38. Answering to the Attitude

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Seeker 1: Shouldn't we keep the body fit for proper spiritual progress? Aren't Hatha Yoga practices essential in spiritual quest?

Master: If you start taking care of the body, there is no end to it. Holding on to the body and trying to cross the ocean of Maya is like sitting on a crocodile and trying to cross the river.

Another situation:

Seeker 2: Are things like Hatha Yoga really necessary? I think Yoga is to be practiced only in the mind, and has nothing to do with the body.

Master: Yes, but keeping the body fit helps in reaching a calm state of mind. That is why Hatha Yoga practices are required for a practitioner in the beginning.

Now is this master just playing with the seekers? If the seeker says Yes, master says No, if seeker says No, master says Yes. This is just a small example with 'Hatha Yoga'. You may see many such Q&A in several books. Let us analyze what this is about.

Very few seekers really want to 'know' something from a master. Most of the seekers only want an answer as per their liking. They already think they know the right thing and only wish to get an acknowledgement to their opinion from a genuine spiritual master. Their question displays their attitude. So, the answers of the spiritual masters are not to the questions, they are to the attitude of the questioner.

Seeker 1 in the above example probably has too much attachment to 'health' and enjoying the pleasures of a healthy body. Many quote "Shareeramaadyam khalu Dharma saadhanam" of Kalidasa like a great ideal they stand for, but their ideal stops with "Shareeramaadyam" and the "Dharma Saadhanam" never happens. Same is the case with many spiritual seekers; their quest somehow takes a long halt in bodily health management and never moves forward. When asked about it they say "Maintaining one's health is necessary for spiritual practice". But the fact is that worshipping the body has itself become their spiritual practice! The path has itself become the goal. Spirituality has become a royal excuse for adoring the body. We can notice the same notion in statements like "Renouncing everything and going is escapism, we have to stay in the world and practice spirituality". This mostly has only become an excuse for staying in the world. The first part "we have to stay in the world" is fully followed but the latter part "and practice spirituality" goes to dogs. Stay in the world, fine, but why give a justification for it with spirituality?! These justifications come unasked only because the Self will be pricking from within that nothing is being done. By making such statements, the mind wants to believe that it is genuinely progressing in spirituality amidst all the indulgence it is into. Also, this person who is saying "Renunciation is escapism" will be usually a person who cannot even give up his beloved chappals.

So, for people like Seeker 1, who ask questions with the hope of getting a "Yes, keeping the body fit is necessary", so that they can happily continue pleasing their precious body, masters usually give a prick with an opposite answer. Because such people ask questions in such a way that they already know that what they are doing is right, and they just want a "Yes/No" vote from different masters, hoping for a "Yes" from most of them.

Seeker 2 is in the other extreme. He is perhaps a beginner like most of us and after reading or listening to many spiritual preaches has become over-enthusiastic. He is talking as if he has already lost his body-consciousness. This is nothing more than an empty show-off out of over-excitement. He is also, perhaps lazy to follow techniques of Yoga which lead to mind control and wants to believe that everything can be done sitting idle. He is not much different from seeker 1, in that, he already thinks he knows the answer and is just expecting an agreeable nod from the master. And he rightly gets a prick too.

If the seekers' attitude behind the above two questions were not biased, then the master's answers would have been interchanged - the second answer would have been given for the first question and the first answer would have been given for the second question. Only a true Guru can see this attitude behind the questions and will know what is to be answered, and therefore the need of a Guru. The seekers, including us, are always after finding an answer that suits our opinion. Our mind works so intelligently to ask questions in such a way that we would get a "Yes" to what we are already doing. We will have attachments to some paths and techniques of spirituality and want to hear that it is the ultimate practice. The paths or techniques are usually not bad on their own, but our obsession towards them makes us stagnate. Just like how a Hatha Yogi's entire attention may get diverted to the well being of the body. A real spiritual master pulls us away from such obsessions and tries to guide us into a middle path - neither belittle the techniques nor get obsessed with them, but practice them as a stepping stone; neither punish or ignore the body like a great spiritual hero straightaway nor stop with the health of the body alone, but keep the body fit with minimum needs and proceed further to tackle the mind; living in a city or in a forest is not the factor, but only the mental efforts to get detached no matter where you are.

