Commentary on the text “Shri Guru Charitra”
The text “Shri Guru Charitra,” a biography of the incarnation of the avadhuta Dattatreya. The chapter “Bhaskara Collects Bhiksha for the Guru.”
Every day, the disciples of Shri Guru served him. One day, a Brahmin named Bhaskara came to the Guru and bowed to him respectfully. He said that he wished to collect bhiksha for Shri Guru. But he brought only enough rice, wheat flour, and clarified butter to feed three people. He ate whenever he was invited, together with the other disciples. He left his belongings at the monastery and used them as a pillow at night. Everyone laughed at him and said: “What kind of Brahmin is this? He came here to serve, but the food he brings is not even enough for one person. Shri Guru has so many disciples. Isn’t he ashamed to say that he wishes to perform samaradhana?”
They all scolded Bhaskara, but he remained patient and did not answer them. Three months passed this way. One day, Shri Guru said to him: “Bhaskara, today is your day to offer bhiksha. Take everything you have brought and prepare the food yourself.”
Bhaskara bowed in agreement.
Bhiksha means alms. Traditionally, sannyasins live on alms; this was especially so in ancient times. When our monks collect alms, this is simultaneously a practice of humility, cutting off attachments, flexibility, attentiveness, and much more. And, as you may have noticed, for some reason certain people are more successful in this area than others. When one monk collects alms, he may feed the entire sangha for a whole day or even several days. But when another monk does it, this somehow does not happen. Why is that? It is connected with karmas in the subtle body, with the level of prana, and also with bhava (the state of consciousness). If a yogin possesses great merit, has a very positive bhava, an open mind, a high level of prana, and a lot of ojas, then he can influence others spiritually. But if a yogin is too fixated on his inner data, is inflexible, fails to integrate with the situation, has a low level of prana, and is carried away by certain apparent certainties and is therefore unable to assess the situation adequately, then nothing works out for him. One could say that the market, in pure vision, is a wrathful mandala; the yogin is the central deity in this mandala; and the collection of alms is a magical ritual dance that subdues this wrathful mandala. And you either subdue it or you do not.
This situation will repeat itself many times. No one should think that they will manage to avoid it. It will recur again and again, only manifesting in different variations. At some point, you will have to interact with external energy. You will have to manifest your qualities and apply your meditative state in order to somehow subdue or purify this energy, illuminate it, and bring it into the mandala of contemplation. This may happen for you in this life, or it may happen in the next. In other words, this is a more global process, one of a universal nature. It will not necessarily involve collecting bhiksha, a market, and worldly people of some kind. It may involve spirits in the subtle body and wrathful sadhana, or dakinis and some kind of pacifying sadhana, or activity aimed at enlightening the minds of others. But in any case, our natural state remains the principal principle. We must manifest what we have attained in order to truly test it. We must combine contemplative presence with energy and see whether the power of our spiritual fire is capable of subduing inert matter and illuminating the obscured minds of sentient beings. These may not even be sentient beings, but rather certain forces of the universe; nevertheless, the principle of such interaction remains.
The Principle of Naked Awareness
Question: Could you clarify the principle of naked awareness once again in connection with this, using some specific situations as examples?
You can act truly effectively only when you are in naked awareness and when this naked awareness is filled with bhava, that is, spiritual power and a new way of perceiving the world. Then this bhava can spread outward and be transmitted to other beings: spirits, demons, gods, humans, and so on. You in a sense become a new center of gravity. If you are familiar with physics, you know that in physics it is believed that no force such as gravity exists; rather, there is a curvature of space caused by the large mass of a celestial body, such as the Earth or the Moon. But gravity itself, detached from any body as some constant, does not exist. In other words, everything depends on the mass of the celestial body. When a celestial body with a large mass curves the space around it, we experience this curvature as the familiar force of gravity. Bhava is something akin to this gravity. In other words, your naked awareness becomes so deep that it gradually begins to curve space and time around itself, that is, karmic perception. Prakamya-siddhis are based on this. And naked awareness consists in the fact that we do not need to do anything; first and foremost, we need to be. As a rule, we think that we need to do something, meaning that we are engaged in ordinary goal-oriented activity, which is essentially karmic and samsaric. But a true yogin knows that what he needs first and foremost is not so much to do as to be in the right spiritual state. If he is in the right spiritual state, even his small sankalpa will materialize; his action will be carried out, although not always exactly as he expected.
