Letter # 112: Happiness

Happiness is simply the absence of the "birds of negativity", which are basically sadness, fear, and anger. Release these "birds" from the cage of your heart and you will be happy. How to release them? Simply by naming them and then talking about them, or diarizing them.
God bless you on your life's journey.

Letter #111: Conscience, Soul and Spirit...

A few days ago, a spiritual devotee, named Taj, sent me an e-mail from England. He asked me some very challenging questions.
He wrote, “During my trip to Toronto with Mahraz Ji, in May 2009, I asked him a question. I asked, ‘Sometimes when I’m about to do something that is not right I get a voice or feeling telling me that I shouldn't be doing that. So who or what is that voice or feeling?’
Mahraz Ji replied, ‘It is your atma (soul).’
And recently, I was having lunch with one of my business suppliers, an Englishman. We began to discuss spirituality and Mahraz Ji.
Based on what I had learned from Mahraz Ji, I mentioned to my supplier that it’s your soul that tells you if you are doing something wrong. My supplier retorted, ‘No. That is your conscience.’ Dr. Bhopal, what is the conscience and how would we refer to it in Punjabi? Also, in a conversation that you were having with someone in Glasgow you said that in Christianity the soul and spirit have different meanings. When Christians refer to the soul and spirit what are they referring to? "

Taj, those are good but tough questions! I'll try to answer them to your satisfaction.

Firstly, we need words to communicate but words also cause much confusion.
Living languages are always evolving, whether they are Punjabi or English.
Old words occasionally acquire new meanings, and new words, usually imported from other languages, often lose their original meanings.
So before discussing conscience, soul and spirit, let's try to understand their proper meanings. If we don’t do so then we are at risk of sinking into a quagmire of unfruitful argument, especially when more than one person is involved in the discussion.
Such was the case with Alice in Lewis Carol’s delightful tale, Alice in Wonderland. Here’s an illustrative excerpt from that story:
`Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on. `I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know.' `Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter. `You might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see"!' `You might just as well say,' added the March Hare, `that "I like what I get" is the same thing as "I get what I like"!' `You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'

Now, let me get back to Taj’s questions. Taj asked for the Punjabi word for conscience. It is zamir. In Punjabi, conscience can also be described as “dil dee awaaz”, which means voice from the heart.

Now, let’s look at the English word conscience. The word entered the English language around 1225 AD, having been adapted from the Latin conscientia, which means "knowledge within oneself, a moral sense," from com- "with" + scire "to know." But in my view, the key word in the above definition is oneself. What is the self?

The word self comes from the Proto-Indian-European (Sanskrit) word *sel-bho-, meaning "separate, apart".

Vedic spiritual literature, which forms the basis of most Indian religions, and which influenced Plato’s (428-328 BC) philosophy, and in turn Origen’s (185-254 AD) mystical Christianity, speaks of the individual living entity (jivatma) as being eternal, being subject to re-incarnation, and being part of the Super Soul (paramatma).

The jivatma is the "I". Modern psychology has done away with the concept of the soul, even though the Greek word psyche, from which the word psychology has come, itself means soul.

Modern psychology speaks of the ego as the self. The concept of the ego has replaced earlier conceptions of the soul.

In Freud’s psychology, the conscience is part of the super ego. The super ego judges the ethics of a person’s thoughts and actions.

Psychopaths have “holes in the super ego” – they have little conscience. While modern psychology is grappling with the perennial problem of psychopathy, ancient spiritual texts are full of descriptions of such characters and how to deal with them e.g. Ravana, Hiranyakashipu, and Satan.

Now to Taj’s other question: “When Christians refer to the soul and spirit what are they referring to?”

I mentioned Origen above. He was an early father of the Christian church. He believed in the immortality of the soul and in its re-incarnation but Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) rejected that. view

Instead, Augustine postulated that animals and plants do not have souls like humans do. A nimals and plants are deemed to have life - nephesh, which is a Hebrew word for life. In Augustine's view, animals and plants did not have an immortal spirit and they didn’t go to heaven (see http://www.comereason.org/theo_issues/theo070.asp) In this view, man has ruah - Hebrew for soul . Ruah is the immaterial part of man, the spirit of man (Numbers 16:22). Doesn’t ruah sound very much like rhu, the Punjabi word for spirit.

