The Courage Of Authenticity
Authored by
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
yathaidhāṁsi samiddho'gnir bhasmasātkurute'rjuna I jñānāgniḥ sarvakarmāṇi bhasmasātkurute tathā
Just as a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of wisdom burn to ashes all actions, all your karma.
It is only when you drop the mind that all your actions arise out of intuition, from the super conscious state, the state of truth.
na hi jñānena sadṛśaṁ pavitramiha vidyate I tatsvayaṁ yogasaṁsiddhah kālenātmani vindati
Truly, in this world, there is nothing as pure as wisdom. One who has matured to know this enjoys in himself in due course of time.
The one established in authenticity is enriched with knowledge.
śraddhāvāllabhate jñānaṁ tatparaḥ saṁyatendriyaḥ I jñānaṁ labdhvā parāṁ śāntimacireṇādhigacchati
A person with śraddhā (courageous faith) achieves wisdom and has control over the senses. Achieving wisdom, without delay, he attains supreme peace.
When you have the knowledge and the courage of authenticity to follow and live the teachings, then you can achieve the ultimate knowledge, the knowledge of enlightenment.
When I tell people to declare completion and drop their mind, they look at me as if I am a mad man. They ask me, 'How can we drop the mind? It is only when you drop the mind, drop your self-doubts, it is only when you stop connecting your thoughts to form a shaft, that you really start 'seeing'. Your ego stops interfering with the truth of what you see.
It stops filtering and adding tones to what your senses experience. Your baggage of embedded memories, your saṁskāras, dissolve, and the new 'you' is born. All your actions then arise out of intuition, from the super conscious state, the state of truth, where no mind can exist. Śraddha Enriches you with Knowledge.
In the next verse, Kṛṣṇa uses the word 'śraddha' again. What a beautiful verse, 'śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ—the one established in authenticity is enriched with knowledge.' Actually, śraddha means faith plus the courage of authenticity to live to your highest possibility; the courage to be established in the peak of your capability. Understand, continuously committing with words that express your maximum peak capacity, as per your understanding and as per others' understanding is what is referred to as śraddha, authenticity.
Authenticity means stretching, stretching, and stretching. Go on stretching, that is Life! Go on stretching without fear, and without giving up on yourself. Do anything to honor and fulfill your words. Stretch yourself. Let all the powers inside you be unleashed!
Kṛṣṇa declares the power of authenticity here, 'śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ (4.39).' Only the authentic one is enriched with knowledge. When you have the knowledge and the courage of authenticity to follow and live the teachings, then you can achieve the ultimate knowledge, the knowledge of enlightenment. Many people do not have the courage of authenticity to see their research through. The eastern vedic sages did so much inner world research.
Millions of them have stretched themselves fearlessly doing full-time research for thousands of years, using their bodies and minds as laboratories. Why? Just to enrich others! This knowledge of the inner world is the result of their authenticity, their space of possibility to do courageous experiments and studies just for enriching others. They were true inner scientists, true śraddhavān who had not only the curiosity, 'the great why' and the perseverance to know, but also the courage of authenticity to follow, live and express their findings.
Look at Patañjali, the father of yoga—He boldly declares that all that he says in the Yoga Sutras is completely open to experimentation and verification. He says, 'You are free to try this, and if you find anything more to be added or edited, you are free to do so.' He has presented his research report. He invites you to try out these in your life and if you learn something more from that, his work is open to editing. That is the beauty of our system; it is a living system open to being updated.
Of all religious and spiritual doctrines, it is only the scriptures of the sanātana-dharma, the eternal path of righteousness, as the Hindu philosophy is called, that allow themselves to be updated. The Vedas and the Upaniṣads, which we believe are the voices of
Nature, are not rules and regulations. They are truths to be understood and followed only in awareness. There are no punishments if one does not follow them, nor is one condemned as a sinner if one doesn't follow them.
This is the greatness and pristine beauty of sanātana-dharma, the eternal path of living. We are the most powerful, most sophisticated, most intelligent, most cutting-edge presentation of the Truth left with the possibility to evolve more and more, open for the possibility of being updated! Nothing was sacred just because it was uttered. All that we follow blindly today as traditions came through societal interpretation.
It is for us to sift through these truths with conscious awareness. Once tested, proven, accepted and intranalysed, we need to have the courage of authenticity to practice these truths. Mere knowledge is insufficient. That is what śraddha is about.
With śraddha, faith combined with courage of authenticity, you make the effort to constantly stretch and align yourself to the peak capability of what you feel as you, what you project as you, and what others' perceive as you. This dawns the ultimate knowledge in you.
With authenticity you conquer your senses, and direct your mind towards the truth, instead of your mind and senses leading you wherever they wish to. The state of fear can be born in you only when you are inauthentic. Only a man in authenticity, living authenticity, is a liberated one enriched with the ultimate knowledge, śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ
Impress upon the students that we need to have the courage of authenticity to practice these truths of sanatana dharma.
- ❖ What is śraddha ?
- ❖ What is authenticity? What are the benefits of living in authenticity?
- ❖ Scriptures of which religion are open to experimentation, verification and updation?