How Long it takes for Self Realization

What is Self Realization? How Long it takes for Self Realization?

Self Realization is nothing but knowing the reality about yourself. Reality that you are not this physical body but someone beyond this body. Reality that you are a Soul which is part & parcel of that omnipresent Super Soul which is called Brahmn, Kutastha Chaitanya also, which is immortal & which is present in all the creation.

Now How Long it takes for Self Realization? To realize your true self, you only need to change your thought & have a firm faith, realization that you are a Soul & not that physical body which perishes in time. Once you move away from body conception of yourself & move towards Soul conception of yourself, then you have Self Realization automatically. Such Self Realization can actually occur in a flash of time only if you believe yourself to be a Soul than body. Other wise, it may take, years, many births also till you get out of this conception of yourself as a physical body. So believe yourself to be a Soul which is part & parcel of that omnipresent Super Soul called Brahmn & you shall get Self Realization at this very moment.

Here below a a story in which a man asked Gautama Buddha the same thing:

A young man went to Gautama Buddha and sought the Master’s guidance to achieve Enlightenment, The conversation went as follows:

Young Man: Master how long will it take for me to achieve enlightenment?

Gautama Buddha: It all depends on you......

Young Man: If I put in ten hours of meditation every day how long will it take?

Gautama Buddha: Maybe ten years

Young Man: What if I put in fifteen hours meditation?

Gautama Buddha: Maybe fifteen years

Young Man; [getting irritated] What if I meditate for twenty hours?

Gautama Buddha: Maybe twenty five years

The young man was almost infuriated.

Young Man: I cannot understand your logic—the more effort I put in, the more time it will take—this is ridiculous, Please explain.

Gautama Buddha: As long as you are fixated and obsessed about your goal you will not achieve it. Just do spiritual practice without one eye on the goal. Let events take their shape.

Recently Nobel Laureate V. Ramakrishnan, an Indian American said in an TV interview that he embarked on his research not out of a desire to win laurels but out of curiosity to solve a scientific problem. He was not working with one eye on the Nobel Prize.

So ‘’It does not matter what you do in life. Let you aspire to be the very best in terms of excellence in whatever you do."

In other words EXCELLENCE ought to be our ideal and everything else ought to be a side effect.

Bhagwat Gita also teaches us to do work in this way. Doing work in such a way, is called "Nishkama Karma". "Nishkama Karma" just means, no egoism in our action, no expectation of any gain or reward but doing your work effectively. It is also that : “You have a right to action but never to the fruits of action.” Below verses of Bhagwat Gita Explains that only.

"Karmanye vadhikaraste
ma phalesu kadachana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
ma te sango ’stv akarmani" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)"

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty."

"Yoga-sthah kuru karmani
sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva
samatvam yoga ucyate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 48)"

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: Perform your duty with an equipoise mind, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga."

So just do your work with your 100% involvement & dedication & derive pleasure out of doing such work. You yourself shall then see that when you care for the work only & not it's final outcome, you work most effectively. Doing work in such a way is only called "Karma Yoga".

Read also...............It's Journey not the Outcome that matters

Read also.............What is Karma Yoga? 

Jai Shri Krishna

It is Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness

There are two types of people in the world. One are optimistic people & the other are pessimistic people. Optimistic people are always disposed to taking a favourable view of events or conditions in their life and always tend to expect the most favourable outcome in their life. However, pessimistic people are pertaining to or characterized by pessimism is their life or are having the tendency to expect only the bad outcomes; gloomy; joyless; unhopeful expectations in their lives.

Optimistic people are in fact more likely to be healthy in their body and mind. They are tend to feel more confident about life and more in control of her own destiny, and of course, will have an easier time with people. However, pessimistic people shall always be gloomy about their lives.

In the night when there is no light, you are not able to see anything in your room. But have you ever wondered whether there is any real existence or reality of darkness. Darkness is nothing but absence of light. You just lit a candle & darkness is gone. Darkness is just the absence of light & it has no real existence. Once a person saw in the dark that there is a snake in the room but on switching on the light, it turned out to be a rope only. So believing something to be something else is called ignorance. The person believing the rope to be a snake, was an ignorant person.

Same is with the philosophical truth of God & this world. As per the scriptures, God is the truth & has created this universe. He sit's in an invisible way in every nook & corner of the universe. This outer visible world is His creation, while He is there within this world in an invisible way. This whole world is changing all the time, while God is constant, & changeless. So to know God, we need to go beyond the thinking of this changing world.

