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PRAYING IN DIFFICULTY
basic needs are essential to maintain the body and the family. Such a
request is not like the extra worldly desires and it is infact a part of the
divine mission alone. Jesus asked God to favor Him on several
occasions but each favor was a part of the divine mission alone.
Misery the Real Preacher
By begging to God for food, the inherent traces of ego, induced
through the Advaita philosophy will also disappear. God also tastes the
sweet love in such prayer. If the soul is really God, it will not be
affected by the misery in anyway and moreover it will enjoy the misery
with more vigor since misery is not available in the upper world. You
may detach from the misery by self-analysis but that much is not
sufficient to declare the self as God. The characteristic of God is not
detachment to misery but it is the entertainment in misery with more
interest. For a soul, even detachment is not possible for a long time and
the soul suffers with depression. Then, where is the question of
enjoyment of the misery for which God comes down with a lot of
interest in misery?
Totapuri was an Advaita philosopher and gave a long speech to
Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa regarding the unreality of the world.
One day he got a terrible pain in the stomach and his self-attainment
was not firm for a long time. Unable to withstand the pain, he tried to
kill himself but even the suicide-attempt failed. Then he realized that his
soul is controlled by God’s power and is not the ultimate controller.
Then the pain disappeared immediately. The soul develops ego during
its lifetime by helping other souls. The ego is the most dangerous snake
that enters the self without your notice. The ego hides itself in the
subconscious state of the mind and you will feel that you are not
egoistic at all. It is like the first stage of cancer, which is generally not
noticed. This hidden ego is smashed when you kneel before God on
your four legs and beg for the basic necessities. The saint practices this
by begging for food from householders so that the concept of donor
shall vanish. God alone is the ultimate donor.
Kunti asked the Lord for difficulties so that her devotion to God
may improve more and more. She was the first soul to recognize the
difficulties as the real preachers of devotion to God. The second soul
was Myself who asked God to create problems. You know I did long
prayers to Lord Shiva to grant difficulties so that My divine knowledge
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and devotion improve more and more. God was astonished in these two
cases since no soul requested God for difficulties so far since creation!
As a soul, My devotion to God improved tremendously during the
difficulties. As God, I enjoyed the difficulties in this world, which are
not at all possible in the upper world. You can take Me in whatever way
you like.
Correct Context of Three Philosophies
God and soul are the two components mixed homogeneously to
form a single phase called the human incarnation. As the single phase I
can call Myself as soul as well as God. Two metals acting as
components are homogeneously mixed to form a single phase called as
an alloy. Gold and copper mix freely to form the single-phased
commercial gold. As a phase it is one but as components it is two. These
two aspects are Advaita and Dwaita. Gold is the major component and
copper is the minor component. This is Vishishtadvaita, in which God is
treated as the major component (Angi or Sheshi) and the mixed soul is
treated as the minor component (Anga or Shesha).
Please note that the most important point in these three schools of
philosophy is: These three schools are dealing only with the human
incarnation (alloy) and not God and any general soul, which are
obviously different and separate. If you keep gold and copper side by
side, there is no debate because they are clearly seen as two different
and separate items even by a small kid. These three schools deal only
with God mixed with a selected soul (Son of God) and do not deal even
with God and a liberated soul, who is very close to God. When the two
items exist clearly and separately, there is no debate of whether they are
one or two, even if they are very closely associated. But when those two
items get mixed and appear as one, the debate of one or two or two-in-
one comes into the picture. Shankara says that it [human incarnation] is
one [God] because the devotee should worship the human incarnation as
God alone without the idea of the soul. Even the commercial gold is
called as gold because gold is the predominant component. The
presence of copper is neglected. Without copper, gold cannot be ductile
and cannot be made into a chain. Similarly, without the soul, God
cannot be perceived and cannot be meditated upon. The angle of
Shankara is the correct attitude for any devoted soul towards the human
incarnation. But when God exits that soul [which was the human
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incarnation], the soul is no more God. Arjuna even cremated the human
body of Krishna. When God left Parashurama, the latter was insulted. In
such occasions the devotee should come to the concept of Dwaita of
Madhva. By following the middle Vishishtadvaita, the devotee should
respect the soul also since it is the minor component, which cannot be
isolated from the major component. This path is Dwaita with the final
effect of Advaita. Without knowing all this main essence and the basic
contexts of these three schools, the followers are quarrelling with each
other, applying a particular school in another context. The wrong
context is the case of God and a separately existing soul, which are
made the subject of these three schools. There is no debate in the case of
two separate blocks of gold and copper even if they are very closely
associated. When the context itself is gone, where is the debate, which is
based on the wrong context? The fruits have fallen in the drainage and
the quarrel was for the useless vacant basket!
