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There is oil in the sesame seed; there is butter in milk; there is water underground; there is fire latent in wood. Similarly, the Omnipresent God is in the human body and the human mind. When we seek to separate Him and identify Him, one has to make efforts and do Sadhana. Then, as a consequence of the effort and the Sadhana one will realise that God is oneself and there is no difference between the two. This is Liberation, Wisdom, Realisation, according to Adwaitha. Sankara names this process the Upasana of Adwaitha. Now, about the Upasana in Visishtadwaitha. Is the Sadhaka to consider the God whom he yearns to adore, as different and separate from him or as a part of him, associated somehow with him? This is the question Now for the answer. The Jiva is the soul of the body; God is the soul of the Jiva. Having one's faith fixed thus, adoring God is the means that Ramanuja has propagated. All this Cosmos is part of Him; It is in Him. He is the inner Motivator and He is present in all. That Supreme Person can be owned only through unflinching devotion, Prapatthi, Saranagathi, Total Surrender. "Thwameva sarvam mama deva deva". "You are my all, O my God of Gods. You are my only Master", - this is the attitude one has to develop and make one's own. The Upasana of Dwaitha - the Jivatma and the Paramatma relationship is as wife-husband relationship. The Full Free Supreme Vishnu is the husband, the master, the lord, the ruler, the provider; the individual is the ruled, the dependent, the wife. This method of Sadhana has been taught by Madhwacharya. Without devoted attachment to the Lotus Feet of the Lord, that is to say, without Bhakthi, liberation from the cycle of Samsara, why even purity of intellect and emotions, is impossible of attainment. For those who have the spring of ecstatic devotion to the Presence of the Lord within them, though they may not have any texts to ponder over, the very contemplation of the Beauty, Grace and Power of the Lord will give them bliss of superconscious Bhakthi. One cannot discover what prompts the experience. In that ecstatic mood, they discard all sense of shame and personality, and yearn to become the beloved of God, in blissful Union. They will then dance and sing aloud and be merged in genuine joy and Ananda. Sadhana in conformity with this faith has been laid down by Madhwacharya. The agony of the lover to attain the beloved is the true sign of Dwaithopasana. This has been elaborated in a thousand ways by others who came after. |