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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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Do Not Criticise Anybody or Anything
Spiritual Message for the Day – Do Not Criticise Anybody or Anything by Sri N.Ananthanarayanan
| **Baba Times Digest© | 14 June 2015 12.22 EST | New York Edition** |
Do Not Criticise Anybody or Anything
Divine Life Society Publication: What The River Has Taught Me by Sri N.Ananthanarayanan
It is common knowledge that good health and economic security are a “must” for peace of mind. But having both, many are still in a state of perpetual mental restlessness. Do you belong to this category? If you say “Yes,” then read on. The chances are that your trouble is mostly of your own making and therefore avoidable.
Do you interfere too often in the affairs of others? May be they are wrong. But why should you be disturbed on that account? Do not criticise anybody or anything. God has not delegated to you the authority to sit in judgment over others. All men act the way they do because they are prompted that way by the God within them. It is a good rule to mind your own business to keep your peace.
Mind your own business. An excellent dictum to follow for the man who prizes peace of mind above everything else. Nothing in this world requires your attention. There is a God to look after everything in fact. He looks after you as well. Do not forget this fact.
Let me repeat: Mind your own business. Do not criticise anybody or anything. Criticism is tantamount to blasphemy. Why? Because whatever happens happens by the Will of God. Nothing can happen without the concurrence of God. The fact that something has happened—no matter whether it is good or bad from your point of view—is in itself proof positive that it has God’s approval. And if you criticise the happening, you are questioning the Will of God, the Wisdom of God, the justice of God. Do not do that. You will keep your peace.
Excerpts from: Do Not Criticise Anybody or Anything - What The River Has Taught Me by Sri N.Ananthanarayanan
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Mankind’s Actual State
Spiritual Message for the Day – Mankind’s Actual State by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 13 June 2015 21.15 EST | New York Edition** |
Mankind’s Actual State
Divine Life Society Publication: An Instrument of Thy Peace by Sri Swami Chidananda
What is mankind’s actual state in these modern times? There are many colleges and universities, and vast libraries house thousands of books. The literacy rate in most progressive countries is ninety-nine per cent. There has been an explosion of knowledge and advancement in every sphere of human activity—with amazing advances in electronics, physics and chemistry. Man prides himself on being cultured and civilized, and he might speak condescendingly of his Stone Age ancestors, but then again, let’s take another look at modern society. Side by side with the scientific progress and apparent advances in culture and civilization, there is something very shocking. There has always been hatred, violence and war in human society, but the ability to inflict suffering was limited.
Today, however, thanks to his vast knowledge, modern man has now perfected the technology of annihilation. He now has the ability to bring destruction to the whole of mankind. He has provided himself with the tools to destroy the entire world or make it uninhabitable. Planet Earth could become a lifeless wasteland. We are told that man has the capacity to destroy the world twenty times over. Is this sanity or madness? If this is progress, is it really the progress we want? How and why has man brought himself to this present sad state? How many of us have seriously pondered these questions?
In spite of man’s best efforts to find happiness and peace, he has failed. Today, as though this failure were not enough, man has become the destroyer of human welfare and the potential creator of unimaginable suffering, pain and destruction. In the face of these plain facts, is there something in our human heritage that would offer itself as a solution? There is a saying, “While there is life, there is hope.” Those who have faith in God never lose hope. One of the basic tenets of the Christian religion is that man lives by hope. Faith, hope and charity are three of the great virtues preached by Christianity. When you have faith in God, you have hope in life, and when you have hope you can be compassionate and kind towards all human beings. Despair makes animals out of human beings, but living in hope makes charity possible.
Man is a part of God—not physically or mentally—but spiritually. The inner spiritual Reality is your essential identity, and you are a part of that supreme Universal Soul that is the pinnacle of all perfection. God is experienced and known to be an ocean of love, compassion, wisdom and joy. These things are an essential part of your own true nature. Each human individual has the potential of manifesting all these divine qualities. Living life in order to bring about these potentials is true culture and also the art and science of life. The failure to understand this truth about our real nature and to make our lives a process of inner awakening has brought mankind into this state of darkness.
Yoga is more relevant than at any other time in human history, precisely because it is a system that teaches man how to bring about an inner transformation of life through the manifestation of these divine qualities. The pursuit of self-satisfaction and sensuality totally warps human nature and brings it down to the level of a beast. The more you ignore your true spiritual nature, the more you enter into darkness and suffering. Yoga provides a tool by which you can bring about a change in the present human condition. Yoga brings about a direct relationship with that Being with whom you are inseparably connected. To forfeit this supreme privilege would bring the potential for great evil to all mankind. Yet, the prevalence of yoga over the modern world today is a sign of hope that there may be a future for mankind. Yoga can bring light into the darkness, and it can replace un-wisdom by wisdom. It can replace weakness with strength and slavery by self-mastery. It can bring wisdom where there is now only folly. It can make the human being truly a child of God.