Neglecting copper as a trace of impurity, Shankara treats the
commercial gold as pure gold. The lady who wears the golden
ornaments should think that the ornaments are of pure gold. Madhva
says that the copper atom present in the commercial gold is not the atom
of gold under any circumstances. This is also correct from the point of a
scientist who analyzes the gold and studies the properties of gold and
copper separately. The views of the lady and the scientist are quite
different and both the views are correct in their own contexts. The view
is based on the context and here the reference is very important. A
devotee should treat the human incarnation as absolute God and serve
God directly. Otherwise the very purpose of the human incarnation is
lost. But at the same time, when the human incarnation exhibits
properties of the human body and the human soul like birth, illness,
hunger, human feelings, death etc., the devotee should become a
scientist and must realize that God is beyond these properties.
Sometimes the Lord exhibits these properties extensively to test your
firm faith and devotion in Him. During such tests, you should realize
Dwaita of Madhva and should stand firm in the tests. Both Advaita and
Dwaita are essential like the two eyes, but you should not open both the
eyes simultaneously in the case of the human incarnation. Depending on
the context, you should open the corresponding eye.
Ramanuja maintains both these concepts together since He is the
bridge between Advaita and Dwaita. Since gold and copper cannot be
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separated and isolated, it is Advaita. But gold is not copper and copper
is not gold and therefore it is Dwaita. He treats the world, which
consists of inert materials and souls, as the body of God. For a scholar,
the body is like a shirt according to the Gita. The inert objects (Achit)
and souls (Chit) are like different colored threads of the shirt. The world
is like the blue color [attribute], which is an adjective (Visheshana) and
God is like the flower which is the substratum (Visheshya) and both are
inseparable according to Ramanuja. The inseparable aspect brings
Advaita and the two separate items establish Dwaita. All this is only in
the case of the human incarnation. There is no debate in the case of pure
gold and pure copper.
Difference Between Similar and Same
God as the Creator of this world is untouched by the world and
remains as pure gold. The world never touches God and stands as a
separate scene (Drishya) and God (Drashta) is entertained by the self-
imaginary world, which is like a cinema. The entertainment on watching
the cinema (Drik) is only one aspect of the seer (Drashta). The seer is
also listening to the dialogues of the cinema. Now from this angle, God
is the hearer (Shrota) and the dialogues of the cinema are the heard
(Shravya). The process of hearing (Shravana) is not the process of
seeing (Drik). Therefore, awareness is only the process of knowing the
object and it is not creating, controlling or destroying the object. The
soul can know the object but cannot destroy, control or create the object.
The soul can create, know, control and destroy its imaginary world. But
in the actual world, the soul can just know the objects and neither create,
control nor destroys the objects. Knowing the objects is the common
point to both the actual and the imaginary worlds in the case of the soul
or God. But the creation, maintenance and destruction of the actual
world are not in the hands of the soul and are not common points. These
three are only similar points. It means that as you create, maintain, and
destroy your imaginary world, God also creates, maintains and destroys
the actual world. It is a simile but Shankara expressesed it as a metaphor
in the case of atheists to uplift them. The metaphor should be taken as a
simile alone.
