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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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Self-Transcendence
Spiritual Message for the Day – Self-Transcendence by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 14 February 2015 17.45 EST | New York Edition** |
Self-Transcendence
Divine Life Society Publication: An Analysis of Experience by Sri Swami Krishnananda
The transmutation of the individual constitution is necessary for the experience of the Absolute, and this can be achieved by recognising the true nature of the relation existing between the individual and the Absolute, as detailed in the foregoing pages. All forms of the externalisation of energy, which are called urges, instincts, etc., are ultimately movements of consciousness in the direction of the not-self. There can be no individual urge when consciousness ceases to function in this way. The way of self-control, therefore, is that of the recession of the modes of the objectified consciousness to their wider and deeper source, which functionally converge and merge in the Absolute. Only a conscious endeavour on the part of the individual to outgrow itself, to rise above particularity, can bring about this great achievement and realisation. For this, clear understanding, dispassionate feeling, longing for freedom, and perseverance are necessary.
Study, reflection and meditation are the processes of the method of self-transcendence. A careful study and analysis of the nature of experience, under the guidance of an able spiritual teacher, is indispensable for meditation on the spiritual Reality. The defects involved in relative experience, and the fact of its being finally centred in and reducible to the reality of the Absolute, are to be discovered, in order that attachment to external forms of experience may be withdrawn, and all energy be focussed on the supreme Self-consciousness. The nature of instinctive reactions and blind urges have to be clearly understood before any attempt to control them may be made. No practice can be of any lasting value, if it is not preceded by a correct knowledge of the inner anatomy and constitution of the meaning and method of that practice. One must act only after knowing how to act, why to act and what the act really is. Action must be based on a knowledge thereof. This knowledge, on which all spiritual practices are based, is the forerunner of dispassion for all externalisation towards things. True renunciation is not the abandonment of any ‘thing’, but the relinquishment of the thingness in things, the objectness in objects, the externality in experience, the projectedness in consciousness. This renunciation is the condition of the supreme fulfilment in the Absolute. There can be no hope of this ultimate realisation without the total surrender of personality and all its concomitants to this one goal. The moment this surrender is done, attachments cease, the mind becomes calm, the senses are abstracted from forms, passions subside, consciousness gets concentrated, joy ensues, and an immense strength is felt within. All these are the results of an attunement of the individual to Reality, the coalescence of all forces with it, the dissolution in it of all distinction and objectivity. By this act the individual draws sustenance from and becomes the Universal Centre. The actual experience is possible through intense meditation on it.
Every act of one’s life should become an expression of conscious contemplation on the Absolute. Unless all acts are based on this consciousness, there cannot be any ultimate value in these acts. The Absolute is the life-principle of all things, acts and thoughts, and so, without it, everything becomes lifeless and devoid of meaning. Spirituality is a state of consciousness; it is not merely certain forms of action. When consciousness is properly trained to exist in this harmony, all acts become universal processes, and cease to be individual efforts directed towards a phenomenal end. It is the duty of everyone in all one’s conscious states to attempt to unity oneself with the Absolute, and perform one’s duties with the consciousness of this unity. Such an individual is a sage, the supremely blessed one. The very presence of this hallowed being exerts a magnetic spiritual influence on the entire environment. “This universe is his; and, indeed, he is the universe,” says the Upanishad. This is the glorious consummation of life.
Excerpts from: Self-Transcendence - An Analysis of Experience 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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If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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An Analysis of Experience
Spiritual Message for the Day – An Analysis of Experience by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 13 February 2015 17.39 EST | New York Edition** |
An Analysis of Experience
Divine Life Society Publication: An Analysis of Experience by Sri Swami Krishnananda
In our attempt to know Truth, we cannot start with any fixed point in the universe, for every point, when carefully analysed, is found to refer to something beyond itself, until it carries the consciousness to infinity. Every so-called fixed entity is really a mirror in which the entire universe is reflected. To know any point in the universe perfectly would be to know the universe as a whole. Every point is a miniature universe, and so it is impossible for us to start with any fixed point or entity in our attempt to know Truth. The universe is not a thing, not a substance; it is not made up of several three-dimensional points or objects. Every object is a vortex of forces whirling in a particular direction and mode. These modes, however, cease to be such when they become the essential content of the Absolute Consciousness. The universe, therefore, is a form of Consciousness, in which is to be found the atmosphere or the environment which befits the potentialities of the experiencing stresses in it. There is, thus, an experience of objective form, and also an experience of subjective reactions; of the universe based on the Infinite Consciousness, and of the one based on the individual consciousness. The stuff of the universe is the Absolute.
The universe is a bundle of conditions, states or expressions of the Absolute. At any given moment or stage, the universe is one relative interconnected condition, a cosmic situation, and any part of it represents the whole background. The universe in which we live is not physical; it is Consciousness in disharmony and disturbance, trying to adjust and adapt itself, through its universally distributed parts, to regain its equilibrium. Physicality and psychicality are the stages of its expression and development, accidental to its essential being, only to be swept away by degrees in the progression of its evolutionary scheme tending to perfection. The universe is made, ultimately, not of particles, molecules, atoms, electrical charges, protoplasm or cells, but of a process of Consciousness which, when it extends itself into objectivity, goes by the name of space, time, movement, substance, energy, wave, particle, and the like. The universe is a single, continuous, connected, logical, systematic, purposive process with every part of it always mirroring the Absolute, to which it owes allegiance; a process of infinite varieties of qualitative and quantitative stresses, where each stress and aspect and part is cause and effect at the same time, where each determines and is the other, a magnificently worked-out plan of wholeness in every speck and quarter and cranny, a process in which every part is an expression of the whole, a unique and unitary finished act of completeness, the supreme example of matchless performance, and wondrous art, a process of the Self-realisation of the Absolute.
In this universe, nothing is by or in itself. Everything is everything else also, and everything is, because of the Whole which is. The individual and its environment are the same; one is not external to the other. No event is cut off from the others. Every pin-drop, whisper, thought or feeling gets recorded in all existence, setting it in vibration and affecting its equilibrium with an intensity which is in proportion to that of the cause thereof. The universe registers all events in an instant, and even a private act is at once judged in the court of the Universal Whole. Every part reflects the position of the Whole, and we can reach the Whole through a part, provided we know the innermost essence of the part. From the present, the past and the future can be known, for the present is the meeting point of the past and the future, and has in it the effects of the past and the potentialities of the future. The universe consists not of parts but of phases. There are no sharp divisions in it, and all experiences form a continuous process. Existence is an equilibrium, which persists and succeeds in maintaining itself. The cause of any event is not in any other thing or event, but in the Whole. Such is the grandeur of the universe, such the majesty of the Absolute.
Excerpts from: An Analysis of Experience 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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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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Ethical Science
Spiritual Message for the Day – Ethical Science by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 12 February 2015 17.17 EST | New York Edition** |
Ethical Science
Divine Life Society Publication: Ethical Teachings by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
Ethics is the science of conduct. Ethics is the study of what is right or good in conduct. Ethical science shows the way in which human beings behave towards each other as well as towards other creatures. It contains systematised principles on which a man should act. Without ethics you cannot have any progress in the spiritual path. Ethics is the foundation of Yoga, the corner-stone of Vedanta and the strong pillar on which the edifice of Bhakti Yoga rests.
Ethics is right conduct or Sadachara. The mark of Dharma is Achara or right conduct. Achara is the mark of good. From Achara only, Dharma is born. Dharma enhances life. Man attains prosperity, fame, here and hereafter through the practice of Dharma. Achara is the highest Dharma. It is the root of all Tapas. It supports the whole universe. It leads one to Eternal Happiness and Immortality.
Ethics is morality. Morality is the gateway to God-realisation. It is the master-key of religion. He who leads a moral or virtuous life, attains freedom, perfection or Moksha.
Ethics is a relative science. What is good for one man may not be good for another man. What is good at one time may not be good at another time and at another place. Ethics is relative to the man himself and to his surroundings.
Every religion has its own ethics. The primary truth of every religion is the foundation of ethics or morality or the science of right conduct. Yama and Niyama of Patanjali Maharshi on the Raja Yoga Philosophy constitute the best ethics for a Yoga practitioner. The Manu Smriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Parasara Smriti, all explain the code of right conduct. The noble Eightfold path of Buddhism is the essence of the ethical teachings of Lord Buddha. The Ten Commandments of Judaism, and the Sermon on the Mount by Lord Jesus contain the ethical teachings for the uplift of humanity.
The first thing you learn from every religion is the unity of all Selves. It is the only one Self which is immanent in all creatures. All human relations exist because of this unity of Self. The basis of the unity of Self is the Universal Brotherhood and the Universal Love. Yajnavalkya said to Maitreyi, his wife, “O Maitreyi! Not indeed for the love of husband is the husband dear; for the love of the Self is the husband dear. And so the wife, sons, property, friends, worlds and even the Devas themselves are all dear because the one Self abides in all.” If you injure another man, you injure yourself. If you help another man, you help yourself. There is one life, one consciousness in all creatures. This is the foundation of the ethics of each and every Religion.
Practice of ethics will help you to live in harmony with your neighbours, friends, your own family-members, fellow-beings, and all other people. It will confer on you lasting happiness and Moksha. Your heart will be purified. It will keep your conscience ever clean. A moral man who follows strictly the principles of ethics, will not deviate even a fraction of an inch from the path of Dharma or righteousness. He earns undying reputation for his practice of ethics. He becomes an embodiment of Dharma. He only leaves the physical body; but his name lives as long as the world lasts.
We have human morality, family morality, social morality, national morality, professional morality. A doctor has his own professional ethics. He should not divulge to others the secrets of his patients. He should be kind and sympathetic towards his patients. He should not give injections of water and charge highly as for best medicines. Although the guardian of the patient did not pay the fees of his last visit, he should go voluntarily and attend the cases. He should treat the poor cases freely. An advocate also has his own ethics. He should not coach up false witnesses. He should not take up the weak cases, only for the sake of fees. He should argue freely for the poor people. There is ethics for a business-man also. He should not expect much profit. He should do much charity. He should not speak falsehood even in his business.
Do not do any act which does not bring good to others or that act for which you will feel ashamed after doing. Do such acts which are praiseworthy and which bring good to others. This is the brief description of right conduct, highest Dharma. Moral precepts have been made to free the creatures from all injuries.
