Concept of total surrender

It may appear quite erroneous to people of modern times where there is no concept of trust. Contrary to that the path to Moksha demands total surrender to the guru.

This concept has been described by Shrimad Rajchandraji at the age of 21 in  letter no. 76 as follows:

“ Don’t search for anything else. Just find a Guru and surrender totally in his feet and stay put. Then if you do not get Moksha then I shall give you “

Several authors have expressed similar sentiments at different times  but   Shrimadji’s letter expresses them all into the shortest form with total meaning.

There are two aspects in this letter which can be elaborated : One is search and other is surrender.

Search -  While search is a simple word but it means a lot since it generates a lot of questions. Why to search? Whom to search? Where to search ? and so on. A person busy in making money 24 x7 hrs a day does not want to waste his time in searching. For him everything is going fine and he is satisfied with the things as they are. Sometimes he even goes to temple to pray  and donates charitably to keep the gods in good humour. What more does he need so why to search anything? This is something  the havenots spread just to confuse the haves. Truly one cannot convince him of the requirement to search and one can take solace in the thought  that his time has not yet come. Afterall everyone does not reach the same state of mind at the same time and there are infinite souls who have innumerable types of thoughts. However in this world only,  a  time comes when a person realizes the folly of day to day existence without any meaningful result. When he experiences that, everyone seems to be following the same beaten path with no change in destination nor direction. Where he notices that the goal is also as unknown as the path. People are traversing just for the sake of it without knowing where the path is leading to. His mind is full of questions for which he seeks answers. That is the kind of person to whom Shrimad Rajchandraji has replied in his answer. This person is ready to attain the right knowledge since he has the desire to learn. More because he has the questions. If one does not have questions then his mind is vegetative or inert and perhaps he still has a long time to wait before the questions come in his mind. Only the one who has the question gets the answer. If one has no questions then giving him answers is like trying to fill an inverted pot with water.

While all worldly questions can be answered by worldly people , when the search is for non worldly matters then there are not many who can provide the answers. Therefore the second search is to find the guru who is knowledgeable about the subject. In the process he may get several spurious people who may be donning the mantle of a Guru, but he has to learn to distinguish him from the true one. The process involves examining the conduct of the Guru against what he preaches. There are several people who are wonderful orators teaching about high philosophy but have an interest in earning wealth out of their knowledge. Such a person can hardly be a guide towards salvation. Only a person who is himself traversing on the path to Moksha can talk about Moksha , one who is dedicated to the objective and does not think anything other than his objective. Further he tries to practice what he has learnt. He is the right person to adopt as Guru.

Surrender - The next thing what Shrimadji has said is that surrender totally in his feet. This is something very important , although not realized. It means that do not have any reservations or conditions in following Guru. Do not be selective in adopting to him. This will happen if you do not have total faith in him which means that you still have doubts. If you have doubts of any nature about his capability then give up on him rather than try to follow half heartedly. It would not serve any purpose. The important thing is to have complete trust in the Guru and his preaching. It may happen that something may not be understood but you have to try to analyse and understand why he has told so. In fact in Jainism the philosophy is quite complex and same act is called poison as well as nectar therefore understanding with lot of effort is called for. Some people may be in a hurry and restless who may try to judge the Guru by the results experienced but those people themselves are not ready yet. The one who has Moksha only as the goal and  has all the time in the world and he looks at the face of Guru like a thirsty bird trying to absorb each of his utterances. He is the right candidate.

Total surrender means total faith that he will guide you to Moksha. Doubts are only technical in nature which is part of the learning process but inherently there is total conviction in Guru. There are people who may be financially richer or academically advanced compared to the Guru and they tend to hesitate in accepting the preaching of the Guru , but this is a their misconception. To the literate also an illiterate villager is the right guide to provide directions in the village. Similarly for path to Moksha, those who are traversing it are the right Guru. Truly the Guru has no interest in guiding him or spending his time or effort to preach him. He is aware that everyone would traverse to path depending upon his capability, effort and readiness. He himself is at best a Nimitta only. His interest is also to absorb himself in the activity in the process of preaching and thus uplift his own spiritual state. 