If a marriage-agent [matchmaker] says that the girl that he has
found for you is a rose flower, it means that the girl looks like a rose
flower. It does not mean that the girl is actually a rose flower. The soul
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and its imaginary world can be taken as the best simile for God and the
actual world. The simile helps you understand the concept and at any
time you should not think that the simile and actual concept are one and
the same. A similar point is not a common point. Therefore, the
creation, control and destruction of objects are the three points of
similarity between the actual world and the imaginary world. God and
soul are similar; not the same. The actual world and the imaginary world
are similar; not the same. The only common point is that God and the
soul (assuming that the soul is a perfect scholar) know the actual world
and imaginary world. This common point cannot make God into a soul
or the actual world into the imaginary world.
Purpose of Service to God
The Lord does not need your service in anyway for His work. He
is only testing your attitude of sincerity in His work by taking help from
you in His work. You should not think that He really needs your help.
You should also not think that you need not help Him because He does
not need your help. Both these are the two branches of ignorance. He is
actually testing your extent of sacrifice towards Him and thus He does
not need your help in reality. But based on this reality you should not
withdraw your help to Him because He is testing your attitude and the
extent to which you work for Him. When the examiner asks a question,
the student should not think that the examiner is really ignorant about
the answer and is in search of the answer from the student. The student
should also not keep silent thinking that there is no need of giving an
answer to the examiner since the examiner already knows the answer.
Both these views of the student regarding the examiner are wrong.
Neither did Rama need the help of the monkeys in the battle nor the
monkeys kept silent, without helping Rama thinking that Rama does not
require any help in reality. The reality is that Rama did not require any
help and that the monkeys helped Rama to the best of their ability to
prove their real interest in God.
Defects in Different Religions
The essence of all the religions is one and the same since the same
Universal God has given it. The religions are different from each other
because the religious leaders, who are human beings, create the material
that surrounds the essence. The skeleton is one and the same and there is
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Added to this, like ghee to the fire, the concept of only one present
human birth in these religions has developed tremendous interest in
God, due to fear. In Hinduism the belief of several future human births
brought lenience towards spiritual field. If you allow the candidate to
pass the examinations in several attempts, no seriousness can be
developed. If you say that one has to pass the examination in a single
attempt, the education system will be perfect. Observing the other
religions, Hindus must rectify these two defects.
Christianity and Islam have their own defects. They should also
rectify their defects by observing Hinduism. Selfishness, pathetic scenes
and fear develop their belief in God. If you want to develop interest in
God by saying that Jesus suffered for your sins and by showing the
pathetic scene of crucifixion, it is not real and pure love. When you
develop interest in Jesus since He suffered for your sins, your love for
Him is only based on selfishness. Your love for Jesus should be based
on His divine personality and knowledge, without any trace of
selfishness. Similarly, these two religions try to create fear in the minds
of human beings by mentioning about the permanent hell. Fear should
not be the basis of the love for God. Love should be spontaneous and
without any selfishness in a free atmosphere. The reason for this
deficiency in these religions is due to the absence of metaphysics in the
scriptures. Their scriptures mainly deal with the development of proper
human behavior to balance society. Such scriptures are mainly dealing
with ethics and not with the philosophy of God like the nature of God,
path to please God etc.
The analytical development in the spiritual knowledge is not much
seen in their scriptures. They have confined God to the path of Pravritti
alone. Accordingly, God is simply an administrator bound by His own
rules. He is just a judge to deliver the judgment and a jailer who jails the
sinners. He is just a mechanical examiner, without any freedom or love
for devotees. He cannot go beyond the rules of justice. Ofcourse, all this
is good for the initial development of human beings. Mere happy life in
society is not sufficient because such a life is not eternal. The life after
death should be also analyzed. Mere judicial procedure is not the
ultimate to be known about God. The love towards God, the sacrifice for
the sake of God, the concept of the contemporary human incarnation for
the sake of His most beloved devotees etc., are points of higher
importance than mere limitation to the petty family. The narrow view of
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