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This website is devoted to Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality and Science. We bring in articles on teachings by Great Saints like Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, Adi Shankara, Swami Sivananda, Swami Krishnananda, Aurobindo, Mother of Auroville and others.
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New Year Message
Spiritual Message for the Day – New Year Message by Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 1 January 2016 14**.07 EST | New York Edition** |
New Year Message
Divine Life Society Publication: Discourse -2007-08 by Swami Chidananda
God be with you. The old year has passed. We are commencing this New Year with added knowledge and experiences. These experiences and knowledge we have obtained through the 365 days of the past year. Through the experiences of each day we have learnt something new. In the same way the 366 days stretches before you. You may add on to your knowledge and experience and get all the more wiser and benefit yourself and others.
God who has sent you into this human world regards your life as a process of positive evolution. God’s plan for man (who is the only creature having a mind and intellect) is for evolution and progress in every way because this earth life is meant to give each individual a scope that may end in total perfection.
You have been told this human earth is a school for perfection. God’s Divine perfection is already within you but in a latent form, therefore you are apt to forget it. Your body from its head to foot is a Royal and Divine Palace for GOD to reside in. God’s throne is your spiritual Heart situated on the right side of your chest. It is not the anatomical heart which pumps blood throughout your physical body. This is why God is called ANTARYAMIN which means the one who dwells in your spiritual Heart. You are meant to gradually unfold this Divine perfection within you and consciously make this Divine perfection completely manifest in your life and reflect in and through your day-to-day activities. Each day you must learn something new and carry this process onward that ultimately will make you a perfect human being ethically and spiritually. All the lessons you have learnt in all the 365 days of the year must now be applied in the days that are stretching before you in the new year. Body, mind and intellect should all go towards evolution to Perfection.
God has sent you to this human world not to be a static creature with no change or progress. God has sent you not to remain in the same condition of both body and intellect. God’s plan for you is evolution until you reach perfection. Body, mind, intellect and that which is imperishable within the perishable, all of them have to attain a state of completeness and Perfection.
In this matter, above referred, there is no other Indian scripture, so complete and thorough, giving the entire process of progress to perfection in all its aspects in its eighteen chapters in which Lord Krishna brings his friend Arjuna from a state of doubt and confusion to a state of certainty and action. This scripture is Srimad Bhagavad Gita.
In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that the body, mind and intellect are restricted in their activities and are not above error. The soul which is imperishable is evolving to aid each other to bring the individual upon the State of Perfection where it is neither troubled nor affected by wind, water, or fire or any weapon. The individual must raise himself from doubt to faith and the knowledge of a perishable being to imperishable being. That is why man is born to attain this knowledge and become fearless. This was the reason why Dr. Anne Besant of Theosophical Society liked the Bhagavad Gita so much and persuaded others to follow its teachings in life.
As this is my New Year’s Message I want all readers to know that the purpose of life is evolutionary until you reach immortality by Realizing that body and Soul (Atman) are quite different. Body is born and it dies. Death is inevitable to the body. In this body house, the Soul remains immortal and imperishable. This is what we call Atman (Soul). Your Atman is identical with Satchidananda Atman or Brahman. The Ultimate Spiritual Realization is therefore the experience of “Aham Brahmasmi”. In this human world bodies come and go. But that which gives it life is the imperishable Atman dwelling within you.
This is my vital message to one and all the readers. They must base their lives upon this fundamental truth and be fearless and free.
May God and Gurudev bless you to understand and follow this message in your life from this very moment when you are reading this!
I wish you a happy and progressive new year!
Excerpts from:
New Year Message - Discourse by Swami Chidananda
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New Year Message
Spiritual Message for the Day – New Year Message by Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj
| **Baba Times Digest© | 31 December 2015 14**.07 EST | New York Edition** |
New Year Message
Divine Life Society Publication: New Year Message by Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj
By the command of the Indestructible Being, minutes, hours, days and nights, stand apart. By the command of the Immortal Brahman, months, years, seasons and solstices stand apart. He who knows this Indestructible Being is a liberated sage or Jivanmukta.
Time rolls on. New becomes old and old becomes new again. Today is the most auspicious New Year’s day. God has given you another chance this year to enable you to strive for your salvation. Today man is. Tomorrow he is not. Therefore avail yourself of this golden opportunity, struggle hard and reach the goal of life. Make the best use of every moment of this New Year. Unfold all latent faculties. Here is a chance to begin life anew, to grow and evolve and become a superhuman or a great dynamic Yogi.
On this glorious New Year’s Day make a strong resolve to wipe away all the old worldly Vasanas or tendencies and bad impressions and to control the senses and the mind.
