Hello and welcome to episode 127 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today is part two of the illusion of maya and how it blocks our happiness. I also want to talk about a few tweaks that can help up regain happiness.
If you haven’t watched episode 126 I suggest you watch it first so you can really benefit from this episode. It was a really great episode full of helpful information. We talked about the two states, dreaming and awake and how both of them are un-real. The only state that is real is the consciousness.
For most of us the journey ends in the waking stage with whatever we see, hear or touch. The great ones say that even the waking state is un-real and we can only know this when we are in a higher state which is called the state of the consciousness. This is what we need to fall back on.
Destroy duality
The great ones say we can reach this state by destroying duality. The waking stage is all about duality and we see things as different from others. We need to understand that the waking stage is as un-real as the dream stage. This is really important to us because it concerns happiness. I really encourage you to watch episode 126 to find out more about this.
We learned that the moment you see, hear or touch something twice it becomes maya. We consider this to be real but it is only an illusion which is why we call it maya. Krishna says “attachment to objects develop when the mind ponders over it. Out of attachment develops craving, out of craving wrath and out of wrath delusion. When this happens memory fails, intelligence perishes and destruction reigns.”
Cut emotions
When you touch, hear or see something once and then move away from it then you will never be deceived because you will know everything is un-real. You will avoid getting into trouble by falling for these delusions. These all start with thinking and emotions such as hatred, fear and jealousy. You need to cut them down the minute they enter your mind. If you fail to do this maya will catch hold and you will consider every thought that passes through your mind to be real and you will not have the power to combat it.
You must be really alert. The moment these thoughts of hatred, fear or jealousy come into your mind you must cut them down and know that they are un-real.
Through you and to you
We spoke yesterday about how to apply it to life and today I want to give you some more examples to help you understand it better. I want you to take a notepad and pen and divide the page in two. One the left side write ‘Through you’ and on the right hand side write ‘to you’. On one side the events are happening through you and on the other side events are happening to you. This will help you destroy duality and help you move into the state of the consciousness.
In the waking state you will say that you are doing something but in the state of the consciousness you will say that it is happening through you. It is a form of meditation. The ignorant ones will say they are doing something and the wise ones know that events are happening through them. The great ones know that they are the machines and the consciousness is the operator. They know they are only a medium. Even great actors will say that a scene is acted through them. So using the words ‘through you’ will help destroy duality because it will help you realise that there are other elements involved.
It’s only when you realise this that you will know that even in the midst of a crisis you will be able to get back to your consciousness. We must never mistake bad events for absence of happiness. Bad events are because of karma and because of our baggage and our timeline.
Let God hold your hand
The great ones say there is a lot of difference between you holding Gods hand and god holding your hand. We should try to remember that we want God to hold out hands. His grip is much stronger so we are safer when he is holding our hands. If we were to hold his hand there is a chance our grip will fail.
Ram Krishna used to pray to god asking him to take both his good and bad by holding his hand. He would never take possession of anything and would never say the word ‘mine’. He would give everything to God and he would always say that things are being done through him and not too him. I want you to take your journal and write down the words. Ask God in writing to hold your hand and take your good with your bad. You will find it very therapeutic. You will know you have God to take your hand and guide you.
The great ones have done all the hard work and shown us the way. All we have to do is follow the path they have created for us. We don’t need to waste time by starting from scratch. We need to enjoy the gift that the great ones have given us by just allowing God to hold our hands.
Mean what you say
Ram Krishna always said that once he decided he wasn’t going to do something then he wouldn’t do it. Write this down as well. Write ‘If I say I won’t do something then I will never do it under any circumstance.’ Whatever we say we must follow. Even the casual utterances must mean something. If you say you will be in a place at a certain time then be there at that time. These simple things will destroy duality.
Ram Krishna says that God would never want even his causal utterances to be un-true. He would do whatever is possible to make his utterances true. There must be coherence between what you say and what you do. Talking about something and then not following up on it is no good and will only increase your level of delusion. We must always follow up. This is the key to joy and happiness. We must have synchronicity.
Once Ram Krishna was at the house of one of his favourite devotees and she had prepared a meal for him. The rice was not prepared well and he said that he will never eat rice that was prepared by her again and he didn’t. It was a casual occurrence but he still followed up on it. The thing is that a few days after that utterance he got cancer from taking on all the karma of others. He said that God conspired to ensure that even the casual utterance was followed up on.
This why it is important that we do even the simple things right. Keep up the tasks in your journal and aim for synchronicity between what you say and what you do. You will start to notice that god is holding your hand and guiding you.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