These ideas warrant serious reflection and deep contemplation. Think, reflect, and if possible try to see what you can do in the context of your own life in the light of this present condition of man. I feel personally that it would not be in any way an exaggeration if I said that this is the only way out of humanity’s present condition. This is neither fanaticism nor dogmatism. There are so many paths put forward by different organisations, but for any of these paths to be successful, they must in some way contain yoga. Nothing can be achieved unless the human individual puts himself into a conscious relationship with God. No improvement is possible unless the channel is opened between man and God. This is precisely what yoga constitutes, and this is the purpose of yoga. It actually brings man to God and God to man.
May the grace of the Lord illumine your intellect, and may the peace of God fill your hearts. May the love of God manifest and prevail in your lives. May the light, purity and truth of God find expression through your thoughts, words and actions. May the benedictions of beloved Master Swami Sivananda make all things possible for you through yoga.
Excerpts from: Mankind’s Actual State - An Instrument of Thy Peace by Sri Swami Chidananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at: generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org
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Everything Is Yoga
Spiritual Message for the Day – Everything Is Yoga by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 12 June 2015 21.50 EST | New York Edition** |
Everything is Yoga
Divine Life Society Publication: Early Morning Meditation Talk by Sri Swami Chidananda
Worshipful homage to that supreme, eternal, universal Being who revealed Himself in a glorious personal form comprising total Divinity as the world teacher, Lord Krishna, and who revealed Himself in and through the Gita wisdom teachings that He imparted for all mankind, for all times, through His beloved devotee and disciple, the warrior prince Arjuna. He not only revealed His divine nature through His Bhagavad Gita teachings, He also revealed how man can realise Him fully, can experience Him, and, ultimately, how man can merge himself in Him to become one with Him. All this He taught within the compass of 700 brief verses contained in 18 chapters.
And what is His main teaching? What is His main method of attaining the supreme human experience of our essential non-differentiation from Him, which experience liberates us forever from all sorrow, all confusion and delusion, and liberates us once and for all from a return to successive birth, death and rebirth in this mortal world? What is this method?
We all know that classical Indian spiritual tradition speaks of four yogas—channelising our action potential through karma yoga for God-realisation, channelising our sentiment and emotion potential for realising God through bhakti yoga, channelising our mind’s power of concentration for attaining God-realisation through raja yoga, through meditation, and channelising our intellectual potential of analysis, logic, discrimination and reasoning to attain illumination through jnana yoga. But in the Gita we witness a strange phenomenon in that 18 yogas are mentioned, one for each chapter. It speaks only about yoga. What is this strange phenomenon? There are four classical yogas and here we have 18 yogas. Everything is yoga. He covers the whole of human life in His teaching.
What is that central teaching? The central teaching is that, in fact, all life is yoga. Life is to be lived as the great sadhana, the great yoga. All actions constitute yoga. Everything that you think is yoga. Everything that you speak is yoga. Everything that you do is yoga. That is why everything that you think should be thought of as yoga. That is why everything that you utter should be regarded as yoga. That is why everything that you do must be done as yoga.
There is nothing else in life except yoga and yoga alone. All of life is yoga. Life is the great sadhana. Life is the supreme yoga, every part of it. Life is to be lived as such. That is why it was given. Each and every one of our actions from morning till evening should have a Godward thrust; they are to be engaged in for attaining illumination. Everything in our life is and ought to be enlightenment oriented. Breathing, sitting, standing, running, resting, working, lying, waking, dreaming, sleeping, all constitute that one single process—yoga.
So there are not merely 18 yogas. There are innumerable yogas every moment. Everything is to be regarded as yoga; it is not just eighteen. The number of yogas is legion. This is to be grasped. This is the great truth about you, about each and every one of us.
May the grace of the Supreme and the benedictions of revered and beloved Holy Master Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji enable us to fully recognise this truth, fully assimilate this truth, fully live in the light of this truth, and thus become the Truth. May God bless us all!
Excerpts from:** Everything Is Yoga -**Early Morning Meditation Talk**by**Sri Swami Chidananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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Anger and Its Forms
Spiritual Message for the Day – Anger and Its Forms by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 11 June 2015 17.03 EST | New York Edition** |
Anger and Its Forms
Divine Life Society Publication: Conquest of Anger by Sri Swami Sivananda
Anger is a negative Vritti or whirlpool in the mind-lake. It is born of ignorance.
It is a strong emotion, excited by a real or fancied injury and involving a desire for retaliation.
Anger is the natural passion or emotion of displeasure and antagonism aroused by injury or insult, real or imagined, and directed against the cause thereof. Anger arises from an idea of evil having been inflicted or threatened.
Anger is often accompanied by a desire to take vengeance, or to obtain satisfaction from the offending party.
It begins in folly and ends in repentance.
There fire you kindle for your enemy burns yourself.
When anger arises, think of the consequences. It will soon subside.
You think of objects of senses. Attachment to these objects develops. From attachment desire is born. From desire anger comes forth. From anger proceeds delusion; from delusion confused memory; from confused memory the destruction of reason; from destruction of reason you perish.
Raga or attachment is a long-standing associate of anger.