Know the value of time. Time is most precious. Utilize every second profitably. Live every moment of your life for the realization of your ideal and goal. Do not procrastinate. That “tomorrow” will never come. Now or never. Abandon idle gossiping. Kill egoism, laziness and inertia. Forget the past. A glorious and brilliant future is awaiting you.
Equal vision is the touchstone of knowledge. Unselfishness is the touchstone of virtue. Brahmacharya is the touchstone of ethics. Oneness is the touchstone of Self-realization. Humility is the touchstone of devotion. Therefore, be unselfish, humble and pure. Develop equal vision. Be in tune with the Infinite.
Satyam (truth) is the seed. Ahimsa is the root. Meditation is the shower. Santi (peace) is the flower. Moksha (salvation) is the fruit. Therefore, speak the truth, practice Ahimsa and meditation. Cultivate Santi. You will attain the final emancipation or freedom from the trammels of births and deaths, and enjoy Eternal bliss.
Be thou a spiritual warrior of Truth. Put on the armor of discrimination. Wear the shield of dispassion. Hold the flag of Dharma. Sing the song of Soham or Sivoham. March boldly with the band of Pranava—Om Om Om. Blow the conch of courage. Kill the enemies of doubt, ignorance, passion and egoism and enter the illimitable kingdom of blissful Brahman. Possess the imperishable wealth of Atma. Taste the divine immortal essence. Drink the nectar of Immortality.
May this bright New Year’s day and all the succeeding days of this year and all the future years also bring you all success, peace, prosperity and happiness. May you all tread the path of Truth and righteousness! May you enjoy the eternal bliss of the Absolute, leading a divine life, singing Lord’s name, sharing what you have with others, serving the poor and the sick with Atma Bhava and melting the mind in silent meditation in the Supreme Self.
Excerpts from:
New Year Message by Gurudev Swami Shivanandaji Maharaj
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God The Almighty
Spiritual (Story) Message for the Day - God The Almighty by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 30 December 2015 21**.51 EST | New York Edition** |
God The Almighty
Divine Life Society Publication: Invoking Succor from God the Almighty by Swami Krishnananda
Spoken on August 18,1985
The soul’s anguish for God will be the answer to the question as to what we are to expect in our spiritual adventure. There is the well-known path of krama-mukti, the gradual progressive salvation described in detail in the Upanishads. But there is also what is called sadyo-mukti. This is the action of God at once. He has no protocol, and there is no action through the proper channel. He breaks through all this intricate winding processes and grasps the spirit of the devotee with His own hands. Stories like the incident of Gajendra’s moksha are illustrations on this point. Why should Narayana himself come? Has he not got anybody else? He could have sent some assistant, some Garuda, to go and help this poor elephant. He has got so many, but he ran himself.
It appears Akbar was told this story by Birbal, that Narayana ran, unaware of anything else. “What kind of God you have got? Foolish God,” said Akbar. “Why should he run for a little thing? He is almighty; he has got such strength. He could have told some of his attendants to go and help, and they are equally capable. It was not such a serious matter.”
“Well, I will answer this question.” Birbal took time to answer the question how this is possible.
It appears that Birbal was the caretaker of the very, very beloved child, the son of Akbar. He was always taking care of him, taking him for a walk, and so on. One day Birbal asked a sculptor to prepare a beautiful image identical in features with this boy, and he placed this image on the edge of a deep well and left it there. Akbar knew very well that the boy was always under the protection of Birbal and was caring for him. One day, Birbal took Akbar for a walk near this well when it was dusk and things could not be seen properly. “Oh, my boy is here near the well,” Akbar said. “How is he near the well?”
“It’s all right, it’s all right,” Birbal said.
Birbal had already arranged with someone that at the time when Akbar was to be there, this image was to be pushed into the well, and it was pushed. Birbal said, “O God, the child is in the well!” Akbar ran immediately. “Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Birbal said, “Wait here. You have got so many attendants. Send your attendants.”
“Oh, don’t talk, foolish idiot! My child is in the water. I will go and take him myself.”
“Your Highness, your child is safe. Don’t be afraid. Here is the child,” he said. “It is only an image, but I have answered your question.”
Narayana is not an idiotic god. The love of God for the soul that seeks Him is not explicable by human language, and it is not to be interpreted even by a scripture. The Srimad Bhagavata tells us that scriptures, the Vedas themselves are incapable of putting into form and shape the might and majesty and glory of the internal relation that God maintains with His devotee: aham bhakta paradhinaha, says Narayana (S.B. 9.4.36). This is a statement which God can make and man cannot understand: I am dependent on my devotee. Why should He be dependent on the bhakta? This is capable of being understood as a metaphorical statement of the perpetual care that God takes of the soul that is in union with Him.