I am still getting amazed as to how crucial Buddha's message of middle path was. It has come several times in different ways within this blog itself. It keeps going deeper the more we explore it. Mind seems to somehow stick to extremes in most of the cases, some of them being very subtle, like the one being covered in this post.

Another conclusion of this short post is that the conversations with spiritual masters has to be read keeping the full context in mind. Focusing on their answers alone may give a wrong message to our mind. Because their answers are not just to the questions, but mainly to the attitude of the questioners. If the answers are viewed independently they will lose their original meaning and may even be detrimental. For e.g. "Yes, see, this master said that Hatha Yoga is not necessary. That is why I stopped Pranayama practice"!! This is a misguided practitioner noting only those sentences that suits his opinion without seeing the full context of that sentence, and also ignoring other conversations with the same master that empasize the importance of Pranayama.

15. Rationale Behind Service

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“Why should I give my hard earned money to others? Why should I serve others? I have a family to feed, I earn to sustain my family and I am content with what I have. Then for what purpose should I do charity? Why do scriptures say that service is a must? I don’t see anything meaningful in such exhortations. I think it is only optional. If somebody naturally feels like serving the society, then let them. I do not question their choice. Similarly, I do not feel any great urge to serve others, and that should not be questioned. Charity makes people lazy!”

The great intellectuals of the 21^st century may put forth such arguments supporting their constrictive tendency. Yes, the argument looks logical superficially. And we may say “As you wish” and let them alone. But the fact is that there is a rationale behind service. For the concretized modern minds, this article may provide some logic for their thirsty left brain. And for the people already filled with compassion and service attitude, this article may help to go the next level of detached service and give the crucial link to spirituality.

Astrology is widely accepted by all to be a science, mostly out of the fear of the future. Apart from a small percentage of the population who are extremely and dryly scientific, all accept it at least to a small extent. In marriages, matching the horoscopes is very much prevalent even today in a big portion of the population in India. It is a common notion that when a boy and a girl get married, the ill-effects in the horoscope of one will get neutralized by the good effects of the other. So, the astrologer gives a number for the extent of match between the two horoscopes. If the extent of match is high, then that means it is a good match.

If you look at it carefully it is nothing but statistical averaging of Prarabdha (Fate) of two people. Since two individuals are going to become a strongly attached couple, the fate of one automatically becomes associated with the fate of the other. Further, when a child is born to a couple, the astrologer may say ‘The child will bring good luck to the father’. So, Prarabdha acts on a group of people as a whole when there is a strong attachment among the people in the group. In fact, we do not even need the concept of Astrology for making someone accept this, because this looks like plain common sense.

It is a well known fact in statistics that, when the sample size increases, the standard deviation decreases. If you toss 10 coins, you may get 7 heads and 3 tails. Another time you may get 5-5, another time 8-2 etc. But if you toss 1000 coins several times, every time you are more likely to get closer to 500-500. Because the sample size is more, averaging effects are more and the deviation from the theoretical mean is very little. So, in effect, when the group size increases, fluctuations of the results drastically reduces.

Suppose a person expands his boundaries and begins to think of the whole society as his family, truly from his heart. Instead of attaching himself to a small group, he attaches himself to a much bigger group. Then with the same logic as above, what should happen? Now the sample group size is big and averaging effects are more. And as a result, the fluctuations (Standard Deviation) of the effects shrinks substantially. The person would now be free from both extremes – extreme good and extreme bad. And thus he gets to lead a peaceful life conducive to Spiritual growth. If he was alone (as a single subject) or with a small group (family), because of the tiny sample size, the Prarabdha effects may fluctuate very drastically and go to extremes. He will then be tossed up and down between too good and too bad. This is undesirable for spiritual growth. As we know, Yoga it is to extricate the extremes and be moderate in everything we do (समत्वं योग उच्यते). The middle path of Buddha also emphasizes this fact. Although we can moderate all our personal activities through the practice of Raja Yoga, we cannot guarantee the nullification of the extremes of the unseen ‘Adhi Daivika’ forces. So, Karma Yoga is a trick to shield ourselves from extreme effects (both good and bad) of the unknown future by increasing the sample size! We can only wonder at the genius of our ancestors!