The ethics of Western Philosophers is superficial. It is a mere surface ethics. But the Eastern ethics is subtle, sublime and profound. All religions teach the ethical rules such as: “Do not kill; do not injure others; love your neighbour; etc.” But they have not given the reason. Only Hindu ethics says, “There is one All-pervading Atman. It is the inner soul of all beings. It is hidden in all creatures. It is the common, pure consciousness. If you injure your neighbour you actually injure yourself.” This is the basic metaphysical truth that underlies all Hindu ethical codes.
Stick to Sadachara or right conduct and attain Immortality. Practise ethics and reach the illimitable dominion of eternal bliss! Grow. Evolve. Build up your character. Consult the Sastras and Mahatmas whenever you are in doubt. Attain the goal of life and rest in the inner harmony!
Excerpts from: Ethical Science – Ethical Teachings 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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See Yourself Impartially
Spiritual Message for the Day – See Yourself Impartially by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 11 February 2015 21.40 EST | New York Edition** |
See Yourself Impartially
Divine Life Society Publication: Seek The Beyond by Sri Swami Chidananda
Om! Om! Om!
There is a story in the Upanishads of the three da. Da is a letter in the Sanskrit alphabet. A human individual, a celestial and a demon all approached Brahma, the Creator, seeking knowledge of the Higher Self. Coming down from His deep meditation, He looks at each one of them and gives the same identical upadesa or spiritual instruction. And the upadesa is to look at their image and pronounce the word da. And each one understands the meaning according to his own nature and propensities, inclination.
A commentator upon this Upanishadic episode says, “Even though it was given to three types of beings, all three of these can equally apply to one human individual, because within the human individual all three propensities inhere. They are already there—celestial, demoniacal and human. So one should understand all these three aspects of one’s being and how to interpret and apply this knowledge for one’s own benefit. Mark you, one’s own benefit. Spiritual truths should be applied only for one’s own benefit.
It is here that clarity is necessary, discrimination is necessary. We all know the adage that the devil can quote scriptures to his own purpose. The best scriptural quotations can be made use of in the worst way also. They can be made use of in ways that are divine, that are demoniacal and in human ways as well.
For example, in my bathroom I have a little plastic picture of Mickey Mouse sitting in a one-man rowboat which is rapidly heading for a waterfall. The title on it is “Perseverance.” We must persevere. How? When we reach a point and then say, “No, no, no, it’s no use me persevering, I am lost, I will be dashed against the rocks,” –all these ideas will come—perseverance is the very last ounce of determined effort that you give. And that one last determined effort somehow or other may be able to save you from the terrible current that is drawing you to the depths. You should not simply give up.
But this not giving up has its own nuances. It does not always manifest in one way; it manifests in subtly varying ways—divine, demoniacal and human. For example, when after repeated efforts, Siddhartha, who became an ascetic and a muni and strove for Self-realisation through yoga was not able to do it after the most extreme austerities, he said this is not the way, there is a middle path. He took the middle path, but still nothing seemed to be of any avail.
Then a terrible determination comes in His mind. He goes to Bodhgaya, sits under the Bodhi tree, and takes a terrible resolution: “Now, here I seat myself. I shall not leave this seat until I attain illumination, no matter what the cost. Even if the body dries up, even if the flesh and skin wither, even if the bones become brittle and are reduced to powder, Siddhartha will not leave this seat until he attains what he has set his mind to attain.”
Terrible resolve! Even the gods and celestials were astounded: “Siddhartha will not leave this seat until he attains illumination!” That is a great resolve. That is spiritual. That is sattvic. It is a divine resolve. It derives its strength from God Himself.
In the same way, there is a very dire and demoniacal tradition called vendetta in a part of Italy called Sicily. If one member of a family has been injured or killed by a member of another family, the first family will not rest until they have taken revenge. Then the other family retaliates; it can carry on from one generation to the next—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. This is also continuing perseverance, but it is dire, destructive in nature, tamasic. It is the same principle—never give up—but its results are destructive in nature.
Again, in the same way, the human too can also be persevering—in the pursuit of one’s desires, the circumstances one wishes to create for oneself. And they may say, “Whatever the gurus may say, whatever our ancestors said, whatever illumined sages and seers may have said, that may apply to some antiquated age, but now it no longer holds good. At that time it might have been very wise, but times have changed. Things are different, people are different. Therefore we must pursue what we feel is right.”
Now, herein is a strange assertion which is deceptive in a very subtle way, because while it is one hundred per cent true that times have changed, one cannot say that human nature has changed. Human nature persists. What it was in the times of the Vedas and Upanishads, what it was in the times of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, human nature is even now. The outer way of living may have changed, but whatever we see in the Puranas we see the same thing unfolding before us today both on the individual subjective human level and in the collective human domestic, social and international levels. These things need to be observed and understood. A wise being seeing this, observing this, understanding this, becomes awake, becomes careful.
You must learn the art and science of being impartial and objective towards yourself, to be able to stand aside, see yourself as a witness. You must be able to objectively assess yourself and come to a definite conclusion. You must be able to impartially assess your thoughts, sentiments, moods, attitudes and actions. Are they divine, demoniacal or human? This is not very easy, because there is an inveterate trait in human nature called self-justification which you must rise above.
You need to take an impartial, objective attitude from a central point where you are neither self-justifying or self-condemning. You are neither this nor that. You put yourself upon neutral ground and take an impartial, objective look at yourself. Then you can come to a correct conclusion.
