Points to Ponder

1) Actions give results which fulfill desires for power, pleasure, prestige and possession. But, none of this truly fulfill us or help us overcome our own ego.

2) When we experience results of actions, we are somehow pushed to perform more actions for better or other results. Thus we continue to act compulsively rather than out of choice to act.

3) Even divine actions, seva work, or religious rituals can bind us if we are not focussed on knowledge and evolution. Just because the actions are pious does not mean they can assure moksha to the performer. Person bound by gold shackles is not more free than person bound by iron shackles. Think.

4) Actions are not useless. They purify the mind and invoke the grace of the Lord. Because the Rishis performed so many rituals, the Lord himself came to release them from their delusion. If they were worldly people, engaged in materialistic pursuits, even that would have been impossible.

5) Without the surrender to the Lord, even so-called divine actions will bind us. And with surrender, even worldly actions can free us. Bondage therefore is not because of actions, but because of the ego which doesn't allow us to surrender.

6) The Highest knowledge is taught by the Lord to the mendicants only after they surrender to Him. It doesn't mean God wants us to surrender. It means we NEED to surrender in order to evolve.

7) Both the charming mendicant and the enchanting Mohini was the Lord himself. Every weakness in us is also a manifestation of the Lord. When we are alert, open and ready-to-learn, even a weak moment can be a moment of transformation. Think.

8) Lord gives and forgives. Man gets and forgets. Even the results of actions are attained only by the will and grace of the Lord. He is the Law-maker and the Law-executer of the Universe and our lives. But, how easily we forget that every achievement of ours is actually a matter of His grace and not our greatness! The Rishis forgot that the success of every ritual also was by His will alone. The Lord however, having given us everything we have in life, still forgives our forgetfulness and ingratitude, and offers us opportunities to learn and grow.

With Salutations to That Compassionate Lord, we shall discuss the first verse of Upadesa Saar in our next post....

Some Practices:
1) Every time you say "Thank God", MEAN IT!
2) Tell yourself "This is a manifestation of His Grace" at least once in every 1 hour.
3) Start every action with a prayer.
4) End your day with silent prayer of gratitude.
5) Don't let action hijack your devotion to Knowledge

Hari Om. :)

The Story of the Mendicants

There is a story in the Puranas which must be narrated at the very outset of our reflections on Upadesa Saar. The story is about a team of mendicants, who were experts in rites and rituals. By performing extraordinary rituals with impeccable perfection, they had also attained several supernatural powers. Thus these great mendicants had come to believe that they had attained all that was to be attained in life. They felt that since actions brought them such glory and power, actions were enough to ensure any spiritual and material progress, and that God was non-essential in this process. These great men were terribly caught up in this misconception, and thus lived with a myopic vision of life, constantly trying to perfect their actions and attain better results, more power and greater possessions. At such a time, Lord Shiva felt extreme compassion for these seekers and their fallacious thinking, and decided to teach them a lesson. Thus he appeared in their Ashram as a young and handsome mendicant - charming in looks, glamorous in personality and enchanting in demeanor. The mendicants, focussed on their rituals, did not even bother about the presence of this young lad. However, their wives were totally enamored by him and spell-bound by his endearing personality, they followed him into the heart of the forest. Enraged by the audacity of the youth to dare to infatuate their wives, the mendicants left their rituals half-way and rushed into the forest. However, just then, Lord Vishnu appeared in his most enchanting female form of Mohini devi, and just one glimpse of this beautiful damsel was enough to infatuate the mendicants. Forgetting their wives and the young mendicant hero, these men of great action now began to follow Mohini. She, with her magical smile and charming gait, led them far into the forest, and then suddenly disappeared into thin air. 

This shocked the mendicants. They were also ashamed that they could not hold themselves back in spite of having done so many meritorious rituals and attained such great powers. This made them realize that the whole episode was probably a sport conducted by the young mendicant hero, perhaps to put them down. In fury, they invoked all their powers and celestial weapons, and began to attack the young mendicant. But the handsome young man, who was none other than the Lord Shiva himself, calmly subdued every attack. At this, the mendicants were utterly shocked, and then it dawned on them that this could not have been an ordinary person. A mere mortal would not have the powers to refute the results of such great rituals. Hence, they realized that the mendicant must be Lord Shiva himself. Their pride was humbled and they understood that all their actions are ineffective without the will and grace of the Lord. 

They had spent an entire lifetime seeking power and hoping that will fulfill them. But they saw that how easily they got enraged and distracted. It was clear that it is not lack of power but lack of self-knowledge that is the problem. However much power we gain, however much we do actions, we still remain limited and bound. 

At this point, Lord Shiva himself teaches the mendicants about the various paths - Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Gnana Yoga. This teaching was encapsulated by Sri Ramana Maharshi as the Upadesa Saar in Tamil, and later in Sanskrit. 

It is one of the most holistic and inspiring texts of Vedanta. We shall see more details and implications of this story in our next post...