== DO YOU EAT SWEETS? ==
Namaskar,
One time at DMC Baba was giving a discourse about dhruvasmrti, or fixed
memory on Brahma.
Baba was explaining that dhruvamsmrti means remembering Parama Purusa
always and that when not doing sadhana then one must use Guru mantra in
order to keep the mind ensconced in the thought of the Supreme. Then one
will be established in dhruvasmrti.
Baba then looked at everyone in attendance - there were a few hundred
present that day - and Baba lovingly said, "When coming into the hall
today, not one person repeated Guru mantra."
Everyone fell silent - awed by Baba's statement.
Then Baba explained further, "When taking food or eating rice, if one is
thinking that this is rice etc, then one's mind is not fixed on Brahma.
In that case the person is not established in dhruvasmrti. One should
instead think that this rice is Brahma. Then one will be properly
practicing 2nd lesson and become established in dhruvasmrti."
In that same DMC discourse, Baba also told that if you love your son or
daughter as a son or daughter, then that is not consistent with the
practice of 2nd lesson. Rather one must think that that the person
before me is Brahma in the form of my son / daughter. One must view all
as expressions of Parama Purusa. Then that is second lesson, otherwise not.
Baba says, "Do you love your son? No, no you don’t love your son. You
love Brahma in the form of your son. By loving your son as a son, you
cannot love the Lord. Where there is the feeling of son, there is no
Lord and where there is the Lord, there is no son. Where you exist He
does not and where He exists you are no more." (SS-1)
Baba's guideline and discourse that day was all about how we should see
Brahma in each and every object. That is the right practice of second
lesson and leads to dhruvasmrti. Merely repeating the mantra itself is
not enough. Side by side one must ideate on the idea that all is Brahma.
Then one's practice of second lesson is proper.
That was the very meaningful teaching Baba was emphasizing that day.
VALUE OF SECOND LESSON
We all know that all thoughts and actions in this world are binding. For
that reason people take birth on this earth again and again, from one
life to the next. That is the way of karma and samskara theory.
By Baba's grace He has blessed us with the process of second lesson
whereby we can live in this world yet not incur further samskaras. In
that case we can live a reaction-free existence and attain liberation,
by His grace.
Such is the great value of second lesson.
At the same time we must remember that second lesson must be practiced
properly, otherwise it will not have any effect.
BABA'S DIVINE EXPLANATION: Part 1
As Baba has explained, merely repeating Guru mantra is not enough.
Second lesson must not be repeated mechanically like one parrot. It must
be accompanied by the feeling and idea that everything and everyone is a
manifestation of the Divine.
If one hastily recites second lesson and feeds a poor person thinking
that the person before me is one helpless beggar, then that second
lesson is not proper and that action will be binding.
Likewise if before eating a sweet one mechanically recites second
lesson, but the whole time one's mind is engrossed in the thought of
that sweet delicacy and thinking "this sweet is so tasty", then that
also is not the right practice of second lesson. In that case one is
incurring sam'skara. One must think that this is Parama Purusa in the
form of that sweet.
Here Baba explains how we should interact with the world and perform our
service.
Baba says, "Action performed for the sake of action is bondage...As
explained earlier the ideation that whatever I do, I do only to please
Parama'tma' is called devotion – Bhaktirbhagavato Seva'. Devotion is
service to God. When devotees serve the universe they do it with the
feeling that they are serving the manifestation of Na'ra'yan'a only to
please Him." (SS-19)
Thus whether we are eating or helping the poor or doing anything on this
earth, then one's mind must be suffused with the idea that everything is
Parama Purusa - the person doing the action is Parama Purusa, the item
offered is Parama Purusa, and the person being served is Parama Purusa.
Then one's action comes within the domain of second lesson. Then one
will not incur new samsakra.
So again the key point is that mechanically repeating Guru mantra is not
enough. In addition, the mind must be suffused with the sweet feeling
that everything is Parama Purusa. That is Baba's divine teaching.
It should be noted that even though there are various Guru mantras, the
meaning behind them all is the same: Everything is Brahma. That is the
singular meaning of second lesson.
BABA'S DIVINE EXPLANATION: Part 2
Here Baba explains further how we are to interact in the world. This is
how we should do second lesson and view the world.
Baba says, "Thus the mind of one, who has established himself in real
vaera'gya (the renunciation of all sensual pleasures) can never become
attached to finite objects. Even in their midst he remains beyond the
reach of their attraction and gains eternal peace after death."
"No truck with water while I bathe
With hairs flowing free
Nor woes nor griefs shall ever scathe
Unwet I dip in sea.
Dedicated to God, night and day
Awake, asleep or dreaming be
No lures of world or desires gay
Dare ever come between He and me."
"Do your work, but do not be caught up with it. A great man said, –"
"Grind spices or be a cook
Touch not the pan you ever
Dance a frog ’fore serpent’s hook
But let it not devour,
In the sea of nectar shall you bathe
Unwet shall remain your hair
Tie the elephant to a spider’s web
Love awaits you there."
"Here the spider represents the little unit, the sa'dhaka. A sa'dhaka
will realize what divine love is like only when he prepares the cobweb
of devotion and ties the elephant, the Supreme Entity to it." (SS-2)
Thus in both of the above poems, Baba is beautifully explaining to us
how with the help of second lesson we can remain permanently linked with
Him, never getting attached to any mundane allurement on this earth. In
that case we will view all as His divine expression and our second
lesson will be perfect. We will live in this world, serving one and all,
totally free of any samskara.
Baba says, "Life is intimately bound up with work. If people do their
work ascribing divinity to each object they are involved with, then,
because of their non-attachment to material pleasure, they cannot be
bound by the reactions of their actions. Life also cannot be the cause
of such bondage, nor for that matter can the reactions of one’s actions
be the cause of future lives. Otherwise a person who lives a long life
will perform many actions, thus creating many reactions of greater
sorrow to be experienced, and one will be a victim of the actional cycle
life after life. (SS-2)
By His grace, the proper application of second lesson allows us to feel
and view one and all as divine expressions. That is the right
application of second lesson. Then there is no question of any worldly
bondage.
In contrast, if one merely repeats Guru mantra like a parrot and fails
to ideate properly, then one will be forever bound in the cycle of
karma, living and dying on this earth again and again and again.
LIFE IS SWEET
One final point to remember in this discussion is that by doing second
lesson properly, then one will be forever floating in His bliss. The
sadhaka will think that everything is Brahma and that all day long he is
interacting with and seeing Baba. Then life is so blissful and sweet.
That is why another name for second lesson is madhuvidya, that practice
or knowledge which brings the sweetness of the Lord's love into each and
every interaction.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace we should make second lesson perfect. We should see Him
in each and every thing. Even when eating sweets we should think this is
Parama Purusa, we should not think that right now I am eating one sweet.
In that case, our life will pass blissfully on this earth and we will
not be bound by any action. We will feel each and every moment that
everything is Brahma. Each cell will be vibrated by this divine idea.
Then life really is blissful.
Baba says “Whatever you speak or do,
Forget Him never;
Keeping His name in your heart,
Work, remembering it is for Him,
And, endlessly active, drift in bliss.”
(CC-2, 'Sadhana', pt#10)
Namaskar,
Virendra
Note 1: MORE POSTINGS ABOUT SECOND LESSON
Here are two posting that are intimately related with this topic of
second lesson.
A) This is one special Baba story how second lesson protects sadhakas
from danger and disaster.
B) This below shows how closely related bath mantra is to second lesson.
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