126 - Spiritual Sameness| Swami Tattwamayananda

Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta

13th Chapter: Verses 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
Verses 19-21 deal with the two fundamental categories of Samkhya philosophy. (1) Purusha, which is self-effulgent, eternal and inactive. (2) Prakriti, which is active, non-effulgent, and impermanent. The entire universe comes from Prakriti and exists in Prakriti.
The problems that we face in our lives are due to our false identification with the impermanent psycho-physical mechanism. The moment we understand that we are higher than this psycho-physical mechanism, that our true nature is Purusha, we can approach life with wisdom and level-headedness.
28th verse: “A spiritually enlightened person sees the same divine spark in all beings. He looks upon the whole creation as one entity. He recognizes the impermanent as impermanent and goes beyond the happiness and unhappiness equation – he achieves equanimity. Such a person cannot harm anyone.”
Sri Ramakrishna felt this sameness, so it was natural for him to accept all faiths. From what standpoint did he see all religions as the same? It was from the realm of spiritual experience, not from the realm of the empirical. True non-violence, as described in the 28th verse, is also only possible at the spiritual level, when we see everyone as the same.
Swami Vivekananda said: “The infinite oneness of soul is the only ethical foundation behind all morality, all good actions and thoughts.”
Equanimity of mind is a recognizable characteristic of a spiritually enlightened person. His mind is Prasanna – means it is healthy and does not remind of its existence as an unhealthy mind would. The reference to Prasanna comes from this ayurvedic verse: “sama dosha sama agnischa sama dhatu mala kriyaaha| Prasanna atma indriya manaha swastha iti abhidheeyate”. It means that a man is in perfect health when he is physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally healthy. This verse emphasizes that physical health needs to be complemented with a pleasantly disposed and contented mind, senses and spirit.
27th verse: “Who is the wise person? The one who sees the same spiritual reality in every being. He understands that the psycho-physical mechanism is perishable and within it is the imperishable divine reality.”
Once we understand the 27th and 28th verses, we take on the earlier verses 22-26. They emphasize that the changes we experience only happen at the level of matter (Prakriti), not at the level of spirit (Purusha). The divine spark is present everywhere and activates all these changes. When we look at the world from this angle, we see sameness, as described in the 27th and 28th verses.
22nd verse: “Within this psycho-physical mechanism, there is a divine spark, the Purusha, which is the witness – it is eternal and does not change. Our true identity is the Purusha.”
23rd verse: “Any spiritual seeker who realizes this infinite oneness, who sees the Purusha behind everything – he goes beyond the transmigratory cycle of birth, death and rebirth.”
What happens when we realize that we are the Purusha and not this physical body? We become a witness to our mind, and we are able to watch our own emotions and feelings. We no longer identify with them. We objectify our mind and thereby make it our friend.
24th and 25th verses: “Some people practice Dhyana Yoga, some practice Jnana Yoga and some practice Karma Yoga. Still others hear from others and begin to worship the Lord.
Karma Yoga is simple. It means we do all our actions to the best of our ability, but at the same time, we understand that everything in this world is impermanent and that we may not attain 100% success from our efforts. Then success and failure won’t bother us. This attitude takes us to equanimity of mind.
26th verse: “Everything in this world is nothing but a combination of Kshetra (field) and Kshetrajna (knower of the field). One who realizes this achieves equanimity.”
29th verse: “All actions of the mind and body (thoughts, words and deeds) take place at the superficial or material level. The surface is always changing and is constituted by the three gunas. Behind this is the divine spark which is actionless.”
Sattva guna manifests itself as wisdom and serenity. Rajo guna manifests itself as dynamism and ambition. Tamo guna manifests itself as laziness.