Inner Rama and Ravana

We human beings are quite intelligent. Despite being so intelligent, probably, human beings are most unhappy beings. We do not see the birds or animals being depressed or anxious. What is the reason why the most intelligent species on the earth are the most depressed and least happy?

King Dashratha was quite intelligent. It is said that his chariot could move in all 10 directions. That symbolizes that his intellect could understand everything in the 8 directions on the earth and whatever existed in the Aakash (cosmos) and whatever existed in Patala (quantum world). Despite being so intelligent, he dies due to the separation from Rama. He created the cause of his own misery. While fighting a battle against the danavas, Kaikeyi helped him and he gave two boons to Kaikeyi that could have been asked by Kaikeyi any time. That is what Buddhi does with the Mana (emotional mind). It gives two boons to the Mana. Kaikeyi was influenced by Manthara (Chitta) and asked for two boons: one to make his son Bharata the king of Ayodhya and the other to send Rama to the forest.

This is what we too do in our daily life. The Chitta (unconscious mind) has certain fixations like fixation on different objects of pleasure and aversion to pains. Chitta keeps inspiring and influencing the Mana (emotional mind) to ask the two boons from the intellect. One for getting the objects of pleasure and the other for the aversion of pain. When Mana asks these two boons, the intellect has no option but to fulfill the wishes of the Mana. That is what happens to us almost every moment, whether consciously or unconsciously. Whenever the intellect tries to move in the direction of the divine, like Dashratha willing to coronate Rama as the king of Ayodhya, the Chitta and Mana come out with their old samskaras and ask their two boons from the intellect.

We all understand intellectually the role of the divine in our life. Our intellect also understands that Rama (divine) needs to be the center of our lives just like Dashratha realized that Rama needs to be coronated as the king of Ayodhya. However, there are deep Samskaras that we have made in our Chitta. These Samskaras are the creation of our fixation on the objects of pleasure and aversion to pain. These samskaras keep influencing our emotional mind and our emotional mind dances to their tunes. That is why the intellect, despite understanding reality, runs away from the same and eventually dies.

We generally operate in the world of mind and thoughts. However, deep down in our existence, there is a completely unknown world of sensations. The latest research in the field of neurology has proved that whatever we like or dislike creates certain sensations in the body that are experienced by the body unconsciously. If we get an object that we like, that results in a pleasant sensation on the body, and the body craves for more such sensations. The moment we experience something we do not like, there is an unpleasant sensation in the body and we develop an aversion to such an experience. We like to meet the people we like more and more and run away from the people we do not like. The memories of the pleasant and unpleasant sensations get stored inside our bodies deep inside our unconscious. They get triggered by certain events. For example, if we have pleasant memories of visiting a place with our beloved, they get triggered whenever we visit that place again. Similarly, we may have haunting memories of a place where we encountered a life-threatening accident, and the moment we pass through that place, we relive those memories.

Rakshasas keep coming to Ayodhya and the forest from their habitat in Lanka. Whatever Yajna was performed by Vishvamitra, these demons will keep coming back and disturbing the Yajna. Similarly, even if we clean our minds 100%, these cravings and aversions will keep coming back from the unconscious. Only when Rama went to Lanka and killed Ravana, the king of demons, the demons stopped coming to Ayodhya.

The process of killing Ravana is not easy. We too have a strong and wide empire of Ravana inside us in the form of unconscious beings. We have a storehouse of samskaras due to the cravings and aversions we have accumulated across many lives. This world operates through sensations. These pleasant and unpleasant sensations keep influencing and in fact, driving the emotional mind. Rama needed Hanumana to find the whereabouts of this hidden world. Similarly, we need concentration to get the first glimpse of this inner world. Generally, we are so busy in the mental world that it is not possible for us to go into the depths of the inner world. However, in certain moments, when we close our eyes and withdraw our attention from the world of thoughts by concentrating on our breath, there are certain moments when we start becoming aware of the world of sensations. This is like Hanumana recalling his powers. Once Hanumana recalls his powers, no one can stop him from crossing the ocean. Once we learn to observe the world of sensations, no one can stop us from observing that world.

Mere observation of the world of sensations is not the end of the process. Even if Hanumana brings Sita back, Lanka will continue to be ruled by Ravana. That is not the purpose of our human birth. We have to observe the inner world and hand over the rulership of the inner world to Vibhishana so that the inner world is also centered around Rama. However, in the process, we have to take the help of Sugriva. Sugriva is the brother of Vali who has the distinct boon that whosoever he fights, he will get half of the strength of the opponent. That is why nobody can defeat Vali.

We too have different motivations and targets in our lives. These targets are so strong that the moment, we try to take initiative for some noble cause, the goals and targets, we have set for ourselves, take over half of the strength of the noble cause. Even if Rama comes to the front to fight the battle with Vali, even half of his strength will be taken over by Vali. Similarly, even if we want to spare time for the divine cause, our targets and goals are not going to leave any time for that. That is the reason why initially, we start stealing some time out of our busy schedule to study the scriptures and to be in the company of enlightened people. Slowly, Satsanga and Swadhway kill Vali hiding behind the tree. These noble souls do something wonderful to us. They keep asking uncomfortable questions and making us realize the dirt we are playing with and the dangers of the same. Slowly, we get our soul’s cause back.

Once we get the soul’s cause back, we take little steps like throwing stones at the sea with the name of Rama. These small deeds where there is no desire to get anything in return, help to build the bridge between our mental world and the inner world. Soon with the help of that bridge, we start becoming aware of the inner world with greater clarity. The old divine samskaras of many births join us in the form of Vibhishana and guide us to kill Ravana. After all, Ravana has 10 heads that symbolize the many different forms of the ego. The ego may come in many different forms such as the ego of being wealthy, powerful, knowledgeable, and helpful, and even the ego of being divine. We keep cutting one of its head and the other head emerges. Finally, Vibhishana tells us to hit an arrow in the naval and that is how the inner Ravana is killed and Vibhishana is made the ruler of the inner world.

Intellect has a very limited role in the process of realization and awareness. However, it has a very definite role. The kingdom of Ayodhya has to be taken over by someone like Bharata. Once the domain of mind (intellect, emotional mind, and the Chitta) is oriented toward the divine, it is time to look inwards. We need to concentrate on our breath and as our concentration gets stronger, we develop the ability to be aware of the inner world in the form of sensations on different parts of the body. With such awareness, we get to observe the pleasant and unpleasant sensations our body is experiencing all the time unconsciously. We become aware of this world, come back, and start making small efforts to build a bridge between the inner and the outer world by undertaking certain selfless actions in the name of the divine that build the bridge between the inner and the outer world. After connecting to our divine world, we have to get over the ego. Ego keeps coming in different forms. It plays many tricks like the Nagpasha of Meghnatha to delude us. However, with the help of the old divine samskaras in the form of Vibhishana, we get to know the secret of killing the ego and finally killing the inner Ravana. Now the inner as well as the outer worlds are centered around Rama and that is true Ramrajya.