Shraddha - Part 2 of 15

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In the beginning he was likely to have had some modesty and naivety and a consequent shraddhA because at that zero stage one is rather scared about the strict requirements of discrimination, dispassion and sense-control and one wonders whether all these are achievable.

At that time it was easy to believe that perhaps in the spiritual field there might be many things which cannot be understood or argued out by the rational mind and one must trust the words of the scriptures and the wise.

But now after one has made some progress on the spiritual SAdhanA path, one is likely to think that the mind is now clear and hereafter it will understand all that has yet to be achieved on the path of Self Realisation.

This is a kind of ego – an unrecognizable ego that creeps in. Things do happen even upto the stage of Self-Realisation, that cannot be understood by the smartest intellect .

Even a JnAni who has achieved that Self-Realisation will not be able to explain them by his intellect. One has to continue with the same regimen without questioning them until the Self-Realisation sprouts up like the rise of the Sun.

When those things happen, one has to take them as they are, without analysing them by the intellect. One may have to be content with the thought:

“The SAdhanA that has brought me so far will certainly take me further by the same Grace of the Lord that brought me up to now; I shall not subject it to any intellectual questioning.”

Even after one has obtained Enlightenment, the things may still be inaccessible to the intellect. Even our Acharya – there cannot be a better Acharya than he – does not try to tell that secret of achievement to us in the language of the intellect. “I cannot describe it. Simply keep on proceeding with Faith” – this is his message and accordingly he keeps this shraddhA at this advanced stage of SAdhanA.

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Shraddha - Part 1 of 15

In the sextad starting with ‘shama’ the next one is ‘shraddhA’ (Faith/Dedication). When one is involved in something by the sheer conviction – not by any direct ‘proof’ -- that what the shAstras or the righteous ones say must be right, that is known as ‘shraddhA’.

Compared to men, women stand higher in ‘shraddhA’ – so long as they do not involve themselves in academic research. In fact, I think, even after their modern involvement in studies, they are still one step higher in shraddhA. Maybe in the days to come this will be different.

Shraddhaa leads to Belief (AstikyaM) as I already mentioned. Among those who have become non-believers, women are probably just one-fourth of the number of men. Even the wives of leaders of parties of non-believers, have faith in temples, austerities and worship.

I think the ‘shraddhA’ word is rightly feminine! Right in the beginning when I talked about ‘shraddhA’ I told you this topic will recur again at the end of the SAdhanA. We have now come to that second level ‘shraddhA’, the higher grade one.

At this stage the seeker has taken several steps towards his spiritual maturity. To inquire and convince oneself what is eternal and what is ephemeral; to develop a dispassion towards the ephemeral; to quell the thoughtful mind by self control and convert it into an emptiness; to cultivate patience and tolerance – in all this he has made sufficient progress. So at this stage what is this shraddhA for?

That is something to be there right at the beginning, when he was putting the foundation for all his SAdhanA. In the beginning when he was nowhere near any familiarity with spiritual conduct and regimen, there was a meaning in prescribing a shraddhA for him by saying, “This path does not allow intellectual proofs and verifications; many things have to be taken on faith from the shAstras and the words of the Guru”.

Now that he has taken significant steps towards spiritual progress, why bring the shraddhA back again? It is because, by the very fact of his progress gained upto now, there is danger of his losing the very faith that has brought him so far!

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Uparati & Titikshhaa - Part 15 of 15

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Action indicates a masculine power (*paurushhaM*) and so is indicated by ‘saH’ (he) whereas the inaction-like inertness of dispassion is denoted by a neuter ‘tat’ (that).

The words ‘shama’ (mind control) and ‘dama’ (sense control) both occur in the masculine as ‘shamaH’ and ‘damaH’.

Both imply control. Accordingly they adopt the gender that implies action, namely the masculine gender.

After saying what ‘shama’ is, he says ‘manasaH shama uchyate’ – this is what is known as ‘shama’ of the mind -- and here the masculine ‘shamaH’ is used. He does not say ‘shamaM uchyate’ in the neuter gender. But he does not use the explicit ‘saH’ (he) here as in the case of ‘viveka’ (discrimination) where he said ‘ayaM saH’ – this is he.

Also when he defines ‘shama’ instead of saying just ‘mind control’ he says ‘sva-lakshhye niyata-avasthaa’ meaning ‘what stays in its own goal’. After the active masculine work of controlling the mind, one stays in the peaceful state of resting in the Atman; it is this state that is meant by ‘shama’.

So, maybe, the Acharya did not want to emphasize the masculine aspect of shama, by using *saH* (he) for ‘shamaH’.

On the other hand, when he talks about ‘dama’ (control of the senses) he says *sa damaH parikIrtitaH* meaning “he is called damaH”, where the masculine gender is explicitly emphasized. When the senses run amuck, to control them and draw them behind a lot of masculine activity is needed, certainly.

The word ‘uparati’ is feminine. When we equate activity with masculinity then the actionless restful state has to be feminine. And so he says *uparatir-uttaamA* -- the highest is ‘uparati’ (cessation) – using the feminine for ‘the highest’. And, for the subsequent ‘titikshhaa’, he specifically uses the ‘sA’ (she).

Forbearance is known to be a special characteristic of women in general – the quality of a mother. Don’t we usually refer to the Goddess Earth as the ideal for tolerance?

Uparati & Titikshhaa - Part 14 of 15

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The vanishing of duality means there is only One. And the One is Atman, no doubt.