Continue to read:
God The Almighty – Invoking Succor from God the Almighty by Swami Krishnananda
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The Causal Law as a Limitation
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Causal Law as a Limitation by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 29 December 2015 21**.06 EST | New York Edition** |
The Causal Law as a Limitation
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 9 An Analysis of the Brahma Sutra by Swami Krishnananda
When you say ‘we want moksha – Liberation’, liberation from what? Where is the bondage? Can anyone of us say where lies the bondage? Has God created bondage? We all go on saying that God created the world. If God created the world, he must have created the bondage of the world also. If God cannot be attributed to have created bondage, then who else created bondage? We would not ourselves create bondage of our own selves. As this question cannot easily be answered, one cannot also easily know what Moksha is. The erroneous notion enveloping our existence is such that whatever we touch creates a difficulty for us:
Sarvarambha hi doshena dhumenagnirivavritah. (Bhagavad Gita 18.48)
“Anything that one does produces a cloud of reaction; It will not bring satisfaction!”
Actually, liberation means liberation from the notion of cause and effect, that something comes from something. As the mind is involved in the web of causal law, who will liberate the mind from the network of ‘cause and effect’? This is why Jnana Yoga path is considered difficult. It is like trying to melt down one’s own personality.
The three Acharyas – Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva – have their own definitions of liberation. ‘You become one; – that is liberation. Now, what is the meaning of becoming one with another thing? When water is mixed with milk, the two join together and become one substance as it were; you cannot see water separately sitting in the milk, yet water is not milk. The existence of the water is merged in the existence of the milk, notwithstanding the fact that one is different from the other. Ramanuja’s view is some such thing; You may feel you are one with God as water may feel it is one with milk or milk may feel that it is one with water, but they are different; though for certain purposes, they look like one. The intimate relationship between God and the soul is such that one may feel it is the same as the other, though it is not. Ramanuja’s conclusion is that the soul does not get identified with God, just as milk and water do not identify themselves with each other.
Madhva’s view of liberation is like loss of individuality which is possible by getting mixed up with other individualities. Say, there are grains of rice and grains of sesame (til), – if sesame seeds and rice seeds are mixed together, each seed may think that it has lost its individual existence by communicating itself with other seeds – til with rice and rice with til. This is Madhva’s idea of ‘union’ with Reality, but yet til cannot become rice; rice is quite different from til. In the case of milk and water at least, there is an appearance of identity but in til and rice, there is no such question at all. Here is the difference between Ramanuja’s opinion about moksha, and Madhva’s.
But in the case of Sankara, moksha is like ‘water mixing with water’; It is total oneness. If hundred drops of water unite themselves, they become one drop only. But, mixing up one hundred rupee coins together would not convert them into one big rupee – they remain one hundred only. But here in the case of water, it is not like that. Any number of drops of water mixed together will become just one big drop. Finally it can become one huge drop like the ocean. This is Sankaracharya’s standpoint, basically.
What does Brahma Sutra say? It does not say clearly anything! There are indications that all the three are correct from different points of view. The Upanishads have passages corroborating all these views.
Whether something exists really or not is not important. Does the consciousness believe that something is existing, or not, is what is important. Bondage is the belief of consciousness in the existence of certain factors which are binding. ‘The world is binding; all people are sources of trouble and limitation’ – this notion of the individual has to be overcome in order that the ‘trouble-creating’ elements may depart from the soul that is troubled, which is possible if the individual cuts itself off from the causal world completely or identifies itself with the world totally. The individual cannot cut itself off from the world as it is a part of the world; the only way is to unite itself with the world. The first attempt is ostensibly dangerous and unpractical. The second is laudable, and is the proper way of self-integration.
Excerpts from:
The Causal Law as a Limitation – Chapter 9 An Analysis of the Brahma Sutra by Swami Krishnananda
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Happiness
Spiritual Message for the Day – Happiness by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 28 December 2015 20**.09 EST | New York Edition** |
Happiness
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 3 The Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
Every effort is motivated by happiness. This is not merely a practical fact, but also a psychological truth. The whole process of creation, manifestation and dissolution, evolution and involution, the entire activity of the cosmos is an urge of happiness. It is happiness that is trying to recover its own consciousness and establish itself in its own pristine all-comprehensiveness. It is this that is called activity. It is this that is called enterprise and aspiration. It is this that is also called cosmic evolution. Happiness is at the back of everything. Happiness alone is.
Normally in our workaday world, we are accustomed to think that happiness is an achievement, by means of an effort, in the direction of an object which is regarded as the location of happiness. It is strange, no doubt, that different subjects endeavoring in the direction of happiness have different objects wherein happiness is supposed to be lodged. This is the reason behind a doubt that can arise in the mind as to where happiness lies.
There seems to be a flaw in the doctrine that the mind alone is the source of all happiness, because this doctrine is refuted by the very activity of the mind every day, which moves towards things other than its own self, viz., the objects in the world around us.
