The purpose of the scriptures is to impart the Knowledge of the Supreme Reality. The understanding gained by its study, enables one to be free and live in the world as a jivanmukta. This invaluable knowledge is revealed to the student, by merely listening to the words of the teacher. In Yoga Vasistha, Sage Valmiki advises, his disciple Rishi Bharadwaja, to listen and listen well because Knowledge happens through listening. Intense listening is all that is required to attain the Ultimate State.
In Vedanta, listening (sravana), reflection (manana) and meditation (nidhidhyasana) are the steps that take the student towards Self Realization. If sravana is done properly and correctly, manana and nidhydhysana happen simultaneously. Mere sravana is the sadhana. One who has not listened properly has to reflect. One who has not reflected properly has to meditate.
Using the rope and snake analogy, the seeker hears from the teacher that only the rope is real, the snake is an illusion. The rare seeker with a clear intellect, who hears this with intensity, understands it immediately. The inability to see the rope means that the listening has not been effective. For the majority there is some understanding but in some cases there is no reception at all! Typically, conversations between the teacher and student follow a pattern like the one below:
The teacher: “It is a rope.”
The student: “Yes, yes, it is a snake!”
The teacher in all compassion emphasizes: “No, no. It is a rope.”
The student persists: “O yes, I see the snake. You keep telling me it is a rope. But I want to be practical in life. Please tell me if the snake is poisonous or not?”
We are so full of our own ideas that we simply do not listen. The scriptures keep reiterating, ‘You are that One Eternal Brahman.’ We in return ask, “Yes, yes, I know but what do I do with my diabetes or how do I solve this problem!?” We just do not hear the words of the teacher at all.
True listening is the only sadhana necessary for Self Realization. In order to qualify to listen, we need to develop the qualities of discrimination (viveka), detachment (vairagya), the six mental disciplines (samadi-satka-sampatti) and intense desire for liberation (mumukshutvam). The mental disciplines are: control over the mind (sama), control over the senses (dama), natural withdrawal of the mind from the external world (uparama), forbearance (titiksa), shraddha (faith), samadhana (concentration). The practice of all these make us fit to listen to the teacher.
Listening is a very beautiful sadhana but difficult to practise. We don’t listen when we talk. When our mind talks we cannot listen. We cannot speak and listen at the same time and this is precisely what happens in the world. When two people meet, one talks, while the other’s mind races ahead thinking about what to say once the other person stops. In the process what has been said is not heard at all! Very rarely do we listen to what people have to say. As a matter of fact we do not even listen to ourselves, let alone listen to others! Many talk non-stop without giving anyone else a chance to put in a word! The important thing is to quieten the mind because only when the mind stops talking that we begin to listen.
Out of ignorance and force of habit the mind keeps up a constant chatter, a steady monologue! To change this, the mind must develop humility, an attitude of accepting a state of not knowing and also surrendering to the words and wisdom of the teacher.
So, listen! Listen with full intensity, love and reverence. Let each and every word enter your system without being coloured or blocked. This can only be achieved through complete faith and trust in the words of the teacher. When friends or relatives come visiting, we do not subject them to physical search and scrutiny! We have faith in them. Similarly, the words of a teacher, should not to be scrutinized. They should be accepted with faith, but unfortunately, exactly the reverse happens. Their words are stopped at the x-ray machine and off-loaded! This machine is programmed and tuned to our way of thinking. Every new thought, word, idea or concept, which is not recognised is stopped and refused entry into the system. Whatever the mind recognises is inconsequential and therefore of not much use. The entry or non-entry of such thoughts makes no difference. Only the words of the teacher have the power to transform and so should be permitted enterance and the authority to permeate the system.
Intense faith in the teacher, complete humility, an acceptance of not knowing, letting go of fixed ideas, an attitude of allowing things to happen and a willingness to let the teacher’s wisdom enter and seep into the system comprises true sravana. Listening with such an attitude, transforms our personality and we gain the understanding. This is very powerful. When complete listening takes place the teacher’s knowledge and understanding is transferred to the student. This happens in much the same way as data is transferred from one computer to another! The teacher transmits his understanding and Realization to the disciple. It is not a transmission of data or information. The teacher transfers his state of Realization.
The student who truly listens can identify with this. When sravana is intense, the sense of individuality dissolves and the student becomes the teacher! Through listening one becomes the one to whom one listens. When Arjuna listened to Lord Krishna, he became Krishna! This is the essence of the Bhagavad Gita. How can one become Krishna? By intensely listening to Sri Krishna, one loses one’s own identity and becomes Krishna. This is true Oneness. When the Ganga flows into the ocean, she becomes the ocean. With no human interference to stop the flow, the waters of Ganga merge with the waters of the ocean to become one with it. Similarly, when the student truly and intently listens to the scriptures from the teacher, knowledge takes place. The student then becomes one with the teacher!
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