Language of Mysticism – A Calm Mind

Lord Shiva has a trishula - trident in His hands which represents the three gunas - Satwa guna, Rajo guna and Tamo guna meaning that all the three gunas are in His hands. He is the master of the gunas and the gunas are not the master of Him.

It is a very big topic that we would be dealing as we go further. Sattva is the one pure quality, Rajo is the quality of activity where ego plays a role, Tamo is darkness, laziness. All three qualities have roles to play but you should not be a victim to any one of them. Whenever you go to sleep, it is reflection of tamo guna; sleep must be part of your routine, but not right now while you are listening to me… therefore you should have control over tamo guna.

Rajo guna is sign of activity, so actively you have to sit for meditation. There is no activity in meditation, so someone goes on scratching his head, there is nothing inside and outside, but he scratches. Again rajo guna has been misplaced here. All these three gunas have roles to play, if you only know how to become the master and not the victim. For that to happen those roles have to be played in the respective places. For some people Sattva guna - purity becomes addiction.

I will narrate an example from the life of Buddha so that you can understand better.

Four people were in a boat. On reaching the shore, they were holding the boat on their heads and started walking. A monk who saw this asked, “Why are you keeping the boat on your heads”? They said, “The boat has helped us to cross the river and we are so grateful to the boat that we are carrying the boat wherever we go”.

After the boat is used, it should be anchored on the shore. These people out of gratitude carried the boat on their heads.

Have you seen some people expressing their gratitude? For them their gratitude itself is a form of bondage. Similarly, the very gratitude became bondage for those four people.

If you have yagnopavitha - sacred thread on you, and when you take sanyas – monk hood, as per the tradition, you have to tear them down. It is very difficult as you have been wearing the yagonopavitha all through your life and chanting the Gayatri Mantra. It is treated as very sacred throughout the life and when you take sanyasa the yagnopavitha has to be torn by our own hands… even that attachment has to be renounced. Even the attachment to good, along the line, should go away.

Buddha said that gratitude is beautiful, but don’t be foolish like the boatmen carrying the boat in the name of gratitude. Then the boat becomes a burden instead of a means of navigation.

Therefore one should be a master of all the three gunas - qualities. You should be able to leave off, that is the meaning of trishula or trident.

What is there on the trishula? A Damaru - a drum tied to it. The whole system of Sanskrit grammar seems to have emerged from the damaru, discovered by the great Saint called Panini. It is said that he wanted to write grammar sutras. He was meditating calmly for this purpose. At that time the intuitive quadrant of his brain opened up very well. He seemed to have tuned to the celestial dance of Lord Shiva during the sandhya - evening time. It is said that Lord Shiva was dancing with his damaru and thus Panini sutras were created.

Panini was a great saint. He was meditating. Why am I naratting this? The fine vibration is there in this world. Akashvani waves is right here, BBC waves, CNN waves, Doordarshan waves are here, but your radio or TV with antenna alone can pick it up. I am giving you a modern example. They will help you to understand an ancient concept, because you are all westernised.

How did Panini get the idea when Lord Shiva was dancing? How is it that you type www.swamisukhabodhananda.org and you get my site? You say, “Oh, It is like that. Isn’t it?” Right here we have BBC, CNN, and Doordarshan waves and if you have the right receiver, you can log on to it, isn’t it?

A study has shown that whatever the great Kishore Kumar has sung, or for that matter whatever great singers have sung, it can never disappear; it is always in existence. And we create an apparatus, and we can log on to it. Energy cannot be destroyed. It exists in some form or the other. We don’t have the apparatus right now to discover them. That is all. Therefore, meditation is an apparatus and in the apparatus are your receptors of intuition, which modern science refers as the “D” quadrant of your brain.

There are four quadrants of brain – “A” quadrant is of logic, “B” quadrant is of planning, “C” quadrant is of kinesthetic and playful while “D” quadrant is of intuition. “D” quadrant of the brain represents intuition.

When you meditate, research has shown that the intuition brain cells opens up, and then you see more than what others can see. That is why Walt Disney looked at the rat and created Mickey Mouse. Somebody looks at waste and creates wealth.