Lucifer was an angel. He came to certain conclusions. He refused to budge from his position when he was told that they were wrong. So Gabriel had to hurl him down to Hades, and he is now man’s greatest enemy. He is called Satan. Why? Because he refused to change. Therefore, refusing to change ground when it becomes necessary in the interest of higher ideals is a satanic tendency. It means that unknowing to yourself you are in the grip of Satan. You are not under the influence of God.
Satan’s presence is unseen, so subtle you cannot detect it. He vies with God for equal position. God’s presence may be subtle and unseen. Satan says, “I can also make myself like you—unseen, subtle.” There is a word in Sanskrit that means: What you can do, I can also do. I am equal to you in every way.
Therefore, we must go within and earnestly and sincerely pray to God to show us the way with clarity. If one is persisting in a certain way of action, if one is justifying one’s action, saying that it is quite right, quite okay, then one must introspect and question oneself: “Why am I saying this? What is the hidden purpose in striking this attitude? In what way do I gain? Will the absence of this in any way be inimical to my spiritual progress?”
That is why Gurudev always use to say, “Scrutinise your inner motives,” because they are inner and subtle; they are not very easy to see. Thus, God must help one to help oneself. God must help one to understand oneself. Otherwise, it is not easy. Therefore, may the Supreme Being and Holy Master Swami Sivanandaji help us to understand ourselves, and through such understanding evolve quickly and attain supreme blessedness!
Excerpts from: See Yourself Impartially - 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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
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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How God Came Into My Life
Spiritual Message for the Day – How God Came Into My Life by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 10 February 2015 15.28 EST | New York Edition** |
How God Came Into My Life
Divine Life Society Publication: Light, Power and wisdom by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
(Bhavan’s Journal, May 3, 1959)
It would be easy to dismiss the question by saying: “Yes, after a prolonged period of intense austerities and meditation, while I was living in Swargashram, and when I had the Darshan of a number of Maharshis and their blessings, the Lord appeared before me in the form of Sri Krishna.”
But that would not be the whole truth, nor a sufficient answer to a question relating to God, who is Infinite, Unlimited and beyond the reach of the speech and mind.
Cosmic Consciousness is not an accident or chance. It is the summit, accessible by a thorny path that has steps, slippery steps. I have ascended them step by step, the hard way; but at every step I have experienced God coming into my life and lifting me easily to the next step.
My father was fond of ceremonial worship (Puja) in which he was very regular. To my child-mind, the Image he worshipped was God; and I delighted in helping father in the worship, by bringing him flowers and other articles of worship. The deep inner satisfaction that he and I derived from such worship implanted in my heart the deep conviction that God is in such Images devoutly worshipped by His devotees. Thus did God come into my life first and placed my foot on the first rung of the ladder.
As an adult, I was fond of gymnastics and vigorous exercises. I learnt fencing from a teacher who belonged to a low caste; he was a Harijan. I could go to him only for a few days before I was made to understand that it was unbecoming of a caste Brahman to play the student to an untouchable. I thought deeply over the matter. One moment I felt that the God whom we all worshipped in the image in my father’s Puja-room had jumped over to the heart of this untouchable. He was my Guru, all right! So I immediately went to him with flowers, sweets and cloth, and garlanded him, placed flowers at his feet and prostrated myself before him. Thus did God come into my life to remove the veil of caste-distinctions.
How very valuable this step was I could realise very soon after this: for I was to enter the medical profession and serve all, and the persistence of caste-distinction would have made that service a mockery. With this mist cleared by the Light of God, it was easy and natural for me to serve everyone. I took very keen delight in every kind of service connected with healing and alleviation of human misery. If there was a good prescription for malaria, I felt that the whole world should know it the next moment. Any knowledge about the prevention of diseases, promotion of health and healing of diseases, I was eager to acquire and share with all.
Then, God came into my life in the form of the sick in Malaya. It is difficult for me now to single out any instance; and perhaps it is unnecessary. Time and space are concepts of the mind and have no meaning in God. I can look back now upon the whole period of my stay in Malaya as a single event in which God came to me in the form of the sick and the suffering. People are sick physically and mentally. To some, life is lingering death; and to some others, death is more welcome than life. Some lead a miserable life, unable to face death; some invite death and commit suicide, unable to face life. The aspiration grew within me that if God had not made this world merely as a hell where wicked people would be thrown, to suffer, and if there is (as I intuitively felt there should be) something other than this misery and this helpless existence, it should be known and experienced.
It was at this crucial point in my life that God came to me as a religious mendicant who gave me the first lesson in Vedanta. The positive aspects of life here, and real end and aim of human life, were made apparent. This drew me from Malaya to the Himalaya. God came to me in the form of all-consuming aspiration to realise Him as the Self of all.
Meditation and service went on apace; and with them came various spiritual experiences. The body, mind and intellect, as the limiting adjuncts, vanished; and the whole universe shone as His Light. God then came in the form of this Light in which everything assumed a divine shape; and pain and suffering, that seem to haunt everybody, appeared to be a mirage, the illusion that ignorance creates, on account of low sensual appetites that lurk in man.
