The purpose and utility of identity

Dec 19, 2009, 12.00am IST
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

The universe is a multilayered existence; there are many levels: there are the molecular, the atomic and the subatomic levels. So also the human consciousness: though one, yet, it is many.


An eight-year-old child in India was always given the Brahma Gyan first, before any other knowledge. The first upadesha or formal advice given during the Upanayanam or holy thread ceremony is called Brahmopadesha, where the highest identity of oneself is revealed as a secret. In this ceremony, the guru, father and mother whisper in the ear of the child: "You are THAT!" And then all the varnashrama dharmas, or lesser identities are taught and the duties are promulgated.

The lesser identity is essential to perform limited duties that include those as student, son or daughter, husband or wife, father or mother, professional or citizen. Lesser identities strengthen the 'karta' or doer and enable him to complete the karma. Another utility of lesser identity is to move one from tamoguna to rajoguna and that is how Krishna reminds Arjuna of his being a warrior and his warrior dharma, again and again after educating him in the Sankhya yoga, the highest knowledge of atma-gyan. He tells him about his kshatriya dharma and what people will say if he doesn't do his duty, something that is irrelevant to a Brahmagyani.

So, to come out of tamoguna, rajoguna is essential. And while moving from rajoguna to satoguna, all identities get dropped. That's why Buddha said the world is all sorrow and misery; so take sanyas. His teachings were simple, plain, convincing, logical and so could be understood far and wide, whereas Krishna's are complicated, confusing and contradictory and so they remained confined to India. Krishna also says "Anityam Asukham Loka". The universe is anitya, asukha (transient, devoid of happiness) ^ he doesn't say it is dukham ^ and further he says "Imam Prapya" ^ Achieving this, "Bhajaswamam" ^ merge into Me. (Gita, Ch. 9)

In the Vedantic tradition, there are two paths: One is that of negation "neti neti", which the Buddhists have adopted. The other is simply moving beyond negation. That is the path of Taitriya Upanishads, also called the varunya. The varun was given introduction ... food is Brahmn, then told Prana Brahmn, without negating the previous. Then as the higher planes of manobrahma, vigyan-brahma and anandam-brahma are introduced, the previous identities are naturally superseded; no negation is used in this.


You don't need to negate being a householder to be a good citizen of your country and you don't need to negate being a good citizen in order to be a world citizen; they all fall in place. The lower identities simply get absorbed and enriched as well. This is incomprehensible for a linear-thinking Occident.

The dharmashastras and Brahmagyanis have all along been guiding when there is a conflict between the dharmas of different identities like between a grihastha-dharma or that of a householder and raja-dharma or that of a citizen. While identities are useful for performing the karmas, their futility is obvious in the field of knowledge or gyana. Like the membrane around the seed, which stays till the seed sprouts, identity will remain till the Brahmagyan is attained ^ they help one to complete their karmas.

In the Gita, Krishna cleverly adopts both these methods, to bring both vairagya (to get out of sorrow) and to perform the duty, which Arjuna had to. "Na budhi-bhedam ... karma sanghinam."

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The only way out is in, so look deep within

Nov 10, 2009, 12.00am IST

Venkatesan Seshadri.

We constantly seek a deeper experience of life, one way or the other. Whatever one may seek God, alcohol, drugs, meditation or any thing that one feels will provide relief, give pleasure or fulfillment you are only seeking to have a larger slice of life .

The intention is always the same, somehow to have a deeper experience, to extract a little more out of life, to find access to that which is not yet for you. The question is not of the intention as the intention is always the same; it is only of whether it works or not.

Everything you've done in your life so far has been in pursuit of joy career, business, making money or starting a family. From when you were a child till now, is your joy increasing or decreasing? Now that you have grown up, you have your own life, your own family, your own bank account, everything of your own ^ has your joy multiplied? In the last 24 hours, how many moments of joy have you known?

When you came into this world, you came with no investment. So whatever happens in your life, anyway you are in profit. But the reason people are in various levels of distress is because there is no life-sense, only ego-sense. If you are miserable, it is because life is not happening the way you think it should happen. If everything happened the way you think it should, the whole existence would happen within the limitation of your limited thought. Is it not wonderful that so many things that you could never imagine are happening? What you enjoyed, your parents were distressed about. What you are distressed about, your children are enjoying.