But the other doctrine that the world is the source of happiness also seems to be refuted by a deeper analysis that no object seems to be capable of attracting the attention of everyone at the same time, nor even one and the same subject at all times. So, there seems to be some mystery behind even the assumption of the presence of happiness in the objects outside.
Happiness is not in the mind, nor is it in the object, taken independently by themselves. Sanatkumara says, “My dear Narada, happiness is not anywhere and yet it is everywhere; it is in a completeness of Being that you can find happiness.”
Even the whole world put together is finite. It cannot be regarded as infinite, because it is limited by space, time, and limited by the very presence of inner discrepancy within its own self. Then where is happiness? Not in anything that can be conceived by the mind or perceived by the senses. Happiness cannot be in anything in this world, because everything in this world is finite. The infinite Reality that is behind all finitudes, that alone can be regarded as complete by itself, because That alone is independent of any kind of contact with the finitudes. That infinitude is the source of happiness whose reflection in some manner or other in the finite objects of sense becomes responsible for our belief that happiness is in the objects outside.
“Happiness is completeness, happiness is the totality, happiness is in the Absolute,” declares the great master Sanatkumara.
If that alone is happiness, why is it that we feel happiness in objects of sense? “_Nalpe sukham asti—_the finite things do not contain happiness,” says Sanatkumara to Narada.
It is completeness of being that is the source of happiness. But where is this completeness of Being? It is not in the objects of sense, not in the union of one and two, or in the union of many. The Absolute, Fullness alone is Bliss—bhumaiva sukham.
Excerpts from:
Happiness – Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
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The Parable Of The Two Zen Monks
Spiritual (Story) Message for the Day –The Parable Of The Two Zen Monks by Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 27 December 2015 20**.35 EST | New York Edition** |
The Parable Of The Two Zen Monks
Divine Life Society Publication: The Eye Of The Hurricane by Swami Chidananda
Two Zen monks were on a journey. They came to a little stream where the current was a little strong and there was a village woman waiting to cross. But the time of the ferry had already been over and the last boat had crossed over. The boatman had tied the boat and gone home. But this woman still had to go across; she was lamenting how she could spend the night this side of the river. The two monks were strong and they did not worry about this stream. They tied up their cloth and prepared to ford (wade).
Seeing the woman’s state, the elder monk asked the younger to go and inquire what her situation was. Did she have relatives there with whom she could spend the night? The younger monk went and asked, and she said, “No, I do not know what to do”. Then the young monk said, “Don’t worry mother, I will take you across”. So he lifted her up and forded the stream in company with his senior companion and reached the other bank and put the grateful woman on her feet and she thanked him profusely and went. So they continued their journey, but the elder monk was very much upset.
It was against the rules of their monastic order to touch a female, much less to lift her up in arms and carry her for such a long time (two or five minutes, may be). So he was completely upset. First of all he cast a glance of disfavor and displeasure at the young man and even said, “What is it you have done?”. The young man said, “Forget it”.
At last, walking several miles, they reached their monastery and when they were about to enter, the old man once again started the theme and said, “Look here, you will have to make a penance; you will have to confess to the abbot; you have done something very, very wrong”. And the young man said, “What is it that you are referring to?”. “You carried that woman this evening.” The young monk looked with great surprise.
He said, “Look here, respected sir, I left her long ago by the riverside, miles behind, but you are still carrying her in your head”. He had carried her across and had forgotten the woman, but the old man all along was really carrying the woman in his head. This is the condition, the great problem of man bound and man liberated.
Excerpts from:
The Parable of The Two Zen Monks: ** **The Eye Of The Hurricane** **by Swami Chidananda
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The Supreme Reality
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Supreme Reality by Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 26 December 2015 21**.54 EST | New York Edition** |
The Supreme Reality
Divine Life Society Publication: God-Realization by Swami Sivananda
Life is not a misery. One should live for hundred years by performing action without attachment. Life is not a bondage when it is looked with the proper light. Such a man of proper knowledge looks on all beings as his own Self and his Self as all beings. To him everything is his own Self, and he is not affected by grief, delusion or sorrow of any kind.
The Supreme Reality is indescribable. It is beyond the reach of the mind and the senses. It is beyond even the intellect. It is the light of all else and nothing is a light to it. Speech cannot express it. Mind cannot think it. Intellect cannot understand it. Senses cannot perceive it. Such a wonderful Being is the Truth. Brahma-Jnana is not a knowledge of something but becoming Absolute Knowledge Itself. It is the Infinite Subject, if speech can be permitted to express like that. It is an experience and not a perception. It is absoluteness and is, therefore, beyond the conception of duality and pairs of opposites. The greatest blessedness is to know That, and he is an unfortunate man who dies without the knowledge of it.
