The Art of Living

By

Achala Bhakthan

What is Living?:

LIVING is basic existence. To live is destined by our Karma Bhala (Result of our past actions). The style of our life is shaped up by our Karma Bhala. This can be changed by intelligent application of the principles of Vedas. It is said that after many janmas we get the human life with sixth sense. While living we always get ourselves attached to our Body, Mind and Intellect. We own our actions and the doer-ship. Hence the results of our actions do come back to us which we have to bear. If you get a gem on the road and take it to yourself - though it is not yours - and claim ownership, all the resultant reactions will also have to be owned by you, i.e. the police will catch you and try to prove that you stole it etc. etc. and the miseries attached to it affect you. The moment you own something, you will have to bear the miseries attached to it. 

During our contact with the world outside, we are confronted with six attributes like Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada, and Matsarya.  Kama means desire, Krodha means Dwesha, Lobha means miserliness, Moha means delusion, Mada means Egotism, and Matsarya means fighting. When we desire for something, if we do not get it, we get angry (dwesha) and if we get it, we do not share it with others and become miser in parting with it, and once we possess anything, we get attached to it (Moha), again we get possessiveness (Mine - Mada) and we fight to retain it. What is the way out? All these attributes came because of the route cause "KAMA" (Desire). So, if we want to avoid the miseries stated above, we should not Desire, i.e. never entertain KAMA. To cast away KAMA, we should go to the root, i.e. VASANA. Vasana is the rudimentary remains of our past janma. They represent the unfulfilled desires in our past life which exists in a subtle form even after the annihilation of the body. We take birth in such a surroundings so that this vasana can be fulfilled. If we go with the vasanas, the above miseries come. Then the question will arise for a seeker : If vasana controls our life, how can we come out of it and save ourselves from the onslaught of the above six qualities? 

This is called the Art of Living as given by the great Geethacharya Sri Krishna (Incarnation of God) to Arjuna (embodiment of average human being) in the form of BHAGAWAT GEETA. Geeta contains all that we want to know about life, miseries, pleasures, truth, God etc. etc. There is nothing that is not left unanswered in Geeta. It is in the form of Question and Answer. It is the essence of Vedas. Vedas is the very treasure given by great Seers from their own experiences during their Sadhana. It speaks about everything in life. Bhagavat Geeta is the summation of Veda. To say in a nutshell Geeta preaches:

Once you have taken birth, you cannot avoid Karma. When you do Karma, do it as a duty towards God and without possessive mentality.Never long for Karma Bhala, leave to God, it will come to you as destined - depending on your actions.

Bhagawan says in Geeta:

"Karmanyevaathikaarasthe Maabhaleshu Kathachana"

Do your duty unattached or without longing or worrying for results, and bhala will come as destined. Thus, do your duty without attachment or longing for results. Every action has a corresponding reaction. I.e. if you throw a ball to a wall in a particular angle, it will come back with same force in the directly opposite angle. Can you change its coming back or its direction? But not to act is impossible in life. Once you have come to life you have to continuously act. Action is the very basis of Living and it cannot be avoided. Never get attached to action or reaction, leave everything to God (the natural force) and do not own it. You live like a drop of water on the Lotus Leaf. To practice what is said above we should see the basic structure of Living.

While we live, we are conscious of and are attached to our Body, Mind and Intellect. We always say "My Body", "My Mind" etc. The very feeling shows that we own them, i.e. we are attached to them. Right. When the body gets a cut and it is bleeding, what do we say? Oh! I get pain, I am bleeding etc. Isn't? Why not we say My body bleeds, My Body gets pain etc.? Consider the earlier saying that "once you own anything, the resultant bhala also has to be borne by you". Yes, you owned the body and therefore all that is happening at body level afflicts you. Let us consider the statement "Oh! I am shocked, I am worried etc. What is this worry or shock. Is it to you or at your mental level. Is it not felt at the mental level. Then why do you say I am shocked etc. Because you own the mind and hence whatever results come from the mental activity is affecting you. Instead if you say I am not the body but I have a body or the body is only my vhicle etc. When your unattended motor car is hit by a lorry and it is crushed, do you get hurt? No, because you consider it as a vehicle and not part of you. Consider body also like a vehicle and not part of you. Would you get hurt when the body gets pain? Thus, all the miseries come from ownership. 

