Sanatan Almanac : A Profound Treatise on Hindu Dharma

These are excerpts from the ‘Spirituality’ section of Sanatan’s Android Almanac. As per the title above, the Almanac not only provides information on important dates, auspicious times, Saints, Revolutionariers, etc., it also educates on the invaluable treasure in Hindu Dharma and the conducts necessary to live happily !

1. How must be the attitude of surrender for God-realisation ?

Once, a hunter ventured into a jungle. However, he could not spot the expected prey for a long time. He was dejected; yet, he continued his quest.  He soon noticed a hut. There, he saw an Ascetic in a deep meditative state. The hunter burst into the hut and asked the Ascetic, “What are you doing here in this forest ?” To keep the conversation short, the Ascetic replied, “I am a hunter too. Here, I am waiting for my prey”. The hunter was surprised and said, “What do you have in mind ? So far, I have not been successful in finding a prey; at least, I will help you with yours”. The Ascetic was in a dilemma. The hunter forced him to tell more lies to justify his original intention. The hunter curiously asked for the description of the prey, and the Ascetic replied, “The prey has a dark complexion and wears a peacock feather in the hair but is extremely difficult to catch hold of”. After listening to the detailed description, the hunter said, “O’ Ascetic  ! Don’t you worry. I shall find your prey. Please be calm and wait in the hut”.

As the hunter left the hut, the Ascetic smiled and resumed meditating. The hunter resumed his search, this time for a different prey. He devoted all his strength to this new mission and relentlessly searched the prey day and night. He even forgot about his thirst and hunger. This continued for four days. In the end, Shrikrushna showed mercy for his innocence but sincere efforts to help someone else and revealed Himself as the prey described by the Ascetic. The hunter was elated and led Shrikrushna to the Ascetic. The Ascetic was utterly surprised to see Shrikrushna standing next to the hunter. He paid obeisance to Shrikrushna and politely asked, “I have been meditating on Your Name for years, but You revealed Your true form to this hunter. How and why did you do this ?” Shrikrushna explained the rationale behind His seemingly implausible behaviour. He said, “During the search for the prey, the hunter did not think about anything except me. In his quest to find me, he even forgot about his thirst and hunger. I reveal myself only to those who surrender themselves to their goals to such an extent. You meditated on me for a very long time, alright; however, your mind wandered around worldly affairs. Conversely, the hunter, with an attitude of complete surrender unto his goal, realised me”. Seekers should realise that chanting is a powerful tool which helps both – the one who actively chants and the ones who passively listen to the chanting. It eliminates the personality defects and ego aspects of a devotee. Hence, chanting is the saviour of all those attached to worldly affairs.

(Ref.: H.H. [Prof.] KV Belsare’s Facebook page titled Adhyatmik Sahitya [in Marathi])

2. The spiritual perspective underlying worry

Worrying and anxiety are signs of deep attachment to worldly things. These are so common that even those who have accomplished great things in their lives suffer from these mental ailments. Since worrying is an innate human nature, we tend to only believe in what we see with our own eyes. Hence, most of us end up worrying for some or the other reason.

• Those who have unwavering faith in God or the non-materialised God Principle do not worry under any circumstance.

• The seeker who strives for God-realisation can assess his spiritual progress by a simple self-introspection – if he still worries or gets anxious or leaves everything to the God Principle.

• If a seeker has less of worry and does not get anxious as often as he used to earlier, he can assume that he is on the right path and is progressing spiritually.

• Worry is a physical manifestation of Maya (The Great Illusion). When one worries about something, he loses his inner Anand (Bliss).

• The Ascetic who relentlessly strives for God-realisation and the child who is oblivious to worldly desires, are free from worry in the true sense.

• Worry is a (metaphorical) daughter of fear.

• Unwavering faith in the God Principle is the antidote for fear.

(Ref.: H.H. [Prof.] KV Belsare’s Facebook page titled Adhyatmik Sahitya [in Marathi])

3. Harmful effects of ego in an individual and the associated remedies

If an individual has even a semblance of ego, he will not attain God. God-realisation requires a conscious effort to eliminate ego even while performing spiritual practice.

