Saturday, February 7, 2009

DIFFERENCE IN THE TEMPERAMENTS OF THE JNANI AND THE BHAKTA

One meets with to classes of spiritual aspirants. One of them resembles the young of a monkey and the other may be likened to a kitten. The young one of the monkey strongly, clasps its mother, while the young one of the cat cannot do so, but mews piteously, staying wherever it is placed by her. If the young monkey lets go the hold on its mother, it falls down and gets hurt. This is because it has to depend upon its own strength. But the kitten runs no such risk, for the mother herself carries it about from place to place. Similarly, the aspirant who follows the path of Knowledge or selfless work depends upon his own effort to attain salvation. On the other hand, the aspirant who follows the path of Love knows that the Lord is the disposer of everything; so with perfect confidence he resigns himself entirely to His mercy. The former is like the. young of a monkey and the latter like the kitten.

The Jnani says, " I am He, I am that pure Atman; " but the Bhakta declares, " Ah, all these are His glory!

God is attained only when man gets established in one or other of these three attit tides: (1) All this am I; (2) All this art Thou; (3) Thou art the Master and I am the servant.

When one is born of the spirit of Siva, he becomes a Jnani. His constant tendency is towards the consciousness that Brahman alone is true and this world is false. But when one is born of the spirit of Vishnu, in him faith and devotion never fail. Even if, for a time, these virtues shrink by the strong influx of reason or dialectic knowledge, in the fulness of time they increase copiously like the Musala (a pestle) that brought ruin to the Yadava dynasty.

The Ganges of Knowledge, flowing in the heart of a Jnani, runs only in one direction. To him the whole universe is a dream. He always lives in his own Self. But the Ganges of Love in a devotee s heart does not always run in the same direction; it has its ebb and flow. The devotee laughs, weeps, dances and sings. He loves to live in and enjoy God's presence ; in that ocean of bliss he loves to cast himself, sometimes swimming, sometimes sinking, and again floating, as a block of ice dances in water, tossing up and down.

809. According to the Puranas, the devotee is separate from God. Man is one entity and He is another. This body is like a vessel; the mind, the intellect and the ego are, as it were, the water in it; and Brahman is like the sun. He is being reflected in that water. So the devotees witness the various Divine manifestations. But according to the Vedanta, Brahman alone is the reality, the substance; and every thing else is Maya, unreal like dreams. There is this stick of I lying on the surface of the sea of Brahman. If you take away the stick, there is one undivided sheet of water; but when the stick is there, it divides the water into two parts, one on each side. One falls into Samadhi and then the knowledge of Brahman dawns. Then the ego is blotted out. According to the Vedanta the awakened state also is not real.

810. Narada and other teachers took to Bhakti for the good of the world, even after gaining Knowledge.

811. The Master: Bhakti is the moon, while Jnana is the sun, I have heard that there are oceans in the extreme north and south, and that it is so cold there that the water in them freeze in part, forming masses of ice in which ships are caught and held fast.

A devotee: Are men likewise caught half-way in the path of Bhakti?

The Master: Yes, they are, indeed. But it matters nothing; for the ice in which one is held is the solidified water bf the ocean of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. If you reason, " Brahman alone is real, the universe is false,' the ice will thaw in the sun of Jnana, and what will remain ? Only the formless water of that ocean of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.

812. Jnana is like a man and Bhakti is like a woman. Knowledge has entry only up to the drawingroom of Godr but Love can enter His inner apartments.

813. A Jnani and a Bhakta were once passing through a forest. On the way they saw a tiger. The Jnani said : ' There is no reason why we should flee; the Almighty God will certainly protect us." The Bhakta said: " No, brother, no, let us run away. Why should we trouble the Lord when we can accomplish a thing by our own exertion?'

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