Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Welcome to the 2014 Raas Purnima issue of e-Sanai

by Sri Sandip Dasgupta


Dear fellow devotees,
Welcome to the Raas Purnima edition of our e-zine. In the last issue, I had stated that the only Guru Dakshina we can give to our Sadguru is to keep the windows of our minds open and listen to the words of the Sadguru and reflect upon those words.  In this editorial, let me attempt to provide some examples of how this can help us in our everyday lives.
Sri Sri Babathakur’s august proclamation is ‘All Divine, for all time, As It Is’. By this He has essentially stated that the same One ‘I-Reality’ is the substratum behind all of us, our actions and behaviors. In fact, Sri Sri Babathakur had asked us to use this proclamation as an axiom in everyday life.  Using this as an axiom, we are to relate all our actions, behaviors and results to the same ‘I-Reality’ that is the substratum amongst all of us.  Let me attempt to reflect on some everyday life events using this axiom:
·     I am upset with a colleague at work, or a family member. Why did I get upset? Because I thought that I had a direct relationship with this other individual.  As a result, I had some expectations out of this person, which were not met – and hence I got upset.  The reality is that I am an individual-I (Kaccha Aami, or Jiva) and my relationship is solely with the ‘I-Reality’.  This other individual also does not have any direct relationship with me – his/her relationship is with the same substratum (‘I-Reality’) that is within me!  So, what’s the point in getting upset at this other individual?
Many years ago, during one of my phone conversations with Sri Sri Babathakur, He had explicitly told me that I had no relationships whatsoever with my sons, my wife, my parents etc. I was quite taken aback by that statement, but luckily, I did not argue with Him at that time. Over the years, I was able to reflect on His words and somewhat understand what He was trying to tell me.  It also made me a stronger individual – so much so, that I was easily able to withstand the loss of my father (earlier this year), without a tear in my eyes.  Had it happened several years ago, I know I would have been devastated.
 
·    I am overjoyed at some turn of events at work or at home. This joy is temporary and false, because I believe that I have a direct relationship with the turn of recent events and therefore I think I am entitled to the rewards of the turn of events.  The truth of the matter is that I am just an actor in this world drama, which is being directed by the Supreme ‘I-Reality’ – and I am supposed to surrender all results to this Pakka Aami (‘I-Reality’) within me.  We need to not get carried away by this temporary joy – otherwise sorrow will follow immediately after that.
 
·    I am mentally very tired and go to bed – but I am not able to sleep.  I am tossing and turning in bed, because my mind is playing the same movie as the one I had been seeing during the day.  Till my mind dis-associates itself from the daily turn of events, I am not able to sleep. Eventually I am able to sleep, and I wake up fresh.  Why do I wake up fresh? Because during my sleep, my mind was not around to keep me busy!
As soon as I wake up, the same dreams begin to play in my mind again – and my freshness begins disappearing.  Where were my thoughts during the period when I was sleeping? They have been stored in the ‘I-Reality’ – much like how the state of a computer process (for our computer science readers) is stored in memory when a context switch happens.  So, during the whole day as events keep happening in life, treat them as actions witnessed in the ‘Supreme-Reality’ and performed by the individual-I (Jiva).


In the previous issue, Mr. Utsav Sen had pointed out that we are all benefitting from reflecting on His teachings during phone satsangs.  This allows us to learn from each other and strengthen our bonds with each other.

So let us please carry on with the Mananam that we have begun.  Let us take that pledge as we remember Sri Sri Babathakur on the fifth anniversary of the departure of His current body.
 
Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur!

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