Form of Knowingness

Knowingness is subject of contemplation or the Drishti ka Vishay. One contemplates on the self of the form of having infinite qualities including infinite knowledge, bliss, vision, strength etc. These qualities are ever present in the self whereas the soul normally contemplates on his day to day problems which can be called the paryaya wherein he is immersed in momentary happiness or unhappiness which keep changing from one moment to other. However the path to liberation comprises of concentrating on the permanent nature of the soul having the infinite qualities and establishing oneness with that. It results in realizing the true veetraga nature of the soul filled with those qualities. Further he starts experiencing the taste of his nature i.e. the qualities are manifested  in his paryaya resulting in experience of the bliss. This process continues till the soul attains Moksha. This is a process of continuous purification of soul by means of meditation or shuddhopayoga.

What does the soul contemplate about? This subject is at variance in different religions. However in Jainism it has been handled very logically and philosophically supported by the literature dating  to 2000 years back tracing the authorship to Bhagwan Mahaveer. Several Acharyas belonging to this interim period have confirmed it with their description of the same.

The object of contemplation is the pure self having those infinite qualities into single undivided self. It is clearly told that if one contemplates on the qualities then it would never end, being infinite, and would only distract him. Similarly the subject cannot be impure nature of self since it is paryaya and impermanent and hence causes further distraction and disturbance within self. However the dravya is the self which is base of these qualities and manifestation which is permanent as well as indivisible. The means to detect and identify is by means of knowingness of the self. Remember that knowingness is not same as knowledge which comprises of knowledge of different objects and hence causes distraction. However knowingness is permanently present in the soul which never changes just as a river does not stop flowing. One can compare it to an ocean which undergoes perturbation at surface in the form of waves but at the back of it is a massive silent mass of water which is steady and unperturbed. It can be denoted as a fixed component of the soul as shown in the diagram. This is steady unperturbed and unchanging with all its qualities. The other component is variable denoted by paryaya which is floating above the fixed component which undergoes momentary happiness or unhappiness time to time. This is not a subject of contemplation since this itself is variable. Thus discarding this outer soul comprising of variable component , one has to proceed inwards towards the fixed component and establish oneness with that self.  Once he practices this , a stage would come when he will start experiencing those infinite qualities of the self resulting in bliss.

This form of meditation is Nirvikalpa or without any noticeable thought process, while unnoticeable thought process continues till later spiritual stages. One has to ignore and discard all the visible thoughts arising in the mind as not of the nature of self. They are in reality manifestation of the karmas. He has to concentrate on the self of the nature of knowledge , in other words knowingness which guides him to the real self having all other infinite qualities. Knowingness is the detectable quality hence used as means to contemplate. The thoughts arising in the mind are not our nature hence are to be ignored. One has to concentrate on the knowing self having undivided power of knowing, bliss etc. Hence thoughts of qualities are also a distraction. A single indivisible knowing self, like the fixed component in the diagram which is surrounded by the variable component which needs to be ignored.

The next stage comprises of experiencing the self i.e tasting the state of self in this form because one is not thinking of any subject, which leads to distraction. The experience is beyond senses since it is not generated by senses. It is different from what has been experienced so far and not describable. That is the true nature of bliss. However it is not steady and prolonged and one gets distracted fairly soon. Hence one has to keep making effort and practicing to purify the experience again and again. Only when he reaches the state of omniscience he is able to experience the self on prolonged basis since there is no more distraction for him. Further his strength is also infinite and  happiness is permanent. 