The nature and basis of your experience is within you. Pain and pleasure, joy and misery, agony and ecstasy happen only within you. The very seat of your experience is within you. So why try to extract joy from outside? At best, the outside can provide a stimulus.

If you depend on the outside to bring joy to you, understand that the outside never happens a hundred per cent the way you want it. Those who think that there is something like an ideal situation are not in touch with reality. No situation or person will ever happen a hundred per cent the way you want it. But at least you should happen the way you want yourself to be. Then there would be no need for you to be in pursuit of your happiness. So the question is not of intention or direction, but of doing that which works.

If you did happen the way you want yourself to be, joy would be the natural choice. What we refer to as inner engineering means not seeing joy as something that we could achieve in our life but seeing joy as the very basis of our lives. Joy is not the goal; it is the square one of our life. Other things can happen only if there is joy. Otherwise, you will live constantly with the fear of misery striking at you.

What great things you achieve in your life will depend on your capabilities, the situation, and the prevailing times. Regardless of what you do or don't, my wish and blessing is that your experience of life is pleasant and graceful.

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Reverence for Nature Only Way to Save It

Jun 4, 2004, 12.00am IST
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, TNN.

Ancient scriptures say we have five sheaths: physical environment, physical body, mind, intuitive sheath or subtle environment, and the Self.

Indian tradition believes in the sanctity of nature. Our rishis perceived the mountains, rivers, Sun, Moon and trees to be sacred. That which is sacred is honoured. Environmental consciousness has been built into our way of life, to become our second nature. But when we start moving away from our nature we begin polluting the environment. Unfortunately, we pollute our rivers and mountains in the name of sacred rituals.

We also suffer from the misconception that ecological degradation is an inevitable by-product of techno-logy and development. But the two need not be mutually exclusive. The purpose of technology is to harness nature, to bring information and comfort to human beings. When spiritual and human values are ignored, technology brings pollution and destruction, instead of comfort. The role of spirituality is to help maintain harmony in the environment even while allowing technology and science to grow. This is the challenge of the present century.

We can take our lessons in environment preservation from nature. Nature digests waste material and produces something beautiful every time. Despite all the extreme characteristics one finds in nature, somehow, a balance is struck. It is not the science or the technology that is harmful; it is the waste material produced that is toxic. This waste needs to be minimised and recycled.

The greatest pollutant is, of course, human greed. It comes in the way of preservation of ecology, as it gives higher priority to quick profit and quick results over eco-friendly manufacturing practices. Greed pollutes the subtle environment and mind of man with negative emotions and impressions. Pollution permeates both the physical and subtle environment. An angry person exudes anger which spreads to others around him. It is a chain reaction. At the root of all wars is compounded negativity of emotions. Often we are not aware that something that is anti-environment is also anti-health.

By reviving traditional reverence for nature, we could restore a degree of purity to our surroundings. We can see God in nature — this would make us more sensitive to the way we treat nature. Then you can’t but be environmentally conscious. Both ancient and modern methods need to be adopted.

Vedic farming was done with cow urine, cow dung and neem leaves, and these have now been proved to be excellent for crop production. Recent experiments in India have shown that the yield has tripled just by natural farming done without fertili-sers and pesticides. Just because something is new, it need not be good and just because something is old it need not be discarded. A good mix of the two can help us balance our lives with that of the environment and in this manner, we can prevent further degradation of Planet Earth. This can only happen when human consciousness rises above greed, selfish motives, and exploitation. We need to ask ourselves: How much do we want to exploit Earth? Or how much do we want to preserve it?

Spirituality checks greed. It raises awareness and brings a sense of caring and commitment for the whole planet. Spirituality elevates our consciousness. It opens our eyes to the beauty of nature, and encourages us to honour nature and life — and helps bring more joy and celebration into our lives. A spiritual out- look and sensitivity is essential to foster environment consciousness.

(Tomorrow is World Environment Day.)

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