"AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A DHARMAPAL (RAMBLING NOTES) " BY SRI GOUTAM DHARMAPAL – APPENDIX
THE MESSAGE OF DHARMA
A brief exposition
by Gautam Dharmapal
THE MANTRA- “OH GOD! THY WILL BE DONE!’
Bhakti is essential for God Realisation. The basis and starting point for attaining Bhakti is Sharanam. Sharanam consists of God’s remembrance – and complete surrender to the will of the Lord, Smarana and Samarpana. The first part of the Mantra, Oh God! Is this Nitya Smarana – constant remembrance, and the second part “ Thy will be done” is Purna Samarpana – complete surrender. With this Mantra we constantly remember, pray to God and surrender our whole being – all of our actions, thoughts and feelings at His Feet, accept whatever He ordains for us with joy and try to destroy totally our ego and desire.
The Message of Dharma contains in a nutshell, - in sutra form the conception of DHARMA as revealed to Bandhu Dharmapal by the grace of the Divine Mother. It gives in short the conception of God, Creation and Soul ( Isvara, Jagat and Jiva ) the stages of God Realization, the social and other changes that Dharma will usher in the society and what a Dharmapal should do to realize his ideals in his life.
DHARMA
In ten sutras of the first and the last page of the Message of Dharma, we get in short a complete answer to the most fundamental questions such as What is God, What is the cause of creation, how to realize God etc.
Philosophically we can call ourselves Purna Adwaitins. We believe that God alone Exists, the Existence is One. Nothing else exists. All that exists is He. He is One, Absolute, Infinite. He is Omni-Potent, Omni-Scient, Omni-Present , Sarva Shaktirmana, Sarvagna, Sarvavyapi. It naturally follows that whatever exists is God. Everything is God. There cannot be anything but God. It is only due to Ignorance, due to Maya that we do not perceive this inherent Unity-Oneness. This ignorance can only be removed by the Grace of God. This Grace may descend on any person at any time. His ways are inscrutable. But on our part we can be fit to receive this grace, if we become true Bhaktas-devotees. Bhakta alone is capable of bringing down this Grace of God. This Bhakti is that Para Bhakti – which includes Knowledge-Jnana and Karma- Works or Action and for this Bhakti, we have to start with Sharanam-Surrender.
Now, if there is nothing but God, our only ideal in life can be nothing else but to realize Him. To realize Him, to be one with Him is the highest ideal of all human beings. We are all trying to reach Him consciously or unconsciously. Our Sadhana begins when we become conscious of this process and place ourselves willingly and joyfully in the hands of the Divine. And thus our Sadhana begins with Prabhu Sharanam, develops into Prabhu Bhakti and reaches God Realisation through Divine Grace.
God is Sachchidananda. He is Existence, Knowledge, Bliss absolute. He is Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram – Truth, Bliss, Beauty. He is Purushottam, He is beyond Being and Non-Being, (Sat-Asat).
Though He is Infinite, He is not bound by His Infinity. He is capable of creating, preserving and destroying infinite numbers of finite creations. Though He is one, He contains many in the bosom of One. He is absolute in His absoluteness. He is beyond all limitations. Such is the nature of God.
He creates, manifests universe after universe for His mere Play i.e. Lila. All existence is evolved for His play according to His will. There is no other reason for creation. Philosophically this is called Lilavada,………: There are other two great philosophies which explain creation in other ways. One is Mayavada ( Illusionism ) of Sri Shankaracharya and the other is Shunyavada ( Nihilism or Non-Existence) of Lord Buddha. Both of them are truths of a very high order and a Dharmapal has to accept and understand their importance. Lilavada goes beyond these two including the truths of these two. The difference between Mayavada and Shunyavada is in their conclusion. Otherwise they are almost similar in their logic. One is positive, the other is negative. The Buddhist viewpoint does not accept any absolute existence. Nothing exists in the end. Whereas Sri Shankara posits the existence of Brahman as one and absolute existence. Bu while accepting the existence of Brahman they have to negate the existence of creation. They say Brahman is Real, but Jagat is unreal ( Brahma Satyam, Jaganmithya ). Now, we accept that created existence, the things of the world are not permanent, they are not true in themselves – but nonetheless they are real. They are real as God, as Brahman because Brahman has become that. It is all one. The division, difference, discords and disparities that we see in this universe are due to our ignorance. It is the Divine Maya, which is nothing but the Divine or the Power, the Shakti of the Divine that puts this veil of ignorance before our eyes for Her play and it is again She – The Divine Mother – that removes by her Grace this veil of ignorance from our eyes and then we behold the Divine Lila, where we see that God alone exists, that whatever exists is God and that there is nothing but God. Without Divine Grace we can not have this realisation of Divine Maya and Divine Lila and for receiving Divine Grace we must have Prabhu Bhakti. So Prabhu Bhakti is the essence of Divine Lila. But the starting point, the basis of Prabhu Bhakti is Prabhu Sharanam. So PRABHU Sharanam also becomes the basis of Divine Lila. Prabhu Sharanam is the foundation and Divine Lila is the rooftop of the great building of Dharma – Prabhu Bhakti is the staircase which takes us from the Base to the Top.