Control anger through patience, enquiry, self-restrained love and meditation. This is manly and divine. This is wise and glorious.
To become angry for trifling things is mean childish and brutal.
An angry man is angry with himself when he comes to his senses.
Anger is personal and usually selfish, aroused by real or supposed wrong to oneself.
Indignation is impersonal and unselfish displeasure at unworthy acts. Pure indignation is not followed by regret and needs no repentance. It is also more self-controlled than anger. Anger is
commonly a sin. Indignation is often a duty. We speak of “righteous” indignation.
Raga drives one beyond the bounds of prudence of discretion. Fury is stronger and sweeps one away into uncontrollable violence.
Wrath is deep and vengeful displeasure. It simply expresses the culmination of righteous indignation without malice in a pure being.
Anger is a stronger term than resentment, but not so strong as “indignation” which is awakened by what is flagitious in character or conduct, nor as wrath, fury, rage in which anger is wrought up to a still higher point in the order of these words. Anger is a sudden sentiment of displeasure, resentment is a continued anger, wrath is a heightened sentiment of anger.
Excerpts from: Anger and Its Forms - Conquest of Anger by Sri Swami Sivananda
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Purposefully Direct the Power Potential Within
Spiritual Message for the Day – Purposefully Direct the Power Potential Within by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 10 June 2015 18.50 EST | New York Edition** |
Purposefully Direct the Power Potential Within
Divine Life Society Publication: Seek The Beyond by Sri Swami Chidananda
Worshipful homage to the supreme, eternal, infinite Cosmic Spirit Divine. Worshipful homage to the supreme Cosmic Power of the Divine which is both a transcendental divine force and the first manifestation of the Unmanifest. Therefore, it is different from the Unmanifest, but at the same time integrally one with the Unmanifest. Because the supreme, ultimate, transcendental Reality is one alone and non-dual, ekameva’ dvitiyam, there cannot be any question of manifestation being apart from It, because whatever is must be Its expression.
Non-dual means that there is nothing other than That. There is no second factor. Manifestation cannot be something created out of a second factor because there is no second factor. Therefore, all manifestation is another aspect, facet, of the Great Reality. Thus, even when it shines as another aspect, distinct from the transcendental Reality, yet nevertheless, it is at the same time essentially one with that Being whose aspect it is.
Therefore, the supreme Cosmic Force, transcendental Cosmic Force, para sakti, is a transformed aspect of the one non-dual Reality. Thus it is said that para sakti and parabrahman are one, a distinction without a difference, an apparent appearance that does not in any way affect or alter the absolute non-duality of the Reality. It follows, therefore, that in this variegated phenomenal appearance, this infinite multifariousness, that the infinite pairs of opposites—light and darkness, beginning and end, liberty and bondage, peace and restlessness—are manifestations of the same one, non-dual, transcendental Being.
And that supreme Cosmic Force resides within you as numerous types of forces—physical force of the body, thought force of the mind and the force of rationality, logic and analysis of the intellect. It is also the force to recollect and bring back into present remembrance long-forgotten things. It is the force to project into the future as well, through planning, scheming and imagination. Whatever you possess through which you move, act, function, carry on some purposeful work, you do through the grace of the supreme Cosmic Power, para sakti, dwelling within you as an integral part of yourself. She is thought, She is intellect, She is analysis, She is concentration, She is meditation, She is memory, She is imagination. She is the original, primal blueprint for all that we produce in the form of work—good or bad.
So within you, you have all these forces, and you have the choice of moving in so many different ways. You can push someone into a pit, or if someone has unfortunately fallen into a pit and cannot get up, you can bend down, grasp hold of their hands and pull them out. With the selfsame force you can either push or pull.
Therefore, we have to be very cautious, circumspect, thoughtful, discriminating and careful in what way we make the forces within us manifest themselves in this world of living beings and in this world of human affairs. What exactly you will be in the midst of this set-up of your global human family entirely depends upon you and your carefully, well-chosen decision in what manner you direct the innumerable forces that are within you.
Therefore, think well in what way you utilise and manifest this inner force. This force is amoral. It can also remain within you as a potential, as static, not manifest. You have the potential to do ever so many things, but unless you actually put it forth into motion, it remains there as potential, as a deposit in a bank. If you so decide, it is instantly at your disposal. The moment it is called forth, it is there in the form of activity. When it is directed, it becomes a certain power—the power of thought, the power of the Spirit, the power of love, the power of a selfless desire to serve.
Therefore, be constantly alert in discrimination, and at each moment go on directing this great potential of cosmic power that resides within each one of you. For it is sacred, for it is divine, for it is spiritual. It is not meant to be frittered away. It is not meant to be wrongly used, to be misused. It is meant to be purposefully, powerfully directed and used for progress, to bring into being better and better states of existence.
This potential is meant to be put forth and used, in the words of Lord Buddha, “for the happiness and welfare of all creatures in God’s creation.” And if you want to put it in the words of our lawgivers: “This power potential within you has to be carefully and wisely manifested and brought forth in order to achieve the four great objectives, values, of human life—the ethical value, the economic value, the vital, emotional, value, and the ultimate, supreme highest spiritual value.