‘Dana’ was the essential aspect of any Vaidika karma without which the karma would not be considered complete. All Yajnas, Samskaras (Upanayana, Marriage etc) and even Shraadha karmas had Dana as an integral part. But today we promptly perform all the rituals but forget this crucial part of ‘Dana’. We perform homas and only feed our own relatives, and when they perform a homa they will feed us back. Give and take policy! The real needy of the society do not receive anything. Not that friends and relatives cannot be called, but that cannot be called as Annadana at all. One may argue that the Purohitas are given Dana. But today the purohitas receive dakshina (fee) and not Dana. By definition, that which is demanded as a fee is not Dana. Even if we consider that as charity, we have to remember that the value of charity does not lie in the amount, it lies in the need of the receiver. A morsel of food given to a hungry is more valuable than the 1000 rupees given to someone already clad in gold ornaments. This way, today's homa has become nothing more than a lunch-party. People have constricted themselves into smaller groups, and as a result, suffer drastic and extreme effects. Even when an astrologer says "Perform a Shanti homa for negating the ill-effects of the Kundali", again only our own relatives are fed. The actual rationale behind the homa, dana and increasing the sample size is forgotten. Vaidika karmas were the means for a householder to expand his boundaries, not further constrict himself into limited groups.

Perhaps if we explain with the modern statistical point of view as given above, the modern generation will understand, accept and change for the better. Supporting this, we can see Vivekananda also say in his Karmayoga lectures that service is done primarily for our growth. Because when we get to lead a peaceful life void of all extremes, it automatically elevates us into serenity and pulls us into spiritual enquiry. Only a mind free of turbulence (of good and bad) can go into deeper questions such as "Why Am I here? What is life? etc" and see the answers on its own. Else it will always be busy in the petty good-bad business of the world. So, welfare of others happens only as a corollary in spiritual quest. Finally all is only for the 'Self' - not the constricted ego but the true Self to be realized.

This is not selfishness in the ordinary sense. Because, here we are indifferent and equally relinquishing both extremes – good and bad. Whereas selfishness in the normal sense promotes constricted ego. This ego would not want to lose good, it wants to eliminate only bad. If you tell such people that Karmayoga will abate both extremes - good and bad, then they will not like the idea. They desperately try to increase only good and eliminate only bad, which is but a foolish effort. Black cannot be without white, good cannot be without bad. Eventually they will have to confront both extremes alone and get tossed up and down with them. The only wise thing to do is to forsake the shackles of both extremes by expanding our boundaries into bigger groups and enjoy a serene life to rise high into the spiritual skies.

Also, service boosts up our confidence like no other activity. We feel the positivity surging in us when we know that the needy have been served. It gives us a power that no one can takeaway from us. Our dialogue will change from the usual “I haven’t hurt anybody, why I am facing so much of problems? boo hoo..” to “I have served all like my own family, let anything come, I can face it”!

But today, after the performance of the homas do we feel even bit of positivity? After the homa is over, we chit-chat with our relatives and in fact will be busy cursing the purohitas. I have myself heard this several times - “That fellow does not have to pay any income tax, he earns thousands in a matter of hours”! What a waste of time, money and effort in the name of Homa! All rituals done systematically, finally only to feel negative and miserable! Common sense crucified by the 21^st century youngsters.

So, in effect, "Service is Expansion". As said earlier, service is done primarily for our own growth towards the real Self, service to others is only a side effect. So, Selfishness remains, but key thing is that the definition of ‘Self’ changes. We happily renounce both the extremes (good and bad) and we move from being body-centered towards being the pure awareness of the Self that we always have been and will be.

