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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00088 Mar 2003

 
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Respected Devotees,

This is in response to Sri Soundararajan's "scary question" regarding the
origin of Sriman Narayana. His restless nights are something that I can
very much relate to, since I went through the same stuggles several years
ago when I began my own quest for spirituality. I would like to share a
little of what helped me come to resolution with this experience, in the
hope that this will help provide some solace to him and others. My
apologies in advance for any errors or misconceptions on my part:

As educated human beings in general, and as South Asians in particular, our
knack for science, engineering, and medicine have expected us to be able to
provide solutions in a prompt and effective way based on our education and
the resulting experience that has come with it. Consequently, we have
conditioned ourselves into turning to rational analysis and intellectual
contemplation for providing us with all the answers. So, whether it is our
next big project at work, or the Mysteries of the Universe, we rely on the
same set of tools - our mind and our education - to try and provide us with
the answers that we seek.

But, to our AchAryas, our minds and intelligence are not seen in this same
light. According to them, while our upanishads revel in the glory of the
human birth in its being able to apply the mind - rather than just relying
on instinct as is the case with most other creatures on this earth - this
mind is also seen to be unruly and easily swayed and distracted. One
upanishad, the Chandogya Upanishad, likens the mind, and the manas (subtle
body) that operates it, to a beautiful and colorful bird that can be enjoyed
and appreciated in full flight. But, just as any bird, if left to operate
freely, it can literally run away from us and lead us on a chase to
re-capture it, just as it does when it asks difficult questions of itself
and goes off onto seeming never-ending intellectual speculation.

So, to make this bird-like mind still be beautiful in its creativity, but
conditioned to not run away from its master, the soul, we require something
to tether it, something that will allow us to guide it and pull it back in
place when it starts to take us on those "scary journeys". This something
is not a conditioning of the mind, because its very nature is to fly, but
rather is the conditioning of the one who tethers it, its master, the soul.

So, to realize God, to truly know Him within our heart of hearts to be the
Eternal Love that is the source of all That is and Is Not, requires not a
journey led by our minds, but rather one that is led by our heart, for it is
our heart, our True Nature, which already has all of the answers to all of
the questions to experiencing Sriman Narayana. And the way to master this
this heartfelt experience, is through the willingness to cultivate two
important qualities, vinayam (commitment) and vidhEyata (a humble
willingness to follow).

And both these qualities should be directed towards the only one who can
make us experience God within our Hearts, the only one who can provide us
with the solace that will remove the doubts and fears of our unruly mind,
the only one at whose feet we can place our heads at night and rest
comfortably in the knowledge that He will lead us on the right path leading
to God. This person is the one whom the Lord Himself blessed us with out of
His Boundless and Unconditional Love for all of us, Bhagavad Sri Ramanuja.

If we place ourselves in the care of our Sri Ramanuja by serving our
AchAryas, He becomes the "tether" that helps us to maintain control over our
mind such that we can guide it on a good and spiritually fulfilling
journery. We soon find ourselves becoming less dependent on our mind as
being the source for answers, but see it in its true light as merely a tool
for the soul to learn about, enjoy and serve the Divine. The answers to
questions such as the immortality of God become irrelevant as mental
exercises, because we can be rest assured that through Ramanuja katAksham
(Ramanuja's Grace), our hearts will one day open to the wisdom that is
already part of our svarUpam, our True Nature. By serving Ramanuja through
service to our AchArya, we become the masters of our minds and bodies, and
live a life on earth of peaceful and loving contemplation of God, seeing
everything and everyone as having their source in Sriman Narayana, and
seeing every moment as an opportunity to revel both in the Wondrous Mystery
and in the All-embracing Love that are His Very Nature.

I hope this helps.

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
Mohan


> ________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 09:14:25 -0800 (PST)
> From: vimalkumar ranganathan <panardasan@xxxx>
> Subject: A very Scary Question!!
>
>
> Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:
>
> Respected Vaishnavas,
>
> When I ponder over this question that I
am going to present, I always get a very unsettling, unhappy, even a
shocking or a jittery feeling. The question is this: WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF
GOD??
>
> Well, every "thing" should have an origin, atleast according to human
perception. If Sriman Narayana is God, what about his origins, I mean, has
he always been resting on the bed of Sesha?? The question thats arising in
my mind is, shouldn't he have an origin, or something that created him??
>
> Well, if you cite the First Law of Thermodynamics which states, "Energy
can neither be created nor be destroyed", and somehow relate that energy to
God, then I can be partially convinced. Only partially because, the human
intelligence (ahem!!) in me will then question the origin of that energy!!
>
> Can I take convunce myself by saying that since I am only "human" and
anything that's linked to being human, be it thoughts, perception, or
whatever, is subject to being imperfect?? And therefore understanding those
high issues is beyond the realm of my limited, imperfect intelligence??
>
> I was thinking about this last night when I was just about to sleep, "who
created God??", and trust me, I didn't have good sleep at all, infact I woke
up to a nightmare.
>
> I request all of you learned souls to kindly address my question,
>
> 1) Philosophically
>
> 2) Logically
>
> 3) Scientifically,
>
> or anything that best addresses the issue.
>
> AzhwAr EmperumanAr Jeeyar ThiruvadigalE Saranam.
>
> Adiyen Yathindra Pravana Dasan,
>
> Kidambi Soundararajan.
>
>






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