DHARMA SANGHA
Dharma Sangha is an association of Dharmapals – who believe in this conception of Dharma. A creative idea does not grow and revolutionise and change the society, if it is not supported by a well-organised association. If Dharma has to be established in the present circumstances, we will have to gather together in a harmonious group so that the forces of Dharma can be strengthened and the transformation of the society may be rapid.
As we believe that God alone exists, it becomes our imperative necessity to know and realize Him in all His aspects – Individual, Universal and Transcendent. All our activities, must be made the means to realize Him. By whatever means we must have God Realisation. No other ideal can be greater, higher than this, as this is the final truth. From God we come and in God we merge.
The mission of Dharma Sangha is the establishment of Dharma Yuga. We have to create an atmosphere of Dharma throughout the universe, through ourselves, our homes, society and nation. At present the universe is ruled by Adharma. We are slaves to sex, wealth and power. Conflict and competition is the Law of the day. Hatred, greed and exploitation are playing havoc in the society. A new harmony has to be created where love will be the motive power. Conflict and competition will be replaced by amity and co-operation. All types of exploitation – social, political, economical and religious are to be rooted out. Dharma alone can do this. Every Dharmapal has to strive for bringing about this age of Dharma.
Our means are not to be hatred and violence. Service, sacrifice and love are our weapons with which we will conquer ourselves, the universe and establish Dharma Yuga. These are the qualities, which we have to develop in ourselves. Service of Society, Dharma and God will be the part and parcel of the life of a Dharmapal. He will hold his life as a sacrifice to the Lord who is also immanent in this universe. He will do all these not with any selfish motive. All his relations will be guided by the force of Love. There will be no bargaining in his love. He loves the individual and the society because that is the highest form of worship to his Lord. Service, Sacrifice and Love are interrelated. One helps the growth of the other. Wherever there is Love (Prema), there is automatically Sacrifice (Tyaga) and with Sacrifice naturally comes Service (Seva). Similarly as the spirit of Service increases the spirit of Sacrifice also grows and leads to greater Love.
All these will remain only a dream if there are not proper instruments to work out these great ideals. We have therefore first to perfect the instruments, i.e. ourselves. We have to make all round development of our whole being – physical, vital, mental and spiritual. For proper development we require a Teacher – Guru. We have to sit at the feet of a Guru as he alone knows in what way we are to progress. We must find out a proper Guru for every type of development. We have to keep in mind that the highest Guru is God Himself who is seated in the heart of every human being. Once that Guru is awakened in us and we are in direct touch with Him, there remains no problem. So long that is not done, there does remain the need of a personal human Guru and even after coming in touch with the Lord, if necessary, He sends a Guru for our guidance. Whenever the need arises and our urge becomes imperative, He sends a Guru. So even if we have no Guru, we have to pray to Him and He will send a Guru when the time is ripe. ( For the qualities of relations of Guru and disciple, refer Vol. III Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ). Thus the method with which we have to start is the physical, vital, mental and spiritual development of ourselves through the guidance of Guru.
In the next pages we have an elaborate picture of the process and stages of God Realisation, some salient features of Dharma Yuga, divisions of Service of society, Dharma and God and what we should do to become a true Dharmapal.
GOD REALIZATION
There are many stages on the path of God Realization. The basis and starting point of our Sadhana is Prabhu Sharanam. From the beginning to the end of Sadhana, Sharanam remains as the substratum. We take refuge in the Lord. We place ourselves fully and completely with all our heart and all our strength in the hands of the Divine. If we are sincere the Divine immediately accepts our Sharanam and pours His Grace upon us and then the process of Sadhana becomes easy and swift. Because then, it is not we who are doing Sadhana, but the Divine’s force begins to work through us and what is impossible to His force? (mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim – even the dumb is made an orator and the lame crosses the mountains.) Even the most sinful has not to fear. The Lord has said in the Gita – (mamekam sharanam vraja, aham tva sarvapapebhyo mokshayisyami ma shuchah – Gita XVIII/66 ) – Take refuge in Me. I will deliver thee from all sins. Sharanam can be started by each and every person, in whatever position he or she might be. Once you begin to take this Sharanam, all strength will be given to you to proceed further. All we have to do is to make our Sharanam more and more sincere. We should be vigilant ( apramatta ) and the Sharanam must be made a constant part of our being.
