Self-Realization & Liberation
Vijayalaxmi: Will I have another birth?
Once Vijayalaxmi asked this delicate question. Will I have
another birth?
Sage Agastya: God is duty bound to
bestow the boon that a devotee asks. However, sometimes if the boon that is
asked gives rise to a little dilemma, then it puts the God in a difficult
situation to bestow the boon.
Normally, we are not allowed to give a conclusive response to such a question. This is because it is counteractive to destiny’s wishes.
There is another question arising in you right now. “You
told about my husband (about his last birth)?” His situation is different from
yours.
Yet, I will respond to your question.
This would be a normal question that someone may ask your
husband tomorrow. You did not ask such a question for your own sake. It was who
made you ask that question for the sake of the world.
If one asks that this be their last birth, the response to
all of them is the same. If one wants this to be the last birth, then what is
the type of characteristic such a man must possess?
The philosophy of this is this: The soul is particle of the Absolute that has emanated
from him. The soul that has emanated from the Absolute, yearns for the state of
merging back with him.
Having taken birth as a human, they create karma by their
actions, thoughts, which are contradictory to the created righteous norms. It is only when completely forgets this state,
can the soul break free and reach the Absolute. Such a soul has completed its
birth cycle and will not have another birth.
So far I have talked about how the soul reaches the
Absolute. This is the reasoning behind that. I will explain what one must do in
terms of efforts, behavior, intellect, spiritual practices, if one must reach
the Absolute.
Who am I? What is a soul? Where does it come from? Where
must it go? One must understand all this. To understand this people need books
and discourses. This is what is known as knowledge or enlightenment. Once that
understanding comes, then such a person must pray to God, and find a Guru.
Man must experience the desire for material, physical and
money as necessary at the prescribed stages and then get away from them. He
must consider each one separately. It is natural that man must have a desire
for each of these, based on the phase of life. However, despite having had them,
repeated births will come rolling towards one who continues to desire them.
It is such craving that is called desire. Attachment will
arise where there is desire. Having acquired something, without having the
desire to give it up, some keep looking at it, increasing their desire for it.
When such people refuse to part with those things and try to
hold on to those things, desire keeps building up.
Attachment
Attachment arises from desire. From attachment arises lust. Lust
is that which arises when one desires to experience something that he has
obtained excessively.
Then comes greed. When one holds on to something more than
the norm, then that person loses power of discernment. Which means, they will
not understand the difference between right and wrong. Righteousness is lost in
the world.
For example, the desire for money. Looking at money
constantly and finding joy in it is an attachment. Enjoying it without sharing
it with others is lust. Greed is when he does not understand that he is earning
through wrong means.
Anger
When one’s money increases, and the person doesn’t want to
give it to another; and when that another tries to steal it from him; then
getting displeased with him, when one acts out, that is called anger.
Delusion is when one where accumulates more and more money,
and sees someone who is wealthier than him, and feels that he doesn’t have
enough and becomes jealous of him.
The response to
your answer is to reflect on each one of these. What is needed to end this
cycle of life and death is righteousness. This is the guidance given for the
world. Have you followed all this? You have achieved a lot of purity. However,
you still have a couple of blemishes that are found ordinary people.
Those who have extreme desire or hate towards anything will
not have the grace to progress higher.
In mind, speech,
and action, one must only think good. Reflect only on the good. Do only good.
There are no good
or bad people in God’s creation. You yourselves have created these characters.
That is why you look at another and judge them
as good or bad. There is nothing bad or good for the Gnani. He does not
consider anyone good or bad. He has neither affection nor hatred. Why? He even
forgets the ‘I’ at the very end.
When there is no
longer ‘I,’ there is no body, no mind, only soul remains. Understanding your
soul this way, is called ‘self-realization’ in English.
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