Hello and welcome to episode 84 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today I want to talk about why even Gods forget their nature and make mistakes.
Today’s question comes from Irene and she says “I have been meditating for 15 years and yet I keep forgetting my real nature. I don’t understand what I am missing.”
Thanks for the question Irene. This is a very common question that we have spoken about in a few episodes. Firstly I want to congratulate you for persevering with meditation for the past 15 years. That is the key. You just need to keep going and you will hit that mark. Don’t worry about the amount of time that you are taking. The most important thing is that you form the gold image within.
Indra and the pig
I want to share some stories with you. Even gods lust, that’s important to understand. They lust because even the gods have the three gunas. The god Indra made certain mistakes and he was cursed by a wise sage so he came back to earth is the form of a pig. He had to live with other pigs in a very dirty environment but he was happy with the company of the pigs. After years and years when the curse was fulfilled the gods descended from heaven and told Indra that the curse had been fulfilled and he could come back to heaven.
Indra said that he didn’t want to return that he was happy as a pig. He had a mate and piglets and he was happy with things the way they were. The gods explained the situation to Shiva and then he himself came down. He told Indra that he was a god and he belonged in the heavens. Indra again said that he was happy where he was. Shiva drew his sword and killed the pig which released Indra’s soul and allowed him to revert back to his original form.
When Shiva explained the way he had behaved as the pig Indra felt terrible about it. The message here is that when gods decent to earth even they can forget their true nature.
Even Brahman weeps under the snare of maya. The body, mind and intellect can be very deceptive. When Indra saw things through the eyes of a pig he thought he was happy as he was. Maya can even fool the gods. So don’t feel bad and keep preserving.
Adi and the king
I want to tell you another story about Adi Shankaracharya, one of the greatest beings who preached the knowledge of Brahman. He could debate with anyone and win so fast because he had so much power. One day a woman came and challenged him on his views about marriage. She said that he didn’t have any experience of marriage so he couldn’t know anything about it. So he told her he would live the life of a married person that then give her an answer.
He went to a kingdom where the king had died and through his yogic powers he entered the body of the king and lived the life of the king along with the queen. He told his disciples that he would live this way for a few weeks and then come back. Only his disciples knew what he was going to do, that he had left his body for the body of the king.
He lived the life of a king and had all that came with it. After two weeks had passed the disciples went to the kingdom to find him. He told them that he had forgotten and that they should go away and come back in another couple of weeks. So they went away and came back a couple of weeks later but he said the same thing. This kept happening they would go back and forth but he would never leave. He kept saying he had too much to do in the kingdom. The greatest sage on earth had forgotten himself and his true nature.
The disciples knew they had to help him. They tried singing his own verses to him to remind him of who he once was. When he heard this he suddenly remembered who he really was and he left the body of the king. Even the greatest sage can be snared by the body, mind and intellect.
Give power to God
The nature of the world is such that the lower vibrations cause the mind to gravitate so you should not feel bad. Krishna says we should “give the power of attorney to god.” If you try to hold on to it then things will be more difficult. If gods and sages can fail then we can certainly fail too. So give the power of attorney to god. Completely surrender to him. That is the key.
Ram Krishna said that if a father holds the child’s hand then the child is safe but if the child holds the fathers hand then it is not always safe because the child can let go sometimes. We do the same thing. We try to hold gods hand but that is not always the safest way because we can often forget who we are and forget our true nature. We need to surrender to god completely and let him hold our hands. Then we know we will be safe because he will always know us and know our true nature. We just need to give him the power to do it.
I think you just need to do this Irene. Keep meditating and being detached and let god hold your hand. Let him do what he thinks is right for you. Doing this will destroy your gunas and you will be able to bask in his glory.
Ask god for help
The next thing you need to do is ask god. Ram Krishna says we should never hesitate in asking god to help us. People are quick to ask god for help in regards to stupid things like pleasure and desire but when it comes to something important we hesitate to ask him for help. This is when we really should be asking for his help. Tell God that you want to see him. Ask him to clear all delusions and reveal himself to you.
When we were children we are experts at this. We pestered our parents and nag them constantly until we got what we wanted. Eventually they would get tired of our persistent asking and would just give us what we want. As adults we need to have the same persistence of wanting to see god. When we really want him to reveal himself to us all that we really have to do is ask him.
Force
Thirdly you must force your demand on god. It doesn’t matter what gunas you have don’t allow yourself to think that you are not competent enough or that you have not done enough meditation. Don’t dent your confidence in that way. Every single being has a consciousness inside them. Your consciousness is always in a state of bliss and remains unstained no matter what you do.
I would like you to write down this phrase and say it to yourself as you meditate: “I am untouched by the senses . I am beyond time, name space and form. I am the basis of the universe. I am in everything. Everywhere I am. I am the self resident in the inner self of all beings.”
Your consciousness will never be tainted by your experiences. So never feel like you are not good enough to see God or ask him for help. This feeling is caused by the gunas and it is only an illusion. You just need to force your demands and ask whatever higher power you believe in to reveal themselves to you.
You are untouched Irene and you can see God.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.Download my Best work of 15yrs