The Power of Self-Restraint
On this holy Sri Vyasa
Purnima, known as Sri Guru Purnima, which symbolises before us a fullness of
every kind, we invoke that mighty presence of Bhagavan Sri Krishna Dvaipayana
Vyasa, who shines in this world as the radiant sun in the sky. Even as the
light of the sun is pervading all space and yet we can behold the glory of the
orb of the sun at a particular spot in the sky, so also while the majesty and
power and aura and blessing of this great master pervades the whole earth, it
is said in the scriptures that he is principally stationed in sacred Badrika
Ashrama, representing the power and the light of utter self-restraint – a power
that is God’s, as whose complete representation has incarnated himself on this
earth to establish the dharma, or the
law self-control, as establishment in Truth.
The power of this great master
is the power of self-restraint. His presence is not in a location somewhere, on
some particular spot exclusively, but is a mighty influence exerted everywhere,
whereby he identifies his presence with all existence – due to which it is that
the power of existence itself reveals itself in him. The greater is the
capacity to restrain oneself, the greater also is the power one feels within
one’s own self.
We have heard that there is a
variety of powers in this world. There is monetary power, muscular power,
political power, social power, intellectual power, and a variety of these
things – but these are all external to the wielder of the power. In some cases
they are only foisted upon a person. But the powers of great masters like
Bhagavan Sri Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa are not adjectives to their existence.
They are not their qualifications. They are their very presence.
Self-restraint is itself a
power because of the fact that all the avenues of depletion of energy get
transmuted into the very existence of the saint or the seeker or the sage, and
the channels through which energy moves out in the direction of things and
objects in the world get melted down, as it were, in the process of
self-control. Things become the very subject, the very meditator, the
contemplator, the beholder, the visualiser of themselves.
Weakness is the effect of the
transferring of our being to something other than what we are. The more you
think of things other than what you are, the weaker are also your sense organs,
your mind, your intellect. People have a wrong notion that they become stronger
by the possession of a larger quantum of things in the world. Rather, the
greater is your possession, the weaker is your personality. The more is your
property, the weaker you are. The weaker you are, the greater is your desire to
own things in the world. The stronger you are, the lesser is the need of any
kind in this world.
Such great masters like Bhagavan Sri Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa are themselves all things. You may be wondering how it is possible for anyone to be all things. That our Atman is all-pervading is something known to you all, a message that has been dinned into our ears by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj especially, and all the saints and sages in the country. The omnipresence of the Atman, which is the real being of everyone, is actually the omnipresence of yourself, basically and contemplation on the Atman draws into oneself the power of omnipresence.
If the curtain of space is
lifted, we will find ourselves everywhere. It is interference of the time
process that makes us feel that we are living only at some time. If the curtain
of time is lifted, we will find ourselves at all times. So, the lifting of the
spatial curtain will make us feel that we are infinite, and the lifting of the
curtain of time will make us feel that we are eternal. Therefore, the effort of
the art of yoga consisting in the transcending of oneself above the limitations
of space and time will bring about a blend of infinity and eternity. The
question of desiring for things will not arise anymore.
Desire is a disease; it is a
malady; it is an illness; it is not a virtue at all. But contrary is the way in
which the lower mind contemplates things. The larger is the area of the
operation of desires, the more a person seems to be feeling happy inside. This
is total introversion, upside-down thinking, a topsy-turvy way of looking at
things, and a headlong rushing into an area of self-destruction.
The Message of Bhagavan Sri
Krishna Dvaipayana Vysya , one of the Chiranjivis, is about utter self-control
and contemplation on that majesty of Reality, which is ever present and is
seeing us with its multiple eyes.
May our hearts open. May we
break our limitations of thinking. May we desire nothing, because we need
nothing. May you contemplate these truths deeply in your heart and soul and
receive the abundant grace of these divine masters, is my humble prayer on this
sacred occasion of Sri Guru Purnima. God bless you.
Continue to read:
The Power of Self-Restraint Spoken on
Guru Purnima in 1992 by Swami Krishnananda
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