You have not come here to merely bear the brunt of karma, to suffer and then one day to be extinguished. No, not at all! You have come here with a great destiny; you have come here with a supreme purpose, with the highest objective to attain. You have been sent here. You have come here to fulfil God’s plan for you. To that end you must work. See that His wish prevails and manifests Itself in and through you.
God’s plan for you, His will for you, is ultimate divine perfection—which is already within you. Through Yoga and Vedanta attain Self-realisation! Through working for the attainment of the fourfold supreme values, purushartha chatushtaya, make your life a grand success in achievement, in ultimate attainment!
Excerpts from: Purposefully Direct the Power Potential Within - Seek The Beyond by Sri Swami Chidananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at: generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org
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The Rationale Behind Prayer
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Rationale Behind Prayer by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 9 June 2015 18.11 EST | New York Edition** |
The Rationale Behind Prayer
Divine Life Society Publication: Early Morning Meditation Talk by Sri Swami Chidananda
God, not only being transcendental, but also being immanent, not only being immanent but also being a specific indwelling divine principle within each and every body, why is there so much difficulty in attaining that which is nearer to us than anything else in all the universe?
Even if the most proximate thing is by your side, if you turn your head the other way and look in the opposite direction, you will not be able to see it. That is the trouble. That is the problem. There is nothing wrong with God, nothing wrong with His immanence, nothing wrong with His immediacy. What is wrong is that our gaze is elsewhere. So everything is wrong with the direction we have decided to turn our gaze to.
Therefore, all the saints and mystics have prayed, “O Lord, bless me and grant that I may constantly remember You. Let my mind be constantly thinking of You. Let my entire being look only in Your direction, and may I have no eyes for anything else, no ears for anything else. Having ears, let me hear nothing except Your name, Your description, Your glories, Your praise—from saints, scriptures, teachers, mystics, yogis. Having eyes, let me see nothing except things pertaining to You, things that will help me to move towards You. Having a mind, let it think of nothing, but think only of You.
In this way, through all our faculties, let us become only God-oriented. Let all our faculties move only in His direction. Let us make up our mind, our entire being, to refuse to focus upon anything else except the supreme, ultimate, almighty, universal Spirit Divine, our ultimate goal supreme. This then is the way.
Therefore, we pray to the Supreme Being every morning to bless us that we may have the ability and strength to so do. We pray to Him. This leads us into another quandary, another difficulty, another paradox. All religions, all scriptures, all prophets have declared that God is omniscient. Does He not know our predicament? When He is omniscient and He thus knows our situation, why should we pray? Does He not know? Can He not set it right?
A baby knows nothing; it cannot express itself. But the mother, through her love and care, intuitively grasps, “Oh, something is wrong with baby’s tummy. It’s feeling discomfort; therefore it is crying.” God is more than father and mother. He is everything to us, ten times more than any earthly mother that Brahma has ever created. That being so, where is the need to bring anything to His notice, as though He doesn’t know it? Does He need to be told? He is the eye of our eye, ear of our ear, heart of our heart, mind of our mind. So what is the purpose of prayer, the meaning of prayer? This is the paradox and question that faces us when we say, “Prayer can overcome all things.”
A cloth gets soiled. We wish to make it clean, white and shining once again. So we put it in a bucket of hot water and add soap powder. We clean it. The water is not in need of the cloth, nor is the soap. They can serve many other purposes, yet we bring them together. Why? Because the cloth is in need of water, it is in need of soap. Therefore, it goes into the proximity, into an active, dynamic contact with the water and soap. And it comes out clean, white, completely free from all dirt. It is restored to its original purity.
That is the logic behind prayer. Not because the Lord needs to be told, not because He does not know. He knows everything. It is because the one who prays is benefited, is blessed by the contact he creates through prayer. Prayer has gained an essential place in the context of the mystical aspects of all the living religions of the world. They all emphasis prayer. Not because we are telling Him something that He does not know, that He has to be told, but because the very act of telling Him elevates us, sanctifies us, blesses us. Therefore it is that we pray.
Even so, let us pray to revered and beloved Holy Master that by his blessings we will be enabled to constantly keep ourselves in a state of continuous contact and communion with the Supreme Being, for that is the greatest good of man. In that lies the highest welfare of the human individual. In that lies the fulfilment and success of the pilgrim soul upon earth, success in ultimately completing this journey of life by reaching the destination—not having to come back again to repeat this journey, but making it the final journey.
Supremely blessed are those who are thus graced by the almighty Spirit Divine and blessed by their spiritual master. May all of you who sit and hear this word be thus graced by God and guru. God bless you all!
