Sadhguru:
“Yoga of Devotion. Arjuna asked, ‘Who is considered more perfect –
those devotees who worship you and are thus always united with you in
love, or those who worship the eternal and indestructible and
unmanifest?’ The Lord of Sri said, ‘Those who surrender themselves to me
and fix their total devotion on me and worship me eternally with their
minds absorbed in me, I consider them to be the most devoted to me.
However, those who are devoted to the unmanifest, that which is beyond
all senses, all pervading, they also attain me. But those who are
absorbed in the unmanifest face excessive tribulation, as for the
embodied being the path of that course is difficult to tread. But, O
Arjuna, those whose minds are absorbed in me in total faith and who are
engaged in devotional service unto me, for them I give deliverance from
the cycle of birth and death.’”
You cannot experience that
which is unmanifest – you can only believe in it. Even if you believe in
the unmanifest, it is going to be very difficult for you to develop and
keep up intense love and devotion towards that which is not. It is so
much easier for you to hold your focus of devotion towards that which
is. At the same time, he says, “If someone is capable of holding their
devotion to the unmanifest, they will also attain me.” When he says
“me,” he is not talking about himself as an individual, he is talking
about that dimension which includes both the manifest and the
unmanifest. “If someone takes that route, they will also come to me, but
it involves much tribulation,” because directing your emotions towards
something that is not here is difficult for you. You need a form, a
shape, a name – something that you can relate to in order to steadily
keep up your devotion.
“As for the embodied being, the path of
that course is difficult to tread.” This means, if you, as a being who
has a body and an intellectual discretion, dedicate yourself to an
unmanifest dimension of existence, every day, your intellect will
question whether you are really going somewhere or wasting your time.
For beings who are not embodied, it is more of a possibility, because
they do not have to struggle with their intellect – they go by their
tendencies. If they are spiritually oriented, they generally orient
themselves towards the unmanifest – not out of conscious choice but out
of their tendencies. Therefore, for a disembodied being, a being who is
beyond the limitations of the five elements, who is beyond the
limitations and the discretion of the intellect, that is a more suitable
path. But for an embodied being, it is better to direct your emotions
towards something that you can relate to. That is why he says, being
focused on him as a live person, it is much easier to attain. Looking
for the unmanifest can become a philosophical drama within yourself,
without you making an inch of progress.
“But, O Arjuna, those
whose minds are absorbed in me in total faith and who are engaged in
devotional service unto me, for them I give deliverance from the cycle
of birth and death.” This not only Krishna said – any being who is fully
realized always says this in one way or another. When people ask me
questions like, “Will I get mukti in this janma [birth]?” I tell them,
“Just get onto my bus. You don’t have to drive – you just sit in the
bus.” But your ego is such that you want to do the driving too. There
are many people who sit in the backseat and keep driving – usually, they
only apply brakes.
If you are in a certain presence, your
attainment at the last moment is not an issue. The question is how
beautifully you live the remaining part of your life. Even if you have
lived a stupid life, still ultimate release will not be an issue once
you are in a certain presence, unless you really screw it up in the
final moments of your life. If even at the last moment, you do not have
the necessary sense and you get into a huge sense of anger, hatred, or
desire, life may perpetuate itself. Otherwise, once you made the mistake
of sitting with me, when you die, you will be dead for good. That is
what he says here too. These translations into English are not quite
accurate. What he actually says is, “If at least for one moment, you are
truly absorbed in me, you will attain.”
He tells Arjuna,
“Don’t bother about the result of the war. You are here. You have to
fight. Whether you win or not is a question of capabilities and other
factors. Just fight, and do it well. If you win, enjoy the kingdom. If
you die, anyway I ensure your ultimate wellbeing.” Again he is making
clear that when it comes to external situations, he cannot ensure
everything. With the internal, there is absolute guarantee. But he says,
“I will make sure there will be no more birth for you.” This is true
with me too. I can ensure that you will not have another birth, but I
cannot ensure that you will have a breakfast tomorrow. That may look
ridiculous to a logical mind, “If you can ensure such a big thing, why
can’t you ensure the breakfast?” That is the reality of life. I cannot
ensure tomorrow’s breakfast for you, but I can ensure your ultimate
wellbeing. When it comes to inner dimensions, I can completely take
charge. When it comes to outside situations, there is no guarantee –
everyone has to strive.
Source Link :
http://blog.ishafoundation.org/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/bhagavad-gita-krishna/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment