(July 26,2014) Weekly Svadhyaya - Knowledge is Meant to be Lived by Swami Chidananda
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Svadhyaya for July 26, 2014
Knowledge is
Meant to be Lived
Radiant
Immortal Atman! Beloved seekers! What is the purpose of knowing philosophy?
This has to be well thought out and the correct attitude towards all philosophy
has to be cultivated, and it should be constantly, actively applied in daily
life. Gurudev has done a very special act of grace. Even while he gave
knowledge, he immediately said, “Do it, Do this, Do that. Think in this way,
Act in this way, Live in this way, Carry on Sadhana in this way.” He emphasised
action and actual abhyasa.
More
than acquiring knowledge, a student of philosophy and spirituality must also
try to acquire the practical wisdom of how to fit this knowledge into his daily
life – in thoughts, words and actions. If knowledge of Yoga and Dharma is
merely known, it is better not to have known it. If you stop short of living
it, then you have committed a great blunder. Philosophy and Vedanta are for
both knowing and living. If they are only known, you become a scholar, a
professor. You will be highly regarded. Whether or not you can be regarded as a
spiritual person is determined by whether the philosophy, which has made you a
learned person, is seen to manifest in your everyday life and actions.
Spiritual persons have studied philosophy in order to bring about a
transformation in their lives. He studies philosophy to know: “How it can
transform my life, bring me from the darkness of ignorance to the light of this
wisdom? How it can bring me out of Maya, take me beyond Maya? How can I live
philosophy and attain Liberation?”
This
world is made of three gunas – sattva, rajas, tamas. If your life becomes a
conscious process of living in such a way as to be constantly engaged in
encouraging sattva, rejecting tamas, and being wise and cautious in dealing
with your rajas, then you are a sadhaka, you are a jnani. If this knowledge is
only knowledge in you, and if in your daily life there is not the careful
selection of sattva, the rejection of tamas, and the careful handling and
directing rajas, then you are only shuksha (barren, unfruitful) Vedantin. Your Vedanta
will not flower, and will soon become a burden; it will cease to benefit you
even though you may get admiration from the world. Now it is up to us to ask:
“Does the Sadhana of enquiry, discrimination, selection and rejection
characterise my life here?” This is a very essential study for all sadhakas.
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Swami Chidananda
Additional Reading:
By Swami Sivananda
By Swami Chidananda
By Swami Krishnananda
By Swami Krishnananda
By Swami Krishnananda
By Sri N.Ananthanarayanan
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