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Parable of The Well-Cooked Feast
Spiritual (Story) Message for the Day – Parable of The Well-Cooked Feast by Sri Swami Sivananada
| **Baba Times Digest© | 15 April 2015 17.29 EST | New York Edition** |
Parable of The Well-Cooked Feast
Divine Life Society Publication: Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda
Once upon a time there lived a Brahmanishtha Guru with a certain disciple of his. They were both living in one and the same Kutir. The disciple duly studied and mastered the various scriptures. He also served the Guru day and night.
His proximity with the Guru made him think that he was the only beloved disciple of the Guru. This further led him to believe that the other disciples, who were wandering hither and thither all through the year and occasionally visited the Guru, were not truly devoted to the Guru. All that only strengthened his ego.
One wintry night, the disciple returned to the Kutir after finishing some outdoor work. He heard the voice of another disciple, an occasional visitor, inside the Kutir. He knocked at the door. The Guru asked, “Who is that?” The disciple replied, as usual, “It is I, please open the door.”
The Guru replied, “I am enjoying a well-cooked feast. There is no room for a second one in my feast.”
The disciple misunderstood the Guru. He thought he was belittled and insulted before an occasional visiting Gurubhai, almost a stranger for all practical purposes. So, being annoyed and offended, he left the place immediately and went about wandering aimlessly.
As days rolled by, his heart, mind and ego got thoroughly burnt by the fire of separation from the Guru. His heart and mind, his very being as well, were cooked well by the fire of Viraha (separation). He forgot himself and went almost mad with Guru-Bhakti.
One day, all on a sudden, he rushed towards the Guru’s Kutir and kept on knocking at the door aloud: “Gurudev, Gurudev” in a rich love-laden tone. That very sound drowned even the Guru’s usual and formal question, “Who is that?” His mind was filled with the presence of his Gurudev alone. He was blind to everything, nay, neither he nor the universe existed for him; only the Guru existed.
The Guru knew well the voice of his disciple. He could no longer wait. He, too, rushed out and affectionately embraced the disciple, saying “I am now enjoying a well-cooked feast. There is no room for a second one in my feast.”
God is omnipresent and non-dual. There is no room for a second one to exist by Him. There is no room for that little self of man in this vast universe.
As long as the little ego persists, you, too, should be wandering in the dark, undergoing all hardships like the proud disciple. In that state your being religious, your visiting temples and places of worship, your observing austerities - all those things cannot make you the beloved of God.
You should have Ananya-Bhakti, love of God for God’s sake. Mere service of God with the thought “I am serving God” cannot become Ananya-Bhakti.
When your ego is consumed by the fire of Viraha, when your heart and mind are well cooked in that fire, nay, when your love for God is well cooked over the fire of separation, and becomes delicious and palatable to Him, when, in that state, neither you nor this universe exist to you, but only He exists filling your heart and mind, then and then alone, will you become the beloved of God. He will then rush towards you and embrace you like the Guru embracing the disciple.
Then both of you will enjoy a well-cooked feast at which there will be no room for a second one.
Kill the little self and say: “O Lord! All this is Thy Own Self”
Excerpts from: Parable of The Well-Cooked Feast - Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda
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Sri Ramana Maharshi
Spiritual Message for the Day – Sri Ramana Maharshi by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 14 April 2015 12.21 EST | New York Edition** |
Sri Ramana Maharshi
Divine Life Society Publication: Lives of Saints by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
(April 14 – Mahasamadhi day)
Sri Ramana Maharshi was born on 30th December, 1879. He was known as Venkataraman. Born in a pious middle class Brahmin family, he went to a mission school and learnt a little English.
On the 29th of August 1896, Venkataraman left his home in the district of Madurai in search of his Father, Lord Arunachala, to whom he reported himself on the 1st of September 1896, thus:
O Lord, obedient to Thy call
Here have I come, deserting all,
No boon I ask; no loss bemoan,
Take me in and make me Thine own.
From that day till the end of his earthly sojourn, Venkataraman made Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai) his abode, transmitting through Mouna, the golden language of his egoless state, the Message of Eternal Truth, to the four corners of the globe.
Venkataraman left a note behind to his rebuking brother: “I have, in search of my Father, according to His command, started from this place. On a virtuous enterprise, indeed, I have this day embarked. Therefore, for this action none need grieve or trace this one. No money need be spent for searching me”.
