Finding Inner Peace: Yoga Techniques (2)

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Raghuramji's Japan tour program started. Please visit http://nvraghuram.blogspot.com/2006/10/sri-nv-raghuramjis-japan-tour-program.html to review it.
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One such story is found in the scriptures. Shuka is a youth who was involved in the regular life of gossiping and playing. One day, his father, Vyasa called him and said, “Now you are 14 and grown up so you need to develop responsibility and learn knowledge.” The son asked what for? The father replied that we should all study scriptures so that we do spiritual Sadhana. Through this we will come to know that our nature is bliss and we are not the body and all things attached to it.”

Shuka asked his father, “What did you say? My nature is bliss and I am not this body and its attachments?” His father replied with a simple, “Yes.” So the son further questioned, “How do we know this?” The father replied, “We know that we are free with no mother, no father, no birth, and no death. We know this through introspection, or an inner journey.”

Shuka, talking to himself, said, “is that so….” And he started walking as if he was nobody. When the father looked at the sudden transformation of his son, he did not take it too seriously immediately. But he quickly realized that something happened to his son. He could not believe the effect of his words on his son! He followed his son asking him, “My son, what has happened to you? Why are you going? Where are you going?” But Shuka transformed the minute he heard that he has no father or mother, because he is not the body but the soul. The Soul does not take birth nor does it die; it has nowhere to go but is everywhere; and he is peace himself because the Soul is peace.

Shuka kept walking and the father was following and shouting behind him, “Oh my son, where are you going? Talk to me, dear son.” But there is no son; he has already dissolved. There is no longer, Shuka, the son of Vyasa. There is only a soul in the form of Shuka; he has lost even the identity with his name so he does not respond.

As Shuka kept walking, he began passing through a place where there was a pond meant for the ladies of the village to bathe and play. Since it is exclusively for ladies, no male members are permitted to go there. They did not mind running around the pond without caring about being covered or not.

Shuka passed that way and they did not care that a youthful man went by. However when his father ran behind him, shouting, “My dear son!...,” the women ran into the water of the pond to cover their modesty. Vyasa was surprised at their reaction on that occasion and could not contain his curiosity. He asked them why they did not mind when Shuka, a young man came through. But when he, being over 70 years old and like a grandfather, came through, they covered themselves. They replied to him, “Shuka was like a child who does not have any attachment with his body so there is no feeling of a man’s presences and in his passing we could feel the presence of a pure soul. They further added, “Where as the very fact that you are shouting and saying ‘my son, my son’ we can see how much attachment you have with the body, because the son belongs to the body as he is born to the body.” Only body attachment brings about the sex consciousness that is the reason they have to hide their bodies. Soul with attachment looses its purity whereas a person like Shuka is so pure in his heart that all it required was for him to hear once that he is a pure soul and he is at peace for him to internalize and establish his own peace. People such as Shuka do not need to do anything when hearing reality is all that they need.

-to be continued.

Love,
Raghuram.