Present is a “Unique Present”from the Vedic Literature
कालयतस्मैनमः is how our Vedic Literature extols the Supreme God Narayana who orchestrates and reconciles at ease the infinite cause and effect relationships in a seamless manner that human mind cannot even think of. As you complete reading this sentence, if you are a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva, or some other God Head the thoughts about calling Narayana as the Supreme God hit your mental processes relevant to this present act of reading. This gives rise to a cause and effect relationship and thinking that fits into the definition of Karma that shall have its own result to be delivered at a time that Narayana decides hence He is also referred to as:
कालोत्पादक = one who produces Time
कालानियामक = one who directs and controls Time
कालप्रवर्तक = one who makes Time to tick
कालनिवर्तक = one who dissolves the Time
कालान्तर्गत = one who dwells in Time
कालातीता = one who is beyond Time
त्रिकालज्ञ = one who is fully aware of past, present and future Times
कालमूर्ति = one who is the manifestation of Time itself.
Mindfulness being the state of being fully aware of the time in which I behave by taking into account all the events “as they” occur in that time and also the feelings these events generate in me, both as an active participant and as a witness. Thus Mindfulness has got a very close correlation with the Time. Therefore ignoring Time that is none other than the Supreme God with infinite qualities that human mind fails to enlist and comprehend, leads to a conclusion without validity.
Before understanding how one gets into the state of Mindfulness and experiences it, one has to have an absolute faith in the force that pervades this Universe in totality that includes all of us as unique individual souls using the mind-body system as the medium to express.
This kind of perspective about Mindfulness leads us to appreciate the fact that the mind resides in the body and hence mind-body joint venture is the base to experience the Mindfulness. Imagine a situation wherein you experience an unpleasant bowl movement in the middle of an important meeting that you are attending. Would you be in a position to experience Mindfulness by ignoring the problem you have? You are with your most beloved spouse and but you have been engulfed by a fear of losing the major source of income, can you enjoy the company? So the significant psychosomatic inconveniences prevent one get into the state of mindfulness.
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Attaining the psychosomatic comfort is the key to get in to the state of Mindfulness. How can one attain this comfort? The Mind-Body joint venture that our body hosts provides this comfort or disturbs this comfort. The appreciation of this fact leads to to the understanding of the significance of this Mind-Body joint venture. This is precisely the reason the Rishis of the Vedic Lore carved out a separate science called Ayurveda. Ayurveda, succinctly put it, provides the comprehensive understanding of the interplay of the five elements (Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Space) that operate in each one of us. This interplay is unique to each individual but can be categorized broadly into 3 categories. According to the Vedic Philosophy we are given our Mind-Body by the infinite organizing power of the Supreme God Narayana. So we are born with a Mind-Body joint venture that has its own unique characteristics that facilitates the interplay of the 5 elements that we are made of. Therefore we are born with certain imbalance according to our Past Deeds. This imbalance is called दोष Dosha in Ayurvedic parlance. Only the Supreme God is free from this Dosha hence He is extolled as दोष दूरा. All other Demigods are not free from this Dosha. This Dosha reflects in three forces viz.,
वाता = Air and Space
पित्त = Air and Fire
काफा = Earth and Water
Now we reached the first step to get into the state of Mindfulness. This step involves an honest self-assessment of our Mind-Body Type. As a part of my Doctoral Research Program I had leveraged the basic Ayurvedic knowledge and from this knowledge and other resources, I had created a tool called Mind-Body Type Indicator (M-BTI). The intent of referring to this Tool is to share the fact that one needs to have a reasonable knowledge about the Mind-Body Type one is gifted with. To know more about this tool please click the following link:
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07B647JNL
“शरीर माध्यम खलु धर्म साधनम” is what Sage Patanjali said. Here शरीर (Shareer) shall be read as Mind-Body not just the body. Because शरीर is occupied by शरीरि shareeri the soul (आत्म). The आत्म (soul) expresses itself through Mind. Therefore Mind is referred to as आत्मेन्द्रियम the organ through which soul is expressed. Therefore it is clear from what Sage Patanjali said that the Mind-Body joint venture is the medium through which the seeker of spiritual knowledge indulges in various righteous acts. Now we consider this seeker as the one who wishes to gets into the state of Mindfulness.