“It was about six weeks before I left Madurai for good, in the middle of the year 1896, that the great change in my life took place” said Sri Ramana Maharshi, when asked by devotees as to how he was transformed, “It was so sudden. One day I sat up alone on the first floor of my uncle’s house. I was in my usual good health. But a sudden and unmistakable fear of death seized me. I felt I was going to die and at once set about thinking as to what I should do. I did not care to consult anyone, be he a doctor, elder or friend. I felt I had to solve the problem myself then and there. The shock of the fear of death made me at once introspective or ‘introverted’. I said to myself mentally, ‘Now that death is come, what does it mean? Who is it that is dying? This body dies’. I at once dramatised the situation. I extended my limbs and held them rigid as though rigor mortis had set in. I imitated a corpse to lend an air of reality to my further investigation. I held my breath and kept my mouth closed, pressing the lips tightly together, so that no sound could escape. ‘Well then’ I said to myself, ‘this body is dead. It will be carried to the crematory and there burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of my body, am I dead? Is the body I? This body is silent and inert. But I am still aware of the full force of my personality and even of the sound of I within myself as apart from the body. The material body dies, but the Spirit transcending it cannot be touched by death. I am therefore the deathless Spirit’. All this was not a feat of intellectual gymnastics, but came as a flash before me vividly as living Truth, which I perceived immediately, without any argument almost. I was something very real, the only real thing in that state, and all the conscious activity that was connected with my body was centred on that. The I or myself was holding the focus of attention with a powerful fascination. Fear of death vanished at once and for ever. The absorption in the Self has continued from that moment right up to now”.
During his days of Tapas, mischievous boys pelted him with stones and hurled tiles at him; and yet Ramana was ever peaceful and calm through the strength of meditation and penance.
Ramana Maharshi was known as Brahmana Swami in Tiruvannamalai. Kavya Kanta Ganapathy Sastri, the great Sanskrit scholar, stayed with Maharshi and wrote the Ramana Gita.
The life of the Maharshi was one continued meditation, Ananda Anubhavam. Maharshi established peace within. He lived in the Light of the Lord within. He encouraged others to do the same thing. To him all the world was one.
Maharshi seldom talked, and whenever he did speak, he did so only because it was absolutely necessary.
Ramana was a living example of the teaching of the Upanishads. His life was at once the message and the philosophy of his teachings. He spoke to the hearts of men.
The great Maharshi found Himself within himself and then gave out to the world the grand but simple message of his great life, “Know Thyself”.
“Know Thyself. All else will be known to thee of its own accord. Discriminate between the undying, unchanging, all-pervading, infinite Atma and the ever-changing, phenomenal and perishable universe and body. Enquire, ‘Who am I?’ Make the mind calm. Free yourself from all thoughts other than the simple thought of the Self or Atma. Dive deep into the chambers of your heart. Find out the real, infinite ‘I’. Rest there peacefully for ever and become identical with the Supreme Self.” This is the gist of the philosophy and teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Sri Ramana says, “The world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self. Man’s real nature is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self. The true Self is imperishable; therefore, when a man finds it, he finds a happiness which does not come to an end.
“In the interior cavity of the heart, the One Supreme Being is ever glowing with the Self-conscious emanation I…I… To realise Him, enter into the heart with an one-pointed mind—by quest within or diving deep or control of breath—and abide with the Self of self”.
Sri Ramana’s Who am I?, Upadesa Saram and Ullathu Narpathu are pearls of direct wisdom, expressed in aphoristic terseness.
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi has set at naught the prattle of materialists that Self-realisation and Samadhi are things of the remote past, and that in the present age, they are impossible of achievement to man. He has shown by his lifelong Samadhi that it is still possible to realise the Supreme and live in that realisation.
Beloved aspirant! Take heart. Gird up your loins. Apply yourself intensely to Yoga Sadhana. You will soon attain Videha Kaivalya and shine for ever as an illumined sage.
A meteor hit the sky at 8-47 p.m. on the 14th April, 1950, when Sri Ramana Maharshi left his mortal coil and entered Mahasamadhi.
The all-pervading Light which shone through the embodiment of that Light in Maharshi Ramana had once again resolved itself into its original state. A lifelong proof of the Upanishads was what we called Maharshi Ramana. That proof will for ever exist, reassuring us of the Ultimate Reality.
The saint is no more in his mortal frame. But the Light of his soul is now merged in every receptive individual soul. Maharshi Ramana lives in our heart. His passing away should not be grieved for. For he had fulfilled the mission of his life. He had achieved the highest goal, Self-realisation. So there is nothing to grieve for. The death of only those that are not able to achieve the goal of life or do their duty has any reason to be mourned. The Light of the Maharshi’s soul shines today brighter than ever.
In the heart of humanity the saint shall live for ever, guiding, encouraging, goading and inspiring, so that millions and millions might seek and find the Great Truth that Ramana realised.
