Unmanifest Forms Manifest Rajen Vakil Bhishma Katha

Unmanifest Forms Manifest

Rajen Vakil

The river of life has two streams. The visible, apparent to the five senses, constituting causes understandable by our normal thinking, and the invisible, having causes that are hidden to our senses and thinking. Thus, every event occurring in our lives has visible as well as hidden causes. Hidden laws work behind the apparent surface of the seen world. These laws can only be studied by observing our thoughts, not by dissecting or analysing events. If we study the powers behind our thoughts, we learn of the laws that govern the chain of events in our lives. The apparent cause of every thought is our ego, but behind the ego are seven hidden causes. These are known as the seven rays of creation. Sage Vasishta lived in a hermitage on Mount Meru. Vasishta means one who has every desirable object. Nandini, the cow of plenty that roamed the forest nearby, granted all his desires. One day, the eight Vasus or demigods came to the forest with their wives. The wife of Dyu, one of the Vasus, saw Nandini and wanted to possess her. Dyu knew the cow belonged to the sage but his wife persuaded him to steal it with the help of his seven brothers. The sage divined what had happened and cursed the eight Vasus to be born on earth and suffer as mortals. The Vasus begged Vasishta to take back his curse. The sage explained that he could not do so but pardoned the seven brothers, who had only obeyed Dyu’s wishes, saying that they would not have to suffer as mortals for long. Dyu, who was responsible for stealing the cow, would have to suffer in the mortal world for long but he would be a great warrior and beget no children. When it was known that Goddess Ganga would be the wife of King Shantanu, the Vasus asked her to help fulfil the sage’s curse by giving birth to them and drowning them immediately after being born. Effectively, they would not have to suffer long in the mortal world. The eighth, Dyu, was born as Devavrata, meaning Divine Will. He took an oath, not one of divine will but of personal will, and was called Bhishma thereafter. Bhishma is the first manifestation of ego. The eight Vasus are different powers within us. These powers can do many things but cannot control the five senses. Once an impulse comes in through the senses, these powers take over the thought formation process. Our culture gives great importance to thoughts. However, the sages tried to develop the powers working behind thought formation. Let’s take the Sanskrit name of each Vasu and see what power it indicates within us: Dhara/Earth: That which holds and supports. The power of holding a thought or a problem can be increased by practising visualisation. Anala/Agni: The power that gives thought a form, making it recognisable. The disciple develops this power so that one day he can recognise that he already had that which he was searching for. Anila/Wind: The wind comes and goes. If it blows when the clothes are wet, they dry easily. This is the power of recalling at the right time. In the midst of battle, Karna could not recall the mantras his guru had taught him. Similarly, when we are hypnotised by anger, we cannot recall what to do. Aha/Atmosphere: Each thought and every word we utter or hear comes with its own mood or atmosphere. One filled with hate will have a negative and heavy mood and one filled with love will have the opposite mood. The disciple develops this force by separating from and observing his moods. Pratyusha/Pre-Dawn Light: The gap between the end of night and beginning of day. It is the power of holding attention in different gaps, such as between inhalation and exhalation, between two thoughts and finally, between death and birth. Dyu/Seen Twilight: Bhishma, or the apparent cause behind every manifestation. Soma/Moon: As the moon reflects the light of the sun, the mind reflects the light of the soul. Dhruva/Pole Star: In every thought there is one centre around which different energies move. It is a psychological counterpart to the nucleus of a cell. These are the eight Vasus or powers or energies behind every manifestation, whether as a thought within us or as an event outside of us. A disciple learns to control these mighty forces by observing his thinking instrument. Attend a Beginners’ Three Step Rhythmic Breathing (3SRB) session today at HELP Library, opposite Central Camera, DN Road, CST from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. Entry is free. Visit www.3srb.org Viveka - I: Stages of truth The seeker experiences truth in two stages – first, there is the feeling of truth and later, there is the seeing of truth. Sage Patanjali calls the seeing of the truth pragna and its unfolding in seven stages has been explained in the yoga-sutras. He calls the feeling of truth viveka and four sutras in the yoga-sutras explain the various aspects of viveka. Let us see how in the story of Shantanu and Ganga, in the Mahabharata, Ganga represents the feeling of truth, and Shantanu our logical mind. Even though they marry, Shantanu cannot understand why Ganga drowns his seven children. The great king Prateep was doing penance on the banks of the Ganga to be graced with the birth of a son. The river, in the form of the maiden Ganga, appeared before him and sat on his right thigh. Seeing her, the King said, "O bearer of good fortune, what can I do to please you?" She answered, "O King, I saw you and have desired you, please do accept me." The king replied that only a daughter sits on the right thigh, the wife sits on the left and so he would only accept her as a daughter in-law, promising that she could marry his son who was yet to be born. Shantanu was born to King Prateep and was crowned king when he came of age. Before retiring to the forests, Prateep told Shantanu of the promise. Shantanu then spent his time meditating upon the river Ganga. When the beautiful and celestial Ganga appeared before him, he fell in love with her immediately. Ganga agreed to marry Shantanu on the condition that he would neither question anything she did nor utter a negative word to her, to which Shantanu agreed. Seven children were born to Shantanu but Ganga drowned each of them in the river immediately after their birth. When the eighth child was born, Shantanu stopped Ganga from doing the same. Since he violated his promise, Ganga left Shantanu and took along with her their eighth son. She came back to return Shantanu his son when he was sixteen. She explained to him that the eight children were the great Vasus who were cursed to be born on earth and she had promised to free them from mortal bondage as soon as they were born.   Concept of Will I spent several years with Swami Ramdularay and one of his many one-liners was: “Main manobal ke paksha mein nahi, atma bal ke paksha mein hoon” (I am not in favour of willpower but spiritual will). What is the difference between the two? Using willpower we try to change the circumstances of life. Many great businessmen and statesmen have willpower. We use our will to control people and situations and the more willpower we have, the more successful we are. Willpower is the force and power with which we are able to fulfill our desires. With spiritual will, we do not try to change outer circumstances but we change from within. It is a kind of self-control wherein we understand ourselves and try to change. We do not spend our force in fulfilling our desires but in understanding them and trying to be free of their hypnotic hold. The first step in spiritual will is a deep acceptance of the facts of life, whereas with willpower we are impatient to change them. Thus in spiritual will there is a state of deep relaxation which brings peace and stillness in even the most difficult situations in life. The Lord’s Prayer says, “May thy will be done”. What does this mean, what is the Lord’s Will? Is there some higher form of will with which we can connect? Every student of spirituality tries to connect with God’s Will. If we observe situations in life, we will find that some of our desires are fulfilled very easily and in some we face a lot of friction, struggle and, more often than not, failure. Is it possible that when our will and God’s Will are together, things move easily and when they oppose each other, there is struggle and failure? The yogi tries to see what His Will is in every situation in life. This art of reading His Will is called ‘viveka’ or the discerning capacity in the scriptures. It lies hidden in all of us and every student works to awaken it. The yogi always keeps his personal will aside so he can allow himself to become an expression of this higher will. In doing so he feels great joy and happiness. Attend a free public lecture by Rajen Vakil on December 9, from 9am to 11.30am at Haveli Temple, JVPD Scheme, Juhu. To register, call 99209 90985 or visit www.3srb.org