If you are truly intent simply on collecting bhiksha and set this as your goal, you may succeed only if you have a great deal of prana. But if you are intent not on doing, but simply on being in the proper state of mind, on abiding in deep bhava, then even a small sankalpa that flashes through your mind will profoundly change the karmic perception around you. It will spread like a forest fire, and ultimately your intention will be embodied.
Why does this happen? The point is that if we ourselves desire something, then it is the ego acting through us, and the ego cannot manifest an intention or curve space. But when we eliminate the ego by abiding in presence and decide that it is more important for us to be than to do, then our intention has a very powerful influence on the surrounding space. For example, you are performing service in a landscape-design mandala and want to complete it quickly and well. But if this is your only desire and you have nothing else, you will perform the service slowly and with great energy losses. If, on the other hand, you remain in deep clarity, if your main task is to abide in the proper state of consciousness, then you will arrange everything in such a way, integrating with the situation, that the service will be performed very effectively, skillfully, and quickly, because in this state of mind you enter the layer of consciousness where it is carried out in the best possible way.
The Miracle of Multiplying Food
Then the brahmins came to Shri Guru and said, “Today we must return home to eat. This brahmin is an obstacle preventing us from eating here.” But Shri Guru said to them, “Go and bathe. Today there will be a communal meal here.”
Then Shri Guru called Bhaskara and said, “Quickly prepare the food. I have invited many brahmins.” After some time, Bhaskara informed Shri Guru that the food was ready. Then Shri Guru told him, “Go and invite the brahmins to eat.”
But when Bhaskara went and invited the brahmins to eat, they insulted him and said, “Go and perform bhiksha for Shri Guru. We will come in the evening.”
Bhaskara told Shri Guru what had happened. The Guru said, “Today I am not going to eat without the brahmins.”
Bhaskara thought that Shri Guru was a divine incarnation and that his words must be true. But he said to the Guru, “O Guru, Your words are a command for me. But the brahmins do not believe me; they laugh at me.” Then Shri Guru sent a disciple to call the brahmins. In addition, through Bhaskara he conveyed that the brahmins should come to the meal with their families.
The brahmins said to one another, “We will not receive even a morsel. How can we invite our families as well?” But one old brahmin said, “Do not condemn him. He is only conveying Shri Guru’s message.”
Thus, all the brahmins came with their families. They performed mangala-arati for the Guru. Four thousand leaves were laid out. Bhaskara placed the prepared food next to the Guru.
At that time, palm leaves were used instead of plates.
The Guru covered the food with a cloth and sprinkled it with water from the kamandalu. Then he said to the brahmins: “Do not remove the cover from the dish completely. Move it aside little by little and gradually transfer the food into another dish, and then serve everyone.”
They distributed various kinds of dishes, and everyone began to eat. Even after serving so many people, the dishes were still full. The people were astonished. The brahmins ate with relish and were satisfied. The women and children also ate with relish and greatly enjoyed the meal. Yet the dish still contained as much food as had been prepared. After everyone had eaten, Bhaskara distributed the food as the Guru had instructed. All the prepared food remained, just as it had been at the beginning. With the Guru’s permission, Bhaskara placed the food in the river. All the creatures in the river were also satiated and pleased. The Guru’s glory spread everywhere. He blessed Bhaskara and said: “May your poverty disappear from this day onward, and may prosperity come to you.”
All the people went home, saying: “Although Shri Guru appears to be an ordinary human being, he is in fact the embodiment of the Trimurti.”
