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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 29.03.2019, Advait BodhSthal, Greater Noida, India
Context:
What is the meaning of spiritual battle?
What is religion?
How to understang Gurubani?
Why does spiritual sadhana take long to complete?
Music Credits: Milind Date
Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...
⚡ Want Acharya Prashant’s regular updates?
Join WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6Z...
Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books?
Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...
Want to accelerate Acharya Prashant’s work?
Contribute: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/contri...
Want to work with Acharya Prashant?
Apply to the Foundation here: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/hiring...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 29.03.2019, Advait BodhSthal, Greater Noida, India
Context:
What is the meaning of spiritual battle?
What is religion?
How to understang Gurubani?
Why does spiritual sadhana take long to complete?
Music Credits: Milind Date
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Deh Shiva bar mohe hi hai, Shubh karmante kabhoon na taroon,
00:07Na daroon, arisoon jab jaye ladoon, Nishchay kar apni jeet karoon,
00:14Arusikhoon apne hi manakoon, Ih lalach hao gun tav uchroon,
00:20Jab aav ki audh nidaan bane, Ati hi ran mein tab jooj maroon.
00:31Translation says,
00:33O Akal, give me this boon, May I never ever shirk from doing good deeds,
00:54That I shall not fear when I go into combat, And with determination I will be victorious,
01:04That I may teach myself this greed alone, To speak only of Thy praises.
01:17And when the last days of my life come, I may die in the might of the battlefield.
01:33With reference to the above verse, I request you to elaborate on its significance in today's world.
01:41As I have always encountered this verse being used as a battle anthem.
01:47But it appears to me that battles are not gross in our day to day life.
01:54Then how to live a life in the light of these beautiful verses of Guru Gobind Sahab?
02:11Shubh Karam, Arisoon jab jaaye ladoon,
02:25Sikhoon, Gun tav uchroon,
02:36Ati hi ran mein tab jooj maroon.
02:49All these refer to the same one, the same thing.
02:58And when you see that obviously the Guru is talking of just one because he is devoted to just one.
03:16Then you realize what he is advising with respect to your day to day practical life.
03:30He says, Deh Shiva bar mohe hi hai, shubh karman te kabhi na taroon.
03:41So he is asking the Akal Purakh, the Lord, the God, he is asking Shiva,
03:57that he should never deviate from the path of auspicious deeds.
04:13This in itself is a total and complete prayer.
04:21But fortunately for us, there is more.
04:27And that helps deepen the understanding of the seeker.
04:33What has Guru Gobind Singh asked for?
04:37Auspicious deeds.
04:38And he says, I want nothing else.
04:41Deh Shiva bar mohe hi hai.
04:43This, only this.
04:47Nothing else do I want.
04:48I should be committed to the good.
04:51I should be committed to good deeds, auspicious deeds.
04:54Then he further says, Na daroon arusoon jab jaaye ladoon.
04:59So now you know what those auspicious deeds are.
05:04Now those auspicious deeds are being talked of in other words.
05:11Now you are being given another angle to look at those auspicious deeds from.
05:18Now you are being given another way to understand what those auspicious deeds are.
05:27What are those auspicious deeds?
05:29The auspicious deed is to not to be afraid of the enemy when you are in the middle of the fight.
05:38Na daroon arusoon jab jaaye ladoon.
05:42Ari means the enemy.
05:44Na daroon arusoon jab jaaye ladoon.
05:49Which battle is he talking of?
05:52He is talking of the inner battle.
05:56The ego sense wants to reach the truth, Shiva.
06:05But is being misled, blocked, bewitched by Prakriti.
06:16That is the battle.
06:18That inner battle can sometimes manifest as a worldly battle as well.
06:25But in essence even the worldly battle is an inner battle.
06:32Do you see what the battle looks like?
06:36There is the ego sense.
06:38It is being called by the truth.
06:44But it is being mesmerized, enthralled or being violently stopped by the forces of Prakriti, Maya, the world.
06:57This is the battle.
07:01The I sense, the ego is embattled.
07:04On one hand is love, on the other hand is the conditioning.
07:13This same inner battle can outwardly happen in a laboratory, in a battlefield, in a legislative assembly,
07:28in a household, in a classroom, in the streets, in a hospital, in a temple, anywhere.
07:42But irrespective of where that outwardly battle apparently happens,
07:48it is essentially an inner battle in which the ego is poised between truth and Maya.
07:58Getting it?
08:12Truth, enlighten, so it is attractive.