It is pertinent to refer to what Dr. BNK Shrama shared in his Philosophy of Madhvacharya here:
Judgments like “I know this” point to the existence of a knowing self which alone can be claimed to be self-revelatory. Even assuming that knowledge as such is capable of revealing itself, it can only manifest its content or form; but not, also, its validity. If validity is inherently revealed by knowledge, the knowledge arising from Vedic texts must make its validity felt by unbelievers like Buddhists. If they do realise its validity, they could not possibly refute it, as they do. This shows that the validity of knowledge is not revealed by the mere awareness of such knowledge – in other words, that validity is notmade known by the knowledge itself, even if it be Svaprakasa.The power of self-illumination, as has been shown, can at best,help knowledge to manifest its essence, to itself. But it cannot have any power to endorse the validity of its content. Such a power can only belong to a principle of truth-determination which is not materially constituted, like the mind, and can, therefore, be credited with absolute validity in all judgments. Madhva finds such an ultimate and absolute principle of knowledge andvalidation in the inner sense- (organ) of the self of man- his “Svarupendriyam” which he calls “Saksi” and which is “Jnanagrahaka”(intuitor of knowledge) and of its validity too (jnanapramanyagrahaka). It may be identified as the ‘Apperceiver’ of all our conscious states and their validity where such validity is present and is desired to be grasped. It corresponds to the faculty of a priori cognitions and is individual to each person. The raison d’etre of attributing to Saksipratyaksa absoluteinfallibility and self-validation, which is denied in respect of ordinary perceptions of the mind and the senses, is that the mind is liable to err and is open to doubts, albeit rarely; whereas, the judgements of the Sakshi cannot be doubted and have never been shown to have been in the wrong and invalidated at any time in life.
The best proof of the unerring precision and infallibility of Saksi is furnished, says Madhva, by the most intimate and poignant experiences of life (of pleasure and pain) of which none of us has occasion to entertain the least doubt.
The whole of rational existence in the world would be made impossible, if the verdict of our Saksi as the ultimate reference, foundation and criterion of all knowledge and validity is questioned or proved to be in the wrong, even in one single instance at any time. The entire basis and superstructure of all religion, philosophy, and science and of every activity of life will be blown up to nothingness, as by an atom bomb, the moment we dare to question or doubt the verdict of the Saksi.
Sakshi is the pramana and witness for Mindfulness. We can feel the presence of Sakshi only when we balance our Doshas, this is the first step. For this there shall be awareness about each input that is taken in terms of food for the body and other inputs for the mind through various external stimulus in terms of seeing, reading, listening, being in company of and many such acts that we indulge in. The most important input that we give to our Mind is the absolute faith in the form of devotion that is dovetailed with knowledge that we have been acquiring about the Supreme God that we pray for. This is the second step.
Yoga sutras of Sage Patanjali help us get in to the state of mindfulness. The following slide that I presented on International Yoga Day on 21st June, 2018 would help get the definition right:
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Madhvacharya (The last one in the Acharya Trayam viz., Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhvacharya) questioned as to how we can restrain the activities of the mind without focusing on any single thought process. Therefore striking a mental balance is Yoga and also doing any karma with Mindfulness is also Yoga, as explained by the Jagadguru and Yogeeshwara Lord Krishna. Toning the body with the help of Patanjali Yoga helps strike a balance in the Body that gives rise to balance in the Mind as mind resides in the body. A sound body gives a sound mind. This is the third step.
Why do we need mindfulness? By being mindful do we become successful in life?
Yes.
But is that the ultimate answer for the first question?
By being mindful we get to know many things about ourselves:
We know why do we exist, what is the purpose of our existence, what shall we do to fulfill our purpose of existence? So on and so forth and eventually leads to perception of God that leads to the release from the vicious cycle of birth and death.