One more milestone had to be passed in order to know “Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma.” Early in 1950 (on the 8th Jan.) God came to me in the form of a half-demented assailant, who disturbed the night Satsanga at the Ashram. His attempt failed. I bowed to him, worshipped him and sent him home. Evil exists to glorify the good! Evil is a superficial appearance; beneath its veil, the one Self shines in all.
A noteworthy fact ought to be mentioned here. In this evolution nothing gained previously is entirely discarded at any later stage. One coalesced into the next; and the Yoga of Synthesis was the fruit. Murti-Puja, selfless service of the sick, meditation, the cultivation of cosmic love that transcended the barriers of caste, creed and religion, with the ultimate aim of attaining Cosmic Consciousness, was revealed. This knowledge had immediately to be shared. All this had become an integral part of my being.
The mission had been gathering strength and spreading. It was in 1950 that I undertook the All-India Tour. Then God came to me in His Virat-Svarupa, multitudes of devotees, eager to listen to the tenets of divine life. At every centre I felt that God spoke through me, and He Himself in His Virat-form spread out before me as the multitude, listened to me. He sang with me; He prayed with me; He spoke and He listened. Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma.
Excerpts from: How God Came Into My Life - Light, Power and wisdom 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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If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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Be Ready for the Blessings of God
Spiritual (Story) Message for the Day – Be Ready for the Blessings of God by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 9 February 2015 17.07 EST | New York Edition** |
Be Ready For The Blessings of God
Divine Life Society Publication: Meditation and Ashram Life by Sri Swami Krishnananda
Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj was fond of a story about Darius of Persia. Darius was a minister who became king later on, but he began life as a shepherd. In Persian and Middle East regions, a shepherd’s clothes were usually tattered, dirty and torn due to poverty and so on. Some good luck struck Darius, due to which he became a minister of the king of Persia, and he was such an able administrator that he became a favourite of the king. The king was fond of him and consulted him on even the smallest of matters. The king had no confidence in any other person and always consulted Darius.
The other courtiers did not like this. They said, “Look at this, one person being pampered so much and enjoying so much favouritism. This man must be put down.” The courtiers hatched a plan. It so happened that whenever this minister went on an errand for his duties, he used to ride a camel. In Persia camels were used for riding. Whenever Darius went, he used to carry a small box which was tied behind him. Nobody knew what this box contained. Every day he carried this box.
The courtiers found out and thought he was a thief: “The king thinks that Darius is a very wonderful man. What is this he is carrying every day?” They went to the king and said, “My Lord, Your Highness, you are thoroughly mistaken. This fellow is a rogue. He has come to deceive you.”
“Why? What do you mean?” asked the king.
“We will tell you. Have you observed that every day he carries a trunk with him? Wherever he goes, there is a trunk behind him. What is it that he’s carrying? Such a secret thing he is carrying; nobody can open it, and he doesn’t show it to anybody. He carries the most valuable treasures of your kingdom, and he doesn’t want to leave it at home so that others may come and investigate. So whenever he goes, he takes that box with him. Ask him to bring the box and let him open it in your presence. You will see the truth of it.”
The king was shocked. “Darius is like this? I never thought so. It cannot be. Oh, I can’t believe it.”
Then the courtiers brought the king outside and said, “See. This is the trunk on the camel’s back.” The king did not believe his eyes. Anyhow, when ten people say a thing we cannot simply refuse or deny it.
The king called the minister and said, “My dear friend, can you just show me what is inside the box?”
Darius immediately sensed what had happened. This had never been uttered by the king up to this time. He said, “Your Highness, it is a wonderful treasure,” and he brought it down and opened it before the courtiers. “Here is the treasure of the kingdom, my friends, for which you have been after me.” Inside were his old, tattered shepherd clothes he had worn once upon a time when he was a boy. He told the king and the courtiers, “This is my real property. This I really am, even today. I am quitting this palace today, Your Highness. Enough of your hospitality for me.” He took the clothes, and left the palace. “I realise this condition of mine, and I have come to that condition, and I am leaving.” He put on those tattered clothes before all people, and left the palace. But then, of course, God blessed him. God would not leave him like that, and he became king afterwards.
Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj was fond of this story, and it was also published in the Divine Life Magazine to show where we stand and what can happen to us. Let no one imagine that he is safe and secure in this world – not you, not me, not anyone else, not even a grandfather. No one can be secure ultimately. Not even a Napoleon was secure, not even a Caesar. No one was secure in this world. Everyone has his day, and it is wisdom on the part of everyone to be ready for the blessings of God that may come in any form we like. But it is essential we should be honest in this attitude of ours.
God bless you.
Excerpts from: Be Ready For The Blessings of God - Meditation and Ashram Life by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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On Work and Meditation
Spiritual Message for the Day – On Work and Meditation by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 8 February 2015 13.30 EST | New York Edition** |
On Work and Meditation
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 44 Your Questions Answered by Sri Swami Krishnananda
German Visitor: What is the relation between the active and meditative living? How to find the balance?
SWAMIJI: It is a very simple matter. When a person feels that meditation is the most important thing, and higher than any other thing, it will mean that one wants to do only meditation, and does not want to do anything else. This is the idea behind the feeling that meditation is the highest. But, is it possible for a person to be doing only meditation and doing no work?
German Visitor: No.
SWAMIJI: Why is it not possible? Let that person answer the question. When you say that meditation is the highest and the most important thing, why cannot you do only that, and you want to do some other work? What is the reason? It is an individual matter; each person should answer this question.
