Hello and welcome to episode 114 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today I want to talk about the power of truth and integrity and how it can lead you to enlightenment.
Today’s question comes from Stephan and he says “Is there any other way to reach God other than learning scriptures. I find reading scriptures daunting and a little boring.”
Thanks for the question. I picked your question because I think it’s great that you’re being honest.
There is one word I want to talk to you about and that is eligibility. All the great teachers on earth talk about this. Before you even start teaching someone you need to know if that person is eligible. When someone says it’s daunting and boring then they are probably not eligible. If this is the case then you must start at the beginning and work your way up slowly.
Eligibility
You cannot teach someone unless they are eligible. It just won’t work. In the same way when someone is eligible teaching will be so easy. When you up eligibly you automatically start welcoming things and you start to learn things quicker. This is because you will have more sattvic gunas.
Eligibility does not just apply to spirituality. It applies to everything. Any great work that needs to be done requires eligibility. Not everyone can just decide to work like that overnight. People who do great things have a greater level of understanding and they have worked hard to reach those heights. We cannot jump from the bottom of the ladder to the top. We must work our way up step by step. This is the only way. You must up your eligibility.
You do it by starting small and doing one thing at a time. Do one thing and then another and then another. Soon you will look back and see that you have done a lot of things and have come really far. Every event in life gives us the chance to increase our eligibility and move up the ladder.
The way we release our emotions is a good indication of our level of awareness. Most people release their emotions in a negative way through pleasure and power. We all go through this. We just know that the great ones release emotions by developing awareness. We must do it like Krishna says, by drawing these emotions in and becoming detached. This will bring us closer to the consciousness.
Scripture
Ram Krishna says that scriptures are not always necessary. It’s like a shopping list where you tick off items as you get them. Then we throw it away because we think we are done with it. The scriptures are only necessary while forming the gold image within because it validates what you are doing. The scriptures are to remind us and for verification. Once we know them we don’t need them anymore. Few people don’t need them because they have already formed the gold image. For the vast majority who have not, the scriptures become like a road map to lead you where you need to go.
Methods and principals
There are two things: methods and principals. If what you are doing now is not working then try something else. Find a really good book and read it or read a book about a great man or woman. The principal is always the same, to from the gold image but the method is up to you. Choose one that suits you. If you are bored then the method you are using is not right for you.
The monk
I want to share by how leading a life of truth you can get where you need to be even without scriptures. There was once a monk who had practiced a lot of mediation. He was in a forest and sitting in tree was a crow. While he was mediating the crow dropped faeces on him. He turned around and looked at the crow and as soon as a light, almost like fire came from the monks eyes. The crow was burned and there was nothing left but ashes.
The monk was shocked. He couldn’t understand where this power had come from. He was happy to have such powers. His job was to take alms from people houses and he went to the first house and asked an old lady for alms. The old lady asked him to wait. He waited 5 minutes and then 10 minutes and he became very angry. He couldn’t understand why she was making him wait. AS he was getting angry he heard a voice inside himself telling him that the woman’s husband was old and she was helping him.
The old lady told him to hang on for a minute. That just because he had the power to kill a crow with his eyes does not mean it will work everywhere. The monk was stunned. How could she have known what happened in the forest?
A few minutes passed and she appeared again with the alms and he asked her how she knew about the crow. She said she knew nothing about yoga or meditation but she had lived a life of integrity and truth doing her duty very honestly serving her husband and doing anything else that was needed and these powers had just come to her. She told him not to think that special things happen to only one person.
This was a real eye opener for the monk. She told him to go the local butcher who was very knowledgeable. The monk asked what on earth he was going to learn from a butcher of all people. He had seen the woman’s power so he decided to go and see what happened. He went to the butchers and saw him cutting meat. He waited an hour for the butcher to be ready and then he went home with him. At his house he made him wait for another hour. The butcher’s parents were there so he had to cook for them and take care of them. Only then did he go and ask the monk what he wanted.
He said that the woman told him to come because he knew a lot. It was then that he told him about Brahman and universal consciousness. The monk was stunned. He could not believe a butcher, an ordinary man could have such profound knowledge.
This shows us that anyone can learn. If you have the right teacher and you are open and observant you can learn. There are many ways to achieve knowledge. If you live a life of truth and integrity you can learn many wonderful things. I experience this all the time. I am very proud of my work and all that I have achieved in the last 15 years but I am also very humbled by my mother, who can utter one sentence and leave me baffled by her knowledge and experience.
Live a good life Stephan and work hard and you will become eligible and you will then form the gold image and become close to god. Don’t give up. Do whatever it takes to get you there.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