Here below is a mantra / prayer from Upanishad which asks the God to take us from darkness of untruth which is enveloping our minds to reality of truth (God).

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Asato Ma Sad-Gamya |
Tamaso Ma Jyotir-Gamya |
Mrtyor-Ma Amritam Gamya |
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti ||

Om Asato Ma Sad-Gamya - O Lord, Take me from untruth to Truth! Take me from Transitory Existence to the Reality (of Self, of God), The Truth is eternal and immortal.

Tamaso Ma Jyotir-Gamya - O Lord, Lead me from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge), There lies the light of wisdom. Tamas is the darkness. Jyoti is the light. With light, darkness is dispelled. Darkness is death. The light is Truth, Bliss, Peace. The light is eternal.

Mrtyor-Ma Amritam Gamya - O Lord, Lead me from Death to the Immortality through purity of purpose.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti - O Lord, Let there be Peace, Peace, Peace.

But why it is so, that we cling to this visible world only & just forget the invisible God, who is the creator of this world. It is due to our ignorance only. In philosophy, it is said that we are clinging to Maya (visible world) & ignoring the God who is the real thing. So that's why, it is said that we should not cling to the unreal, untruth (Maya) & should turn our mind towards the God, who is the only reality & truth. Just like alighting a small lamp eats away all the darkness in the room, so just by illumining your intellect with the knowledge, shall lead you to the truth of God.

Now, why do we fall in to ignorance? It is all due to the Nature born "TamoGun" (mode of ignorance) which we put into practice in our lives. "Tamas" or "Tamo Gunn" is the mode of Nature which is responsible for ignorance, delusion, indolence, laziness and sleep in a person. We should not fall a pray to this "TamoGun".
Now here below is a verse from Bhagwat Gita which also tells us that in this whole creation, unreal has no existence, and the real (God) never ceases to be, So we should always turn our mind towards the God who is the only reality & truth.

"na-asato vidyate bhavo
nabhavo vidyate satah
ubhayor api drsto ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darshibhih" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna : The unreal has no existence, and the real never ceases to be; the reality of both has thus been perceived by the seekers of the truth.

So let’s seek truth by praying regularly to God. By such praying, God shall enlighten our mind & thinking by which real truth about this world & God shall reveal to us.
It is Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness.

Jai Sri Krishna

Light a Candle & Darkness is gone

In the night when there is no light, you are not able to see anything in your room. But have you ever wondered whether there is any real existence or reality of darkness. Darkness is nothing but absence of light. You just lit a candle & darkness is gone. Darkness is just the absence of light & it has no real existence. Once a person saw in the dark that there is a snake in the room but on switching on the light, it turned out to be a rope only. So believing something to be something else is called ignorance. The person believing the rope to be a snake, was an ignorant person.

Same is with the philosophical truth of God & this world. As per the scriptures, God is the truth & has created this universe. He sit's in an invisible way in every nook & corner of the universe. This outer visible world is His creation, while He is there within this world in an invisible way. This whole world is changing all the time, while God is constant, & changeless. So to know God, we need to go beyond the thinking of this changing world.

Here below is a mantra / prayer from Upanishad which asks the God to take us from darkness of untruth which is enveloping our minds to reality of truth (God).

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Asato Ma Sad-Gamya |
Tamaso Ma Jyotir-Gamya |
Mrtyor-Ma Amritam Gamya |
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti ||

Om Asato Ma Sad-Gamya - O Lord, Take me from untruth to Truth! Take me from Transitory Existence to the Reality (of Self, of God), The Truth is eternal and immortal.

Tamaso Ma Jyotir-Gamya - O Lord, Lead me from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge), There lies the light of wisdom. Tamas is the darkness. Jyoti is the light. With light, darkness is dispelled. Darkness is death. The light is Truth, Bliss, Peace. The light is eternal.

Mrtyor-Ma Amritam Gamya - O Lord, Lead me from Death to the Immortality through purity of purpose.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti - O Lord, Let there be Peace, Peace, Peace.

But why it is so, that we cling to this visible world only & just forget the invisible God, who is the creator of this world. It is due to our ignorance only. In philosophy, it is said that we are clinging to Maya (visible world) & ignoring the God who is the real thing. So that's why, it is said that we should not cling to the unreal, untruth (Maya) & should turn our mind towards the God, who is the only reality & truth. Just like alighting a small lamp eats away all the darkness in the room, so just by illumining your intellect with the knowledge, shall lead you to the truth of God.

