[Advaita-l] Vasanas

[Ganesh B]

Following is an interesting dialogue with HH Chandrashekhara Bharati
Swamigal.

*Devotee*: The number of vasanas or tendencies that rule our hearts are
endless. How can we possibly control them ?

*HH Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati*: The essential nature of a vasana is to
seek expression in outward acts. This characteristic is common to all
vasanas, good and bad. The stream of vasana, the vasand-sarit, as it is
called, has two currents, the good and the bad. If you try to dam up the
entire stream, there may be danger. The Sastras, therefore, do not ask you
to attempt that. On the other hand, they ask you to submit yourself to be
led by the good vasana current and to resist being led away by the bad
vasana current. When you know that a particular vasana is rising up in your
mind, you cannot possibly say that you are at its mercy. You have your wits
about you and the responsibility of deciding whether you will encourage it
or not is entirely yours. The Sastras enunciate in detail what vasanas are
good and have to be encouraged and what vasanas are bad and have to be
overcome. When, by dint of practice, you have made all your vasanas good
and practically eli¬ minated the chance of any bad vasanas leading you
astray, the Sastras take upon themselves the function of teaching you how
to free your free-will even from the need of being led by good vasanas. You
will gra¬ dually be led on to a stage when your free-will will be entirely
free from any sort of colouring due to any vasanas. At that stage, your
mind will be pure as crystal and all motive for particular action will
cease to be. Freedom from the results of particular actions is an
inevitable consequence. Both fate and vasand disappear. There is freedom
for ever more and that freedom is called Moksha.

~ Dialogues with the Guru