‘Way In’ is the ‘Way Out’ – in sanātana dharma

In times such as the recently experienced pandemic, normalcy was disrupted across the world and people were confined to their homes and isolation wards. With the loss of a dear one and trying to reconcile to the situation of not finding them around oneself, life will never be the same again for many. Thus, distanced from their loved ones, income and securities dwindling, uncertainty of the future coupled with survival instincts adding further fear to the widespread misery, the whole world has plunged into panic and pandemonium. Let’s understand as to what sanātana dharma has to say about the way out of it.

The Lord of Death – Yama enlightens the young seeker of truth – naciketā, in kaṭhopaniṣad, that all the senses have been created in such a way that they always go outwards, seeking the pleasures and comfort in the possessions and relations of the transient material world. However, it is only a certain person of spiritual courage and discrimination, a dhīra, who seeks to know the eternal truth of ones divinity and thus desirous of the bliss that springs from within, turns his gaze inwards.

पराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत्‌ स्वयम्भूः तस्मात् पराङ् पश्यति नान्तरात्मन् ।
कश्चिद्धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानमैक्षत्‌ आवृत्तचक्षुः अमृतत्वमिच्छन् ॥

parāñci khāni vyatṛṇat svayambhūḥ tasmāt parāṅ paśyati nāntarātman ।
kaściddhīraḥ pratyagātmānamaikṣat āvṛttacakṣuḥ amṛtatvamicchan ॥

(कठोपनिषत् kaṭhopaniṣad 2.1.1)

‘The self-existent created the senses out-going. Therefore, one sees outside and not the ātman within. Some wise man, with his senses turned away (from their object), desirous of immortality, sees the ātman within.’

This is the inward path as preached by sanātana dharma, and the only way out of this otherwise chaotic world. This time it might have been the issue of a pandemic that was the cause of misery, but the world has always been suffused with the duality of pleasures and pains since time immemorial, and thus misery is not new to the world. In fact, Sri Krishna declares

अनित्यमसुखं लोकमिमं प्राप्य भजस्व माम्

anityamasukhaṁ lokamimaṁ prāpya bhajasva mām

(भगवद्गीता bhagavadgītā 9.33)

‘Having come to this transient and joyless world, meditate and devote yourself to Me.’

Here, when Sri Krishna advises the seeker to be devoted to Him, He truly means that the seeker ought to be devoted to the idea of the Supreme Divine Self within, which alone is the source of lasting happiness.

Everyone born on earth, knowingly or unknowingly, seeks the twin goals of duḥkha nivṛtti and sukha prāpti (freedom from sorrow and attainment of happiness). However, not knowing how to achieve these two goals, they simply try to avoid painful objects, people and situations and seek the pleasurable instead, totally unmindful of the fact that whether it is pleasure or pain, it germinates from the interaction with the world outside of us and is only temporary. And in this process of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, one endlessly and alternatively oscillates between the two extremes. Therefore, as long as we keep seeking experiences outside of us, there is no way that we can enjoy steady and lasting happiness. Without any exception, this endless chase of pleasures is always punctuated with equal instances of pain.

Having known and understood this nature of the world, the ancient ones suggested the seeker of happiness to pursue the path within – the inner path of withdrawal into the inner most recesses of one’s consciousness where all dualities end, and a state of peace beyond dualities is achieved.

Many misunderstand it as physically withdrawing from the society, but it’s not so. All cannot and should not give up their hearth and homes in search of inner peace. Many others mistake it as undertaking certain practices like yoga, prāṇāyāma and the likes, to find peace. However, these are temporary fixes which help only as long as one is engaged in it. Soon after, the mind tends to go back to the old ways and thus plunges itself into the same old experiences of duality. Therefore, even such practices that are aimed to calm and control the mind and emotions are at best capable of yielding temporary results.

sanātana dharma on the other hand teaches us the permanent path to peace and clearly declares that knowing one’s true nature as divinity alone can steer one out of the ceaseless swings of duality.

The śvetāśvataropaniṣad from yajurveda says –

वेदाहमेतं पुरुषं महान्तमादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात् ।
तमेव विदित्वाऽतिमृत्युमेति नान्यः पन्था विद्यतेऽयनाय ॥

vedāhametaṁ puruṣaṁ mahāntamādityavarṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt ।
tameva viditvā’timṛtyumeti nānyaḥ panthā vidyate’yanāya ॥

(श्वेताश्वतरोपनिषत् śvetāśvataropaniṣad 3.8)

‘I have known that great puruṣa (Supreme Being) who is effulgent like the sun and who is beyond all darkness. One who knows Him thus becomes immortal (even) here. There is no other path for liberation than this.’

This verse describes the Supreme Self as the self-effulgent One beyond the dualities of darkness and light, signifying pains and pleasures, and knowing that Self within alone is the way to freedom and eternal life.

Thus, against the backdrop of the temporary world, this idea of the eternal Self has been pitched as the only way to liberation from the ephemeral experiences of the world that swing one in and out of pain and pleasure.

The pandemic in a way left us with no choice other than to seek happiness and peace within, when all the external support systems started to collapse. This conviction of one’s true nature as the eternal and ever blissful existence (sat-cit-ānanda) alone could help several people evade mental issues like depression and panic.

This belief which arises from the very moment one starts identifying oneself with the Divinity instead of the body and mind, gives tremendous confidence to a sinking heart.

The great Sage aṣṭāvakra says in aṣṭāvakragītā,

मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ जगद्वीचिः स्वभावतः ।
उदेतु वास्तमायातु न मे वृद्धिर्न च क्षतिः ॥

mayyanantamahāmbhodhau jagadvīciḥ svabhāvataḥ ।
udetu vāstamāyātu na me vṛddhirna ca kṣatiḥ ॥

(अष्टावक्रगीता aṣṭāvakragītā 7.2)

‘Let the world wave rise or vanish of its own nature in the infinite ocean of myself. There is no increase or diminution to me from it.’

Just like the surface of the ocean that experiences the rise and fall of waves, yet per say is not affected by it, so also these waves of experiences of pleasure and pain rise and fall on this ocean of consciousness, but one remains unaffected due to the understanding of one’s true nature as the supreme consciousness.

This inward path allows people to accept the unavoidable that has come their way and make peace with it, instead of resisting the change that cannot be avoided and suffering due to one’s inability to do anything about it.

sanātana dharma is the most practical way of dealing with all situations in life, especially the ones that cannot be controlled or avoided, like the pandemic. The key to lasting happiness lies in constant contemplation and practise of this thought that one is divine and thus become capable of withdrawing the mind and senses that get afflicted by the dualities, like the tortoise that withdraws its limbs into its shell, and thus remains safe.

Sri Krishna says –

यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वशः ।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥

yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ kūrmo’ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ ।
indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyastasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ॥

(भगवद्गीता bhagavadgītā 2.58)

‘One who is able to withdraw the senses from their objects, just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs into its shell, is established in divine wisdom.’