We see in mythological scriptures that when God appeared before the meditating person, the person would immediately ask for some boon. Some asked for kingdom while others asked for liberation. Some aspired for knowledge and others wished prosperity.

If god were to appear before us today, can we make one single wish and be happy with it? No! Our desires are many. We want power and position and yet we do not want to work hard. We want good progeny, we want to remain young, we want prosperity and we want so many other things. We want to have the cake and eat it too! May be god does not appear before us because we do not know what exactly we want.

What is it that we want to achieve in life? We enroll our children in the best school and as they prosper in education, we start grumbling that they do not possess devotion for God. Even before they complete their education, we start worrying about securing a decent job for them. When they get a good job, we start complaining that they are neglecting the parents. Gradually, we stop thinking about children and turn our attention towards Gurus and places of pilgrimage. An idol does not speak. We do not obey the words of the Gurus who, out of compassion talk to us and give us good advice. Instead, we ask the Gurus to fulfill our wishes. We ask for Moksha, we ask for God-realisation. We pose as though our desires are noble. Irrespective of what the Gurus say, we develop faith in them. We start believing that the Gurus can fulfill all our wishes. Once our faith becomes firm, we start asking for fulfillment of base desires such as ‘our children should prosper, they should look after us well, they should become devoted’ and so on.

Whether we admit or not, what really transpires in our mind is, even as we are doubtful of the desire-fulfilling capabilities of the Gurus, we desire Moksha from them. Once we become sure that they are capable of granting our wishes, we take out our real shopping list.

What then is our true desire? Whatever it is, it is certainly not Moksha or God-realisation.

So what if it is not Moksha of God-realisation? There must be at least one main desire in our mind. What is it? Is it the prosperity of our children? Is it our own prosperity? Is it knowledge? Is it power and status? Is it mental peace? What is it?

We can not say for sure what it is. Even if we were to select one, we will surely become bored with it soon. We keep on changing our wishes from time to time.

On the other hand, when we see a person who achieves his goal after striving for many years for the fulfillment of one desire, we start becoming jealous. We start analysing as to why we failed while our friend succeeded. Even before we come anywhere near an answer, Yama, the lord of death, consumes us. Because our mind was in a state of dissatisfaction at the time of death, we will be as disgruntled beings in the next birth.

That we do not know what we want is the basic cause for all this. To put it differently, desiring for many things at one time. We think that our desires are our goals. We have many desires and therefore, we do not concentrate on one thing. We try to concentrate on many things at the same time. We do not have single-pointed mind.

Once the disease is diagnosed, the treatment becomes easy. The disease we are suffering from is ‘multi-pointedness of mind’. The remedy is ‘single-pointedness’. Logically, it is quite simple. But the question is, where is this remedy available? How can it be acquired?

We already know that there are many goals in front of us. Therefore, we need not search where the goal is. What we need to do is find out a method to achieve one goal at a time.

The permanent solution for this problem is the Ashrama system devised by our ancient seers. (Ashrama system = human life is broadly divided in to four stages or Ashramas. They are Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa).

In the first Ashrama, i.e., the Brahmacharya Ashrama (student stage), education alone should be the aim. In this stage of life, there should be no other desires.

The second Ashrama is the Grihastha Ashrama (householder stage). In this stage, two beings come together and lead a harmonious life. The aim of this Ashrama is to make use of the power of attraction existing between them by diverting it towards observance of righteous deeds, thereby doing good the society. This should be the combined aim of the couple. This Ashrama is like a circle from where different roads are accessible. The householders are required to travel a little in all the roads. Because of this, their aim may appear hazy at times. It should be borne in mind that the different roads visible near the circle do not delude those who stick to the system devised by the Rishis. For them, neither the circle nor the roads are important. They should discharge their duties as householders and at an opportune time, should acquire qualifications necessary to enter the third Ashrama.

Even as a single person, the individual will be presented with multiple desires. How is it possible for two persons (couples) to pursue one single goal? Is it easy? Is it possible? Yes, it is possible. Nature has endowed a special kind of binding power in the form of mutual attraction. As humans, we may not be able to create a new kind of energy. But transforming one kind of energy to another is well within human capability. One only has to know the technique to do so. In this context, following the rules of Grihasthashrama itself is the technique.

The process by which the couples - who are under the influence of attraction endowed by nature – translate the power of attraction to discharge their obligations to the society itself is the Grihastha Ashrama. However, in this stage of life, there is the danger of this power of attraction to assume the form of bondage. It is to help the householder overcome this danger that the ancient seers have laid down a set of rules to be followed by the householder.

When two beings start living together as husband and wife, they tend to get carried away by the sweetness of companionship and a time may come when they start feeling that one can not live without the other. Even the thought of solitude might prove nightmarish to them. To counter this, our Maharshis have devised Vanaprashta Ashrama. One should step in to this style of living in the very beginning of old age. In this stage of life, there are two important rules that the householders need to practice. 1. To continue to love each other even while living apart and, 2. To remain detached even while living together. For those who achieve mastery over these two rules, even death will be like a welcome guest. They will be able to revere, not fear death.

Only those who attain perfection in this third Ashrama become eligible to enter in to the fourth stage i.e., Sanyasa Ashrama. There is no scope for any arguments here. The only aim of people in this Ashrama is liberation or Moksha itself.

The ancient Rishis have thoroughly analyzed the innumerable desires that crop up in the minds of human beings. They have also analyzed human life styles and the series of births that humans take. They have divided the human life and his aims in to four parts. They have ordained that in the first phase, learning or education alone should be the aim of man. In the second stage, when the person is bubbling with youthful vigor, he is required to divert the power of attraction irrespective of whether they are physical, mental, social or cultural, to discharge his commitments towards the society. His aim should be ensure that the attractions remain in unison with his social obligations. The aim in the third stage is to transcend attraction as well as obligation. In the fourth stage, the aim should be to eliminate all thoughts about life and to concentrate on the Almighty God.

