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Behold the universe in the glory of God: and in all
that lives and moves on Earth. Leaving the transient, find joy in the
Eternal. Set not your heart on another's possession.
Shukla Yajur Veda, Isha Upanishad, 1. UPM, P. 49

Monday
LESSON 15
Asteya: Nonstealing
The third yama is asteya,
neither stealing, nor coveting nor entering into debt. We all know what
stealing is. But now let's define covetousness. It could well be
defined as owning something mentally and emotionally but not actually
owning it physically. This is not good. It puts a hidden psychological
strain on all parties concerned and brings up the lower emotions from
the tala chakras. It must be avoided at all cost. Coveting is
desiring things that are not your own. Coveting leads to jealousy, and
it leads to stealing. The first impulse toward stealing is coveting,
wanting. If you can control the impulse to covet, then you will not
steal. Coveting is mental stealing.
Of course, stealing must never ever happen. Even a penny, a peso,
a rupee, a lira or a yen should not be misappropriated or stolen.
Defaulting on debts is also a form of stealing. But avoiding debt in
principle does not mean that one cannot buy things on credit or through
other contractual arrangements. It does mean that payments must be made
at the expected time, that credit be given in trust and be eliminated
when the time has expired, that contracts be honored to the
satisfaction of all parties concerned. Running one's affairs on other
peoples' money must be restrained. To control this is the sadhana of asteya. Brahmacharis and sannyasins,
of course, must scrupulously obey these restraints relating to debt,
stealing and covetousness. These are certainly not in their code of
living.
To perfect asteya, we must practice dana, charity, the third niyama; we must take the dashama bhaga vrata, promising to tithe, pay dashamamsha,
to our favorite religious organization and, on top of that, give
creatively, without thought of reward. Stealing is selfishness. Giving
is unselfishness. Any lapse of asteya is corrected by dana.
It is important to realize that one cannot simply obey the yamas without actively practicing the niyamas. To restrain one's current tendencies successfully, each must be replaced by a positive observance. For each of the yamas, there is a positive replacement of doing something else. The niyamas must totally overshadow the qualities controlled by the yamas
for the perfect person to emerge. It is also important to remember that
doing what should not be done -- and not doing what should be done --
does have its consequences. These can be many, depending upon the
evolution of the soul of each individual; but all such acts bring about
the lowering of consciousness into the instinctive nature, and
inevitable suffering is the result. Each Hindu guru has his own ways of mitigating the negative karmas that result as a consequence of not living up to the high ideals of these precepts. But the world is also a guru, in a sense, and its devotees learn by their own mistakes, often repeating the same lessons many, many times.
Tuesday
LESSON 16
Debt, Gambling And Grief
I was asked, "Is borrowing money to finance one's business in accord with the yama
of nonstealing? When can you use other peoples' money and when should
you not?" When the creditors start calling you for their money back,
sending demand notices indicating that they only extended you thirty
days', sixty days' or ninety days' credit, then if you fail to pay, or
pay only a quarter or half of it just to keep them at arm's length
because you still need their money to keep doing what you are doing,
this is a violation of this yama.
There are several kinds of debt that are disallowed by this yama. One is spending beyond your means and accumulating bills you can't pay. We are reminded of Tirukural
verse 478 which says that the way to avoid poverty is to spend within
your means: "A small income is no cause for failure, provided
expenditures do not exceed it." We can see that false wealth, or the
mere appearance of wealth, is using other peoples' money, either
against their will or by paying a premium price for it. Many people
today are addicted to abusing credit. It's like being addicted to the
drug opium. People addicted to O.P.M. -- other people's money --
compulsively spend beyond their means. They don't even think twice
about handing over their last credit card to pay for that $500 sari
after all the other credit cards have been "maxed out." When the bill
arrives, it gets added to the stack of other bills that can't possibly
be paid.
Another kind of debt is contracting resources beyond your ability
to pay back the loan. This is depending on a frail, uncertain future.
Opportunities may occur to pay the debt, but then again they may not.
The desire was so great for the commodity which caused the debt that a
chance was taken. Essentially, this is gambling with someone else's
money; and it is no way to run one's life.
Gambling and speculation are also forms of entering into debt.
Speculation could be a proper form of acquiring wealth if one has the
wealth to maintain the same standard of living he is accustomed to even
if the speculation failed. Much of business is speculation; and
high-risk speculations do come along occasionally; but one should never
risk more than one can afford to lose.
