Sri Chinmaya SadGuruve Namaha.
Hari Om.
Recently I have started reading a biography of Guruji Swami Chinmayananda. The book is written by Nancy Patchen and published by Chinmaya Mission Trust. I bought the book during the Chinmaya camp I attended in Dallas in Dec 09.
The book elucidates wonderfully the life of Guruji and how he came to this chosen path of Vedanta. The author has very clearly attempted to describe the life of Rishis and the way of Gurukul education of those days. What inspired me in the reading is the dedication and effort demanded of the students through their rough and tough life in the Gurukulam (Guru’s Ashram) in the Himalayan ranges. The daily regimen for Swami Chinmayananda when he was the disciple of Swami Tapovanam consisted of getting up by 4 AM, bath in the freezing Ganga river, meditations, day long education, discussions with the Guru and other disciples outside among the nature and contemplation during evening hours. They managed life there in the most minimal of conveniences and just enough food to keep them going. This kind of life is not to stave or deny themselves, but to transcend the pulls of BMI (Body, Mind and Intellect) away from the transient sensual pleasures and instead focus them pointedly on the path towards Self-Realization. Gurudev (Swami Chinmayananda) studied under the able and highly knowledgeable masters Swami Tapovanam and Swami Sivananda.
In the first few pages of he book, he author Nancy Patchen explains four prerequisite qualities demanded of a student, in order to be successful in the learning, understanding the Vedantic scriptures and to experience the ultimate Truth of Brahman. They are:
Viveka: The capacity to discriminate the Real from the un-real, the Permanent from impermanent, the Changeless from the changing.
Vairagya : Detachment from the un-real through logic and intellectual discrimination.
Satkasampatti: This consists of six moral and mental qualities: 1) Sama - Control of mind and ability to remain focused on one's objective; (2)Dana - Control of organs of perception and organs of action; (3) Uparati – the ability to cease all activities; (4) Thithiksha – endurance; (5) Shraddha – faith based on intellectual appreciation of the truths of the scriptures and (6) Samadana – A tranquil, calm mind born out of contemplation on the Truth – the Brahman.
Mumukshutva: The compelling desire to leave the limitations of the mortal world to reach the final divine goal of freedom from all bondage.
I believe the above qualities are a must in order to attain the highest levels in any field of knowledge, and the last quality – Mumukhutva being the final step to attain Moksha - the Infinite Brahman.