08:17Maya, enthralls, so it is sometimes even more attractive.
08:27Where to go?
08:30That is the battle.
08:34Outwardly it may happen that sometimes, not always, you have to fight a physical enemy for the sake of your true love.
08:52That too is essentially the same inner battle.
09:00The one who is steadfastly fighting the inner battle is as much of a warrior as the one who is shedding blood in an external battlefield.
09:19Both must be equally praised for their courage and valor.
09:23But it is just that when we see blood being spilled, it is a little more spectacular.
09:33We feel a little more reverence.
09:37But the outer warrior and the inner warrior are in the same dimension.
09:45Anybody who is fighting the force of Maya is a warrior.
09:53So, Guru Gobind Saheb says, na darao arison jab jaye lado.
10:05The enemy is big and severe.
10:12And fear appears so natural.
10:18Fear must not be natural because fear is not your nature.
10:21Nishchay kar apni jeet karo. Be determined. Fight it out.
10:28Your victory lies not in the outcome but in the fight.
10:33Victory is not the upshot of the battle.
10:39Victory is the essence of the battle.
10:43There is a great difference. You must understand.
10:46Prakriti programs you to look only at the upshots, the results.
10:52Are you getting it?
10:55You tried hard. You did not get the fruit.
10:59As an ape, you are trying hard and you did not get the fruit.
11:03You will sleep on an empty stomach.
11:07And your condition would be no better than another ape who is sleeping on an empty stomach
11:13because he did not try at all.
11:16Prakriti knows only results. Prakriti respects only results.
11:21Are you getting it?
11:23There is a fire. Both the saint and the sinner would die.
11:27Because Prakriti is material and material does not care for enlightenment.
11:33The result would be the same. The material result would be the same in case of a fire.
11:38Are you getting?
11:40In a spiritual battle, it is not the result that counts.
11:45It is the battle that counts.
11:48The battle is the victory.
11:50To fight is to be victorious.
11:56Are you getting it?
12:00But if you look for an ultimate victory,
12:03as sometimes those people who look for some ultimate event called enlightenment,
12:12then you are just playing by Prakriti's rules.
12:23You have walked straight into the trap.
12:27It is Prakriti that teaches you to go for one final result.
12:31Aim it and get it.
12:33And if you are targeting enlightenment,
12:36then you are actually targeting to live by an unenlightened Prakriti.
12:46Because it's she who is teaching you to live by accomplishments.
12:55Are you getting it?
12:58Just fight.
13:01That's the Jeet that the Guru is talking of.
13:12अरु सिखहो आपने ही मन को इह लालच हव गुन तव उचरो
13:21I know that my mind is desirous of something.
13:27Feeling incomplete, it seeks something.
13:32I will be a good student and teach my mind that only one greed is acceptable.
13:42The greed towards truth.
13:47I will keep forever reciting the name of God.
13:51I will be attached to his name and that is the only worthwhile attachment.
14:01You see in this battle, I am facing something impossible.
14:12I am fighting because I am body identified.
14:17Had I not been body identified, there would have been no need for any kind of spiritual practice or seeking.
14:24And because I am body identified, so I feel incompleteness, I feel attraction, I feel attachment, I feel greed, aversion, all these things.
14:36So what do I do?
14:38Here is a great method.
14:40Target all your impulses towards God.
14:47If you have greed, be greedy towards God.
14:51If you have anger, be angry on not getting God.
14:57If you are attached, be attached to the truth.
15:02Target whatever you have towards him.
15:05Use whatever you have towards him.
15:12If you can sing, sing of him.
15:14If you can run, run for him.
15:19If you are given to thinking, try thinking of him.
15:25If you are so emotional, turn your emotions towards him.
15:30जब आउ की आउध निधान बने अतेही रण में तब जूज मरू।
15:48And when the time has come, then I should gladly disappear.
15:59Neither should I be afraid of physical death nor should I be afraid of dissolution into you when the opportunity comes.
16:11Just as it is important that the warrior in the physical battlefield is not afraid of physical death,
16:21it is equally important that the warrior in the spiritual battlefield is not afraid of dissolution when it comes.
16:33That's your last test.
16:36That's what the enemy measures you on.
16:40Alright, you are a very skilled fighter, but can you remain unflinching in the face of death?
16:50That's what would be asked of you.
16:54Similarly, in your spiritual pursuit, you would be asked, alright, you have a very dedicated ego.
17:01It is prepared to give up everything.