In Christianity, much discussion, debate, religious politics, translation and mistranslation, and interpretation and misinterpretation of Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin words has led to inevitable confusion.

By contrast, Indian spiritual ideas, based as they are on the Vedas and the ancient Sanskrit texts have fortunately retained most of their precision in ideas and terms. But there is much debate here also. While Mahatma Buddha rejected the existence of the soul, calling it anatma (non-self), after the “neti-neti” (Letter-58) philosophy of Bhagat Prahlada you will notice that even in his own title, albeit imposed by others and not him, the word atma appears (maha – great; atma –soul).

In the Bhagavad Gita, the glittering jewel of the Vedas, Lord Krishna speaks of the soul: “Some look on the atma (jivatma) (soul) as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all.” Bhagavad Gita 2.29.

Beyond the atma (jivatma) is the Supreme, the paramatma. The Supreme is all pervasive and eternal. The Supreme’s cosmic play is manifest through two types of energies - the all-blissfull spiritual (yogamaya) and the not so blissfull material (mahamaya).

The atma (jivatma) is a minute, eternal, living part of the paramatma. If the paramatma is the fire, then the atma (jivatma) is the spark of that fire. If the paramatma is the father, then the atma (jivatma) is the child of that father. Just as a father fulfills the desires of the child, so does the paramatma fulfill the desires of the atma (jivatma). If the atma (jivatma) wants to enjoy paramatma’s material energy, then paramatma will oblige the atma (jivatma) with suitable material machinery to do so, namely the mind and the body.

If the atma (jivatma) wants to merge into paramatma's spiritual energy, then the paramatma will by His Grace arrange that also. Bhakti (devotion) is the quickest path for the atma (jivatma) to merge with the all-blissfull spiritual energy of the Supreme.

In Vedic philosophy, the life form is comprised of three parts - atma (jivatma) (soul), man (mind) and the tan (body).

For most humans, consciousness of the the atma (jivatma) lies dormant. Humans think of it but generally dismiss it.

In most humans, the mind rules the roost, and is very active. Humans are continually submerged in a sea of thoughts, feelings, and actions. Sometimes, thoughts, feelings and actions touch the conscience (the inner self – the atma (jivatma)). Even so, we often proceed with the guilt producing act, thinking that no one is watching us, but the Koran reminds us otherwise: “There is no soul without a watcher.” (86:4).

The body is sometimes active and sometimes not (partly conscious and partly unconscious), and is ruled by the mind. The mind is very anxious about the body. Any sign of ill health, aging, or the prospect of death sends most of us into anxiety.

Most of us are hoplelessly lost in the material maze. The material life offers fleeting pleasure and frequent pain. Material gains are followed by losses, and vice versa. On this see-saw of gain and loss, we must lose eventually. Losses are inevitable. All these losses compound our grief.

Ultimately, we lose our bodies also. We think of death as the end of everything, and not as a door to the next life. Lord Krishna asks that even if we don't believe in re-incarnation, and even if we believe that life is only a product of certain temporary configurations of chemicals (the vaibhasika philosophy), why lament? "If however, you think that the soul (or the symptom of life) will always be born and die forever, you still have no reason to lament, Oh mighty-armed one." Bhagavad Gita 2:26.

The lesson in all this is that, in order to alleviate our suffering, we must learn to adopt a spiritual outlook. We must find ways to better connect with the spiritual.

Spiritual teachers appear on this material world in order to help us to make our lives better by connecting us to something higher – the spiritual.

Christ said, "I am come that ye might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Guru Nanak sings, “Kahai Nanak, gur prasadi jina liv lagi; tini wiché maya paya.” Translated this means: Kahai Nanak – says Nanak; gur - spiritual teacher; prasadi – grace of; jina - those persons; liv – meditative trance; lagi – achieve; tini – they; wiché - in; maya - the material world; paya - obtain.” In full, the stanza means: Nanak says, “Those who can achieve the transcendental state by the grace of the Spiritual Teacher, can reach God even while being immersed in this material world.”