Too well did Sri Ramana expound the Vedanta philosophy, not through bookish knowledge, but by practical experience. His teachings imparted through all-absorbing ‘Silence’ embodied the highest ideals and the ultimate reaches in divine realisation. To ever assert one’s latent divinity, to ever strive to live in the consciousness of the immortal Self and to remain as an unaffected witness of the transitory phases of life immersed in that Supreme Silence—was the clarion call of the Maharshi. Dogmas and religious prejudices he cared not for! For he was far above those mundane limitations. With him lived orthodox Brahmin priests, Moslems and Christians and the so-called Indian untouchables. They were all alike to him.
As an architect-supreme of Truth-transcendental, Ramana Maharshi led, and now leads on, the weary travellers on earth towards the Goal through his unfathomable Silence.
To pay the most befitting homage to that saintly personality is to follow his teachings and to grow up in that ideal model.
May peace be unto all!
Excerpts from: Sri Ramana Maharshi - Lives of Saints by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
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 Ecstasy of God-Love
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Ecstasy of God-Love by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 13 April 2015 15.03 EST | New York Edition** |
The Ecstasy of God-Love
Divine Life Society Publication: The Ecstasy of God-Love by Swami Krishnananda
While the Srutis, as the Vedas and the Upanishads are called, lift the principle of Godhead above the region of creation and make it shine gloriously in the firmament of utter perfection beyond the dust of the earth, and create a sense of veneration and fearsome devotion to the Eternal Potentate, the Epics and Puranas joyfully endeavour to bring the Judge of the universe to a homely relation, of a friend, philosopher and guide to humanity in turmoil. God, while He is the powerful parent and ruler over all things, to whom everything is subject as dependent and servant. He is also the friend of man, as in the symbol of the concept of Narayana and Nara, God never separable from man’s welfare, Krishna never forsaking Arjuna, and coming to his succor and help even unasked and unsolicited. Many a time, man himself does not know that he needs help from God, but God knows it beforehand. This is the intimacy and compassion which characterises God as highlighted in the Epic and Purana texts.
The comradeship of God and man is the special touching feature which is promulgated here as distinguished from the transcendent majesty of the Brahman proclaimed in the Upanishads, or the gods adored in the Samhitas. It is the purport of these specialised teachings to make religion not only easy of practice but also a pleasant and enjoyable means of concourse with God, who is with us at all times, and is ever wary of the need of devotees. The relation between man and God is now the apotheosis of the emotions and feelings, loves and aspirations of man, and human longings are concentratedly focussed on the form of God. While the Krishna-Arjuna relation is one of dignity and wonderment, as the cosmic and the individual working in unison, the most intimate relation of man with God, according to the Bhagavata Purana, is to be found reaching its heights in the love of the Gopis of Vrindavana. While the father-son relation, the master-servant relation, and the mother-child relation are indeed master- pieces of human relation, the romance of the soul in its ecstasy of God- vision is considered as the highest point which love and devotion can reach.
In the Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad, the intimacy and ecstasy of the union of the soul with the Absolute is compared to the self-transcendence felt in the communion of the lover and the beloved in an act of fast embrace. Rarely does the soul rise to total action in life. Mostly, what works in the daily occupations of man is the pressure and vehemence of intellect, mind and senses. The soul is supposed to rise to the surface of direct action, pulling up the whole personality without exception, in hunger, sleep and sex. The totality which one experiences in these states is a feeble apology for the entirety of merger which one experiences in God-union. God is not merely the awesome justice of the universe but a source of beauty and attraction capable of enchanting the whole world, surpassing every form of beauty and lovableness conceivable anywhere, melting the hearts of things at the very sight and even a thought of that Glorious Beauty. Beauty of beauties is God (Sakshat manmath-manmathah).
Religion pales into a dreary occupation when it becomes a muddle of rules and regulations and a Procrustean bed of regimented practices, and is bereft of the thrill that one feels in the presence of the beloved. Religion is not merely discipline but also love and grace. The instance of the Gopis is, on the one hand, an illustration of the super-individual and supersocial nature of the soul’s asking for God, and, on the other hand, the way in which God can dissolve His parliament and council of enactments and rules, and run to the devotee personally without the use of secondary means of assistance.
The twenty-second verse of the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is a promise of God that He shall personally take care of His devotees when they are undividedly united with Him. Spiritual ecstasy is the subject of the five chapters delineating the Rasa-Lila of Krishna in the tenth Book of the Bhagavata. Here devotion reaches a pitch to the point of breaking and collapsing as the individual is melting down into the blissful menstruum of the sea of God.
Devotion of this kind, known as Ragatmika-Bhakti, or the devotion of ecstasy, as different from Gauna-Bhakti, or formalistic and disciplined form of devotion, commences with a kind of agitation of the soul within, a stimulation it feels in itself, not through the intellect, mind and senses, but verily as it is in itself, when the devotee attempts firstly to cry for God in a state of bereavement from Him; secondly becomes temporarily unconscious through exhaustion caused by the intensity of longing; and thirdly enters into a rapturous impulsion to imitate God, His features and actions, and dances in the spirit of a possession, as if that which one imitates has actually entered the person so imitating. The best actor in a dramatic performance are those who virtually become the very part they are playing and lose their personal identity.
