Four gates to access Yog Vasisht’s wisdom
-V S Krishnan
In the midst of peace and tranquility that prevailed in Ayodhya, Prince Ram once found traces of sorrow among people. He pondered questions such as: What is the meaning of life which consists of sorrows? How to end the repetitive nature of this life? Is liberation possible, how? As if to answer his questions, Sage Vishwamitra came and persuaded Ram’s father King Dashrath to let the prince accompany him to the forest. Sage Vishwamitra, who wanted the young prince to receive the best of education, took him to Sage Vasisht, one of the Saptarishis. From Vasisht, Ram received Vedantic knowledge and emerged enlightened. The dialogue between Sage Vasisht and Ram is the central theme of ‘Yog Vasisht’, agreat philosophical text, believed to have been written by Sage Valmiki.
Capturing the essence of Vedanta, Yog Vasisht is a storehouse of Atma Jnana, the highest spiritual knowledge, but it is not easily accessible to all. One must pass through four gates to access its wisdom: They are Shanti, mind at peace; Santosh, contentment; Satsang, association of the wise; and Vichar, self-enquiry. It is said that even if we keep the company of one of these, we are sure to be introduced to the other three.
The first qualification is to have a mind that is pure, perfect, and always at peace. It is the mind which projects false notions of ‘I’, ego, and thereby creates differences and diversities. We are disturbed when our mind is turned outward, and we become peaceful when the mind is turned inward. Most of our problems arise because we identify ourselves with the mind. Addressing Ram, Sage Vasisht says: “He who wears the armour of self-control becomes knowledgeable and reaches the highest state of excellence. He whose mind is at peace is free from dualities such as likes and dislikes, attachment and aversions, pleasure and pain.” Yog Vasisht recommends yog as the best means to control and quieten the mind.
Entry to the second gate is possible for those who find happiness in being content. Lasting happiness comes not by acquiring more but by renouncing the needless. It is best to be satisfied with what one has. It is true that we should be ambitious enough to reach a higher goal, but if we are not satisfied with what we have got, and keep longing for more, we will only end up in regret.
The third gate underscores the importance of satsang, keeping company of the wise, the spiritually evolved. In Bhaja Govindam, Adi Shankara says: “From satsang, association with the learned, comes non-attachment, from non-attachment comes freedom from delusion and from freedom comes self-awareness which paves way for mukti, liberation.” It is said that through mere contact with sages one can reach the highest state of spiritual fulfilment.
The fourth gate advises us to do vichar, self-enquiry. If we intensely search within and inquire who we actually are, we will realise that we are neither the body nor the mind. The body will perish one day, and the mind is merely a bundle of thoughts. The intense enquiry would lead us to the realisation that we are the ever-existing Self, which gives us the consciousness of our existence. Yog Vasisht is not addressed exclusively to Ram, who is already an Uttam Purush, perfection personified, but to us all living in the present age.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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