Understanding Practice Of Parama Jnana The Absolute Knowledge A Synopsis

Some 25 years ago, I had been struggling to receive spiritual initiation from a would-be diksha-guru for over three years, but he kept repeating that I was not ready yet. Just about that time (April 1994), I suffered what turned out to be a near-fatal heart attack during a lunch break at my FDA office. They rushed me into the emergency where I underwent triple heart bypass surgery. Three major arteries in my heart had ~98-100% blockages. One of these is the one commonly referred to by cardiologists as a “widow-maker!” Suffices to say that I could have suffered a massive heart attack, but for some divine intervention, I probably received another life. That incident alarmed me to seek spiritual initiation from my spiritual master, but I did not have much hope for that possibility. Based on my meagre scriptural knowledge at the time (Ante Narayana Smiti), I took refuge in whatever intelligence the Lord had endowed me. How do I attract Guru Maharaja’s attention to my cause? My intense greediness/eagerness [referred to as laulyam in sanskrit] initiated prompted me to study his mood using my intelligence. Through Krsna, we get introduced to our prospective guru, and thru Guru only, we attain Krsna. Thereby I figured out how he served his guru. His pranama-mantra happens to be “prabhup?dasya s?hitya? yat prak???ya vitirya?ca” Prabhupada ordered him to renounce this lucrative job of being a general manager of the Pepsi cola company, get married to a devotee woman even though he did not want to marry, return to India, and translate his books into several regional languages, and then distribute in India and abroad. All these he did in the prime of his youth when he was in Canada. That is when the idea flashed in my mind to write this essay on Absolute Knowledge despite my limited knowledge of Bhagavad-Gita at the time. I gathered enough courage to submit that essay with a degree of apprehension at his lotus feet. My would-be spiritual master was so pleased with it that not only did he invest the time out of his preaching schedule to read this synopsis written by an absolute novice like me, but he also initiated me within a month in our Potomac Temple in the suburb of Maryland, USA, on Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Appearance Day (May 25, 1997). Moreover, he gave me an order at my initiation, which was even more significant. I paraphrase it here: “Carucandra, I want you to learn the Gaudiya scriptures and then teach others.” This year, I would celebrate a silver jubilee to that fateful occasion in my spiritual life. And to this day, the divine couple has mercifully allowed me to keep my word to my Guru. Carrying out his order remains the very mission of my life balance.

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba wrote a series of articles under the Vahini series, for Sanathana Sarathi, a monthly magazine being published by Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division, Prasanthi Nilayam. These precious articles are brought out now, under the title “Geeta Vahini”, in this book, for the benefit of readers. This is not a commentary or summary of the divine message that was given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. It conveys the same message in a simpler form to us, in order to remove our delusion and confer faith and strength on us, so that we may realise our own reality. Bhagawan says, “Drawing on the Divine that is inherent in us is the lesson of Geeta… Arjuna is the jiva and Krishna is the Deva. When both are in contact, impregnable might results… Krishna had to work in and through Arjuna, so that the reign of Dharma (righteousness) is re-established. Arjuna means white, pure, unblemished. Hence, he is the proper instrument.” We too can become proper instruments in restoring Dharma, if we follow the lessons that Bhagawan teaches through this book.

Bhagawan has announced Himself as the Divine Teacher of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. By precept and example, through His writings and discourses, letters and conversations, He has been instilling the supreme wisdom and instructing all mankind to translate it into righteous living, inner peace, and universal love. When the Ramakatha Rasavahini, the uniquely authentic, nectarine stream of the Rama’s story, was serialised in full in the Sanathana Sarathi, Bhagawan blessed readers with a new series, which He named Bharatiya Paramartha Vahini (The Stream of Indian Spiritual Values). While these precious essays, on the basic truths that foster and feed Indian culture since ages before history began, were being published, Bhagawan decided to continue the flow of illumination and instruction under a more comprehensive and meaningful name, Sathya Sai Vahini - the Ganga from the Lotus Feet of the Lord - “The Flow of Divine Sai Grace”. This book, therefore, contains the two Vahinis that have merged in one master stream. Inaugurating these series, Bhagawan wrote for publication in the Sanathana Sarathi, “Moved by the urge to cool the heat of conflict and to quench the agonising thirst for ‘knowledge about yourself’ that you are afflicted with, see, here it comes, the Sathya Sai Vahini, wave behind wave, with the Sanathana Sarathi as the medium between you and Me.” With infinite compassion, this Sathya Sai incarnation of the Omniwill is giving millions of persons in all lands freedom from disease, distress, and despair, narcotics, narcissism, and nihilism. He is encouraging those, who suffer gloom through wilful blindness, to light the Lamp of Love in order to see the world and the Lamp of Wisdom to see themselves. “This is a tantalising, true-false world. Its apparent diversity is an illusion. It is One, but is cognised by the maimed, multiple vision of humans as Many,” says Bhagawan. This book is the twin Lamp He has devised for us.

India is a civilisation of many images a culture of many visual feasts a tradition where th visible and the palpable are as important as the oral and the occurrent, where our highest truths are embodied in our kathas and gathas our songs and stories, where our temples are not only places of worship but equally a gallery of beautiful forms and figures where myth is as important as doctrine, where ancient memories are full of cherished narratives where mythic beings are real in many different ways and we enrich our lives by festivals which celebrate events from the lives of our mythic gods and goddesses and where knowledge is gained as much from itinerant performers as it is from learned discourses and where when the wind blows thorugh the Pipal tree is as if we hear the hymns of the Vedas.

This 1,008-page sourcebook answers many questions to quench the soul's thirst for God and Self-knowledge. Every spiritually-inclined human being will be enriched by the path revealed in this extraordinary book. India's tolerant and diverse vision of the Divine is all here: meditative, devotional, philosophical, scriptural and yogic. In question-and-answer style, Dancing with Siva guides the aspirant deep into the Hindu heart. Lavishly illustrated with 165 black and white reproductions of paintings from India. Resources include a Hindu timeline, comparisons of 12 world religions, a children's primer and more.