In the end, it’s not about the sacred texts …
In the Uddhava Gita, Krishna tells his disciple Uddhava that the scriptures or
sacred texts are ‘under the sway of the gunas’ – meaning the writings we are
studying and absorbing are as vulnerable to the fluctuations of Maya’s three
gunas as everything else in the external manifested hologram.
In the later stages of your journey, studying these texts will not get you
enlightenment. They will lead the way and direct your consciousness into
understanding Truth, but they will not be the final moment for you. In fact it
is suggested that they can become an impediment.
Therefore do not get trapped in them. Do not become attached, especially to the
idea that your knowledge of metaphysical systems makes you superior. Spiritual
pride is deadly and subtle.
I once heard an Indian guru say to a group of his students that if they thought
learning Sanskrit would enlighten them, they were wrong. He told them plainly
that the sacred meaning of the Bhagavad Gita would not be revealed to them
merely because they knew Sanskrit. God Realization is not the inevitable
consequence of intellectual learning.
The ancient Druids did not believe in writing down their metaphysics. Remember
that writing itself is a ‘symptom’ of the Kali Yuga. Writing is in fact evidence
of a lack of wellness and wholeness in a degraded cycle of time. In the end,
your return to that which you have always been, your own Self Recognition is not
about the sacred texts.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that for the enlightened ones who
Know —
the texts (Vedas) have as much value as a small well in a place flooded with
water overflowing on all sides (BhG. II.46).
The Kashmir sage Swami Lakshmanjoo told his disciples that when they actually
realize what he is saying to them – they would not be interested in listening to
him!
Do read the Sanskrit texts. They are in my view, the treasure of wisdom I was
searching for all my life. However at some point you will have to go beyond them
and move into your own into the God-within you, which permeates the All.
I like to say that there is a form of Hinduism for everyone. The Sanskrit texts
are unbelievably diverse and yet all say one thing. Down through the centuries
there are many teachers who have left us their experiences to learn from. These
wonderful texts will serve to guide you on your way Home, but at some point the
journey is only about you and the God-within you. Then you can laugh a lot.
***
Only the wise know
That what is called
The individual, or time, or the scriptures,
Or even the heavenly spheres,
All of that
Is the undivided and complete Self
Under the sway of the gunas.
-
The Uddhava Gita, Dialogue 5 Verse 34; translated by Swami Ambikananda Saraswati;
Seastone, Berkeley, CA. 2002.
***
The Uddhava Gita is contained within the Bhagavata Purana; this verse is
contained in Canto XI.10.34 in the Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi edition, 1997. In
that version, it is translated thus:
34. When there is an imbalance in the three gunas of Maya (and there is
agitation of the gunas), ignorant people call me [the Oneness speaking as
Krishna] by various names such as Time (Kala), Soul (Atman), scriptures (Agama),
the World (Loka), the Nature (Svabhava), and Dharma.
***
ABHINAVAGUPTA’S Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, Gitartha-Samgraha; Translated
from the Sanskrit with Introduction and Notes by Boris Marjanovic; Rudra Press,
2006
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