The first six articles in this series was the journey of someone in the secular field - working or studying, raising a family, enjoying life, and doing the right thing. The next six articles in this series was on the seeker or sadhak - someone who is seeking something more than the pleasures and pains of our ‘roller-coaster’ life, seeking a deeper meaning and striving for perfection.
In this final series of six articles we explore the ’state of the seer’, one who is situated in divine consciousness, in an eternal state of bliss and sometimes referred to as sthithaprajna. Note that I am not referring to this as the ‘journey’ of the seer - there is no notion of a starting point or a destination for the seer. As we shall see later they have transcended time and space and even the word ’state’ is a poor substitute for something that cannot be explained. One of the great seers, who lived in the twentieth century, Nisargadatta Maharaj says
Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself and ecstasy.
It is natural for seekers to wonder what this state would be like. After all, if we are seeking something we like to see examples of others who are already there, how they behave, how they react, what do they feel etc. This natural question is what Arjuna asks Krishna in Gita in Chapter 2, Verse 54.
O Keshava, what is the disposition of one who is situated in divine consciousness? How does an enlightened person talk? How does he sit? How does he walk? (2.54).
This question is answered by Krishna in the next eighteen verses extolling the virtues of the seer. He first defines sthithaprajna in Verse 55 which is followed by a number of virtues that we discuss in subsequent articles.
The Supreme Lord says: O Partha!! when one discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind, and becomes satisfied in the realization of the self, such a person is said to be transcendentally situated (2.55)
The first attribute of the Seer that we pick is ‘desireless-ness’. Contrast this with my earlier article on how to set goals and be successful in the secular section and dedicating the goals to the Lord in the Journey and goals of a seeker. However, the seer has gone beyond these and is in a state of ‘desire less-ness’.
Yoga of Knowledge - Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2, Verse 71
विहाय कामान्य: सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति नि:स्पृह: | निर्ममो निरहङ्कार: स शान्तिमधिगच्छति || 71||
vihāya kāmān yaḥ sarvān pumānśh charati niḥspṛihaḥ nirmamo nirahankāraḥ sa śhāntim adhigachchhati
That person, who gives up all material desires and lives free from a sense of greed, proprietorship, and egoism, attains perfect peace.
Giving up the desire to be desire-less
A buddhist story illustrates this notion of giving up desires beautifully. Once a number of disciples approach their Master and ask him how to calm the mind during meditation. The Master says that the root cause of a disturbed mind are desires - give up desires and you shall be in peace. So the disciples left and they stamped on desire, cut the throat of desire, and tried to give up desire but were never able to do so. So they came back to the Master and the Master said “you are still holding on to the desire to be desire-less. You need to give up that too.”
This story illustrates the folly of ‘giving up’ desires. Desires need to ‘drop off’ from your conscious and subconscious mind - you cannot ‘give them up’. To understand this let’s go back to your early childhood. I am sure you loved playing with toys or dolls or with your friends when you were young. When did you give up your ‘desire’ to play with them - on your ninth birthday, your thirteenth birthday or when you were nineteen? Most of us would say that we just weren’t interested in toys or dolls because we had other better things to do. Nor can anyone precisely pinpoint the day or date when we stopped playing with them. It happened naturally because our attention was focused on something else. This pattern repeats itself when we are chasing grades (or chasing partners) when we are studying or chasing a great job when we finish studies or chasing a great career or next promotion or next recognition in our life.
This pattern needs to terminate with just chasing the ONE thing - chasing bliss or eternal happiness. When one does that there is only one burning desire - the desire for liberation. Ramana Maharishi makes this profound statement in a very simple and straightforward manner (Verse 149 from Guru Vachaka Kovai) .
The non-dual experience will only be attained by those who have completely given up desires. For those with desires, it is far, far away. Hence it is proper for those with desires to direct their desires towards God, who is desireless, so that through desire for God the desires that arise through the delusion that objects exist and are different from oneself will become extinct.
This still leaves us with the same state as the disciples of the Master in the story above - we still have the desire to be desire-less. Eventually, we even have to give this ONE desire of being desire-less. As Ramana Maharishi says (Verse 378 from Guru Vachaka Kovai)
Except for the one who has completely cut the tie of desires, the false appearance [that he is a suffering jiva] will not cease. Therefore, without any hesitation, one should cut even the desire for the great Divine Happiness.
It is worth revisiting my article on Four methods for changing the vicious cycle of vasanas into a virtuous cycle and especially the graphic below which shows the progressive transformation of a secular person or ‘bogi’ or enjoyer to the ‘jnaani’ who has no desires and attains liberation or ‘moksha’.
Figure 1: Turning the vicious cycle of vasanas to a virtuous cycle
This transformation of our ‘egotistic self’ to the ‘divine Self’ needs to take place within ourselves using our own mind. Swami Chinmayananda uses the analogy of a pole-vaulter in one of his QA sessions.
Interviewer: Isn't the desire for liberation also a desire. You said one must act in the world without desires
Swami Chinmayananda: True. It is an egocentric desire; but a higher desire. When all desires are removed it will die of itself. It is like a pole-vaulter when he goes over the line he lets go of the pole.
Using your mind to go beyond or behind the mind is the only mechanism for self-realization. In the modern world we often want a handbook or manual on ‘how’ to do anything or how to realize. It is instructive to go back to one of Nisargadatta Maharaj’s answers here:
Interviewer: How is it done?
Maharaj: There is no 'how' here. Just keep in mind the feeling 'I am', merge in it, till your mind and feeling become one. By repeated attempts you will stumble on the right balance of attention and affection and your mind will be firmly established in the thought-feeling 'I am'. Whatever you think, say, or do, this sense of immutable and affectionate being remains as the ever-present background of the mind.
We often consider the state of moksha or liberation as something to be achieved or attained. In fact, it is the exact opposite of it - our true nature is divinity and we have forgotten it - not-identifying with our role in this greatest stage play of all time is what we need to do. In his talk on “Way to find “God” within you” by Swami Sarvapriyananda he explains this using the children’s story of Alan Watts. The story goes that in the beginning of time there was only God He got very bored and wanted to play with someone. So he pretended to be ‘not God’ and started playing hide and seek with himself. He became so good at pretending to be ‘not God’ that he forgot his divinity.
Although this is a children’s story it brings out the profound truth of advaita vedanta - our true nature is divinity, we are already divine, we just need to stop pretending that we are not.
Key Takeaways
Sthithaprajna – Realized person
Desireless-ness
Journey – not a destination
The ONE Desire – to be desireless
Give up that ONE desire (e.g., pole-vault)
Exercise for the week
“Live” a day
Without looking at the time (on any device)
Without planning or reminiscing
Enjoying events as they happen
Here and now
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