Emperor Akbar once asked his wise Minister Birbal, “Well, Birbal, you often repeat God is everywhere” Birbal rejoined, “Yes, Badshah! God is everywhere. There is absolutely no doubt in this.” Akbar pulled the diamond ring off his finger and asked Birbal, “Is your God in this ring, too?” Birbal replied, “Yes, Badshah! He is certainly in the ring. Then can you make me see Him?” asked the Emperor. Birbal had no answer to this. He asked for time; the Emperor allowed him 6 months in which to find an answer or to find out a way to show Akbar God in the ring.
Birbal went home; he was puzzled. He knew there was a solution to the problem; but he knew not that solution. He dared not face the Emperor again without an answer to his question. He grew pale and anxious.
Shortly after this encounter with the Emperor, a little boy-mendicant came to Birbal’s house for alms. He asked Birbal, “What ails you, Sir? Why do you look so sordid and miserable? You are a wise man, and wise men should have no reason for misery! Joy and tranquility are the marked characteristics of a wise man”. “True!” replied Birbal “The heart is convinced, but the intellect cannot frame words for it.” Birbal then narrated all that transpired between him and the Emperor. “Is this what you are worrying about?” exclaimed the boy in amazement. “I can give you the answer in a moment; but will you allow me to talk to the Emperor personally?” Birbal replied in affirmative and took the boy to the imperial court.
Akbar inwardly appreciated the pluck and boldness of the boy and was curious to hear him. He asked the boy, “If God is all-pervading, son, can you show me your God in the ring?” “O King!” replied the boy, “I can do so in a second; but I am thirsty; I can answer the question after I have taken a glass of curd.” The Emperor at once had a glassful of curd given to him. The boy began to stir the curd and said, “O Emperor, I am used to drinking good curd which has butter in it. I do not like this stuff which your bearer has brought and which does not yield butter at all.” “Certainly, this curd is the best available,” replied the Emperor. “Remember, little one, you are partaking of the product of the Emperor’s personal diary.” The boy said, “Very well! If your Majesty is so sure that this cup of curd contains butter in it, please show me the butter.” The Emperor laughed aloud and said, “I thought so! O ignorant child! You do not know that butter can be got out of curd only after churning it; and yet you have the audacity to come here and show me God!”
“I am not a fool, Badshah Sahib,” replied the boy quickly: “I only gave you the answer to your own question!” The Emperor was puzzled. The boy said to him, “Your Majesty! In exactly the same manner, the Lord is residing within everything. He is the indwelling Presence, the Self of all, the Light of all lights, the Power that maintains the universe. Yet one cannot see Him with one’s physical eyes. A vision is only a projection of one’s own mind before the eye of the mind. One can realise God intuitively and see Him with the eye of wisdom; but before that one has to churn the five sheaths, and the objects, and separate the butter, the Reality, from the, curd, the names and forms.” The young boy had thus answered Akbar’s question and the Emperor was greatly impressed.
This lovely anecdote gives us a flavour of 'Enquiry into the Truth' being more than what's visible to the naked eye. The discrimination and determination of what is Real (Self) and what is Unreal constitutes this 'Enquiry into the Truth'.
The three bodies, three states of consciousness & the five sheaths are conditionings of the ‘Self’. ‘I’ the knower of the conditionings am different from the conditionings.
Let’s explore the three bodies – Gross, Subtle & Causal in Part II.
GROSS BODY
A devotee was preparing the injection for Swami Chinmayanandaji’s daily injection of insulin. He took the syringe & alcohol-saturated cotton and dabbed his thigh with it, ready to give himself an injection. She found it painful to watch and turned her head away, looking out of the window.
“Why are you looking away?” inquired Swamiji
“Swamiji, its painful for me to watch” replied the devotee. “Doesn’t it hurt you when you do it day after day?”
Swamiji’s reply was simple and direct “When I say ‘I am not the body,’ I am not the body”.
