AZ India

F E E L A T H O M E www.azindiatimes.com PAGE - 10 Apr 2019 1-844-AZINDIA An Interviewwith Swami Sarvadevananda By A Phoenix Devotee Q & A during Swami Sarvadevanandaji’s recent visit to Ramakrishna-Sarada Ve- danta Center of Phoenix—a center associated with the Ramakrishna Mission, In- dia Part II Swami Sarvadevananda of the Ramakrishna Order of India (hereinafter called Swamiji) with its Headquarters at Belur Math, India (http://www.belurmath. org/) was interviewed during his recent visit to the Ramakrishna-Sarada Vedanta Center of Phoenix in the valley. Swamiji is the minister-in-charge of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, Hollywood (http://vedanta.org/) . He conducts classes, discourses, retreats, etc. on the principles of Sanatana Dharma (Vedanta) and participates in inter-religious dialogues throughout North America. He visits the Phoenix Center every other month to give classes, provide guidance to spirit- ual aspirants, and spread the universal message of peace and harmony enshrined in the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada and Swami Vivekananda. Here is the concluding part of the interview: Swamiji giving a spiritual class at RKM Question: Does a God really exist? Is this universe His/Her creation? If so, what is the purpose of life, death, and everything that living beings experience in be- tween? Is there an afterlife? Answer: Does a God exist? The word “God” needs to be understood properly. This question has been asked innumerable times to Sri Ramakrishna and many other spiritual leaders of the world. Ramakrishna said, yes, God does exist. I see God just like I see you. For Ramakrishna, God was tangible. Let us try to un- derstand it logically: Say, when we look at a house, we think there must be an architect or an engineer behind it. Now if we look at the vast universe, we should start thinking that there must be an architect behind it. There must be an agent to oversee this diverse manifestation. So, it is logical to think that there must be a creator of the visible universe. We need to accept that there is an entity behind the creation of this universe. The Kena Upanishad says the same thing. According to Vedanta, to eastern philosophy, as also to the saints and sages of all the religions and even of no religion, God exists. We can approach this idea with a scientific perspective, and understand that God exists, the Divine Reality exists, beyond time and space; it is the ultimate unchanging Reality without beginning or end. Concepts of God can be classified into three groups: 1. God without form and without qualities (beyond time-space-causation)— Called Brahman in Vedanta, the Ground of existence, the impersonal Abso- lute. 2. God without form but with qualities—as, for instance, Ishwara of Hinduism, or God the Father of the Abrahamic faiths. 3. God with form and with qualities—as, for instance, the deities of Hinduism. God may be manifested in human form as an avatara (incarnation) like Bud- dha, Krishna, or Christ. The Upanishad says, “ sa yatha ardraidha-agneh abhyahitasya prthag-dhuma viniscaranti evam va are asya mahato bhutasya nihsvasitam etad yad rgvedo yajur-vedah sama-vedo atharva-angirasa itihasah puranam … asya eva etani sarvani nihsvasitani —As from a fire, kindled with wet wood, diverse kinds of smoke issue, even so, my dear, the Rig-veda, Yajur-veda, Sama-veda, and Athar- va-angirasa … this world, the next world, and all beings are like the breath of this Supreme Self.” (Brihadaranyaka, 4.5.11) This is the ultimate Vedantic conception, where everything issues from the Divine, and is not separate from the Divine; indeed it is the Divine— sarvam khalu-idam brahma. In life, we go through many ex- periences. When we are born, we think that we are limited, and we feel that we suffer so much. We try to get a little touch of joy, but are forced to undergo so much suffering. The purpose of life is to realize that I am free and boundless. There are rules, regulations, and bondage. We want to get out of bondage, meaning we try to go back to our home, which is eternal joy, eternal peace, and eternal happiness. According to Vedan- ta, it is the Atman , our true Self. To go back to the Atman is the purpose of our life. Vedanta scriptures say, we are born here for jivan-mukti sukha-prapti —to enjoy the bliss of freedom while living in this body. In the absolute sense, we are all Atman (the eternal Self). When we are entangled in body-mind, we feel happiness and also suffering. Vedanta teaches that we are not the body-mind. So, Atman, the absolute sat-chid-anan- da or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss- Absolute, is nitya-mukta —always free. We are not born here to experience the ever-changing samsara but to experi- ence infinite joy and bliss. Rabindranath