Man's Pilgrimage in Realising the Self - Significance of Ramayana

Key Insights from Pujya Swami Chinmayananda’s Discourse on Ramayana:
Deeper Significance of the Ramayana: Swami Chinmayananda highlights that the Ramayana, written by Valmiki, carries a profound spiritual message beyond just being a story. He explains that "Rama" symbolizes the Supreme Consciousness (Brahman) that manifests in every form.
Symbolism of Characters and Events: Each element of the Ramayana is rich with symbolism:
Rama represents the divine Self (Brahman) within all beings.
Sita symbolizes Maya, the illusion or non-apprehension of Reality.
Ravana represents the ego and desires, specifically the 10 sense organs being controlled by lust.
The forest symbolizes the plurality of worldly life where conflict arises.
Hanuman and the monkeys represent the human mind and thoughts, which can be controlled and aligned with the divine will when lust (Bali) is overcome by self-discipline (Sugriva).
Human Spiritual Journey: The story is an allegory for the individual’s spiritual journey. Sita’s abduction represents the soul’s entrapment in worldly desires, while Rama’s quest to rescue her symbolizes the individual’s pilgrimage to overcome the ego and ignorance, moving towards self-realization.
The Role of the Mind in Spiritual Progress: The monkeys in the story are compared to the restless, scattered human mind. The mind becomes a helpful ally on the spiritual journey only when it is disciplined through self-control and freed from desires (represented by killing Bali).
Bridge of Contemplation: The bridge that Rama and his allies build to reach Lanka represents the path of contemplation that the seeker must undertake to reach spiritual realization and conquer materialism.
Realization and Return to Divinity: Rama’s return to Ayodhya symbolizes the culmination of the spiritual journey, where the seeker, having overcome ignorance and desires, returns to the realization of their true, divine nature.
Moral: The moral of Swami Chinmayananda's message is that the Ramayana is a symbolic representation of every individual’s spiritual path. It teaches that self-realization can be attained by overcoming ego, desires, and ignorance. Through self-discipline, contemplation, and surrender to the divine, one can reach a state of inner harmony and return to their true divine nature. The journey of Rama from Ayodhya to Lanka and back represents the soul’s journey from purity, through the struggles of worldly existence, and finally back to spiritual fulfillment.
InspirationsFromTheMaster - There is a spiritual background to the entire story of Ramayana. This is the reason why it is so popular. The average man is happy with the story. To the mediocre man, the idealism that Shri Rama stands for is a great education. But even the man of realisation enjoys Ramayana, because he sees in and through the story, the entire Vedantic wisdom, echoing and re-echoing as a melody divine.
About the Speaker: Pujya Swami Chinmayananda Ji
Hailed as the second Swami Vivekananda, Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1993) is an orator, writer and leader par excellence, a patriot and spiritual giant, one of the finest representatives of Indian spiritual heritage who spearheaded a global Hindu spiritual and cultural renaissance that popularised the religion's esoteric scriptural texts, teaching them in English all across India and abroad.
He worked tirelessly with tremendous energy for more than four decades to spread the message of Vedanta, leaving behind a great legacy for man. He has authored 95 publications, including commentaries on the major Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. He was a visiting professor of Indian philosophy at several American and Asian universities and he conducted university lecture tours in many countries.
The sprawling worldwide, spiritual, educational, and charitable organization of Chinmaya Mission that encompasses more than 300 centres in India and internationally, carries on the bright torch lit by this great saint.
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[@rosappan]

Namaskaram Guru 🙏 🙏🙏 🙏🙏 🙏🙏

[@raman7849]

What a revealing explanation 😇

[@hkpcnair]

beautiful interpretation. pujya Gurudev

[@Alaknanda2007]

Absolutely wonderful.

[@panchalabhishek8077]

From which discourse this part has taken...pls share so i can buy the full discourse