भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् | सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति || 29 || |
|---|
“He attains peace who realizes Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all the worlds and the selfless friend of all living beings.”
Commentary :
Peace is a deep feeling that resides in the heart region. When you can withdraw the mind completely within and away from outer perceptions for at least a few minutes, you can experience little peace at the heart region. For a common man, the mind immediately starts pulling the interiorized consciousness outward with associated desires and actions. For a yogi, the peace bubbles up continuously and draws the consciousness deeper and deeper within to its origin. From this fountain of peace and calm intuition, the yogi uses his mind as a tool for concentration.Krodha or Anger, often arises from unfulfilled desires, particularly those rooted in selfishness and ego. As a response to thwarted kāma, anger clouds judgment and fuels destructive impulses, further entrenching the individual in ignorance and suffering.
The external physical body is supported by the thought layer where the mind operates. Behind the thought layer is the emotional layer where the feelings operate. The emotional layer is supported by the electric layer where the currents operate. Behind the electric layer is the ego or individualized consciousness where the sense of ‘I’ exists. Your name is assigned to the physical body but beyond this layer, no one can differentiate between you and the next person. Imagine a situation where a villager sleeping under the open sky in his farm is suddenly awakened by the roar of a tiger standing next to his bed. If the intensity of shock in his emotional layer is extremely high, his frightened consciousness on the layer of ego will allow his life forces at the electric layer to depart his physical body and death occurs. Such is the connection of all the layers! The yogi, who has realized the Supreme Lord behind the layer of his ego, will perceive the same Selfless Friend behind the Lion’s egoistic layer. The yogi in the same situation may then choose to use his power to change the course of events.
In a previous life, Lord Buddha was born a Brahmin in a wealthy family but he renounced the life of privilege in search of Truth. He became a beloved teacher living in a forest hermitage. One day while climbing a mountain to find a suitable place to meditate, he heard the anguished roar of a tiger. Far below, he saw a weak and starving mother tiger who had just given birth to three cubs. Distressed with hunger, she was eyeing her tiny cubs as food. Her desperate hunger was about to overcome her natural love and care for her cubs. The great Buddha thought, “Two things alone cause people to ignore the suffering of others: attachment to pleasure and the inability to give aid. If I cannot feel pleasure while another being suffers and if I have the power to help, how can I ignore them?”. With that thought, he fell off the mountain and gave his body to the tiger and the little cubs. The mother tiger and the three cubs became his first four disciples in his next incarnation as Gautama Buddha.
Behind the veil of maya is the Enjoyer of all sacrifices and the Friend of all friends.