17:04Finally, is it prepared to give up itself?
17:11If it cannot give itself up, what is the point in other austerities?
17:21You are giving so much to the Lord, you say you are submitted, but you are constantly
17:32failing the last test and the last test is to give yourself up.
17:36Just as the last test for the physical warrior is to lay down his life, when in the physical battlefield,
17:49don't hesitate to lay down your life and in the spiritual field, don't hesitate to lay down your ego and both are one.
18:06The physical warrior cannot lay down his life willingly if his ego is not fully dedicated to a noble cause.
18:18And the spiritual warrior cannot let his ego dissolve if he is very mindful of the body.
18:29The spiritual warrior must be prepared to give up the body.
18:35The physical warrior must be egoless to give up the body.
18:41Both are one.
18:51The world is a battlefield.
18:55We all are embattled.
19:00Spiritual practice is to fight well.
19:26There is the mind and there is Shubhankar as well.
19:41The mind is designed to do something.
19:46You have a choice in going along with the mind or not.
19:55There is the mind and then there is you.
19:58Do you find it necessary to comply?
20:04You do, but it's not necessary.
20:09You mentioned that the physical death and the spiritual death both are required.
20:23But usually we nowadays see that there have been such instances where people are ready for their physical death.
20:29But that would not necessarily mean the spiritual death.
20:34And somehow also we revert to the things what the Sikh gurus have done and the disciples.
20:41But is it right to assume that it was all done with a spiritual?
20:47The battle is essentially internal.
20:49Remember that.
20:51The battle is essentially internal.
20:54Outside you only have its manifestations.
20:57He said the manifestation could be in a laboratory, in a house, in a temple, in the street or in a battlefield.
21:05So whatever you are doing and wherever you are doing it, the real thing is internal and therefore it has to be one internally only.
21:15What is certain is that if the manifestation is external and you are afraid of losing physical life, that surely means you are losing the battle.
21:29However, it does not mean that in the external battle, if you are prepared to lay down your life, you are necessarily winning the inner battle.
21:39Please understand this.
21:42A reluctance to lay down life is a sure-shot indicator of the presence of an ignorant ego.
21:51But an eagerness to lay down life is not a sure-shot indicator of a surrendered ego.
22:01So don't get confused.
22:06It has to be understood like this.
22:09A real spiritual warrior would be prepared to lay down his life.
22:15However, that does not mean that everybody who is prepared to lay down his life is a spiritual warrior.
22:23Is that clear?
22:40So when we talk of terrorism and terrorism is specifically talked in terms of kind of religious war.
22:52So at the same time, even though they are prepared to lay down their life, they say that they are warriors of God.
23:06But at the same time, there is an ego inflating which is going on.
23:10It is a battle against ignorance.
23:14We said the real battle is essentially internal.
23:17And internally, it is a battle against ignorance.
23:21Another name for Maya is Agyan, ignorance.
23:26Avidya, ignorance.
23:28On one hand is clarity.
23:31The truth is Bodh Swaroop.
23:34On one hand is clarity.
23:36On the other hand is Agyan, Avidya.
23:41So in the battle you are against ignorance.
23:44Whereas, if you are fighting propelled by ignorance, then obviously it is not a spiritual battle.
23:57If you are talking of many people who motivated by false ideals, take to the battlefield,
24:13cause the death of others and their own death.
24:18Then you have to ask, are they motivated by light or by ignorance?
24:26What is their central inspiration?
24:33Where are they coming from?
24:36The spiritual warrior is fighting against ignorance.
24:41He is not fighting as an ignorant one.
24:47Whereas these people that you are talking of, who cause bloodshed in the name of religion etc.
24:54You have to ask, are they fighting as soldiers of clarity or are they fighting motivated by just ignorance?
25:10Do they really understand or are they just enthusiastic and energetic?
25:18You have to go to one of those young people and check, what is their real inspiration?
25:26Is it clarity or is it some kind of hazy ideal?
25:39If the inspiration is coming from lucidity, the great clear truth, then he is indeed a spiritual warrior.
25:50But if the motivation is coming from some random story or some hackneyed ideal,
26:01then he is not a warrior against darkness.
26:05Then he is a soldier of darkness.
26:12He has no clarity.
26:16Therefore, what is he fighting against?
26:19He is fighting against light actually.
26:21Check his clarity.
26:23Check out whether he is clear about what he is doing.
26:26He has passion, but does he have clarity?
26:29That's the thing to check out.
26:31Mere passion is not sufficient.