आ अब लौट चलें

वैसे तो यह फ़िल्मी गाने की लाइन है किन्तु यदि इसे हम धर्म की भावना से देखें तो इसका अर्थ बदल जाता है और बहुत सुंदर, मार्मिक  और अनुकरणीय हो जाता है। विभिन्न ज्ञानियोँ ने भी इसी प्रकार की भावना की अभिव्यक्ति की है जो पठनीय है ।

गीतकार ने तो शायद इस भाव से नहीं लिखा होगा। उसने तो उस फिल्म में नायक द्वारा खलनायक को बुराई के मार्ग को छोड़ कर अच्छाई के मार्ग पर चलने के लिये प्रेरित करते हुए कहा है –

“ आ अब लौट चलें ।

नैन बिछाये बाहें पसारे तुझको पुकारे देश तेरा । “

इसी पंक्ति को अब जैन धर्म की भावना से देखते हैं:

यहाँ लौट के आने का संदेश अज्ञानी मिथ्यदृष्टि जीव को दिया जा रहा है जो अनंत काल से पंच परावर्तनों में भटक रहा है। उसको कवि कहता है कि कब तक यूँ ही भटकता रहेगा ? क्यों इस तरह परदेश में पड़ा हुआ है? विभावों में रह कर तुझे अपने स्वभाव की भी खबर नहीं। तेरा स्वदेश तो तेरा आत्मा है जो तेरे अपने में ही वापस आने की राह देख रहा है। कब से ? अनादि काल से नैन बिछाये तेरे इन्तज़ार में बैठा है कि कब अपने घर वापस आयेगा। आत्मा का घर आत्मा ही है जबकि अनादि से पर भावों में डूबा हुआ काम, क्रोध, माया, मान, लोभ आदि के भावों में चक्कर काट रहा है। पर वस्तु को अपना ही मानता रहा है जैसे स्त्री, पुत्र, मकान, दुकान इत्यादि। नश्वर शरीर को भी अपना मान कर उसकी देख भाल करता रहा है किंतु अपनी आत्मा को ही अपना कभी नहीं जाना। फलस्वरूप कभी आत्मिक सुख का अनुभव किया नहीं और संसार के कर्मोदय जन्य सुख दुख में ही अपने को सुखी दुखी मानता रहा है जबकि ये तो भ्रमजन्य हैं और वास्तविक नहीं हैं। वास्तविक आत्मा का सुख तो अतींद्रिय सुख है जिसके सामने ये संसारिक सुख भी दुख ही हैं। एक बार तू अपने आत्मा के भीतर जा के अपने स्वभाव का अनुभव तो कर फिर तू वापस नहीं जायेगा।

यही भाव आचार्य अमृतचन्द्र समयसार की टीका में निर्जरा अधिकार के १३८वें कलश में व्यक्त करते हैं जो इस प्रकार है-

“हे अंध प्राणियों! अनादि संसार से लेकर रागी जीव सदा मत्त वर्तते हुए जिस पद में सो रहे हैं वह पद अपद है, अपद है, ऐसा तुम समझो। इस ओर आओ, इस ओर आओ ; तुम्हारा पद यह है – यह है जहाँ शुध्द शुध्द चैतन्य धातु निज रस की अतिशयता के कारण स्थायीभावत्व को प्राप्त है ।“

भावार्थ : श्री गुरु करुणापूर्वक अनादि से रागों में डूबे हुए प्राणियों को सम्बोधित करके कहते हैं कि हे अंधे प्राणियों ! जिस पद या स्थान में तुम सो रहे हो वह तुम्हारा स्थान नहीं है, नहीं है ( पुनुरुक्ति कर के अपनी करुणा की अभिव्यक्ति करते हैं ) तुम यहाँ आओ, यहाँ आओ, तुम्हारा स्थान यहाँ है शुध्द चैतन्य मय है जो अन्य द्रव्यों से पूरी तरह रहित, विकार रहित आनंदमय है। शाश्वत है। तुम यहाँ स्थान करो।

