The
Challenge Of Time
By Prabuddha Bharata
When I read this article remembered the movie Waqt, a
1960’s classic where the late Balraj Sahni said ‘Never fight time’. His words
echo in my ears so often that the futility of fighting time has sort of become
engrained in my mind. What does that mean you may ask? Let me illustrate with
an example. All of us work hard to become successful and famous. We keep on trying
endlessly but thing just do not seem to happen. Why? Happening is a function of
Time. Things will happen only when the time is right. On another level writer
Shobha De made an interesting remark on how she admired her husband because he
understood the importance of time. She said that when Times were bad Shri De
would lie low and just carry on with his life.
The Holy Gita talks about living life in equanimity. What
does that mean? Simply put it means being unaffected by the ups and downs in
life that are functions of Time.
“Time as a concept has engaged the attention of thinkers
for a long time. Every waking second in our life is an encounter with time. For
both the person of accomplishments and an average person, the day consists of
just twenty-four hours. Nothing more, nothing less. But most people have a
feeling of time breathing down their neck. Everyone experiences time according
to his or her own mental disposition. Just as people regret their past, they
also fear their future. The stream of life carries everyone to the one
certainty amid all uncertainties: death-though people hardly think about it.
There is an interesting incident in the Mahabharata
(‘Vanaparva’). During their stay in the forest, Yudhishthira and his four
brothers were once seized with thirst and were on the lookout for water.
Yudhishthira asked his brother Nakula to climb a tree and look for any water
source. He located a beautiful pool of water surrounded by rich vegetation.
When he want there and was about to quench his thirst with his palms full of
water, he heard a voice without a form (Yaksha): This pool belongs to me. If
you need water from this pool, you have to answer my questions first’. Nakula
did not heed those words, drank the water, and drooped down dead. Concerned about
his brother, Yudhishthira sent Sahadeva next. He set out, discovered the pool
and was sorry to see Nakula’s condition. Nonetheless, not responding to
Yaksha’s warning, he too met with the same fate as Nakulas’. Arjuna and Bhima
followed him one after the other. They rebuked the voice challenging its owner
to reveal himself to be taught a lesson. But they too lost their lives in
trying to drink the water from the pool, unheedfull of the warning. Deeply
anxious, Yudhishthira went in search of his brothers. He was beside himself
with grief on seeing his beloved brothers unconscious on the bank of the pool.
His throat fully parched, he approached the pool to quench his thirst. It was
Yaksha again: This pool belongs to me. If you want its water, you should first
answer my question. Else, your fate will not be different from that of your
brothers.
A man of discrimination that he was, Yudhishthira told
Yaksha: ‘Well said. Since you own this pool, I don’t have a right to drink this
water without your permission. Kindly ask your questions. Yudhishthira’s
brilliant answers to Yaksha constitute the important portion of the Mahabharata
called ‘Yaksa Prasna’. The story goes that, pleased with Yudhishthira’s
answers, Yaksha finally revived all his brothers.
Two important questions and their answers relate to our
theme here. The first: What is the news? Yudhishthira’s answer: The news is:
Time is cooking all created beings in a huge cauldron of great delusion with
the sun as the fire, day and night as fuel, and with months and seasons as the
ladle to stir the brew.
The other question illustrates the inevitability of death
and people’s attitude to it. Yaksha asked Yudhishthira: What is wonderful? He
replied: Every day people go to the abode of Yama (they die). Still the rest of
the world desires to live forever. What could be more wonderful than that?’
Can we escape being cooked by time? Can we defy death?
Vedanata says it is possible. Before we discuss that, we need to analyze the
three states of consciousness we pass through daily.
Waking
We have five windows in our human system to experience the external world in the waking state. These are the five sense organs: ears, skin eyes, tongue and nose. these organs are ever ready to come into contact with their respective sense objects. We gain perceptual experience, in turn, leave impressions in our mind.
We have five windows in our human system to experience the external world in the waking state. These are the five sense organs: ears, skin eyes, tongue and nose. these organs are ever ready to come into contact with their respective sense objects. We gain perceptual experience, in turn, leave impressions in our mind.
The effects of time on the external world are too obvious
for explanation: months change; seasons change; what was a body of water once
is a mountain today; what was a famous edifice once is submerged in water
later. In short, the evanescence of the external world brings out vividly the
hand of time. At the individual level, a glimpse at our photographs taken at
different times-childhood, boyhood, adulthood and later-impresses upon us the
changes time has wrought on the body over the years. But interestingly the 'I’
that has responded to the calls from our near ones over the years has remained
the same.