Keep yourself apart from the Body, Mind and Intellect level and be an observer without getting attached to any of them or without owning them. Will you get affected when changes happen at these three levels? Not at all. This is the Art of Living. It is difficult to assimilate, isn't it? Let us discuss little more basics. Due to Vasanas, we come to live with Body, Mind and Intellect. That means we are apart from these three attributes.and they are not part of us. .                                                            

I 

Vasanas

                   Body                    Mind               Intellect
 

                Perceiver                Feeler              Thinker

Let us understand the attribute less supreme SELF as "I". When the VASANA envelopes this "I", or to put it when "I" is attributed to this Vasana, then the three realms of BODY, MIND & INTELLECT appear. The functions of these three vehicles (attributes) are PERCEIVER, FEELER, THINKER respectively. But these three are Jedaas (lifeless). The "I" gives the energy due to which these three vehicles shine or work. 

Let us consider this anecdote to understand this theory. The Electricity passing through the Tube-light, Fan, Heater, Cooler/Fridge etc. what do we get? Light, Air, Heat, Cool isn't it? Now tellme what is the characteristic of Electricity? Is it any of these status mentioned above? Not at all. It is known as the Current, which has no form, shape or, let us say attributes. It is the Energy, which when passed through these different apparatus, gives us different effects depending on the mechanical/electrical principles on which these apparatus are made to react.This Energy, when associated with a particular apparatus, enables the apparatus to perform its function and produce the given effect for which it is made. If we now say "Electricity is Light, Fan, Heat, Cool etc." are we not ignorant? Are we not fools?

Body is made up of five elements such as Earth, Water, Heat, Air and Space (called Pancha Bhootha), possession different qualities/attibutes. It is a Jeda (lifeless) without the energy in us which makes it function. This is also accepted scientifically. The body merges with earth at death, the body spills water during burning, It emits heat. It has air inside and it has empty space in it. The Mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts - it has no existence of its own without thought force. The Intellect is the Buddhi - the discriminative power.

Let us now inspect the process of action. The body has five Gnanedriyas, which bring Vishayas from world outside and the Karmendriyas carry out the actions at the dictates of the Buddhi. If no Vishaya comes in, Karmendriyas have no work and Buddhi has also nothing to guide. So what to do. Keep away from Vishayas (worldly or materialistic). Can we do it? Impossible isn't it? Then what to do? To act is human - we cannot avoid because we have energy within us, the characteristic of which is Action. We cannot escape action while living. Every moment we are in action. When you act without possessiveness of Body Mind and Intellect and act only for action sake, you do not get affected by the reaction which is at Body, Mind or intellectual level. \If there is no owning, there is no suffering or pleasure. 

Our Vedas also say Sat Karma (Noble actions) bring pleasant results and Dush Karma (Evil actions) bring painful results. However, it also says pleasure and pain are two sides of a coin and they come one after other like a vicious circle. All pleasures bring in the ultimate pain and all pains turn into pleasure over a period of time. If you act unattached and without possessiveness and do it as a duty, the results do not affect you. If you do not get rejoiced in pleasure you need not suffer from pain and vice-a-versa. Do act in the woirld outside in the natural course without getting attached.

Can we talk about anything without adding attributes? If I ask you"Who are you" you will answer this question by adding attributes like "I am Mr……." or  " I am the son of …" Or  "I come from ….." etc. etc. Thus we get ourselves attached to name or relationship, which come to us only after we take birth. That is they are added later and they are not part of us. Similarly, the Body, Mind and Intellect come to us on birth only. This shows that we are not these attributes though we work through them and they come after us. This shows we are the origin and they are only our attributes. The "I" that you see above is the basic principle of life, the very basis of our existence and which has an existence of itself without all these attributes. It is the Vasana that takes the energy from thid "I" and works through these vehicles Body, Mind and Intellect. The moment we lose sight of our independent and attribute less existence as the big "I", we get entangled in the actions of the Vasana and the resultant reactions coming through these three vehicles. These vehicles do their work as Body, the Perceiver, Mind the Feeler and the Intellect the Thinker. They are inter- connected. So far as we keep our consciousness aloof and apart from these attributes, we do not get affected by actions and reactions . The very existence is this "I", the attribute less, the supreme SELF (God) and not the mean Self (Jeeva). Once this knowledge is dawn on us, we are the Supreme SELF and do not get attached but still act as "Action is the very essence of existence".

 : OM  TAT  SAT :