Excerpts from Yajnyawalkya by Sushama Karnik
Oct 12, 2016
Revisiting a part of Yajnyawalkya (On Gayatri mantra)
Artabhaga spoke again: "A Master does not speak unless he feels you have the quest in your heart. ".....
A disciple asked, "You have been teaching us to invoke the inner light: Gayatri. Is Gayatri the same as Brahma which has been sought after by sages?"
Yajnyawalkya said, " No, Gayatri is not Brahma. Gayatri is the grand chariot which helps you traverse the path of this life on earth. Gayatri mantra enables you to unveil the light within you. Live your life constantly in that light. That light is the very power of Gayatri. It resides within you, but you know it not. "
Someone asked, "Are we born with that light or do we acquire it by effort?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "We are all born with it, and still we have to put in an effort to retrieve it because we have lost it in the process of living."
"Why do we lose it?" asked the pupil.
"Because our life on this earth makes demands on the other faculties which we call the mind, intellect, ego, and memory. We develop a trust in them and come to believe that we cannot understand this phenomenal world without their aid. Gradually we become one with them. We do not see ourselves as distinct from them. Ultimately, we are lost to that light in this process which we call "living'.
"If we are blessed with the faculty of memory, why are we lost to that light?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "The memory which loses sight of that light is the functional memory, which is an instrument of the mind connecting us with space and time that we can measure and imagine. It helps us communicate, speak, understand, synthesize and analyze. But it has limitations. Its function is to serve the body and the mind, but it does not enable us to reach that light."
" How do we reach it then? Is it enough to recite the Gayatri mantra?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "Recitation aids the physical memory. It helps you to be mindful, which is the primary need. But though necessary, recitation by itself is not sufficient. Gayatri is the vibration of the life within. It unites you with everything that vibrates in the universe outside of your body. Open your mind, body, and heart to the power of energy that the universe is transmitting to you ceaselessly. Gayatri opens up the heart, restores energy, heals, and elevates."
The pupil said, "This is love; is it not?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "Love is the underlying principle of life. The very light within you, which is lost and forgotten, is "love". There is discord, violence, and fear because we have lost that light. There is restlessness because we know that we must get it back, and restlessness is the sign of hope. Do not confuse that restlessness with fear. "
The pupil asked, "Does the light of Gayatri help me conquer fear?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "Yes, the conquest of fear is the first step you take in the direction of that light.....
Gayatri reaches out from you to touch the light that pervades the Akasha and comes back to you with floods of light and energy. When the universe is ever ready, nay, eager to enrich you, accept the bounty without agitation. Embrace life in all its aspects. Be aware that happiness and sorrow are aspects of life, not the goal of it. Your mind adopts happiness and rejects sorrow. That which you reject becomes the root of fear. Gayatri takes you beyond the antithesis of happiness and sorrow. It is light, pure and simple, and inexhaustible."
Yajnyawalkya stopped, but no one realized that he had stopped speaking. Their minds swayed on a tide of self-awareness that surged up from the gross world of the body to leap up and catch a glimpse of the subtle and timeless world of the spirit.
A sacrificial fire had been initiated on the ground of earth but reached the realm of the spirit. The offering came from the seven realms of Brahma. Divinity guarded the sacrificial fire. Earth was the ground of the altar, mountains bosom. Its hands spread in four quarters. Divine wrath blazed in the embers of the karma of the humans, and the inaccessible truth of Brahma leaped up momentarily like a tongue of fire to speak its word. So long as the Brahma guards this sacrificial fire, there is no extinction for the human spirit and the spirit of all life.
SUSHAMA KARNIK (C)
Oct 12, 2016
Revisiting a part of Yajnyawalkya (On Gayatri mantra)
Artabhaga spoke again: "A Master does not speak unless he feels you have the quest in your heart. ".....
A disciple asked, "You have been teaching us to invoke the inner light: Gayatri. Is Gayatri the same as Brahma which has been sought after by sages?"
Yajnyawalkya said, " No, Gayatri is not Brahma. Gayatri is the grand chariot which helps you traverse the path of this life on earth. Gayatri mantra enables you to unveil the light within you. Live your life constantly in that light. That light is the very power of Gayatri. It resides within you, but you know it not. "
Someone asked, "Are we born with that light or do we acquire it by effort?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "We are all born with it, and still we have to put in an effort to retrieve it because we have lost it in the process of living."
"Why do we lose it?" asked the pupil.
"Because our life on this earth makes demands on the other faculties which we call the mind, intellect, ego, and memory. We develop a trust in them and come to believe that we cannot understand this phenomenal world without their aid. Gradually we become one with them. We do not see ourselves as distinct from them. Ultimately, we are lost to that light in this process which we call "living'.
"If we are blessed with the faculty of memory, why are we lost to that light?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "The memory which loses sight of that light is the functional memory, which is an instrument of the mind connecting us with space and time that we can measure and imagine. It helps us communicate, speak, understand, synthesize and analyze. But it has limitations. Its function is to serve the body and the mind, but it does not enable us to reach that light."
" How do we reach it then? Is it enough to recite the Gayatri mantra?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "Recitation aids the physical memory. It helps you to be mindful, which is the primary need. But though necessary, recitation by itself is not sufficient. Gayatri is the vibration of the life within. It unites you with everything that vibrates in the universe outside of your body. Open your mind, body, and heart to the power of energy that the universe is transmitting to you ceaselessly. Gayatri opens up the heart, restores energy, heals, and elevates."
The pupil said, "This is love; is it not?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "Love is the underlying principle of life. The very light within you, which is lost and forgotten, is "love". There is discord, violence, and fear because we have lost that light. There is restlessness because we know that we must get it back, and restlessness is the sign of hope. Do not confuse that restlessness with fear. "
The pupil asked, "Does the light of Gayatri help me conquer fear?"
Yajnyawalkya said, "Yes, the conquest of fear is the first step you take in the direction of that light.....
Gayatri reaches out from you to touch the light that pervades the Akasha and comes back to you with floods of light and energy. When the universe is ever ready, nay, eager to enrich you, accept the bounty without agitation. Embrace life in all its aspects. Be aware that happiness and sorrow are aspects of life, not the goal of it. Your mind adopts happiness and rejects sorrow. That which you reject becomes the root of fear. Gayatri takes you beyond the antithesis of happiness and sorrow. It is light, pure and simple, and inexhaustible."
Yajnyawalkya stopped, but no one realized that he had stopped speaking. Their minds swayed on a tide of self-awareness that surged up from the gross world of the body to leap up and catch a glimpse of the subtle and timeless world of the spirit.
A sacrificial fire had been initiated on the ground of earth but reached the realm of the spirit. The offering came from the seven realms of Brahma. Divinity guarded the sacrificial fire. Earth was the ground of the altar, mountains bosom. Its hands spread in four quarters. Divine wrath blazed in the embers of the karma of the humans, and the inaccessible truth of Brahma leaped up momentarily like a tongue of fire to speak its word. So long as the Brahma guards this sacrificial fire, there is no extinction for the human spirit and the spirit of all life.
SUSHAMA KARNIK (C)