There is another crucial benefit if this rationale is understood clearly. When a person serves another, it is very hard to get rid of the accompanying sense of ego. No matter how humble we try to act on the outside, a sense of ego "I am a philanthropist" lingers somewhere deep in us. But if the above rationale is logically clear, then the notion "I helped him, I served him" gets uprooted fully. I can no more be conceited that I served someone, because I know that I am only helping myself. Help to others is happening only as a side effect in my spiritual pursuit! And thus, I am no more worried for the needy, I am not attached to service or its success, but I simply serve. I am least bothered if it fails due to unavoidable circumstances.

Thus, the saints said "Strive for Self-Realization, and everything else will take care of itself. Everyone's primary duty is only to try for Self-realization." Service and Spiritual quest are not two different things. If they are seen separately, then both of them lose meaning.  Service without the spiritual basis is inefficient and will only bring about conceit when successful and worry, restlessness and fatigue when unsuccessful. And if spirituality does not have a compassionate heart, then it has certainly gone out of track - either towards body-health-obsession in the name of Yoga, or towards mugging up scriptures in the name of Jnana. Spirituality that constricts is not spirituality at all. Just like fire that does not burn is not fire at all.

The last thing to be noted is that service is not only about food or clothing. Material charity is only a stage, it does not constitute the whole of service. Buddha was a monk and couldn't possibly give anything material to anybody. But yet, he did one of the greatest services that mankind has ever known. He became the embodiment of peace and just by his words or even mere presence, spontaneously made an entire continent rid of wars in his time. That is the power of 'Be and Make' - the famous statement of Swami Vivekananda.

5. The Story of Mastery

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Before I took the big boost, I had a small hitch with the concept of mastery and slavery, which I would not like to forget. Because without resolving that I would not have gone forward.

I could not accept when spiritual texts said “We have become slaves of sense pleasures”. I didn’t find anything logical with this. After all, I am earning and I am spending. I eat, drink, enjoy because I like to do that and I have enough money to do that. I do that out of free will. I am completely free. Who says I am bound by the senses? I am active the whole day, either in working to earn money, or in purchasing sense pleasures with that money. And I would say, I am active out of my freewill. What is the use of sitting idle? I don’t want to be lazy. I am active completely out of my free choice. Looks sensible? Yes, it did seem perfectly right to me. But, not for long.

Suppose a programmer has created a software application which has several modules. He likes some of the modules more as they have challenging design. So, he creates very detailed documentation regarding the functioning of these complicated modules and neglects the details of the simple modules. Also, when the time for testing comes, he thoroughly tests the complicated modules that he likes more. In other simpler modules he leaves some of the functionality untested. And this is the explanation the programmer gives: “I am not testing some parts of the application out of my free will. It is a waste of time to test them. They are so simple and straightforward and don't even require documentation. I know that those simple modules will run just fine whenever the requirement comes.” Well, I would slightly bother about the future of this young programmer. Because when the time comes, the untested modules, although simple, will fail with plenty of bugs. And by that time the programmer would vaguely remember about this old project of his. And to make things worse, there is no documentation available with him about these modules because he simply didn't write any. Now, something that was ignored because of its simplicity, becomes a very hard nut to crack.

