How Gurukulam Learning Differs from Regular Education, Part 3
How does such a transformation happen; from being self centered to knowing that Self as the centre of everything; not overnight, definitely not easily. It takes paying attention to every moment of our waking life, to everything we think, do, and speak, to be able to reach a stage of spontaneous action wherein we are in line with śāstra and dharma. In line with how our gurus live. In line with the Vaidika civilization which turned vyavahāra into an art of living through inner engineering. Where we hug closely the fact that I am brahman, learning by questioning constantly ‘who am I”? And studying from the masters.
To do all this my body-mind complex needs to be well oiled and functioning at best capacity and efficiency. Even in an instrument, say a Veena etc., if the strings are not tuned properly soulful music does not emanate, when wound too loose there is no sound at all, or when wound too tight the strings may break. So also, a well disciplined instrument that is our body is like a friend, if let loose it can easily turn into an enemy. Our body mind sense complex is a prime example of a tool that can be used for our benefit by disciplining it, else it can be detrimental in the long run.
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मन:
uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ
We are our own friend and our own enemy, it is all about how we train our minds to think. When our guru puts us in a higher orbit our job is to remain there and not to come crashing down! Spirituality is not blaming the world for my problems but instead seeing that my problems are due to my own attitude, my outlook and my lack of understanding of who I am. Spirituality i.e. adhyātma aka adhi kṛt ātma aka the Self put forward or in the lead, is starting to own up to the problem, by owning up to myself. We give permission to the world to disturb us. I, who am nitya śuddha buddha mukta svarūpa, can never be troubled by anyone, so if someone ends up troubling me then I am missing the fact that I am brahman. What can be done to sat cit ānanda? Nothing!
Physically there may be pain, there may be a problem such as a headache (which is usually temporary and most of the times can be cured), but the sorrow that it generates is psychological, stemming from ‘why me, why always me’, this feeling can be put to rest in peace when we understand who we are. Pūjya Svāmīji would exhort: Do Not Judge Yourself Based On The Feelings You Have. We are not our feelings. Feelings are fleeting, what is permanent is our svarūpa. Not remembering this is the root cause of all our troubles.
Being spiritual or being on this path to ‘find’ oneself also means that we know when (and how) to evoke the oneness and when (and how) to deal with the manyness. A great sage is one for whom a clod of clay, a stone, and a piece of gold are all equal, says the Bhagavad Gītā, but we must keep in mind that this attitude is purely mental and cognitive, not transactional. Such a person is called samaloṣṭāśmakāncanah. This equality is not in terms of perception or transaction. Only in terms of cognition. This person knows that he cannot build his house with gold! He knows very well the qualities of clay, stone and gold. He simply does not value one over the other in his mind. In his mind they are of equal value since he knows that they stem from the same oneness, that they are manifest forms of the same brahman.
This is where we often make a mistake – we mix up the orders of reality; the empirical and the absolute are often confused. We assume we must not fight back against adharma or that we must remain passive because it is our lot, we believe in fatalism or that it is our prārabdha, that we cannot resort to force or strength when faced with injustice. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Our knowledge of oneness remains all through our transactions; only our responses are at a different level while our appreciation of unity is at another level.
We are often fooled into assuming that a great spiritual leader ought to look and talk in a certain manner, especially in a low soft voice, with a smile plastered on the face always, showing no other emotion. But what is actually important and talked of in the śāstra are the internal traits, of how the sage is internally – sthitaprajña – not how he is externally. So, a great sādhu or a yogī may don kāśāya yet not fit our idea of how they are supposed to behave or look. The onus is on us to prove ourselves right.
Finally what I learnt from śāstra is something that I could not find anywhere else despite a lot of spiritual shopping in my early years. I learnt that I am siddha vastu. That I do not have to travel to far flung places or even to the Himalayas, hide in a cave or climb a mountain top to realize who I am. I do not have to participate in certain religious ceremonies or immerse myself in Kumbh Melās to know myself better. I do not have to frequent Rishikesh or Kashi for ‘n’ number of days to polish my being. That which I am seeking is already available in the here and now, nothing needs to be done.
I simply need to know. Only knowledge is needed? Indeed. Why? Because I am merely ignorant of who I am due to adhyāsa, the superimposition of the false on my real Self, once I know this via adequate knowledge I will be in the presence of my real Self, I will see it instantly. Like my glasses, which I forget are on my head and I look everywhere else for them until someone points this fact out.
In other subjects we study theory first and then there are practicals to apply that theory into practice, and of course what we study is something different from who we are. Here there is no separate theory followed by practicals, it is all in one. The śravaṇam of learning who I am is in itself the practicals, transforming me the ignorant person into a knowing self. The act of listening (the study of śāstra) to who I am is embodied knowledge that removes my doubts, fears, insecurities, and leaves me a fulfilled person. And here, I am the subject of what I seek, here the seeker and sought are one and the same, so I cannot objectify this study, what I study and what I get after study are the same – when I study chemistry I do not become hydrochloric acid, but when I study Vedānta theoretically which is about the self, in practice I ‘become’ that Self i.e. I am now aware of mySelf and am able to revel in it.
Yes, Vedānta would tire us out, our neural networks would be on an overdrive and we would be extremely exhausted at the end of the day. Bhajans at satsang or a classical dance performance would cheer us up. Or a brisk walk around the campus at night, while trying to steer clear of the wild boars who ran amok as a family and into anything on their path, all this would serve as a pick me up for an early start the next morning.
Authored by Kavita Krishna Meegama. Published by Brhat.