My dear Taj, the topic is immense and I have only limited time and knowledge to explain it fully. In this letter, I have touched only the surface of this deep well of knowledgein but many thanks for asking about conscience, and concepts of the soul and the spirit .

Letter # 110: Man: Beastly and Divine

SATSANG
By
HIS HOLINESS MAHARAJ TARLOCHAN DARSHAN DAS
On
OCTOBER 4, 2008:
At
9291 GORMOND ROAD RICHMOND BC V7E 1N6 CANADA.

Maharaj-ji began by explaining that a person (virajiva) exists between the spiritual (divyajiva) and beastly (pasujiva) domains. Like an ever-swinging pendulum, a person’s mind alternates between two poles – that of the spiritual and the beastly. The spiritual pole is ahead of man, and the beastly is behind. In the latter domain, man’s mind wavers much, being immersed in doubt and conflict. In order to move forwards, towards the spiritual domain, man must lead a life of dharma (spiritual principles). This is possible only by seeking out spiritual knowledge and by doing good works. As life passes by quickly, there is no time to waste. Fortunes will wax and wane, as will health. Nature will present its challenges for it also has cycles that are forever changing. In order to survive this sea of change, we must strive for the spiritual. Spiritual knowledge is obtained by visiting places of worship and doing spiritual practice, such as meditation. Maharaj-ji explained that the Satguru (Pure Teacher) advises contemplation (simran) of God’s Name (Naam). Without such practice, says the Satguru, man is like a poisonous snake. Why like a snake? The reason is that when a snake drinks even milk, it turns the milk into venom. So whatever good man does turns into poison unless man adopts a spiritual practice.
Further explaining the beastly (pasujiva) qualities, Maharaj-ji reminded us that the lion is considered the most vicious of predators. Yet the lion will kill only one or two or three creatures, perhaps even eight. By contrast, man kills millions. Hitler’s and others’ policies led to the 2nd World War, in which many millions were killed. Empire builders such as Genghis Khan and his grandson, Halaku Khan, killed thousands. Indeed, the horses of the cavalry of Halaku Khan trampled over thousand of dead bodies. Maharaj-ji said that instead of ruling over others, man must rule over his own thoughts. His Holiness reminded us of the many spiritual teachers who have come to preach the method of controlling thoughts and desires, holy personalities such as Ram, Krishna, Moses, Mahavir, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Nanak, and others. These personalities were born of women, just as we are. They came as men but left as divinities. It is by listening to them and practicing what they taught that we become liberated from the beastly (pasujiva) mode of being. And becoming liberated is very important, for the beastly mode of being is not good.
Maharaj-ji pointed out that many lament that they suffer even though they read the scriptures and practice the spiritual path. In their hopelessness, they abandon God, saying that they have got no relief. But have such persons really looked into their hearts? For that is where they need to look. Also, they need to understand the true basis of contentment and suffering.
His Holiness explained that several factors determine our contentment and suffering, in other words our fates. The first factor is karma (the fruits of deeds). The saints believe in this factor. Good deeds, done in the past and present, yield good fruit. Karma is unavoidable. All of our existences, in past lives and present, involve karma. Life is about give and take. All our relationships are characterized by giving and taking – between parents and children, between relatives and friends, between employers and employees, between business persons and customers, and even between spiritual preceptors (gurus) and disciples.
The second factor that determines our contentment and suffering is graha (astrological influences). Maharaj-ji emphasized that the saints don’t believe in graha but those persons that do so consult horoscopes and wear talismans such as semi-precious stones in efforts to better steer their lives.