The mind is also active in our waking experiences. Our
thinking, feeling and willing influence our actions and determine the direction
of our life. We experience the passage of time in accordance with the state of
our mind. Time hangs heavily on those who do not have anything worthwhile to
do. The same holds good when we slavishly do something unpleasant, not in tune
with our nature. On the contrary, when we do something we like-in accordance
with our aptitude-time flies, as they say. Similarly, happy experiences make us
wonder whether a day consists of more than twenty-four hours!
Again times slips away from us when we allow the mind to
drift. Suppose we sit and brood, say at 8 am some day on what to do: have
breakfast? Watch the TV? Read the newspaper? Have a bath? And so on. After some
thirty minutes we find that we had done nothing worthwhile during that time.
The mind has taken us for a ride, making us idle during those thirty minutes.
If only we had managed out time well with a daily routine, having something
specific to do at 8 am, the mind would not have had a chance to examine
different options, hood winking us in the process
Dream
According to Vedanta, dreams are caused by impressions accumulated in the mind not only in this life but also in earlier lives. These impressions are evidently accumulated during the waking state. Dream thoughts and actions do not leave new impressions in the mind. Reactions to them in the waking state, however, will. The notion of time-and space-we have in the dream state is different from that in the waking state. We cover unbelievable distances, traverse years into the past and future, in a dream that lasts maybe for a few minutes according to our waking reckoning. But there is something interesting: the ‘I’ that has dream experiences is the same ‘I’ that has waking experiences.
Dream
According to Vedanta, dreams are caused by impressions accumulated in the mind not only in this life but also in earlier lives. These impressions are evidently accumulated during the waking state. Dream thoughts and actions do not leave new impressions in the mind. Reactions to them in the waking state, however, will. The notion of time-and space-we have in the dream state is different from that in the waking state. We cover unbelievable distances, traverse years into the past and future, in a dream that lasts maybe for a few minutes according to our waking reckoning. But there is something interesting: the ‘I’ that has dream experiences is the same ‘I’ that has waking experiences.
Deep Sleep
The body and the mind are both inactive in deep sleep, and evidently the world does not exist for the person who sleeps. In the absence of any object to experience, his ‘I’ also is apparently non-existent. When a person gets up from sleep, he describes his sleep experience as ‘I slept happily; I did not know anything. Being detached from our body and mind in deep sleep, we escape the miseries arising out of them: physical pain, stress, tension to name a few. Evidently time does not exist in deep sleep. On waking up however we remember our identities and go about our daily activities. That raises an important question: is there any continuity at all from the time one goes to sleep to the time one awakes?
The body and the mind are both inactive in deep sleep, and evidently the world does not exist for the person who sleeps. In the absence of any object to experience, his ‘I’ also is apparently non-existent. When a person gets up from sleep, he describes his sleep experience as ‘I slept happily; I did not know anything. Being detached from our body and mind in deep sleep, we escape the miseries arising out of them: physical pain, stress, tension to name a few. Evidently time does not exist in deep sleep. On waking up however we remember our identities and go about our daily activities. That raises an important question: is there any continuity at all from the time one goes to sleep to the time one awakes?
The Spiritual Dimension
Vedanta says there is a third dimension to the human personality behind the body and the mind. It is called the Atman the eternally pure, ever-conscious and ever-free spiritual dimension in us. This spiritual Reality is the basis and substratum of all the three states of consciousness waking, dream and deep sleep. It is this Reality that provides continuity during deep sleep.
Vedanta says there is a third dimension to the human personality behind the body and the mind. It is called the Atman the eternally pure, ever-conscious and ever-free spiritual dimension in us. This spiritual Reality is the basis and substratum of all the three states of consciousness waking, dream and deep sleep. It is this Reality that provides continuity during deep sleep.
The famous Vedantic equation (mahavakya) says that the spiritual
Reality behind the body and the mind, called Atman, is same as the spiritual
Reality behind the universe, called Brahman. This Reality transcends time space
and causation the three attributes of life in the world. All forms of God that
we worship are manifestations of this ultimate Reality called Brahman. The
Upanishads emphatically say that by realizing this truth in one’s
heart-purified of all desires and cleared of all doubts-one transcends death
and becomes immortal Not that the body continues to exist forever. Being born
it has to die. But a knower of Brahman-being one with Brahman-is not affected
by the fall of the body
Sri Ramakrishna’s life demonstrates that God exist and He
can be realized and that God-realization is the goal of human life. Sri Sankara
makes it clear in his celebrated work Vivekacudamani that he who does not
strive to realize the Atman despite having had a human birth verily commits
suicide since he kills himself by clinging to things unreal.