Why are you working so much, when you say that only meditation is necessary? There is some reason for your work. What is that reason? The reason is that you cannot exist in this world, in this body, without doing some work; and if the body does not exist, the meditation also does not exist. The whole thing goes. You are asking me the connection between work and meditation. Inasmuch as without existing, you cannot meditate, and without some work you cannot exist, the connection is simple. It is essential for maintaining yourself as a seeker of truth, for the purpose of meditation.
Actually, every work done with a feeling of devotion is also a kind of meditation. When you work, you are not doing it for a selfish purpose. You are doing it as a necessary medium for keeping you fit and secure for the purpose of higher worship and meditation.
Work also becomes a preparation for meditation. Therefore, it is a part of meditation itself. So, work becomes worship, and contemplation and action are interconnected, like body and soul. You cannot keep your body somewhere and your soul somewhere else. They are together. So, the body is connected with work; the soul is connected with meditation. But, they are not two things. You know, your body and soul are together; so, likewise, work and meditation also go together. They are one integral whole. That is the relation.
God bless you.
Excerpts from:** On Work and Meditation -**Chapter 44 Your Questions Answered**by Sri Swami Krishnananda**
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Knowledge and Material Power
Spiritual Message for the Day – Knowledge and Material Power by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 7 February 2015 13.14 EST | New York Edition** |
Knowledge and Material Power
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 47 Your Questions Answered by
Sri Swami Krishnananda
If the mind is subsidiary to the body, whatever the mind does is not of any worth – it has no value. Education comes under mental activity; therefore, it will have no value. A person would like to be a wealthy businessman, rather than a highly educated man. The desire is not for education. You will not like to be an educated genius so much as you would like to be wealthy businessman wielding power. Here is the essence of empirical thinking.
Behaviorist psychology says that the mind is an exudation of the body. As fire is emanating from a match stick, to give an example, the mind is exuding from the body, so that the body is the source, the cause, and the mind is the effect. The effect cannot have so much importance as the cause. So, anything that satisfies the affirmation of the physical body, the ego included – what you call egoism, self-respect, are all names for the affirmation of the body – attracts. Physical affirmation includes acquiring wealth and also name and fame. All these are connected with the physical body only, and supersede any mental or intellectual activity under the wrong notion that the mind is an exudation of the body.
Very learned, highly capable, scientific thinkers of the West have come to the conclusion that the mind is subsidiary to the body. The body is the primary thing; the mind is number two.
This is the fundamental defect in human thinking, as such, from which I cannot say any person is exempt. Education is not attractive; and therefore, an educated person does not receive so much respect as a millionaire magnate. The magnate has greater force than an educated person. This again is a fundamental defect in thinking, which cannot be rectified unless a divine orientation takes place, a tremendous shirshasana of consciousness.
Can anybody believe that mere thinking in the mind is superior to physical existence? Nobody will believe that. Physical existence is more important than merely thinking. What is the good of thinking? This is the reason why meditation also has no effect in the case of many. That meditation which one does becomes useless, because you consider the mind as secondary, and the body as primary. So, in meditation, it is the body that is thinking, rather than anything else!
Think over this issue. It is the body that is vibrating and thinking, and then you are imagining that you are meditating on God, which is not true. The truth is otherwise; the mind is the cause; the body is the effect. The body has come from the mind; it is not true that the mind has come from the body. This kind of philosophy is wrong, but the body is so strong that it can defy the mind and say, “You keep quiet. I am strong; that is all.”
All political activity, all warfare in the world, anything that you see in the world taking place is an activity of the body conditioning the mind. The body is affirming itself. The world does not want a mental genius so much as a physical potentate – call him a king or a minister. Who is greater, a minister, or a learned man? The President of the country is great, or the highly qualified genius is great? Who is great?
The answer will decide the fate of all educational institutions, and anything that you call learning. The earthly calls can defy even a divine aspiration. The world vies with God.
It is not easy to know God, however much you may chant and jump, because the body will say, “I am superior to God. What are you talking?” And even the idea of God is only an emanation from the body only.
Unless the idea becomes God, the meditation will not yield its result. So you must find some way where the idea and God do not stand apart. They are to be identical. Thought is being; consciousness is existence. If this is asserted, then meditation will succeed well. If consciousness is not existence, then existence will run away from you, and you will have only consciousness minus existence, which is another way of asserting non – existence.
Visitor: But can one think something which is not existing?
SWAMIJI: It appears as if it is existing. That is another trick of the mind affirming that it is existing, but it is the body that it is existing. It is the body that is saying, “I am existing,” and making you feel that something else is existing; otherwise, materialism would not have succeeded so much in this world. Materialism is the ruling law of today, and do you think that everybody in the world is a fool? But, it looks like that. I asked just now whether a highly qualified, learned man is great, or a Commander-in-Chief is great. Who is great? That is, whether the mind is great or the body is great?
When a President comes, what do you do? And, when a learned man comes, what do you do? See your difference in behaviour. This is the trick of the body. The body says, “I am great,” under any circumstance. Though you theoretically accept that the mind is there, but it is “me” that is operating, says the body. It is the body that is operating as the mind also. So even the learned man is afraid of the Commander-in-Chief. Then, what happened to that learning? Why is the mind afraid of the body? The whole essence is here. The fear of the Commander-in-Chief, or the President, is the fear the mind has for the body. The mind is afraid of the body; and such a mind is meditating on God. What happens?
