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MAHARSHI'S GOSPELBOOK I

IWORK AND RENUNCIATION

Disciple:What is the highest goal of spiritual experiencefor man?

Maharshi:Self-realization.

D:Can a married man realise the Self?

M: Certainly. Married or unmarried, a man can realisethe Self; because hat is here and no!. "f it !ere not so, but attainable by some effort atsome time, and if it !ere ne! and had to be ac#uired, it !ould not be !orth pursuit.$ecause, !hat is not natural is not permanent either. $ut !hat " say is that the Self is herand no!, and alone.

D:% salt-doll di&ing into the sea !ill not be protected by a !aterproof coat. his !orld in!hich !e ha&e to toil day in and day out is li'e the ocean.

M:(es, the mind is the !aterproof coat.

D:So then, one may be engaged in !or' and, free from desire, 'eep up one)s solitude? $u

life)s duties allo! little time to sit in meditation or e&en to pray.

M:(es. Wor' performed !ith attachment is a shac'le,!hereas !or' performed !ith detachment does notaffect the doer. *e is, e&en !hile !or'ing, in solitude. o engage in your duty is the truenamaskar+? and abiding in od is the only true asana.

D:Should " not renounce my home?

M: "f that had been your destiny the #uestion !ould

not ha&e arisen.

D:Why then did you lea&e your home in your youth?

M: /othing happens except by 0i&ine dispensation.

1ne)s course of conduct in this life is determined by one)sprarabdha+?.

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D:"s it good to de&ote all my time to the search for the Self? "f that is impossible, should merely 'eep #uiet?

M: "f you can 'eep #uiet, !ithout engaging in any otherpursuit, it is &ery good. "f that cannot be done, !here is the use of being #uiet so far asrealization is concerned? So long as a person is obliged to be acti&e, let him not gi&e up

attempts to realise the Self.

D:0o not one)s actions affect one in after-births?

M:%re you born no!? Why do you thin' of otherbirths? he fact is, there is neither birth nor death. 2et him !ho is born thin' of death anthe palliati&e thereof3

D:Can you sho! us the dead?

M: 0id you 'no! your 'insmen before their birth thatyou should see' to 'no! them after their death?D:*o! does a grihasthafare in the scheme of moksha+?? Should he not necessarily

become a mendicant in order to attain liberation?

M:Why do you thin' you are a grihastha? Similarthoughts that you are a sannyasin+?!ill haunt you, e&en if you go out as a sannyasin.

Whether you continue in the household or renounce it and go to the forest, your mindhaunts you. he ego is the source of thought. "t creates the body and the !orld, and itma'es you thin' of being the grihastha. "f you renounce, it !ill only substitute thethought of sannyasa+?for that of grihastha, and the en&ironment of the forest for that ofthe household. $ut the mental obstacles are al!ays there for you. hey e&enincrease greatly in the ne! surroundings. "t is no help to change the en&ironment. he onobstacle is the mind; it must be got o&er !hether in the home or in the forest. "f you cando it in the forest, !hy not in the home? herefore, !hy change the en&ironment? (ourefforts can be made e&en no!, !hate&er be the en&ironment.

D:"s it possible to en4oy samadhi+?!hile busy in !orldly !or'?

M: he feeling 5" !or') is the hindrance. %s' yourself5!ho !or's?) 6emember !ho you are. hen the !or' !ill not bind you; it !ill go onautomatically. Ma'e no effort either to !or' or to renounce; your effort is the bondage.

What is destined to happen !ill happen."f you are destined not to !or', !or' cannot be had e&en if you hunt for it; if you aredestined to !or', you !ill not be able to a&oid it; you !ill be forced to engage yourself init. So, lea&e it to the higher po!er; you cannot renounce or retain as you choose.

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D:$haga&an said yesterday that !hile one is engaged in search of od 5!ithin), 5outer)!or' !ould go on automatically. "n the life of Sri Chaitanya it is said that during hislectures to students he !as really see'ing 7rishna 8Self 9 !ithin, forgot all about his bodyand !ent on tal'ing of 7rishna only. his raises a doubt !hether !or' can safely be leftto itself. Should one 'eep part-attention on the physical !or'?

M: he Self is all. %re you apart from the Self? 1r canthe !or' go on !ithout the Self? he Self is uni&ersal: so, all actions !ill go on !hetheryou strain yourself to be engaged in them or not. he !or' !ill go on of itself. hus7rishna told %r4una that he need not trouble to 'ill the 7aura&as; they !ere alreadyslain by od. "t !as not for him to resol&e to !or' and !orry himself about it, but to allo!his o!n nature to carry out the !ill of the higher po!er.