Mortal things are ephemeral and so are not worth pursuing. Even a whole life of many years is only very slight. It is nothing. There is no use of enjoying objects. Man is not satisfied with wealth. He craves to become Immortal even against his own conscience. Unfortunately he pursues after the pleasant as against the really good. The good is one thing and the pleasant another. The one liberates and the other binds. One should not catch the pleasant though it is tempting for a moment.
The Atman is not born, nor does it die. It has not come from anywhere and it has not become anything. Unborn, constant, eternal, primeval, this one is not slain when the body is slain. This Atman is hidden in the deep core of the heart of beings. It cannot be attained by any amount of reasoning, study or instruction. It comes only through the Supreme Grace. A man of bad conduct, who has not ceased from crookedness, cannot hope to attain the Atman.
The road to the Supreme is clothed with pricking thorns. It is sharp like the edge of a razor, hard to tread, a very difficult path. It can be trodden only with the help of knowledge obtained from men of wisdom. Knowing That, one is liberated from the terrible mouth of death.
The mind and the senses always run outwards. Only the men of self-discipline and perseverance can gaze inward and experience the state of the Atman as it really is. The children who have no knowledge of the Truth, run after external pleasures and they fall into the net of widespread Death. Only the wise, knowing the state of Immortality, seek not the Stable Brahman among things which are impermanent here.
One need not be anxious to possess things of the world. Whatever is there, that is here. He obtains death after death who perceive diversity in the world. There is nothing many here actually. The one Supreme Substance appears as many things, clothed in different names, forms and actions.
The Atma or the Brahman has no connection with the world of change. As the sun is not sullied by the faults of the eye, the Antaratman is not sullied by the defects of the world. As one fire has entered the world and becomes corresponding in form to every form, so the one Antaratman of the things is corresponding in form to every form, and yet is outside all these.
The goodness, the light, the pleasure and the beauty of the world is not to be found there even in name. Even the splendor of the Sun and the grandeur of the creator is superseded by the Absolute. That state is experienced when the senses cease to work together with the mind and when the intellect does not move, and when there is mere consciousness. When all desires that are lodged in the heart, are liberated, then the mortal becomes Immortal. Herein he attains Brahman.
Excerpts from:
The Supreme Reality - God-Realization by Swami Sivananda
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Life of Jesus for A Spiritual Aspirant
Spiritual Message for the Day – Life of Jesus for A Spiritual Aspirant by Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 25 December 2015 22**.24 EST | New York Edition** |
Life of Jesus for A Spiritual Aspirant
Divine Life Society Publication: Christmas Message by Swami Chidananda
Blessed Satchidananda Atman,
“Asato ma sat gamaya, tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, mrityorma amritam gamaya.” “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah, sarve bhadrani pasyantu, ma kaschit duhkhabhagbhavet.”
In thus offering you my devout worship and adorations upon this most holy Christmas Day at the command of our divine Master, Satgurudev, I started with two or three Sanskrit prayers and it was with a particular purpose that I opened with these prayers. First I chanted “Asato ma sat gamaya, tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, mrityor ma amritam gamaya.” It means “From the unreal, lead us on to the Real. From darkness, lead us on to Eternal Light and from mortality, lead us on to Immortality” and then I followed up with the prayer for cosmic weal, wherein the prayer goes, “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah.” May all be happy. May all be free from diseases. “Sarve bhadrani pasyantu, ma kaschit duhkhabhagbhavet.” May welfare be unto all. May auspiciousness be unto all. May there be no sorrow to anyone.
It is precisely to bring about this state of universal happiness, goodwill and brotherhood amidst all mankind, and peace all over the earth, it is in order to bring about this state of affairs on earth and to elevate man from this earthly life into a divine life and a higher life of spiritual experience and spiritual realisation, that from time to time great souls who are the incarnated embodiments of the Supreme Divine Spirit, God, come down in the form of men. It is to do this that these great souls come upon the earth and through their lives, their activities and their example, and precepts, they teach man how to bring about these things, how each one can contribute to the sum total of goodness, to the sum total of welfare in the world, and how by living a life of goodness, auspiciousness, love and service, we can transform this life and attain immortality, how we can rise from this life of ignorance and untruth to perennial light and eternity. And the life of Christ is an example of such a lofty life of Lokasangraha, so that the whole of humanity may know the way to eternal existence. He taught us the way to divine perfection and this great soul incarnated upon the earth long, long ago, and because his great divine life was thus lived in order to bring about a transformation not only on the life upon earth but a transformation in the hearts of mankind,—it is because he did this work, the world has deified him and adores him even to this day. That is why even thousands of miles away we celebrate here the great Christmas. It is sacred to entire mankind, because Christ came to lead man from darkness to ignorance, from mortality to immortality and from the life of clinging to unreality to a life established in Atmic consciousness.
