Look within to become Immortal
पराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत् स्वयम्भू-
स्तस्मात्पराङ्पश्यति नान्तरात्मन् ।
कश्चिद्धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानमैक्ष-
दावृत्तचक्षुरमृतत्वमिच्छन् ॥ १॥
parāñci khāni vyatṛṇat svayambhū-
stasmātparāṅpaśyati nāntarātman .
kaściddhīraḥ pratyagātmānamaikṣa-
dāvṛttacakṣuramṛtatvamicchan .. 1..
Yama said: The self-existent Supreme Lord inflicted an injury upon the sense-organs in creating them with outgoing tendencies; therefore a man perceives only outer objects with them and not the inner Self. But a calm person, wishing for Immortality, beholds the inner Self with his eyes closed.
Commentary:
It appears as if the Creator pierced the sense organs in an externalised manner to punish them, as it were, so that they move outwardly like the rushing waters of a gushing river, and the river will not go back; it will always move onward. Externally oriented are the sense organs. This is the cause of knowing everything as if it is outside, and not in the universal context. Therefore it is that the Universal Being is never seen in this world, though it is actually present everywhere. We see only the objects that are in space and time, but never see that which is hidden inside space and time. But there are great souls who withdraw the powers of the senses and do not permit the sense organs to construe things in an externalised manner. They behold what is inside, rather than what is outside, by turning their gaze to the very consciousness that is the responsible power for the operation of the mind and the sense organs. By analysis of the process of the operation of consciousness, great souls withdraw their consciousness from its involvement in the externality of things, involvement in the sense organs, involvement in the mind, involvement in the intellect, etc., and turn it back to the original universal source which is mahat-tattva and Parama-purusha, Brahman, the Absolute. Only great souls can achieve this. Ordinary souls are sunk in the mire of this erroneous perception caused by the distorted activity of the sense organs.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
The Self-existent One projected the senses outwards and, therefore, a man looks outward, not within himself. A certain wise one, desiring immortality, with inverted senses, perceived the Self within.
…the first inquiry that we find in the Vedas was concerning outward things, and then a new idea came that the reality of things is not to be found in the external world; not by looking outwards, but by turning the eyes, as it is literally expressed, inwards.[Source]
That self-existent One is far removed from the organs. The organs or instruments see outwards, but the self-existing One, the Self, is seen inwards. You must remember the qualification that is required: the desire to know this Self by turning the eyes inwards. All these beautiful things that we see in nature are very good, but that is not the way to see God. We must learn how to turn the eyes inwards. The eagerness of the eyes to see outwards should be restricted. When you walk in a busy street, it is difficult to hear the man speak with whom you are walking, because of the noise of the passing carriages. He cannot hear you because there is so much noise. The mind is going outwards, and you cannot hear the man who is next to you. In the same way, this world around us is making such a noise that it draws the mind outwards. How can we see the Self? This going outwards must be stopped. That is what is meant by turning the eyes inwards, and then alone the glory of the Lord within will be seen.[Source]
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
The Master came down to the plane of the sense world and spoke to M., expressing his abhorrence for those who, while practising spiritual discipline, enjoyed sex-life.
MASTER: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You have children, and still you enjoy intercourse with your wife. Don’t you hate yourself for thus leading an animal life? Don’t you hate yourself for dallying with a body which contains only blood, phlegm, filth, and excreta? He who contemplates the Lotus Feet of God looks on even the most beautiful woman as mere ash from the cremation ground. To enjoy a body which will not last and which consists of such impure ingredients as intestines, bile, flesh, and bone! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
M. sat there silently, hanging his head in shame.
MASTER: “A man who has tasted even a drop of God’s ecstatic love looks on ‘woman and gold’ as most insignificant. He who has tasted syrup made from sugar candy regards a drink made from treacle as a mere trifle. One gradually obtains that love for God if one but prays to Him with a yearning heart and always chants His name and glories.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
(To Bankim, smiling) “Well, what do you say about man’s duties?”
BANKIM (smiling): “If you ask me about them, I should say they are eating, sleeping, and sex-life.”
MASTER (sharply): “Eh? You are very saucy! What you do day and night comes out through your mouth. A man belches what he eats. If he eats radish, he belches radish; if he eats green coconut, he belches green coconut. Day and night you live in the midst of ‘woman and gold’; so your mouth utters words about that alone. By constantly thinking of worldly things a man becomes calculating and deceitful. On the other hand, he becomes guileless by thinking of God. A man who has seen God will never say what you have just said. What will a pundit’s scholarship profit him if he does not think of God and has no discrimination and renunciation? Of what use is erudition if the mind dwells on ‘woman and gold’?
“Kites and vultures soar very high indeed, but their gaze is fixed only on the charnel-pit. The pundit has no doubt studied many books and scriptures; he may rattle off their texts, or he may have written books. But if he is attached to women, if he thinks of money and honour as the essential things, will you call him a pundit? How can a man be a pundit if his mind does not dwell on God?
Some may say about the devotees: ‘Day and night these people speak about God. They are crazy; they have lost their heads. But how clever we are. How we enjoy pleasure — money, honour, the senses!’ The crow, too thinks he is a clever bird; but the first thing he does when he wakes up in the early morning is to fill his stomach with nothing but others’ filth. Haven’t you noticed how he struts about? Very clever indeed!”
There was dead silence.
Sri Ramakrishna continued: “But like the swan are those who think of God, who pray day and night to get rid of their attachment to worldly things and their love for ‘woman and gold’, who do not enjoy anything except the nectar of the Lotus Feet of the Lord, and to whom worldly pleasures taste bitter. If you put a mixture of milk and water before the swan, it will leave the water and drink only the milk. And haven’t you noticed the gait of a swan? It goes straight ahead in one direction. So it is with genuine devotees: they go toward God alone. They seek nothing else; they enjoy nothing else.
(Tenderly, to Bankim) “Please don’t take offence at my words.”
BANKIM: “Sir, I haven’t come here to hear sweet things.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)