Miscellaneous - Religion   

State of union religion

CHENNAI: Scriptures declare that it is the birthright of every human being to make his mind sublime, which is the sure way forward to liberation from bondage. Adi Sankara in his hymn Bhaja Govindam underscores that only a mind which engages in spiritual union can be truly joyful: “Let one do meditation or let one indulge in sensory enjoyment. Let one find pleasure in company or in solitude. He alone is happy, happy, verily happy, whose mind revels in Brahman.”

The mind receives knowledge of the objective world through the senses and conceives the world in its imagination. Hence it experiences joy or sorrow by its interactions with the world. It is evident then that one can dispel mental conflicts only by changing the mind’s outlook. And, this can be done only by self-effort. The Yoga Vasishta Ramayana imparted the highest wisdom by directing the spiritual seeker to rely on the supreme ingenuity that his mind possessed to lead it to a state of unity where it conquered its conflicts, said Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha in his discourse.

This is the state of union, the supreme exalted state wherein there is no difference between “I” and the “other”, where neither “I” will be nor the “other” will be. All thoughts and emotions cease. The example of the ocean and the waves is illustrative of this state. When the waves rise they appear distinct from the ocean but when they subside the ocean is only one expanse of water. So also in meditation the distinction between the mind and the thoughts disappears.

One should pause to consider whether the mind perceives this difference because of the thoughts. The consciousness of the mind is one undivided whole. Just as one makes efforts to acquire things in the world effort must be made to realise the potential of the mind to discover the joy of spiritual union.

That which we understand as mind will lose its differentiation when desires are overcome. Desires arise in the mind due to possessiveness. As the mind cannot possess anything, fulfilment amounts to absence of desire. The mind can find satisfaction only in itself. When the limitations imposed by the body are overcome, the mind becomes one with the infinite.

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