Gambling is different, because the games are fun, a means of
entertainment and releasing stress; though even in the casinos one
should not gamble more than he could afford to lose. However, unlike
speculation, when one is in the excitement of gambling and begins to
lose, the greed and desire to win it all back arises, and the flustered
gambler may risk his and his family's wealth and well-being. Stress
builds. The disastrous consequences of gambling were admonished in the
oldest scripture, the Rig Veda,
in the famous fourteen-verse "Gambler's Lament" (10.34. VE, P. 501).
Verse ten summarizes: "Abandoned, the wife of the gambler grieves.
Grieved, too, is his mother, as he wanders vaguely. Afraid and in debt,
ever greedy for money, he steals in the night to the home of another."
This is not fun; nor is it entertainment.
These are the grave concerns behind our sutra that prohibits gambling for my shishyas:
"Siva's devotees are forbidden to indulge in gambling or games of
chance with payment or risk, even through others or for employment.
Gambling erodes society, assuring the loss of many for the gain of a
few" (sutra 76). Everyone really knows that the secret to winning at gambling is to own a casino.
Compulsive gambling and reckless, unfounded speculation are like
stealing from your own family, risking the family wealth. More than
that, it is stealing from yourself, because the remorse felt when an
inevitable loss comes could cause a loss of faith in your abilities and
your judgment. And if the loss affects the other members of the family,
their estimation and respect and confidence in your good judgment goes
way down.
Many people justify stealing by saying that life is unfair and
therefore it's OK to take from the rich. They feel it's OK to steal
from a rich corporation, for example: "They will never miss it, and we
need it more." Financial speculation can easily slide into unfair
maneuvering, where a person is actually stealing from a small or large
company, thereby making it fail. The credibility of the person will go
down, and businesses will beware of this speculative investor who would
bring a company to ruin to fatten his own pockets. Entering into debt
is a modern convenience and a modern temptation. But this convenience
must be honored within the time allotted. If you are paying a higher
interest rate because of late or partial payments, you have abused your
credit and your creditors.
At the Global Forum for Human Survival in 1990 in Moscow, the
participants began worrying about the kids, the next generation. "What
are they going to think of us?" they asked. Is it fair to fulfill a
need now, spoil the environment and hand the bill over to the next
generation? No, it is not. This is another form of stealing. We can't
say, "We have to have chlorofluorocarbons now, and the next generation
has to face the consequences." The yamas and niyamas are thus not just a personal matter but also a national, communal and global matter. Yes, this takes asteya and all the restraints and observances to another dimension.
Wednesday
LESSON 17
Brahmacharya: Sexual Purity
B rahmacharya, sexual purity, is a very important restraint among the ancient Saivite ethical principles known as yamas and niyamas,
because it sets the pattern for one's entire life. Following this
principle, the vital energies are used before marriage in study rather
than in sexual fantasy, e-pornography, masturbation, necking, petting
or sexual intercourse. After marriage, the vital energies are
concentrated on business, livelihood, fulfilling one's duties, serving
the community, improving oneself and one's family, and performing sadhana. For those who do not believe in God, Gods, guru
or the path to enlightenment, this is a difficult restraint to fulfill,
and such people tend to be promiscuous when single and therefore
unfaithful in marriage.
The rewards for maintaining this restraint are many. Those who practice brahmacharya
before marriage and apply its principles throughout married life are
free from encumbrances -- mentally, emotionally and physically. They
get a good start on life, have long-lasting, mature family
relationships, and their children are emotionally sound, mentally firm
and physically strong.
Those who are promiscuous and unreligious are susceptible to
impulses of anger, have undefined fears, experience jealousy and the
other instinctive emotions. The doors of the higher world are open to
them, but the doors of the lower world are also open. Even the virgin brahmachari who believes firmly in God, Gods, guru and the path to enlightenment and has a strict family must be watched and carefully guided to maintain his brahmacharya. Without this careful attention, the virginity may easily be lost.
Brahmacharya for the monastic means complete sexual
abstinence and is, of course, an understood requirement to maintain
this position in life. This applies as well to any single individual
who has taken the celibacy vow, known as brahmacharya vrata. If brahmacharya is compromised by the brahmachari, he must face the consequences and reaffirm his original intent. Having lost faith in himself because of breaking his vrata, his self-confidence must be rebuilt.
It should be perfectly clear that it is totally unacceptable for
men or women who have taken up the celibate monastic life to live a
double standard and surround themselves with those of the opposite sex
-- be they fellow ashramites, personal aides, secretaries or close
devotees -- or with their former family. Nowadays there are pseudo-sannyasins who are married and call themselves swamis, but, if pressed, they might admit that they are simply yoga teachers dressed in orange robes, bearing the title "swami" to attract the attention of the uninformed public for commercial reasons.