Excerpts from: The Rationale Behind Prayer - Early Morning Meditation Talk by Sri Swami Chidananda
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The Spirit of Ananda Kutir by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Spirit of Ananda Kutir by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda -** Smt.Savitri Asopa**
| **Baba Times Digest© | 8 June 2015 19.46 EST | New York Edition** |
The Spirit of Ananda Kutir
Divine Life Society Publication: Sivananda: Poet, Philosopher and Saint by Smt.Savitri Asopa
The spirit that pervades and works behind the every activity of the Ananda Kutir, cannot be expressed, but can be deeply felt and experienced at times. The degree of manifestation of the spirit differs from an individual to individual, because the degree of revelation varies. Now, greater the revelation, greater shall be the faith and devotion of a person. And to these chosen few whom the spirit stands fully revealed, their devotion and dedication is Supreme, for they are not deluded, for they at every moment behold the beauty, splendour and glory of the spirit.
If we ponder deeply we find that behind every department of Ananda Kutir it is the spirit of Sri Sat-Guru Sivananda that is ever working very actively. So to work sincerely in any department is to become an instrument in the hands of Sri Swami Sivananda. Behind the press, behind the studio, behind the hospitals, behind the temples, in the Annapurna hall, behind the typewriters, it is the spirit of Sri Swami Sivananda that works. Minus Sri Swami Sivananda from all these things, then they will all become meaningless. And I remember the day when I was to begin the work of typing letters. Sri Gurudeva said, “Do not be afraid of the work. Do not think that you are typing.” Believe it or not, behind every cup of tea and plate of food, too, there is His unseen hand and Spirit.
Countless people come to Ananda Kutir, out of them some are unimpressed, while some are captured by the Divine Spirit of Sri Guru Deva. Only those are captured whom the Sat-Guru draws to Himself; and those whom He draws, He works up the transformation of their personalities by various methods. Sri Guru Deva’s Spirit pervades the entire Universe. That is the only reason why He is able to help us even when we are far, far away from Him. In the Ashram also, the thoughts and feelings and actions of every person are known to Him.
I have a firm conviction that every feeling, thought and action of every person is known to Sri Guru Deva. I have always felt His Omnipresence. And once He draws a person to His feet, then He works for the evolution of the person. Whenever we move towards goodness, He would at once give us encouragement. And when He would find us stepping on the path of evil, He would give us a nice unseen, sweet slap or a kick. Though unseen, it is at once felt by the recipient. Those are the moments of struggle, darkness and remorse. When repentance and humility manifest in the heart, Sri Guru Deva Himself kneels down, out of His Supreme Love and compassion, to lift us up. This process goes on continuously between the Guru and disciple. Sri Guru Deva adopts various methods to transform the disciples. Sometimes He would Himself send terrible trials, tests and storms. Sometimes He would talk through someone and warn us. Sometimes He would talk to us through books and dreams. Sometimes He would send powerful thought-waves and sometimes amidst the darkness of struggle, and painful inner civil war, He would bless us with some revelation accompanied by bliss. And, these moments infuse in us courage, faith and hope, to struggle and struggle forward.
Every moment Sri Guru Deva is shedding Grace and blessings on each and every person. But our own impurities obstruct the showers. Our own doubts, ego, and ingratitude shut out the blessedness that Sri Guru Deva wants to give us. Siva works at the very destruction of these barriers, so that our hearts and minds may be purified. The process of purification is extremely painful, but Siva calls it the negative aspect of Grace.
Various experiences in the Ashram have given me the firm conviction that Siva is the embodiment of Divine Mother. As Sri Kali, He would assume Her frightening form and destroy the Asuras (the evil in us). As Sri Lakshmi He would shed Gracious smile on us and bless us with all sorts of prosperities and ultimately as Sri Saraswati showers supreme wisdom on His devotees.
Once Siva draws a person, then whether he be far or near, whether he wants or not, whether he knows or not, Siva works for the evolution of that person, slowly but surely.
Excerpts from: The Spirit of Ananda Kutir - Sivananda: Poet, Philosopher and Saint by Smt.Savitri Asopa
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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Theory and Practice in Spiritual Life
Spiritual Message for the Day – Theory and Practice in Spiritual Life by Sri N.Ananthanarayanan
| **Baba Times Digest© | 7 June 2015 21.30 EST | New York Edition** |
Theory and Practice in Spiritual Life
Divine Life Society Publication: What The River Has Taught Me by Sri N.Ananthanarayanan
If you read a spiritual book, if you attend a spiritual discourse, if you listen to a Mahatma’s Upadesa, you get spiritual guidance. You get theoretical knowledge of matters spiritual. It is what is called Paroksha Jnana in Sanskrit. Paroksha means indirect. Jnana means knowledge, wisdom. Paroksha Jnana is indirect knowledge. It is like the knowledge of cooking gained through reading a book of recipes. It has a value. It is necessary too, but it is useless by itself. A man who knows how to cook but does not cook cannot appease his hunger. Even so, a man who knows what is spiritual life, how to practise Sadhana, but does not do a thing about it, cannot appease his spiritual hunger, cannot register progress in the spiritual path. The man who knows what to do but does not do is in much the same position as the man who does not know what to do. Knowledge becomes fruitful only when it is applied. Or else, it is useless. In fact, it can even turn harmful in as much as mere theoretical knowledge can make a man’s head swell and make him vain and puffed up. Practice is the crucial thing. That is where most of us fail and fail miserably. In fact, before we begin reading scriptures, before we approach sages and saints, before we do all that, most of us can make substantial spiritual progress by ourselves if only we would start doing all those things which we know we should do and abstain from doing all those things which we already know we should not do. This way every one of us can begin the right life, the spiritual life.