He took birth in humble surroundings. He was born in a manger, a place where fodder for cattle was kept. He was born of a carpenter. It is as though to bring out the truth that the divine spirit takes birth in that being who is humble, who is pure, who is meek in spirit, in whom there is no pride, it is as though to symbolise this truth he was born in this humble inn, in a manger, and about his lofty life we can give countless sermons, yet we would not reach the limit of his glory and grandeur. But let us recall to our minds a few incidents in the life of Jesus and a few of the precious words that came out of his lips.
One of the parables taught by Jesus is the parable of the sower. The seed that is sown on a rock does not sprout. The seed which is sown on thorns gets choked up and it does not grow. The seed which is sown on a fertile soil sprouts and grows well. It is the ground that makes the seed fruitful. Even so, unless we make the ground of our hearts suitable by acquiring the necessary qualifications, by becoming pure, by generating faith and devotion, unless we do that, all the divine scriptures, all the saints will not be able to do much for us. At least this part of making ourselves suitable vessels, is a thing which is incumbent upon a Sadhaka. Therefore, he who aspires for spiritual realization, let him remember the parable of the sower and the seeds and try to make himself a fit receptacle for the seeds of spirituality. Only if we do that our life will be fruitful.
Secondly, a beautiful parable that Christ has given which shows the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the parable of Good Samaritan. Our love should not be colored by selfishness. Christ said, “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” and one man asks him, “Who is a neighbor?” He does not answer the question in a direct way, but gives a parable of the good Samaritan and asks the person who put him the question, “Who is the neighbor?” It is the heart full of love, worshipfulness, that determines who is the neighbor. Worshipfulness should be active, purposeful, and practical. A man who was an enemy of a person was injured by the robbers, then the man who was supposed to be an enemy, showed the unity of heart actively and practically and showed that he was the real neighbor. And that man had to come to the Kingdom of Heaven, because he had enshrined within himself the same love which indwelt Christ and which made him give up his body upon the cross. That love which made Christ suffer for the sake of people who had never seen him, that love which made Christ wear the crown of thorns that brought blood out of his body, that love is the key to Christ Consciousness and Immortality.
And last, but not least, once again Lord gives us the lofty parable of the virgins with the lamps. It is not a parable which is remembered by all, but it has got a great significance, especially to us, seekers, who are trying to tread the path of Yoga, which is doubtless a hard path, which is a path meant for those alone who have a heart that has got undying faith. The strength of the devotee is not the strength of the muscle, but the strength of faith. Even if the whole solar system will crash and crumble, once he has grasped the hand of the Lord, the Lord will not forsake him. This strength is necessary for our path.
There were seven virgins. They were waiting for the Lord who was to come. They waited and waited with lamps with them and it became dark, and the Lord did not come. The virgins became sleepy and they fell asleep. They did not take care to replenish the oil in the lamps or to trim the wick. But there was one among them who was very careful and very sincere to unite with the Lord. Sincerity is the secret of Yogic life. That virgin was ever awake. She was careful, and she trimmed the wick, replenished the lamp with oil and lo! When all other virgins were sleeping, and darkness had come, at that moment, Christ appeared and when He came, one was awake, and he took her unto himself. Blessedness and bliss accrued to that soul, which is the fruition of Yoga. What about others? They never knew when the Lord came. They lamented when they woke up, but their lamentation was of no use. And Gurudev tells us the same parable, but more forcibly. He says, “Life is short, time is fleeting. Awake, arise and attain the goal. Keep yourself ever ready to meet the Lord. Be up and doing in Yogic Sadhana.” Let not a moment pass without effort to reach God. Let us be not like the virgins who feel asleep, but like the virgin who was awake and vigilant and who trimmed the wick, and attained oneness with the Lord.
Above all, what is the greatest parable that Jesus has taught. Even as Swamiji has preached it, there is one greatest among greatest sermon that Christ preached. What is it? His own personal life. How he reacted to his surroundings, what was his purity, what was his wonderful compassion, what was his humility? He was an embodiment of all the gospels that he has given, only in a thousandfold increased measure. The inspiration of that great example is a perennial and living lesson to all of us to keep before our eyes. It is the star that we have to follow. There is no darkness as long as we keep our eyes fixed on the star. By following that star, both men of wisdom and men of faith reach the very abode of Lord. If we keep our eyes fixed upon the great Light which is Jesus, we shall surely attain the Lord, with the blessings of all saints.
Let this be our resolve on this great day that we shall follow the star and attain the Lord.
May God bless you all.