There is great power in the practice of brahmacharya,
literally "Godly conduct." Containing the sacred fluids within the body
builds up a bank account through the years that makes the realization
of God on the path to enlightenment a reality within the life of the
individual who is single. When brahmacharya is broken through sexual intercourse, this power goes away. It just goes away.
Thursday
LESSON 18
Brahmacharya In Family Life
The observance of brahmacharya is perhaps the
most essential aspect of a sound, spiritual culture. This is why in
Saivism, boys and girls are taught the importance of remaining celibate
until they are married. This creates healthy individuals, physically,
emotionally and spiritually, generation after generation. There is a
mystical reason. In virgin boys and girls, the psychic nadis,
the astral nerve currents that extend out into and through their aura,
have small hooks at the end. When a boy and girl marry, the hooks
straighten out and the nadis are tied one to another, and they
actually grow together. If the first sexual experience is premarital
and virginity is broken, the hooks at the end of the nadis also
straighten out, but there is nothing to grow onto if the partners do
not marry. Then, when either partner marries someone else, the
relationship is never as close as when a virgin boy and girl marry,
because their nadis don't grow together in the same way. In
cases such as this, they feel the need for intellectual stimuli and
emotional stimuli to keep the marriage going.
Youth ask, "How should we regard members of the opposite sex?" Do
not look at members of the opposite sex with any idea of sex or lust in
mind. Do not indulge in admiring those of the opposite sex, or seeing
one as more beautiful than another. Boys must foster the inner attitude
that all young women are their sisters and all older women are their
mother. Girls must foster the inner attitude that all young men are
their brothers and all older men are their father. Do not attend movies
that depict the base instincts of humans, nor read books or magazines
of this nature. Above all, avoid pornography on the Internet, on TV and
in any other media.
To be successful in brahmacharya, one naturally wants to
avoid arousing the sex instincts. This is done by understanding and
avoiding the eight successive phases: fantasy, glorification,
flirtation, lustful glances, secret love talk, amorous longing,
rendezvous and finally intercourse. Be very careful to mix only with
good company -- those who think and speak in a cultured way -- so that
the mind and emotions are not led astray and vital energies needed for
study used up. Get plenty of physical exercise. This is very important,
because exercise sublimates your instinctive drives and directs excess
energy and the flow of blood into all parts of the body.
Brahmacharya means sexual continence, as was observed by
Mahatma Gandhi in his later years and by other great souls throughout
life. There is another form of sexual purity, though not truly brahmacharya,
followed by faithful family people who have a normal sex life while
raising a family. They are working toward the stage when they will take
their brahmacharya vrata after sixty years of age. Thereafter
they would live together as brother and sister, sleeping in separate
bedrooms. During their married life, they control the forces of lust
and regulate instinctive energies and thus prepare to take that vrata. But if they are unfaithful, flirtatious and loose in their thinking through life, they will not be inclined to take the vrata in later life.
Faithfulness in marriage means fidelity and much more. It includes
mental faithfulness, non-flirtatiousness and modesty toward the
opposite sex. A married man, for instance, should not hire a secretary
who is more magnetic or more beautiful than his wife. Metaphysically,
in the perfect family relationship, man and wife are, in a sense,
creating a one nervous system for their joint spiritual progress, and
all of their nadis
are growing together over the years. If they break that faithfulness,
they break the psychic, soul connections that are developing for their
personal inner achievements. If one or the other of the partners does
have an affair, this creates a psychic tug and pull on the nerve system
of both spouses that will continue until the affair ends and long
afterwards. Therefore, the principle of the containment of the sexual
force and mental and emotional impulses is the spirit of brahmacharya, both for the single and married person.
Friday
LESSON 19
Rules for Serious People
For virtuous individuals who marry, their experiences
with their partner are, again, free from lustful fantasies; and
emotional involvement is only with their spouse. Yes, a normal sex life
should be had between husband and wife, and no one else should be
included in either one's mind or emotions. Never hugging, touching
another's spouse or exciting the emotions; always dressing modestly,
not in a sexually arousing way; not viewing sexually oriented or
pornographic videos; not telling dirty jokes -- all of these simple
customs are traditional ways of upholding sexual purity. The yama of brahmacharya works in concert with asteya, nonstealing. Stealing or coveting another's spouse, even mentally, creates a force that, once generated, is difficult to stop.
In this day and age, when promiscuity is a way of life, there is
great strength in married couples' understanding and applying the
principles of sexual purity. If they obey these principles and are on
the path of enlightenment, they will again become celibate later in
life, as they were when they were young. These principles persist
through life, and when their children are raised and the forces
naturally become quiet, around age sixty, husband and wife take the brahmacharya vrata, live in separate rooms and prepare themselves for greater spiritual experiences.