In summary the Acharya’s clarion call is : “One should not worry about either what is directly an unhappy thing or about what appears to be pleasant but in reality is also a miserable thing.

‘Not worrying’ means ‘not wailing’ about it. Nor should one look for anitdotes for either the sukha (happiness) or the dukha (unhappiness). Silently one should be forbearing both”.

*sahanaM sarva-dukhAnAM apratIkAra-pUrvakaM /
cintA-vilApa-rahitaM sA titikshhaa nigadyate //* (Viveka Chudamani #24 (or 25))

sA titikshhaa nigadyate : She is said to be ‘titikshhaa’

sarva-dukhAnAM sahanaM : forbearing all unhappiness Note that so-called happiness is also included in the ‘unhappiness’.

apratIkAra-pUrvakaM : without searching for steps for nullifying (the ‘sukha’ or ‘dukha’) Note ‘pratIkAra’ means ‘antidote’ or an ‘annihilating step’.

cintA-vilApa-rahitaM : without worry (*cintA*) or lament (*vilApa*).

Now let me take up the feminine gender used here. *sA titikshhaa* says the Acharya. ‘titikshhaa’ is a feminine word. But it is not just grammar that is involved here.

When he talks about ‘nitya-anitya-vastu-viveka’ (Discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral) he says *so’yaM nityAnitya- vastu-vivekaH*; here he uses *saH ayaM* -- ‘that is he’ – thereby invoking a masculine construction. The word ‘vivekaH’ is masculine.

Maybe because of the age-old traditional opinion that a feminine mind is prone to vacillation and a masculine mind has a discriminating tendency. On the other hand the concept of dispassion is indicated by the neuter gender specification *tad-vairAgyaM* -- That is dispassion.

Maybe because, by means of dispassion one’s mind becomes immune and inert! In the process of discrimination there is an inherent analysis involved. Consequent to that, the mind becomes desireless.

So in discrimination there is an action (though mental) whereas in dispassion there is not so much action.

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Uparati & Titikshhaa - Part 13 of 15

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To prevent the rise of such ‘spRhaa’ is also ‘titikshhaa’. Recall the Lord’s words:

*dukhesh-vanudvigna-manAh sukheshhu vigata-spRhaH* (Gita. II – 56)

In other words, ‘titikshhaa’ stands for not being perturbed by a miserable happening as well as not being affected by *spRhA* at the onset of a happy occurrence.

One is not to be influenced by the dualities like pleasure and pain. To be away from duality means non-duality.

When duality disappears, the bondage of samsAra is cut and the gates of mokshha are already open. In Gita V – 3, Bhagawan has shown the ultimate goal itself as the end result of ‘titikshhaa’:

*nirdvandvo hi mahAbAho sukham bandhAt pramucyate*

meaning, He for whom duality is gone easily releases himself from bondage.

One who has ‘titikshhaa’ is called ‘titikshhu’.

Such a one is characterised by our Acharya as one who tolerates or endures dual opposites -- *titikshhuH dvandva sahishhNuH* -- in Brihad-AraNyaka bhAshya (IV – 4 - 23).

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Uparati & Titikshhaa - Part 12 of 15

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When we do not think of a weight as a burden, it does not any more weigh with us. When there is no weight on either side the needle of the weighing balance is steady and straight.

Think of the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ as the two side-plates of such a balance. On whichever side you may place a weight, the balance is going to tilt.

So neither the experience of the unpleasant nor the emotional excitement that might be caused by the pleasant should be allowed to tilt the needle of the balance from its normal equanimous position.

The ‘good’ also should not ‘weigh’ with us. That is the ‘titikshhaa’ of the ‘good’. In all that we have said what we call ‘good’ is not with respect to our spiritual progress.

It is what we ordinarily call ‘good’ from our mundane material world, that is, what pulls us away from progress on the spiritual path. There is a certain negative aspect in these ‘good’ things, that is not there even in the ‘bad’ ones.

When we meet with something that is pleasant and happy for us, we always wish that it should happen again; we want ‘more’ of it. This peculiar desire that the ‘good’ should repeat is called ‘spRhaa’ in Sanskrit.

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Uparati & Titikshhaa - Part 11 of 15

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Any experience in the world of duality is opposite to that jnAna and therefore is only to be considered as unhappiness, not happiness.

At least what appears to be an unhappy thing now gives us a distaste for this worldly involvement and thereby it moves us a little towards enlightenment; whereas, what appears to be a happy experience binds us further to the world of involvement.

Consequently one will have to develop an attitude of treating those happy experiences only as unhappy ones. At a later stage , just as one bears misery with forbearance, so also one should be able to forbear with what appears to be happiness. That is why the Acharya says *dukhAnAM sahanaM* (forbearing the sorrows) and stops with that.

All our scriptures recommend to us the forbearance of both pleasure and pain equally; in other words, even what appears to be a happy pleasing thing should be ‘endured’ as indifferently as we are expected to endure the unhappy things.

Of course that happens after we reach a certain stage of maturity. But even at an earlier stage, at a ‘lower’ stage, we have to observe ‘titikshhaa’ of good things in another way. When a good thing happens our mind gets excited about it.

The excitement is as bad as the one we get when an unhappy thing occurs. In both cases the equanimity of the mind is the victim.

Only when the mind is steady without any vibration can one have the enlightening realisation of the Atman. Thus even the excitement that naturally follows a happy feeling should have to be ‘endured’. It is another kind of forbearance.

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