How Gurukulam Learning Differs from Regular Education, Part 4

Pūjya Svāmī Dayananda Saraswati ji would say: success is your ability to manage your desires…..where your desires do not create any problem for you. This took a while to internalize. In one’s youth the ‘heat of the moment’ is everything, so is ‘being a free-bird’. Spontaneous actions are complimented as natural and normal. But if those very actions cause harm to one’s spiritual growth or keep us tied to sorrow and fear then these are actions stemming from our habitual patterns not our true selves. Those who do what they are supposed to do and do not do what they are not supposed to do are called yathoktakāris. To be such, most of us need to work on ourselves; from a natural state we have to get to a refined, civilized state where we know how to sublimate and manage our desires, so that they are in line with dharma and do not transgress it. For nidhidhyāsanam to happen effectively i.e. for us to be in a meditative state where the one-ness is emphasized, even a small desire causes a problem. So we learn to give up on those desires which create preoccupations of insistence and resistance.

We learn to see things as they are, that the world is: 1. duhkha miśritatvāt 2. anityatvāt 3. bandhakatvāt, that the world is a source of joy and sorrow both, that everything in it is finite and limited, and that it causes bondage and dependency in us. Once we are able to ‘see’ this clearly, we release ourselves from this noose of binding desires, desires themselves are not an issue, as long as they are in line with dharma. Let everything in the world be in its proper place – not less or more – seeing something extra in them is śobhanādhyāsa, which creates binding obsessive desires, an obstacle in meditation. For example knowing the cost of an item is different from thinking that money is everything in life. We can enjoy everything as long as we bring it all back cognitively to ātmā. anātmā can be thought about but it should be understood as ātmā alone ultimately, bring everything back to ātmā always, do not get lost in nāma rūpa but come to asti bhāti priyam; anātmatvaena na chintayaet…concentrate on the IS-ness of everything not on its mere appearance and form. What ‘IS’ is īśvara and hence not to be disturbed, we ought to therefore conform to dharma which is a manifestation of īśvara too, and not go by our impulses alone. These insights and more I gleaned from my gurus.

Before joining the gurukulam my idea of the jnāna mārga was something which was sombre and intimidating. I could not be farther from the truth. The amount of bhakti I witnessed in my time here transformed me from a nonchalant sceptic to a bhakta. We were taught clearly that there are no separate paths to knowledge. Knowledge in itself is the complete vision of who and what we are, and this Self knowledge is the only way to liberation. jnānādaeva kaivalyam. To know we simply need to remove our ignorance and this can be done only by cleansing ourselves via selfless service and a heart filled with love. Bhajans help develop a loving affectionate heart. And what heartfelt evenings those were! Some of the best singers are from the AVG paramparā; Pūjya Svāmīji was not only a wonderful composer but also a great singer full of emotional depth and musical technique. Svāmī Sadatmananda ji’s deep voice and devotion comes through in his baritone singing. Svāmini Sumatmananda ji mesmerized us with her Thevarams and other Tamizh bhajans. Our satsangs would always start with songs, the power of group singing is something to be experienced, something I cherish fondly. Although the days of rock and roll and film music were long past, even classical music lost its appeal when I started studying Vedanta in earnest. Bhajans took over my being. Thanks to my gurus.

Towards this end, so that we get to know ourselves without the added pressures of the transactional world, Pūjya Svāmī Dayananda Saraswati ji would want us to have inner leisure at all times. He did not prescribe too many activities for us, nor was our gurukulam sevā driven as some others are. There is no point in reinforcing the small self which thrives on hustle bustle and comfortably rests on our ego if we are to discard it soon. We were free to come to class, or not. We were free to come to the temple, or not. We were free to attend meditation, or not. We were free to do sevā , or not. All activities rest on our body mind sense complex, it is in very rare instances that we can think of anything out of this apparatus. By reducing such mundane activities and exposing ourselves to śāstra which reinforces a reality that has no bearing on this body mind mechanism Svāmīji wished for us to experience the joy that comes with self discovery through knowledge – it is here yet I do not see it – within my grasp but I lose it quickly! So tenuous!

By relieving us of any expectations of a fixed time table (although all classes, temple activities, and meals went on as per schedule without fail), Pūjya Svāmīji wanted us to become aware of the timelessness and spacelessness of who we actually are. Of being willing to accept what comes spontaneously without worry or fear. The opposite of this type of accepting mind that he was preparing us for, is the questioning mind, the ignorant mind. While the surrendered mind is the bhakta mind, a quiet mind conducive for growth. When we constantly ask why why why, and when when when, we do not dwell on the what at all. Thankfully for most sādhakas this why-ing stops very soon after the initial adjustment period in a gurukulam as it is not encouraged much. Silence is, with a mauna vratam weekly if not more, to enable this accepting mind. This planned silence helps people to stay with themselves and within themselves. Else, there is too much chatter out there.

Today, kids and seniors alike are bombarded with images, messaging, advertisements, shows, entertainment, school work, there is no respite from social media from this bombardment. Gurukula vāsa provides this opportunity to silence the unwanted meaningless prattle. In fact it is quite aspirational to sport a mauna vratam tag and move about in public in these environs. Something academic institutions should adopt. Punishment in the form of silence is ennobling to both the punisher and the punished as it is liberating and elevating, not punishing; it encourages self reflection without reprimanding. Such silence is deep as it stops us from reacting to everything around us. We are freed from expectations. We are also freed from the banality of life – having to talk of what we have eaten or how we liked it, who said what to whom, and more such. We are also able to do better and more dhyāna when silence is a habit we have acquired through daily practice of speaking only when necessary.

Now, a lot of schools recognizing its value have started putting aside some time to train youngsters in meditation and breathing techniques in the West. As usual we in India have to play catch up to adopt our own knowledge systems and integrate them into our education policies and thereby in our institutions. But first we must understand that there are various types of dhyāna, what Vipassana teaches for example varies from what Advaita teaches as mind management. At AVG, meditation is not a means for escaping, it is a means to become objective about the problem, if the body has the problem, I meditate as the sākṣī of the body. Meditation in Vedānta or dhyāna is not thoughtlessness which is prescribed by some for achieving mental peace and quiet. Thoughtlessness is impossible to achieve and more so to sustain as our mind is made up of thoughts, in fact it is its job to think! Dhyāna is about managing our thoughts, being focussed on mahāvākyas, on vedāntika principles, revelling in our real Self-ānandoham, pūrṇoham, etc., it is a reactionless awareness and not the emptying of our minds as espoused by popular groups.

What happens when we constantly dwell on our joy, our completeness, our fullness? We are better prepared to face life’s tragedies. We don’t fall apart at the first blow, we can get up, brush aside the dust and start afresh. We don’t fall apart when this happens again and again either. We simply get up and get going. One area where a gurukulam and śāstra study adequately equips us is in teaching us how to deal with personal losses and tragedies via such knowledge and practices.

Authored by Kavita Krishna Meegama. Published by Brhat.