The Gopis were in this penultimate state of actual union with God, which further on, led them to a state of tearing down all the empirical shackles of personality-consciousness and external relation in a verily maddening reach of giddy heights where it is not merely the devotee that runs after God, but God Himself running to the devotee, God wanting man much more than man wants God. It is not enough if the devotee wants God; the highest devotion is where God loves the devotee and behaves as if He is a very servant of the one who loves Him. The lives of saints who lived such a life of God-possession are examples practically to be seen in the history of religious thought and practice.
Excerpts from: The Ecstasy of God-Love by Swami Krishnananda
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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Fundamentals of the Spiritual Ascent
Spiritual Message for the Day – Fundamentals of the Spiritual Ascent by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 12 April 2015 18.00 EST | New York Edition** |
Fundamentals of the Spiritual Ascent
Divine Life Society Publication: Fundamentals of the Spiritual Ascent by Sri Swami Krishnananda
Spirituality, or true religion, is the ascent of the mind by every stage of the evolutionary pattern of things, even what human society, in its inadequate comprehensions, calls evil, ugly, or abhorrent, by a dextrous adjustment of consciousness with the reality behind these so-called evils, for, if these phenomena were unreal phantoms not intended to exist at all, there would be no reason why one should be constrained to hate them. Hatred and dislike imply a secret acceptance of the reality of things disliked and hated; for what is real cannot be destroyed, and what is unreal need not engage one’s attention. Man, today, requires proper education more than anything else.
One of the boldest attempts ever made to overcome human empiricality entirely by way of the practice of true religion, is the scientific method of a supersocial nature, which the purely socially conditioned mind, ridden over by traditions of community, cannot comprehend.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (I.4) proclaims that the Absolute ‘I-am-I,’ or ‘I-am-the-All,’ contemplated itself as such, and was there by itself, as One alone without a second. It had no second to it, the very idea of the second being contrary to the All-in-All. The consciousness of ‘a second’ is the true evil which it destroyed by being the All. One who knows this truth, says the Upanishad, destroys all the ‘non-I’s,’ or anything second to oneself, and no external can exist before such a one, the external being burnt up by the inclusiveness of the All-Being. This is the first stage of Being, which is the prius to creation. In the second stage, the All-One alienates itself into a cosmic ‘another,’ the cosmic subject has before it a cosmic object, the cosmic positive beholds the cosmic negative, spirit encounters matter, man sees the woman, male the female. In that non-personalised superhuman contemplative bipolarity of existence, these universal bipolar phases exist as one and two at the same time, inseparable and separable simultaneously, the knower and the known in an act of inscrutable embrace, as it were, the union of the one in two and the two in one. This is the second stage, which explains the cosmic background of the three basic instincts of self-regard (Lokaishana), possession of wealth (Vittaishana), and sexual integration (Daraishana), as the strings operating behind every species of created being, as the Upanishad specially reiterates (I.4.17). But, beware, whoever feels that the thing which one needs is outside oneself shall lose it, as it will flee away from the one who regards it as an ‘other’ (II.4.6). It is in the third stage that the group of the five Cosmic Elements, or rather the Cosmic Force-Continuum, emanates as an embodied form of this Cosmic Dual-nature potential in all things, that in creation everything is one and not one, at the same time. No one can be entirely alone to oneself without the consciousness of some relation to another. This is the mystifying secret of the manifested universe where everything is and is not at the same time, satisfied and unsatisfied, happy and unhappy, complete and incomplete, wanting nothing and wanting everything, the universal life and universal death warring with each other.
The duals of the gods in heaven, the deities of the Celestial kingdom as facets of the All-Being, are envisaged in the next stage, which is the fourth one. The one God has become the many gods who fill the universe as the one body fills all its limbs. The problem now is in the following stage, which is the fifth, where the quandary arises as to how the one can be many, the knower contact the known, or the universal can have anything which it has to face or encounter, how there can be a world independent of God’s existence. God seems to be the world and also the opposite of the world. The world is sunk in God as its very being, and yet is the opposite of God in every way, being an ‘externalised’ entity different from universality. In the sixth stage, this problem is resolved by the One, knowing that, after all, it is itself the so-called ‘other,’ and, so, the ‘other’ is one’s own All-Self. In the seventh stage, the difficulty of the dual existence becomes a more complicated state of a tripartite cosmicality of the consciousness of there being an objective world, a subjective knower of it, and an inter-mediary link between the two holding them in a state of balance, the three facets being known as Adhibhuta, Adhyatma, and Adhidaiva, respectively. Here it is that we begin to know that there is a world, that we are there to behold it, and that there is a God above both the perceiver and the perceived.
