Mysorean

The Atman has no fear. Fear comes with the possibilityof destruction. Atman full of joy. When we think that this world is infinity and we are one with that world, there is no fear. Attachment to the body, will get us only sorrow. We should realise that we are different from the body. That's when the grief becomes attached to the body and not to the Atman.

An enlightened man, if he realises that he is the Atman or infinity, will never be unhappy. The realisation that “I am one with Brahma, the creator, the protector and destroyer”. A man is enlightened if he realizes he is the Atman. He will not have any desires. Desire arises out of attachment to worldly pleasures. All pleasure & all joy is in our soul.

A person who has infinite joy gets detached from the worldly joys. Like the saints who don't want wealth and name, while we struggle for wealth and name throughout our lives. We want promotions and hikes to prove that we are better than the other. It's an unending game of one-upmanship. Aspiration for higher things is always there. Whereas we are higher than everything else. We should realise that.

Physically, many things might not be possible. But spiritually we can go beyond all and everything. We can reach the highest point which is being one with the Divine. We are the divine.

For example, there was this kid who was studying in the school where the Swamiji was the Principal. This kid was exceptionally brilliant. So, Swamiji gave her a double promotion from Class 3 to Class 5. In Class 5, she would still top the class beating the closest contenders by 25 marks. So, she was given another double promotion to Class 7. So on and so forth, the kid went on till the tenth standard. Then from there she went to college and joined corporate organisation.

The point that Swamiji was trying to drive home was that, if you think that you are the body then you can grow only to a certain level. There is a limit to which you can grow. But once, we realise that we are the soul which is the infinite, why do we need to struggle in this body? Enlightened people decide to leave the body once their mission in Life is achieved.

Swami Vivekananda wanted to leave the body for two years upto the age of 38 as his mission in life was achieved. Once the desires of the body are fulfilled the body may be left. And we can go the God from where we started. We are in this body by the will of God. We are here for a specific Mission. Once the mission is achieved, we shall all go back to God.

This shows that everyone of us can escape from this world of misery to an infinite World of joy.

(This is as told by Swami Gautamananda in the discourse on "Brihadaranyaka Upanishad" at Ramakrishna Ashram, Chennai)

Tomorrow: Sloka 13