Excerpts from:
Life of Jesus for A Spiritual Aspirant – Christmas Message by Swami Chidananda
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The Pursuit of Knowledge
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Pursuit of Knowledge by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 24 December 2015 18**.56 EST | New York Edition** |
The Pursuit of Knowledge
Divine Life Society Publication: What is Knowledge by Sri Swami Krishnananda
The ancient thinkers busied themselves with the great adventure – the pursuit of knowledge. Not ordinary knowledge of the empirical sciences, not the knowledge which we equate with the subjects we study in the usually known educational institutions, but true knowledge which is inseparable from wise living itself. Therefore, knowledge is the art of wise living. Knowledge is life itself, and is as important as life itself.
The process of the investigation of factors and conditions which contribute to the rise of this knowledge is philosophy. In India we call it darsana, the vision of Reality, and the practical methods that we employ to establish ourselves in this vision of Reality is called yoga. And, in Indian technical terminology, the doctrinal side of this philosophic knowledge is sometimes called Sankhya, and it is also known as Vedanta in an important sense which has to be known properly.
Yoga is the technology, the practical application of this knowledge in our day-to-day existence. Therefore, yoga is living knowledge. To apply knowledge to our practical existence in this world is yoga. Yoga is translated as ‘union’. You must have heard that yoga is union. With what is this union to be attempted? Union with what is yoga? It is union with the ultimate state of things, not with things as they appear. We have unions of every kind here. A businessman is in union with his money, a mother is in union with her child, and everyone is in union with what they love in any manner whatsoever, but this is not yoga. A mother is not really in union with her child; it is only an imaginary union. The rich man is not in union with his money; he is only imagining that it is a union – and so on with every type of imagined union with objects that we seem to possess but really cannot possess.
But yoga is not such a union in the form of a mere imagination in the mind. It is an exact, practical entry by way of communion – in such a way that this union of ourselves with that with which we have communed abolishes the distinction between us. Life does not anymore appear like a puppet show whose strings are operated by somebody else, someone who cannot be seen. We know the secret of the drama of existence, and we cannot any more be kept in a state of ignorance of values – because ignorance is, in a way, our incapacity to recognise any vital relationship that we have with the ultimate state of things.
“Why are you going on mentioning the word ‘ultimate’ state of things?” you may ask me. “What is the matter?” The reason is that whatever is happening in this world now is caused by something else, because an effect has a cause. Unless we know the cause, we cannot know why things are happening as they are. Otherwise, we go on complaining, and nobody is going to listen to our complaints. We go on crying. This is called crying in the wilderness. Who bothers about our cries? But, we need not cry if we know how things happen, and why things happen.
This particular phenomenon we call life in this world, as it is seen now, is an operation by some cause which is not visible to the eyes. That cause may have another cause, and that cause may have another cause. There is a chain of railway carriages, and we know how many carriages are chained together and moving on a railway track. The rear carriage is pulled by the one that is in front, and that is pulled by that which is in front of it, and so on. We know very well that although it appears that the carriage in front is pulling that one behind it, they are all pulled by an engine which itself is not pulled by anything else. Hence, everything is moved by something else, but there must be something which itself is not moved, but moves all things. Only then will we know why the railway train is moving. ‘This’ is pulled by ‘that’, ‘that’ is pulled by ‘this’ – and finally, who pulls all things? Then only can we know the mystery of movement. Otherwise, we know only relative movements – one pushing the other – without knowing why this pushing should be there at all.
Thus, the reason behind all occurrences, events in life, seems to be an important matter for study and understanding; and this reason is not merely the logical reason. “Why does it rain?” We know some sort of a reason is there behind it. Geography and some sort of astronomy will tell us why it should rain at all. But this is only a temporary answer to the phenomenon of raining. There are many other causes beyond this explanation offered by astronomy and geography. Finally, we must know that there is a reason behind not merely ‘this’ event or ‘that’ event, but that all events are caused by a central reason. ‘This’ is caused by ‘that’, ‘that’ is caused by another thing. That may be so, as one thing pushes another thing, and that thing pushes a third thing, and so on. But the final answer to all these relative motions, occurrences, activities and phenomena in life can be explained only by a final reference. If this is known, we know how things are, and why things are, and we will not put any more questions. We become spectators of the events of the universe; and we do not merely remain as spectators of something happening outside us – we realise that we ourselves are participators in this great activity of the universe.
This is very important for us to know. The events of the world are not taking place only outside us, as if we are unconnected. I mentioned previously that we are also in this world. So, when we speak of events in life, phenomena of nature, activities of the world, we do not mean something happening unconnected with us. All happenings have connections with us also, because we are also part of the world, whatever be our idea of the world. We may call it the social world, the political world or natural world of physics and astronomy, but we are a part of the environment we call ‘this world’. Hence, events cannot take place except in connection and interconnection of parts belonging to a whole; and if we are really wise and intelligent enough to understand the circumstances of life, we will realise that no particular person or thing is the cause of anything. There is an interconnection of causative factors. This is so because the world is one single entity; it is not made up of unconnected parts. It is a living body, something like our own body. Any event in any part of our body is an event occurring in the whole body.
