Welcome to the 2020 Sripanchami issue of e-Sanai

by Sri Sandip Dasgupta

Welcome to the Saraswati Puja edition of our blog. On this auspicious day, our Master came to our world to share his Realization with us. In this editorial, I am going to share an important tip He had given to His devotees during His visit to Delhi in February 1988.

The Master started by stating that when one gets a new starched white cloth from the store and wears it, it looks really good on the person who wears it. Over time, as it is worn again and again, it doesn’t look as attractive – because it gets dirty. It gets dirty because we do not use it in the right way; it therefore gathers dust and dirt.

Similarly if we do not live life in the right way, it also gathers dust and becomes polluted. According to Sri Sri Babathakur, if we live life thinking only about our body and belongings of the mundane world (with Amaar Amaar Bhaava), then we are spoiling our life. This sense of I-ness begins covering our Real Self (the Atman) much like dust covers a spotless clean white cloth. The layers of ignorance cover our Real Self, and we are only left with the sense of our individual body. We begin recognizing each other as Mr. X or Mrs. Y – referring to the gross body.  We forget that our common substratum is our Real Self/the Atman – that the relationship that we have with everybody is through the underlying substratum (our Atman).  We start thinking that the people around us are our real friends and relatives. We start thinking of our body as the Supreme – and our ego begins ruling over us.  And all of this happens because our mind begins to rule over us – although it is simply a reflection of the Atman.

The Master points out that in our day to day samsara, the mind dominates over all other faculties – whereas in spiritual life, the mind is not the dominant faculty. We can reduce the influence of mind in our lives by Japa, Dhyana, Gyaan, Vichara and Sadhu Sangha.  At every moment of our life, we must remember that  the Atman is our substratum – not the mundane objects around us.

So, on this auspicious day, can we take a pledge to listen to the Master’s words, reflect on them on a regular basis, and try to reduce the influence of our minds? This will lead us towards a spiritual life.

Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur!