"Awareness is the thread that takes you through the transitions of life."
Radhika Shah Grouven
Author, Mastering Pranayama
This article is a summary of Yoga Vasishtha Section 1: Dealing with Dispassion. It expounds on the qualities of a sincere seeker. Are you an adhikari?
The Yoga Vasishtha, a Vedantic text, is part of the celebrated Indian epic Ramayana. The Ramayana tells the tale of Lord Rama, rightful heir to the throne of Ayodhya, who is forced in to a fourteen year exile in the jungles. The Yoga Vasishtha is a fascinating dialogue between Lord Rama and his spiritual guide Vasishtha. It is divided in to 6 parts. The first section Vairagya Prakaranam deals with Dispassion.
Rama, the sixteen year old Prince of Ayodhya has travelled through his land and returned, completely transformed in his approach to life. Rama is no longer interested in the pleasures of the palace, in relatives, wealth, power and all things that are of interest to a sixteen year old youth. A particular trend of thought has taken hold of Rama: What do people call happiness and can it be had in the ever changing objects of this world? All beings in this world take birth but to die and they die to be born!
This make it clear that the Yoga Vasishtha is not a merely a fanciful tale or an intellectual treatise, it is a guide for those who seeks nothings less than liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Quite early in the scripture, the legendary author of the Yoga Vasishtha clarifies: He is qualified to study this scripture who feels, "I am bound, I should be liberated."
As opposed to many other spiritual traditions that preach and convert, the Indian spiritual tradition is based on the idea of adhikar or qualification.
A teacher asks himself if the student is an "adhikari," one who has the "adhikar," or who is ready to receive this teaching. The most important qualification required to receive the spiritual teachings is a genuine desire for these. The Indian Masters part reluctantly with the teachings. The Master will often test the aspirant in many different ways to confirm that he is a genuine seeker.
Thus an adhikari is one who:
Running away from the world is different from turning away from the worldly.
Rama is not poverty stricken, he is the crown prince and heir to the throne. He has seen no failure in his life, having had the best of all things in the world. He is young, healthy, he has wealth and fame. Rama has no need to run away from the world. Rama does not show interest in wealth or even in worship. He is attached to nothing and depends on nothing. When all desires are satisfied and yet one feels empty, then the seeker turns away from the world. This turning away from the world and all things worldly is an essential prerequisite to enlightenment. Rama is an adhikari, a genuine seeker. His attitude of dispassion is attained through keen observation and contemplation. This dispassion is superior to that insight obtained through circumstances or disappointment in the world.
Rama explains the reasons for his turning away from the worldly. Systematically he goes through all aspects of life and one by one he negates them as sources of happiness. This is the Vedantic process of negation "Neti, neti." that is, "Not this, not this."
Thus Rama reasons:
Rama's reasons for turning away from the world are based on a solid foundation of observation, experience and reasoning. It is not merely a momentary whim or passing fancy.
Through acute observation and clear reasoning Rama arrives at the conclusion that the ways of samsara, the worldly path is not for him. Yet he is honest and self observant enough to admit that he is not enlightened, that he is not established in wisdom.
This is an important step for a seeker. Having turned away from the world a genuine seeker seeks the company of sages and enlightened Masters and asks for guidance. This is not the end of the journey. It is, in reality, only the beginning of the journey leading to Mastery of the Self.
Comments:
This is an interesting way to make the text easy to comprehend. Thank you.