Satsang with Shri Chandra Swamiji Udasin

January 2017

“The main factor in sadhana is vigilance. One has to be very vigilant during meditation." (15.01.2017)Swamiji during satsang

11.01.2017

Question: I understand that the purpose of meditation is to stop the mind, but it is very difficult.

Swamiji: It is more difficult to stop all the modifications of the mind than to become the Prime Minister of a country. But it is possible. The main two factors to stop all the modifications of the mind are regular and daily practice and dispassion from what is temporary and transient.

There is a sutra in "Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras" in this respect. It is: “Abhyasa vairagyabhyam tat nirodhah,” which means, “Through practice and dispassion the mind can be stopped.”

In the Gita, when Arjuna asked how to control the mind, Lord Krishna gave a similar reply: “Abhyasena tu kaunteya vairagyena ca grhyate”, meaning "O son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by constant practice and by dispassion."

Dispassion does not mean renunciation. Dispassion implies inner detachment from the worldly objects and situations which are temporary and transient. Most of the Vedic Rishis to whom the Vedas were revealed were householders.

Question: How do we know if we are detached from something?

Swamiji: When one is detached from all that is temporary one does not feel pleasure by getting these things, and one does not feel pain or become sad when such things are taken away.

There is an Urdu couplet, “Duniya mei hun, duniya ka talabgaar nahi hun; Bazaar se guzara hun, kharidar nahi hun,” which means, "I live in this world, but I do not desire anything of this world; I am passing through the marketplace, but I am not a buyer.”

Desire is the main obstacle on the path of God-Realization. Most desires fall into one of the following three categories: vit ishana, or desire for money and wealth, kaam ishana, or sexual desire, and lok ishana, the desire for respect and recognition. Of all the desires, the desire for respect and recognition is the most difficult to get rid of.

In one of his couplets saint Kabir says, “Kanchan tajana sahaj hai, sahaj triya ka neh; maan badai irsha durlab tajana eh," which means, “It is relatively easy to overcome the desire for riches and sexual desire, but rare is the one who is able to overcome jealousy and the desire for recognition.”

 


Satsangs: Nov. 2016 | Sept. 2016 | August 2016 | July 2016 | March 2016 |