satyam

[Anand V. Hudli]

On Thu, 13 May 1999 09:27:20 -0500, Ravi <msr at COMCO.COM> wrote:

>Anand thanks for your nice reply. And thanks to Sunder too
>for pointing out that our purpose is to please the Lord. If
>we get the conviction "vAsudeva sarvamiti" then speech will
>become pleasant and truthful.
>
>Like water purifies the body (taking bath), being truthful
>purifies the mind. From my personal experience, I find when
>I am not truthful to myself and fall into the claws of
>hypocrisy, I find that God moves far away from me and I feel
>ashamed even to look at HER picure. Yet, I sin. Such is the
>strength vAsanas. In that position, one can only pray
>
>na jnAyate ma hitaM nitarAm upAyo
>dIno.asmi devI samayAcharaNAkShamo.asmi |
>tat.h tvAM ananya sharaNaH  sharaNaM prapadye
>mInAkShI vishva jananIM  jananI mamaiva ||
>
>( I do not know what is good for me and the means to achieve
>it. I am such pitiable position and I do not have the inner
>strength to follow the shAstra-s. I surrender to you and
>none else, O mInAkShI, Mother of the Universe, my own
>Mother, have mercy on me)
>
>For my remedy, I dont think I can ask "Who am I", such a
>enquiry is for advanced and pure beings. For me worshipping
>God is the simplest and easiest way to resolve the inner
>conflict. A society suffers only when inviduals in the
>society suffer from inner-conflict. The remedy is the one
>has to purify himself. I think satyam is the most vital
>thing in providing peace and harmony for oneself and the
>world.
>
>
>Ravi


 In my opinion, the approach should be:

 Whether we speak the truth or otherwise may not always be
 discerned by others but we cannot hide the fact that we spoke
 the truth (or falsehood) from the Self (Atman), which is the
 eternal witness in the states of waking, dream, and sleep.

 So one who disregards or looks down upon his Self and
 tries to deceive his own Self is indeed steeped in ignorance.

 Atmaiva hyAtmanaH sAxI gatirAtmaa tathA.atmanaH |
 mA.avama.nsthAH svamAtmAnaM nR^INaaM sAxiNamuttamam.h ||
                                (Manu Smriti 8.84)

 The Self alone is the witness of the Self, and the Self is the
 refuge of the Self. Do not disregard your own Self, the best witness
 among men.

 Of course, we can have the same attitude with respect to God,
 provided that we think of God as essentially the same as the
 Self, not as living in some remote place and watching over us
 like a spy.

 Anand