Tapas

Q.   Can one realize the atma [soul] and merge, as You say, in the Pranava [cosmic sound—Om] with this material body composed of the five elements? Can the atma be isolated from the body? How is that done?

A.   Man can, by dhyana [meditation] and other disciplines, by the recital of the Pranava mantra, discover the atmaand isolate it from the body. It is something like getting butter from curds [yogurt], oil from sesame, water from the sub-soil, fire from wood. Churning, squeez­ing, crushing, boring, turning—these processes are needed, that is all. What happens is the separation of the atma from the body, the disappearance of the belief that the body is the atma or the Self.

Q.   Swami! Many elders and sages say that we should visualize the jivatma [individual] as Paramatma; that we should cultivate that feeling, that conviction. How is that possible?

A.   Why do you think it is difficult? Is it not easier to speak the truth than to speak falsehood? You are now declaring a falsehood as true and so all kinds of difficulties arise; accept the truth that the jivatma and Paramatma are the same, then things become easy. First, recognize the atma, the “jivatma”, unrelated to the body; you can do this by dhyana, etc. As scent is separated from flowers, sugar from cane, gold from rock, thus separate the atma from the physical body. Then by means of nidhidhyasana, etc., single-pointed reflection and meditation, you can visualize the jivatma as one with Paramatma. That is the consummation of tapas, the final nirvana.

Q.   What exactly is tapas, Swami?

A.   It means the end of the activities of the senses; one must be the master of all of them. There should be no trace of craving or appetite. It involves effort to attain Brahmam, incessant yearning for that end; it must be expressed through moderate food and sleep: it means agony to realize the principle. Such tapas is called satwic [pure].

Q.   What then is rajasic tapas?

 A.  Those who simply starve the body and make it weak without curbing the senses and controlling the emo­tions are doing only rajasic tapas. They do not study or meditate upon the atmatatwa; they lay emphasis on physical asceticism.

Q.   There must be tamasic tapas also.

A.   There is. To propitiate the Gods for favors, and then with the favors as instruments, to desire the exploitation of the world—that is tamasic tapas. Only that tapas is proper which has as its aim the attainment of God, the realization of Brahmam, the achievement of the highest wisdom. That type of tapas alone is approved by the Shastras [scriptures]. All the rest will lead you astray, away from the goal. Only the tapas approved by the Shastras deserves that name. The others are tamas, not tapas. Tapas means ‘heat’; the heat burns out sin and reduces all karma [action] to ashes.

Q.   The Shastras say that the Rishis had in their ashrams things like the Chinthamani jewel, the Kalpavriksha, and also the Kamadhenu, which gave them what­ever they wished for. I cannot understand why they should do tapas at all. Please make this clear to me.

A.   Think about it well. Then you will know that Chin­thamani is not a jewel, nor Kalpavriksha a tree, nor Kamadhenu a cow. They are all names for the fruits of tapas. They are powers that automatically accrue to a person as a result of tapas. He realizes all that he wishes for. It is called Kalpavriksha–siddhi. When he subdues all desire, it is called Kamadhenu-siddhi. What is the Chinthamani-siddhi? It is the stage when you have no chinta or worry or mental agita­tion, a stage when all sorrow is kept afar. When chinta ends and the supreme ananda [joy] is won, it is Chinthamani-siddhi. Chinta must disappear from thought, word, and deed.

Q.   They also speak of mental tapas. What does that mean?

A.   Observe control of speech: cultivate purity of feeling; practice humility: let your thoughts be always on the Brahmatatwam. Then it can be said that you are in mental tapas.

Q.   And physical tapas?

A.   That, too, is good in its own way. Revering elders, spiritual teachers, saints, and sages and God make for purity, non-violence, sympathy with all beings, straightforwardness, all contribute to physical well-being, health and wholesomeness. Mental tapas leads to the purity of the mind. Verbal control or tapas leads to purity of speech. By these three, the precious possessions of Kamadhenu, Kalpavriksha, and Chinthamani are attained. They are attainments, not just cows, trees, or jewels.

Q.   Are there any who have attained Brahmatatwa and Dharmatatwa with the help of their success in tapas? Who are they? Please tell me.

A.   Kapila-mahamuni attained Brahmatatwam, Jaimini-mahamuni attained Brahmatatwam, Narada became a Brahmarishi, Bhagiratha brought the Ganga down, Gouthama persuaded the Godavari to flow on earth, Valmiki realized the force of Rama-mantram and was enabled to compose the Ramayana, Gargi was established in Brahmacharya, and Sulabha in spiritual wisdom—all through tapas alone. Why go on quoting examples one after the other? Through tapas, even Brahma and Rudra become one’s colla­borators.

Q.   Swami! In order to reach this high stage, do you say that birth in a high caste is necessary? Or is sadhana of a high order enough?

A.   Caste without character is meaningless; it is just an empty label. Sadhana without the base of charac­ter is like the journey of a blind man. Morality, virtue, character—these are vital. Based on these, if sadhana is done according to the scheme laid down for the path one has selected, then there is no doubt of success. But you must take note of a caution that is essential. You must not give place to sloth simply because jaati or birth is not impor­tant. Neeti or moral standards accrue according to jaati also; and so, to foster them the consciousness of jaati is helpful and important. But if through the accumulated merit of past births, one has the treasure of goodness and virtue, then one need not attach much importance to jaati. Only those who practiced Yoga in previous births and who could not complete the process will have that type of excellence. The main thing is to acquire the neeti that is prescribed for the jaati, foster the jaati with neeti, and make yourself fit and full, with a high status in life. For some distance on the path of sadhana and spirituality, both jaati and neeti will help. The gunas [qualities] will be sublimated through these two.

Q.   Therefore, there must be some who through the merit of previous lives have attained Godhead. Give some instances please.

A.   My dear man! You should not seek to discover the source of a river or the ancestry of a Rishi. They may be quite unimpressive. You should be satisfied with their services. Their experience is what is most valuable; be inspired by them, be led by them to similar efforts. If you go in search of the beginnings, you lose the vital core.

Still, since you have raised the question, I shall tell you. Vyasa was born of the fisherman caste, Sounaka was of the Sunaka clan; Agastya was born in a pot; Viswamitra was a kshatriya, Soota was born in the fourth caste. In addition, we, have among those who were virtuous and good, who had their eyes always on the moral standards of their jaati and neeti, who renounced all and stuck to the ideal of liberating themselves from the bondage of birth and death and the illusion of physical values: Sanjaya, Sathyakama, and many more.

My dear man! Self-effort, viveka (discrimination), tapas—these qualify man to attain the highest status. With­out purity of the inner instruments, no man, however high his caste, can reach the highest. If inferior copper is added to gold, the alloy loses in value. Just as pure gold becomes an alloy through contact with copper, the Universal, the Viraatrupa, gets the inferior ego added to it in this samsara [world]. The Viraat­rupa becomes transformed into the jivi. Now, what has to be done to get back the real gold-tatwa? Through tapas and vrata (acceptance of codes of conduct), through polishing and cleansing the buddhi [intellect], the original stage has to be regained. You wash the feet after walking through the mire; the mind, too, has to be washed of the mire of attachment to objects. Jnana alone can burn the seeds of attachment so that they may not sprout again. So, if a person has the treasure of jnana, he gets liberated easily.

Source: Prasnothara Vahini