The multiplicity of the perceiving individuals in a world of external perception who have no consciousness of there being a link between the perceiver and the perceived requires to be brought into the state of a harmonious community of a purposive organisation, for their very survival, which is done in the eighth stage, by an introduction of a law known as Dharma, called also Rita, which cements the apparent multiplicity of individualities by stages. This law works at the ninth stage, by the cooperative or organising principle of action, through (1) directing wisdom, (2) administrative power, (3) commercial activity, and (4) requisite labour, which go by the name of the classes of society. Added to this system of social life is also the necessity for the education of the individual, in an ascending order of (1) discipline and study, (2) interdisciplinary contact with the world by an actual experience of its constituents, (3) a consequent detachment from anything external to oneself, and, finally, (4) a self-absorption in the contemplation of the Infinite. This is achieved by the necessity of the (1) law operating to blend together the system of the cosmos with the (2) material and (3) emotional needs for the purpose of the (4) ultimate liberation of the individual in the Universal Being.
As a Tenth Commandment, the Upanishad insists upon social service requiring everyone to sustain the grace of the gods by worship, of the sages by sacred study, of the forefathers by ritual offerings and ablutions, of the humans by charity, of the animals by loving feeding, of the plants by tending them, all as a sacrifice by which the (1) gods, (2) the sages, (3) the forefathers, (4) the humans, (5) the animals, (6) the plants and even the (7) birds and insects love the seeker as their own self, and protect him as they protect themselves.
Here will commence the art of concentration and meditation of consciousness for its gradual upward ascent towards liberation in its own universality, in terms of a ‘return current’ of its whole being.
Excerpts from: Fundamentals of the Spiritual Ascent by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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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Affirmations in Meditation
Spiritual Message for the Day – Affirmations in Meditation by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 11 April 2015 15.25 EST | New York Edition** |
Affirmations in Meditation
Divine Life Society Publication: What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
After the practice of the second part of meditation (repetition of mantra) a short pause is advisable, keeping the eyes closed and feeling detached and restful. If there is tension, move the shoulders and the head a little. Breathe freely for a minute or two and then refocus the mind in the breath to begin the third part of this integral meditation, all of it being a combination of pratyahara, dharana and dhyana. This last part is a process of seeding the subconscious with some basic affirmations, relative to their opposite traits which are common to human nature.
The mind is a complex organism susceptible to influence. No one is born like a blank page on which the parents and others write what is good or bad. We are all born with innate propensities of character, even though in a rudimentary state, but each as a distinct individual. Then the first few years are highly impressionable, marking the subconscious indelibly. Afterwards, in adolescence and later years, we keep on marking the formative mind by positive endeavour and falling into bad habits, as well as being susceptible to wholesome and negative influence of individuals we come into contact with and by the kind of society we live in.
The purpose of this part of meditation is self-educative, as to what should be our nature and should not be, the reality being what we really need for our security and happiness. One may make a list of affirmations as per individual preference and necessity, and memorize them. However, they should be few and short. The following six affirmations are recommended.
While inhaling and feeling the breath, mentally repeat slowly and with a deep conviction “peace is my real nature” and while exhaling (also feeling the breath) “not conflict.” Repeat the phrase three or four times, then try to absorb the meaning in silence for about a minute, breathing spontaneously. Then continue with “love is my real nature,” “not resentment”; “truth is my real nature,” “not untruth”; “happiness is my real nature,” “not unhappiness”; “strength is my real nature,” “not weakness”; “freedom is my real nature,” “not bondage.”
Then give a short pause, breathing freely and feeling detached. Begin again, fixing the mind in the breath, and repeat three or four times each, inhaling “peace” and exhaling “only peace”; “love,” “spiritual love”; “truth,” “only truth”; “happiness,” “inner fullness”; “strength,” “mental strength” “freedom,” “spiritual freedom.” Then conclude with a short pause, breathing freely.
The best time to meditate is in the early morning, but only if one wakes up fresh. Otherwise, an appropriate hour should be chosen, but not immediately after a meal. This session of meditation will take from 35 to 45 minutes. In the beginning one may shorten it to 20 to 30 minutes and, after sufficient practice, prolong up to 45 minutes or a bit longer. For most people a long meditation is not useful and may even build up tension. The quality is more important than the length of it.
An inner poise, a truthful, open, compassionate and unselfish nature, free from pretension, snobbery, prejudice and dogmatism, are the qualities one encounters in those who have progressed in meditation.
