Rememberance — Forgetfulness

At 3 o’clock this afternoon, the white peacock came into Bhagavan’s presence and began moving about in the midst of us all.

At 3 o’clock this afternoon, the white peacock came into Bhagavan’s presence and began moving about in the midst of us all. A devotee, noticing how tame it was, remarked, “This bird appears to have a knowledge of its previous births; would it otherwise move so freely in the midst of all these people?”

Bhagavan said, “That is why so many people here say that it is Madhava (an old attendant of Bhagavan who had recently passed away) who has come here in this form.”

The devotee asked, “If so, will it know that it was so and so in its last birth?”

Bhagavan: “How could it? No one knows about his previous birth. People forget, and that forgetfulness is good. In this one life alone, we are sometimes terribly worried over what had happened in the past. Could we bear such worries if we knew all about our previous births? Knowing the facts

of previous births means knowing one’s own Self. If that is known this birth and the previous births will be seen to be of the mind and its desires (sankalpa) only. See in how many different ways this creation has been described in the Vasishtam. When Gadhi asked Krishna to show him his illusory bodies (maya swarupam), He showed him innumerable forms. The story of Lavana Maharaja is also like that, and the story of Sukra is still more interesting. It is told that Sukra remained in samadhi without realizing that his body had meanwhile completely decayed and was no longer in existence. During that time, he had several births. At last he was born as a brahmin and, while leading an austere life on Mount Meru, his father Bhrugu with the God of Death (Kala) in their human bodies (sthula sarira) went to him and told him all that had happened during his births and rebirths. Sukra then accompanied them both and saw his original body and, with the permission of the God of Death, entered into it. In some other stories it is told that what appeared to one person in a dream, another saw it in the waking state itself. Among these, which story is true?” added Bhagavan.

The devotee said, “If something appeared to one in a dream, how could it appear to someone else in the waking state?”

“Why not?” said Bhagavan. “That is also a dream, though of a different sort. Like the pictures that appear on a screen, everything that appears is the creation of the mind. In reality one is not any one of those things. In this unreal world, which is like a doll’s play, it is better to forget everything rather than remember that one was that doll or this picture.”

The devotee: “According to the material world, we have to say, ‘this is mine’, must we not?”

“Yes, indeed,” replied Bhagavan, “we have to say so. By merely saying so, however, there is no need to think

that we are all that, and get immersed in the pleasures and sorrows relating to that. When we ride in a carriage, do we feel that we are the carriage? Take the example of the sun; it shines in water in a small pot, in big rivers and in a mirror. Its image is there. But just because of that, does it think that it is all that? The same thing with us. All the trouble arises if one thinks one is the body. If one rejects that thought, then, like the sun, one will shine everywhere and be all-pervading.”

The devotee: “It is for that, is it not, that Bhagavan says that the best thing to do is to follow the path of Self-enquiry of ‘Who am I’?”

Bhagavan: “Yes; but in the Vasishtam it is mentioned that Vasishta told Rama that the path of Self-enquiry should not be shown to anyone who is not sufficiently qualified. In some other books it has been stated that spiritual practices should be done for several births, or for at least twelve years under a Guru. As people would be scared away if I said that spiritual practices had to be done for several births, I tell them, ‘You have liberation already within you; you have merely to rid yourselves of exterior things that have come upon you’. Spiritual practices are for that alone. Even so, the Ancients have not said all this for nothing. If a person is told that he is the Godhead, Brahman itself, and that he is already liberated, he may not do any spiritual practices, thinking that he already has that which is required and does not want anything more. That is why these Vedantic matters should not be told to spiritually undeveloped people (anadhikaris); there is no other reason.” And Bhagavan smiled.

A recently arrived devotee, taking up the thread of the conversation said, “In the stanza on Sankara, ‘like a city in a mirror, the Universe is a reflection in the Self (viswam darpana drisyamana nagari tulyam nijanthargatam)’. The statement that

the world is a myth and unreal is for ordinary people and not for Realized Souls. Is that not so?”

“Yes,” replied Bhagavan, “In the eyes of the Realized Soul, everything appears to be full of Brahman. The non-realized soul (the ajnani) cannot see anything, however much he is told. Hence all the scriptures are for the ordinary people only.”