SUBTLE BODY:
In 1989, Dr. David Spiegel of Stanford University conducted a study on 86 women with late stage breast cancer. Half of those women received standard medical care while the other half were given weekly support sessions in addition to the standard medical care. During the sessions the women shared their feelings, talked with other patients, and generally had a positive outlet where they could cope with their illness. At the end of the study, the women in the support group lived twice as long as those not in the group. In 1999, a similar study found that cancer patients who have feelings of helplessness and hopelessness have a lower chance of survival.
In recent years, David Seidler, claimed to have eliminated his cancer through meditation and imagination. After battling bladder cancer for years and only 2 weeks away from surgery, Seidler decided to see if he could get rid of the cancer through his imagination. So, he spent the 2 weeks leading up to his surgery envisioning a clean, cream-colored, healthy bladder. When Seidler went in for his pre-surgery biopsy, the doctor was stunned to find a distinct lack of cancer – he even sent the biopsy to 4 different labs for testing. While Seidler believes his visualization were behind the cancer’s disappearance, his doctor labeled it a “spontaneous remission.”
Recent medical reports show that anticipation of relief from a placebo can lead to an actual easing of aches, when the brain makes more of its own pain-dousing opiates. Brain scans of Parkinson’s patients show increases in a chemical messenger called dopamine, which leads to an improvement in symptoms when patients think — mistakenly — that they are receiving real therapy.
And studies in depressed patients have found that almost as many are helped by placebo treatments as by actual medications. In fact, as it turns out, a person’s response to placebo treatment may offer clues as to whether “real” treatments with antidepressants are likely to work.
Researchers are just starting to appreciate the power that the mind can have over the body, says Tor Wager, an assistant professor of psychology at Columbia University.
“An emerging idea right now is that belief in a placebo taps into processes in your brain that produce physical results that really shape how your body responds to things,” he says. “The brain has much more control over the body than we can voluntarily exert.”
CAUSAL BODY:
Kubera, the god of wealth, was very proud of his boundless fortune, organized a sumptuous dinner; among other famous guests, the divine couple, Shiva and Pârvatî, with their son Ganesh, were present. Ganesha who was still a child, started to eat insatiably. Soon, the other guests found plates and dishes empty. Not satisfied with all the available food, Ganesh started to devour plates and dishes, the furniture and all the content of Alakapuri, the main city of Kubera.
As Ganesha threatened to swallow Kubera himself, frightened, the guardian of wealth (Kubera) rushed forward to Shiva’s feet to implore his help, since Ganesha’s voracious appetite seemed to be unlimited. The remedy was simple but spectacular: Lord Shiva gave Kubera a small bowl of cooked rice... and asked him to take this to Ganesha. When Ganesha partook of this cooked rice, his appetite immediately got satisfied, and he took leave of Kubera after thanking him for the feast and blessing him.
Kubera's palace and belongings here represent the material world and its riches. The story shows that, a person just cannot be satisfied with all the material things, wealth and riches that are on offer. If a person tries to satisfy his physical senses, he will be forever stuck in that, and even all the riches in this world would not suffice to satisfy this craving. As he attains some of these riches, his craving for them will just keep on increasing, and he will need to attain more.
Cooked rice represents the destruction of vasanas (desires). It represents spiritual growth, which can be attained only by the gradual overpowering and controlling of sensual desires. When this happens, and people mature spiritually....they are no longer dependent on appeasement of sensual desires for their happiness. They experience a state of Ananda...ultimate happiness all the time. They are a part of this world, and enjoy the material comforts... but they are not dependent on them. Removing the comforts will make no difference to their mental and spiritual state....They are in a state of bliss....of 'Sat Chid Ananda'. This is the state which we all need to make an effort to reach. This is represented by Ganesha's hunger immediately getting satisfied on eating a bowl of cooked rice, prepared by His parents (Shiva and Parvati) who represent the concept of 'Sat' (Pure, Serene, Divine) and Chidananda (Ultimate Happiness in the heart, soul and spirit)'.
The branch exists only to bear the fruit
The knowledge of which resides in the root
Would a gardener plant & tend the vine
Without the promise of the grape & wine?
Before this truth let all your reason pause
What you thought was effect, is but the cause.
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