NAMA, NAMASMARAN AND TOTAL STRESS MANAGEMENT (PART 21) DR SHRINIWAS J. KASHALIKAR

Student: What do you mean by SADICCHHAA and SATSHAKTI? I remember the essence of SADVASANA, SADBHAVANA, SADVICHAR, SATPRERANA, SATSANKALP, SATKARMA and SADACHAR, but these terms are new!

Teacher: Thanks for asking me to explain! ICCHHAA means a desire and SADICCHHAA is a single unified desire (formed from the conversion and convergence of all desires) of realizing truth. SHAKTI is energy. If unqualified it would be an energy that could be spent in any activity. SATSHAKTI means the power, the might directed into our mission as inspired by Guru, to merge with Him through our SWADHARMA.

Student: Sir! I am still not quite clear about SWADHARMA.

Teacher: I will repeat. From absolute truth manifests; SWADHARMA as a source of SATPRERANA, SADDHARANA, SADVICHAR, SADICCHHAA, SADBHAVANA, SATPRAVRUTTI, SADVASANA, SATSANKALP and SATKARMA, which together constitute SADACHAR.

Student: This is wonderful! So what you imply by Total Stress Management is in essence the same as SWADHARMA! Sir, I am grasping what you say. Now I would like to ask a little more practical question. Is it true; that in the practice of NAMASMARAN; the emotions (e.g. devotion = bhakti) are primary and are more important? Dose the intellect or reason come in the way of devotion, belief, faith and surrender, which are essential in the spiritual path?

Teacher: It is true; provided the word “emotions” implies pure and spontaneous emotions! As compared to such innocent emotions; we are more “rational and thoughtful” about safeguarding our petty personal interests! Hence we are always inhibited before making any sacrifice or taking any risk for the sake of others! We lack the spontaneity, honesty and strength! We are weak and mediocre; bereft of the innate spring of ambrosia. Pure emotions or innocence; by virtue of this ambrosia; are always superior to petty thinking or reason!
But our pettiness is by virtue of the anatomy and physiology of our brain! Our higher centers (e.g. cerebral cortex) of brain, which are responsible for our thoughts, intuitions, ideas etc, are not well integrated. Further; they have poor control over the lower centers (e.g. limbic system of brain, responsible for our anger, jealousy, lust etc), which influence our thinking and make it petty, mean and coward. This is what is implied whenever there is a mention about the dominant influence of shadripus (Kama, krodh, lobha, moha, mada and matsar). It is due to this inbuilt weakness within ourselves; that we also fall prey to trivialized and vulgarized social trends, propaganda and peer pressure; conducive to flaring up of our basal instincts and emotions!
In short; pettiness of thinking is due to shadripus! Without evolving and/or sublimating them; inadvertently abandoning intellect or reason; per se; over the feelings and emotions; is bound to be disastrous! It would make us sectarian, superstitious, fanatic, blind; intolerant and of course; indiscriminately violent.
So, without bothering about anything of this sort; we should practice NAMASMARAN! It has the benevolent effect; in terms of accelerating the growth of our basal, subjective and petty instincts, emotions, thinking and perspective; into objective and globally benevolent ones.

Student: Coming back to my stress; now I can appreciate the link between the basic mechanisms, causes, effects and support systems; and the common feature of all kinds of stress, which is “forgetting our true self”! This dehumanization, true dying before physical death is due to the ongoing exaggerated entropy, i.e. disorganization! Actually; now I am feeling better and stronger with this understanding.

Teacher: That is wonderful! The life in us has tendency to merge with the cosmic consciousness on one hand and a tendency to get trapped in the property of the matter; on the other! The individual consciousness (we) is intricately associated, with cosmic consciousness on one hand; and wrapped or rather trapped in the properties of physical matter; on the other! Physical matter (neurotransmitters, hormones, enzymes and other molecules and the interactions amongst them) has the property of entropy; the property of any system to get disorganized (in case living beings it is the process of atrophy, degeneration, degradation, disruption, deterioration and destruction). Thus we are actually caught between the upward (URDHVAGAMI) force that tends to unify us with cosmic consciousness (our true self); and the downward (ADHOGAMI) force that LOCKS us in the influence of matter and drags us in the entropy! This suffering is stress! Traditionally it is called BHAVAROGA!
Actually; right from the birth; we are accustomed to accept and suffer from the wants of our body. We are habituated to accept every stimulus arising from inside and outside our body and get attached to it. This is why we are always engrossed in the hunger, thirst, habitat, sexual desires and so on; pertaining to our body! This is not abnormal. But this leads to being increasingly selfish and locked into the relationships born out of bodily needs! We develop love or hatred about the relations; according to whether the needs of our body; such as security, food, shelter, sex are satisfied, or deprived! Thus we get trapped in friendship or enmity, pains or pleasures; and keep vacillating in them. This is being trapped in the entropy! This is physiological and normal. But this is also a limitation, and a common cause underlying the stress!