The core theme is the fundamental human desire to overcome suffering and attain liberation, which requires a deep dissatisfaction with the current state of existence and the cultivation of specific spiritual qualifications.
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Translation: Scorched by the son of
three, the three distresses with
spiritual struggle raging in his mind,
endowed with self-control and other
virtues. which are the means to
liberation. Someone says to a teacher, a
no of Brahman, have unadulterated mercy
on me, holy sir, and please explain to
me briefly the means by which I may
become liberated from the bondage of
this transmigratory existence without
any difficulty.
if you want to put it in modern American language,
language,
what somebody might say in Central Park
in Manhattan, you know, they'll say,
"Yo, give me the truth." That's what
he's saying.
That's an ancient way of putting the
same same question. Um,
all right. So, student comes to the teacher
teacher
question somebody some some person. But
which what are the it's not just
somebody what are the characteristics of
um suffering distressed by hurting
from what from the three uh three
miseries. So it's compared to the sun.
You're going to feel it pretty soon in
the afternoon. The one sun hot it can
get and imagine the sun has this three
powers of three kinds of heat being
applied to you. So this person what are
the three kinds of he three kinds of
suffering. So in the they classified all
our human suffering into three kinds. Um
this is called adiatika
adihika. Whatever suffering comes in the
body mind the source is the body mind. s
weakness. So COVID for example, COVID
would also be adhika but whatever
originates in the body mind the physical
illness mental illness that's that's
suffering and then whatever is caused by
other living beings adihika.
So the annoying neighbor, the
overbearing boss or um or just a
mosquito or a covid virus or something
other living beings they're causing
suffering to us.
and um adida natural forces sun is very
hot or it's very cold or there's a
snowstorm something like that. So all
kinds of suffering the sources being in
nature in other living beings or within
the body mind ultimately to suffer
basically it has to come to our body
mind but the sources may be whether here
or outside all kinds of these sufferings
are called tapatra three kinds of heat
literally three kinds of burning so
burnt by these three kinds of suffering somebody
the mind is agitated disturbed and this
is essential
There must be a dissatisfaction with our
state of affairs. A deep dissat
dissatisfaction. If you're fine with it,
if things are okay or even if things are
not okay and I'm still fine with it,
then spiritual life has not started yet.
A question must come. You need not
suffer yourself. But in a wise person
just looking at the suffering all around
and knowing that people are suffering
and people have been suffering and one
day or the other no one is exempt. I
will suffer and those closest to me will
suffer and suffer deeply.
Then one wants to know how do I overcome
suffering? How do I overcome suffering
and how do I attain fulfillment?
This disturbance of mind must be there.
It's actually a sign of maturity. That's
what led Siddhhata to become the Buddha.
He was not suffering. He was a prince.
He was having a a wonderful time.
And but he saw suffering. He saw a dead
a sick man. He saw an old man. And he
saw the dead body, a dead body being
carried, old age, disease, death. And he
thought, is this going to come to my
father? Is this going to come to my
child, uh, my wife? Is this going to
come to me? And yes, yes, prince, it's
going to come to everybody.
And how do I overcome this? Is there any
solution for this? Because this is deep
suffering. You can't just it's all
right. As long as you think it's all
right, you've not attained maturity.
Somebody wrote to me Swami I don't know
how to answer this. My daughter who's 11
or 12 years old asked me this. So some
you know we are a very child worshiing society.
society.
So I I understand as parents you you
sing the world of your son or daughter.
So they are they're like devatas. They
can't do anything wrong and only gems of
wisdom come out of their mouth. No,
they're children. They're wonderful but
they're children. So this daughter asks
the father and the father's written to
me saying swami I don't know how to
answer this question. She says to me,
"What's all this about uh seeking
happiness and uh overcoming suffering?