If it be so, why do we not begin in the right direction? Why do we not make a beginning? And why do we fail to plunge into spiritual practice? The reason is not far to seek. There is no particular external compulsion. There is no sufficient necessity to do so. In the matter of food, the pangs of hunger and thirst drive you to earn money to buy the food. Nobody will give you money if you do not work. So you work. Similarly in the case of the lower appetites. These, like lust, are powerful. Sex-urge is the most powerful natural urge. It pushes man, often despite himself, to seek satisfaction in woman and it pushes woman, often despite herself, to seek satisfaction in man. Even saints are fooled in this matter. They trip. They succumb. Visvamitra fell a prey to Menaka. Rishya Sringa, that boy of pristine purity, was enticed and deluded by the girls. And we know many modern Visvamitras and Menakas.
Back to the point. There is no such compelling force, as in the case of lust, to turn man’s mind towards God. In the vast majority of cases, that is. A powerful spiritual hunger is the most uncommon thing. Why? Because this whole universe, this whole fabric of Maya, this whole phenomenal shroud has been designed by God to cloud the wisdom in man and keep him away from God. The world is designed to submerge man in Maya. Why? Why? Why? This ‘Why?’ question will keep recurring at every turn when you discuss matters spiritual. To many questions there are convincing answers. To many more there are no answers. Sages style these latter questions, these unanswerable questions, these impossible questions, as transcendental questions and declare unequivocally that the answers to these transcendental questions can be found only when you realise God, only when you destroy the mind.
Since the world is designed to keep man’s mind away from God, the spiritual seeker is forced constantly to battle against the forces of Maya, against the diverse world-currents. It is an uphill task. But the reward is high. It is a challenging task. But you will wear the crown of God on your head when you succeed in the task in the end.
The desire to tread the spiritual path arises in man’s mind as a result of meritorious deeds in many previous births. Quite often, the spiritual spark in man is kindled by contact with a spiritual Master, a true Guru, a realised Soul. Sometimes, the spiritual ignition is occasioned by terrible disappointments in worldly life. That is why Swami Sivananda characterizes pain as the best teacher. Pain turns man’s mind away from the world and towards God. Pain is the end-product of worldly life and the beginning of spiritual life.
Once the spiritual thirst is created, the seeker naturally turns towards spiritual books or spiritual teachers for light on the path. He acquires theoretical knowledge, Paroksha Jnana. This, as we noticed, is the first step, and a necessary step. The next step in spiritual life, and the most essential step, is practice.
Practice ultimately leads to Aparoksha Anubhuti or the supreme Direct Experience. Indirect knowledge becomes direct experience. All that is learnt and understood about Brahman is more than verified by one’s own experience, by realising one’s own true nature as Brahman. That brings down the final curtain on the drama of life. But between the initial stepping on to the spiritual path and the final experience of realising Brahman, there are innumerable facts of spiritual life which the Sadhak verifies for himself personally. And with each verification his conviction in the truth of what he learnt grows.
Practice is the thing. Practice is what Lord Krishna characterizes as Abhyasa. Practice is kept up by dispassion or Vairagya. Dispassion is aided by discrimination or Viveka. These things go together. A spiritual seeker, if he is earnest about his task, should introduce order, system, method in his self-chosen undertaking. Viveka or discriminative understanding is the best friend of the spiritual seeker. The spiritual seeker should never forget to discriminate between the Real and the unreal. He should never fail to draw the distinction between the eternal and the ephemeral, between the substance and the shell. Discriminative thinking, correct understanding, viewing things in perspective should become a habit of mind with him. He cannot afford to remain without Viveka even for a split second, because that split second may well turn out to be the moment of temptation and ruin.
Vairagya follows in the wake of Viveka. Once you know what is real and what is unreal, once you know what is productive of bliss in the long run and what is productive of pain in the long run, once you understand what is diamond and what is stone, once you appreciate that all the worldly pleasures are but sugar-coated poison, once you learn to realise that in God only can be had unalloyed and lasting bliss, you will naturally turn away from the world and towards God. This is dispassion. Dislike for worldly pleasures is dispassion. Distaste for sense-objects is dispassion. Dispassion and discrimination go together.
Your Abhyasa or spiritual practice will be sustained and continuous only if it is supported by an unbroken current of Viveka and Vairagya.
Practice is the thing. It is practice which can take you forward and onward in your spiritual journey. Suppose you want to go from New York to Los Angeles. You know the route. You know the means of transport. You have the money to buy the ticket. But all this is useless unless you buy the ticket and get into the train or plane or bus. Then you will progress towards Los Angeles every hour of your travel. Similarly in spiritual life. You may know the route to God. You may know how to practise Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga. You may also have the health and the strength, the circumstances and environment, the facilities and aids to practise Yoga. But unless you begin the actual practice, you cannot move an inch forward. Spiritual practice is like cooking food. Enjoying the spiritual bliss that arises out of spiritual practice, the spiritual Ananda, is akin to eating the cooked food. It satisfies your spiritual hunger.
