Vachanamrut: A Guide for Everyone
Everyone faces problems in life — be it failing an exam, losing a job, or having to endure a family dispute, disobedient children, or poor health. Most of us try to solve these problems by relying on external solutions. However, in the Vachanamrut, Shriji Maharaj encourages us to look internally for solutions. The solutions that Maharaj imparts through the Vachanamrut, moreover, can help any person in any phase of life. Whether you’re a struggling freshman trying to gain your footing in college, a parent or child trying to learn how best to deal with your loved ones, or a satsangi with a burning desire to progress in satsang, the Vachanamrut has life lessons for all.
ACADEMIC LIFE
Many of us start our educational pursuits with high hopes for the future. As children, some of us dream of being politicians, business entrepreneurs, law-enforcement officers, or medical professionals. As adolescence sets in, however, entertainment, social media and peer groups often cause our energies to dissipate, leading us to lose the focus and drive we once had towards achieving our academic and professional goals.
The Vachanamrut presents a simple solution for reinvigorating our drive to achieve. In Gadhada I 25, Maharaj encourages us to reign in our diverse energies and develop absolute concentration on a singular goal. He argues that such focus can lead to unprecedented inner strength.
Keeping in mind his largely agrarian audience, Maharaj explains his point using a farming analogy. Specifically, he describes an irrigation apparatus that employs oxen to draw water out of a well. Each pair of oxen yolked to the apparatus draws water using one large pail of water, known as a kosh. As the pair walks back and forth, the kosh is lowered into the well, filled with water, and then raised to the well’s edge to be emptied into a water channel. An average farmer will employ either one or two pairs of oxen in this task, sending an intermittent flow of water through the field. Maharaj, however, analogizes a giant apparatus through which twenty pairs of oxen pull twenty pails, respectively. He explains,
“If twenty pails of water are drawn from a well and the flow of water from each pail is allowed to flow in a separate direction, there would be little force in each flow. However, if the flow of all twenty pails of water is combined, the resultant flow would become extremely powerful — almost like that of a river — and would not be able to be diverted by any means whatsoever.”
In the same way, Maharaj concludes, consolidating our energies and channeling them in a common direction can lead to renewed vigor, helping us achieve our goals. For the student, this means that cutting out distractions and developing singular focus on education can lead to better results.
Cutting down on leisure and studying more intently may seem like a difficult task; nonetheless, Maharaj puts forth that we can achieve anything that we set our minds to — all it requires, he says, is eagerness and regular practice. In Kariyani 10, for instance, he says, “A person who has great zeal in any endeavor would never be hindered even if he were to face thousands of obstacles.” In Gadhada II 33, on the other hand, he states, “After all, what is impossible to achieve with this human body? That which is practiced regularly can definitely be achieved.” Maharaj then illustrates his point using another irrigation analogy, saying, “For example, due to the daily drawing of water from a well, the constant rubbing of even a soft rope can cause a groove in the very hard piece of rock that lies on the edge of that well.” In this way, Maharaj presents passion as the key to being unaffected by obstacles and habitual practice as a means of achieving that which may otherwise seem undo-able. For the student, this means that dedication and constant endeavor can help one engender concentration and improved results.
FAMILY LIFE
Steven Covey writes in the introduction to The Seven Habits for Highly Effective Families that strong families with healthy relationships do not just happen to be or occur due to luck. Instead, he writes, engendering strong bonds amongst the family requires energy, talent, desire, vision, and determination. Just as other milestones we strive to achieve in life, he adds, building a healthy family requires time, thought, planning, and prioritization. Moreover, it demands hard work and sacrifice. If you want it, he concludes, you must pay the price.
Throughout the Vachanamrut, Shriji Maharaj offers valuable advice regarding what it is, precisely, that needs to be thought through, sacrificed, and prioritized in order to create a successful family. This advice is particularly valuable coming from Shriji Maharaj since he himself was the extraordinarily successful convener of a grand ‘family’ of 3,000 sadhus and two million devotees that made up the nascent satsang fellowship.
One key point that we can glean from the Vachanamrut on the topic of family unity concerns mutual respect. A common complaint from parents is that today’s youth do not respect their elders. In light of the Vachanamrut, though, we may ask ourselves as complaining parents whether or not we offer our children the respect that we demand for ourselves. Indeed, enduring appreciation can never be a one-way exchange. Maharaj expresses such sentiments in Gadhada II 47, wherein he says, “If a person has a group of sadhus staying with him, and if he can look after them sincerely and respectfully, those sadhus will happily stay with him. However, if he does not know how to look after them, they will not stay with him.” Although Maharaj’s words here seem directed to sadhus, they reflect a far-reaching social dynamic — one who wishes to be loved must first love others, one who wants care must first care for others, and one who desires respect must first respect others.
While advising the leaders of his groups of sadhus on how to take care of their juniors, though, Maharaj also advises subordinates on how to deal with difficult leaders. In particular, he says that they should learn to tolerate; further, he says, rather than focusing on their caretakers’ methods, they should concentrate on the direction in which their caretakers are guiding them. Applied to family life, Maharaj’s advice tells youths to endure insistent or seemingly patronizing parental guidance and focus instead on the positive change such behavior hopes to engender.
A common cause of strife in the household is divergent viewpoints on issues that are sometimes of great importance — such as finances, matrimony and career planning — but at other times are ordinary — such as planning family outings and the implementation of house rules. The Vachanamrut offers a solution to such conflicts by arguing that mutual respect should include regard for each other’s thoughts, desires, and decisions. In the context of family life, this respect entails setting aside stubbornness and being willing to compromise.
