DEIVATHIN KURAL # 53 (Vol # 3) Dated O9 Feb 2009

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 53 (Vol # 3) Dated O9 Feb 2009
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the second para of page 231 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man' includes 'woman' too, mostly.)
(Note:- These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)
376. 'Let us hear that again! This is a very simple method! However horribly one might have led one's life, all you have to do is that, at the last moment of our death, we should be thinking of God! Very good! We can simply get away from the Samsara Saagaraa, the never ending cycle of birth and death, by that one act of remembering God in the last moment! How easy is this!' That could be your response. But there is a catch 22 situation here!
377. He did not say simply, 'anta: kaale maam smaran' , to mean just, 'thinking of me in the last moment', but something more! He said, "anta: kaale cha maam eva smaran". That means, 'at the last moment too thinking of me only'. That means that you should be doing that throughout your life, to be able to do that at the last moment also. That is one point. The second point is that, it is no good if you are thinking of God also, but paying total exclusive attention to God alone! With that one sentence, God is demanding both regular practice and complete, exclusive focus of concentration!
378. We know how our mind runs around like a horse without reigns. For a minute it will seem as though it is totally immersed in divine thoughts. The next moment it will run away without your notice and be wallowing in a dust bin like a donkey or pig! We will notice the fact only after some time and be shocked and extremely sorry! 'We were pleasantly peaceful and when did this mind of ours run away?', we will wonder. In a fraction of a second it is capable of flitting from thought to thought, never steady and never static! Under these conditions, how is it going to be possible to totally focus on God alone? Sri Krishna is asking us to, "...maam eva smaran..."! How is that to be done?
379. First of all we should know that we are about to die! We who think no end to ourselves, are all the time afraid of death and not for a moment do we think that we are actually going to die! Even when we know that we are certainly going to die, we will be hoping that somebody will save us in the last moment. Some Aapat Bhandavaa or Anaata Rakshakaa, in the form of some Police to save us from danger and or some doctor to save us from the clutches of some disease or something! Who can think of God at such a moment, for God's sake I say! Even if we think of God we are likely to say, "God save me this once and I will always think of you only from now onwards" and forget our promise that very instant!
380. So, now the requirement is that we should know that we are going to die. Then instead of being afraid of death, we should be clear in our minds that we are to concentrate our attention on God. Thus we should be doing at least on that second when the life departs the body! It is OK if on that precise moment we are able to so give our attention to God. That is, before our attention wavers, the life should get out of the body! But as far as we know, no one seems to be able to achieve this timing and co-ordination!
381. Even when killed by a bullet, no one seems to die in a split second. It takes five or ten minutes or ten seconds. But that is enough time for this mind of ours to go around the whole world thrice! So, what to do? Say we are to be killed in electric shock in a fraction of a second. The problem still remains that, at the moment of our death, we should be riveting our minds on God. But no, at that moment we may be thinking of our dear Daddy or Mummy or Wife or Child. It is also possible that at that instant, we may become unconscious, like an inert stone or something. Or like Jatha Bharata, we may be thinking of the baby Doe and be born as a Stag!
382. Some times it happens that even after all the doctors have given up all hope, with the body not responding to treatment, it takes days for the death to occur! All that time one has to keep his mind on God! How is anyone to keep this uncontrollable mind on God, especially when we have no idea of how to comprehend that God! After all is said and done, He is beyond our mind's power of comprehension and understanding. Instead of a certainty, we may be able to just increase the possibility of our minds dwelling on God, by training our minds to keep thinking of Him all of the time. That is why, God Himself put that 'cha' in saying 'anta: kaale cha' !
383. If our minds are fully and deeply involved in thinking of the divine attributes and deeds of God, all of our living moments, then at the last moment we may be lucky enough to hit the jackpot. That is not even intentional thinking. We have put our minds on an 'automatic mode' so to say, of keeping on thinking of God! Now-a-days, they say that, without our being aware of it, what ever are the deep impressions in our consciousness, come up to the surface. Especially when we sleep, these impressions are the ones that cause the dreams. Not only while we go to sleep, even when we sit down say for a period of Dhyanam or Meditation, some ideas just pop-up like a cork kept sub-merged in water.
384. These are what is called, 'poorva vasanaa' or 'old smells' in the Saastraa-s. Our minds have to be drained of all these 'old smells'. Then in that thought-less moments the inner illumination will flare like a sudden flash of lightning. For the mind to be drained of bad vasana-s, the only method is to replace them all with ‘sat’ vasana-s. The only real ‘Sat’ is the ‘ekam sat’ of, thoughts of the only truth, the God! Finally all the good and bad thoughts have to vanish. Finally the very mind has to go. From the position of ‘thought-less-ness’, we have to move on to ‘mind-less-ness’ described by Adi Sankara Bhagawat Paadaal as, ‘mano naasa:’. That stage comes much later Before that, let us keep at it, thinking and speaking and hearing of God and God alone!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.