How is this possible?
Dhyana is the tool that can make it possible.
How to do Dhyna?
Thus the mind argues with itself in many ways. In this connection it is essential to refer to what Acharya Madhva said:
“MADHVA accepts the position of many Scriptural texts that direct perception of God (Aparoksadarsana) alone is the proximate cause of release from Samsara. But inasmuch as God is essentially incomprehensible (avyakta) in the fullness of His majesty, He cannot be visualised save by His favor. Once favorably inclined, He reveals Himself in any subtle form. The grace of God, which is the only means of realising Him, can only be obtained by prologned contemplation (nididhyasana) of His perfections with steadiness and devotion to the best of one’s capacity. Such contemplation of the Divine presupposes a preliminary study of the Scriptures (sravana), which has then to be supplemented by deep thinking or reflection (manana) in order to clear the mind of all uncertainty and misconceptions that may be lurking there from time immemorial and whose presence will retard the constancy and flow of devotion. Hence the need for systematic philosophic inquiry and logical ascertainment of truth (jijnasaor vicara). The special attention given by Madhva philosophers to dialectic establishment of their Siddhantaand the refutation of rival theories has, thus, to be understood in the light of an indispensable necessity imposed by the very conditions of philosophic inquiry. It is not inspired by a love of controversy as such or a desire to find fault with others. The knowledge acquired by study and stabilised by manana is then made the basis of steady This combination of sravana, manana and nidhi, dhyasana is termed ‘Jijnasa’. The last stage of the inquiry may take the form of Dhyana or contemplation of certain chosen attributes of God or a profound rumination over the truths of Sastra (Sastrabhyasa) whose import has been definitely settled. The contemplation of Sastrarthais thus treated by Madhva as an independent form of Upasana, taught by the Upanisads. It is pointed out that such study and reflection should be continued till all doubts are set at rest. The chosen Guru alone would be competent to fix the time-limit up to which they should be carried on. Where such a perfect Guru is not available, one may study the original Sastras whose import has been fixed by authentic persons. The study of Shastras is partly also an aid to contemplation. The other forms of spiritual discipline are yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyaharaand dharanataught by the Yoga-Sastra. These are to be treated as accessories to Dhyana. Dhyana defined as is virtually the same as the state of Samadhi or introspection taught by the Yoga system.
These three stages of spiritual advance of sravana, manana and dhyanacorrespond to the stages of learning (panditya), reflection (mauna) and introspection (brahmanya). True Jnanins would ever get tired of or fed up with hearing, knowing and reflecting more and more about God. It is interesting to note that Sankara also in his GB (ii.11) has cited the BrhUp text in a sense which is fully in agreement with Madhva’s.
By striking a good balance among the three doshas as stated above, we acquire more consistent Guna form the following 3:
- Satvika
- Rajasika
- Tamasika
Of these three the Sativika Guna only facilitates the process of seeking. The seeker finds it easy to seek by having this Guna. When Sativika Guna stays off and on the seeker also experiences turbulence in his seeking process. Consistently having SativikaGuna is referred to as attaining Shuddha Sativika Guna. The iconic example is Prahlada that we read about him in Srimadbhagavatam. While it is impossible to match the kind of Sativika guna that Prahlada attained, an attempt to be in the Sativik state of mind makes a seeker at ease to get into Mindfulness. This is the fourth step.
Vadiraja Theertha while explaining the glory of Lord Venkateswara in Tirtha Prabandha, said this:
समस्त सुजनाधारम दोषदूरं गुणाकरम |
श्रीवेंकटचलावासं श्रीनिवासं भाजेनिशं ||
This shloka clearly states that the Supreme God is not only Doshadoora but also GuNaakara the embodiment of all auspicious qualities not just Shuddha Satva. It is this kind of a force that is needed for a seeker to experience Mindfulness and later the Bliss in seeking.
