If we lose food, money, rich clothes, house, etc., we can get them back. It is said that time once lost is lost forever. Nishkulanand Swami says that we might get back time as well. Meaning, once we lose an opportunity, we might get it back. But shame once gone is gone forever.
What is shame?
A householder thinks, “If I am not within the boundaries of a householder, then what would be the position of me in my community?”
Similarly, a saint thinks, “If I am not within the boundaries of a saint, what would be the position of me in my community?”
Everyone might not have detachment, but everyone has shame, and shame does the work of detachment. Even if we don’t have detachment, yet because of shame we do things right. That is true both in worldly life and spiritual life. With the fear of losing shame, we would be within our moral boundaries.
Any thought process that suppresses internal enemies is trigunatit. And so, shame is trigunatit.
Once, Shreeji Maharaj asked Muktanand Swami, “Swami, how do you get angry, and how do you get away with it?”
Muktanand Swami replied, “Hey Maharaj, as we are walking on the path of Shukji, Sanakji, Naradji, and other such pious saints, I learned that a saint should never have a bad temper. With such a thought, my anger disappears.”
Maharaj replied, “That thought process of yours is beyond the worldly thought process. It is trigunatit—beyond three attributes of maya.”
Thinking that “I will be blamed if I do such an act” is trigunatit.
Maharaj said that “Having shame is trigunatit.”
People don’t go wrong because of shame from society. That is trigunatit thinking. Meaning, with shame we can walk the path of saintliness even if we lack detachment. But once shame is gone, it is gone forever. So, Nishkulanand Swami asks us to protect our shame for life and to not do any acts that make us shameful.
Shame is worldly, yet it is trigunatit
Shreeji Maharaj shared this worldly technique of shame that could help us greatly even on the spiritual path.
Great teachers have shown us two paths: Nirgun Marg and Rasik Marg (path of loving Bhagwan). Both are great paths, and both bring greatness to everyone, yet there are some serious pitfalls in both paths.
Maharaj said that, by taking those paths, uncountable souls have fallen. The number of successful people is extremely low when compared to the number of failures. The question now is, how to save ourselves from not falling down the path?
The pitfall in the path of loving Bhagwan is, we will be taken over by internal enemies which will trigger us to do sinful actions. Thus, our bhakti will be completely spoiled.
The pitfall in the path of Nirgun is, we think we can become one with Bhagwan and thus we misuse our bhakti.
Both paths are great; both paths bring greatness to the followers, then how to get away with those pitfalls?
Maharaj has said that “In the path of love of Bhagwan, the way to get over those pitfalls is, you should believe Radhikaji, Lakshmiji as your own mother.”
We will not get wrong thoughts on our mother however beautiful she is.
By considering all opposite-gender devotees as our parent, we can get over the fear of falling from the path. In all other ways, those wrong thoughts will enter us for sure, even if we think of ourselves as pure brahm, but we will never get such bad thoughts on our mother.
Such a thought process is trigunatit. Any thought that helps us suppress worldly illusions is trigunatit.
To overcome the pitfall in Nirgun Marg, we should always be with Swami-Sevak mindset. There is no trouble if we think we are brahm, or we are like Bhagwan, or we are more than Bhagwan, but we should always believe we are a sevak of Bhagwan.
Maharaj has said that it is very difficult to keep up the morality with atmanishta. With atmanishta, we can’t see what is right for us and what is wrong for us. How can such a soul with atmanishta keep up his morality?
Should we reduce our atmanishta? Maharaj has asked us to not reduce our atmanishta but asked us to think in this way: “I’m here to please Bhagwan. If I walk on the path of immorality, then Bhagwan will be displeased.”
If we have such desire, even if we know the complete greatness of Bhagwan, or even if we are a self-realized soul, we will still be within the boundaries of morality.
All these are worldly techniques taught by Maharaj; they are worldly, yet they are trigunatit.
If we have any shame in the path of Bhagwan, we will think in this way: “I belong to Swaminarayan, can I do such acts?” “I belong to this Guru, can I do such acts?” With such a thought process, we can never go wrong. We are thus trigunatit even if we had nasty desires.
If one wants to hold his saintliness, he should never do any work that makes him lose his shame. Even if a work could make him the king of this world, he should never do it if it puts his shame at risk.
If we don’t have any shame, our next move can’t be guaranteed even if we strictly follow morality. If we don’t have shame in the chosen path, then we will believe, “Let them think in whatever way they want to. I am not going to die because of that, isn’t it?”
Kalank (bad mark) is blacker than Kajal (black eyeliner)
What is blacker than kajal—the black eyeliner?
Kalank (bad mark on a person) is blacker than kajal.
If a mark of kajal falls on us, we can get rid of it by cleaning. If a bad mark falls on our character, we cannot get rid of it however hard we try, and whatever different techniques we use, it will become part of our history forever.
Shivji, Brahmaji, Ekalsringi Rushi are very saintly. They did a wrong act only once and that became a bad mark in their history.
A soul might do all great work in his whole life, yet people remember their bad acts first.
How does someone identify Naradji?
When a person meets Naradji, he will not remember “that Naradji who converted a thousand students into saints,” or “that Naradji who converted ten thousand people into saints,” or “that Naradji who helped so many people realize Bhagwan,” but he will remember, “that Naradji, despite being a saint, who once got ready to marry.”
When we see the photo of Naradji, we first remember that bad mark on him.
The body of works done by Naradji was so great; no one did such great work. He is the Guru of all the worlds, yet “That Naradji who once got ready to marry” became his identity.
The nature of the human mind is that the pull toward bad marks is stronger than the pull toward good marks. So Nishkulanand Swami is asking us to be very careful not to lose our shame.
References:
- Chosathpadi Katha Part 26 (Pad 37-40).