Hello and welcome to episode 17 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today I want to talk about enlightenment and why only a few attain while the rest fall through the cracks.
Today’s question comes from Cheryl. She asks “why is enlightenment so difficult. Why can only a few obtain it? If god is inside us all then why is it such a struggle?”
Dharma
Thanks for the questions. It’s true, all the great beings say that the light is within us all yet people spend decades seeking him. Today I want to speak to about something called dharma. It’s an interesting word. It stands for happiness. Whatever you aim for in life – be it money wealth or happiness, people still want to be happy. No matter what happens they still want to be happy. Everyone seeks happiness and happiness sometimes escapes them.
Dharma is the way to attain happiness. We all know by now that god is inside of us. It’s just that sometimes he is covered by transformations. All the time there are transformations happening around us because we are acting and reacting.
One thing you must remember is that darkness in an illusion. Don’t treat it as a real thing. All it means is that the light has not yet reached that place. The moment you turn on the light the darkness will disappear. That is all you have to remember. The only thing that is real is the light and that light is god. These are the only two things you need to discriminate. Between darkness, which is an illusion and light which is the truth. Do this and your journey will be simple.
Never disturb the mind
Things are hard because we don’t practice the 5 simple truths of dharma. The first truth is that you must never ever disturb someone else’s state of mind. We often try to control others by giving them advice but we can’t even control our own minds so we should not be doing this. We over do everything. Do not disturb another person’s mind. Even an evil person’s mind should not be disturbed. Just don’t do it. Remember whatever you do will come back on you. If your state of mind is disturbed that means at some point during the day you have done something (knowingly or unknowingly) to disturb someone else’s mind. It’s like a chain reaction. You cannot change a person before they are ready. It will only cause problems. Always maintain a good state of mind. Only give advice to those who actually come to you and ask for it. Have a neutral attitude towards everyone else.
Show respect
Secondly. Look at every woman as if she was your mother. This might seem like a restriction but it’s not. In today’s world the entertainment industry is very successful but it means that while entertainment is high our awareness will be low. You want to be entertained when your mind is low, your awareness is low or you have been disturbed. When your awareness is high you will never need to seek entertainment. When your mind is occupied you will never be interested in having it entertained. Seeking entertainment is bad for the mind. Men look upon women as objects of pleasure. This is a total lack of respect. This is not good enough.
When the awareness is low people cling to entertainment because it is so readily available. They get all these impressions and then these impressions then reflect on their daily lives. Take this for example, most people read the newspaper in the morning and they find nothing wrong with this. But let me tell you this. I have not read the newspaper in 8 years and I will never read it again if I can help it. People think that reading the news is good for you but it’s not. It destroys your mind.
A few years back terrorist attacked a 5 star hotel in Mumbai. The newspaper covered everything including how the terrorists had planned the attack and carried it out. Every single detail was written about including who died and how they died. As you read it you realise what’s happening. When you read about terror then terror will be carved into your mind. By knowing how the terrorists planned the attack You think you are gaining knowledge but what you are actually doing is destroying your mind by carving an impression into it. Anything that you see, hear or touch will be carved into your mind so you want to make sure it’s carved with happiness and not fear and terror.
So what does a newspaper contain? It contains sports, politics and entertainment. These are the main areas that every paper covers. All of these subjects are useless to 99% of people. It’s a waste of time. People say there are a lot of inspirational things in newspapers but remember you don’t buy gold from the supermarket just because they sell it. You must look for the best source of information. In this case the best sources would be the Bhagavad Gita, the bible, the Quran or any other holy book.
Even some of the most highly educated people in the world don’t understand that anyone who reads the newspaper will come in touch with the minds of those who are disturbed like politicians and people who are only interested in their own gain. This will destroy your mind because you’ll buy into their individual opinions. Remember people do not print newspapers to make you happy. They do not care about your happiness. We need to listen to the wisdom of the sages because they really do care about your happiness. They care about your well-being and your state of mind.
These sources of information only exist because they have thought about you and your state of mind. This is so important. The same goes for television. It’s an addiction, nothing else. I want you to try something as an experiment. I want you to stop reading the newspaper and watching television for one month. Stop giving so much importance to these politicians and news reporters. It’s foolish.
Source true inspiration
If you want to raise your awareness then put down the paper and turn off the television. Go and actually play sports or just go for a walk and you’ll feel so much better. It will really help to raise your awareness. Then when you really want to watch a movie choose one that is really inspirational. Even Disney movies can be inspirational because they always teach an important lesson. Remember it is the simple things in life that will truly make you happy.
So men should treat every woman as if she was his mother and similarly women should not treat men as an object of desire. The mistake that people make is that men see women as objects of pleasure and women then seek to have all their desires fulfilled through men. This has happened for centuries but is totally against dharma.
Lies, desire and dust
Thirdly, we should never tell lies. Our minds falter when we do something wrong. Even the smallest of lies can make our minds falter. Lying can become a very bad habit so stop immediately.
Fourthly, we must stop desiring everything we see. When you see something and think “Oh I must have that too” then your mind gets disturbed. It’s like throwing stones in a calm river. It disturbs the mind. If you free yourself from this transformation you’ll be able to enjoy the light.
Finally, you must look upon every other property as dust. If you see someone else showing off what they have or what they own you must ignore it. Think of it as dust. Al of these desires, wanting a better house or a new car, think of it as dust. Remember you cannot take any of these things with you. They are not important.
The bible says “you are dust and onto dust you shall return”.
You have something much more valuable inside you. You have light and it is worth more than any amount of money any person could have. It’s priceless. It’s a gift from god to every single person. Life would be so much easier if everyone followed that light. Don’t mistake pleasure to be happiness. Happiness only exists in the light, so go to it. Once you find it, it will never leave you.
Follow these rules Cheryl and you will find happiness. I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
