Q: How do the past and the future destroy your peace of mind in the present?
A: The mind is consumed by past attachments and future anxieties. So, these two forces take you away from being in the present. When you try and practise detachment to these qualities, automatically you remain in the present. You can do self-analysis and identify the areas where you are attached and have anxieties. The mind is creating fear of the future; there is no truth or reality. These imaginary problems destroy your present peace of mind.
You cannot achieve anything by being in those unproductive realms of the past or future. You can only change the course of your life by being in the present. One can also completely eradicate the past karma fruits of one’s actions. Theoretically, one can even attain the highest state of self-realisation in this birth. It is an assurance from the shastras. The barrier between God and me is the Vasana.
Man – Vasana’s = God
Whatever past unintelligent actions I have performed have created present vasanas. My present intelligent actions can eradicate all the vasanas. One can reach that perfection only by self-effort, purushartha. Present effort purushartha, can completely nullify your prarabdha. Your own present actions determine your destiny.
One’s actions must always be aligned to the goal / ideal, purpose in life. It’s the lofty goal conceived by the intellect that replaces the worries and anxieties of the mind. This is Vedanta in action, Wisdom in practise. If you cannot do this, you become a victim of the past and the future.
A person can have multiple goals. The goal is only conceived by the intellect and is beyond one’s egoistic, self-centred interest. It has to be unselfish in nature. If it is selfish, then it becomes a desire supported by the mind. All goals should be aligned to the absolute goal. You can act in the present only when it is backed by the intellect. Mind always runs into the past and the future.
He who was born of Tapas of (Brahma) in the beginning and born before the five elements, having entered the cave of the heart, beholds (Brahman) that dwells within the 5 elements. This is verily that.
Lord Yama is talking of the creation, born from the tapas of Brahma (creator), one of the gods of the trinity. Tapas can be interpreted as mere sankalpa a thought for the creation of the world, even before the five elements or Pancha bhootas were born.
Upanishads don’t talk much about the creation of the world but state the non-existence of the world. They pronounce the word as Maya. Before the five elements were born, the total mind Hiranyagarbha was born. Eg: A painter has the thought of the painting before he paints. Similarly, the creator must have the thought of creation.
Cave represents something deep within, and the heart is the quintessence. Cave of the heart means the very core of one’s personality, which is Atman or Consciousness. Brahma, having created, in the very core, one beholds Brahman. He realises Brahman. That Brahman dwells within the five elements. One must realise and behold Brahman in the very core of one’s personality.
The omniscient fire lodged within the two pieces of wood is well preserved just as the foetus by a pregnant woman. That is worshipped day after day by awakened men and sacrificial offerors. This is verily That.
Reference to the Vedic tradition of invoking fire. In a Vedic ritual, fire is invoked by churning two pieces of wood. Through the friction between two pieces, the fire is ignited. The fire is then preserved and offered into the khund where you perform the homam vedic ritual of fire worship.
Rubbing two pieces of wood symbolises the process of churning. Fire is the knowledge or wisdom that comes out. The two pieces of wood can also be referred to, one as prakriti matter and the other is Purusha spirit. Fuel and fire are nothing but the wood itself. When you churn the wood, you invoke the fire which is in the wood; what is burnt is the wood. Prakriti gets burnt, and Purusha gets invoked; matter gets burnt, and divinity gets invoked. The process of churning is the process of manana or reflection.
Purusha enlivens the prakriti, and it appears as though Purusha is enjoying. Spirit and matter are there in you, and when you go through the process of internal churning, you invoke the fire which is the Atman in you and destroy the matter which is the ego or the jiva.
The mantra is drawing a parallel to the foetus preserved in a pregnant woman, to the process of invoking and preserving fire in this ritual.
The subtle implication here is that Brahman is worshipped by the awakened men, sages, through meditation, symbol OM, and Brahman is worshipped by householders through the agni fire. Householders worship Agni, which represents yagna. Yagna means a life of sacrifice. Homam is a community worship, and Agni / yajna means serving an unselfish / higher cause. By using yajna or agni, a householder can attain self- realisation.
