LIVING BY THE WORDS OF BHAGAVAN - ANNAMALAI SWAMI

ANNAMALAI SWAMI ABOUT SUMMA IRU AND VASANAS IN THE BODY OF A JNANI

Q: Bhagavan often told devotees to 'Be still'. Did he mean 'Be mentally still'?

AS: Bhagavan's famous instruction 'summa iru' [be still] is often misunderstood. It does not mean that you should be physically still; it means that you should always abide in the Self.

if there is too much physical stillness, tamoguna [a state of mental torpor] arises and predominates. In that state you will feel very sleepy and mentally dull. Rajoguna [a state of excessive mental activity], on the other hand, produces emotions and a mind which is restless.

In sattva guna [a state of mental quietness and clarity] there is stillness and harmony. If mental activity is necessary while one is in sattva guna it takes place. But for the rest of the time there is stillness. When tamoguna and rajoguna predominate, the Self cannot be felt. If sattva guna predominates one experiences peace, bliss, clarity and an absence of wandering thoughts. That is the stillness that Bhagavan was prescribing.

Q: Bhagavan, in Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, speaks of bhoga vasanas [vasanas which are for enjoyment] and bandha vasanas [vasanas which produce bondage]. He says that for th^e jnani there are bhoga vasanas but no bandha vasanas. Would Swamiji please clarify the difference.

AS: Nothing can cause bondage for the jnani because his mind is dead. In the absence of a mind he knows himself only as consciousness. Because the mind is dead, he is no longer able to identify himself with the body. But even though he knows that he is not the body, it is a fact that the body is still alive. That body will continue to live, and the jnani will continue to be aware of it, until its own karma is exhausted. Because the jnani is still aware of the body, he will also be aware of the thoughts and vasanas that arise in that body.

None of these vasanas has the power to cause bondage for him because he never identifies with them, but they do have the power to make the body behave in certain ways. The body of the jnani enjoys and experiences these vasanas although the jnani himself is not affected by them. That is why lt ls sometimes said that for the jnani there are bhoga vasanas but no bandha vdsanas.

LIVING BY THE WORDS OF BHAGAVAN