Excerpts from: Affirmations in Meditation - What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
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Repetition of Mantra
Spiritual Message for the Day – Repetition of Mantra by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 10 April 2015 17.03 EST | New York Edition** |
Repetition of Mantra
Divine Life Society Publication: What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
The second part of meditation, which is an aspect of internal dharana (concentration), consists of japa or repetition of a Mantra, and can be combined with dhyana (contemplation). A Mantra is a sound-form representing a basic spiritual ideal, such as the immanence of the infinite spirit (Om), or transcendental truth, knowledge, infinity (satyam, jnanam ,anantam), or a personal deity like Shiva or Vishnu or Christ. A Mantra can also be an affirmation of an ideal such as Soham (I am one with the spirit of God) or Hari Om Tat Sat (the Lord is the infinite spirit, that is the truth).
A Mantra should not be considered a magic formula, for there is no magic formula in Yoga. Continuous repetition of a sound-form helps to tap mental energy and focus it into the subconscious in order to plant and stimulate a spiritual ideal therein. This is the basic purpose of japa. To call it a transcendental exercise is to indulge in hyperbole. There are various kinds of Mantra but for japa its shorter forms are recommended, such as Om or Soham, or slightly larger form as Hari Om or Hari Om Tat Sat.
The mind is a field of energy. Energy pulsates through a principle structure of movement. The mind moves by the pulsation of memory, latching on to one and then to another. Thus, the energy of the mind is dispersed. The purpose of repeating a sound-form continuously is to make the mind move in a tight circle, thus tapping its energy. Simultaneously, or alternately, the sentiment for a spiritual ideal should be focused deeper within its exercise. This is a combined form of dharana and dhyana.
One may begin the second part of meditation by refocusing the mind in the breath, trying to be absorbed in it, as before, for a minute or two. Then start the mental intonation of the Mantra Om, slowly and concentrating deeply, along with the inflowing breath, feeling its coolness, and again with exhalation, feeling the warmth. The process should be continuous for several minutes. Then have a short pause, detaching the mind and experiencing an inner silence, and after which repeat the practice. Continue for a total of 10 minutes in the first month and then extend by another five minutes or so.
The psychological counterpart of this exercise consists in feeling a subtle, sacred presence within: in the body giving it health or physical well-being, in the mind enlightening it with understanding and wiping out the shadows of negativity, in the heart or the soul awakening spiritual aspiration. The last means loving “God with all your heart and with all your soul” in the words of Jesus. These guiding sentiments are relative to the repetition of Om, which can be directed at the same time or in between japa.
If the Mantra is Soham, the sound so should be mentally intoned with the inflowing breath and ham with the outflowing, in the same way as with Om. The sentiment or the contemplative part may be based on the affirmation: “I am one with the eternal spirit within and around. The self in me is of the spiritual nature of my soul, rather than a product of physical instincts and personality traits. The ego in me is purified by this communion with my soul, the essence of which is the same as the infinite, transcendental spirit of God, or the Self.”
The idea of sticking to one Mantra only is to accustom the mind to its sound pattern, in order to engrave its grooves in the subconscious, as it were. The choice may be made by oneself, such as in this case between Om and Soham. Experience alone will tell you, given enough time, if a Mantra is suitable to ones psychological make-up through a sense of harmony with it, or not. There is no rule that a Mantra cannot be changed if the mind resists it.
The preference of receiving initiation from a Guru is personal but there is no dogma that to repeat a Mantra one has to be initiated into it. Sensible teachers try to find out the psychological inclination of the student before giving a Mantra, rather than perfunctorily superimpose one with a dubious understanding that the former can know what is appropriate for the latter just by sensing the vibrations. Gurudev Swami Sivananda, never urged anyone to receive Mantra-initiation from him but, if someone came to him for it, he generally enquired about the preference.
Whereas a Mantra should not be treated frivolously by revealing it to just anybody, to make a top-secret of it is rather silly. All Mantras can be found in books. Some Christians have even made a Yogic combination by deciding on “Om Jesus” as a Mantra.
Excerpts from: Repetition of Mantra - What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
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How to Meditate
Spiritual Message for the Day – How to Meditate by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 9 April 2015 17.37 EST | New York Edition** |
How to Meditate?
Divine Life Society Publication: What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
After a few minutes of relaxation as described in how to cultivate a predisposition, gradually absorb the mind in the breath, that is, be aware of the coolness of the inflowing prana deep inside the head, in the nerve cells, and the warmth of the outgoing prana (exhalation) inside the lower nostrils, while breathing spontaneously. There is no need to breathe deliberately slowly, for the concentration in feeling the breath will automatically make it slow and find its own rhythm. From time to time, repeat mentally “peace” (shanti) when inhaling and “liberation” (mukti) when exhaling, but the important thing is a sense of being filled with peace and feeling free from all tension and bondage like a free soul. The practice may be continued for, say, 10 minutes.