As the process of Sharanam starts working we feel the necessity of a Guru to guide us in our Sadhana. But before we have a Guru, if we have not developed the qualities that go to make a good disciple, we shall fail to receive properly even from the best of Gurus.
As soon as we are fit to receive and sit at the feet of the Guru, the lord himself sends us our Guru. Then our Sadhana will develop under the guidance of a Guru. A spiritual Guru must be a God-realized person. It may be, for some time, we may not get a human Guru. True Guru is God Himself and is always seated in our hearts. We have to invoke Him always and He will guide us throughout our Sadhana and when and if necessary he will send a Guru in human form. Guidance of a Guru is essential in the process of spiritual Sadhana, as in all other disciplines.
Under the guidance of a Guru we progress further according to our capacity. He guides us through our Svabhava and Svadharma. And as a result we develop Prabhu Bhakti. With Bhakti our whole being pines to become one with the Lord. Sadhana then becomes intense. Once this Bhakti is developed in us, union with God is a matter of course and time. It is bound to come. Bhakti opens the gate of our hearts. The temple of heart is then sanctified with the presence of God. Divine Grace then descends and we meet the Lord in His full Glory and Greatness. In the end we become one with Him. We pass through a series of realizations by the Grace of God. Most important of them are the realizations of the Divine Maya and Divine Lila. When we have the knowledge of the Divine Maya, how it works, how it creates universe after universe, preserves and destroys them, how ignorance is created through sense of separation etc. the thin veil of Maya, the golden lid is then opened and we have the realisation of Divine Lila. We feel the joy of creation. We immerse in the ocean of Bliss of Sachchidananda – Because here there is no separation but eternal oneness. One playing as many and many meeting in One. We experience the truths of the Upanishads, from Ananda the world is created, by Ananda it is preserved and in Ananda it merges. All creation then stands self-explained. All sorrow vanishes. We become full with love and joy as we live then in God, and all life changes for us into an eternal play – Nitya Lila of the Lord. This is the acme of God Realisation. From Prabhu Sharanam to Prabhu Prapti through Prabhu Bhakti is in short the process of God Realisation.
DHARMA YUGA
What will be the effects of this conception about Dharma upon the society, what changes will it usher in the present world order? It is necessary to have a clear understanding about this social aspect of Dharma.
The first and foremost effect of Dharma is that it will lead a man to God Realisation. The way which does not lead us to God is not Dharma. The ultimate reality is God. He is the cause of all creation. In fact He is everything. To realize this and to become one with God is the aim and object of our evolution. And it is Dharma that shows us the way and means to attain this supreme goal.
We are one in God. Those who follow Dharma must also realize this oneness with all creation. A sense of equality and brotherhood will naturally flow in us. We cannot but love and respect all beings, what to speak of human beings. Every soul is potentially divine. How can we hurt any person if we believe that the same divinity permits in all of us? So instead of exploiting others we will cooperate and help our fellow beings. Selfishness will be replaced by self- renunciation, by service, sacrifice and love. It will be SELF-LOVE.
Dharma is universal. It does not recognize the limits of narrow religions, cast, creed or nationality. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. The whole earth is like a small family to one who follows this Dharma. It will embrace all human beings without any prejudice.
Essence of Dharma is Bhakti and Samarpana. All our relations between one another will be guided and governed by these higher principles. Instead of hatred and conflict there will be love and co-operation. The struggle between classes will be replaced by mutual understanding and loving care.
There are five fold relations in the society in general:
(a) Relation between parents and children
(b) Relation between husband and wife
(c) Relation between teacher and taught
(d) Relation between employer and employee
(e) Relation between rulers and the ruled.
Chaos is prevailing in all these relations at present. Dharma will establish true order and place them in their proper footing. If the spirit of Bhakti and Samarpana is not introduced in all these relations, the society will go to pieces. Dharma alone can accomplish this Herculean task.
