The Empty Drum: Ego, Satsanga and Rama's One Arrow
In the morning satsanga of October 9, 2026, Swami Jyotirmayananda taught that the ego is an empty drum that shouts its power, that satsanga gives the insight a suffering mind cannot find alone, and read Rama's arrow and the seven palm trees as the seven chakras.
After an invocation to Lord Rama, Lord of the Raghu dynasty, whose complexion is like a blue lotus, and the Hare Rama mantra, Swamiji read a short poem. As the mind flows to God through japa and meditation, there emerges bhavana, the purified feeling of divine love. Like a flurry of snowflakes dancing in the wind, it courses through one's veins and brings a thrill to body and mind. As the rising sun disperses a veil of mist, the God of boundless love is realized as one's own Self. When the ego dissolves and God alone is, the Self shines, proclaiming "I am That."
The Higher Self Must Win
The story continued with Sugriva telling Rama about Bali. Bali, Swamiji recalled, is the lower self and Sugriva the higher self. In the movement of sadhana, led by Rama's grace, the higher self must win over the lower self. He gave the teaching uddhared atmanatmanam: rescue yourself by yourself.
A listener asked about a distinction. Normally the demons are sublimated by the divinity of Rama, yet here we have Bali killing and destroying. Swamiji answered that the episode is highly allegorical. "Both are monkeys." And "Monkey means mind." Bali and Sugriva are the play of one mind in two aspects, the higher self and the lower self within the person, and the two constantly live in turmoil and disharmony.
Satsanga and the Remedy
You find your mind running around with fear, Swamiji said, and you try to correct it yourself. But to remove one problem of yours, "you create another problem." That is the predicament of people who do not have the guidance of satsanga. "That's why you come to satsanga."
He compared the seeker to a patient. In a state of too much suffering, the patient does not even know where to go. But as a little relief comes, one begins to ask where the remedy is and who will guide. "And satsanga begins to give you insight." Through it, one's own mind gains a clear insight into how to handle the movement toward cure. One becomes more skilled in taking the medicines, and develops patience.
The Empty Drum
Turning to Dundubhi, whom Bali eliminated, Swamiji spoke of the ego that begins to exercise its might. It asserts its power, but that power is egoistic, an inflation of the ego. Egoistic people, he said, "shout a lot how much they can do." Their noise is the beating of an empty drum.
Virtuous karmas have great power, he explained, and so do sinful karmas, yet both are in the world of mortality. Power gained by righteous conduct creates meritorious qualities, and history gives countless examples, Alexander among them, of great people who came and showed immense power. When egoism shines, the whole world is waiting to give you its drum beats; even at a cremation, he noted, there are drum beats.
Do not keep your head an empty drum, Swamiji counseled. "Empty drum, doesn't give you any music." But when a musician comes, see what he does: he beats it.
The Seven Palm Trees
Swamiji linked the seven palm trees, and Rama with one arrow, to the seven chakras along the spinal column. The lower self, too, gains great power by working upon the chakras. As each chakra opens it gives amazing strength and qualities.
But in practical life many practice for riddhis and siddhis, psychic powers. Different chakras open and different powers enter the mind, but "they are never steady." When the ajna chakra opens, the intellect becomes very shrewd and clear, and then the clarity goes away. In this way one goes on creating more egoistic development. Swamiji pointed instead to japa, bhajan and chanting.
The Garland of Virtue
Lower self and higher self are so mixed up, he said, that unless a proper distinction separates them, the lower self cannot be controlled by the higher. "The distinction has to come." Sugriva receives a garland from Rama, given by Lakshmana, and that garland means virtuous qualities.
Bali wears another kind of garland: the kamya karmas, done with desire, that give great prosperity but are perishable. No matter how much you attain, Swamiji said, "all is perishable." Even good karmas done while looking for enjoyment, for heaven, belong to that garland of bhoga, the worldly and mundane. Sugriva's garland highlights divine, virtuous qualities.
Then Sugriva's injuries are healed, a new strength comes, and Rama asks Lakshmana to give him that distinctive garland. Still the fight goes on, with much beating. The movement of sadhana is not simple, Swamiji said, but spiritual heroism shines greater and greater. In ordinary adventure, a little adversity comes and you remove it. Then you want bigger challenges, and bigger still, because now you have become interested in seeing the divine vigor within you. That spirit of adventure has to enter every sadhaka, and it enters spontaneously through satsanga and Guru kripa.
The satsanga closed with a prayer for the shower of God's grace, the Mahamrityunjaya mantra, and prayers for the welfare of all.
Terms in This Satsanga
- bhavana — the purified feeling of divine love that emerges through japa and meditation.
- satsanga — the company of truth; the guidance that gives a suffering mind insight.
- kamya karma — action done with desire for its fruit; prosperous but perishable.
- bhoga — worldly enjoyment; the mark of Bali's garland.
- siddhi — psychic power; never steady.
- Guru kripa — the grace of the Guru.
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