Excerpts from: Theory and Practice in Spiritual Life - What The River Has Taught Me by Sri N.Ananthanarayanan
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Get Over Gloomy
Spiritual Message for the Day – Get Over Gloomy Thoughts by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 6 June 2015 20.03 EST | New York Edition** |
Get Over Gloomy Thoughts
Divine Life Society Publication: Thought Power by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
Very carefully watch all your thoughts. Suppose you are assailed by gloomy thoughts. You experience depression. Take a small cup of milk or tea. Sit calmly. Close your eyes. Find out the cause for the depression and try to remove the cause.
The best method to overcome the gloomy thoughts and the consequent depression, is to think of inspiring thoughts and inspiring things. Remember again, positive overcomes negative. This is a grand effective law of nature.
Now think strongly of the opposite thoughts, the opposite of gloom. Think of those things that elevate your mind; think of cheerfulness. Imagine the advantage of cheerfulness. Feel that you are in actual possession of this quality.
Again and again repeat the formula: OM CHEERFULNES, mentally. Feel, “I am very cheerful.” Begin to smile and laugh several times.
Sing: sometimes this can elevate you quickly. Singing is very beneficial to drive off gloom. Chant OM loudly several times. Run in the open air. The depression will vanish soon. This is the Pratipaksha Bhavana method of Raja Yogins. This is the easiest method.
The method of driving gloom by force—by willing, by assertions, by command—taxes the ‘will’ very much although it is the most efficient. It demands great strength of will. Ordinary people will not succeed. The method of displacing or dislocating the negative feeling by substituting the opposite, positive feeling, is very easy. Within a very short time, the undesirable feeling vanishes. Practice this and feel. Even if you fail several times, continue. You will be successful after some sittings and some practice.
You can treat in the same manner other negative thoughts and feelings as well. If there is the feeling of anger think of love. If there are thoughts of jealousy, think of the advantages of charitableness and magnanimity. If there are thoughts of gloom, then think of some inspiring scenery that you saw sometime ago, or recall to mind some inspiring passage.
If there is harshness of heart, think of mercy. If there is lust, think of the advantage of celibacy. If there is dishonesty, think of honesty, integrity. If there is miserliness, think of generosity and generous persons.
If there is infatuation or Moha, think of discrimination and Atmic Vichara; if there is pride, think of humility. If there is hypocrisy, think of frankness and its invaluable advantages. If there is jealousy, think of nobility and magnanimity. If there is timidity, think of courage, and so on.
You will drive off the negative thoughts and feelings and will be established in a positive state. Practice of a continued type is essential. Be careful in the selection of your companions. Talk very little and that, too, on useful matters.
Excerpts from: Get Over Gloomy Thoughts - Thought Power by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
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Samadhi
Spiritual Message for the Day – Samadhi by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 5 June 2015 17.17 EST | New York Edition** |
Samadhi
Divine Life Society Publication: Practical Lessons in Yoga by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
“Which having obtained, he thinketh there is no greater gain beyond it, wherein, established, he is not shaken even by heavy sorrow.”—Bhagavad-Gita: Ch. VI-22
The fruit of meditation is Samadhi. Samadhi is super conscious state, wherein the Yogi gets superintuitional or supersensual knowledge and Supersensual bliss. He gets the vision of the Lord. He is in a state of communion with the Lord. He is in full enjoyment of the Divine Ecstasy or Divine Thrill. He has seen the Light of lights now.
The five afflictions, reference to which was made in Lesson I, have now come to an end. All sorts of imperfections have disappeared. Just as the river has joined the sea, the individual soul has joined the Supreme Soul. All limitations have dropped now. This state cannot be described in words: It has to be felt by actual practice. There are neither wants nor desires here. All doubts and delusions, all sorrows and tribulations, all fears, differences, distinctions and dualities have vanished entirely. This is the ultimate goal of all spiritual practices. This is the goal of life.
Samadhi is the eighth step of the Yogic ladder. Intuition, revelation, inspiration and ecstasy are all synonymous terms. The meditator and the meditated, the thinker and the thought, the worshipper and the worshipped, the subject and the object have now become identical. The meditator has merged himself in the Soul or the all-pervading Spirit. All watertight compartments have disappeared. The Yogi feels oneness and unity everywhere. He feels: “I have nothing more to learn. I have nothing more to do. I have nothing more to obtain.”
That which is night of all beings is the time of waking for the illumined Yogi; when other beings are waking, then it is night for him. Yajnavalkya, the greatest Yogi says: “By Pranayama impurities of the body are destroyed; by Dharana or concentration impurities of the mind. By Pratyahara the impurities of attachment and by Samadhi everything that hides the Soul is removed.”
