LIFESTORY OF HANUMANJI By Sri Swami Shyam Paramahansa [email protected] (for personal correspondence with Swamiji) [email protected] om (for info on more ebooks, cds and videotapes, etc.) http://www.swamishyam.org . For Free Vedic Ebooks, Free Srimad Bhagavatam Audio & Free Bhajan Internet Radio: http://bhagavat - katha.exactpages.com WHAT IS THE NEED OF THIS BOOK IN HUMAN LIFE? In this book about Sri Hanumanji, there is one thing about Him which is very important and extensively described, and that is -- HUNGER. We find Sri Hanuma nji hungry from the very beginning. Different actors in the life - sketch of this book are also very hungry. (1) The first scene showing hunger is when Sri Hanumanji as a child leaps into space, conceiving the rising sun to be a beautiful, palatable fruit. (2) The second scene describing hunger, we find on the south Indian sea -shore where the eagle hero, Sampati, seeing a big assembly of Vanaras says, "For the last many days I have been dying of hunger." (3) The third scene is the appearance of Surasa in t he midst of the great Indian Ocean. She says that she is very hungry and that she is going to devour Hanumanji right away. (4) In the fourth scene is Simhika, a demonness who is also hungry and snatches Hanumanji by His shadow in order to make a feast of Him. (5) In the fifth scene is Lankini, the gate -keeper of Lanka City. She also tries to gobble up Sri Hanumanji while He was entering into Lanka, assuming a tiny form. (6) The sixth scene depicting hunger is when Sri Hanumanji meets Sri Sitaji and conve ys the message of Sri Ram to her. When the work is done, Hanumanji says to Sri Sitaji: Sunahu màtu mohi atishaya bhùkhà. "Mother, listen. I am very, very hungry." (7) The seventh scene is a site of congregational hunger when all the Va naras return to Kishkindha through the space, and instead of going to the king first, they land in the royal garden and start eating fruits. Many different kinds of hunger are described in this book because in this world everybody is born out of hunger; t hat means -- HUNGER OF COUPLING. And when he is born, off and on he cries to be fed. As he grows, the same hunger is expressed in his longing for toys, for more knowledge, for more friends, for competition. The same hunger later finds expression in search for a wife, then child, then respect, and money, etc. It is the same energy of hunger. Everyone is hungry here in this world. Often person has hunger like Surasa's, another one like Simhika's. This book tells what the real hunger is and what the path is t o satisfy it permanently. Each one has different kinds hunger, and that makes their personality. There are only a few selected, chosen fortunate ones whose quality of hunger is similar to Sri Hanumanji. And understanding Hanumanji's method of satisfying t he hunger is still rare, and applying it in one's life is still seldom found, and once you do apply it, Enlightenment is at hand. So, all hungers are for Enlightenment. And they are but different perversions of the energy of Enlightenment. The question m ay arise, that if someone is busy with his physical hunger, can he say that his personality is perfect? Of course not. But it is also true that no one can avoid hunger. No one can neglect it. As far as physical hunger is concerned, it is a necessity of lif e, and it is most important and very special. If you don't feel hungry for a few days, can you afford to feel comfortable? Okay, I have gotten rid of a big problem. No, not at all. On the contrary, you become anxious. You rush to the doctor, you take medi cine, you try everything, you make every effort to restore your natural hunger. What you need is a healthy right type of hunger and also a solution to the problem of this right hunger. And also you need the right kind of food. Then satisfaction comes and you are assured of your normal health. Enlightenment is a perfection of psychological health. It is very important to know that when the hunger of the belly is satisfied, the hunger of sex arises. That is why, when a country has earned enough to eat and d rink, that its eating and drinking problem is solved, it develops a sexual civilization. Therefore, only poor countries are found to be moralistic. You can easily observe it throughout the history of the world. It is the first time in the history of Europ e and America that most of the problems of bodily needs have been solved. Therefore, this civilization has become more sexual. When a person has solved the problems of the belly, he becomes interested in sex. Then comes the hunger for a wife, then comes hunger for a job, then for children, then hunger for a home, then hunger for a car, and hunger for traveling to Hawaii. All these are interconnected with the hunger of the belly. As long as you are limited and conditioned by all these, you are still on the level of belly -hunger. And as long as you are just a belly - hungerer, you will remain robot -like, and tension and frustration will be an inseparable part of your life. Life should not be lived inconsistently, chaotically, or blindly. It should be organized into a Vedic or Tantric way of life. It should be disciplined in such a way that the neutralization of the hunger -energy through satisfaction can result in a more evolved state of life. And the result of an evolved state of life is the rise of another ty pe of hunger, the hunger of the mind. Human beings are not just bodies. Along with body, the mind, intellect, heart, and soul also exist. For physical health, first the real hunger has to be recognized. And only that should be fed and not the pseudo hung er. And this real hunger has to be fed by right food, full of nourishment, with appropriate vitamins. And more important than this, it should be sattvic . In the same way for psychological health, the hunger of the mind and intellect have to be satisfied with literary materials produced by those who have attained the Absolute Truth in their life, or it was the goal of their life and they were working hard for it. This is like sattvic food for the mind. If you don't have hunger of the mind, you are not ac tually healthy. For instance when you want some food to eat and someone arrives at your door and throws it at your head, or dashes it in front of you insultingly, will you eat? If you do, can you be considered psychologically healthy? Food should be offere d with love and respect. This wanting of love and respect is a healthy state of hunger of the mind. The desire to discover the mystery behind life and the universe is the cultured and refined state of hunger of intellect. And to crave for the experience o f Absolute Truth or God is the hunger of the soul. When you are not interested in anything other than topics of the Absolute, you torment for God day and night, you have developed hunger of the soul. All four types of hunger are natural in human beings, and as long as all four are not in perfect balance, one cannot be said to be healthy in the real sense. There are three types of satisfying hunger: (1) The food may not be delicious, but because you are very hungry you gobble it up and you feel satisfie d. (2) You are not actually hungry, but your favorite item is deliciously prepared and served to you and you eat it because of the taste. (3) You only eat when you are really hungry and the food is deli -ciously prepared according to purity rules and is served with love and respect. The same thing applies to the hunger of the mind and intellect. You need love and respect, you need entertainment also, but you have to be careful that your entertainment is not palatable only to the whims of the mind. It sh ould not be only with those with whom you just have a good chit - chat, and pass the time away by gossiping. You can find many useless people who will need you for useless purposes. They can show you their love, but that type of love should be considered gar bage. Entertainment should be with those people who give you a larger vision of life. Who not only entertain your mind, but also bestow upon you deeper health, and a profound basis to your life. Your love and reverence should flow towards those who bestow upon you a superior rest. Even if they do not pay any attention to you, you must try to win their glance. Even if they give very little time, you must consider it more than thousands of loves and sweet words of worldly -minded people. When you are able t o forget all the love of the parents, wife, children, friends, and all others - just to serve a Holy person like a servant, then a great Hunger of Soul has been born in you, and you attain a Superior Rest in higher consciousness. Budha visràm sakal jan ra njani ramakathà kalikalush vibhanjani .