Dear Friends,
Namaste!
We saw last week how the slumbering energy (“Brahman”) wakes up at the beginning of a fresh cycle of (Brahman’s) day and night. How it feels lonely and bored and decides to stage a drama for its entertainment. How it assumes various roles in materializing the drama. The role of author, the role of producer, the role of director, the roles of various actors (since the theme is to “become many”), the role of audience.
When the energy is slumbering and inactive, it is known as “Brahman”. When the energy swings into action, it is called “Jagadisha” or “God”. When it creates this world (“Jagat”) as the stage for the ensuing drama, it is called as “Brahmathe Creator”. When it sustains the drama, it is called as “Vishnu the Guardian” and when it winds up the drama – actors, stage and all – it is called as “Mahesha the Terminator”.
Each of the actors is called as “Jeeva”. The energy assumes multiple forms to become distinct (many) “Jeeva”s. This fulfils its desire to become many. The energy forgets its true nature (“Swaroop” – “swa” means “self” and “roop” means “identity”). This fulfils its desire to experience the “many” identities and have company. In fact, the energy starts to associate its identity with the form it assumes. This form is perishable which in turn fulfils its desire to “become mortal, finite and imperfect”. As a “Jeeva”, it forgets its true nature which is nothing but pure and sheer bliss. This fulfils its desire to experience grief (so it can culminate the drama by experiencing happiness).
The theme of the drama is for the energy to then rediscover its true identity through the journey undertaken by each Jeeva. Each Jeeva would interact withJagat (consisting of many other Jeevas) and eventually attain Nirvana or eternal bliss (by finding out and becoming one with (“Yoga”) its “Swaroop”).
However, due to intricate interplay between the innumerable Jeevas, eachJeeva would reach the destination at a different time. Each Jeeva’s journey would be unique and have varying duration and degrees of pain and pleasure. In the process, each Jeeva would assume countless different physical forms or species (“Yoni”s).
How is it possible for all of us to understand that fundamentally “we” are not different but the same energy?
The Master was conducting discourses on the true nature of all beings. He happened to mention that in reality, “I” is not different from “You” and “He” is not different from “She” and that “We” are all the same!!
This is when one seeker from the audience got up.
“Apologies Master, but I do not comprehend this at all!” He said. “How can everybody be the same when what we are feeling and experiencing are different people!”
It was a beautiful moonlit night. The lecture hall was spacious with many windows through which milky-white moonlight was filtering in.
The master smiled and told the seeker to stand at one of the windows and look out.
“How many moons can you see?” he asked.
“Just one, master” came the reply.
The master asked him to move to another window and look out again.
“How many moons can you see now?”
“Still only one master.”
The master made him go to each window and repeated the question. He got the same answer every time.
Finally he asked, “How many windows does this room have?”
“Many, master.” The seeker replied.
“How many moons are there in the sky?”
“Only one, master” said the seeker.
“Have I answered your question?”
“Yes, thank you master” said the seeker contentedly and returned to his seat.
The mistaken “I”dentity of a Jeeva is also known as “ignorance” (“Avidya”) or, more commonly, “ego” (“Ahamkaar”). It is the ego or mistaken identity or ignorance about the true nature of “self” that causes all sorrow in a Jeeva’sjourney.
The name of the drama is “Evolution”. Each Jeeva starts off with ignorance about his own self and goes through a number of births, deaths, species, roles, excitement, grief and a plethora of worldly events, actions and things on way to discovering his real identity (or in other words, acquiring eternal, infinite and irreversible happiness).
We also know from common sense that less ego a person has, the more evolved he or she is!
But in order to conquer our ego, we need to understand the various levels at which it exists. In order to do the right thing at the right time in the right place, we need to clearly understand our role and how it fits into the “drama”. In order to feel motivated to do our role, we need to understand implications of playing or not playing that role sincerely
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Let’s find out answers to these questions in the next article.
Take care...
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