इस तरह हम देखते हैं कि आचार्य अमृतचंद्र भी अनादि के भटके हुए जीवों को सम्बोधित करते हुए कहते हैं कि तुम कहाँ परदेश में पड़े हुए हो तेरा देश तेरा इंतज़ार कर रहा है जो अनंत  सुखमय है।

यही बात हमें बहेनश्री के वचनामृत ४०१ में बहुत स्पष्ट शब्दों में देखने मिलती है –

“ यह विभाव देश हमारा देश नहीं है। इस परदेश में हम कहाँ आ पहुँचे ? हमें यहाँ अच्छा नहीं लगता। यहाँ हमारा कोई नहीं है ।“

उन्होंने स्पष्ट कहा है कि यह विभाव रूप – शरीर रूप देश हमारा नहीं है जहाँ जीव रागों में डूबा हुआ अपने को भूला हुआ समय बिता रहा है। हमारा स्वदेश तो अनंत ज्ञान, श्रध्दा, चारित्र, आनन्द, वीर्यादि अनंत गुण रूप है। 

इसी प्रकार के विचार ह्म श्री निहालचंद्र सोगानी जी के पत्रों में देखते हैं जहाँ वे गुरुदेव कांजी स्वामी के सत्संग के बिना रह्ने पर अभिव्यक्त करते हैं। उदाहरण के तौर पर देखिये पत्रांक ४:

“ यह कह्ना व्यर्थ है कि अंतरंग में, यहाँ होते हुए भी मुझे वहाँ की स्मृतियाँ , ऐसा कोई दिन न होगा कि नहीं आती रहती होवे। पूज्य गुरुदेव की स्मृति इस समय भी आ रही है व आँखों में गर्म आँसू आ रहे हैं कि उनके संग रहना नहीं हो रहा है।“

यहाँ पर गुरु के बिना रहने पर अपनी मजबूरी और व्यथा की अभिव्यक्ति करते हैं क्योंकि उनके सानिध्य में जो धार्मिक सत्संग मिलता था उसके बिना यहाँ विषम वातावरण में रहना पडता है। गुरुदेव की अनुभव रस से भीगी वाणी में भीग कर जो आनंद प्राप्त होता है वह कलकत्ता में गृहस्थी की उपाधियों से घिरे हुए होने से उन्हें अत्यंत दुख देता है। इस प्रकार वे गुरु के चरणों में ही रह्ने की भावना व्यक्त करते हैं क्योंकि उसमें ही आत्मिक सुख की विशेष प्राप्ति होती है।

इस पंचम काल में चूंकि हमें केवली भगवान के समोशरण और उनकी दिव्य देशना की प्राप्ति नहीं है , उस स्थिति में सत्संग ही धर्म की प्राप्ति का उपाय है इसीलिये गुरुओं ने धर्मी जनों के सत्संग में ही रहने का उपदेश दिया है। इस भाव को श्रीमद राजचंद्रजी भी अपने पत्रांक ३७६ में कुछ इस प्रकार लिखते हैं: “ जिस भाव से संसार की उत्पत्ति होती है , वह भाव जिनका निवृत्त हो गया है, ऐसे ज्ञानी भी बाह्य प्रवृत्ति की निवृत्ति और सत्समागम में रहना चाहते हैं। “  इसी से ज्ञात हो जाता है कि धर्म की प्राप्ति का उपाय अपनी आत्मा में रहना है और जब वह ना हो सके तो सत्संग में रहना है।

इस प्रकार हम देखते हैं कि  “ आ अब लौट चलें” गीत में बहुत मार्मिक संदेश भरा हुआ है जो कहता है कि अपने आत्मा में लौट चलें क्योकि वही हमारा स्थान है। व्यवहारिक प्रवृत्ति के लिये गुरु का सानिध्य या सतसंग ही श्रेष्ठ है, अन्य कोई स्थान ठहरने योग्य नहीं है।