We always function with the ‘activity’ module and ‘inactivity’ module is totally ignored. And we say that we are active out of free will, we enjoy sense pleasures out of free choice etc. But is it true? Have we tested ourselves fully? Or have we done something similar to the programmer above? We say we do not sit quietly because we ‘don’t want to sit quietly’. But the hard truth is that we ‘can’t sit quietly’. There is a world of a difference between the two. Even as we go to bed, when we are supposed to be calm and quiet, mind is going around the world - office, restaurant, theatre and everywhere else. Even after retirement, when we can peacefully relax or contemplate, we cannot sit quiet for a day. Let us face it. We are addicted. We are active out of obligation, not choice. The untamed mind-horse is jumping without control, and we, sitting on it, are yelling "Situation is under control". We want to portray as if we are controlling the horse and are willingly making the horse jump up and down. But the fact is that it is the horse that is tossing us. We always focus only on the 'activity' module, and so, when the genuine requirement comes, the ‘inactivity’ modules fail miserably, because it was untested and taken for granted. We only focused on switching on, but never learnt to switch off, because we always thought that is very easy and can be done whenever we need it. Again, something that was ignored because of its simplicity, becomes a very hard nut to crack. Finally others have to teach us how to calm down and relax. This precisely why "Stress Management" and "Relaxation Techniques" are in great demand today! The two most basic instincts of a living being - sleep and food - are being taught in classes! What a pathetic situation we are in! Even animals do not need diet or relaxation classes!

Similarly there may be some of us who are addicted to the other extreme - laziness. And we will have all the arguments as above – but with ‘activity’ and ‘inactivity’ interchanged. Justifying laziness in the name of free will! Extremes seem to be always bad, and the middle path is always good. I can’t help but getting surprised again and again at this simple message of Buddha. We always look at only two aspects – activity or inactivity – and we brand the former as ‘good’ and latter as ‘bad’. Well, if anything is illogical, it is this notion. Bad, in the real sense is extreme inclination due to obligation to either of them. And good, in the real sense is moderation of both of them due to mastery over them – a nice balance. Obligated inactivity is Tamas, Obligated activity is Rajas. Currently world believes in only these two and the latter is termed as the only ‘good’ thing on earth. Active? Oh, Ambitious person. Inactive? Ah, Lazy chap. And in the process, the precious freedom which is lost is not noticed. Scriptures clearly indicated a third possibility – Sattva – moderation. And to be able to moderate, you have to have command over the senses. This alone, in the real sense, is freedom and mastery. Not helplessly running behind sense objects.

Meditation is not laziness, it is intense activity. What is easier? Getting tossed up and down on the powerful and untamed horse, or keeping this powerful horse tamed and under your command? Meditation is inactivity out of choice, not out of obligation as in Tamas (laziness). If we learn to be inactive out of choice, if we learn to calm our mind at our will, then we will soon see that automatically our activities also take place out of our free choice. Obligation is shackles and Freedom is power, a power like no other. The obligations are never external, but only internal. An emperor of the world may have everyone at his feet and no obligation to anybody, but may be miserably being commanded by his own mind. External obligation looks like an obligation only because of the eventual internal obligation. “My mind is obeying me and performing activities as I order” is an incomparable feeling. We will immediately feel a tremendous current of energy flowing in us. This sense of freedom and power makes the work highly efficient. A Rajasik person cannot compete with a Sattvik person. Because a Rajasik person is active with the shackles of addiction to work. Rajasik person cannot relax even after the activity, let alone amidst activity. He is restless all the time. He is bound to get fatigued soon. Whereas Sattvik person is active out of free will. He can forget work and stay calm and quiet the next moment if required. Why next moment, he will begin to see that even as he performs work, he is relaxed, a sense of calmness is pervading him from the inside. In Sattva, you are your own master. Mind is only a tool. You are not bound by it.

So, I understood that addiction to work will not make me efficient – this is a mistaken notion. In fact, it will only deteriorate me over time. Only detached and free action can be efficient. The greatest message of the Bhagavadgita. The very first step towards this goal is to throw away the mask "What is the use of sitting idle? Let me be of some use to others" and accept that I am working for my sake alone. It is to stop pretending that I am the savior of some people or I am the manager of the world. It is to acknowledge the fact that I am working only because I apparently feel happy doing it. Helping others, serving others is just happening as a side effect. Action is not bad by itself, being active after retirement is not bad by itself. What is bad is the mask we wear saying we work for others' sake, and hiding our slavery and addiction to action. Once this mask is forsaken, then we do not have to do Karma Yoga. Whatever we do with this knowledge within, that all we do is only for the self, is automatically Karma Yoga. You will no more count how many got benefited by your action, or wait for an appreciation by others. Because you know very well that you are working for your own sake, and there is nothing great in it. As a consequence this will eventually reduce our addiction to activity, bring about mastery over both activity and inactivity, and elevate us towards Sattva.

