Posted on: 24 Jun 2018
Shri Hrushikesh asked:
1) Dear Swami, Mr. Robert Holt has objected on the face book group Group “nondual screen” after reading your discourse on Family bonds.
[Robert Holt: “No next birth as there is anyone to have it. No God interviewing anyone for there is no one. Upon realization of no self there can be permanent peace. Not understanding this can lead to permanent misery. Except the one experiencing the so called misery is not real so neither is the misery. Only the real is real and the real is nothing so nothing is permanent because nothing ever happened.
Following is the Discourse given by you after reading this Mr. Robert Holt has commented.
Swami: Family bonds are temporary since they are limited only to the present human birth. That which is temporary is always unreal. The temporary bonds neither existed in the previous birth nor will they exist in the future birth. Anything that did not exist before and will not exist later, is indeed temporary and such a thing does not exist (in reality) during the present. Such a thing is said to be totally unreal. For example, the bond (relationship) between two actors in a drama neither exists before the drama nor exists after the drama and therefore, does not exist even during the drama. That which is real is always permanent; existing in the past, present and future. For example, the employer-employee relationship between the producer of the drama and the actors is always real during the drama, before the drama and after the drama.
Thus the bond with God, who is the Producer of this world, is always permanent and real. This logical analysis brings about a permanent detachment and a realization that remains alive forever. Therefore such analytical knowledge, which is very clear and satisfies the intellect, maintains the detachment forever. Deep analytical knowledge of the scriptures is required for all westerners and for all the Indians who are being exploited by tradition and the misinterpretations of some selfish preachers.
The body is like a seat in the train and you, the soul, are the passenger. The family members are like just bench-mates in the same train. For the comfort of yourself and your bench-mates, if you trouble other passengers in the train, it is corruption. Life is just a matter of a short one-hour train journey. Your bench-mates will get down at their respective destinations and will not remember you thereafter. Even you will have to leave your seat and move on.
After death, you have to leave your family members, who will not recognize you in their next birth. After getting down from the train of this life, you have to face the interview with God. There he will decide if you are to be granted permanent happiness or permanent misery. Therefore, you must concentrate on the preparation for this grand interview even during your journey through this life. Do not worry about the comforts of your own seat and that of your bench-mates. You will have to leave your own seats and all the bench-mates behind anyway. The bonds with your bench-mates (family members) are temporary and unreal. Shankara says that whatever is temporary must be unreal. The bond, which did not exist before and will not exist in future, does not exist even in the present time. Such spiritual realization is a must for getting a permanent control over corruption.
I request you to enlighten us with your sweet words.
A dust particle in creation, Hrushikesh]
Swami replied:- The language in which your opinion is expressed is totally obscure. However, I tried to understand something by reading several times. What I followed is represented below:- There is no rebirth. There is no God and no soul. Someone exists, who experiences misery. Nothing is real and permanent.
Regarding rebirth, there are several cases reported, which are proved as genuine in the entire world. You must go through such report. You say that nothing is real and at the same time, you say that someone exists, who experiences misery. This is self-contradiction. Do you want to say that everything is unreal just like the Maadhyamika branch of Nagarjuna in Buddhism? In such case, Shankara asked for the necessity of existence of soul that experiences this world as unreal. If the soul is also unreal, there is no basis for experiencing the unreal nature of the world. If the unreal nature of the world is not experienced by the existing soul, how can you say that the unreality exists at all? I don’t know whether you mean this or not.
Regarding the 50:50 probability ratio of this atheism and spiritual knowledge and regarding 0:100 probability ratio due to the perception-proof of miracles supporting spiritual knowledge, I have already given answer, which is presented below. If you like, you may read it.