While discussing graha, His Holiness narrated the spiritual story of Hanuman, the Monkey-King and staunch devotee of Shri Ram. It is notable that, although Hanuman had half-animal qualities, he was not beastly for his mind was firmly towards the spiritual – his guru, Shri Ram. Hanuman represents the power derived from firm faith (bhakti), and that power existed in the past, is here now, and will be in the future. Shri Ram, in his spiritual pastime of defeating the evil king Ravana of Lanka (nowadays Sri Lanka), sent Hanuman to Lanka with the mission of wreaking havoc there. Ravana was a learned and powerful being, but his mind was beastly for it was directed towards evil. In his unquenchable lust, Ravana, in his wily ways, had kidnapped Srimati Sita, Shri Ram’s wife. Shri Ram instructed Hanuman to go to Lanka to free Sita. Hanuman had the power to fly and he flew to Lanka. On reaching the palace in Lanka, he set the tip of his tail on fire. Lashing that fire around, he unsettled Ravana. In the ensuing havoc and destruction, Hanuman released many prisoners. One set of prisoners that he freed was that of the powerful personalities of the Zodiac (horoscope). Ravana was so powerful that he had imprisoned even them. The high priest of the personalities of the Zodiac, being much grateful for being freed, wanted to grant Hanuman any boon that he would desire. Hanuman declined, saying, “Oh chief, I cannot accept anything. How can I ask you for something when I do not even ask anything from Shri Ram, whose devotee I am. I never need to ask anything from Shri Ram for He, being all knowing, knows my needs. I accept whatever He gives me, and nothing from anyone else. Therefore, I will not ask anything or accept anything from you.” The priest would not accept Hanuman’s answer, and implored him to obtain permission from Shri Ram. Hanuman-ji agreed to do so. Hanuman did not want to fly back as his mission was incomplete. Also, Shri Ram would not enter Lanka at that time. In order to invoke Shri Ram, Hanuman meditated deeply on Him. Consequently, Shri Ram appeared before Hanuman, who then put his quandary to Shri Ram. On hearing it, Shri Ram replied, “Oh Hanuman, the priest’s offer comes from the love he has for you. Just as I love you and give you what you need, so the priest wants to give you a boon out of love. Go ahead and accept the boon.” Hanuman now thought carefully about what to ask for. He said to the priest, “I ask this boon - that the forces of the Zodiac would have no influence whatsoever on those who are bhaktas (pure devotees) of the Supreme Lord.” The high priest had to grant this boon. Note that Hanuman did not ask for anything for himself, only for devotees. Hanuman’s boon ensured that, from that day, those who are pure devotees of the Supreme Lord would be completely immune to the influences of the Zodiac (horoscopes). Thus those who are pure devotees, no matter what path they follow – Muslim, Christian, or Hindu - are not influenced by the horoscope as long as they remember the Lord’s name (Naam) with complete faith. Maharaj-ji implored the sangat (congregation) to be firm in bhakti (faith), stating that that it is our vacillation that results in lack of spiritual progress. When in faith we take one step forward, but when we enter doubt, we take one step backwards. Thus there is no spiritual gain.
Maharaj-ji said that the third factor that determines our contentment and suffering is samskara (cultural heritage and upbringing). This samskara influence come first from the family of origin, then from society, and then most importantly from the holy scriptures and holy teachers. The true saint teaches in One God. One God is above all demigods, all angels, and above all trinities. That One God is the Grand Ruler of all. However, different nations worship that One God differently, according to culture and custom. Some describe God as He, and others as She but God is neither. God is a Force, One Force. Maharaj-ji explained that just as one river is never like another, just as one lake is unlike another, just as one ocean is unlike another, just as one mountain is unlike another, just as one animal is unlike another, and just as one leaf is unlike another, even though from the same tree, so the One God has no match. Just as Moses is only one, and there will never be another; just as Mohammed is only one, and there will never be another; just as Nanak is only one and there will never be another; so God is only One and there will never be another. Just as each entity is unique, so God is Unique. Maharaj-ji explained that due to the limitations of our language and samskara (cultural heritage and upbringing) we accord the One God different eponyms and gender. But God is One and the Same; only His messengers are different. Maharaj-ji explained that Guru Nanak clarified this understanding when he distilled down God’s Name to Truth. Guru Nanak’s message is parralled in all the great religions. In his hymn, the Japji Sahibi Guru Nanak graces us with five principles of living: 1. a life of spiritual conduct (dharm khand). 2. seeking spiritual knowledge (gian khand). 3. bringing humility into one’s heart (sharam khand). 4. doing good deeds (karm khand), and 5. making efforts to move towards the heavenly planes (sach khand, the abode of God Himself). These principles are paralelled in Islam, where the Islamic Shariat (Islamic law) resembles dharma khand (spiritual conduct) and the Islamic Hakikat (Realm of Truth) resembles sach khand (heavenly plane). The principles are also paralelled in other devotional paths.
