How Gurukulam Learning Differs from Regular Education, Part 10

One major confusion regarding advaita vedānta is that we consider the world as māyā, as non-existent. So it should not matter how we live in the world at all, right? This can pave the way to cynicism, to negativity. Mithyā is not an illusion, it is instead magic!! Magic because it is there; I see and feel it yet it is not real i.e. it is temporary and not permanent, it ultimately depends on another entity for its existence. It is adhiṣṭhāna ananyavat, not separate from the entity it originated from, which is brahman. Without vastu i.e. brahman there is no mithyā, which means that whatever I touch, see, smell, feel and hear is brahman with a name and form, ascribed with word and meaning. Yet māyā is indescribable; sat asatbhyām anirvacanīyam, we cannot describe it as truth or false, it is an in-between reality, it exists but not really, not totally. For the sake of our understanding let us take three realities to appreciate the world and ourselves = subjective, empirical, and absolute. It takes years to rid oneself of the pratibhāsika subjective satyam where we project and judge ourselves and the world constantly, to live fulfillingly in the empirical vyavahāra world, we must give up this subjectivity altogether. We are in actuality absolute ānanda svarūpa, so not being joyful is not acceptable, we are neither the subjective nor the empirical realities. The more one smiles and laughs, the more one is closer to brahman, to oneself, to ātmā.

Citta śuddhi and citta naiścalyam are our goals whatever the obstacles in our empirical reality. These are the means to mokṣa. Using Vedas as pramāṇam (means of knowing our Self) and śraddhā (belief pending understanding as Svāminī Svatmavidyananda jī often says) in guru and śāstra vākya which is essential, we can easily raise our consciousness to higher levels, this is something that is available to all, irrespective of their jāti, varṇa, kula. Whatever we do in our lives, we can land at this spot and move ahead and beyond. Whoever we are. So the crying over ‘caste’ and ‘injustice’ is ultimately futile if one does not take advantage of the śāstra and guru in practising this lifestyle, as mokṣa is not denied to anyone.

When we know what comes next at every step, we do not waste our precious energies in trying to figure out what to do or in doing the wrong thing; boredom, angst, depression, there is no room for such millennial or Gen Z problems when the body and mind are occupied doing heavy lifting, physically and mentally. Gurukulavāsa involves washing our clothes, doing our dishes, cleaning our rooms, performing sevā, helping sahapāṭhis, doing homework, engaging in classwork, studying taxing subjects such as Pāṇinīan grammar and abstract concepts from the Upaniṣads and the Śrīmadbhagavad‌gītā. There are no off days or holidays, this routine is 24/7.

During festivals and celebrations, we would pitch in to wash and clean the dining and the lecture halls, assist in decorating the temple, serve in the kitchen and on the grounds, help in putting up mango leaf toraṇas, flower garlands and kolams in the campus. There was always so much to do everyday. Most of us would steal an extra 10-15 mins of sleep on a light day and that would be a luxury. With this kind of back to back rigorous routine it is near impossible for the mind to wander and for the body to ask for other pleasures. The body mind sense complex starts to work as one unit in a focused manner, like a laser beam. Sharp and effective, this is a tool we can use for the betterment of oneself and society.

Why are we not training our young adults to be like this? We have a history of a gurukula paddhati, which we have given up on even after political independence, for an alternative that does not care for the whole person or the society, but only for creating robot-like creatures to supply bodies for a job market. A short stay at the gurukulam helps us develop our dinacaryā, perform our nityakarmas, adhere to a spiritual practices, showcases importance of doing one’s duties versus fighting for rights, it enables us to relax as we know what is coming next, and empowers us to allow things to happen in their own time. When we do not do the right thing we do the wrong thing as Svāmī Sadatmananda jī often cautions. For example if we do not cook at home everyday, we will tend to eat out and our health and hygiene is thereby affected, we will resort to eating fried or unhealthy stuff, literally junk. So we must train ourselves to do the right thing by indulging in everyday ācāra vyavahāra which is beneficial to us and everyone around us. Doing something daily will shape a habit which will become our character and develop into our sādhanā.

A dinacaryā handholds us psychologically speaking, it enables us to have a wholesome permanent relationship with the infinite, as whatever we do, we do with an attitude of gratitude and offer it to īśvara. This practice gives a certain space, a certain surety to life, there is a lack of dependency emotionally or psychologically, aloneness becomes enjoyable and we are never lonely. Of course the physical and material benefits of learning Saṃskṛtam, of Pāṇinī, of chanting daily, of eating moderately, of eating sātvika āhāra, all this need not be reiterated as it is well known. Eating, sleeping, moving about, doing everything in moderation helps a student to meditate better and thus getting rid of sorrow caused by worldly issues.

युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु

युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दु:खहा

yuktāhāra-vihārasya yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu yukta-svapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā

When people talk of dietary restrictions in vaidika dharma and take strong positions for or against say vegetarianism, this posturing comes from a place of ignorance. We are a community which has given birth to interlocking interdisciplinary systems of knowledge which when studied organically assist us to actualize our total potential. A sātvika diet for example is recommended for a sādhaka, a brāhmaṇa who is following a certain ācāra and is in pursuit of the Truth. So the confusion and the question, ‘why is onion or garlic proscribed when they are so good for health’ is moot. A sādhaka would know that garlic is probably good for certain bodily constitutions, that it is good for the sthūla śarīra only, the gross body, which falls under annamaya koṣa, but is not advisable for intake if one proposes to rise above this koṣa to subtle energy fields, which belong to the ‘higher’ bodies. It is thus not recommended for someone who is following a certain vrata etc. We tend to conflate WhatsApp acquired information which is mostly a western gaze superimposed on what we were taught as children; which is the essential bhāratīya jñāna paramparā coming to us from our land, rooted in our understanding of our ‘bodies’; which says there are five bodies not one (Another matter that we Vedāntins say there is no body, where is the body, show me the body!!)

With increasing study and meditation my value judgments and expectations decreased. My happiness was no longer dependent upon external conditions or other people. Eliciting validation from friends and family too decreased drastically. This is a wonderful outcome of gurukulavāsa as most children in this day and age are exposed to too much social media which is all about validating our weak selves. It also gives rise to unnecessary shobhanā adhyāsa i.e. the unbridled fascination for an object thinking that it can give me security and happiness, this false superimposition is shobhanā adhyāsa. An extension of that would be that I value all superimpositions that arise from my mind - a certain style, a look, a book, which I end up calling as good ‘taste’. How would one judge ‘taste’ or ‘fashion’ objectively? How is one ‘taste’ better than the other? But this is how we think. We give extra value to the ephemeral, rather than to satyam śivam sundaram which is and always will be. Once I understand what this Truth is, what reality is, why would I need anything else to satisfy my aesthetic needs?

Another area which I became aware of consciously while I was at the gurukulam is my mad love for agni. As Hindus we owe a lot to agni devatā, to fire - for knowledge, for food, for yajña and pūjās, and we must ensure that we keep our fires lit everyday. We must make sure that they are not put off. This would mean we do not blow off candles at our birthday parties. It is literally the worst form of celebration for a Hindu. From light to darkness - the opposite of tamaso mā jyotirgamaya! At the gurukulam there are fires everywhere! From the Gaṇapati homam in the morning at 5.00 am onwards to the various pūjās, inaugurations, decorations, kāryas, nothing is done or even feasible without agni devatā. Most of us of course lit our morning and evening dīyās in our rooms too. The festival of Kārtika Pūrṇimā was an unforgettable experience that still flashes in front of my eyes, more than Dīpāvalī, we celebrated this southern version of Deva Dīpāvalī in such splendour - there were dīpās everywhere, and after dusk the whole āśrama glowed in the grace of agni, that from the heavens must have looked like one well lit lamp beckoning the devās, from the dark forests of Anaikatti. Lighting so many lamps will have that effect on you - of knowledge of awareness and of understanding the hitherto un-understood issues. When gentleness and sensitivity is requested of our behaviour all callousness and aggressiveness stops, all individualism drops.

I realized also that I need to be cautious and that I should tread carefully, and when in doubt I must follow tradition else keep mum. I have not built any temple, and I am not managing one, so if I do not like their rules, I go to another one. Simple. But to force my way in just because it suits me and my ego, now that is not the way of a vaidika. We are the people of least disturbance to others (Pūjya Svāmījī Dayananda Saraswati, Arsha Vidya) This understanding came my way much before Sabarimala happened, and it helped me appreciate Ayyappa’s stipulations with a calm heart. How much of this nuance is taught in schools and colleges; the values of respect, sensitivity, gentleness in dealings, giving the other their due, accepting diverse practices, without jumping the gun and shouting for ‘my rights’ and trampling all over established customs and norms, especially when they are not harmful to the practitioners themselves? As the Shankaracharya of Puri says, if you believe in the fruits of a certain action then you must believe in the process of that action, of eligibility i.e. adhikāritvam for that action too, this is a complete formula. It is not something to have a go at, in bits and pieces, and hope for it to be effective.

So the good news for many more people who are busy in their daily lives and doing their duties diligently is:

स्वे स्वे कर्मण्यभिरत: संसिद्धिं लभते नर:

स्वकर्मनिरत: सिद्धिं यथा विन्दति तच्छृणु

sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ sansiddhiṁ labhate naraḥ

sva-karma-nirataḥ siddhiṁ yathā vindati tach chhṛiṇu

Authored by Kavita Krishna Meegama.

Published by Brhat.