Dharma is dynamic. It will not stick to old and tottering customs and rituals. It will create new customs and modes of life suitable to the conditions and the environment of the age. It will be always ready to change and alter whatever has to be removed or replaced. As time passes old harmonies give way and if new harmonies are not created the society is ruined. Dharma will also do this work of changing and harmonizing everything in the society according to the needs of time.
The conception of Dharma is as scientific as any science. It has no conflict with science so long as science does not come in the way of Dharma. Dharma will always accept science. It is found that even the modern scientific discoveries are leading men to the same truths discovered by spiritual men – the Rishis. There was a time especially in the west when religion hated and crushed scientific discoveries and similarly science too spurned and neglected spiritual pursuits. There will be no such conflict between Dharma and science.
According to Dharma, life is nothing but the play of the Lord. So long as there is not this realisation, we play in ignorance. Once we have the realisation, the play still goes on, but then we play in Knowledge. We enjoy the bliss of the play, going above the ordinary dualities (Dvandvas), sense of pleasure and pain. So, for us, all life is an opportunity for the manifestation of Divinity. We accept life in all its aspect. We do not consider it as unreal – Mithya, which is to be discarded or neglected. We believe in living the life fully and completely like the Rishis of the Vedas. Our ideal in life is God Realisation and whatever comes in our way has to be made the means for that God Realisation. We have to enjoy everything without attachment, surrendering everything to the Lord. Internal renunciation is more important than external renunciation for some and for some time as one goes to some Ashrams or secluded places. Complete sannyas, which negates life, is not an essential necessity of Dharma.
SERVICE OF SOCIETY, DHARMA AND GOD.
Self-interest, selfishness, and greed are at the root of all human miseries. Even the persons struggling for God Realisation tend to become self-centred. This attitude breeds egoism, which is very difficult to eradicate. So that a Dharmapal may not become such a self-centred person, service of society, Dharma and God is enjoyined upon every person following Dharma in service of society we have to keep our mind not only on human beings but on animals and even plants and on inanimate objects too. We have to serve and take care of everything in life. This sort of service grows the spirit of sacrifice and love in us. For doing service we have to make some sacrifice. It encourages the spirit of renunciation and roots out selfishness from us. Service, sacrifice and love are intimately related to one another. It increases in equal proportion and one quality helps to increase the other. And the more these qualities grow the more one grows in Bhakti and Samarpana, which lead men swiftly to God Realisation.
In service of Dharma, three divisions are made which require a little explanation. Service is rendered according to one’s capacity. We have therefore to give preference to some over others. Dharma Ashrams are placed first, because these are to be the institutions run according to our conception of Dharma. Other religious institutions come next in order. They also help in the spirit of Dharma and to that extent we are required to serve these institutions too. Then come individual saints. There are persons with great realizations, but they are not attached to any organization. Many times, in society such persons are neglected. Thay have to undergo great hardships, though they are the real cream of the society. Wherever they are, they are to be found out and served by all means.
Service to God is nothing but to serve all beings as God. Even when we reach to higher realisation the service continues, but then our outlook changes and we serve all beings as not beings as such but as the form and expression of God. This attitude of seeing God in all beings and serving them as such, is to be kept in mind even from the beginning, as it helps us in our Sadhana. But it is not possible to maintain this attitude all the time. It is only after we have had some realizations that this attitude remains constant.
DHARMAPAL
To become a true Dharmapal we have to develop our physical, vital, mental and spiritual being. We have also to develop certain qualities, which help to make us a good disciple, so that we may be fit to receive the guidance of Guru.
The most important of all these is thr process of Prabhu Sharanam. Prabhu Sharanam is the basis of our life. Everything will be done in proper time if we sincerely start taking Prabhu Sharanam – Nitya Smarana and Samarpana. Always remembering the Divine and surrendering our whole being to Him – this should be made part and parcel of our life. Let us do this with faith and sincerity and we will find the Divine power working in us and bringing about the necessary changes and developments. Under no circumstances a Dharmapal should give up this Prabhu Sharanam.
For the development of our physical, vital, mental and spiritual being we should follow a fixed process according to the circumstances and our capacity and necessity. The rules must be formed according to one’s circumstances and one’s capacity but one should try to stick to them as far as possible. They should be considered as vows and should be practiced regularly as such. One should not be rigid in observing these vows and must be ready to change the rules when such necessity arises. But lethargy and indolence in practice are equally forbidden.