Delusion the Cause of All Trouble
Yudhishthira’s answer to What is the news? Is a thought-provoking one. All created beings are cooked by time in a cauldron of great delusion. As long as we are in delusion we are in the domain of time and keep getting cooked by it. What is this delusion? What is its source?
Yudhishthira’s answer to What is the news? Is a thought-provoking one. All created beings are cooked by time in a cauldron of great delusion. As long as we are in delusion we are in the domain of time and keep getting cooked by it. What is this delusion? What is its source?
The mother of all delusion is to believe that we are the
body. This basic belief makes the external world and its enjoyments the
absolute reality for us. How do we who are essentially spiritual believe that
we are the body? Sri Sankara attributes this to maya the power of concealment
(of Reality) and of distortion (of Reality). The power of concealment
(avaranasakti) conceals the spiritual Reality from us. Sri Ramakrishna would
hold a towel in front of his face and ask whether those before him could see
him. Similarly he would say we are not able to see God because of the veil of
maya. The power of distortion (viksepasakti) distorts the Reality for us. It
makes the real appear as the unreal and the unreal as the Real. It makes
Brahman the Reality appear as the world with its varied creations.
Hence it is clear that, essentially, the ‘I am the body idea
is the root cause of all trouble. The feeling of mine regarding things in the
world stems from this main idea. Sri Sankara in his illuminating commentary on
the Kathopanisad (1.3.12), says: Also how unfathomable, inscrutable and
variegated is this maya! Every creature thought in reality identical with the
supreme Reality and is instructed as such does not grasp the fact that “I am
the supreme Self.” On the contrary even without being told he accepts as his
Self the non-selves-the aggregate of the body and senses under the idea “I am
the son of such a one” though the latter are objects of perception (and hence
not the Self).
Delusion again forms part of a graded series beautifully
outlined in the Bhagavadgita ‘Brooding over sense objects one develops attachment
to them. Attachment gives rise to desire (to possess the objects). Desire
results in anger (towards obstacles to its fulfillment). Anger results in
delusion (moha). From delusion follows loss of memory (of one’s spiritual
nature). This results in loss of buddhi (discrimination), which leads to
spiritual death. In short it was the mind’s luxury to brood over sense objects
that triggered the systematic downfall ending in spiritual death.
Seeking the Spiritual Reality Within
Time’s cooking essentially pertains to the body, which is characterized by six modifications: It comes into being (jayate), continues to exist as an object (asti), grows (vardhate), undergoes transformation (viparinamate)-like childhood, youth and old age-decays (apaksiyate) and dies (nasyati). These changes, however, do not exist in the Atman since it is birth less, deathless, eternal, and is not killed even when the body is killed.
Time’s cooking essentially pertains to the body, which is characterized by six modifications: It comes into being (jayate), continues to exist as an object (asti), grows (vardhate), undergoes transformation (viparinamate)-like childhood, youth and old age-decays (apaksiyate) and dies (nasyati). These changes, however, do not exist in the Atman since it is birth less, deathless, eternal, and is not killed even when the body is killed.
As long as one lives a body-centered life pampering it,
abusing it with indulgence, driven by desires-time’s cooking will not cease. So
a new orientation to life is called for. But things do not appear to be easy.
Though a person understands what is good for him, he continues with his old
ways in spite of himself, as if forced by someone. What is that force? Arjuna
posed the same question to Sri Krishna. The Lord replied: ‘It is desire and
anger that are responsible for his predicament. Both are born of rajas. They
are great devourers and sinners. Know them to be your enemies. He continues:….
The manas is superior to the sense organs. The buddhi is superior to the mind.
The Atman is superior to the buddhi. Understanding thus, and completely
establishing the mind in the Atman, vanquish the enemy in the form of desire,
an enemy very difficult to subdue.’
So it is clear that one needs to seek the spiritual
Reality within to free oneself from the effects of time. The first step in this
seeking is to awaken the buddhi, the discriminative faculty in us.
Need to Awaken the Buddhi
Buddhi is an important faculty in human personality having a significant role in character development and mind control. It is essentially a function of the mind. Technically, the mind is called manas when it is busy examining different options set before it, yet to arrive at a decision. It is the deliberative faculty in us. When a decision has been arrived at, it is called buddhi. Buddhi is also the seat of discrimination.
Buddhi is an important faculty in human personality having a significant role in character development and mind control. It is essentially a function of the mind. Technically, the mind is called manas when it is busy examining different options set before it, yet to arrive at a decision. It is the deliberative faculty in us. When a decision has been arrived at, it is called buddhi. Buddhi is also the seat of discrimination.