We get a lot of happiness in life so
we'll also get sadness in life and
that's natural. Why worry about it?" I
said, "For for God's sake, she is 11
years old. She hasn't seen suffering in
her life. you when real suffering comes
not only to ourselves to those close to
us and when you feel helpless you can't
help people who are who are beloved to
you and you can't do anything about that
they're suffering
some of the deepest sufferings in the
world when they come to us you cannot
say like an immature child oh I took I
ate a cookie that was fun now I'm faced
with death and terminal illness and and
mental suffering and illness that's also
all right you never say That
so this is deep rooted in us that
there's some way all life seeks to
overcome suffering and this is the
wisest way of trying to overcome
suffering the some ultimate solution is
agit deeply profoundly philosophically
agitated to the core of our being what's
the meaning of all of this and there is
deep danger here there is deep sorrow
the possibility of deep sorrow here I
come across it all the time because I'm
a monk so people Come to me
how much people we go on with our lives
but how much people hurt how much they
are they are suffering
what terrible shocks life can deal to us soas
then some qualifications are necessary
not only just being miserable is not a
qualification doesn't just being
miserable doesn't make you spiritual
qualified with a four-fold qualifications
qualifications
now this is important But Shankarachara
here chooses to go through it with just
a phrase four-fold qualification.
Remember this is a short text, a
powerful text. So it assumes lot of
groundwork we many of you are in vanta
but remember this is the four-fold
qualifications are no laughing matter.
They have to be um you have to pay
attention to them. We have to pay
attention to them in our own lives
because without these four-fold
qualifications these books are fine but
we'll end up with a feeling that I
learned a very cool philosophy a very
int intelligent very profound philosophy
did you overcome suffering did it give
the payoff which you looking for no my
life is more or less the same a little
worse little worse because earlier I had
worldly problems monetary problems
relationship problems health problems
now on top of worldly problems They are
continuing as such as bad as ever. Now I
have got spiritual problem. Why I'm not
enlightened yet? Extra problem.
So these four-fold qualifications are
what makes the difference between a
philosophy and spirituality
between knowing something and becoming
and and being that and realizing it.
What are the four-fold qualifications?
Very quickly I I'll run through them and
I'll leave it at that because they'll
require entire classes to each of these
uh to explain
These are foundational. These are entry
um the ability to discern between the
eternal and the non-eternal. Basically
there is an ultimate reality which all
spiritual traditions talk about and
there is this everchanging world of
dissatisfaction, sorrow, pleasure and
the ability to discern discriminate
between the eternal reality and the
everchanging um world.
Second a dispassion for worldliness.
Since I have this intuition that there
is such a reality there is something
worthwhile in spiritual life the rest of
this this world I must have an attitude
of dispassion for it. That means not
being too much involved. Not taking that
this world itself will give me what I
want. Which is how we have been living
our lives until we came to spiritual
life. Everything is here. Why bother
about spirituality? No. Everything is
not here. This world as Sri Ramach
Krishna said, it's like a string of zeros.
zeros.
If you put a one before the zeros, then
the zeros have value. 1 + 1 0 is 10. 1 +
2 zeros is 100. And so on. Take out the
one. No matter how many zeros we gather,
it's still zero. So this is vaya
dispassion for the zeros and seeing the
value of the one.
Then third one shamadishi
the six-fold treasure. Six-fold
treasure. So they have been a little
deceptive here. They meant four entry
conditions and in the third one they
packed in six.
So it becomes a total of nine. You work
out the math yourself. Six. Quickly.
What are the six? These are six
disciplines. Spiritual life we need
discipline. What are the six
disciplines? You'll see these are
basically what is needed for any kind of
great endeavor in this world. So six
disciplines. Shama, mental calmness,
not restless mind. Dharma, physical
calmness, control of the physical
organs, not restless body.
Titika, a spiritual toughness.