Harmful effects of ego

1. Higher the ego, the more unhappy the individual is. Psychiatric patients have an above-average ego; hence, they are more unhappy. When the thoughts are about ‘my wealth’, ‘my body’, the individual becomes unhappy when the wealth reduces or the body is afflicted with diseases; however, if these things happen with others, the individual does not become unhappy.

The mental anguish caused by ego is sometimes more excruciating than the physical pain. Desire is the cause of attachment. Ego means selfishness, pride and body-awareness. All said and done, ego is the wound, ego is the suffering and pain. Ego is the root of rebirth. When ego is destroyed, all miseries are completely eliminated. When the ego is gone, there is happiness, peace, rest and Bliss.

2. Even ordinary pleasures cannot be enjoyed without renouncing the ego. Only when we forget our position or intellect, we can enjoy material pleasures in the real sense.

3. A karma (Action which gives rise to destiny) performed with ego perishes with time. Since the importance of this was known in the earlier times, not only the Sages, but everyone used to perform karma without any expectation of the associated credit or fame. The supreme example of this are our Vedas and ancient sculptures. The Vedas do not carry the name of the authors, nor is anyone’s name engraved on the ancient sculptures; this is precisely why the Vedas are immortal and sculptures are eternal.

4. Ways to reduce ego

God has zero ego; therefore, the best way to destroy ego in ourselves is to try and become like God, meaning, try to merge with God. To merge with God means to imbibe His various virtues. This is also a means of reducing ego.

1. One should have the bhav (Spiritual emotion) that satseva (Serving the God Principle) is a means of offering one’s body, mind, wealth, intellect and ego without discriminating the satseva as superior or inferior.

2. The satseva of Shudra-varna (The class which performs physical work), such as washing dishes, sweeping, cleaning toilets, etc. helps reduce the ego quickly.

3. Since man is not perfect like God, he will definitely make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes of varying degrees at some stage or the other in their lives; but, most of the times, due to their ego, people do not admit their mistakes.

Not admitting a mistake amounts to feeding the ego, while admitting the mistake is trying to reduce your ego. First and foremost, one should learn to accept his/her mistakes. Thereafter, one should seek forgiveness from God and the individual who is the victim of the mistake. This helps reduce the ego further

4. To be constantly in a learning mode is one characteristic of human nature; but some people forget this aspect and constantly teach others. The feeling that they are someone important and that others listen to them boosts their ego. Conversely, where there is an attitude of learning, there is an awareness of ignorance, and where there is awareness of ignorance, there is no ego. So instead of constantly teaching others, one should have the attitude of learning from others.

5. Expectation of praise is a sure sign of ego. If you always have the attitude that everything happens according to the will or the rules of the Guru or God, then there is no desire for appreciation. Also, if and when someone praises you, transform that praise into learning something in terms of spiritual practice; then that praise will not create ego.

6. During adulthood, two aspects mainly contribute to the destruction of the egoless attitude of childhood – education and money. Both these create an attitude of ‘I know something and I am superior’. This attitude becomes dangerous later. Therefore, everyone should compare himself with people who are superior to them.

Sant Kabir also compares His devotion with the devotion of the Gopis and says – ‘Why do you praise me by hailing Kabir, Kabir ? Go to the banks of the River Yamuna. The love of Gopis for Shrikrushna is such that millions of Kabirs will be swept away in each Gopi’s love’.

7. To some extent, playing with children makes one forget that he/she is grown up.

8. When an individual constantly tells others about his own joys and sorrows, events in the world, etc., it means that he has a lot of body-awareness. By not telling others about yourself, body-awareness automatically begins to reduce.

9. By not using words such as I/my, and if at all one has to, referring to the self in the third person such as he/his/Guru’s, helps reduce the feeling of I-ness (ego).

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 Ego means selfishness, pride and body-awareness. Ego is the wound, ego is the suffering and pain. Ego is the root of rebirth !