Tagore expressed this idea in his own poetic way: seemar majhe aseem tumi bajao apon sur —Oh Lord, infinite God, you are playing your flute through all limited things. So the Infinite is trying to express itself through small little things in this world. Life’s purpose is not to cry and weep, but to see infinite joy and bliss within oneself and everywhere. To understand life after death, we need to know three key elements: body, karma, and samskara. We can live in three bodies, according to our state of conscious- ness: 1. The physical body (consisting of five organs of perception, five organs of ac- tion, the five material elements (earth, water, fire, air, space), five subtle ele- ments (which correlate to scent, taste, form, touch, sound), and mind, intel- lect, ego, and memory—24 elements); 2. The subtle or dream body (five organs of perception, five organs of action, five subtle elements, and mind, intellect—17 elements); 3. Causal body, consisting only of Ego, where the awareness of both physical and subtle bodies subsides. It is the subtle body, along with the causal body, which enters a body sometime before birth, and leaves it at the time of the death of the body, according to its karma. The physical body is derived from parents’ DNA, but the personality of an individual is derived from past actions and thoughts, which leave samskāras or deep-seated impressions and tendencies. These samskāras drive people to dif- ferent paths, like worldliness, music, games and sports, science, and spirituality. Say, four or five children are born in the same family from the same parents, but they are all different in nature. What is the explanation? Karma theory says that we did some karma. Karma creates an impression in our mind—good or bad. That creates different types of bodies so they can enjoy (or suffer) the fruits of karma. This is what Hindus believe based on the theory of rebirth. In the Katha Upanishad , Nachiketa asked Yama, the lord of death, this same question: Is there any life after death? Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs—all In- dian philosophies (except the Charvakas or materialists) affirm that there is life after death, and that the individual soul, or jīva, continues to be reborn in this or another world, until it tires of the endless round of experience, and goes back to its own true Self. Question: Holy Mother Sarada Devi advised us not to find fault with others; rather to find our own faults. How can we follow this in real life when it is much easier to put the blame on others? Answer: Holy Mother’s advice is very important, and can help everyone. She said, if you want peace, don’t find fault with others. That does not mean that people don’t have faults. I can focus on the faults, or I can focus on the good qualities of a person. If I see the positive qualities, my mind becomes saturated with positive ideas and gets the benefit of being peaceful and joyful. On the other hand, if I focus on the negative qualities, I will only stimulate negative emotions, like anger, frustration and hatred, in my mind. It does not benefit either me or the other person. It is essential for a spiritually oriented person, who wants peace, to practice Holy Mother’s advice. This life is very momentary. If someone is bad, what can I do about it? Holy Mother served even highway robbers. Who got the benefit? Mother did. So, I should try to see my own faults, find out how to correct them, and see how I can improve my life so I can be established in eternal peace and joy. Peace is most important. We often forget what is more important and what is less im- portant in life. We pay more attention to momentary things and forget that peace is what we are looking for. Peace is Brahman, peace is God, peace is the goal of life. In every religion, peace is important. There will be faults; there will be blem- ishes; better to focus on the positive side that gives us peace, joy, and happiness. Some people may take advantage of you because of your simplicity or attitude, but should you therefore lower your ideal? If someone is dangerous, try to avoid that person, but don’t criticize. Holy Mother says, when you see a fault in some- one, you first pollute your mind with negative thoughts and then you see the fault. Our mind is such that whatever thoughts we have, it gets deeply colored by those thoughts. Holy Mother advises us therefore, not to find fault with others, but to see their good qualities. The Ramakrishna-Sarada Vedanta Center of Phoenix is located near ASU- Tempe. Prayer, meditation, reading of Hindu scriptures, singing devotion- al songs, and annual events are coordinated by Pravrajika Akhandaprana. For additional information, please visit the Center’s website (http://vedan- taphx.org/ ) or contact Mataji at 480-656-7230.