Now, why do we fall in to ignorance? It is all due to the Nature born "TamoGun" (mode of ignorance) which we put into practice in our lives. "Tamas" or "Tamo Gunn" is the mode of Nature which is responsible for ignorance, delusion, indolence, laziness and sleep in a person. We should not fall a pray to this "TamoGun".
Now here below is a verse from Bhagwat Gita which also tells us that in this whole creation, unreal has no existence, and the real (God) never ceases to be, So we should always turn our mind towards the God who is the only reality & truth.

"na-asato vidyate bhavo
nabhavo vidyate satah
ubhayor api drsto ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darshibhih" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna : The unreal has no existence, and the real never ceases to be; the reality of both has thus been perceived by the seekers of the truth.

So let’s seek truth by praying regularly to God. By such praying, God shall enlighten our mind & thinking by which real truth about this world & God shall reveal to us.

Jai Sri Krishna

Attachment & Gautama Buddha

Nature of our mind is so that it gets attached to some object, place or person badly. In such a state our mind is swayed by the emotions than the intellect. We always think of that object, place or person & without it, our life seems impossible.

"Gautama Buddha" was born a Prince but he left his kingdom, family etc. in search of the truth. In the "Jataka Stories" there are many accounts of Gautama Buddha's previous lives in which he was born among humans, as well as, animals kingdom. Here below is a story from Jataka's in which Gautama Buddha teaches that too much attachment in life is not good.

"In olden times there was a Potter and he had a wife and family to support. In their nearby place, lay a great natural lake & next to that lake was a great river. When there were rains & there was much water, river and lake used to merge into one; but when the water was low, river and lake used to be apart. Water born fish and tortoises know by their own instinct, when in the year there shall be rain and when there shall be a drought. At one time, the fish and tortoises which lived in that lake knew that there would be a drought; and as at that time lake & river were one water, they swam out of the lake into the deep river. But there was one Tortoise that would not leave the lake & go into the deep river. He said, "As I was born in this lake, and because I have grown up here, and here is my parental home, so I cannot leave this lake. That Tortoise lived in that lake only"

Then the hot season came & all the water of the lake dried up. That Tortoise dug a hole in the lake and buried himself, just in the place where the Potter used to come to fetch the clay for making the clay pots. One day the Potter came to get some clay & he started digging the dry lake with a big spade. His spade cracked the tortoise' shell & turned him out on the ground as though he were a large piece of clay. In the pain & agony the Tortoise thought, "Here I am, dying, all because I was too fond of my home in the lake & never wanted to leave it!. As I was born in the lake & I lived here in the clay but now the same lake & clay are going to take my life. If I would have thought properly & have went with the other in the deep river, I would not have gone through this pain & agony."

So he went on and on, talking to the Potter, till he died. The Potter picked him up, and collecting all the villagers addressed them thus: "Look at this Tortoise. When the other fish and tortoises went into the great river, he was too fond of his parental home to go with them, and buried himself in the place where I get my clay. Then as I was digging for clay, I broke his shell with my big spade, and turned him out on the ground in the belief that he was a large lump of clay. Then the Tortoise called to his mind what he had done, lamented his fate and expired. So you see he came to his end because he was too fond of & deeply attached to his home. Take care not to be like this tortoise. Don't say to yourselves, 'I have money, home, I have a son, I have a daughter, I have numbers of men and maids for my service, I have precious gold'; do not cling to these things with craving and desire. Simply do not get attached to anything very much that you cannot leave it.

**** In the above story Potter was Gautama Buddha himself in his one of the previous births & the Tortoise was his disciple Ānanda in that birth."

Too much attachment to anything is also called Infatuation & it is the cause of most sorrows. Infatuation is something that we get attached to some object, place or person very badly. We are always thinking of that & without that thing, our life seems impossible. Due to such Infatuation our mind always wanders about that & forgets other important things in life.

We too find our self in such situations many times. Say you have very lovely children & you love them very much. You always think of them & little separation of them from you worries you a lot. But say one day your son gets admission to some foreign university & he has to leave you for quite many years. You find yourself so much attached to him that your mind gets troubled at just thinking that he shall go away to such a faraway land & you shall not be able to meet him. Similar thing happens when your daughter gets married. So in all such cases if your mind is attached to them greatly, great shall be the pain to the mind during separation from them.
Same applies to other material things like your home, car, money etc. So if your mind is attached to these things greatly, so great shall be the pain to your mind during its separation.

