Am I Prepared To Give Up ‘I’ & ‘Mine’?
By H H Maa Purnananda
“Tattvaswaroopaanubhavaat Utpannam Gnyaanamanjasaa; Aham Mameti Chaagnyaanam Baadhatey Digbhramaadivat.” – (Aatma Bodh – 46)
The very purpose of coming under the shelter of Sree Guru Parampara and to study the scriptures is to learn from the Words of Wisdom for manoeuvring our life accordingly. Desires bring us in this life and desires motivate us to think, speak and act. Our life is completely manoeuvred by nothing other than our desires, without the gracious guidance of our Guru!
So, it is important to keep a watch upon our desires. The quality, volume, intensity and the direction, in which the desire is going to lead me, are a few points to be kept in mind for close observation while assessing our desires. Strong desire makes me attached and passionate towards the object, emotion and thought of the desired. Passion is the outcome of my Raajasik Guna. So long as my mind is influenced by Raajasik Guna, if not checked, I will be helplessly driven by my desires. Passionate mind is obsessed by ‘I’ and is possessive of desired objects. Such a mind is emotional and is conditioned by its own thoughts. It is difficult for a person with such a mind to comprehend and implement the teachings of the scriptures.
The purpose of studying the scriptures can be fulfilled when one decides to work upon oneself to weaken the strength of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ from within. As Sree Gurudev says, “Man is subject to the misery of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ only because he is disobeying the law-of-life as discovered & described in the scriptures.” If I am not prepared to give up ‘I’ and ‘mine’, then I would continue to suffer its wrath and would not be able to learn much from the scriptures!
Sree Adi Shankaracharya says in the Shlok given above, “The ignorance characterised by the notions ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is destroyed by the knowledge produced by the Realisation of True Nature of the Self; just as right information removes the wrong notion about the directions.” Here, it is evident, that to entertain the notions ‘I’ and ‘mine’, is to lead the life of ignorance.
The scriptures provide the right instructions for working upon our own mind to eliminate or at least weaken the strength of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. So long as my mind is intensely affected by undesirable attitude and intent, the right import of the Words-of-Wisdom would remain unavailable to me. The ‘I’ and ‘mine’ would keep me ignorant about True Nature of the Self. The secretive and profound Knowledge of the Self imparted in the scriptures by the Men-of-Wisdom, would not be comprehensible to me due to such a contaminated mind of mine, and in spite of studying the scriptures, I would remain ignorant.
So the notion that the purpose of studying the scriptures is to gain Knowledge is incorrect. It is by eradicating, eliminating or weakening the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ by adopting the scriptural injunctions and instructions, that the purpose of studying the scriptures could be fulfilled and as a result, one might gain Knowledge of the Self as propounded in the scriptures, due to sincere and steady Spiritual practices under the refuge of the Sadguru. Ultimately, the Realisation of True Nature of the Self is the Light that would remove the darkness of ignorance.
We rededicate ourselves at the Holy-feet of Sree Guru Parampara, seeking refuge for right information to remove the wrong notion about the direction of our life; so that we may lead our life in the right direction by sincerely adopting the Sacred Teachings.