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Lesson 2: NityaSambandham and Gyana Sadhana

Nothing is eternal. There is nothing that we can hold onto eternally.
We all come empty handed and we leave empty handed. We cannot even take a blade of grass with us and we have no idea when that end will come.
When a person is thirsty, you can only satisfy that thirst with water and not by any other objects of possessions. In the previous talk, we learned that true satisfaction does not come from the world around us. When this world cannot give us nityanandam, it cannot give us any disappointment either except when we give it that opportunity.
If you do not really understand yourself, you are your own problem, but you are the solution if you truly find yourself.
When you are given a mirror, it is given to look at yourself, similarly you are given the rationalilty not to understand the world but yourself. What we need is Atma gyanam.
We keep within ourselves bad emotions from the past or our childhood that has accumulated as hard as a rock, but it is only us who can melt this rock. This is one of the reasons why we perform Rudra Abhishekam to melt away the Maya and unveil the Gyanam that the True happiness lies within.

The next question is do we want to fulfill our wishes or live as one without any wishes?

What one aims for is the "Sadhyate" and the road we take to acheive it is the "Sadhana". The aim is to live in this world but the aim should be to acheive GOD. It is not wrong to wish for something worldly, but to think that what we wish for is going to give us ultimate happiness is wrong. All the relationships in this world are not eternal. The only "Nityasambandham" eternal relationship that one has is with God. It is this relationship that we should aim for.

At this point Swamiji says, even the relationship between parent and child is not eternal. Because your parents cannot plan to have you as an individual. He says,"may be if my parents knew that I was going to be their son, they would have wished not to, because who would prefer a Swami who would stay far away from his parents". If given a choice they would have liked a son who lived with them and taken care of them. Similarly one cannot make a choice to be born to specific people in the next birth(Janmam). The only eternal relationship in every Janmam is with God.

Swamiji explains beautifully the words of Shri Krishna as how HE created the order (Niyati). We fail to realize how this order was established by a higher power. Our scientific progress has been in only understanding this order and not creating it. For example when sick, and need of oxygen and we spend hospital fees by the day we understand the importance of the air we breathe. But forget to thank God everyday for the air we breathe freely every day. Stating this, Shri Krishna questions Arjuna, so with whom is your eternal relationship. It is towards this higher power that we need to develop Bhakti. Swamiji says, Bhakti that comes at the time of hardship will leave with it. One has to realize this nityasambandam.

Swamiji ends this talk, by saying that we cannot aim to reach God by our Karma. As God is not Sadhyam hence cannot be reached by Sadhana. But God is Siddham(always present) and can only be acheived by Gyanam or knowledge. For example, Arjuna did not do any Tapas, or perform yagnas to be rid of his "Moham" but his Sadhana was listening to the Gyanam given by Shri Krishna.

Sadhana is secondary, not primary. Say we do not understand the Gyanam delivered by our Guru, it does not mean that there is a mistake in the Shastram(Holy texts) or the Guru, but there is an obstruction somewhere and needs to be released. This obstruction comes from our likes and dislikes. If something said is not according to our liking, though the Truth we block our minds. This is called Raga dvesha. To get rid of this we need Karma Yoga and Upasanas (prayers and meditation). This only cleanse the Chitta(mind), but does not lead us to Moksham. Only Gyana Sadhana delivers one to God.

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