The Katha Upanisad brilliantly describes the role of the
buddhi with the help of an allegory. The body is compared to a chariot, and the
‘I’ in us experiencing the vagaries of the body and mind, compared to the
master of the chariot. The buddhi is equated to the charioteer, the manas is
compared to the reins and the five sense organs, to the horses. Sense objects
are compared to the road.
If the horses are not broken and if the driver is not
awake, and the chariot is in motion, that would be a dangerous situation
indeed! The reins the driver and the master-all this will be taken for a ride
by the horses! Similarly, if a person’s senses are not subdued, his mind,
buddhi and he himself will follow the pull of the senses. The course of such a
human journey is determined by the sense organs.
On the contrary if the horses are broken and the driver
wide-awake and intelligent, the chariot will reach it’s destination-the place
where the master wants to go-without any trouble. With the sensory system under
control and the mind disciplined with the help of an awakened buddhi, life’s
journey will reach its destination, which is God-realization.
The above allegory helps us get a better grasp of the
human system. The untrained mind (lured by the sense) does not cooperate
with us but keeps acting against our interest as an enemy. When disciplined the
same mind acts as our friend. The challenge lies, therefore in making a friend
of our mind with the help of the buddhi. The training necessary to convert the
enemy mind into a friendly mind is achieved by spiritual discipline.
Aids to Mind Training
Swami Vivekananda describes four yogas as paths God-realization: selfless work (karma yoga), devotion (bhakti yoga), meditation (raja yoga) and discrimination and philosophic reasoning (jnana yoga). A discussion on these yogas is beyond the scope of this essay. However, we try to outline some mind training techniques based on them.
Aids to Mind Training
Swami Vivekananda describes four yogas as paths God-realization: selfless work (karma yoga), devotion (bhakti yoga), meditation (raja yoga) and discrimination and philosophic reasoning (jnana yoga). A discussion on these yogas is beyond the scope of this essay. However, we try to outline some mind training techniques based on them.
Time management: A strict daily routine is a great help in
disciplining the mind and reducing its gyrations. A spiritual aspirant tries to
live an ordered life with time allocations for all his daily activities. The
enemy mind is sure to rebel at every point protesting that its freedom is
infringed. But a patient adherence to the routine ignoring the mind’s protests
will help awaken and strengthen the buddhi, the vital factor in mind control.
Cultivating a proper attitude towards work: Sri
Ramakrishna advocated living in the world and performing one’s duties like a
maidservant in a rich man’s house: She performs all the household duties, but
her thoughts are fixed on her own home in her native village. She brings up her
master’s children as if they were her own. She even speaks of them as “my Rama”
or “my Hari”. But in her own mind she knows very well that they do not belong
to her at all…… Do all your duties in the world, but keep your mind on God.
Doing all work with a worshipful attitude-with one’s whole
mind on the work-as an offering to God is a potent means for mind control. Says
Swami Vivekananda: Every duty is holy and devotion to duty is the highest form
of worship of God. Doing one’s work with one’s whole mind strengthens the
capacity to watch the vagaries of the mind. This ‘watching’ the mind in turn
strengthens the buddhi, the importance of which was discussed earlier.
Cultivating devotion to God: The earlier one takes to
devotional practices, the better are the chances of one’s success in the
struggle against the mind. In his famous Bhajagovindam Sri Sankara admonishes
an old man indulging in intricacies of Sanskrit grammar: When the end of life
is near, grammar rules will be of no avail. Worship the Lord! Sri Krishna
advocates devotion to God in this transient and miserable world.
A sincere spiritual aspirant is conscious of the
evanescence of life, and reminds himself of the admonition of the Hitopadesa:
'‘practise dharma as if the locks of your hair are held by death. He prays to
God and seeks His refuge and protection even now: One’s lifespan keeps reducing
every day, and youth decays. Gone are days spent, never to return. Time is the
great devourer of this world. Prosperity is as fleeting and fickle as the waves
on the ocean; life itself is as momentary as Lightning. Therefore, O Giver of
refuge, grant me protection even now; I have taken refuge in You!
To sum up. All
created beings are subjected to time’s ravages driving them to the one
certainty: death. Seeking and discovering the latent spiritual dimension in us
alone can make us impervious to time’s cooking. This is possible by training
the mind and the sensory system, following spiritual disciplines and realizing
the spiritual Reality within. For it is only the body that is cooked by time,
not the eternal Atman”.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My
humble salutations to Prabuddha Bharata and hindu samskrit dot com for the collection)
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