Bhagwat Gita also teaches us to live in this world like that without getting attached to anything or any being. Just like a drop of water on Lotus, where though it is there on it but it is not attached to it.

"brahmany adhaya karmani
sangam tyaktva karoti yah
lipyate na sa papena
padma-patram ivambhasa" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Five verse 10)

"Sri Krishna said: One who performs his duty without any Attachment, surrendering all the results unto the God, is unaffected by sinful action, as the Lotus leaf is untouched by water."

So we should not attach our mind greatly to any material thing, place or human being, as one day we shall have to leave these or these shall go away from us. On that day, if you have great attachment to these, you shall feel great pain, otherwise it shall be a normal life for you. So let us not allow our mind to be INFATUATED by any thing, which can lead us to sorrow.

Jai Sri Krishna

Do Not Cling to Untruth

How many times it has happened with you that you got frightened with some shadow in the dark but when you switched on the light, nothing was there? Once a person saw in the dark that there is a snake in the room but on switching on the light, it turned out to be a rope only. So believing something to be something else is called ignorance. The person believing the rope to be a snake, was an ignorant person.

Same is with the philosophical truth of God & this world. As per the scriptures, God created this universe & sit's in an invisible way in every nook & corner of the universe. This outer visible world is His creation, while He is there within this world in an invisible way. This whole world is changing all the time, while God is constant, changeless.

But why it is so, that we cling to this visible world only & just forget the invisible God, who is the creator of this world. It is due to our ignorance only. In philosophy, it is said that we are clinging to Maya (visible world) & ignoring the God who is the real thing. So that's why, it is said that we should not cling to the unreal, untruth (Maya) & should turn our mind towards the God, who is the only reality & truth. Just like alighting a small lamp eats away all the darkness in the room, so just by illumining your intellect with the knowledge, shall lead you to the truth of God.

Now, why do we fall in to ignorance? It is all due to the Nature born "TamoGun" (mode of ignorance) which we put into practice in our lives. "Tamas" or "Tamo Gunn" is the mode of Nature which is responsible for ignorance, delusion, indolence, laziness and sleep in a person. We should not fall a pray to this "TamoGun".

Here below is a story "The Lost Son" by Gautama Buddha who is teaching us through this story that we should not cling to the untruth, as when we fall a pray to the ignorance, then we do not see things clearly & ultimately it harms our life only.

"A young widower, who loved his five year old son very much, was away on business when bandits came who burned down the whole village and took his son away. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and panicked. He took the burnt corpse of an infant to be his son and cried uncontrollably. He organized a cremation ceremony, collected the ashes and put them in a beautiful little bag which he always kept with him.

Soon afterwards, his real son escaped from the bandits and found his way home. He arrived at his father's new cottage at midnight and knocked at the door. The father, still grieving asked: "Who is it?" The child answered, it is me papa, open the door!" But in his agitated state of mind, convinced his son was dead, the father thought that some young boy was making fun of him. He shouted: "Go away" and continued to cry. He shouted time & again, "Go away" "Go away". After some time, the child left.

Father and son never saw each other again."

After this story, the Buddha said: "Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it."

Now here below is a verse from Bhagwat Gita which also tells us that in this whole creation, unreal has no existence, and the real (God) never ceases to be, So we should always turn our mind towards the God who is the only reality & truth.

"na-asato vidyate bhavo
nabhavo vidyate satah
ubhayor api drsto ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darshibhih" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: The unreal has no existence, and the real never ceases to be; the reality of both has thus been perceived by the seekers of the truth.

How long will it take to achieve Enlightenment?

A young man went to Gautama Buddha and sought the Master’s guidance to achieve Enlightenment, The conversation went as follows:

Young Man: Master how long will it take for me to achieve enlightenment?

Gautama Buddha: It all depends on you......

Young Man: If I put in ten hours of meditation every day how long will it take?

Gautama Buddha: Maybe ten years

Young Man: What if I put in fifteen hours meditation?

Gautama Buddha: Maybe fifteen years

Young Man; [getting irritated] What if I meditate for twenty hours?

Gautama Buddha: Maybe twenty five years

The young man was almost infuriated.

Young Man: I cannot understand your logic—the more effort I put in, the more time it will take—this is ridiculous, Please explain.

Gautama Buddha: As long as you are fixated and obsessed about your goal you will not achieve it. Just do spiritual practice without one eye on the goal. Let events take their shape.