Next - The Strong Weakness

3. The Extrication of Extremes

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As I somehow surpassed the miraculous mistake and the negativity it caused, I faced another problem. I straightaway went to the other extreme. I started thinking too lightly about Self-Realization and too highly of myself. I started talking like a philosopher - “Everything is Brahman, It is all one”, without even having the faintest idea of what it meant. I thought that talking like this, imitating spiritual masters is itself the ‘Sadhana’ – spiritual practice.

When I learnt bowling in cricket, perhaps when I was 11 years, I remember the haughtiness it created in me. Everyday I was bombarding the back wall of my house with my bowling (of course, with tennis ball) for hours. I began imagining myself in the Indian cricket team because I thought my bowling was furiously fast. All the elder children in the neighborhood were playing cricket next to my house almost daily. I wasn’t included in the play as I was too young and a mismatch in their amidst. But then one day I thought it is time for me to show my greatness to all these ignorant people. That day I challenged my brother (who is elder to me by several years) that if they allowed me to play with them, I would get him Out within minutes. They laughed and put me in. After a while I got my chance to bowl. I thought before he would wink his eyelids, my bowling, which was supposed to be furiously fast, would have uprooted the wickets. I bowled and bowled and bowled. My brother hit and hit and hit. All were laughing and I was perplexed. I didn’t know what was going wrong. How can he be hitting my bowling so easily which is lightning fast?

Similarly, my self-proclaimed spiritual wisdom, which was a result of overconfidence and taking Self-Realization very lightly, was shattered whenever situations were against me. My fake wisdom would be available only if everything outside was going fine. I could bowl only to a dead wall. A batsman came and easily thrashed my bowling. One small difficulty comes and I am blown away to fours and sixers. I was into easy-chair-philosophy with no practical implications.

When I woke up from this blunder as well, I saw that the root cause is again the same! Instead of focusing at the process, I was only focusing at the final product – being Buddha, being Ramakrishna, being Vivekananda etc. Last time I was dejected by looking at the extraordinary feats that they could perform. But now I have gone into over-confidence by imitating their simplicity and philosophy. So, I now understood that straightaway focusing at the final product, instead of the process and plan, can stagnate me in two ways – Either by giving a sense of difficulty, or by deluding me that it is so easily done. Then I noticed that both these extreme feelings trouble us in our lives with almost every aspiration. If we see a great vocalist singing brilliantly, one aspirant may get so astounded that he will say that it is impossible to sing like that and give up on the first day itself. And another aspirant may get overconfident by looking at the ease with which the vocalist sang, and boast that it is very easy and even he can do it. Only a few will accept to themselves “It is possible, but I have to practice regularly for a long time” and follow this practically. And these are the ones that will become great singers one day, not the former ones who took to extremes. Buddha’s simple but powerful message of following the middle path!

The mistake was simple and hence the solution too. I am seeing Buddha only after he became a Buddha. I am seeing Vivekananda only after he became Vivekananda. And I went into the delusion that by imitating them in their final form, I will become like them. I conveniently ignored all the struggle and effort that they had put in, even though they had explained those in detail. But No. I want everything easily done.

All the genuine masters have said repeatedly, “I am not special, even you can become like me, all can attain realization, you alone are responsible for your destiny, follow these steps…”. But every time we promptly ignored that part of their teachings. Even in spirituality we want crash courses and fast food. We want techniques which will give us Nirvana in a month if not a week.

Anyway, now that the daydream of overconfidence and delusion was also over, I started thinking ‘What next?’. I have now seen both the extremes leading to blunder. Now let me follow the middle path. Let me find out what could be my first baby step.

Next - The Big Boost >>