The purpose of this form of pratyahara is a conscious experience of the prana, the external form of which is the breath and the internal, the spirit or the soul. The Latin root, spirare, of the word respiration means “to breathe,” and is related to the word spiritus, the spiritual essence that gives life to the body through the vital principle, prana. By experiencing the breath through its coolness and warmth, one becomes aware of the source within by a sense of immense peace and freedom, the two psychological forms of expression of the spirit within.
After a month of practice, the first stage can be prolonged by continuing to feel the coolness deep inside the head even when exhaling, and ignoring the warmth of the outgoing prana, but renewing the cool feeling with the help of each inward breath. The psychological experience of this exercise is a state of fullness which can be guided by the repetition of the word paripurnam or its English form “spiritual fullness,” from time to time. This may be done for five minutes or more, depending on the ability to maintain attention.
Any practice in a prolonged state, especially in the beginning, loses its depth. Thus, after 10 or 15 minutes, detach the mind from the breath, keep the eyes closed and feel restful for a minute or two. One may also loosen up the shoulders, neck and legs, if there is tension.
Excerpts from: How to Meditate? - What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
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What is Required to Meditate
Spiritual Message for the Day – What is Required to Meditate by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 8 April 2015 15.25 EST | New York Edition** |
What is Required to Meditate
Divine Life Society Publication: What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
The injunction “let your whole life be an act of meditation,” is meaningless, first because it is impossible and, secondly because the value is diluted. Meditation, in order to be effective, should inspire a philosophy to guide one’s life. That is why Patanjali’s Raja Yoga begins with two sets of ethics and regulations, yama and niyama. Practical idealism is the first requirement in meditation, so as not to make it a hypocritical act but to support it by a philosophy guiding ones attitude, restraint, motivation, action and relationship.
The second requisite is a suitable place to meditate, clean and peaceful, wherein to create the right kind of atmosphere by keeping a symbol on a sort of an altar with flowers and when meditating, lighting a candle and mild incense, if desired.
The third is a kind of posture, whether sitting, cross-legged, if comfortable, or in a straight-back and firm chair, while keeping the neck, shoulders and back straight, without being rigid, so as to remain alert by breathing adequately (oxygen helps to maintain lucidity). For most of the people, even in India, the lotus posture (padmasana) is symbolic rather than practical, for one can meditate only when the mind is free from self-inflicted pain in the legs and hips, nor does it make any sense to let them go numb. The position of the arms should be relaxed by keeping the palms facing up in the lap, one over the other, or the hands should be on the knees with palm up or down but fingers loose and relaxed. If sitting in a chair, the feet should be together on the floor, with equal weight.
The fourth is cultivating a relaxed disposition before beginning the practice of meditation. There should be no fighting with thoughts or trying to stop the mind, as it were, or even a desire to achieve anything at all, for it is not an ego-trip or climbing the ladder of success, but an effortless feeling of a deep, inner poise and faith in, and love for, what one wishes to do, a quiet, absorbing predisposition to the ideal of the act.
With a relaxed mind one may begin with the awareness of an abiding, expanding relatedness to all that is around, to the whole universe, and then to the transcendent and immanent spiritual source, which is also the essence of ones inner being or soul. There should be a feeling of absorption and envelopment by a deep, inner peace. No doubt, thoughts will come and go, but not to be distracted by a thought means not identifying with it, because a thought is sustained by the selfs involvement with it. When a thought comes, one may gently tell oneself “I am not interested but detached and in peace.” To begin meditation, it is necessary to compose oneself in this way for a few minutes.
The fifth requisite is called techniques that constitute the main practice of meditation. They are of several kinds depending on religious or monastic or Ashram traditions. For example, in some Catholic monasteries there are little books of meditation consisting of a thought for each day of the year, gleaned from the scriptures, which is memorized beforehand and contemplated upon in solitude, while mentally repeating the phrases from time to time. In the chapel, meditation is done differently, when a monk reads aloud passages from sacred writings and his brethren sit with heads bent, eyes closed and fingers crossed, deeply concentrating on what is read.
It will, however, be appropriate here to give some basic steps in an integral form of meditation, combining some practice in prathyahara, dharana and dhyana. The suitability of techniques varies from person to person and the choice should be individual, from what is available in books. However, it should be remembered that, just as the mark of good journalism is accuracy and the evidence of a serious research, so also the mark of a good teaching is clarity and precision.
Excerpts from: What is required to Meditate? - What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
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Why to Meditate
Spiritual Message for the Day – Why to Meditate by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 7 April 2015 14.25 EST | New York Edition** |
Why to Meditate?