Maharaji-ji said that Guru Nanak’s major message is that we should avoid false and meaningless rituals. Guru Nanak led by personal example, when even at the tender age of nine years, he took a stand and refused to wear the sacred Hindu thread, the janeu. His refusal was because the priests of the time were hoplesssly steeped in bloody animal sacrifice, a practice that Guru Nanak abhorred. Maharaj-ji spoke of the incident when Guru Nanak, later in his life, happened to be in the town of Sultanpur where he met a maulwi (a muslim priest) who was busy cleaning a spot off his clothing before entering the mosque to pray. Guru Nanak asked him why he was so worried about the spot. The maulwi said that his clothing had to be immaculately clean beofre he could offer prayers to God. When Guru Nanak noticed that the spot was red in colour, he asked the maulwi what happened. The maulwi replied that the red colour was from a spot of blood from a goat that he had sacrificed on the day before. In his haste to get to the mosque, the maulwi had forgotten to change his robes from the day before. Guru Nanak composed a spiritual couplet on the spot, the message of which is, “Oh man, you worry about removing the spot of blood on your clothing before you pray to God but what about the blood you have taken into your body? How will you clean that?”
In another spiritual anecdote, Maharaj-ji recited a conversation between Guru Gobind Singh and the emperor of India of the time, who happened to be Islamic. The emperor was of the opinion that even the biggest of sinners could go to heaven on the adoption of the Islamic faith. Guru Gobind Singh said, “Wait a little and I will respond to that.” Then the Guru pulled out a gold coin embellished with the emperor’s seal and called his disciple and gave it to him. The Guru whispered something in the disciple’s ear. The disciple left. The Guru and the emperor resumed their conversation. After a while, the disciple returned and said that the merchants in the market would not accept the gold coin. The emperor was shocked to hear that a gold coin bearing his own seal was not rejected. So the emperor had his treasurer examine the coin’s purity. The coin turned out to be impure. The Guru said, “Now I will respond to your statement. The gold coin bore your own seal but was not accepted in the market as the coin was impure. Then how would an impure man be accepted in heaven?” Maharaj-ji said that he gives this historical anecdote in order to emphasize that we must purify our hearts. What we show to the outside world should be what is in our hearts. We must not be two-faced. And we must speak compassionately, not sharply. We must be warm and loving. It is not sufficient to have an intellectual knowledge of the scriptures, we must live by that knowledge. Only by doing so can we honour our Saviour.
Maharaj-ji concluded by saying that we have to face forward to the spiritual (divyajiva) domain and not backwards to the beastly (pasujiva) domain. He also said that all those listening to this message should not think that he knows everything. He affirmed that if he himself ignores his own message, and does not swing the pendulum of his mind forward to the spiritual (divyajiva) domain, he feels that he has wasted his day. He said that we should spend a minimum of 10% of our day in spiritual practice. He quickly added that it is possible to spend 100% of the day in spiritual practice. One does this by connecting the remembrance of God (Naam simran) to one’s heartbeat. As the heart beats automatically, and as the breath also comes automatically, so we must learn to practice the habit of remembrance of God (Naam simran) continuously and automatically. He declared that this is his personal experience and that this is the only real way to true bliss.
Following the discourse, Maharaj-ji and his musical troupe further delighted the rapt audience by singing the hymn (shabad) “Mere Ram”.

God Bless. Allah Hu Akbar. Hare Krishna. Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhala.

Translated, abridged and adapted on October 13, 2008 by Das Pracharak Dr. Jaswant (www.jasbhopal.com)