Buddhist Gems 74
Dharmadeva
Pa'rvatii asked Shiva, "When do people attain salvation?"
Shiva replied, "People attain salvation the moment they acquire
self-knowledge. When people succeed in attaining self-knowledge after
intense sa'dhana' [spiritual practices], intense tapasya' [penance], for
many lives, through tremendous conflict and clash, they attain their moks'a
[salvation]."
Vaera'gya: The word vaera'gya [renunciation] is derived from the prefix vi,
the root verb rainj and the suffix ghain. Last Pha'lgun'ii Pu'rn'ima' [full
moon of February-March] I told you* that every physical object, every
thought-wave, has its own colour, and the underlying significance of Dola
Ya'tra', or Dola Liila' [Spring Festival], lies in surrendering that mental
colour to Parama Purus'a (the Cosmic Consciousness). So here the verb rainj
implies freeing the mind from all colours. All longings and aspirations,
thoughts of the present and dreams of the future, and all sorts of colourful
thoughts flow from the mind like water from a spring. That is why Buddha
said:
Yassa pure ca paccha ca majjhe ca natthi kincanam';
Akincanam' ana'da'nam' tamaham' vru'mi Bra'hman'am'.
[A person who has nothing before him, behind him, or in the middle, who
neither gives anything nor takes anything, I call a Brahman.]
I will call that person a Brahman whose mind does not run after any colour,
who is neither obsessed by colour-laden thoughts of the past nor influenced
by such thoughts of the present. One who remains unassailed by the colour of
any object is said to be established in vaera'gya [renunciation]. To attain
this vaera'gya one need not flee to the Himalayas or smear the body with
holy ashes. One must free the mind from the influence of all colours.
* "On the Colour Festival" in A Few Problems Solved Part 5, 1981. --Eds.
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
NAMA'MI KRS'N'ASUNDARAM
DISCOURSE 24
PA'RTHASA'RATHI KRS'N'A AND PARIPRASHNA
22 March 1981, Calcutta
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Tapah means to practise penance to reach the goal.
You cannot attain Brahma (God) by tapah if it is devoid of discrimination
(between good and bad); because in such cases you do not make the proper use
of objects. Of course it is better to do something than nothing and with
this end in view, tapah even without discrimination has some value. It has
some psychological benefit. Buddha said,
"Win the miser by charity,
Win the liar by speaking the truth."
You can definitely influence a miser by your charity, and there is nothing
bad in this; but it is not what is understood by the term "tapah".
There is another peculiarity in tapah. When the activities of human beings
are not guided by discrimination, they are goaded by instinct. Tapah with
discrimination changes the course of action and leads people towards
emancipation. Of course, devotion also gives rise to discrimination but such
devotion cannot be aroused in those who have not experienced Cosmic bliss.
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
A Guide to Human Conduct, 4th edition, 5th
A'nanda Pu'rn'ima' 1957