When we contemplate on the purport of the above sholka it becomes clear that there are three guNas that are discussed in this sholka:
Sujanaadharam
Doshadooram
Gunaakaram
When we apply the principles of:
- Sravana (listening to the discourses that reveal the glory of the Lord)
- Manana (recalling, reciting, remembering the unique aspects that we learnt) and
- Nididhyasana (profound and repeated focus on the quintessential we become Jijnasu (seeker of the spiritual bliss),
We lead ourselves to the process of Dhyna the contemplation of certain chosen attributes of God or a profound rumination over the truths of Sastra. This leads to realize the purpose of our existence. The choice of an attribute depends on the uniqueness of individual seeker. There is no single attribute that appeals to all. Jeevo Bhinnah – souls are unique entities. The time taken for attaining the state of mindfulness in its fullest form would be different for different persons.
Some might take very less time to acquire the material for Manana after a short spell of Sravana. Or some might take rather engrossed in the process of Sravana – that being the first one in Nava Vidha Bhakti:
shravanam, kirtanam, vishnohsmaranam, paada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, daasyam, sakhyam, aatma-nivedanam (SrimadBhagavatham 7.5.23).
Some get unknowingly into Dhyanam when one is engrossed in any one of the above methods of devotion. This is based on the Sukham that one experiences. The Nava Vidha Bhakti provides 9 different types of Mindfulness. In each state of Bhakti the devotee is soaked in unique meditative state that is known to him/her only. Words fail to explain.
Thus ultimate purpose of being mindful is attained differently by different people but the universal feature that depicts an individual’s ability to be mindful at all times is his/her ability to respond to the present moment in a most natural manner knowing fully well that there was a present in the present moment.
Presenting oneself in the present moment is both a complex and easy task at hand. Complex, when the person is carried away by the past or future oriented aspects of life that haunt. Easy, when she detaches herself from past and future but fully aware of what is happening here and now. Nevertheless the state of being mindful can be achieved only through practice. Once achieved, it acts as a tranquilizer for the person to keep enjoying the “present” in the present moment.
Mindfulness thus proved beyond doubt that it is nothing but enjoying the present in the present moment. This is known to the humanity in many ways with many names from time immemorial. People with present moment awareness create great past and pave a great future for themselves. But such people are a few in this world. Our education system, work culture in all the organizations need to nurture this as a habit among people.
People with present moment awareness exhibit the following behaviours – this list is not exhaustive but a suggestive one in nature:
- Focus on even the minor details
- Establish eye contact with all
- Keep reflecting on what is happening and stating whenever required
- Never jump to talk about past and future
- Experience a good night’s sleep every night
- Never misses the work-out every day
- Loves nature around him/her and comment on this
- Enjoys even the sight of a child and play with children, given a chance
- Adopts a life style that is hooked on to a spiritual perspective and makes concerted efforts to know more about it
The realistic theism gifted by Acharya Madhva is very handy to pursue a life style that is tenable at all times in all aspects. The Jnaanapoorvaka Bhakti provides the necessary material support for this life style. Sravana, Manana and Nidhi-dhyasana make a seeker a Jijnaasu and prepare him/her to experience real bliss in Dhyana. Mindfulness among majority of people living in the country makes our Nation very vibrant and showcases it as a model worth emulating. It is essential to introduce this as a part the life skills to be imparted from Class 3rd. As the student progresses in academics he/she would gather experiences of being mindful and enjoy its benefits. When such students take up a career by joining the Govt Service/ organizations they make the service effective and organizations the vibrant.
Here is a simple and highly practical way to enhance the mindfulness:
- 20 minutes of attentive / active listening to a discourse that offers tenable reconciliation with the contemporary life
- 20 minutes of work-out to tune the body that shelters the mind.
- 20 minutes of being with self by focusing on one of the qualities of the Lord from His infinite auspicious qualities.
Can we not spare one hour in a day for ourselves to be mindful in everything we do in the remaining hours of the day?
// Shubham Bhooyaath //
References:
- Philosophy of Madhvacharya by Dr. BNK Sharma
- Theertha Prabandha by Vaadiraja Theertha
- The Natural HR Theory: For Business Leaders
- Bhagavatam