D:$ut the !or' may suffer if " do not attend to it.

M:%ttending to the Self means attending to the !or'.

$ecause you identify yourself !ith the body, you thin' that !or' is done by you. $ut thebody and its acti&ities, including that !or', are not apart fromthe Self. What does it matter !hether you attend to the !or' or not? Suppose you !al'from one place to another: you do not attend to the steps you ta'e. (et you find yourselfafter a time at your goal. (ou see ho! the business of !al'ing goes on !ithout yourattending to it. So also !ith other 'inds of !or'.

D:"t is then likesleep-!al'ing.

M:Likesomnambulism? uite so. When a child is fastasleep, his mother feeds him; the child eats the food 4ust as !ell as !hen he is fully a!a'e$ut the next morning he says to the mother,

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1r again, ta'e the instance of the cinema. Scenes are pro4ected on the screen in thecinema-sho!. $ut the mo&ing pictures do not affect or alter the screen. he spectator payattention to them, not to the screen. hey cannot exist apart from the screen, yet thescreen is ignored. So also, the Self is the screen !here the pictures, acti&ities etc. are seengoing on. he man is a!are of the latter but not a!are of the essential former. %ll the samthe !orld of pictures is not apart from the Self. Whether he is a!are of the screen oruna!are, the actions !ill continue.

D:$ut there is an operator in the cinema3

M: he cinema-sho! is made out of insentientmaterials. he lamp, the pictures, the screen etc., are all insentient and so they need anoperator, the sentient agent. 1n the other hand, the Self is absolute consciousness, andtherefore self-contained. here cannot be an operator apart from the Self.

D:" am not confusing the body !ith the operator; rather, " am referring to 7rishna)s!ords in the =>st &erse, Chapter @""" of the Gita+?.

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D:$ut !e ha&e to deal !ith a physical body in a physical, !a'ing !orld3 "f !e sleep !hile!or' is going on, or try to !or' !hile asleep, the !or' !ill go !rong.

M: Sleep is not ignorance, it is one)s pure state;

!a'efulness is not 'no!ledge, it is ignorance. here is full a!areness in sleep and totalignorance in !a'ing. (our real nature co&ers both and extends beyond. he Self is beyond

both 'no!ledge and ignorance. Sleep, dream and !a'ing states are only modes passingbefore the Self: they proceed !hether you are a!are of them or not. hat is the state ofthejnani, in !hom pass the states of samadhi, !a'ing, dream and deep sleep, li'e the

bulls mo&ing, standing, or being unyo'ed, !hile the passenger is asleep. hese ans!ersare from the point of &ie! of the ajnani+?; other!ise such #uestions !ould not arise.

D:1f course, they cannot arise for the Self. Who !ould be there to as'? $ut unfortunatel" ha&e not yet realised the Self3

M: hat is 4ust the obstacle in your !ay. (ou must get

rid of the idea that you are an ajnaniand ha&e yet to realise the Self. (ou are the Self. Wathere e&er a time !hen you !ere not a!are of that Self?

D:So, !e must experiment in sleep-!a'ing or in day-dreaming?

M: 82aughs9.

D:" maintain that the physical body of the man immersed in samadhias a result of theunbro'en 5contemplation)Aof the Self, may become motionless for that reason. "t may beacti&e or inacti&e. he mind established in such 5contemplation) !ill not be affected by thmo&ements of the body or the senses; nor is disturbance of the mind the forerunner ofphysical acti&ity. Whereas another person asserts that physical acti&ity certainly pre&entssamadhior unbro'en 5contemplation). What is $haga&an)s opinion? (ou are the abidingproof of my statement.

M: $oth of you are right: you refer to sahaja nirvikalpasamadhiand the other refers to kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. "n the latter case the mindlies immersed in the light of the Self 8!hereas, the mind lies in the dar'ness of ignorancein deep sleep9; and the sub4ect ma'es a distinction bet!een samadhiand acti&ity after

!a'ing up from samadhi. Moreo&er, acti&ity of the body, of the sight, of the &ital forcesand of the mind and the cognisance of ob4ects, all these are obstructions for one !ho see'to realise kevala nirvikalpa samadhi.

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Ahe !ord, contemplation, is often used loosely as referring to a forcedmental process, !hereas samadhilies beyond effort. *o!e&er, in the language of Christian mysticism