OBSERVATION OF VOWS:
Proper exercise, diet, rest and celibacy are eseential for keeping good health without which allll development becomes impossible. One must fix up all this according to one’s capacity and necessity. Guidance of a Guru will be much helpful even in these elementary things. Extremeness or excesses of anything must be avoided and we should keep in mind “ yuktaharaviharasya yuktachestasya karmasu I yuktasvapnavabodhasya yogo bhavati duhkhaha II” of Gita VI/17 Yoga destroys the miseries of those who are moderate in food, movements, sleep etc.
Upasana (prayers ), Sadgrantha and Satsanga, these are the most important aids for our spiritual development. Upasana takes us nearer to God. It is the most powerful weapon for God Realisation. We leave everything behind and sit and think only about God. More and more we grow in our concentration and meditation. The strength that we get from Upasana helps to sustain us throughout our daily activities. In the beginning we must fix up definite time for Upasana. But our aim must be to make the whole life an Upasana.
Sadgrantha ( good reading ): it gives us the necessary knowledge. Regularly we must study some Sadgrantha. Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana – reading, hearing, thinking, meditating and contemplation of Sadgrantha should be made a habit. When Satsanga is not available Sadgrantha becomes our Satsanga.
Satsanga (good company ) is an equally great necessity for spiritual progress. Importance of Satsanga is eulogized in all religious books. This is quite natural. We learn more swiftly if we are taught by some teachers. A soul can transmit knowledge directly to another soul. Contact with holy persons, who have spiritual experience and realisation is greatly helpful. We must always be in search of such persons and serve them and try to learn from them.
Fast, silence and solitude – these are very helpful for our vital development. They purify and strengthen our vital being. They increase the qualities of calm, quietude – Shanti-Samata etc. which are very essential in spiritual development.
Service of society, Dharma and God removes egoism and selfishness from us.
Fidelity, Humility and Obedience with joy and promptness :- These are virtues, which every Dharmapal should develop in him. We must be fidel to our cause, to our Guru and to our superiors. We must always be humble. Nothing, no capacity or greatness in us must make us arrogant and proud. Humility makes us gentle and increases our receiving capacity. We must be obedient to our elders. But this obedience must always be with joy and not with murmuring or disliking. We must always be happy that we are given an opportunity to serve our elders. We must also be swift and not lazy in obeying the orders of our elders. All these virtues go to make a better disciple and a better man.
To be a fit disciple and to be able to receive properly from the Guru, we must learn to grow in us the qualities of Pranipat, Pariprasna and Seva. Pranipata is sitting humbly at the feet of the Guru with all respect for him. Pariprasna is questioning. We must learn how to question when we are learning from a Guru. Only by constant and proper questioning we can learn more and more from a Guru. We must always serve our Guru. By our service the Guru is pleased on us and he gladly imparts to us all his knowledge. Guru’s love for the disciple increases and blesses him.
Guidance of Guru: by following all these vows and virtues we become fit as a disciple. By then perhaps or mostly we have already started getting the guidance of a Guru. So long we do not have a human Guru, we have to struggle by our own selves taking Prabhu Sharanam,invoking God’s force and praying Him to send us the Guru. When the necessity arises we shall surely have a Guru and then we have to place ourselves explicitly in the hands of such a Guru, who will lead his disciple to God. Guru’s work is over when a link is created between the disciple and God. And then onwards God becomes the Guru for such a person. Gurus should not be ‘guru bhara’ – dead weight on the disciples!
-:CONCLUSION:-
The whole spiritual Sadhana can be summed up in three words.
Prabhu Sharanam, Prabhu Bhakti, and Prabhu Prapti
Prabhu Sharanam is the starting point, Prabhu Bhakti is the way and Prabhu Prapti is the end. Prabhu Sharanam is the oar, Prabhu Bhakti is the boat and Prabhu Prapti is the destination. Prabhu Sharanam is the seed, Prabhu Bhakti is the tree and Prabhu Prapti is the fruit. Once the seed is sown, the tree is bound to grow and in course of time it is bound to bear the fruits. Just as a gardener has to take great care of the seed and the plant so long as it does not grow into a tree, similarly we have to be very vigilant – apramatta in our Sadhana, so long as the tree of Prabhu Bhakti has not fully grown. Once Prabhu Bhakti is attained Prabhu Prapti is a matter of time only. There are many stages of Prabhu Prapti and it is the grace of the Lord, which is always the deciding factor as to how much attainment we will have.
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Note: First written in February 1957
Seen and some corrections made by Sri Anirvan
Typed and corrected in November 1997
Computer typing made by Joyce in April 2002
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