Married persons uphold sexual purity by observing the eightfold
celibacy toward everyone but their spouse. These are ideals for
serious, spiritual people. For those who have nothing to do with
spirituality, these laws are meaningless. We are assuming a situation
of a couple where everything they do and all that happens in their life
is oriented toward spiritual life and spiritual goals and, therefore,
these principles do apply. For sexual purity, individuals must believe
firmly in the path to enlightenment. They must have faith in higher
powers than themselves. Without this, sexual purity is nearly
impossible.
One of the fastest ways to destroy the stability of families and
societies is through promiscuity, mental and/or physical, and the best
way to maintain stability is through self-control. The world today has
become increasingly unstable because of the mental, physical, emotional
license that people have given to themselves. The generation that
follows an era of promiscuity has a dearth of examples to follow and
are even more unstable than their parents were when they began their
promiscuous living. Stability for human society is based on morality,
and morality is based on harnessing and controlling sexuality. The
principles of brahmacharya
should be learned well before puberty, so that the sexual feelings the
young person then begins to experience are free of mental fantasies and
emotional involvement. Once established in a young person, this control
is expected to be carried out all through life. When a virgin boy and
girl marry, they transfer the love they have for their parents to one
another. The boy's attachment to his mother is transferred to his wife,
and the girl's attachment to her father is transferred to her husband.
She now becomes the mother. He now becomes the father. This does not
mean they love their parents any less. This is why the parents have to
be in good shape, to create the next generation of stable families.
This is their dharmic duty. If they don't do it, they create all kinds of uncomely karmas for themselves to be faced at a later time.
Saturday
LESSON 20
Kshama: Patience
The fifth yama, patience, or kshama, is
as essential to the spiritual path as the spiritual path is to itself.
Impatience is a sign of desirousness to fulfill unfulfilled desires,
having no time for any interruptions or delays from anything that seems
irrelevant to what one really wants to accomplish.
We must restrain our desires by regulating our life with daily
worship and meditation. Daily worship and meditation are difficult to
accomplish without a break in continuity. However, impatience and
frustration come automatically in continuity, day after day, often at
the same time -- being impatient before breakfast because it is not
served on time, feeling intolerant and abusive with children because
they are not behaving as adults, and on and on. Everything has its
timing and its regularity in life. Focusing on living in the eternity
of the moment overcomes impatience. It produces the feeling that one
has nothing to do, no future to work toward and no past to rely on.
This excellent spiritual practice can be performed now and again during
the day by anyone.
Patience is having the power of acceptance, accepting people,
accepting events as they are happening. One of the great spiritual
powers that people can have is to accept things as they are. That
forestalls impatience and intolerance. Acceptance is developed in a
person by understanding the law of karma
and in seeing God Siva and His work everywhere, accepting the
perfection of the timing of the creation, preservation and absorption
of the entire universe. Acceptance does not mean being resigned to
one's situation and avoiding challenges. We know that we ourselves
created our own situation, our own challenges, in a former time by
sending forth our energies, thoughts, words and deeds. As these
energies, on their cycle-back, manifest through people, happenings and
circumstances, we must patiently deal with the situation, not fight it
or try to avoid it or be discouraged because of it. This is kshama in the raw. This is pure kshama.
Patience cannot be acquired in depth in any other way. This is why
meditation upon the truths of the Sanatana Dharma is so important.
It is also extremely important to maintain patience with oneself
-- especially with oneself. Many people are masters of the fachade of
being patient with others but take their frustrations out on
themselves. This can be corrected and must be corrected for spiritual
unfoldment to continue through an unbroken routine of daily worship and
meditation and a yearly routine of attending festivals and of
pilgrimage, tirthayatra.
Most people today are intolerant with one another and impatient
with their circumstances. This breeds an irreverent attitude. Nothing
is sacred to them, nothing holy. But through daily exercising anger,
malice and the other lower emotions, they do, without knowing, invoke
the demonic forces of the Narakaloka. Then they must suffer the
backlash: have nightmares, confusions, separations and even perform
heinous acts. Let all people of the world restrain themselves and be
patient through the practice of daily worship and meditation, which
retroactively invokes the divine forces from the Devaloka. May a great
peace pervade the planet as the well-earned result of these practices.
The next time you find yourself becoming impatient, just stop for
a moment and remember that you are on the upward path, now facing a
rare opportunity to take one more step upward by overcoming these
feelings, putting all that you have previously learned into practice.