Visitor: Swamiji, if a learned person is afraid of something, it means he is not still learned.
SWAMIJI: This is the mind that we have. It is that kind of mind only that we are endowed with. The real metaphysical mind is not present, and is not operating. Only the empirical, sensory mind is working. You require mighty grace of God in order to get over these problems. Or, you may say, the mighty grace of a spiritual master, a Guru; otherwise, the devil of this body will not allow you to think correctly.
Visitor: But in meditation, don’t the two work together? Doesn’t meditation work through sensory perceptions, and watching the breath?
SWAMIJI: The mind is not supposed to work through the sense organs, and in terms of the physical body in meditation; but, unfortunately, the mind is slavish to physical existence, and is conditioned by the operations of the physical body, and is afraid of losing itself. Fear of death is the greatest fear. It is not the death of the mind that you are afraid of. You are afraid of the death of the body. Nobody likes to die. Actually, in death, the mind does not die; it continues. But the body will vanish. The fear of death is nothing but the fear of the loss of one’s physical existence. That shows the wrong connection of the mind with the body. The mind is independent of the body, actually. It is not a slave of the body. But in ordinary thinking, we imagine that the mind is an emanation of the body, and so the love of body is much more intense than the love of the mind. Meditation or true knowledge is non-empirical identity of thought and being.
God bless you.
Excerpts from: Knowledge and Material Power - Chapter 47 Your Questions Answered by Sri Swami Krishnananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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The Connection Between Body and Mind
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Connection Between Body and Mind by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 6 February 2015 12.34 EST | New York Edition** |
The Connection Between Body and Mind
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 24 Your Questions Answered by Sri Swami Krishnananda
Visitor: What is the connection between body and mind?
SWAMIJI: In a large ocean, in cold countries, the upper part of the ocean becomes solid. It becomes ice. The bottom is liquid and the upper part is solid. And, the solid suddenly does not emerge at one particular spot. There is a gradual solidification of the water becoming thicker and thicker, as it goes up, until it becomes very thick and hard on the top; and when you go down it becomes thinner and thinner, until it becomes very thin like water. Now, how do you reach this ice with the water underneath? What is the connection between the two? What is the connection between the ice on the top, and the water at the bottom? Is there a connection, or no connection?
Visitor: No connection.
SWAMIJI: There is no connection. So, I have answered your question, or you have answered your own question.
SWAMIJI: The questioner has the answer within him, deeply hidden. Only, it has to be brought out by an analytic method. The Guru is like a midwife. He brings out what is already there, not creating something new. So, I have brought out something, as a midwife.
Liquefied body is mind – that is all – to give you a brief answer. When body liquefies, it becomes mind; when the mind solidifies, it becomes body. There is no “connection,” actually; it is one thing only, appearing as two things. Water and ice are one thing only; they are not two things.
You cannot concentrate on something with a desire for something else. Your mind is the same as your desire. As a cloth is made up of threads, and a cloth is not independent of the threads, the mind is made up of desires, and it is not independent of desires. So, how would you concentrate, except through the mind – which means to say, with your desires only? And, where are your desires? What are the things that you require?
If there is a chaos in the way of your assessment of desires, and if you are not very clear as to what it is that you really need in this world, the mind will not be prepared for meditation or concentration.
You will be able to concentrate your mind only on that which you desire. Or, to put it more plainly, you cannot concentrate on anything for which you have no affection.
God bless you.
Excerpts from: ** The Connection Between Body and Mind -**Chapter 24 Your Questions Answered**by Sri Swami Krishnananda**
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Sadhana is Always Connected With Our Soul
Spiritual Message for the Day – Sadhana is Always Connected With Our Soul by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 5 February 2015 18.27 EST | New York Edition** |
Sadhana is Always Connected with Our Soul
Divine Life Society Publication: Sadhana is Always Connected with Our Soul by Sri Swami Krishnananda
(Spoken on September 10, 1972)
Spiritual life has always been mistaken for what we do, rather than what we try to become. This is principally the reason why we do not see tangible progress even among sincere seekers and ardent aspirers of the life spiritual. We have been born into a world of action, karma bhumi, and so we are unable to get out of our mind the importance of action as constituting the principle essence of life. While action is a part of life, it is not life by itself because a particular transformation in our personal life takes the form of activity. It is action by someone, as action is not something self-existent by itself. But the existence of a person and the action of a person usually get mixed up, and traditional routines and clockwork activity are easily taken for the needed self-transformation in spiritual life.
There are various types of prejudices into which we are born. They come with our birth, and do not come later by acquisition. We are born into certain prejudices on account of the circumstances that constitute our very personal existence. Then we get into a routine; we become complacent and satisfied in our attitude that a virtuous deed has been performed, and expect a result out of the deed.
There are two difficulties here. First of all, it is difficult to judge the virtue of an action merely on the surface of it. The ethical or moral value of a conduct or behaviour or action cannot easily be discovered, but one can easily foist virtue on actions of one’s own. Generally, each one believes that one’s own actions are rightly directed, and so they are virtuous, morally permissible; therefore, we expect a very wonderful fruit out of them. This is one difficulty which we have to face and which we cannot easily discover in its proper essence and form.