Divine Life Society Publication: What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
The two basic goals of meditation are: 1) Spiritual renewal, or the feeling of oneness with a higher source of life, no matter whether one calls it the infinite and eternal spirit, transcendent and yet immanent in everything, or a divine being called God, or supreme truth, from which flow peace, wisdom and strength. 2) The purpose of deep introversion, in a state of peace, is to search the basic truths of life, to separate reality from illusion itself, to acquire a clear understanding of reality rather than confusing it with a foggy, thoughtless state. The first is relatively easier through devotion and a sincere dedication. The second needs a long practice, to acquire philosophical maturity.
Peace of mind is a product of the first goal, which helps in the understanding of the problems one faces. An expanded state of consciousness enables one to loosen the psychological thightness of attachments and rise above petty reactions by the realization that there is more to life than snobbery caused by the insecure ego and resentment by wounded vanity. A sense of elevation and oneness with a spiritual source helps to sublimate gross passions and acquire emotional maturity. The identity of oneself with the essence of one’s being, strengthens the will to act according to what should and should not be done, after having made appropriate decisions.
Clarity of mind, which is a part of the second goal, helps to cultivate a sense of right and wrong, a basic purpose of education and a litmus test of any culture. The Greek root, charassein of the word character means “to engrave,” and its Sanskrit word, charita, means “to cultivate”. To engrave or to cultivate cherished ideals is what meditation is for, practiced in a state of peace and clarity of mind, instilling a love of truth, of what one wishes to be, by sowing the seeds of suggestion through an intense feeling, devotion and dedication.
Purity of heart or freedom from resentment, hate, prejudice and negative thinking is another objective of meditation. Although it is said that repetition of a Mantra helps to cleanse and enlighten the mind, there is no evidence that the mental sound-form does so, but the faith in it and the sincerity to direct one’s life by the ideals behind it. Thus, it is wrong to say that Mantras are meaningless sound-forms. It is also advisable to discard the myth that no progress in meditation or spiritual life is possible without an initiation by a Guru, although a worthy teacher is a help. As the Buddha says :
“By oneself alone is one purified,
Purity and impurity depending on oneself,
As no one can purify another,
By oneself one must walk the path,
The teacher merely shows the way.”
Excerpts from: Why to Meditate - What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
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What is Meditation
Spiritual Message for the Day – What is Meditation by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 6 April 2015 11.07 EST | New York Edition** |
What is Meditation?
Divine Life Society Publication: What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
In the West, the word meditation means a concentrated state of mind in serious reflection. The Latin root of the word meditation, mederi, means “to heal.” It is an effort to heal afflictions of the mind, the hurt ego, by trying to understand the cause of the problem and finding a way to solve it, that is, by knowing what counter-measures to take. To meditate thus, is to deepen a state of understanding.
In the East, however, meditation does not mean thinking at all but fixing the mind in a spiritual ideal, to be one with it, or the thought-process dissolving in the consciousness of it. According to Zen, meditation does not involve any concept but is an awareness of inner silence. As per the Yoga of Patanjali, meditation is a combination of three steps: pratyahara or abstraction, or withdrawal of the mind from the sense-objects or attention to their memory; dharana or concentration; and dhyana or contemplation which, however, is not a thought-process but an absorption of the feeling of oneness with the ideal.
Awareness of an inner silence is not something easy to achieve. It can be confused with a state of dullness or being soporific, which is not the purpose of meditation. To meditate mean does not mean to have a good rest while sitting pretty, and silence is not productive without spiritual aspiration. On the other hand, few have the capacity to think clearly, and too much of mental exercise could lead to tension and confusion.
In Bhakti Yoga, meditation is visualization of the image of a chosen deity, together with mental repetition of a relevant mantra. For the Vedantin it is to contemplate on the meaning of selected verses from the Upanishads or similar scriptures. For the Catholics, it is saying the rosary, based on mantras like “Our Father which art in Heaven,” or “Hail Mary, full of grace.” For them meditation also consists in feeling close to Jesus after receiving communion and retiring into a quiet place.
St. Albert the Great, the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas, observed that meditation for philosophers is a process of perfecting a thought, and for the devotees of their love of God. Prayers said in silence as a dedication of oneself to God can also be called meditation, because it means turning the mind inward to one’s spiritual source, leading to peace.
For, the Hindus, repetition of a mantra, with or without a rosary, but with a feeling of spiritual oneness, is meditation. A common Buddhist meditation consists in repeating the mantras: Buddham sharanam gachchhami, sangham sharanam gachchami (I proceed remembering the Buddha, the righteous path and the welfare of my community). The Tibetians base their meditation on the mantra Om mani padme hum (I am Om, the jewel in the lotus of my heart). For Muslims, meditation is called dhikr or repetition of selected names of God from the Quran, generally with a rosary. Feeling the breath, which is a technique in pratyahara, is an exercise in Zen meditation (the word Zen is derived from dhyana or meditation), as also counting from 1 to 20 or more, over and over again.
Excerpts from: What is Meditation? by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
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