Acharya Mahapragya Blog
The following post is a translated part of Acharya Mahapragya’s book Atit Ko Pado, Bhavishaya Ko Dekho
Is it possible to become free of the past? What is the upaaya or way towards it? The one who does not know the way cannot solve the problem. Apaya means obstruction or vighn. Man wants to leave the obstruction but without knowing the upaaya or remedy one cannot overcome it. For every obstruction, there is a definite remedy. That acharya who knows the remedies is a successful acharya. A student comes to the guru with questions such as “anger, egoism and lust trouble me. I want a way out of them. ”If the acharya says he does not know the way out of them, he is not a real acharya. The one who knows the remedies can give a solution and change the unhealthy mind of a student into a healthy mind.
A person should be skilled in remedies. A remedy-skilled person is one who can skilfully use a remedy. Knowing remedies is not enough. Therefore that darshan or branch of philosophy is useful which has practical applications, the one which can be lived and applied in the present. What is the use of the darshan which comes in use after death?
To disable an obstruction three things are necessary- a search for a remedy; knowing the remedy fully and using the remedy skilfully.
A remedy to free oneself from the clutches of past is a hold on to the present. The more we are able to hold the present, the more we will be free from the effects of the past. Just like the shadow of our bodies moves along with us so does the shadow of our past. We can see the shadow of our physical bodies but we are unable to see the shadow of our past. Despite our inability to see it, it moves along with us. The only way to become free from it is to hold on to the present.
Only an awaken person can live in the present. You study your life. Just after waking, whatever thought comes in your mind, note it down and then whatever you thought and did in the entire day, note it. Looking at these notes, you will realize how much past, present and future was lived by you. After analyzing you will see you lived in the present hardly for an hour in an entire day! Whatever a man does, he surrounds himself with memories of the past. The list of memories is so huge that the present moment is hurt by their weight. A person even loses awareness of his duties. He says he forgot. But if we look closely we’ll find he does not really forget. It is just that he loses his awareness because of some memory. If a man can learn to hold control over his memories and imaginations, he can live in the present. One, who can learn the art of living in the present, can be spared from many problems.
A devotee visited a saint. He said- “Only you can save me. I have gone everywhere. I’ve come to you for refuge. I’m extremely helpless. Help me!” The saint’s heart melted. He said-“There is a stone in the bag hanging in front. Bring it here. ”The devotee brought it forward and took the stone out and asked what will I do with it. The saint said- “This is not a stone. It is a crystal which can turn iron into gold. ”The devotee asked how. The saint took out a tong out of the same bag; touched it with the crystal and the iron tong became a gold tong. The devotee reacted- “This is deceit. The crystal and iron tong were in the same bag. Why did the tong not become gold then?” The saint replied-“You didn’t understand. Till now the crystal was covered by a cloth. When this cover was unveiled, iron turned into gold.”
Our joy is also covered by two veils, one that of past memories and the other of dreams or hallucinations for the future. When these two veils uncover themselves, joy is experienced. I do not say memories and dreams are always unnecessary. They also serve a purpose. Without memory life does not move while without a dream life does not develop. To run life in the societal realm, both are needed. But the problem is today people dwell in unnecessary memories and hallucinations. The hold onto the past and future loosens when the hold on the present strengthens.
Memories and dreams which bring you to the present moment are the ones which simplify life while others do the contrary.
The meaning of holding onto the present is to experience pure consciousness. For this we need discrimination or viveka which is born out of introspection. We need to discriminate between pure consciousness and karma. We need to separate these two. We know karma is associated with likes and dislikes (or raag and dwesha) while pure consciousness is devoid of these. Experiencing pure consciousness more and more frees one from emotional distress and the resultant diseases.