Titika means fortitude. Toughness. The
world is throwing problems at you. Oh,
you don't say bad world. Why is it
throwing problems at me? No, it's just
giving you what you are drawing out of
it with your past karma. It's our karma
which is coming in the form of many
troubles just as you you would
you know put up all these troubles. So
how much troubles we put up to hold on
to a job to um raise a family for many
many years you struggle and you put up
with physical illness with upset mind
and so on. Similarly put up with the
troubles the world will keep throwing at
you. put up with it for the sake of spirituality
spirituality
and then um so putting up with with
troubles without being shaken thrown off
your goal I don't feel too good I won't
meditate today oh it's too hot if it was
not too hot I would have been
this is good this tika is tapasa
it it creates a a kind of pressure from
the environment which actually focuses
our minds. I remember
one big mistake we make in spiritual
life is I can make things a little more
comfortable then I can meditate nicely
then I can study nicely. one sadhu in
the Himalayas. I mean I met him in
Kangal the foothills of the Himalayas
traditional monk so the kind who does
not stay in one place wandering monk
there's still many of them in India he
so the newcomers today oh monk he's
talking about his own younger days but
today the newcomers he said Mahatma oh
monk the newcomers today they look for
some amount of comfort and they think
once I have that comfort
you know, nice little hut to stay in and
an assured source of more or less
delicious food and then warm blankets in
winter and a nice fan, maybe even an air
conditioned in in in summer. Uh, so then
I can meditate nicely and of course um
no mosquitoes
then I can meditate nicely. And then
he says They're making a huge mistake
these young monks. How is it possible to
to do spiritual practices, penances,
basically austerities in the midst of
comfort? You know what's so subversive
about comfort? As far as spiritual life
is concerned, if things are all
perfectly fine, the mind goes to sleep.
The very motivation which drove us to
spiritual life
that deeply disturbed mind that unhappy
about the state of things in the world.
If things are comfortable that goes away
for most cases the Buddha is a rare
case. Viveand is a rare case. In most
cases if all our demands are met, I'm
physically healthy, environment is nice,
lot of nice activities are there in
entertainment is there. Everybody likes
me every day. my uh Facebook friends are
increasing in number and I'm getting
likes all sorts of things are going
really well for me I will not have much
of an initiate um you know inspiration
to go into spiritual life to to struggle
spiritually so comfort no titika then
the fourth one is uparati withdrawal
from too much uh engagement especially
enjoyment in the world too much you know
entertainment food friends social media
Yeah, then no time and energy will be
left for this for this highest pursuit.
I've seen artists, I've seen scientists,
mathematicians, some of the leading
intellectuals, their lives are virtually monklike.
monklike.
Not on purpose, not deliberately. They
don't put on a dress and stay in an
asham. But it becomes monklike because
if you if you direct all your energies,
you know, focused towards a particular
goal, there's no time left over for any
other nonsense.
So uparati a withdrawal from too much
engagement with and enjoyment of
worldliness. Then once you have
withdrawn you have time and energy and
space you have created but you must use
it for spiritual life. So samadhana
samadhana means settling down focus.
If we don't do that and we just you know
drop out of society a lot of people do
that here in USA or in Canada. What are
you doing? I'm dropping out of college
for a year. Why? I'm going to find
myself. That's great. Are you going to a
vdanta camp? No. I'm just going to
hitchhike and you know travel the world.
Maybe good but that is not focus.
Samadhana. Here you have found the
truth. Now you have found something
deeply purposeful and meaningful. Settle
down. Stay with it. Samadhana. Then
Then
shha. So a deep faith which will sustain
us that whatever is being taught here,
whatever we are reading here and
listening to the teachers, this is true.
I don't get it now. I have or I get it
but I have not realized yet. So this is
possible for me and I it will happen to
me till that time let me take it as
being true. This is called shha. Six six
characteristics. So shama dhamaarati
then shadama titikaarati samadhana shha
these are all packed into the six
treasures. What is the fourth one?
Remember the math. Four-fold
qualification. Mumukwam. Intense desire
for freedom. An intense desire for freedom.
freedom.
I can see a desire for freedom coming in
the faces of many people. When is he
going to stop? When is the tea break
coming? I'll just take a few few minutes more.
With these qualifications, he approaches
the guru. With these qualifications,
enlightenment is assured. We might say
it's a big deal and we don't have those
qualifications. If you do just imagine
how much trouble and I know many of you
have taken a lot of trouble to be here
because you have come from distant parts
of this very vast country. You have
taken the trouble to come here the time
and expense. You have to reschedule your
uh your uh your week or your month. So
all this trouble you have taken there is
an intuitive feeling there is something
deep and profound and worthwhile that is
vivea. We have to push this up. We have
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