The other difficulty is, how to connect action with our life. It always remains outside us like a shell with which we are covered but not vitally connected. It is like a coat that we put on. Well, the coat is good protection no doubt, but it has no connection with our body. Whatever beautiful dress we wear will have no connection with our being, and we will not change because of it. So action mostly is a kind of cloth which covers us but does not always affect our inner essence.
There is a misconception rooted in our very intellect, an error that cannot remain outside our consciousness. It gets into us deeply, and when our consciousness itself gets involved in an error, which is exactly what has happened, there is no one to detect this error.
The spiritual attitude is the outcome of a spiritual way of thinking. Now, the spiritual way of thinking is different from the temporal way of thinking in the sense that when we think spiritually, we do not think in a commercial manner. We do not judge things from the point of view of give and take, what will it bring, etc.
But spiritual thinking is spiritual judgment of the worth of things, and this is equal to recognising the spirit in things rather than the actions of things. When we recognise the spirit in things, we automatically develop a new kind of attitude. It does not come by effort; it is a spontaneous manifestation. We cannot help thinking in that manner.
To take to the path of sadhana, therefore, is a self-dedication. It is a surrender of all earthly values for the supreme value of spirituality. Sarvadharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (B.G. 18.66): Abandon all other dharmas or virtues which are apparently conducive to earthly satisfaction, and take to the supreme dharma of the true nature of all things in the world. The supreme dharma is that which is in conformity with the nature of God, while the temporal dharma that we are asked to abandon in this verse of the Gita is the value we attach to things which we see with our eyes. The spiritual dharma, therefore, transcends all other dharmas, for the sake of which everything has to be abandoned. Tyajed ekam kulasyārthe grāmasyārthe kulam tyajet, gramam janapadasyārthe ātmārthe pṛthivim tyajet (Mahabharata 2.55.10) says the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata. For the sake of the good of a family, we may have to abandon one naughty person in our own family, even our own son; and for the good of the whole community, we may have to give up one family. For the good of the whole country and the world, we may have to give up the whole community; and for the ultimate good of the soul, we may have to give up the whole world. This means to say that everything that succeeds also transcends so that the soul, or the Self, is supremely transcendent. It is the reservoir or the ocean of all values that we seek in the world, so when we give up lower values we actually enter into the realm of higher values where the lower ones are transformed and sublimated into a new reality.
So we have to learn this art of transcendence, self-transcendence. The art of self-transcendence gradually, from the lower to the higher, which is the very principle of sadhana, is also mentioned in one verse in the Kathopanishad (1.3.10-11).
This rise is a rise of the soul from a lower state to the higher state, from greater entanglement to lesser entanglement. It is a rise of soul in all its degrees so that sadhana is always connected with our soul. It is not merely an outward action that we perform. It is always connected with our soul, and if an action, a mood, or a conduct of ours is unconnected with our conscience and soul, it is bereft of spiritual values. It is where the knowledge of the soul and the action of the personality commingle into a single force: yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo yatra pārtho dhanurdharaḥ, tatra śrīr vijayo bhūtir dhruvā nītir matir mama (B.G. 18.78). The inner soul and outward action have to be commingled in such a manner that they are indistinct; but today they are remaining outside. The soul is inside and the actions are outside, one having no connection with the other.
Hence, our usual activities do not help us much. Thus it is that we are mostly a failure in life in spite of our intense efforts in the various fields of action. But when our activity gets directed inwardly towards the soul, which is the point driven at by the verse of the Bhagavadgita where it is told that Krishna and Arjuna sit in the same chariot, then there is sure success. The wisdom of the soul and the outward activities of our personality are not two distinct things. They are one and the same flow uniformly moving from within us, and when this state is reached, action becomes spiritual. Your profession itself becomes a sadhana. Whatever you do becomes a saintly act, and it conduces to God vision. This is the principle of what is known as karma yoga. It is a highly transformed state of activity where the iron of action has become the gold of spirit by the touch of the philosopher’s stone of wisdom, knowledge.
So let us not be misguided, and let us not be under the impression that we can easily catch the spirit of things or very conveniently have vision of God. That is not possible. As Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj used to humorously say, we have to do worship of God by lighting the lamp with the oil extracted out of our own flesh. It is a very jocular way of putting things, but this is the hardship involved in sadhana. Gaudapadacharya, the great Grandguru of Sankaracharaya, tells us that it is as difficult as emptying the ocean with a blade of grass. Sometimes it is compared to the difficulty of swallowing fire or binding a wild elephant with a silken thread. These examples and comparisons are only to give us an idea as to the hardship of the task that we have taken on hand. It is very difficult, and we have to be very cautious. Very vigilant we have to be every day, and we should see that that our mind does not slip away from the ideal that we have chosen as the goal of our life.
While we may be very enthusiastic and very meticulous in our sadhana in the beginning, we are likely to slip down from the goal and fall into the mire, not knowing what has happened to us. That is worse than not doing sadhana at all. This is perhaps the inner motive behind a verse in the Isavasya Upanishad where it is told that vidya is worse than avidya – that wrong understanding is worse than no understanding at all – from which we have to be guarded very well. God bless us.
Excerpts from: Sadhana is Always Connected with Our Soul 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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