In this light, in Kariyani 11, Maharaj puts forth that such compromise is a defining characteristic of true love. In Gadhada III 16, he similarly defines fidelity, saying that a loyal wife acts according to her husband’s wishes. This example, though it describes a faithful wife, is one that Maharaj and the Gunatit guru parampara have expanded to say that all members of the family should be willing to set aside their desires and compromise according to their loved one’s wishes.
Another key factor contributing to family unity is chastity. People consecrate wedding ceremonies with vows of fidelity and hopes of living happily ever after. Yet, unchecked desires often shatter such pledges and lead to split families. In fact, in many developed countries, about half of marriages end up in divorce or separation, with many such rifts occurring due to adultery.
In the Vachanamrut, Maharaj offers several solutions to this burning problem. One such solution, presented in Gadhada I 72, suggests that people should never take advantage of unbalanced power dynamics. This sociological phenomenon has been at the crux of many of the violations that have come to light under the Me Too movement. Certainly, people who are party to such relationships often fall into relationships that lead to breaches in their marital vows. In this Vachanamrut, Maharaj explains that it is a grave sin to capitalize on such situations. In this way, he guides us away from indulgence and encourages us to remain faithful to our vows.
A second way in which Maharaj promotes chastity appears in Gadhada III 16, wherein he advises women to respect their vows by harboring singular devotion towards their husbands. In Gadhada II 3, he advises men to do the same, saying that they should regard women other than their wives as mothers, sisters and daughters. The same advice can be extended to women, who can be advised to see men other than their husbands as fathers, brothers and sons. Maharaj thus offers a solution that neutralizes interactions with members of the opposite gender and thus protects the sanctity of both marital vows and relationships with others.
A third remedy to preserving chastity is a physical practice that Maharaj describes in Gadhada II 35. Indeed, people are most susceptible to infidelity when they are in solitude. Therefore, Maharaj advises both men and women to avoid staying in isolation with people of the opposite gender who are not their spouses. In this manner, Maharaj exhorts us to stay away from situations that may lead to us faltering in our vows.
The Vachanamrut thus offers a great deal of guidance for families, ranging from issues such as mutual respect and tolerance to compromise, fidelity and chastity.
SPIRITUAL LIFE
Along with helping us improve our academic and family lives, the Vachanamrut also guides us ahead on the spiritual path. In this respect, the Vachanamrut is like a beacon for those lost at sea.
From the time we join satsang, we have a burning desire to progress. Often, though, we are unclear about what it means to progress in satsang; we thus often wrongly equate worldly progress with spiritual progress. Namely, we rely on external signs such as our seva roles to gauge our development, believing that receiving duties that are administratively significant are reflective of spiritual growth.
Maharaj, however, defines spiritual progress quite differently in Gadhada I 28, wherein he says,
“When a person is likely to progress in satsang, pure desires steadily flourish within him. Day by day, he sees only virtues in all satsangis. He views all devotees as superior to himself and considers himself to be insignificant. Moreover, he experiences the bliss of satsang in his heart 24 hours a day. Such characteristics indicate that pure desires have flourished. The more such a person practises satsang, the more he benefits; and eventually, he attains profound greatness.”
Maharaj thus defines advancement in satsang as a cognitive process focused on developing humility and purity and experiencing inner joy. By offering such a clear definition of progress, he helps us refine our perspectives and come to focus on the fundamentals of satsang.
No matter how focused a person is on satsang’s core values, though, a formidable obstacle for all is kusang. Accordingly, Maharaj helps us safeguard our spiritual progress first by helping us identify kusang and then describing what happens to us if we are not careful to veer away from its influence. Maharaj defines kusang in Vachanamrut Gadhada I 48 as company that causes us to falter in our niyams, upasana, and faith in God.
Maharaj further explains that, along with avoiding kusang, fostering spiritual progress requires profound association with the Satpurush. Association, he says in Gadhada II 31, involves contemplating the Satpurush’s divine virtues, which leads to the development of redemptive qualities in one’s life. Maharaj explains, “If one associates with Brahman through continuous contemplation in this manner, the jiva acquires the virtues of that Brahman.” Maharaj elaborates on the process of contemplation in several Vachanamruts, one of which is Gadhada I 67. In this Vachanamrut, he says we should compare ourselves to the Satpurush by reflecting on his innate divine qualities and setting them against our worldly dispositions. In this way, while comparing ourselves to the Satpurush, the pain that we experience for being satsangis with such drawbacks will lead us to strive to develop qualities like those of the Satpurush.
The Vachanamrut thus helps us secure progress in satsang by advising us to focus on satsang’s fundamentals, stay away from kusang and associate with the Satpurush.
CONCLUSION
In the preceding sections, we understood how the Vachanamrut offers solutions to problems that we face in school, at home, and in our spiritual lives. Nonetheless, our considerations here have been reflected merely in words. One may ask, though, “Is it possible to live by the teachings of the Vachanamrut in today’s world?”
Gratefully, we have with us the satpurush, who is the manifest form of both Shrii Maharaj and the Vachanamrut itself, and who lives the Vachanamrut every second of his life. Maharaj has said that the essence of the shastras can only be understood and imbibed from such a person. With this in mind, let us endeavor to comprehend the wisdom of the Vachanamrut and live by the principles therein.
Sadhu Nirdoshcharitdas, Sadhu Shashwatmunidas, & Sadhu Gurunayandas