In this way, our ancient seers have innovated special guidelines to ensure that people can remain focussed in every stage of life. By following the guidelines of the Rishis, concentration of mind can be achieved in each of the four stages of life.

A foolproof system needs to be devised when there is the hazard of wandering off the right path. As explained before, throughout our life, desires drag us in many directions. We become confused about which are to be pursued and which are to be eschewed. To help man come out of such confusion, the Rishis of yore have formulated Ashrama system.

After having devised this four-stage system called as Ashramas, they have ordained man to pursue certain aims in each of the stages and to give up other aims. Is mere ordaining enough to achieve the aims? Is not a system or method required which can tell us how to go about it? The following Sookti sheds light on the approach to be followed.

Ekaagrataamichchasi chet kalaarthin
Paathyeshu saktim bhaja gouravam cha
Bhavaalpa bhojee kuru saadhu maitreem
Tathaa gurou nirbhara bhaktimaan syaah

O! Kalaarthi (student)! If you want to accomplish single-pointedness,
1. Cultivate interest in reading prescribed books.
2. Respect them.
3. Exercise control in eating. Do not over eat.
4. Develop friendship with good people.
5. Have devotion for your Guru.

It might appear as though the above Sookti is addressing only those who are in the first stage of life, i.e., the Brahmacharis. "Where is the guideline for others who are in other stages?" one may ask.

It must be borne in mind that the Sooktis of mahatmas always have a deeper meaning. The above Sookti refers a seeker as ‘Kalaarthi’. The common meaning of this word is ‘student’ (kala means education, arthi means aspirant). Therefore, one may get an impression that the above Sookti is meant for students.

When we look at the deeper meaning of the word ‘Kala’, we will come to know that it stands for knowledge-seeker (kam-jnaanam, laati-dadaati iti kalaa – kam stands for Jnaana or knowledge, laati means that which bestows). This etymology shows that the true knowledge that bestows unending Ananda itself is Kala. One who aspires for it is a Kalaarthin. Every being in every phase of life will be aspiring for a particular level of knowledge and for the fruit, which that knowledge can bring about. In this sense, every being is a Kalaarthi, irrespective of which stage of life he is in. Therefore when we realise that the above Sookti is in fact addressing people in each and every stage of life as Kalaarthi, we will understand the wider meaning of the Sookti.

Let us now see as to how these five steps can help a person in achieving concentration of mind, irrespective of which stage of life he is in.

It was said in the beginning that multi-pointedness is the plight of today’s human beings. Because of this, one starts reading different kinds of books and other literature. A student, instead of reading books pertaining to his curriculum, will show more interest in reading novels. Householders, who are required to read Dharmic literature, will engage themselves in reading fictions. Those who are in Vanaprastha (anchorite) stage often engage in reading treatises which describe means of atonement, whereas they should actually be reading Vedantic literature. Sanyasins, who, in fact do not need to read anything, engage themselves in reading various scriptures. In doing so, all these people are in fact nurturing and encouraging multi-pointedness of mind. Reading the right kind of books at the right time is the first step – says the above Sookti.

A student reluctantly starts reading his textbooks when the examinations are fast approaching. A householder reads treatises on Dharma Shastra as though it has been forced upon him. A Vanaprastha reads Vedantic literature resentingly because he is not able to grasp their meaning. A student reads his book out of examination fear. The householder and the anchorite read because of fear of Dharma. They do not cherish or like the books that they are reading. Therefore, they fail to understand and assimilate the essence of those books. Therefore the above Sookti calls upon the seekers to respect and love the books prescribed to them.

Any kind of Sadhana depends on the body and psyche of the person engaged in it. It is imperative that to gain control over the body and the mind, one has to exercise restraint in consumption of food. By excessive eating, the body becomes bulky and the mind, insane. Therefore, the above Sookti stresses much importance about exercising control in food intake.

Although fitness of both the mind and the body are required for a seeker, there is no doubt that mental fitness plays a major role in Sadhana. Three aspects influence the mind. They are 1. Food, 2. Practice and 3. Friendship or company. We have just learnt about the importance of food intake. The importance of Abhyasa (practice) will be highlighted in forthcoming Sooktis. Coming to the third aspect, it is common experience that good company strengthens the mind and the company of the wicked weakens it. Therefore, the Sookti advocates noble company as the fourth step

Who is a noble man? One who has reached the goals prescribed for the respective stages of life successfully is a noble man. For example, for a student, one who studies well is a good friend. One who discharges his duties promptly and faithfully is a good friend to a householder. For an anchorite, an unattached person is a good friend. An ascetic does not need friends at all!

One who has achieved success in one stage and has reached a higher stage will naturally become a Guru for those who are still in the lower stage. Needless to say, whatever stage of life we may be in, we need the help of a Guru to reach the next stage. However, for reaching the goal of the last stage, i.e., to achieve Moksha, a Guru is not only necessary, but is absolutely essential. Therefore, if one does not realise the importance of a Guru in the earlier stages of life, one will not succeed in the last stage of life, although one may manage some sort of success in the earlier stages. In fact, Sadhana becomes easier with the help of a Guru in every stage of life. The above Sookti therefore advocates cultivation of Guru Bhakti right from the beginning.

By the grace of Lord Dattatreya, may you all realise the importance of these five steps in all the four stages of life.

Jaya Guru Datta.

Sri Swamiji