.
Me: In Sanathana Dharma it is explained that, it is because your born with” Vasanas”, which is the result of your previous deeds-both mental and physical. Every being has many births and deaths
and take different forms in this pragrithi from plants to animals, insects to birds and highest in this evolution chain is the Human form. Human form is highest because of its mental and logical capabilities. So the “I” we were talking doesn’t vanish by death but goes on to another birth and form, depending on the Vasanas (imprints of the previous birth experiences)it had acquired so far up to that birth. So there are different minds at birth.
He: So is it correct to say that we are not the body but we are in this body and the tendencies – Vasanas are the reason for the difference in the mental set up of human beings with its varieties, am I right?
Me: Absolutely right. That “I” is referred to as Atma or soul. And the atma transmigrates from one body to another.
He: But does one have any proof of that?
Me: The proof – we can explain the difference in human beings on birth in this way only to the best of human understanding. And as I said earlier we have limitations imposed by nature and concrete evidence on physical plane is not possible. The restrictions in knowledge and memory imposed by nature intervened by births and deaths does not allow one to carry memories of the previous births. Only the tendencies or Vasanas are carried by the atma to the next birth.
He: Oh oh..
Me: It can be explained in a crude way like this. Say a person is very very sensual and sex is his minds central thought all throughout his life. Then he may be born as a pig in his next birth. You know pigs are highly sensual animals always involved in that.
There is a puranic story which goes like this. Indhra, the head of Devas had once stroked a sensual eye on the wife of a sage. The sage who could understand the subtlest movements noticed this. He thought that a person in such a high position, who’s action and words affect many lives should have purity of thought, word and action; shouldn’t have done this.
He thought he should punish him so that it will be a lesson for such others. So he cursed him to be born as a pig. Indhra was stunned, he begged pardon. The sage gave him some reprieve. He altered his curse so that after a single birth Indhra will come to his normal self. So Indhra was born among pigs. He had families. Begot a large pig family. He totally got involved. He bore children every three months and he had a large army of pigs and was the strongest in there. He got unconscious of himself and got too much attached to pigs body that on his death he was again born as pig. He couldn’t avail of the concession given by the sage, He got involved so much that the Devas had great difficulty in bringing him back to his senses. This is a crude analogy for births and Vasanas.
He: A nice analogy.
Me: So mind is the most important part of one’s self that has to be studied and understood before going into Bakthi. Do you know how the mind works and its nature?
He: Yes. Mind is a stuff of this world. The world is always on the move, a dynamic entity. You have the process of change and time is the measure of it. The mind is aligned to it. If it is aligned to this dynamic movement, then only it can survive in it. Mind is like a monkey. Always on the move. Active, jumping from one branch to another. Getting distracted. The mind is also like that. It gets attached to one thing and then jumps to another.
Me: Yes you are right. The mind is not the Atma. But can be said as to be its extension, a
Connecting region of Atma with the physical world. The mind is interlinked with the body and the brain ( the data store house and the analytical tool) . The body is the chassis in which the Atma rides.
He: Ya..
Me; This can be explained in this way also. There is a chariot driven by five horses. These five horses are the five senses of the body; the touch, the smell, the sight, the hearing and the taste with their respective organs. The reins are the mind which can control the horses. The person on the chariot-the driver is the lord of the whole set up.
If the reins are not handled properly the horses will go in each of its way and derail the whole chariot. If the mind is held tightly also the chariot will not move. The driver should always be conscious that he is in the chariot and he is the driver and handle the reins according to the situation. If the driver loses himself on the road side happening, then the horses will lead the charioteer to place other than his destination. The same is the case with the body, mind , brain and soul.
He: Very good example.
Me: Now coming to the mind. As you said it is always active. If the person, that “I”, is not conscious of the situation the mind will drift. This drifting is not good and is like a person wandering about aimlessly without knowing his purpose. The whole aim of Bakthi is to stabilize this wandering mind and giving it a purpose in celebrating.
He: Is It..(looking at his watch) lets break for the day. I have to go to market to get some vegetables.
Me: Okay, take care. See you tomorrow.