One does not progress on the spiritual path by words, ideas or unused
knowledge. Memorized precepts, shlokas,
all the shoulds and should-nots, are good, but unless used they will
not propel you one inch further than you already are. It is putting
what you have learned into practice in these moments of experiencing
impatience and controlling it through command of your spiritual will,
that moves you forward. These steps forward can never be retracted.
When a test comes, prevail.
Sadhakas and sannyasins must be perfect in kshama, forbearing with people and patient under all circumstances, as they have harnessed their karmas
of this life and the lives before, compressed them to be experienced in
this one lifetime. There is no cause for them, if they are to succeed,
to harbor intolerance or experience any kind of impatience with people
or circumstances. Their instinctive, intellectual nature should be
caught up in daily devotion, unreserved worship, meditation and deep
self-inquiry. Therefore, the practice, niyama, that mitigates intolerance is devotion, Ishvarapujana, cultivating devotion through daily worship and meditation.
Sunday
LESSON 21
Dhriti: Steadfastness
The sixth yama is dhriti,
steadfastness. To be steadfast, you have to use your willpower.
Willpower is developed easily in a person who has an adequate memory
and good reasoning faculties. To be steadfast as we go through life, we
must have a purpose, a plan, persistence and push. Then nothing is
impossible within the circumference of our prarabdha karmas.
It is impossible to be steadfast if we are not obeying the other restraints that the rishis of the Himalayas laid down for us as the fruits of their wisdom. All of these restraints build character, and dhriti,
steadfastness, rests on the foundation of good character. Character --
the ability to "act with care" -- is built slowly, over time, with the
help of relatives, preceptors and good-hearted friends. Observe those
who are steadfast. You will learn from them. Observe those who are not,
and they, too, will teach you. They will teach what you should not do.
To be indecisive and changeable is not how we should be on the path to
enlightenment, nor to be successful in any other pursuit.
Nonperseverance and fear must be overcome, and much effort is required
to accomplish this. Daily sadhana, preferably under a guru's guidance, is suggested here to develop a spiritual will and intellect.
In the Shandilya Upanishad (UPM, P. 173-174), dhriti
has been described as preserving firmness of mind during the period of
gain or loss of relatives. This implies that during times of sorrow,
difficult karmas, loss and temptation, when in mental pain and
anguish, feeling alone and neglected, we can persevere, be decisive and
bring forth the dhriti strength within us and thus prevail. One translator of the Varuha Upanishad used the word courage to translate dhriti. Courageous and fearless people who are just and honest prevail over all karmas
-- benevolent, terrible and confused. This virtue is much like the
monk's vow of humility, part of which is enduring hardship with
equanimity, ease of mind, which means not panicking. The Tirukural
reminds us, "It is the nature of asceticism to patiently endure
hardship and to not harm living creatures" (261). And we can say that dhriti
itself is a "hard ship" -- a ship that can endure and persevere on its
course even when tossed about on the waves of a turbulent sea.
Some might wonder why it is good to passively endure hardship. To
persevere through hardship one must understand, as all Hindus do, that
any hardship coming to us we ourselves participated in setting into
motion in the past. To endure hardship and rise above it in
consciousness is to overcome that karma forever. To resent hardship, to fight it, is to have it return later at a most inconvenient time.
An essential part of steadfastness is overcoming changeableness.
Changeableness means indecision, not being decisive, changing one's
mind after making a deliberate, positive decision. Changing one's mind
can be a positive thing, but making a firm, well-considered decision
and not following it through would gain one the reputation of not being
dependable, even of being weak-minded. No one wants a reputation like
this.
How can we discriminate between this and the strength of a person
who changes his or her mind in wisdom because of changes of
circumstance? A person who is changeable is fickle and unsure of
himself, changing without purpose or reason. Dhriti,
steadfastness, describes the mind that is willing to change for mature
reasons based on new information but holds steady to its determinations
through thick and thin in the absence of such good reasons. Its
decisions are based on wise discrimination. A person who is patient and
truthful, who would not harm others by thought, word or deed and who is
compassionate and honest has the strong nature of one who is firm in dhriti, steadfastness. He is the prevailer over obstacles. One firm in dhriti can be leaned upon by others, depended upon. He is charitable, has faith in God, Gods and guru, worships daily and manifests in his life a spiritual will and intellect. In relaxed moments he experiences santosha, contentment, not being preoccupied by feelings of responsibility, duty or things left undone.
The spiritual path is a long, enduring process. It does not reach
fruition in a year or two years. The spiritual path brings lots of ups
and downs, and the greatest challenges will come to the greatest souls.
With this in mind, it becomes clear that steadiness and perseverance
are absolutely essential on the spiritual path.
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