Every event is so connected with all other factors because of the fact that the world, even physically speaking, is a single entity. We seem to be participating in a universal life, and not merely in a family life, a communal life – or much less, an individual life. There is no such thing as ‘your own’ life, and ‘my own’ life, and ‘his own’ life or ‘her own’ life. Such a thing is not possible, in the same way as our bodily organisms are not independent activities taking place of their own accord.
We have been men of straw, and we are perhaps that even now. But we can never be satisfied with this kind of drab living. We want to know what is the matter with all things. This is why we are searching for something, but we have found it nowhere. It cannot be found anywhere, because it is everywhere. It is like searching for the sky. “Let me search for the sky.” Why do we search for the sky? We are in the sky. And we know we are in space, so we need not search for space.
The problems which require an answer are widespread questions and widespread problems. The problem is the intricate, inexplicable relationship of the individual with the Total Whole. Therefore, we can get truth everywhere, and we can have a problem of the same kind everywhere. The same problem is everywhere, and the same answer can be envisaged and elicited from any part of the world. We can touch a person by touching any part of the body of that person – any part is that person only. Similarly, since the whole world is one single organic entity, we can be anywhere; it is as if we are everywhere.
This is a new vision which would be worthwhile for us to entertain, because we would realise that even the possibility of entertaining such a wholesome, holistic vision of things brings us a new kind of satisfaction – a satisfaction that arises from the very fact of it being possible for us to have a total vision of things. It is not a satisfaction that comes merely by eating, drinking and sleeping. It comes merely by ‘knowing’ that this is so. Knowledge itself is satisfaction.
Excerpts from
The Pursuit of Knowledge - What is Knowledge by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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Develop the Vision Integral
Spiritual Message for the Day – Develop the Vision Integral by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 23 December 2015 17**.24 EST | New York Edition** |
Develop the Vision Integral
Divine Life Society Publication: The Ascent of the Spirit by Sri Swami Krishnananda
There is really no solution to the problems, and humanity finds itself today in the same complex and quandary and insecurity as it was centuries back, all because the human approach to things has not changed in its quality and character, though the passage of history has traversed thousands of years during the course of time.
The ancient Masters have seen through this vexing situation of life in general and found out the only remedy for it, namely, to develop the_Vision Integral_, rather than confine oneself to mere perception empirical. This integral approach requires man to conceive life as one whole, inseparable in its parts, and the well-known classification of Human Values or Aims of Life into_dharma,the pursuit of moral value;_artha, the pursuit of economic value;_kama,_the pursuit of vital value; and_moksha,_the pursuit of infinite value, may be said to form the rock-foundation to base one’s right perspective of life.
All these four values have to be blended in a proper proportion to constitute a single compound and not merely a mixture of a set of separable ingredients. This means to say that every function one might perform, every thought, word and deed of a person, should manifest this singleness of purpose, namely, a focused blend of_dharma, artha_, kama and_moksha,all at once. This is indeed a hard job for uninitiated and untrained minds. But spirituality is not a joke and calls for greater education and discipline than one would expect in an ordinary educational academy or institution of the world. It is this blend of the four Aims of Life in a single act that has necessitated the introduction of the cooperative social groups known usually under the name,_varna; the classes wielding spiritual power, political power, economic power and man-power, which constitute a complete organisation of human aspiration and function. This view of life has also called for the recognition of four stages in one’s life known as_ashrama; a_life_of_ continence and study, a life of restrained satisfaction and discharge of duties in accordance with one’s station in life, a life of non-attachment to all perishable, values, and, finally, a life of concentration on the only permanent value discoverable in the end, namely, the Ultimate Reality.
A life of yoga is the answer. And yoga is union with Reality, in the various stages of its graded intensity of manifestation, internally in one’s own personality and externally in one’s social relations and public life. The range of yoga is a little, complicated for the novice to understand. To obviate the difficulty of a sudden grasp of this truth, adepts in yoga have advised a more restrained approach to the Great Goal, by a recognition of the objective_(adhibhuta),the subjective _(adhyatma)_and the supernormal Deity-aspect of Reality, superintending over both the objective and the subjective sides of experience(adhidaiva)._This threefold resort to yoga would facilitate a still higher recourse to the larger realities, known in the language of the technical Vedanta, as Virat, Hiranyagarbha, Isvara and Brahman, connoting the fourfold aspect of the Absolute, conceived as helpful in one’s meditations.
Excerpts from
Develop the Vision Integral - The Ascent of the Spirit by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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