Samadhi is of two kinds viz., Savikalpa Samadhi and Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Savikalpa is a lower Samadhi. In the Savikalpa Samadhi the Samskaras or latent impressions are not fried in toto. There is support for the mind. There is still the triad of subtle type viz., the seer, sight and seen, or the knower, knowledge and knowable. So Savikalpa Samadhi cannot give full satisfaction, full freedom, full bliss and knowledge.
In Nirvikalpa Samadhi all Samskaras are burnt in toto. There is no support for the mind. The mind has merged into the all-pervading Spirit. There is no triad of seer, sight and seen, and so forth. Nirvikalpa Samadhi gives full satisfaction, full freedom, full bliss and full knowledge.
There is also another classification viz., Jada Samadhi and Chaitanya Samadhi. In Jada Samadhi there is no awareness. It is more or less like deep sleep. The Yogi does not return with intuitional knowledge. The Samskaras and desires are not destroyed. This is the Samadhi of the Hatha-Yogins who practice Khechari Mudra (reversing the tongue backwards and upwards, fixing it at the root of the palate and closing up the posterior nasal openings is Khechari Mudra). Jada Samadhi cannot give liberation or Mukti. It is more like an acrobatic feat. The Samadhi that we often hear of persons entering into, in public places is nothing but Jada Samadhi. In the other variety of Samadhi viz., Chaitanya Samadhi, there is “perfect awareness.” The Yogi has intuitional knowledge.
Sankara, Dattatreya, Vamadeva, Jada Bharata, Madalasa and Yajnavalkya had all the experience of supercosmic consciousness (Nirvikalpa Samadhi), while Ramadas, Tulasidas, Kabir, Tukaram, Mira, Gouranga, Hafiz, Madhva, Ramanuja and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had the experience of cosmic consciousness (Savikalpa Samadhi).
In the waking state you do conscious work, but you are not conscious of the working of the heart, stomach, liver, etc. Just as there is unconscious work beneath the level of objective consciousness, so also there is superconsciousness above the level of physical consciousness, wherein there is play of neither the mind nor the senses. The man who returns from sleep does not possess any new knowledge, whereas he who comes down from Samadhi possesses supersensual knowledge. He can clear any doubt concerning the problems of life.
“The Yogin is one who has realised the Brahman that is all-full beyond Turiya (there are four states of consciousness viz., waking (Jagrat) state, dreaming (Svapna) state, deep sleep (Sushupti) state, and superconscious (Turiya) state. There is a state still higher, or rusher the highest of all, and that its Turiyateeta state. In this state the Jivatman gets absorbed into Brahman. This is the goal of life). They (the people) extol him as Brahman; and becoming the object of the praise of the whole world, he wanders over different countries…. Then the Yogin becomes immersed in the ocean of bliss. When compared to it, the bliss of Indra and others is very little. He who gets this bliss is the supreme Yogin.” (Mandalabrahmana-Upanishad).
Again in the Yogatattva-Upanishad it is said: “One who is engaged in Nirguna Dhyana attains the stage of Samadhi. Within twelve days at least, he attains the stage of Samadhi. Restraining the breath, the wise one becomes an emancipated person. Samadhi is that state in which the Jivatman (Lower Self) and the Paramatman (Higher Self) are difference less (or of equal state). If he desires to lay aside his body, he can do so…. But if he does not so desire, and if his body is dear to him, he lives in all the worlds possessing the Siddhis of Anima, etc. Sometimes he becomes a Deva and lives honoured in Svarga; or he becomes a man or a Yaksha through will. He can also take the form of a lion, tiger, elephant, or horse through his own will. The Yogin becoming the great Lord can live as long as he likes.”
Patanjali Maharshi, the holy Author of the “Yoga-Sutras” gives a definite warning to the students of Yoga in this connection. He remarks that though these are the accompaniments of the outgoing mind, they are all obstacles to feel Samadhi. The real Yogi will reject these powers ruthlessly. The seeds of bondage can be destroyed only by non-attachment and dispassion. Then only you can attain Kaivalya or Absolute Independence. These Siddhis are, no doubt, very tempting and alluring. Many Yogic students get deluded. They become slaves of these powers. Consequently they get a downfall. They become stranded. They are not able to march onwards and reach the goal. The real Yogi marches on towards the goal fearlessly. His aim is the attainment of the glorious Freedom or the state of Asamprajnata Samadhi (same as Nirvikalpa Samadhi), wherein all the seeds of actions are burnt. He therefore shines in his active Effulgence of eternal life and full illumination and perfection.
When the Purusha is thus completely disconnected from the three Gunas and their effects, when he has realised his own pristine glory, Isolation of Absolute Independence, and when he feels his Absolute Freedom, then alone he attains Kaivalya, the highest goal of a Yogi. The past and the future are now blended into the “PRESENT.” Everything is “NOW and HERE” for him. The sum total of all knowledge of the three worlds is nothing when compared to the Infinite Knowledge of a Yogi who has attained Kaivalya. Glory unto such blessed Yogins! May their blessings be upon us all! (for further details and particulars refer to my book “Practice of Bhakti-Yoga.”)
Excerpts from: Samadhi - Practical Lessons in Yoga by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
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