Recently Nobel Laureate V. Ramakrishnan, an Indian American said in an TV interview that he embarked on his research not out of a desire to win laurels but out of curiosity to solve a scientific problem. He was not working with one eye on the Nobel Prize.

So ‘’It does not matter what you do in life. Let you aspire to be the very best in terms of excellence in whatever you do."


In other words EXCELLENCE ought to be our ideal and everything else ought to be a side effect.

Bhagwat Gita also teaches us to do work in this way. Doing work in such a way, is called "Nishkama Karma". "Nishkama Karma" just means, no egoism in our action, no expectation of any gain or reward but doing your work effectively. It is also that : “You have a right to action but never to the fruits of action.” Below verses of Bhagwat Gita Explains that only.

"Karmanye vadhikaraste
ma phalesu kadachana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
ma te sango ’stv akarmani" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)"

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty."

"Yoga-sthah kuru karmani
sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva
samatvam yoga ucyate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 48)"

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: Perform your duty with an equipoise mind, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga."

So just do your work with your 100% involvement & dedication & derive pleasure out of doing such work. You yourself shall then see that when you care for the work only & not it's final outcome, you work most effectively. Doing work in such a way is only called "Karma Yoga".

Read also...............It's Journey not the Outcome that matters

Read also...............What is Karmayoga? 

Desire

Desire: Simple meaning of desire is to crave for worldly pleasures of all kinds. But in philosophy, "Desire" has been identified as a philosophical problem since Antiquity. As per Plato, individual desires must be postponed in the name of the higher ideal.

As per the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddhism), craving is said to be the cause of all suffering that one experiences in human existence. The extinction of this craving leads one to ultimate happiness, or Nirvana. Nirvana means "cessation", "extinction" of suffering. It is also known as "Awakening" or "Enlightenment". As per the teaching of Gautama Buddha, suffering is an inevitable part of life as we know it & the cause of this suffering is attachment to, or craving for worldly pleasures of all kinds. The suffering ends when the craving and desire ends, or one is freed from all desires.

In "Bhagwat Gita" Arjuna asks "Lord Krishna" a very pertinent question,“What makes a person do the wrong thing, even when he/she knows, it’s wrong and don’t want to do it?”

Lord Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that: It is Desire & Lust only which makes a person do the wrong thing, even when he/she knows, it’s wrong and don’t want to do it.

When we desire something then we are empowered by a powerful emotion to get it which clouds our reasoning. Our passionate desires clouds our mind and senses & it distorts our perception and reasoning. It is our relentless passionate desire to enjoy the material pleasures that it leads us to commit Sin. Desire covers our reasoning like smoke covers fire, or dust covers a mirror. Due to this blurred reasoning & our passionate hankering for desires, we do commit Sin in our life.

Below are verses of "Bhagwat Gita" in which "Arjuna" asks "Lord Krishna" about the same:

"arjuna uvacha
atha kena prayukto ’yam
papam charati purushah
anicchann api varsneya
balad iva niyojitah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Three verse 36)

"Arjuna said: O Sri Krishna, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?"

"sri-bhagavan uvacha
kama esa krodha esa
rajo-guna-samudbhavah
mahasano maha-papma
viddhy enam iha vairinam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Three verse 37)

"Sri Krishna said: It is desire & lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world."

"dhumenavriyate vahnir
yathadarso malena cha
yatholbenavrto garbhas
tatha tenedam avrtam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Three verse 38)

"Sri Krishna said: As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust."

"avrtam jnanam etena
jnanino nitya-vairina
kama-rupena kaunteya
duspurenanalena cha" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Three verse 39)

"Sri Krishna said: Thus the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire."

"tasmat tvam indriyany adau
niyamya bharatarsabha
papmanam prajahi hy enam
jnana-vijnana-nasanam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Three verse 41)

"Sri Krishna said: Therefore, O Arjuna, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin (lust) by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization."

"evam buddheh param buddhva
samstabhyatmanam atmana
jahi satrum maha-baho
kama-rupam durasadam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Three verse 43)

"Sri Krishna said: Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence and thus—by spiritual strength—conquer the desires & lust which is the insatiable enemy."

From the above verses of "Bhagwat Gita" it is very clear that it is the individual's Desire, Lust & constant feeding of one's senses that a person commits sinful activities. Due to such constant craving for desires, one's intelligence gets covered with ignorance, just like a mirror is covered by the dust & one is not able to see the things in right perspective. So we should not constantly hanker to satisfy our desires, rather we should control these desires.