SATISFACTION AND NAMASMARAN: DR. SHRINIWAS KASHALIKAR

Student: Sir, in spite of years of practice of NAMASMARAN; I am still not able to experience what is described as satisfaction! What should I do?

Teacher: As far as I understand it, satisfaction is even more difficult than achievement of extraordinary feats.

Student: What do you mean?

Teacher: Practice of NAMASMARAN is actually a training of doing an activity where you do not get any tangible, predictable and measurable “benefit”! Being such a practice; NAMASMARAN actually transforms us to our original omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient state, which is totally devoid of any desires! This is an immortal state. But this may require not years and decades but even more.

Student: I don’t understand!

Teacher: When we are told that we should not expect anything; we think that we should not expect money, name, fame, power etc. So we stop expecting those things and start expecting satisfaction; because we think it is assured by Guru! But this concept of “getting” itself traps us! We mistakenly take the satisfaction referred to by our Guru, to be some kind of gratification and keep waiting for it; and are eventually disappointed!

Student: So what to do?

Teacher: Just as we breathe oxygen; we ought to practice NAMASMARAN. As per our stage of transformation our physical, emotional and intellectual needs, desires and aspirations have to be unhesitatingly and legitimately fulfilled through our own efforts; in the light of guidance and empowerment of inner voice i.e. our Guru! Actually our needs and desires go on changing or disappearing in the process of our transformation, without any coercion or suppression!

Student: In short, we should not expect anything, even happiness, peace, satisfaction from NAMASMARAN?

Teacher: It may appear strange. But it is true! For example, when we feel cold, we "want" or we "desire" warm clothes. But how can we want warm clothes or warmth from NAMASMARAN, which transforms us to our original state of being “fire”? Moreover once we become fire, how can we experience the warmth of warm clothes?
Hence NAMASMARAN is said to be for the sake of NAMASMARAN only!

Student: Sir, this is quite different from the emotional exuberance of millions of devotees!

Teacher: Actually, most of us are in need of some solace, some peace; some escapism and so on. Hence we try to cling to some tradition, some cult and feel secure in it. Often we infatuate piety, devotion, surrender, blessings, bounty, freedom from instincts; etc as these are our emotional crutches. We seek some social acceptability, social recognition and some social cohesiveness. There is nothing objectionable in it.

But for me; NAMASMARAN is a straight forward and transcientific process of individual and universal blossoming, i.e. “holistic evolution” over and above “organic evolution”. Hence my Guru Shri Brahmachaitanya Maharaj Gondavalekar says that practice of NAMASMARAN is for the sake of NAMASMARAN only!